The Good Shepherd

Many of you are aware that we recently experienced another life-altering accident in our family - my son had to have his right leg amputated below the knee, due to malfunctioning equipment at his job. We are grateful to God that Brian is still with us, and grateful as well to our family and friends who kept us in prayer during this time of crisis.

I continue to be amazed at my son's attitude, because he has always been very sports minded, with skate/snowboarding, and surfing being among his favorites. Yet, one of the first statements he made to me after the accident (when he was finally able to talk), was - "You know mom, I've been thinking about a lot of things, and one of them was my walk with the Lord. It really wasn't what it should have been. This was a wake-up call for me, because I realize now that I'd rather limp into heaven with one leg, than march into hell with two!"

OK - so now that a proud mama has had a chance to "brag on" her son, let me share what that statement prompted me to think about this week.

Several years ago, I first heard a story by a renowned Christian author, Robert Boyd Munger, who wrote about an American traveling in Syria. This American became acquainted with a shepherd who was personally carrying and caring for a wounded sheep with a broken leg. When the shepherd was asked if the sheep had broken its leg by falling into a hole or meeting up with a predator, he replied: "No, I broke this sheep's leg myself - this was a wayward sheep. It would not stay with the flock, but instead would lead others astray. It would not allow me to come near it - so I had to break its leg so that it would allow me, day by day to care for it. Thus, it will get to know me personally as its shepherd, trust me as its guide, and keep with the flock." 1

My pastor at the time posed the question: "Could this be the reason we see so many pictures of Jesus carrying a sheep on His shoulders when he's portrayed as the Good Shepherd? Is He training a wayward sheep to become totally dependent on Him - or is He simply temporarily carrying one who had been wounded by some accident of life, as in the poem "Footprints"?

What do you think?

Either way, I'm certain that my son's accident was not a direct judgment from God as punishment for some "wayward behavior", but rather an intervention that prevented a worse outcome - as well as providing an opportunity for a "wake up call".

As for me, I continue to pray that my children do not provide me with any further "close calls" in order to reflect upon the truths of God's word!


Maria McKiernan

1 Robert Boyd Munger in Enclyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations by Paul Lee Tan

As Raw As It Gets

I try not to use clichés.  I blame it on Mr. Sullivan my 12^th Grade Shakespeare teacher.  We had weekly writing assignments, which we handed in each week and in my desperate attempt to be poetic I would regularly use a cliché, because it just sounded right.  My papers would come back with the same thing written in the column-“Please do not use clichés.”

It’s the unoriginality of it; they are sell-outs of truth that prevent us from using the brains God has gifted us with.  The definition of cliché is: an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, "played out."  Unfortunately this can happen all the time in our spiritual lives. 

There was a song written 7 years ago by John Mark McMillan called How He Loves.  Most people know this song because the David Crowder Band recently covered it.  It is an incredible testimony of God’s unwavering and overwhelming love for us.  I have heard both versions and even performed it myself with our music team.  I appreciate both versions written by two artists and two styles.  There is also one subtle difference within the two version, one lyric has been altered.

In McMillan’s original he writes:

“And heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss…”

In Crowder’s cover he writes:

“And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss…”

This lyric is talking about the way in which the divine God meets the imperfect human and engages in a relationship that seeks to make man more in the image of the divine.  I will admit when I first heard McMillan’s lyric I was taken aback.  I was at a conference and the music team was leading us in this song (pre-Crowder) and when I got to this lyric I said to myself,  “Did that really just say what I think it said?”

When Crowder’s version came out I was relieved to hear they had changed the lyric to something a little easier to swallow.

Recently I have thought differently.  My different thinking comes from a deeper appreciation of McMillan and the message he is trying to send.  The message is rawness before God and about our relationship with God.

As I was talking with my good friend Jeremy we began talking about this particular lyric.  An “unforeseen kiss” is nice.  It is a sweet little surprise that might make us smile, it may even contain some passion but it is not mind blowing, is it?

But this other lyric is raw.  It emits a raw passion that is unmistakable, undeniably, and beautifully confrontational with the receiver! 

This is what we need to be pursuing with God;  A rawness which makes us rediscover the reckless love God has for us and to express it to him in new ways.  You see, God is not afraid to hear of all the terrible things we have done, to take those burdens on himself so he can give us life. 

We have gotten so used to proper language with a God created the passion, which lives inside of us.  Why shouldn’t we bite down and honestly express everything our heart needs to say to God instead of neatly packaging it into a little prayer we say before bed, meal, whatever.

Our journey with Christ should never become a cliché, where we lean on pithy sayings instead of the raw truth God reveals in our hearts through the salvation we receive through Jesus.

So be more raw, and know deeper passion.