Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

I have for years followed the advice of a Dr. at the VA who told me to pour warm salt water into the palm of each hand in turn and sniff it up each nostril. I do this each evening with a gargle between and my allergy problems have diminished dramatically. Also, I do this immediately after any dusty activity. A few nights ago, I took my cup to the kitchen, and then got distracted and when I sniffed the warm water, it had no salt! ROARING! Pain. But I thought I put the salt in. It will be a long time before that lapse happens again.

“I thought!” Naaman used those words. We do, too, to excuse our failures to live up to God’s expressed wishes. These days it seems that a lot presume mightily on THEIR concept of the fatherhood of God and treat him casually in the way they speak of him and conduct their worship. I read a commentary on Ezekiel (Block) in which he comments on Ezekiel’s attitude and deportment toward God: “Although this is the third time he sees the [throne chariot] the sight still catches him by surprise and overwhelms him with awe. His relationship with God never becomes familiar or casual—even a commissioned and authorized spokesman must prostrate himself in the presence of God.”

Yet so many have become almost irreverently casual in their speech and dress to worship services. They THOUGHT that because God reveals himself as, “Father” they can buddy up to Daddy with little to no form of expressed respect. My Dad did not allow that and neither did I, and any who do are mighty poor parents. As the Hebrew writer says, “It is for chastening that ye endure; God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father chasteneth not? But if ye are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? (Heb 12:7-9, ASV).

Does no one notice how many times in these 3 verses we read chastening and reverence and subjection? Does it not change that casual attitude to see "Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?" (ESV & CSV).

I never spoke as casually to my boss as some speak to God. And some dress up for work and dress down for God. Did not Malachi say, "Present it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person? saith Jehovah of hosts." (Mal 1:8). In other words, we have better sense than to try to pull off on our bosses or government what we do to God?

These “buddy up to daddy” attitudes come from a very selective view of scripture. Let our reverence be shown in dress and speech and attitude.

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire  (Heb 12:28-29, ESV).
And if you invoke as Father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile (1Pet1:17).

            Someone once posted on Facebook about "the scariest day of his life."  That instantly made me wonder what mine was.  When you reach my age, you might have a variety to choose from.
            There was the day I found myself alone and cornered in an office by someone twice my size, who had evil intentions toward me.
               There was the day we raced to the doctor at 90 mph down country roads as I held my seizing two-year-old, wondering if he would die right there in my arms.
            There was the day I found myself looking straight through the windshield into another windshield just seconds before we hit head-on.
            There was the day the telephone operator broke through my conversation with one of my piano student's mother with an emergency cut-in.  Within minutes I heard that my husband had been shot in the line of duty, and I jumped in the car for a sixty mile trip to the hospital, not knowing what I would find when I got there.
            Then there was the week afterward when, because he was under threat from the family of the felon who had ambushed him and because he had five bullet holes in him and was certainly not able to do it himself, I sat up by the window, keeping watch every night.
            There was the day I received another phone call.  My husband had been found lying in the middle of the highway having convulsions.  I followed the ambulance to the hospital and sat for hours wondering how my life was about to change.
            There was the day I signed page after page after page, including handwritten clauses going up the side of the paper saying, "I understand that no one knows how this material will interact with human tissue."  Then I went into a first of its kind surgery with a surgeon who, though one of the best in the world, still had to practice two or three times (on pigs' eyes!) before he touched me, and I was wondering if I would ever see again.
              I am sure other women my age have lists exactly like this one.  I know older women who have much scarier lists.  My own great-grandmother buried four of her children--three tiny ones and another who was killed in World War II.  The length of the list is not the point.  Nothing in this life, no matter how scary, is scarier than this:  facing death knowing one is not right with God.  I will do my best to see that that does not happen.
            How about you?
 
For the time is come for judgment to begin at the house of God: and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1Pet 4:17)
 
Dene Ward

I don’t know how many times I have had someone tell me that my other senses will all improve once I am completely blind.  I just smile and tell them I appreciate their concern.  It is the grateful, loving thing to do, while jumping down their throats and biting their heads off with a sharp retort certainly isn’t.  If they didn’t care so much they wouldn’t try to be helpful and I am just as responsible for my words as they are for theirs.

              As to that comment, it is just a myth.  It isn’t that suddenly your hearing will improve when you can no longer see.  It’s that suddenly you use it to better advantage.  When you could see who was approaching you, you didn’t need to hear the door open, judge the weight of the steps and length of the stride, and determine whose voice it was.  Now you must, so you do.  Even still sighted, I have always seen more than Keith has.  When you have poor vision, you concentrate harder and take care to notice more.  I see signs he never does.  I notice the color of cars and houses.  I know two oak trees flank a driveway, not just one, and I remember that when we go back to someone’s home the second time.  He just looks for the address, numbers I can never see from the car.

              All of that made me wonder about our spiritual senses.  Did you know you can find all five mentioned in a figurative context in the Bible?

              Jesus had a lot to say about people who are spiritually blind.  For judgment came I into this world, that they that see not may see; and that they that see may become blind. Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said unto him, Are we also blind? Jesus said unto them, If you were blind, you would have no sin: but now you say, We see: your sin remains, John 9:39-41. 
 
             The prophets also talk about spiritual blindness.  It isn’t just that some people cannot comprehend God’s word—they blind themselves to it when they do not want to see what it says.  Peter also mentions people who are spiritually near-sighted in 2 Pet 1:9.  You can find more passages about spiritual blindness than any of the other senses, and they should scare us all to death.  Be careful when, in a spiritual discussion, you find yourself uttering the words, “I just can’t see that.”  It may be that you have become spiritually blind.

              You could make a similarly long list of passages commanding us to “hear,” “listen,” “hearken,” and “take heed.”  Jesus said in the context of the parable of the sower, “Take heed what you hear,” and also, “Take heed HOW you hear.” 

              Just as some are “hard of hearing” physically, the prophets and preachers dealt with those who were hard of hearing spiritually.  Jeremiah and Ezekiel both were told to go preach to a people who would “refuse to hear.”  Do you think it cannot happen to us?  The Hebrew writer warns, “See that you do not refuse him who speaks,” 12:25, and Paul warns of those who have “itching ears.”  Keith has special medicine for exactly that thing.  Too bad it doesn’t work on the spiritually deaf as well.

              Do you think you can’t have a spiritual problem with your nose?  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 2 Corinthians 2:15-16.  The point is exactly the same—if you don’t like what becoming a follower of Christ means, it will stink to you, but to those who understand, who comprehend, who hear and see the true nature of things, he will smell wonderful.

              The Hebrew writer talks about those who have “tasted the heavenly gift…and the goodness of the word of God” 6:4,5.  If you don’t know people who think the Bible is anything but good, who believe that it is, in fact, the source of human misery, you haven’t tried too hard to spread it.  Always there are some who take a taste and spit it out with disgust—the same people who cannot see, cannot hear, and cannot smell the sweet aroma of Christ.

              And always there are those who cannot feel, whose hearts will never be pricked by the gospel, who are numb to its appeals.  Paul told the Athenians at the Areopagus, And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, Acts 17:26-27.  Not many of those people groped their way to the Lord in the end, but a few did.

              Did you notice something about all those spiritual senses?  When a physical sense leaves you, you learn to make better use of the ones that remain.  Unfortunately, when a spiritual sense leaves, the rest seem to follow suit.  If you won’t see, then you won’t hear.  You won’t let the grace of God touch your heart.  You won’t enjoy the smell of his sacrifice nor the taste of his love--if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, 1 Pet 2:3.

              Can you imagine a more miserable existence than never seeing a sunset, never hearing the sweet coo of a baby, never tasting a ripe strawberry, never smelling the yeasty aroma of bread fresh from the oven, or never feeling the warm sun on your back?  That’s exactly the kind of lives people live when their spiritual senses don’t work.  But you can fix them all with one easy cure—heal your heart.  God told Ezekiel that if the people repented he would give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26.  Once your heart can be touched, the other senses will come flooding back into your life, almost overwhelming you with new sensations.

              The five physical senses are a wonderful blessing from God.  The spiritual ones are even better.
 
In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah 29:18-19.
 
Dene Ward

               On April 22, 1884, Thomas Stevens left San Francisco riding a fifty inch high wheeler called a penny-farthing.  104 days later he reached Boston, the first cross-country bicycle ride.  It may not sound like much, but consider this:  there were few paved roads in the country at that time, few roads at all out west, and he had only gotten on a bike for the first time two weeks beforehand.
 
             I taught myself how to ride my bike in the backyard of a small cinder block house, a yard far larger than the average yard today, with a definite slope.  I had discovered that if I rode downhill, I picked up enough speed to remain upright longer than on a flat surface, and when I did fall, the grass was far softer than the street.  Every day I went a little further down that hill before the bike finally started to tip.  The day I made it all the way down, turned and came halfway back up the hill, I knew I was ready for the road, a long cul-de-sac with the same slope as the backyard.  Within a week I could ride that bike on any street in the neighborhood.

              After Keith and I married, we both had bikes, and after the boys came along, each bike had a child seat on the back of it.  By that point we lived in the country right next to the meetinghouse and the cemetery.  We often rode our bikes to visit folks, one boy perched on the back of each.  It made a great conversation starter when we pulled in to the homes of those who had recently visited the assembly, the elderly, or the young marrieds whom the church was in imminent danger of losing to the world.  Sometimes we rode as far as five miles one way, then back home an hour later.  The rural highways were largely empty and safe.

              I haven’t been on a bike in a long time now, but Keith rode his to work, usually twice a week, thirteen miles one way.  He is on his third bike, but with the price of gas, a new bicycle pays for itself quickly.

              We have had a lot of windy days this spring—extremely windy.  Twenty-five mile an hour winds with gusts up to forty.  One morning his ride to work was in the same direction that wind was blowing.  He made it in 55 minutes, instead of the usual 65-70.  The ride home was against the wind, and it took 92 grueling minutes.  His legs were practically jelly when he hopped off the bike.  If you have never ridden a bike against the wind, a real wind not just a breeze, you don’t understand exactly how difficult it can be.

              Except for this—if you remember your life before you became a Christian, it was exactly that way—against the wind.  No matter how hard you tried to be good, you failed.  No matter how much you wanted to turn your life around, when all you did was pedal into the wind you made little or no progress at all.

              Then Christ came along and “delivered you from this body of death” (Rom 7:24).  He put the wind behind you.  How else can you explain the fact that you have become something so much better than you ever were before?  Now you have help, a wind at your back gently pushing you along toward success. 

                If you aren’t seeing any progress, something is wrong.  Are you still
pedaling against the wind?  Then you are still trying to control things you cannot control; you are still trying to be something better by your own might.  Only when you give up and let the Lord guide your bike with the gentle nudge of a loving Savior, and his hand on the seat to keep you upright, will you ever begin to make progress against sin and the world.  You need to turn that bike around and stop pedaling against the wind.  What you can be and do with the help of Christ is limited only by your willingness to accept his friendly push.
 
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out... For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!...There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  Rom 7:15, 17-18, 22-8:1
 
Dene Ward

I think I saw it the first time during the Olympics coverage and it rankled immediately.

              "Fearless kids aren't born; they're made," says the new Universal Studios ad.  And how are they "made?"  Evidently, if you send your children to that amusement park, you will make them strong, fearless, and brave.  Are you kidding me?

              While it is true that fearless kids are not born, we are a pretty sad lot if we think turning them over to these folks will make them fit for a life that usually has its share of tragedy and hardship.  On the contrary, too many of our kids who are raised on amusement parks and entertainment in general tend to think themselves "entitled"—entitled to fun and toys of all sorts, even if it bankrupts the family or destroys any semblance of family time.  Then when the inevitable hardship occurs, they turn into unstable mush. 

             I would hope that Christian parents know better.  The Bible tells us how to be fearless, and it also tells us that it is our responsibility to raise those souls God has entrusted to us and no one else, certainly not Universal Studios.
You start by teaching them about God.  God is your shield, Gen 15:1, you tell them.  He is your light, your salvation, your stronghold, Psa 27:1.  He will not leave you or forsake you, Deut 31:6.  How can you be afraid when you know that?

               You are important to Him, important enough for Him to give His Son to save you, John 3:16.  He offers you redemption Isa 43:1.  He finds you valuable, Matt 10:31.  Like Daniel, if you remain true to him you are "greatly loved," Dan 10:19.  When was the last time you neglected something that valuable to you?  Never, probably, and that's the way it is with God, too.
He will hear your prayers, Dan 10:12, and he will bless you, giving you a hope others in the world do not have, 1 Pet 3:14.  Why should you "fear their fear" 1 Pet 3:14?

           Then you set the example yourselves.  Act like someone who is fearless, someone who trusts God in every situation, even when you do not understand and things look grim.  Show your child trust, show him courage, show him that you believe all those things you have been telling him all his life, and act like someone who isn't afraid of anything.  You aren't afraid because you know where you stand with God, and that is the key.  Why be afraid of anything else in this life if you know who is on your side, and where you are going when it's over?

             No amusement park in the world can make a fearless kid out of your child.  Only you can.  If you want to go there for a visit, that's fine, but don't fall for the guff.  You are the one God will hold accountable.
 
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isa 41:10)
 
Dene Ward

Most of the time people assume that because I am not in the middle of a crisis, everything is fine with these eyes of mine.  It is difficult to understand that they are surviving on “borrowed time,” that they have outlived the prognosticators, and that any day could be the beginning of the end for my vision.

              Occasionally someone still asks about the things I have been through, and I still answer them without thinking--until they begin to shudder, and I take pity and stop.  One experience in particular makes people shrink about half their size as their shoulders draw in and their chins drop to their chests with a groan.  Even the everyday isn’t pleasant.  Eye drops are some of the most painful medications in existence, and an evening headache is par for the course.

              “Is it worth it?” some asked.  In fact, one person tried to talk me out of any more surgeries.

              Is it worth it?  I began all these procedures before either of my grandsons was born.  Without them, I would never have seen those sweet, tiny faces.  Was it worth the pain and the terror I sometimes felt right before yet another sharp instrument or harsh chemical headed for my eyeballs?  Do I even need to answer that? My doctor thinks I am strong.  No—I was a grandmother in prospect, and a stubborn one at that.

              Some people obviously do not think the Lord is worth any sort of pain at all.  They give up when it gets difficult, and “difficult” can just mean they have problems with relationships, or they must give up activities they enjoy.  They have yet to encounter physical pain; the emotional pain was all it took.

              Keith and I have received threats in the mail, threats that the FBI took seriously enough to send an investigator to look into.  We have endured gossip and slander that spread a couple hundred miles.  We came within two days of being homeless because of, as Paul called them, “false brethren.”  Was it worth it? 

              As we enter old age, looking to the end is no longer a distant view, and that makes it comforting to know that we have a reward waiting for us precisely because we endured those things.  We have yet to face physical torture, and though I no longer consider that an impossibility in this country, I doubt it will reach that point before we are gone.  To have put up with any sort of pain for the Lord, emotional or otherwise, is a blessing.  Finally I understand how the disciples could “count it all joy” to give up or endure something for the Lord who gave up all for us, even if that something is trivial comparatively speaking.

              Was it worth it?  Yes, Heaven is worth it all, but gratitude should ultimately reach the point that merely being able to sacrifice for the Lord is worth even more.  True spiritual maturity revels in seeing our Lord and Savior, not in seeing Paradise; in the ability to serve a God we can see before us, not in being pain- and worry-free forever; in being beside the Father who loves us, not in enjoying one giant eternal party.

              Sometimes going through pain in life, pain that has nothing to do with your Christianity, opens your eyes to spiritual things.  Was that physical pain worth it?  Did it give you a longer life?  A better quality of life?  Did it give you more time with your loved ones?  Usually that is enough to make it “worth it.”  Now ask yourself, what can you make it through for the Lord?  Will it be worth it?  God has the ability to make it so, but only you can make the decision to endure.
 
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 1 Peter 4:12-16
             
Dene Ward

Another post in this guest writer's series on "One Another"

Another instruction we are given about how to get along with one another is to be kind to one another.

Eph. 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Paul starts by describing the way things SHOULDN’T be. Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice don’t belong in God’s church. Church should not be a place where everyone is fighting all the time. Unfortunately, most churches are made up of humans rather than angels. Most of us have seen the tension that sometimes exists whenever two ‘brothers’ are in the same room. Many of us have experienced or at least heard of the viciousness that often occurs in business meetings or even in elder’s meetings. What can we do about this? The first answer is that if everyone is dedicating themselves to serving their brethren and being in subjection to them (the subject of the last post) then fighting will rarely occur. The second answer is even more simple: be kind to each other.

Kindness needs no great definition. It just means doing good. Paul joins kindness with being tenderhearted. This carries with it the twin ideas of being compassionate and merciful. So, if you see your brother in need, you should want to help him out and if your brother has been offensive, your first inclination should be to overlook his fault, rather than pounding on him. That pairs quite well with the next thing mentioned, forgiving one another. Christians don’t hold grudges. Especially not against other Christians. To sum up, Paul says to do good for your brothers, look to help them out, show mercy and forgive when they are wrong.

There is more on this general topic in 1 Thess. 5:15 “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” Again, there is no place for vengeance or grudges in the Church. We are to forgive and love and be kind/do good. The point of interest to me in this passage is it doesn’t just say to do good, but to SEEK to do good. We aren’t to just take advantage of opportunities that might pop up, we are to actively look for chances to do good for our brethren. Much like Heb. 10:24-25 says we are to consider one another to figure out how to stir each other up to love and good works, exhorting one another, Paul tells the Thessalonians to seek ways to do good. I should always ask myself, “What does my brother need from me?”

Christianity is far more than showing up for church services and Bible study a few times a week.

How can I show kindness to my brothers and sisters? Peter tells us one way. 1 Pet. 4:9 “using hospitality one to another without murmuring”. Hospitality is not just having people over for dinner. In the days before hotels at every interstate exit, travelers were taken in and cared for by the people of the town. Often without any prior introduction. Hospitality was considered an honor and one of the highest virtues. Remember how Abraham hustled to prepare a meal for the traveling ‘men’ he saw walking in his direction and begged them for the honor of providing for them (Gen. 18)? Rarely do we get the chance to show this type of hospitality anymore. Travelers have reservations waiting for them. We can, however, be welcoming to any visitors that join us to worship. We can greet them, introduce them to our towns, answer any questions they may have, and generally make them feel like they’ve discovered a home away from home. Almost everybody has a story of an unfriendly church they encountered while traveling. We don’t want that story to be of us. And if we ever encounter people who have been stranded, we should be among the first to offer them assistance.

Another bit of kindness I can show is found in Romans 12:10 “In love of the brethren be tenderly affectioned one to another; in honor preferring one another.” We are to prefer one another. The word for “in honor” is also translated precious or price. We are to esteem our brethren as precious and put them first in our lives. Their needs come before the needs of worldly acquaintances. My free time is spent with them, instead of in the world. I send business their way. In every way socially, in business, in help given, in all ways, my brothers come first. In subjecting myself to them (last post) I put them before even myself.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
 
Lucas Ward

Not long before my first grandchild arrived in this world I told my daughter-in-law, “One day after he is born, maybe a week, maybe a month, and maybe more than once, you are going to sit down and bawl your eyes out.  You won’t know why and you will think, ‘What’s wrong with me?  This is supposed to be the happiest time of my life, and here I am crying.’ 

              “There is nothing wrong with you.  You are simply exhausted and overwhelmed.  You have carried a child nine months, you haven’t slept enough, not only since he was born, but for awhile before that because you were so uncomfortable.  You haven’t sat down except to feed him.  Yes, you love him with a ferocity you have never felt before, but he is one demanding little creature, and you will wonder, ‘What in the world was I thinking?’ which only adds to the guilt you feel.  If you don’t suddenly burst into tears a few times, you aren’t normal, and it doesn’t mean you are a bad mother.  In fact, it probably means just the opposite.”

              I told her all that because I wished someone had told me when I sat down and burst into tears one afternoon long ago.  We do our brothers and sisters no favors by pretending that life is one big fairy tale.  Instead, we seem to bottle up our own emotions and deny they ever existed, while telling them to “Shape up!”

              God put us here to help one another, and it is no help at all to act like we never had these problems.  Babies do not lie down and go to sleep when you need them to.  One word “fitly spoken” will not unravel a tangled conflict.  Sometimes spouses are inconsiderate and unkind and have no interest in talking about the problem and fixing it.  We have lived too long with sitcoms that solve all difficulties in less than thirty minutes and Lifetime movies that depict one intervention mending a twenty year rift in a relationship.  In real life it doesn’t happen that way.

              We once spent an hour with a man who thought himself “the dream husband,” trying to get him to see that his actions were nothing more than abusive control.  The hour ended with him in tears, determined to be better.  The next morning he was again blaming his wife for her lack of gratitude for all his “care.”  That is real life.  Problems that took years to develop will not disappear in a minute, or an hour, or even a week. 

              Our children learn nothing when we hide our disagreements.  Keith’s parents once said, “We never argue.”  When he was finally old enough to figure things out, he answered, “That’s because you both clammed up and walked away, not because you never got mad at each other.”  Children need to see how to resolve conflicts in a godly manner, or even how to apologize when the manner was less than godly. 

              When a young person struggles with sin and we tell him he never truly repented, when someone who is seriously ill becomes depressed and we say, “Where’s your faith?” when another is beset by tragedy and in her grief asks, “Why?” and all we can do is scold, we have failed them.  A brother is born for adversity, Prov 17:17.  When I do not comfort my brother in that adversity, when I am too proud to share the wisdom that has come from mistakes I have made, I have not fulfilled my purpose for being.

              It’s time we older Christians stopped endorsing fairy tales.  It’s time we told it like it is.  Life can be hard and it doesn’t necessarily mean you are at fault. Even when you are at fault, it doesn’t mean you are worse than anyone else, no matter what image others try to present.  Older Christians must realistically prepare the younger for life, and comfort them during their trials.  Job said that when we do not comfort those who need it our very relationship with God is in peril, 6:14,15. 

              God told Ezekiel, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel… and say to them…The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought…therefore you shepherds hear the word of the Lord…I am against the shepherds and I will require my sheep at their hands…Ezek 34:2,4,7,10.  He feels the same way about older Christians who present unrealistic expectations to the younger and then do not comfort and console when difficulties arise.

              I must stop pretending I am completely put together so I can help those whose lives are falling apart.
 
Dene Ward