A Good Shepherd


“I AM the Good Shepherd,” said Jesus.

I was reading this passage from John’s Gospel, Chapter 10 recently, when an online magazine to which I subscribe arrived. The magazine, Kairos Journal, had an article entitled, “Fathers are Shepherds.” I use some (okay, a lot) of this material to pass on what may be helpful information for you. “Kairos” by the way, is a Greek word for “the times.” In other words, it is a magazine with articles written for our times – Christian commentary on current events.

Ephesians 6:4 states, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

There are two statements of wisdom contained in this verse. The first is negative, the second is positive. The first is, “do not provoke your children to anger.” Children may be small and immature, but they are made in the image of God. They possess this image from conception. A father should not bully, mock or dismiss a young child. Such behavior certainly does provoke a child to anger. It also dishonors God, who has given this child life. The positive statement is, “bring them up in the discipline (or nurture, loving concern) and instruction of the Lord.” The best way to accomplish this daunting task is to teach your children the scripture. Fathers are to be men of the Word, men of scripture. They are constantly to be pointing their children to the Bible. A wise earthly father uses the Lord Jesus Christ as his model. Jesus always pointed people to God the Father and His Word.

I cannot think of any father who does not want to be loved and respected by his children. It is not that the father should want to hear his praises sung by the kids. He should want to hear God’s praises sung.
No father can coerce his child into the Kingdom. But a father can model Christ’s love and spirit by not provoking his child to anger. A father can expose his child to God’s Word. And a father can bring up his child in “the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

In my own experience, there was one thing I did as a Dad that really helped. Our three children were young then, and one day, just thinking it might be a good idea for discussions around the dinner table, I made a copy of the Ten Commandments and displayed it on the refrigerator. The two older children had started school and could read. They began reading these commandments and asking questions. It provided many positive discussions about God, ethics and morality. I recommend this to anyone who is a parent. If it works for you as well as it did for me, you will be well on your way to shepherding your child in the love (discipline) and ways (instruction) of God.

Every Christian father is a shepherd. Let’s try to be …

A good shepherd.

The Way to God


Is Jesus the only way to God?

This is an interesting question that is being bandied about in both academic and religious circles today. It is an important question, and one that begs a clear answer.

Jesus Himself stated that He is “the way” and that “no one can come to the Father (God) except by Me” – John 14:6. The entire purpose of John writing the Gospel that bears his name is stated as, “These things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through Him” (20:31). This “life” means reconciliation to the Creator God.

It is common today to hear people say that Jesus is one of many paths to God. This means that people can be reconciled to God from their fallen state on the basis of sincerity. Almost everyone, even an agnostic, knows that something is missing from the human experience. Some seek the quest for “enlightenment”, others for “self-realization.” The Christian term is “reconciled”. All of these terms express the idea of man’s sin – his fallen state. Jesus has come to provide that reconciliation to God, which is to be enlightened and self-realized.

The sinless life of Christ (His accusers tried desperately but unsuccessfully to find an incident in which He had broken the Law), the atoning death and the resurrection all affirm that He is extraordinary. But does that mean He is the only way to God? Yes, I believe it does.

There are various scriptures to support the following credentials of Jesus – too many to include in a short essay. Trust me on this matter. Jesus was born of a virgin. Thus He did not possess a fallen nature. Jesus claimed to be God incarnate, and demonstrated this claim through miracles. Jesus lived an impeccably sinless life. He died an extraordinary death; one He claimed was to establish “the new covenant in My blood”. He arose from the dead, triumphant over the power of sin.

The command of Christ was then that His followers should go into the entire world and proclaim what He has accomplished. This, He assured them (and us) would bring the benefit of eternal life to those who believe. Further, the followers of Jesus (Peter, speaking for the rest) all believed “there is no other name given among men whereby we can be saved” – that is, reconciled to God.

Finally, the New Testament is filled with examples of people who were without hope and spiritually blind to the truth of God. Then they heard about and believed upon Jesus as the way to God. Their lives were transformed.

The clear message of Christianity is that Jesus is the Savior. He is the only Savior. If a person wants to be reconciled to God, he or she must put faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is not just a way; He is “the way” to God.

In the Beginning God Created the Heavens and the Earth


The opening phrase of the Bible states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” I thought of that verse recently when a brochure was placed on my desk Thursday. “Creation Fair 2010” the brochure was titled.

I commend the Akron Fossils and Science Center (www.akronfossils.com) for hosting this fair. Designed to offer evidence for intelligent design and creation rather than accidental occurrence of life, the brochure makes the fair look very inviting. .

In the past decade or so there have been serious issues raised by scientists themselves regarding the Darwinian theory of life, usually called “evolution.” The heart of the controversy is that the empirical evidence and the materialist philosophy are at odds with one another. That is, the evidence from science does not support the philosophy that life just happened and that matter is all there is. Or, as Carl Sagan put it, “The cosmos is all there is, ever was, or ever will be.” The evidence points to an Intelligent Designer, a Supreme Engineer, God. The philosophy of current Darwinian theory is that “all living things are the accidental products of a purposeless universe.”

Ironically, on Monday of last week I was visiting at Caesar Creek State Park in Ohio (south of Columbus, off Interstate 71). This state park possesses a treasure trove of fossils – so many that you are welcome to take them home with you, provided each fossil fits in the palm of your hand. I took two. The evidence for a world submerged in water is overwhelming. The only way to explain away a worldwide flood is to say that this portion of Ohio was under water millions or billions of years ago. How the life forms were pressed into rock or sludge and preserved as fossils rather than dying and rotting in water or being eaten by scavengers is not addressed. Of course, a great flood with the water violently moving and eventually vigorously receding provides an excellent explanation. But that might invite God into the study. No longer would it be science. Why not?

It is not considered science due to an underlying philosophy, not due to the evidence.

Just one last thought – and that poses another problem, incidentally. If matter is all that exists, what is mind? What is thinking? Is there such a thing as information? Am I conscious or am I dreaming? Is there reality or are all delusional? What is truth or are there many truths, perhaps no truth? What is reason?
Anyway, there is in evolutionary philosophy an idea called “reductionism”. This is the idea that everything, including everyone’s mind, can be reduced to a simple, material base. From this very simple, single molecule (or particle, or cell – depending on who is speaking), all life has emerged – people, animals, birds, trees, plants. In his best-selling book Darwin’s Black Box, Michael Behe – a molecular biologist – explains that even a basic molecule is irreducibly complex. This very complexity calls for an explanation. The only explanation that fits the evidence is, of course, an Intelligent Designer. Behe permits the reader to know that the interaction of proteins and enzymes, indeed the entire molecular structure, is mind-boggling. His description of the molecular structure for vision is in itself enough to convince an unbiased observer that this can not be reduced to one simple particle. It is simply impossible. Molecular mechanisms are intricately designed.

I think I’ll go to Creation Fair 2010. I am interested in learning more of how…

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”