Emphasis Preaching Journal

Gary Forner, a veteran Fort Canby State Park ranger and a sixteen-year member of the cliff rescue team, found himself plunging in darkness down the ninety-foot sheer face at Cape Disappointment, Washington, on August 30, 1994, as he was working with three fellow volunteers to save a stranded fifteen-year-old climber. But instead of continuing to fall when the cliff edge crumbled beneath him, he was stopped about thirty or forty feet down. Forner, raised a Lutheran, said, "Right on my sternum, I could feel this tremendous force pushing me back," enabling him to hold on to a series of tree roots and make his way back to the top. He continued, "I felt this incredible warmth right over my heart. All I could think was, 'Sweet Jesus, thank you.' "

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, not only has given his life for us, but has promised that nothing will ever be able to snatch us away from him. He will always guard and protect us from all danger of body and soul and keep us safely in his fold.

-- Guettler