Tress and I are going to the footy this weekend. Pies v Hawks. We’ve been Hawthorn fans since we moved here and decided to go with a “local” team. So for a few years I quietly watched a handful of Hawks games every season, until it got a bit more exciting when we won the premiership in 2008. The heartache of losing to the Swans in the Grand Final last year has ebbed now. It was again frustrating to see them turn a 5 goal lead at half time to a loss against Geelong in the first round but the win against West Coast last week was exhilarating. After kiddo and friends’ trek to the MCG last week for the Pies v Blues game, I thought it is our turn this weekend. Very exciting.

 Meanwhile – someone just sent this through, with a quick reply from yours truly…

 From: Teh, Ian

Sent: Friday, 12 April 2013 2:52 PM

To: [ ];[ ]; [ ]

Subject: RE: In the lead up to the weekend

 

Good one, thanks [ ].

 

Consistent with what the Gospels reflect. I think this passage actually talks about the (first) coming of Jesus. God has always wanted to dwell among men and the first creation through Adam was intended for man to represent God’s presence among his creation but of course we all know what happened in Eden so Jesus comes to fulfill that original plan. Alas, that was God’s plan all along – to really dwell among men as a man! And in so doing showed us what the real Kingdom of God was meant to look like and how it was meant to behave.

 

At my present circumstances I am inclined to look at this passage in a different, parallel context but that would be a distortion I think…

 

How have you been?

 

 

 

Regards

IAN TEH

T: 03 9200 4897

M: 0477 700 602

 

From: [ ][mailto:[ ]@[ ]]

Sent: Friday, 12 April 2013 2:46 PM

To: [ ]; Teh, Ian; [ ]

Subject: In the lead up to the weekend

 

Ezekiel 34:1-16

34 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD:10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

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. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 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