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In this blog, I provide encouragement and biblical teaching on the nature of our Good Shepherd, and how that relates to being a shepherd of His sheep. As the our Lord said:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (Joh 10:7-10)

"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. "He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. (Joh 10:11-15)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep." (Joh 10:1-2)

Some of the topics covered include the the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who is the Good Shepherd and our Senior Pastor, the shepherding role of elders, the need for pastors to provide good care for the sheep, the servant-hood of elders, the need for people to hear and recognize the Lord's voice, the significance of the seven angels of the seven churches of Asia in Revelation, church government, the proper way for disciples to treat their leaders, the need for biblical submission to authority, dealing with persecution against leaders, accusations against leaders, the distinction commonly made between clergy and laity, women teaching men, the need for leaders to be accountable, correctable, and teachable, the use of titles, as well as love, mercy, holiness, righteousness, and true success as a minister.

The Lord, Our Shepherd	The Shepherding Role of Elders	The Servant of the Lord
Our Senior Pastor	Accountable, correctable, and teachable	Success in God's Eyes
How to Treat Leaders	Clergy-Laity Distinction unbiblical	No One to Intercede
Jesus Christ the Nazarene	The Priesthood of All Believers	A Personality Profile of the Apostle Paul
A Tale of Two Kings	Leadership Approach Reveals View of God	Wisdom for Wealthy Preachers and Prosperity Teachers
Local Church Leadership	A Word to the Wise and Learned	The Great Shepherd of the Sheep
Women Teaching Men

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the NASB and from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted.

Author's note: You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master. 

___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Success in God's Eyes

Success in God's eyes does not mean you'll have great numbers of people following you. Beware when all men speak well of you. Jesus warned, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way." (Luk 6:26)

In reading Jeremiah, I am amazed by his godly success. His main message was "Turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the LORD has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever; and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm." (Jer 25:5-6).  Yet the people of Judah did not listen to him during his 23 years of ministry, warning them to turn from their evil ways and prophesying God's coming judgment. (Jer 25:3). Instead, they cursed him, mocked him, spoke arrogantly to him, beat him, abused him, imprisoned him in solitary confinement, and threatened him with death. Yet he continued to prophesy the Word of the Lord to them for another 18 years after that (Jer 52:12).

They never did listen to him. So they were carried in chains into exile in Babylon for 70 years, where they remained captive and fell by the sword, famine, and plague. Yet the Babylonians, who recognized him as a true prophet of God, treated Jeremiah kindly. And he was spared from going into exile. “Now Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon gave orders about Jeremiah through Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, saying, ‘Take him and look after him, and do nothing harmful to him, but rather deal with him just as he tells you.’” (Jer 39:11-12). It may not look like success to the world, but let's see someone try to top that!

Jeremiah has touched more people since his death than he did during his lifetime. There were about 4,600 people from Judah who went into Babylonian captivity (Jer 52:30). That was his audience. But since his death around 2,500 years ago, his writings have been translated into over 2,000 languages and read by hundreds of millions of people around the world! His writings have encouraged many, led some of those people to repentance, helped many to persevere through trials, and others to a closer walk with God. That goes to show us that we can't base our sense of success on what we see in the natural during our lifetime. Instead we should serve the Lord with our whole heart in obedience to His commands, and trust that He will bring forth fruit for His glory that will last long after we're gone from this world.

Many Christians will gladly receive false prophets who predict good times ahead, peace and safety. The apostle Paul warned that “While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.” (1Th 5:3). There are plenty of prophets like this. But they usually practice deceit (Jer 8:10). Both prophet and priest are polluted (Jer 23:11). Jeremiah gave us the real test of a true prophet. "The prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, then that prophet will be known as one whom the LORD has truly sent." (Jer 28:9).

Historically, the religious people have persecuted God’s true prophets. It would not surprise me if non-believers have greater respect for God's true prophets than do the sons and daughters of light. Jesus said that if anyone receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, he would receive a prophet's reward (Mt 10:41). Ebed-Melech was a good example. He was a Cushite from the Nile region who helped get Jeremiah out of the cistern (Jer 38:8-9). Later he received a reward (Jer 39:15-17). And if they receive a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, they will receive a righteous man's reward. Jesus said that if they receive true disciple, then in doing so they also receive Jesus Himself. And if they receive Jesus, they receive the Father who sent Him (Mt 10:40).

Look at the people of Nineveh for example.  These non-believing Gentiles received Jonah as a true prophet and their reward was that God spared their city.  There were 120,000 children in that great city, which didn’t know their right hand from their left, plus adults and animals (Jon 4:11).  That was a real success!

I love the book of Jonah, because it’s a true story of mercy and compassion.  He had a mission to go and preach to people who were enemies of Israel.  The message was that they needed to repent, because Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days.  Many Christians today would say we don’t need that kind of preaching.  They would say that it’s doom and gloom, and that we need more preaching on love and grace.

But I see it just the opposite. The whole reason that God sent the prophet Jonah to Nineveh was that He did not want to have to destroy them.  But God was going to have to destroy them, if they did not repent of their wickedness.  The only obstacle was that Jonah knew that God would mercifully spare them, if they repented.  He did not want to see these enemies of Israel spared.  In fact, after the whole city, from the king to the most lowly person repented, and God spared them from destruction, Jonah confessed to God why He ran from his mission.  “He prayed to the LORD and said, ‘Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.’” (Jon 4:2).

Then there was also the mercy that God showed to Jonah himself.  When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to preach, he ran from God and went in the opposite direction, away from Nineveh.  But the ship he was on encountered a huge storm that nearly sank it. It was only when they threw Jonah overboard that the storm ceased.  And God in His mercy sent a big fish to swallow Jonah.  It was there in the belly of the fish that Jonah himself repented.  God forgave him and had mercy on Him, giving him a second chance to complete the mission. The Lord knew before He sent Jonah that this would happen, and He intended on being merciful to Jonah. God also intended on being merciful to the Ninevites before He sent Jonah to preach to them.  And in the end, the Lord was merciful to Jonah and the Ninevites. 

So rather than doom and gloom, this was a real story of mercy and compassion in every respect, for those who have ears to hear.  Maybe the church today needs more preaching of repentance, faith and forgiveness.  Those who do preach this message are in good company with people like Jeremiah, Jonah, Jesus, and John the Baptist. 

However, preachers may be afraid that they will lose people, by proclaiming this message.  It’s true that often times the so-called believers don’t receive the servants of God sent to them. So if you’re concerned about rejection, the prospects of this could scare you away from this kind of preaching.  It’s not for the faint of heart.

Jesus only had one apostle and a few women who remained with Him to the end, during His crucifixion.  The rest were scattered.  The apostle Paul, at the end of his life said, "At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them." (2Ti 4:16) In some of the places where Paul made disciples and established churches, those same places are dominated by Islam today with barely a trace of Christian faith present.

But those who are obedient to the Lord in preaching the full gospel of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ will receive a rich reward.  Their ministry may seem like a dismal failure in man’s eyes, but that’s not what God looks at. They may not draw large crowds, but they are truly successful in God’s eyes.  And the fruit they bring forth will be the kind that lasts!

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Lord, Our Shepherd

Why is a shepherd important? I mean, you've got your iPhone in your pocket and you're just a touch away from internet access at all times. You can call or email anyone you want from anywhere there's cell phone access. You've got your wireless laptop and your GPS to guide you to any point on the planet. Aren't shepherds sort of obsolete? These days, it's hard to see why we need one when we're all so self-sufficient and hi-tech.

I'd like to show you in God's Word exactly why a shepherd is so important. Specifically, let's look at the difference between the shepherd's role and the sheep's role.

The Good Shepherd’s Role
First let's look at the role of the good shepherd.

He is the Door we must enter through
"But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.” (Joh 10:2)

So Jesus said to them again, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” (Joh 10:7)

He saves the sheep
"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (Joh 10:9)

He calls his own sheep by name
"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (Joh 10:3)

He goes ahead of his sheep and leads them
"When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (Joh 10:4)

He puts forth his own
"When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (Joh 10:4)

He lays down His life for His sheep
"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” (Joh 10:11)

"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (Joh 10:17-18)

He knows His own sheep
"I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.” (Joh 10:14)

He searches for the lost and seeks them out
For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. (Eze 34:11)

He cares for the sheep and delivers them
"As a shepherd cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will care for My sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a cloudy and gloomy day.” (Eze 34:12)

"Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them.” (Eze 34:27)

He restores the sheep
“He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.” (Psa 23:3)

He feeds the flock
"I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will feed them in a good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord GOD. “ (Eze 34:13-15)

“He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. “ (Psa 23:2)

He seeks the lost sheep
"I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.” (Eze 34:16)

He provides an abundant life for His sheep
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Joh 10:10)

He gives His sheep eternal life
“I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” (Joh 10:28)

The Sheep’s Role
Now that we've looked at the shepherd's role, let's see what the sheep's role is. Notice how simple it is. There's nothing complicated about it.

The sheep must know the shepherd
"I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.” (Joh 10:14)

The sheep must hear the voice of their shepherd
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (Joh 10:27)

"To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (Joh 10:3)

The sheep must not only hear but know the shepherd’s voice
"When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (Joh 10:4)

The sheep must enter through the door
"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (Joh 10:9)

The sheep must find pasture
"I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (Joh 10:9)

So there was not much to the sheep's role, was there! That's because sheep are rather simple and can't handle anything too complicated.

The Nature of a Bad Shepherd
Now let's explore the nature of a bad shepherd. By doing this, it really helps emphasize how good the Good Shepherd really is. We need to see this, because we often take for granted what Jesus does for the sheep. Here are some aspects of a bad shepherd.

He feeds only himself
Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?” (Eze 34:1-2)

He uses the sheep for his own gain
"You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.” (Eze 34:3)

He does not care for the sheep
"Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.” (Eze 34:4)

There is a lot in these verses. The bad shepherd feeds only himself, rather than the sheep. He uses the sheep for his own gain. He does not care for the sheep. He does not strengthen the sickly sheep, he does not heal the sick ones, he does not bind up the broken ones, he does not bring back the ones that are scattered, he does not seek the lost ones, and he dominates the sheep with severity.

Putting it All Together
There are many godly pastors who serve like the Good Shepherd. Thank the Lord for them. Unfortunately, some pastors of churches operate like bad shepherds. For many people, this is all they have ever seen or known in a shepherd. This has caused a lot of damage to people around the world. As a result, many of them refuse to ever go back to a church again. Others have found a safe place, where they are being cared for and getting healed.

But Jesus is good all the time. He strengthens the sickly sheep, He heals the sick ones, He binds up the broken ones, He brings back the ones that are scattered, and He seeks the lost ones. He saves the sheep from perishing. He knows His sheep and calls his own sheep by name, because He has a loving relationship with them. He goes ahead of his sheep and leads them, rather than driving them along. He puts forth his own. He has lain down His life for His sheep. He provides an abundant life for His sheep, and gives them eternal life.

This figure of speech using the shepherd and the sheep is used often in Scripture to show the relationship between God and His people. The prophet Ezekiel wrote: "As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God," declares the Lord GOD. (Eze 34:31)

So what is our role as sheep? It’s not complicated, as some would try to make it. First of all the sheep must enter through Jesus, the Door. There is no other way to enter the fold. The sheep must know Jesus, the Good Shepherd. It’s a relationship with Him, not a set of religious ceremonies and rituals. The sheep must hear the voice of Jesus and know His voice. This can only happen when you spend time with Him and get to know Him through His Word and prayer, listening for His still, small voice inside your heart speaking to you. The sheep must find pasture. The Lord will lead us to green pastures, but we need to then find the pasture He has led us to and we must feed in that place – not the place of our own choosing. When we do, we experience the abundant life He gives.

Maybe you are reading this and you do not know Him well. You don’t really hear His voice, because you have never come to know His voice. You have been trained to hear man’s voice. As a result, you’ve not been following Him like you should. He’s calling you to Himself today. He’s calling you to a place of intimacy with Him, where you are close to Him and know Him well. But you need to respond and draw near to Him.

Do you want to have that abundant life? Do you want to be healed from your sickness and brokenness? Do you want to be rescued from the dangerous place you are in and delivered from your life of slavery? Do you want to be brought home to your own land from the place where you have been scattered and lost? Do you want to hear God call you by your own name? Do you want to be fed well? If you want any of these things, Jesus is the answer.

He is the Door and you need to begin by entering through Him. Have you done that? If you have, but you’ve left the fold, come back today. If you have never entered the Door, you can enter today.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. 

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like the other posts in this blog available through the links in the side bar. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do you want to know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.


Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.