Shepherds

"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?"-Luke 15:4

I just read the following statement on a Blog: “We are never instructed to chase the ‘Back-slider’ - they know better!”.

Has Christianity has lost its message of true Grace ... Grace for the least deserving?

Where has the ‘Parable of the Lost Sheep’ gone? … I cannot remember the last time I heard that message preached.

Has it been lost itself and replaced by the seven sins that inhibit your self-improvement, Leadership and your Prosperity - “negativity, regret, complacency..." etc?.

Like the term “Tithe”, “Backslider” is not used in the orthodox denomination I grew up exposed to – until I started mixing with more 'progressive' groups.

And why is it that diligence in faithfully proclaiming the heart of the Gospel message and financial transparency always found in the same places?…

Where is the heart and the compassion for the ‘Backslider’ anyway ... ? The one who has been ‘Lost’ … often at the care of the high-living, fast-talking Shepherds??

It is eveident that the Good Shepherd has the time and will walk the extra mile to find that one lost Sheep. It is of the greatest value to him.

"Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep".

The message I hear loud and clear from the Pentecostal and Contemporary Churches is:

“Be one of my 99 compliant, low-maintenance, Sheep - or I won’t waste my time with you!”.

There is a ray of hope:

"GOD, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I'm going looking for them. 12As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I'm going after my sheep. I'll rescue them from all the places they've been scattered to in the storms. 13I'll bring them back from foreign peoples, gather them from foreign countries, and bring them back to their home country. I'll feed them on the mountains of Israel, along the streams, among their own people. 14I'll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on the mountains of Israel. 15And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. 16I'll go after the lost, I'll collect the strays, I'll doctor the injured, I'll build up the weak ones and oversee the strong ones so they're not exploited.
".

Please Come Back, Good Shepherd and Saviour of my Childhood!.

Error

This is one for the Prosperity Gospel Teachers:

"For their error is not displayed as what it is, lest it should be stripped naked and shown up; it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, and made to seem truer than the truth itself to the inexperienced because of the outer appearance.

As one better than I am has said about these matters, a precious stone like emerald, which many value greatly, can be put to shame by a clever imitation in glass, unless there is someone on hand who can test it, and show what was done deceptively by art; and when brass is mixed with silver, what untrained person can easily prove it?

So then, lest some should be made prey of through my fault, like sheep by wolves, not recognizing them because of their outwardly wearing sheep’s clothing-whom the Lord warned us to guard against26 talk like us, though thinking very differently”,

http://people.bu.edu/dklepper/RN212/irenaeus.html

Cultastic

"Rollsy” an ex-Phil Baker regular commenter has started his own Cult, err, Blog.

It’s a 'crack-up' – and he is recruiting…people and money!

Dispense

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31).

I have just returned from an annual ‘Daddy Camp’ where a number of guys I have known for some time get away with their children.

The focus is friendship – but most importantly nurturing memories and building a foundation for kids.

I guess that it's all about us taking the initiative on behalf of our kids, taking them on the journey – and hoping that one day they will continue on by themselves building the same foundations for their own Children.

The same could be siad of our faith.

I have to say that after several years of hard thought, reading and reviewing the topic of Baptism and Children, I have gone from a staunch and somewhat militant proponent of ‘Believers Baptism’ - to now an strong advocate (though not in the same militant sense) of infant Baptism.

Over recent years, I have come to appreciate the depth of thinking of our orthodox forefathers, the way they took the scriptures seriously and fought to keep their doctrines when under assail from new movements.

I purchased a beuatiful old book from Serendipity Books the other week entitled ‘Christian Nurture’ by Horace Bushnell first written in 1888 (I have the 1967 reprint). It is as relevant today as it was when it was first written.

The book looks at the doctrine in depth as well as the history of the practice and after reading this book – amongst many others (including the scriptures) I am currently making arrangements to have both my Children baptised – and will do so for our third due in October.

Infact, I now realise that it makes less sense to withhold my children from this gift.

I am not going to write the detailed defence for infant Baptism myself on this blog – though Sydney Anglicans provides a great synopsis here.