Kevin DeYoung on Christian Eldership.  What was most striking perhaps was his level of Biblical knowledge.

He writes that the word for elder - overseer, presbyter, shepherd - is used through the New Testament interchangeably.  The key image for him is of the shepherd:

- they have charge of the flock

- make sure they are feeding

- not biting each other

- wolves are not coming in

- they are not getting lost,

- and to find the ones who struggling and to carry them

It's God's way of caring for the flock.

Also about gentleness, patience, authority, looking out for the flock.

A key passage is Acts 20 where the terms are used interchangeably.

It is always good to remember that the elder is part of the flock first of all - the way that Jesus welcomes back the disciples - "Rejoice that your name is written in heaven"  - we always ought to be more excited that we are sheep than that we are shepherds.

Told by Sally Foster-Fulton at a conference, asking the question, "Is this a true story?"

The 100th Monkey

A story about social change.

By Ken Keyes Jr.

The Japanese monkey, Macaca Fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years.

In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkey liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant.

An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too.

This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists. Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.