Sheep are defenseless, liable to stray, pitiful when lost, scattered, stubborn and unintelligent. Clearly, they are desperate for a shepherd. They are dependent on someone to feed protect and lead them to safe green pastures. In the Bible the church leader is called a pastor, a shepherd. The transfer is applicable. It is His charge to “shepherd the flock of God among you (1 Peter 5:2). That means he must feed them on the nutrients of God’s Word, protect them from false teachers (spiritual wolves), warn them about potential dangers, lead them to the fields of holiness and grace and correct them when they stray. Ultimately, Jesus Christ does this through them.
Randy Smith

Testimony Of a Turtle

Testimony Of a Turtle

THE

ELECTRONIC LIBRARY EXCHANGE

DENVER, COLORADO

BBS: 303-935-6323

TESTIMONY OF A TURTLE

BY

PHIL SCOVELL

I was eating lunch with my family and listening to the kids discuss my eleven year old daughter’s newly acquired turtle Herman. My eight year old son, his voice muffled as he spoke around a sandwich said, “Yea, Herman has a bent shell.” His sister immediately shot back, “Oh, right! God made a mistake when he made Herman!”

I had been facing depression for many months following the folding of my first church after only eleven months. I felt worthless and valueless. I had no job, my wife was working, and I found it difficult to be thankful. Although I kept telling myself I wasn’t a failure, somehow I found it impossible to believe. Upon hearing my children talk about the turtle, I suddenly realized that God in fact makes no mistakes. I had just read the day before how God created all the stars, knew their number, and even personally named them all (Psalm 147:4). I had been quoting the words of our Lord to myself for several days concerning the fact that He knew the number of the hairs on our head (Matt. 10:29-31). I know it doesn’t seem like much but the realization that God doesn’t make mistakes with His own creation, even turtles, encouraged me greatly. It was time to stop and thank God He had created me and that He still cared for me (I Peter 5:7). Paul likewise confirmed that we are created in His image and for His glory (I Cor. 11:7). Furthermore, no one can acuse us any longer since we have confessed Him as Lord of our lives. We have been reconciled in the body of His flesh through His resurrection and He presents us holy, unblamable, and unreproveable (Col. 1:21-22). In short, no one can lay anything to our charge because the Saviour paid the eternal price for sin; be they recent or past, even sins future. Perhaps we should listen to the testimony of God’s turtle – God makes no mistakes!

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