During a recent mission trip with a team from Good Shepherd, I had the extraordinarily good fortune to sit once again under the teaching of James-Michael Smith.
James-Michael is a former staffer and current member of Good Shepherd while also developing an itinerant teaching ministry. In India, he is a certifiable rock star to the pastoral networks we support.
His equipping for our pastors centered on the book of Jonah. I captured five of his best jewels and offer them to you here:
- Jonah is the only book in the bible named after the bad guy.
2. Jonah understands and likes grace for himself but hates it for everyone else.
3. The violence that people commit leads to the violence they suffer.
4. The Ninevites are the prodigal son and Jonah is the elder brother.
5. Will you look at your enemies through the eyes of God or the eyes of Jonah?
6. We don’t know who wrote Jonah, but how wonderful it would be if it turns out to be Jonah himself — an older, wiser, humbler Jonah who writes it after years of reflection and places himself as the story’s bad guy?
Here is James-Michael with friend and translator, Satis.
