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Shepherd to Shepherds

Home
About
Meet Stan
Where Are We Now?
Hearing His Call
A Shepherd's Thoughts
"Working Resources"
Take Action
January 15, 2021
Will
Stan Johnson
Whose will ...?

Fundamentally, most all of us, regardless the size of our respective spheres of influence, seek to dominate, seek to establish our wills as supreme within that sphere.

Whose will ...?
Stan Johnson
November 5, 2021
Growth

Growing?

Stan Johnson
November 5, 2021
Growth
Growing?

Oh! he was a very broken man, but through the decades that broken man has spoken to me in my own brokenness.

Comment
Stan Johnson
October 30, 2021

Burdened?

Stan Johnson
October 30, 2021
Burdened?

“Give me a stout heart to bear my own burdens. Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others.”

Comment
Stan Johnson
October 22, 2021

Silencing ...?

Stan Johnson
October 22, 2021
Silencing ...?

Ironically, seeking to avoid this interior din, my American tendencies encourage: “Arise. Turn on your computer. Fix that hinge. Get on the treadmill. Do something—do Amazon.”—in essence encouraging me to return to the din I would escape.

Comment
Stan Johnson
October 1, 2021
George Bernard Shaw

Appearances?

Stan Johnson
October 1, 2021
George Bernard Shaw
Appearances?

George Bernard Shaw sought to highlight the emptiness of aristocratic life, hidden behind a veil of glamor and glitz. With thought, even though My Fair Lady encourages us to suspend our disbelief, it too conveys the same message: money and manners, erudition and eloquence give the appearance of life, but only the appearance.

Comment
Stan Johnson
September 24, 2021
Love

Friends ... forever?

Stan Johnson
September 24, 2021
Love
Friends ... forever?

Friends share a common interest, appreciation, or bond that ties them together; the depth and strength of this bond is only as strong or as deep as the tie which holds them together.

Tagged: Friend

Comment
Stan Johnson
September 10, 2021
Word

Voices ...

Stan Johnson
September 10, 2021
Word
Voices ...

We too have addictive behaviors, although we call them necessary “habits” or “routines:” a matter of survival in our information-crazed world. We might miss something … (like quiet?).

Comment
Stan Johnson
September 3, 2021
Love, Suffering

Seeing Less and More

Stan Johnson
September 3, 2021
Love, Suffering
Seeing Less and More

It’s not as though what others do or do not do becomes unimportant, or even justifiable; instead, it’s a matter of framing their omissions or commissions in the light of their sufferings.

Tagged: Sight

Comment
Stan Johnson
August 27, 2021
End Times

The End ...?

Stan Johnson
August 27, 2021
End Times
The End ...?

With covid, are we seeing the rise of a worldwide Government, signaling the end? Without doubt, recent events cause us to wonder, even as previous generations asked: Is Hitler the Antichrist? or, is Pope Leo X the Antichrist? or, Is Domitian the Antichrist?

Tagged: End, Last Times

Comment
Stan Johnson
August 20, 2021
Freedom

Freedom for ...?

Stan Johnson
August 20, 2021
Freedom
Freedom for ...?

The word “freedom” is incomplete without a simple preposition, which provides definition and direction. That is, is it “freedom from,” or “freedom for”?

Tagged: love, enslavement

Stan Johnson
August 13, 2021
Humankind, love

Ant-Man?

Stan Johnson
August 13, 2021
Humankind, love
Ant-Man?

As the audience, we are satisfied, when “those in white” prevail over “those in black”; and yet, as a viewing audience, somewhere within us we cannot fail to register: something is horribly wrong within our world and we want just revenge.

Tagged: Revenge, Justice, Ant-Man

Comment
Stan Johnson
July 30, 2021
John 8

Sorrow & Forgiveness

Stan Johnson
July 30, 2021
John 8
Sorrow & Forgiveness

His was the failure to truly own and admit what he had done: he was wrong and had badly wronged others, but no one held him accountable. Likewise, he never really received forgiveness.

Tagged: sorrow, forgiveness

Comment
Stan Johnson
July 9, 2021
love

Happiness?

Stan Johnson
July 9, 2021
love
Happiness?

With the watchful eye of love, he saw his son; ran to him; embraced and kissed him (no doubt meeting the son’s deepest need); and then regaled him with robe, ring, and sandals (no doubt meeting the son’s lesser desires).

Tagged: Happiness, Longings

Stan Johnson
June 25, 2021
Psalm 23

African darkness ...?

Stan Johnson
June 25, 2021
Psalm 23
African darkness ...?

“I can’t wait for the morn, when we can load the 4x4 with bags of grain, so our children and their families can eat. The Good Shepherd moves among us.”

Tagged: Africa, Darkness

Comment
Stan Johnson
June 14, 2021
Pain

Whispered pleasure ...?

Stan Johnson
June 14, 2021
Pain
Whispered pleasure ...?

What we’d miss if we had not been given these senses with their attending pleasures!—and of course, there are perhaps the greater pleasures of heart and mind, which in many regards transcend our physical senses: the pleasure of planning, building, singing, reading, painting, baking, running, writing, etc., all in relation to others.

Tagged: Pleasure, C.S. Lewis

Comment
Stan Johnson
May 31, 2021
History

Our stories ...

Stan Johnson
May 31, 2021
History
Our stories ...

By the rehearsing and/or retelling of our stories, the histories of our lives, both we and others gain personal knowledge of ourselves, of one another, and of our world.

Tagged: Stories, Remembering

Comment
Stan Johnson
May 23, 2021
Community

Together

Stan Johnson
May 23, 2021
Community
Together

They recognized that this new community was a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and undoubtedly multi-generational wonder. Their care for all, “inside” and “outside,” corroborated their teaching and fellowship, their bread-breaking and prayer.

Tagged: Together, One Heart-mind

Comment
Stan Johnson
May 16, 2021
Fear

Fearful???

Stan Johnson
May 16, 2021
Fear
Fearful???

Because of covid, many have observed: Americans are afraid, responding accordingly. Here too, the underlying issue becomes: Is this a fear, which paralyzes, or a fear, which motivates positive change?

Tagged: FDR, Fear, Fear not

Comment
Stan Johnson
May 9, 2021
Labor

A Restful Yoke

Stan Johnson
May 9, 2021
Labor
A Restful Yoke

His rest means our being yoked together with Him (i.e. a double yoke), or our wearing a yoke (i.e. a single yoke), especially shaped and fitted to our individual uniqueness.

Tagged: Rest, Yoke

Comment
Stan Johnson
April 30, 2021

Resting up ...

Stan Johnson
April 30, 2021
Resting up ...

I will give you rest … [for] you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Stan Johnson
April 9, 2021
Blindness

Seeing and Hearing ...

Stan Johnson
April 9, 2021
Blindness
Seeing and Hearing ...

As they now beheld him, his parents saw and heard a cause for fear …

Tagged: Seeing, Hearing

Comment
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