360: Podcast Showcase – Pause To Consider

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Welcome to the good Chris
Adelphian Talks podcast.

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This is brother Brian.
This week’s talk is another one

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of the spotlighted Chris
Adelphian podcasts that we think

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you would also benefit from
being tuned into.

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This one is brother Sam Taylor’s
Pause to Consider, which she’s

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run for a few years now on and
off.

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And the format is a very focused
devotion, usually no longer than

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8 to 10 minutes, that plays off
of famous phrases or more

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commonly, historical interesting
stories as a mirror to a larger

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and more impactful spiritual
lesson.

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Now, this podcast and the
perspective that Brother Sam

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brings out has inspired many
other talks.

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I find that of this particular
series, many of them are repeat

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listens because the stories just
stick with you so easily.

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And if you listen to one, once
you get into a bunch of them,

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you’ll see what I mean.
So the one that you’re about to

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listen to is called Of Bombers
and Biases, which refers to a

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flawed logic about plane damage
in World War 2 and how we can

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overlook the needs of those in
our community that don’t fit the

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typical mold.
Brother Sam speaks from the

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heart like few can, and I hope
you’re able to appreciate well

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lesson he’s trying to bring out.
This was a really hard choice to

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narrow down.
So I’d also highly recommend

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that if you enjoyed this one,
immediately go and listen to the

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next one after this, which is
enduring the spiritual siege.

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So as always, we hope that this
strengthens your faith and

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brightens your day.
From the podcast, pause to

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consider Brother Sam Taylor of
Bombers and Biases.

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Pause to consider the podcast
where you put your busy day on.

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Pause to consider spiritual
encouragement and wisdom on your

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walk towards God’s Kingdom.
Thanks for joining me.

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I’m Sam Taylor, here to get you
thinking about the Word of God.

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At the height of World War 2,
the Allied powers conducted

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studies on how to reduce losses
of their bomber aircraft to

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enemy fire.
The initial plan was to study

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the planes that made it back to
base to study their damaged

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areas.
But it was Abraham Vold, a

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Jewish Hungarian mathematician
with the Statistical Research

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Group at Columbia University,
that came up with a novel idea.

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Vold recognized that
survivorship bias was skewing

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the data, as the only planes
they could study were the ones

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that returned.
Instead of reinforcing the

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damaged areas that were proven
to handle damage, he proposed

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they reinforce the areas of the
planes with the least amount of

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damage as planes.
Damage in those areas weren’t

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coming back by considering the
absence of information from

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destroyed planes that couldn’t
be represented.

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Abraham Vald’s understanding of
survivorship bias potentially

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save the lives of thousands of
Allied pilots and crewmen.

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Survivorship bias distorts our
worldview by having us believe

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success is achievable just by
working hard.

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When we hear about a famous
singer who had nothing but

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followed their dreams until they
succeeded, well, we don’t hear

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the countless stories of untold
thousands of people who also

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tried to follow their dream, but
they couldn’t catch a break.

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By seeing one person become
successful, we’re led to believe

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their story tells the whole
picture, that they somehow tried

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harder or deserve success more.
And we could succeed too, if we

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just tried.
And if we just proved it, we

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deserved it.
But the most accurate and

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important information should
come from the people whose

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voices aren’t heard.
Throughout the Bible, God

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commanded Israel to especially
tend to the needs of the

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sojourners, the fatherless, and
the widows among them.

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They were the marginalized
people in their communities that

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were overlooked.
They were the ones who weren’t

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heard.
Let’s read from Deuteronomy 24

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verses 17 through 22 to see what
provisions God had in place for

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those who couldn’t speak for
themselves.

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You shall not pervert the
justice due to the sojourner or

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to the fatherless, or take a
widow’s garment in pledge, but

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you shall remember that you were
a slave in Egypt, and the Lord

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your God redeemed you from
there.

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Therefore, I command you to do
this.

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When you reap your harvest in
your field and forget a sheaf in

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the field, you shall not go back
to get it.

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It shall be for the sojourner,
the fatherless, and the widow,

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that the Lord your God may bless
you in all the work of your

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hands.
When you beat your olive trees,

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you shall not go over them
again.

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It shall be for the sojourner,
the fatherless, and the widow.

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When you gather the grapes of
your vineyard, you shall not

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strip it afterward.
It shall be for the sojourner,

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the fatherless, and the widow.
You shall remember that you were

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a slave in the land of Egypt.
Therefore, I command you to do

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this.
God appealed to the empathy of

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the children of Israel that were
once oppressed in Egypt to

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remind them of the importance of
caring for those who couldn’t

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advocate for themselves.
These vulnerable members of

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society in ancient Israel serve
not only as a constant reminder

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of the compassion everyone
should extend, but also a

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reminder that without God’s
care, all Israel would be

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equally destitute and pitiable.
It wasn’t hard work or

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industriousness that set anyone
above being poor.

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It was God’s grace and the
expectation that those afforded

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more grace would see themselves
as vehicles of God’s grace

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towards others.
Which raises a question Who are

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the voiceless in our midst
today?

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While we undoubtedly have
strangers and widows and orphans

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among us, they’re not the only
one to struggle to be hurt.

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Those fighting mental illnesses
such as depression, victims of

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passive or active neglect, the
lonely and heartbroken are but a

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few of many groups that go
unrepresented because they often

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feel like they don’t belong and
therefore don’t come together

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with the rest of their
community.

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While tending to the needs of
those present is a critical part

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of pastoral care, we have an
inaccurate and incomplete

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picture of the needs to be met
when we don’t factor in those

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who aren’t there to speak for
themselves.

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The Lord Jesus recognized this
and try to explain it to those

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around Him in Luke 15 verses one
through 7.

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Now the tax collectors and
sinners, we’re all drawing near

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to Him.
And the Pharisees and the

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scribes grumbled, saying, this
man received sinners and eats

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with them.
So he told them this parable.

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What man of you having 100
sheep, if he has lost one of

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them, does not leave the 99 in
the open country and go after

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the one that is lost until he
finds it.

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And when he has found it, he
lays it on his shoulders,

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rejoicing.
And when he comes home, he calls

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together his friends and his
neighbor, saying to them,

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Rejoice with me, for I have
found my sheep that was lost.

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Just so I tell you, there will
be more joy in heaven over 1

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Sinner who repents than over 99
righteous persons who need no

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repentance.
A major obstacle in

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understanding the parable of the
Lost sheep is our failure to

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acknowledge our own survivorship
bias.

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Though there were 99 sheep that
weren’t missing, they didn’t

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paint the complete picture of
the condition of the flock.

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The one missing sheep was as
important to the story as the

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99.
How often do we attribute one

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person straying from our flock
and becoming spiritually lost

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due to personal weakness?
How frequently do we lament that

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they wouldn’t have fallen away
if they just worked harder, if

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they had done more Bible study,
if they had gone to Bible class

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more often?
How different is this line of

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thinking from reinforcing
damaged areas of bomber planes

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that can still get back rather
than focusing on what caused the

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others to crash?
When we believe this flawed

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logic, we failed to consider the
words of Isaiah 53 verse 6.

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All we, like sheep, have gone
astray.

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We have turned everyone to His
own way, and the Lord has laid

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on Him the iniquity of us all.
We’re all lost in one way or

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another, and Christ continually
seeks to bring us back to Him,

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back to the fold.
The difference between us

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getting back to God or
continuing to be lost it isn’t

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due to our own strength.
It’s whether our vulnerabilities

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are sufficiently reinforced to
withstand the trials of life.

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It’s up to us as God’s children
to ensure our community tends to

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the needs of the voiceless and
marginalized among us.

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We need to be the ones looking
to see who’s missing and have

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the courage to ask what we
aren’t doing to offer support.

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Otherwise, things just won’t
change.

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Are there people struggling with
loneliness that aren’t around?

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Well, what are we doing to
validate their struggle and to

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offer them support?
What about those who work

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overnight and weekend shifts?
What are we doing to make them

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feel part of the community?
There are countless needs that

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go unmet because we’re only
focusing on those making it back

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to base instead of focusing on
those who are absent because

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their trials prevent them from
being among us.

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We owe it to each other to be
willing vehicles of God’s grace

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and reconciliation to other
members of His family because

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God has extended to each of us
abundant grace to be freed from

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sin through Christ Jesus.
So let’s seek each other out.

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Let’s strive to bind each other
up so that one day we might, as

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one body in Christ, see that
fulfillment of Ezekiel 34 verses

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11 through 16, which we’ll read
to wrap up our time together.

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For thus says the Lord God,
Behold, I, I myself will search

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for my sheep and will seek them
out.

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As a shepherd seeks out his
flock.

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When he is among his sheep that
have been scattered, so will I

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seek out my sheep.
And I will rescue them from all

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places where they have been
scattered on a day of clouds and

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thick darkness.
And I will bring them out from

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the peoples and gather them from
the countries, and will bring

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them into their own land.
And I will feed them on the

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mountains of Israel by the
ravines.

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And in all the inhabited places
of the country I will feed them

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with good pasture.
And on the mountain heights of

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Israel shall be their grazing
land.

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There they shall lie down in
good grazing land and on rich

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pasture.
They shall feed on the mountains

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of Israel.
I myself will be the shepherd of

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my sheep, and I myself will make
them lie down, declares the Lord

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God.
I will seek the lost, and I will

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bring back the strayed, and I
will bind up the injured, and I

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will strengthen the weak and the
fat, and the strong I will

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destroy.
I will feed them in justice.

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I want to thank you for
listening to another episode of

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Pause to Consider.
If you found this episode

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helpful, I hope you share it
with your friends and your loved

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ones.
If you have any questions or

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feedback, I’d love to hear it.
You can e-mail me at Pause to

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00:14:00,160 –> 00:14:04,280
Consider [email protected], or
you can reach out to me on my

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00:14:04,280 –> 00:14:06,800
Pause to Consider pages on
Facebook and Instagram.

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But above everything else, I
just hope this episode was

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helpful for you, and I pray that
God will be with you until we

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meet again, whether it’s on our
next episode or in God’s

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Kingdom.
God bless.

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Thank you for listening to Pause
to Consider.

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I’m Levi and I wanted to be sure
you’ve heard about a few other

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00:14:33,200 –> 00:14:36,480
podcasts in the WCF network.
I am actually one of the Co

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00:14:36,480 –> 00:14:40,160
hosts on a show called a Little
Faith where we explore faith

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00:14:40,160 –> 00:14:43,840
breakdowns and build ups with
different people who have very

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00:14:43,840 –> 00:14:46,720
powerful stories to tell.
That’s a little faith.

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00:14:46,840 –> 00:14:50,440
Tom and Naomi are exploring how
we interact in our ecclesial

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00:14:50,440 –> 00:14:52,800
relationships in from the
platform.

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00:14:52,960 –> 00:14:55,920
It’s a very in depth series that
is incredibly helpful for

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00:14:55,920 –> 00:14:58,800
understanding and developing
compassion and better listening

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00:14:58,800 –> 00:15:00,920
practices.
You can find both of those

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00:15:00,920 –> 00:15:04,440
wherever you get your podcasts
or our website

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00:15:04,480 –> 00:15:08,800
wcfoundation.org/podcasts.
Have a great week.