Are you a bully sheep?

Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.

- Ezekiel 34:20-22

Notice how in this verse, God isn't judging between sheep and goats, but between sheep and sheep? Do you think that there will be bullies in Heaven? Yes and no. Certainly there are people who are bullies who are saved, but that God once we're on the other side of eternity, all of us will be Christ-like.

Be that as it may, this side of eternity God wants us to be patient and kind and consider others before ourselves, but we don't always, do we? It's one thing to be assertive and stand up for yourself, but it's another to be aggressive about only looking out for yourself.

At recent congressional town-hall meetings there have been people so bent on being heard that they're preventing everyone else from being heard too. It's one thing to make sure that your viewpoint is heard, but it's quite another to deliberately disrupt any discussions so that others are unable to ask questions of their representatives let alone share their viewpoints too.

Maybe you aren't into politics, or you agree with the people doing the screaming. But doesn't this scenario sound a lot like a school classroom? Or a checkout line in a store? Or the line at a fast food or coffee place? Or in a club or at church?

Do you ever push and shove with "flank and shoulder?" Or butt the weaker personalities around to get your way? How can you be more considerate of others without letting yourself get completely trodden upon yourself? How can you promote your own agenda without annihilating everybody else's?

"Scattering far and wide" suggests to me that there are people who don't feel welcomed in church or in the Kingdom of God for that matter, not because God doesn't love them, but because God's people have hurt them or made them feel like they aren't accepted.

Dear Lord,
Please help us (your sheep) to do our part to welcome other sheep to their Shepherd, rather than competing like pigs at a trough. Thank you for saving Your flock. Teach us not to ravage each other and forgive us when we do.
In Jesus name we pray, Amen

Cartoon

Look it up

"Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age...

...I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things (1 Corinthians 13:11). The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." ~BHO Inaugural address Jan 20, 2009

In other words, it's time to stop being selfish and short sighted and "Man-up," put on our "big-boy pants" and start looking out for our common best interest, not our personal comfort. High time. I say to this Amen.

Sheep Dip

This Sunday's Old Testament Lesson, Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 was fascinating to me. It seems to me that God wants to protect His children from bullies. It also sounds a little bit like sometimes, WE sheep ARE those bullies. Makes you wonder (& worry) sometimes whether you're a sheep or a goat (Matthew 25:31-46).

I say, when in doubt, try being humble and putting other people first. And since we all get things wrong, I say better to fault on the side of the Gospel than on the side of the Law. Does that make me a "Gospel Reductionist?" Then I'll "sin boldly," on the side of grace.

Ezekiel 34:
11 " 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness... 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice...

20 " 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, 22 I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.

Doom, Dispair, and Agony on Me...

Nicknames

Calm Down

New Christian Cartoon

For a while now I've been thinking that I should create a venue for religious commentary. My column says it's about "sex, politics, and religion," but it never deals with sex and only rarely deals with religion. I do have this religious blog, which as you may have noticed, often ends up dealing with politics a lot. But not in cartoon form. I have a cartoon blog, but not that necessarily ever deals with issues of faith.

So, here's an attempt. Just like with Mal•Adjusted, I can't promise anything, but I'd like to try to start drawing at least one a week. Look for them on Mondays (since Sunday is the day I'm most likely to be inspired either by the Lord, or the loony hypocrites who claim to follow Him.

These first two are pretty political in fact, being a donkey and an elephant. I'm afraid that you'll also find "h in wolves's Clothing" a little esoteric, that's because I want to encourage readers to think- and in the case of these first two, to look up a verse in Scripture. Because the best thing that any teacher or minister can say to you is "don't take my word for it, look it up!"

Here, I'll help you out THIS time- Ecc. 5: 10-15 is a great admonition for shallow, materialistic, upwardly mobile, day traders with a penchant for mortgage backed securities!

Whereas Ecc. 6:11 is something someone on the Straight Talk Express might say to someone more nuanced to let them know that they're not someone they'd like to have a beer with while watching hockey or NAASCAR.

Click here to see tons of my cartoons- http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2
Or http://tedstoons.blogspot.com

From the Book of Lutheran

Ash Wednesday

See more of my cartoons at http://tmal.multiply.com/photos/album/2

So what does God want? Our money? Our freedom? Of course not. Yet, He gave His very Son, so doesn't He deserve everything we have? He desires our hearts, our souls, and our minds, He loves us so much that He wishes that we'd love Him back, with all our strength. Yet all he asks is that we love mercy, do justly, and walk humbly with him (Micah 4:8).

I'd like to give up my anger, arrogance, lust, coveting, gluttony etc. etc. But the question is, am I doing it for Him, or as a form of "self-improvement?" And let's face it, I can't go sinless, even for just 40 days. Oh, I'll see how many days I can make it without coffee, no TV during certain hours, and I'll try to eat less and less often, but let's face it. God doesn't need me to go on a diet, what He wants, is for me to want Him and to recognize that I need Him. That's what having a contrite heart means. So what should we fast from?

This "verse and voice" from Sojourners' Magazine are certainly poignent:

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

- Isaiah 58:6-7

"The helping of others, the giving of alms, and all external goods don't calm the arrogance of the heart. Humility of the mind, the pain of repentance and the breaking of the will, however, humble the proud spirit." ~Elder Joseph the Hesychast

Me ka pule,
Pirate Ted