{"id":22,"date":"2008-07-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-29T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2009-09-01T17:07:44","modified_gmt":"2009-09-01T21:07:44","slug":"shepherds-in-todays-church-do-we-still-need-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/2008\/07\/29\/shepherds-in-todays-church-do-we-still-need-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Shepherds in today’s church do we still need them?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a> My thoughts on how a Biblical shepherd should function in a New Testament church setting today?<\/strong>\u00a0I know it is long but please read and pray for us as we live out these truths from God\u2019s Word. Until we have reached the last tribe these principles need to be put in place in our churches as well as the mission field world wide.<\/p>\n

First, we need an example of a shepherd working in the church and I think the apostle Paul is the man of the hour for us today to follow. In fact he has spoken of us following his example in the Bible. Philippians 3:17 says it so well. \u201cBrothers join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.\u201d With that as a guideline let\u2019s look at his matter of shepherding God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n

Paul spent a lot of his time in follow up in areas he had proclaimed the gospel. Acts 15:36, after some days Paul said to Barnabas, \u201cLet us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the Word of the Lord, and see how they are.\u201d A good shepherd needs to know how the brothers are doing; one needs to be on the move with heart, ears and eyes wide open.<\/p>\n

Acts 18:22 tells us that a shepherd needs to be strengthening the disciples as he goes. \u201cWhen he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Antioch. After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next we need to look at Paul\u2019s ministry style and for that we turn to I Thessalonians 2:11-12. \u201cFor you know how like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.\u201d Look at how he worked one on one taking time just as a father takes time with his children.<\/p>\n

God was a very good example in how he wanted Israel shepherded as we find in Ezekiel 34:1-6. Here we find God calling the shepherds of that day to task for what they did not do: {1} they feed themselves not the sheep, {2} they did not strengthen the weak or heal the sick, {3} they had not bound the wounds of the injured, {4} and they had not sought the lost, {5} they had not been gentle in leadership, and {6} they had ruled with force and harshness. The sheep where scattered and no one looked for them. The wild beast came down on them. God was not pleased.<\/p>\n

A New Testament shepherd must handle God\u2019s people today by feeding them from the Word thinking of others before self. He must strengthen the weak, heal those that are sick spiritually, find those that have been injured maybe by harsh and forceful leadership which has had a scattering affect on the believers and bind the wounds in a way that will bring them back to the fold and to a productive ministry for Christ. We have many that are in need of strength; yes we need God\u2019s type of a shepherd in today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

Serving Him who first served us, Jack and Janie Housley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shepherding God’s people in today’s world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[681],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-jacks-desk","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/jack-housley\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}