Showing posts with label flock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flock. Show all posts

Friday, December 4, 2015

Here's Why So Many Biblical Leaders Were Shepherds ✡ "A Shepherd with his Brothers" - ISRAEL365

Joseph was seventeen years old and he was a shepherd with his brothers by the flock.

GENESIS (37:2)

יוֹסֵף בֶּן שְׁבַע עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה רֹעֶה אֶת אֶחָיו בַּצֹּאן

בראשית לז:ב

yo-sayf ben sh'-va es-ray sha-na ha-ya ro-e et e-khav ba-tzon

Shabbat Inspiration

This week's Torah portion (Genesis 37-39) brings us to the story of Joseph, a shepherdamong his brothers. It is no coincidence that so many of our Biblical heroes were shepherds.The simple profession was ideal for two reasons. On the one hand, the abundance of time for quiet reflection and meditation allowed the shepherd to develop an intimate relationship with the Lord. Additionally, shepherds who excelled in their work acquired a deep sensitivity to the needs of each and every sheep in their flock. What he learned as a young shepherd influenced Joseph to become a paradigm for all future generations in the service of God and the service of man. Learn more in the Israel Bible Reading Plan, where we follow the weekly Torah portions read in the synagogue and provide important overviews, insightful topics and guided discussion questions that take place in a “virtual classroom.”

Nov. 29, 1947: A Vote that Changed the World

On November 29, 1947, the UN voted to end the British Mandate in the Holy Land. A vote that lasted a mere 3 minutes changed the course of history and brought 2000 years of Jewish exile to an end.

Weekly Torah Portion:
From the Sale of Joseph
to the Seeds of Moshiach

Two divergent stories are found in this week's parsha: the sale of Joseph by his brothers, followed by the story of Tamar and Judah. Our Sages teach a beautiful lesson about the juxtaposition of these stories in the Torah.

Book: "The Mystical Meanings of Dreams"

Dream play a prominent role in the biblical account of Joseph's life. In "The Mystical Meanings of Dreams" by Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman, the reader is taken into the concealed realms of the mind and the subconscious, as well as into the hidden dimensions of the Torah, in order to understand the origin and significance of dreams. By comprehending the psychological and prophetic nature of our dreams, as well as analyzing the many dreams revealed in the Bible, we learn how to understand dreams and use them to nurture our own spiritual and emotional growth. Paperback, 160 pages

Today's Israel Photo

Today's fabulous photo by Zev Rothkoff brings the Bible to life! A modern-day shepherd is overlooking the 4,000 year old city of Shechem, where the biblical Joseph is buried.

Thank You

Today's Scenes and Inspiration is sponsored by Connie Hanson of Pocatello, Indiana. Todah rabah!

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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Ron Cantor - "Even 'God’s Anointed' Leaders Can Abuse the Flock" (CHARISMANEWS)

Even 'God’s Anointed' Leaders Can Abuse the Flock

Ron Cantor
Ron Cantor
“It doesn’t really matter what you say I have done. God has called me here, and you can’t stand in His way.”
According to a friend of mine, these were the words a leader of a congregation used as he responded to a congregant, who sought to challenge him on issues of deep concern—issues of sin.  
It reminded me of something that happened while I was in Bible school. I had been attending a church on Long Island led by a dynamic preacher. Everyone loved his fiery teachings. He was truly anointed. However, I became concerned when, during a service, he physically attacked an usher. The usher had laid his hand on someone, and the wife of the pastor removed his hand, as he was there to usher, not to pray. The usher reacted angrily to the pastor’s wife, and both he and the pastor had to be physically restrained. 
I stopped going to this congregation. A few weeks later, some of my college buddies came back to the campus with glowing reports of Pastor Phil’s (not his real name) latest message. “You’ve got to hear it, Ron!” they crowed.
I popped the cassette into my Walkman (it was 1986!) and listened as Pastor Phil screamed at the people and blamed them for this and that. I did not sense anointing but human anger. 
A few weeks later, I was told that Pastor Phil prophesied over a young lady in the church, just after he returned from a four-day prayer retreat, in which it was discovered he brought the very same young lady with him. Someone saw them return together, and Pastor Phil was confronted regarding his adulterous affair.
When the elders sat down with Phil and his wife for this confrontation, the very first words out of his wife’s mouth were, “He is still anointed.”
Most women would have hit him, yelled at him and called him a cheating #$%^—yes, even believing women. But this wife's greater concern was for her husband's authority in the congregation—that it would not be forfeited. While this was an elder-led team, she had much freedom as the senior pastor’s wife and loved being in that position. 
In her mind, Phil was God’s anointed, even if that anointing did not help him with his zipper! It was like she was saying, "David committed adultery, and he was still king. Who are these elders to remove us from power? We are God’s anointed!"
The theory that leaders can only be removed by God comes from 1 Samuel 26:9-11, where David warns his trusted friend Abishai not to kill King Saul:
"'Don’t destroy him! Who can lay a hand on the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? As surely as the Lord lives,' he said, 'the Lord himself will strike him, or his time will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish. But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord's anointed'” (NIV).
A Dangerous Doctrine
From this text, some leaders have derived a very dangerous doctrine regarding a senior leader and accountability. According to this doctrine, the senior leader is understood as having a position like the ancient kings of Israel. He is "God’s anointed"; therefore, he is not to be removed by any process of men—no matter what he does. He is beyond congregational discipline. While he may have elders or a board, they are advisers only, and all decisions are his to make. Within his sphere, he is the final authority (or, as I call it, dictator).  
If he abuses people or they do not like his decisions, they have two choices. They can either submit to his leadership and entrust the situation to God, or they can quietly leave the community. In any case, they are to make no waves or protest in their leaving. Those who do are labeled rebellious troublemakers and often become the target of malicious rumors and gossip.
In these circles, the authority of the senior leader is taught in very absolute terms. We are told, “Touch not God’s anointed.” I believe it is a destructive and devilish doctrine, and people should separate from those who teach it. 
To be clear, we should honor and respect those who have embraced the yoke of leadership, but leaders should be held to an even higher standard than those in their congregations: 
"Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly" (James 3:1).
The Leader Is Not a King
In the New Testament, congregations are not led by kings. Yes, I know in many circles the pastor and his wife are treated like royalty. Some even refer to the pastor’s wife as first lady. 
Just this morning, a pastor friend was telling me of a young elder who said, “Now that I am an elder, people will respect me.”
My friend told him that it was quite the opposite: “Now that you are an elder, you give up your rights in order to serve.”
In Hebrew, the word for minister (mesharet) is the same word for servant. A leader is called to serve, not to be crowned. Yeshua said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35).
New Testament congregations should be governed by teams of elders under the direction of a senior leader who is accountable to the team. Both Titus and Timothy, who were senior leaders, were encouraged to appoint elders (Titus 1:5; 1 Tim. 3:1-13). And elders govern the congregation:
The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching” (1 Tim. 5:17, emphasis added).
David Had a Conflict of Interest
One of the reasons why David did not take Saul’s life is because he knew with Saul out of the way, he would be the new king. Therefore, in killing Saul, he would have been taking his destiny into his own hands. He wanted God to make him king—not to take the kingdom by the strength of his sword. 
Saul did not declare himself God’s anointed.
It most cases today, it is the senior leader who declares himself to be God’s anointed and therefore untouchable by man. In the case of David and Saul, it is Saul’s enemy, David, who calls Saul God’s anointed. It is a dangerous thing for a man to declare himself God’s anointed. 
In Bible school, I had the opportunity to meet the great English Bible teacher David Pawson. After one of his messages (he was teaching all week), I was deeply moved. I felt like I had heard from a prophet. I walked up to Mr. Pawson and asked, “Are you a prophet?”
He wisely said with his beautiful British accent, “That is not for me to say, but you.” And he walked away.
I was blown away. He was right. You don’t become a prophet or God’s anointed because you post it on your Facebook page or business card. You can’t declare yourself an apostle, as did the drunk and abusive character that Robert Duvall played in The Apostle. No, others affirm the gift of God in your life.
So let us be done with this wicked doctrine. It is inspired from below. May God raise up strong leaders who are secure enough to be accountable to their elders. If you find yourself in a situation where a senior leader refuses to be accountable because he is "God's anointed," my advice is to run! Find a congregation that has clear standards of morality for its leaders.
Ron Cantor is the director of Messiah’s Mandate International in Israel, a Messianic ministry dedicated to taking the message of Jesus from Israel to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Cantor also travels internationally teaching on the Jewish roots of the New Testament. He serves on the pastoral team of Tiferet Yeshua, a Hebrew-speaking congregation in Tel Aviv. His newest book, Identity Theft, was released April 16. Follow him at @RonSCantor on Twitter.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Israel's Hula Valley: A Bird Watcher's Paradise

Israel's Hula Valley: A Bird Watcher's Paradise

 
 
AGAMON HAHULA, Israel -- About half a billion birds migrate through Israel's Hula Valley twice each year. It's a paradise for bird watchers, who come by the thousands to one of the world's major migration routes.
 
"This is one of the richest sites in the world for bird-watching," Omri Boneh, with the Jewish National Fund, told CBN News.

"Israel is a sort of junction between three continents and birds that are essentially trying to avoid high mountains [and] great expanses of water, they funnel through very specific flyways," Ben-Gurion University Prof. Reuven Yosef said.

Some of these migrating birds fly 2,000 miles in just three to five days without a meal. They fly from Europe to Asia to Africa. For some, Israel is the halfway point -- part of a 3,700-mile stretch from Syria to Mozambique.

The Bible mentions the bird migration as part of a metaphor:
Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons; and the turtledove and the swift and the thrush (crane) observe the time of their migration. (Jeremiah 8:7 NASV)

Some 400 species of birds stop for refueling, and a fraction even winter here, including 30,000 to 45,000 cranes.

Listening to them talk, one can understand why King Hezekiah said he "chattered like a crane." In fact, it's not just noise. Experts say crane parents and chicks can actually recognize each other's voices.

Twenty years ago, there were hardly any cranes here because the natural swamps were drained for farmland. The ground didn't work well for agriculture, so experts restored part of the lake.

"And the answer was essentially to give it back to nature and so the project has gone sort of in a circle and we're back to trying to renovate, trying to sort of reproduce what existed here in the past," Prof. Yosef said.
That and a special feeding project brought the cranes back, along with the visitors.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for us to educate people about birds, about nature," Boneh explained. "I think that you don't need to be a bird lover when you are coming here, but you are definitely a bird lover when you are going out of this site."

Visitors to the Agamon Hahula Reserve can ride the safari wagon into the midst of the cranes. Guides say there's no place else in the world to see so many cranes in such a small area.

Bird watchers come from all over the world to see the phenomenon.

"I don't even care if you like birds, you have to experience this and come and see thousands and thousands and thousands of cranes," Joan Goodman, from Washington, D.C., said.

"I'm an amateur birder," Phil Waldman from Southern California, said. "If you're a birder, I don't think there's a better place you could find to come to see the variety of species, as well as the atmosphere and the beauty of the place; [it] is unrivaled in any place in the world."

For now, these cranes are getting ready for the long flight back to Russia or Finland for the summer. But they'll be back next year, along with the bird lovers.