Former location of "The Kingdom of the Heavens" blog, written by an incurable fool who is trying to become a holy fool!
In John 10, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees about the good shepherd following the healing of a blind man in John 9. The healed man affirms faith in Jesus, resulting in his expulsion from the synagogue. Jesus criticizes the Pharisees’ spiritual blindness, contrasting true shepherds with thieves. My sheep can see this. Can you? The first in a series.
A strange thing happened in the 1970’s–we learned for the first time that what we need is a “personal relationship” with Christ. But this terminology is not scriptural, and was left largely undefined, with curious results. That “relationship” became self-defined! What does it mean? What should it mean? What are a believer’s relationships with God? Jesus is our shepherd, older brother, King, teacher and friend, but the word “relationship” is not found. We are called God’s children, house, temple and sheep, but never said to be “in a relationship” with him.
A God who Speaks, Conversation with God, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, Language and Speech, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Social control and statecraft, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, Through Jesus, To bear fruit
Addresses the subject of the roles of the people said in Ephesians 4 to be “given” to the Church by Christ and the qualifications and roles of church officers mentioned in the New Testament–overseers, officially recognized elders, and church servants (deacons). Also discusses the role of elders–older people in the church–even when not formally recognized as leaders, with application to me, the author of this presentation.
Pastors are shepherds of flocks of people. Their main function is to guide, guard, tend, and care for the needs of their flock, not to command it. They should not be expected to exercise all of the gifts of the Spirit, to be competent to do every job in the Church, or to do the whole “work of the ministry” in place of the members of their flock.