The Pastor's Perspective

       Sometimes, life can feel like a courtroom drama where we are constantly trying to prove our worth and identity.       This reminds me of the story of a man in India who was accused of stealing a lamb. Both the accuser and the accused claimed ownership, and with witnesses on both sides, it seemed impossible to discern the truth. However, the judge knew the nature of shepherds and their sheep. He devised a clever plan: each man would call the lamb to see to whom it would respond. The true owner’s unique call, a simple "cluck," immediately brought the lamb to him, proving his rightful claim. This story parallels the illustration Jesus used in John 10:1-5, where He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his o...

    A couple of years back I had done something I have never done in my life. I replaced a thermostat at the church.     Now I had installed other things in the past, things like a new light fixture, or setting up a new TV. If those past experiences taught me anything, it taught me that the first thing I need to do is grab the instructions. Yes it has taken me nearly 40 years of my life to learn that lesson, but I have finally learned that it is better to read the instructions instead of trying to figure things out my self.      So that is what I did before I tried to figure out by trail and error how to put the thermostats in. I took a little time to read the instructions.      Now everything went fairly smoothly as I recall that is until I came to a problem. There was one thermostat that was giving me some problems. I had wired it just like the others and I had checked and rechecked what I had done with the instructions I was given. Ho...