the man runs away

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." - John 10:11-13

This chapter makes me thinking about many things I am doing right now at school, ministry and also my own life journey. Well, first of all, it is really encouraging for me to hear from you talking about yourself as a good shepherd who will always take care of me, your flock and even will lay down your life just for me (I think you already did once, right?)

Life is just like the green pasture. It looks nice, grass everywhere, cute sheeps around. But behind that all, the wolf is always there too waiting for every chances to attack. The part about the wolf attacking reminds me about the nature of devil and all the outcome of his nasty behaviour. The devil really likes to scare me even more with the already scary things in this life such as school, career, marriage, children, and, for some people ONLY, women. The next one is pretty apparent too, the devil always tries to scatter your flocks away.How? Relentlessly, he always tries to make division between us, always makes me discouraged and wanted to run away from my work and to give up. The devil would even tries to chew me alive if possible.

Oh Jesus, you encouraged me, then you reminded me, and now you challenged me. You told me that you are a good shephard, and you took good care of your flocks. Life is tough I have you as my shepherd, you call me by name and you will lead me home safely through this life. You have entrusted me with responsibilities and works. Now the question is, when tough times come would I run away? Would I be a hired hand who cares nothing or would I be a good shepherd?

the most important comodity

Ken,

I just want to share a quote from Friedman. I think I am still standing on the same alignment with Friedman in his attitude toward American ideal and the Bush administration. America is a country of hope, and I believe, hope together with faith is the only sure thing in this life.

"Every other word out of this administration's mouth now is "terror" or "terrorism." We have stopped exporting hope, the most important commodity America has. We now export only fear, so we end up importing everyone else's fears right back.
Yes, America faces real threats, and this administration, to its credit, has been serious about confronting them. But America also has many more friends, actual and potential, and nurturing them is also part of our national security. We cannot spend so much time talking about our enemies that we forget to listen to our friends, because without them, ultimately, we cannot win either a war of terrorism or a war of ideas." - 'On Listening' by Thomas Friedman, New York Times, Oct 16, 2003.

isn't love

"Love wasn't put in your heart to stay. Love isn't love until you give it away"
Michael W. Smith