After last week and investigating two new church lawsuits (Sovereign Grace Ministries and Calvary Chapel Visalia), I think I feel like the sheep in this video. This video is just under 6 minutes. The end is especially fun!
Special thanks to reader, Sheep-Dog, for sending the video link to me a while back :)
Thanks
ReplyDeleteI needed that.
I definitely got 'sheered' (that's a nice way to put it) by the church I left…. to the tune of tens of thousands of $$$, not to mention the emotional toll on my life.
ReplyDeleteThe kind of "sheered" that you refer to really grieves my heart. Sadly I read a lot of it.
DeleteI don't want you to lose hope, though, because I know some pastors who really do care for the sheep even when the sheering business is not easy.
I think that’s called being fleeced.
Deletejlo - Yes, it is fleeced and sheared. And now I need to fix the typos. oops!
DeleteKen - I really love your comment. I think I was emotionally spent after dealing with people who had bad bad experiences with SGM and CC and was thinking about what those sheep felt like being sheered. You have to admit it did not look too comfortable. But you're right - the people who were sheering them were not hurting them. They also were not self-seeking, but were taking care of what needed to be done. And they also mentioned trying to improve their methods - not for their sake, but for the sheep's.
ReplyDeleteA couple of things that stood out for me:
ReplyDeleteThe sheep don’t particularly like it, but the shepherd knows what’s best.
They know how to apply just the right amount of pressure allowing the sheep to remain comfortable.
They know when to pull the skin taunt so that the sheep is not cut during the sheering.
The sheep remain calm during the process.
The sheep feel relief and joy after the burden of their wool is gone.
If church discipline looked like this, we wouldn’t have so many walking wounded.
That's a great analogy!
DeleteI agree, Shannon, it's beautiful.
Deletejlo,
ReplyDeleteYou have it right. We had "woolies" on the farm when I was young. I never sheered one, but I watched the professionals do it. Sheep feel so much better when it is done. It's like us taking off our winter coat when summer rolls around and temperatures go up into the 70s or 80s.
We live where it is cold in winter, so they need their coat during the cold months. Those lambs are always just so cute!
BAAA BAAA
JA,
Thanks for the Email. Quite strange how I visited the blog last night and you emailed me today. --- Are you stocking me? -- ROFL
Sheep-Dude - - - if and when I stalk you, you will know it :)
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