I have continued to read and re-read the Sermon on the Mount and today focused a little on the beatitudes. Well I should say prior to today’s reading I had a visitor who I deeply respect come by and in our conversation my visitor related the many kind things people had said to him about me. Anyhow – after the visit as I was diggning into the beatitudes and decided to extend myself over to Luke from Matthew…as I was reading Luke I was struck by this verse in contrast to my visit earlier:
Luke 6:26 "Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you,
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets."
for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets."
Interesting. As a youth pastor I can relate to the temptation to seek after this kind of response in the way the false prophets would – by providing the youth (my Israel) with what they want to hear and do rather than what I feel God is guiding me to say and do in relation to whatever their current situation is. It is a good perspective.
Harnessing Chaos 
wow. That is a pretty insightful awareness. I appreciated reading it and take it as a reminder of God\’s truth. It\’s kind of a \’grid shift\’ in a way for me. Thank you :).
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Pete,We\’ve been doing a study of the book of Luke over at Trinity and the Blessings and Woes of Jesus in Luke 6 blew me out of the water. The temptation for *every* pastor is to preach what itching ears want to hear, to be well-thought-of, to be liked. For if we\’re liked, we have job security, right?But the call of the pastor is not a call to job security, nor a call to anything other than being a steward of God\’s precious mysteries–His holy Word, His Sacraments.It makes the life of a pastor scary, to say the least. I am frightened of my work at times. God\’s Word says, "thus-and-so" and I know that to say, "thus-and-so" will only cause anger and upsetness in the congregation. But it is God\’s Word and must be said. It is the calling.
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