I found this again tonight looking around and thought it was worth posting
again.

Shepherd's Are Sheep, Too

By Phil Scovell

     I have considered for many years the idea of pastors that are
not fulfilling their callings as shepherds.  This in no way
suggests that all pastors are not doing their job or fulfilling
their calling.  Readers of this will likely have forgotten what I
just said long before they reach the end of what I have to say.
If I were a wagering Baptist, however, I would lay down money that
more than fifty percent of pastors were never called by God to the
ministry.  I am not suggesting that they don't have a definite
place in the body of Christ, everybody does for that matter, but I
am suggesting that their calling likely is not pastoral in nature.
I make these statements based up familiarity, that is, traveling
for many years and preaching in many churches and meeting hundreds
of pastors, and from personal experience as a pastor.

     I was a pastor twice, both for short periods of time, and I
loved it both times.  The first time was a stop gap affair.  They
didn't want me as their pastor, I was their assistant at the time,
because I was blind and they said a blind man couldn't do all that
needed to be done by a pastor.  They requested, however, I stay
and fill the pulpit as their pastor until they could find a full
time man.  I stayed for four months as a fill-in.  Stupid, I
know, but I thought it was the Christian thing to do at the time.
They finally voted on the third man, out of desperation, and he
turned out to be the worst of the three they considered.  Well,
four, if you count me as one of the candidates.

     My hypothesis that more than fifty percent of pastors were
never called to be pastors starts with my own experience.  I
wanted to be a pastor but not originally.  I traveled for several
years as a guest speaker because I thought I was called to that
sort of ministry.  Plus, I believe the lie that a blind man could
not fulfill the complete ministry of a pastor.  Later, as an
assistant pastor, I learned otherwise and I began looking for a
Body of Believers to serve.  Talk about rejection.  Over and over
again I was turned down when it was learned I was blind.  After
three years of trying, I gave up.

     One day, many years later, a man pastoring a church I was in,
decided he was tired of being a pastor and furthermore, he had
gotten into a multi level business and was making more money from
that than he was pastoring.  He turned his church over to me and
left the church and the ministry.  He left the church in a huge
financial mess but he never bothered telling me that when he
turned it over to me.  He also left his wife and five children and
began living with the former church secretary.  She in turn left
her husband and nine month old baby to live with our former
pastor.  In short, I had a spiritual and financial mess on my
hands but I loved the pastorate.  I loved working with the people,
praying with the people, and preaching and teaching.  I felt
honored, literally, that people would come every Sunday to hear me
preach and teach.  I was even more humbled that they would put
money into the offering plate and support the ministry God had
given me.  We did not hold a literal offering plate under their
nose either.  Not that I think that is wrong, but we just had a
wooden box with a slot cut into the top of it sitting in the
vestibule.  People put their offerings in so it wasn't like we
forced anybody into giving; they did it willingly and it
certainly wasn't due to my great speaking ability.

     After all the passed due bills were caught up and we moved to
a more affordable facility, I began to sense the Holy Spirit
indicating that, first, I was not a pastor, and second, the Lord
wanted our church to close.  this bothered me greatly since I was
the happiest I had ever been in my life.  I did my best to ignore
the Holy Spirit concerning the church and my calling because I
wanted, with all my heart, to be a pastor because I absolutely
love people.  I could feel what the Lord was saying, however, deep
within my spirit but I thought I could turn the church into
something that would glorify God if I just did everything right
and if I could do that, God would be happy and let me stay.  My
mistake was not realizing that He was going to get His glory by
closing the church; not keeping it open.

     As the months went by, I knew something was wrong.  It was
me.  I wasn't a pastor and I was pastoring a church that wasn't a
church.  Additionally, the Holy Spirit was revealing to me that
the church I was pastoring was never supposed to be a church in
the first place.  In fact, the Lord revealed to me that the church
was never His idea.  Then why did 150 people, at one time, go
there?  The pastor was a first class musician and he was a first
rate Bible teacher.  He was likeable, friendly, had a great sense
of humor, and he was a good organizer.  None of those, however,
are requirements for being a pastor.  They certainly help a
ministry but they aren't requirements.  God always honors His
Word no mater who preaches it.  Plus, this man had started the
church by default.  He admitted to me he couldn't get along with
anybody so he decided to stay out of church all together.
Eventually, someone asked him to start a Bible study in their home
and from there came the church.  He never said he was called or
the Lord led him; people just liked his teaching.

     My job, given to me by God, was to literally close the church
without any encumbering financial indebtedness and that is what
occurred.  It was, however, the most difficult thing I ever did.
When we closed the doors for the last time, we owed no man
anything and the thousands of dollars of equipment and furniture
which remained, we donated to a couple of churches in need.

     I cried rivers of tears and spent sleepless nights for
months.  I sank into the deepest depression I had ever known.  I
had failed myself, my people, my family, and worst of all, I had
failed God.  Nothing was left.  I became suicidal.  I heard
voices.  Anxiety attacks not only nearly killed me but it
frightened me in ways I can't even describe.  I was still 35 years
old and I knew there was a glimmer of hope that some day, if I
could just hang on, that I could be in the ministry again.

     I started a small business which rapidly became so successful
that I found it difficult to believe.  I was finally happy again
but I wasn't in full time ministry, which was my greatest desire,
so I wasn't really all that happy.  When your panic attacks, I
didn't know what those were at the time, and your anxiety attacks,
which I did know what those were at the time, subside, and the
voices you hear drop back to a low roar, and you are suicidal
only once and awhile, that seems to be a cause for happiness.  It
isn't, and it wasn't, but I thought it was.  Demons are patient.
They don't mind waiting a few years, or even many years, to launch
a bigger attack, if that is, they figure the next attack will be
successful.  They are fooled and deceived, too, you know, by the
master deceiver, but I digress.

     During the years I was in business, I still tried everything
I could think of to get back into ministry.  I tried starting a
church in my home.  I tried starting a monthly tape ministry of
Biblical teaching which I would mail to subscribers.  I tried a
live call-in Christian radio talk show.  I tried a Christian
counseling ministry.  Nothing worked.

     One day, I had this funny feeling the Lord was calling me to
an office of ministry and that was the office of prophet.  I
immediately said, no, of course, because I wasn't even convinced
in the ministry of modern day prophets.  As time passed, the
feeling of being a prophet grew stronger.  I forced it down to the
best of my ability.

     finally, four years went by and I could not stand it any
longer.  I told the Lord I didn't even believe in modern day
prophets and furthermore, I had no idea what a modern day prophet
was.  I suggested, if the Lord could prove to me from His word,
using the New Testament, none of this Old Testament stuff, what
the office of a prophet was in relationship to today's church, I
might consider His calling.  "Might" was the key word in my
prayer.  So, after a few weeks of suffering, I went to my
computer and began to study the New Testament in relationship to a
New Testament Prophet.  boy, was I surprised.

     I well remember one night as I prayed in my office on my
knees, giving myself to the Lord.  I told Him that He would
certainly have to direct me because I was walking on unstable legs
as far as the office of a prophet was concerned as it related to
the church.  Nevertheless, I gave myself to the leading of the
Holy Spirit.  In some respects, I was disappointed.  I wanted to
be a pastor but it was not God's will for my life.

     Within thirty days of giving myself to the will of the Lord
concerning the office of a prophet, the Lord gave me my first
opportunity to minister to a pastor and his church as a prophet.
I won't detail all that led up to what happened that day because
it would take some time to explain.  Needless to say, however, the
Lord open the door so wide, I could do nothing but walk through
it.  It was a bombshell, a bust, a train wreck, a backfire, a
galactic stellar explosion, a volcanic eruption, a munitions
blast, a bomb burst, a nuclear detonation, and resulting in a
nuclear winter when it was all over.  a I spoke for nearly 45
minutes, the Holy Spirit leading me every step of the way, and
when I finished, the pastor was mad, the church members, some of
them, were upset, and I felt horrible.  I blamed God for calling
me in the first place and I told Him what He could do with his
office of a prophet.  the Lord laughed it off and accused me of
being a big baby.  Well, all that happened in so many words.  So
far, all these years, never once has any pastor taken what I have
said, when being led of the Holy Spirit, seriously, spiritually
valuable, or even usable.  In fact, most have been ticked off.
You would think that response alone would make me consider I was
wrong.  Oh, no, not me.  I just plunge right on like I know what I
am doing and making enemies all along the way.

     this all could be due to a couple of reasons.  first, I may
be 100 percent wrong, that is, maybe I wasn't led by the Holy
Spirit after all.  The second reason is due to what we all have
been taught about the office of a pastor.

     Nobody messes with the pastor because that would be like
messing with God.  He is number one.  He is the top of the
spiritual food chain.  He teaches and preaches the best because he
is called and anointed and lead and blessed and gifted of the Holy
Spirit and who wants to mess with the Holy Spirit?  Come to think
of it, the pastor is even filled with the Holy Spirit and you sure
can't say that about everybody in the church, that's for dead
sure.  Plus, he is humble.  Nobody is as humble, works as hard,
and is as dedicated as the pastor.  He's been to Bible college and
seminary and he has sacrificed everything for the church.  You
haven't noticed how much he has sacrificed for his people but
that's because you are selfish and unspiritual and you aren't a
called and anointed pastor.  Plus, you are too busy being critical
of everything he does and doesn't do.  Additionally, he lives on
peanuts for sake of the church.  He could be pastoring some big
mega church some place but the Lord led him here so he lives on
bread and water because you need him.

     Nobody is as gifted as the pastor.  I know this because any
time I have seen someone manifest a gift of the Holy Spirit which
the pastor of that church does not have, conflict is the result.
It is ok if a person from the outside comes in and has a gift
which the pastor doesn't have but let that person be a member of
his own church, and there is hell to pay, sort of speak, any time
that person uses the gift God has given them.  I know this from
personal experience.  I understand why this is now but over the
years, I was totally confused by this pastoral attitude.

     Something else worth your consideration is how much the
pastor does?  I mean, he hangs dry wall, he paints, he cleans, he
runs the sweeper, he cleans the toilets, arranges the song books,
correlates all the Sunday school materials, shovels the snow from
the walks, counts the offerings, that goes without saying, fills
the toilet paper hangers before church each Sunday, polishes the
pulpit all alone, is the last one out, turns out all the lights,
locks all the doors, checks all the windows, and he spends long
hours surfing the internet every week for materials to include in
his sermon.  Not only that, look at the millions, well, hundreds,
of dollars he has spent on his personal library.

     Don't say anything about the pastor because if you do, God
won't bless you.  Besides, if you say anything, that's gossip and
the Lord is going to get you if you gossip; especially about the
pastor.

     Last, but not least, he is the man of God who hears from God.
Try and top that one and see where it takes you.

     I realize that it is possible the somebody is going to think
I don't know what I am talking about even if I was a pastor once.
Well, twice.  First, let me point out that not all pastors are
this way.  I have known of at least two pastors who were not.
Well, one of the two was like this but only half the time so I
guess you could say I know one and a half pastors who weren't as I
have described.  Of course, I am exaggerating but tell me; am I
wrong?  If you have been a church member more than a month
anywhere at any time, you know what I am saying is the truth.  Why
is it true, therefore, if indeed it is, that many pastors are this
way?  Because they were taught it is supposed to be this way.
blame the Bible colleges they attended, blame their pastors, blame
other pastors who teach it, or blame their wives.  It makes little
difference who gets the blame.  By the way, most people blame the
pastor's wife anyhow no matter what the truth is, so you might as
well get started blaming her now and get it over with.

     "So, what's your real opinion of a pastor?"

     I'm glad you asked.  I think pastors are the greatest people
on earth.  I love pastors and they have one of the greatest
callings a man could ever have in the body of Christ.  To their
chagrin, however, they are not the king of the hill or even the
top of the heap; that is reserved for apostles and prophets.  If
you doubt this, read Ephesians Chapter 2 and pay close attention
to whom is attributed the foundation of the church in verse 20
and of whom Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone.  That verse
pretty well tells the story of rank in the body of Christ.  If
that doesn't confirm it for you, then thumb over to First
Corinthians Chapter 12 and read along about the body of Christ
until you hit verse 28 and see what it says.  In this case,
pastors aren't even mentioned.  That's kind of scary, if you are a
pastor, that is.  If you are still unconvinced, them zip over to
Ephesians Chapter 4 and read about the body of Christ in that
chapter.  When you get to verse 11, stop and think about what you
just read.  then try and use the Bible to prove to me that the
pastoral office is the top of church governmental structure.

     I realize this makes a lot of pastors nervous because the
bible seems to rank them a few notches lower than they originally
thought when the Lord called them to preach.  It's all right,
however, because it's like I told a friend of mine once.
Shepherds  are sheep, too.

     It is like the issue of women submitting to their own
husbands.  I have heard every imaginable theological explanation
of this Biblical principle but there is only one that works and
that is, the husband is the spiritual authoritative head of his
home.  Take my word for it, I don't even like that position.  I
would much rather my wife take all the blame for everything that
goes wrong while I get the glory.  I would much rather have my
wife stand before God some day to give an account of why my family
turned out the way it did.  I'd even pay her to take my place, if
that would work, but you know?  God made me the head of my home.
Yes, I have heard hundreds of sermons on this topic but I have
never once liked my position.

     It finally hit me one day as I thought about it.  The Holy
Spirit spoke to me and said, "You know what, Scov, it don't mean a
thing that you don't like it; I'm holding you responsible for your
family."  I realized then, I can kick and stream and cry and
become a drunk or sleep with other women or blow dope until my
brain falls out through my ears and I will still be responsible to
God for my family.  This means, if there are demons in my house, I
have the most authority over them.  This means if my kids, now
grown, bring people into my home which are unacceptable, I am
responsible to do something about it.  Need I continue?

     Let's turn this around.  I've known some women that like
their position in the family.  They would prefer to be the head
and to take the responsibility and some try their dead level best,
too.  Just as the man does not take his rightful place and the
line of authority is distorted, so it is if the woman tries taking
a wrongful place in the relationship.  I understand the old man
isn't doing his job according to Scripture but that's between he
and God.  I can't take the blame for everything and certainly not
for your own family.  Look, I didn't write the bible.  If this
bothers you, take it up with God.  My wife can stand in our living
room and curse all the demons she wants but if I don't stand up
and take the greater authority given to me by God and I sit over
in the corner saying, "Boy that's good," the demons are going to
laugh themselves silly and they aren't going any where for very
long.  Why?  Because, if my wife does it for me, she is out of
order and demons and Satan and even God will not function when
things are out of Biblical order.

Continued in next message.

I Flew Kites With Jesus
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com