“God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (I John 4:7)
As a publisher, I seek books that demonstrate the love of God … stories ever fresh, personal and creative … stories of a love that has power to change lives and change history. Many Cladach books tell of lives changed by this love.
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In Come, Stay, Celebrate! we read of John and Judith Galblum Pex loving people in Israel—all kinds of people—into the kingdom of God and his Son.
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In On Kitten Creek, we read how God came into the midst of a people devoted to him in a place consecrated to him, and he worked in unexpected ways to make his love tangible.
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In Journeys to Mother Love we read how love and forgiveness can overcome and heal the wounds and conflicts in mother-child relationships.
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In Everywhere I Look, we read how everyday experiences and observations reveal the pervasiveness of God’s love to everyday people.
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In All We Like Sheep, we read how God used flocks of sheep to teach two shepherdesses about his shepherd-heart of love.
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In Remembering Softly, we read poetic expressions of moments when God’s love seeped, rushed, jolted, flashed, and poured into a searching heart.
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In Creation of Calm, we read how God’s love transformed pain and loss into beautiful art that brings calm to others caught in life’s storms.
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In Hostage In Taipei, we read a true, extreme account of God’s love working through believers literally caught in the crossfire, eventually overcoming violence and hate.
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In Face to Face, we read of Love personified who, unlike everyone else, looked at a woman broken and spiritually oppressed, saw her heart, and released her with his words of love.
Your words on the love of Jesus strike a deep chord in my heart, Cathy. Each book you have mentioned here reflects a different perspective of that love, and elicits thoughtful contemplation on what is really meant by love. My own experience of Christ’s love was given an incredible impetus by what happened to my family and me in Taipei. I had been profoundly aware of God’s grace from the day I accepted Jesus as my Saviour when I was a young man. But it took a life-threatening crisis in distant Taiwan for me to gain an inkling of God’s love at work in that intense and terrifying situation. What I had tried to teach my children, was suddenly taught to me when I saw that love does not necessarily mean responding in the way we want. Some lessons are learnt gently; others are much harsher.
That was a harsh lesson, indeed, Mac! Thanks for your response to my post. Has it been 20 years since the hostage crisis? And yet the story is timeless. I think anyone who reads “Hostage In Taipei” might ask himself: How would I react in such a sudden, deadly, terrifying situation? You express so eloquently how, as a trained paratrooper and army officer, every instinct was to fight and protect your family, but you found yourself in a helpless situation. The National Geographic docudrama on your hostage experience showed it so effectively. Unforgettably moving is the moment where, in the midst of gunfire, etc., you quoted the 23rd Psalm. … Then when you and Anne responded later in love and forgiveness to the hostage-taker, so that he even accepted Christ before he was executed, … truly that was more-than-human love!
Isn’t it amazing that we have a God that not only talks about love but who demonstrated true, undefiled love by committing Himself to live within the confines of humanity and to then die for all? He is the Great Shepherd, the lover of our souls, the one and only answer to all mankind’s problems!
Marilyn Bay, co-author All We Like Sheep, Lessons from the Sheepfold
Yes, it is amazing. And thank you, Marilyn, for listening to the Lord and writing “All We Like Sheep” — helping us realize even more what it means that Jesus is not only “the Good Shepherd”, as he called himself, but also “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Most people nowadays live in towns and cities and don’t have the opportunity to live so close to the land as you do, to raise lambs, herd flocks of sheep, etc. Thanks for sharing your stories in a way that helps us experience that life vicariously and gain deeper understanding and appreciation for the many words of scripture that speak of shepherds and sheep. Plus, the stories you and your mother share about tending your sheep are fun to read.
By the way, are you still sheep-herding?
I think the title of the book you first mentioned is interesting. One of my first devotionals was published in a book called “Come Celebrate” by Aglow. It was about God purifying us. (As Pure Gold.)
Judith M Vander Wege: Thanks for commenting. God’s gracious, sanctifying work in us is something to celebrate, isn’t it? God restoring his image in us! I’m sure Cladach authors could testify to this ongoing work of grace in our hearts and lives.
Judy Pex’s book, on the other hand, shows the practical working out of God’s call and grace and how God can use people totally committed to Him to bring many into His kingdom. “Come, Stay, Celebrate!” is a memoir sharing the wonderful story of her and John’s conversion, how they came to be Israeli believers in Jesus. The story of their lives and work running a hostel in southern Israel is truly inspiring. Travelers and others “Come” from all over the world to “Stay” in the hostel. While there they have opportunity to “Celebrate” the messiah in worship, Bible study, fellowship, conversation, meals. The book celebrates all God has done–and is doing–through this ministry and many, many people coming to faith.