Barbara Versus the Phone
“Read Scripture before reading headlines. Let God speak first.”
“Read Scripture before reading headlines. Let God speak first.”
At The Shepherds Cafe, a cracked mug becomes a quiet lesson in grace, reminding everyone at the table that weakness does not make a person useless in the hands of God.
At The Shepherds Cafe, an old chair nobody wanted to move becomes the perfect picture of the sins, resentments, and neglected problems people keep learning to live around.
The cafe didn’t change, but everything felt different—because grief can rearrange a room without moving a chair.
Jeremiah drew the line God draws: “Be angry, and yet do not sin… do not let the sun go down… and do not give the devil an opportunity” (Ephesians 4:26–27).
Gossip never walked into The Shepherds Cafe wearing boots. It wore slippers—quiet, familiar, and comfortable enough to pass as “just talking.”
Elijah said what many think but won’t admit: “Some people mistake intensity for guidance. A strong feeling isn’t the same thing as a sure word.”
“People think older Christian men outgrow struggle,” Elijah admitted. “But the battlefield doesn’t disappear. It just changes terrain.”
“God does not forget. People forget. God doesn’t.”
“Elijah didn’t speak in slogans. “We’re going to pray for local, state, and federal authorities,” he said, “because God uses people, and people need wisdom when the trail is cold and the stakes are high.”