By Paul Davis Working for God can be both exhilarating and tiring. It's fun when you feel the Holy Spirit that rose Christ from the dead flowing through you to help people. Yet it can be exhausting when the people exalt you to the place of God and forget to pray to God themselves. We must never forget God will not permit any flesh to glory in His presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). God does not share His glory. As ministers we realize God alone is all powerful, wise and loving. Communicating that to a congregation effectively however requires that sometimes you not always be accessible throughout the week to your people so they can learn to go to Pastor Jesus instead of you. Remember Jesus is the chief Shepherd of the flock and we His under shepherds. Among the fivefold ministry gifts mentioned by the apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 4, the Pastor is the most residential one of them all. He therefore is by nature most local and accessible. Nevertheless there is a balance that must be achieved and proper protocol to be established to ensure the Pastor maintains his personal sanity and the people direct their focus to God. If a church only knows the Pastoral office and never feeds on any other ministerial gifting it is easy to quickly idolize the Pastor above measure. Each minister has been allotted by God a "measure of rule" within which they are granted a divine grace to get the job done (2Corinthians 10:13). When we try to enlarge ourselves beyond measure and stretch our ministerial mantel beyond our God given grace, a breakdown is inevitable. The day of the one-man show is over. God is looking to build a body of believers who are secure in Him, strong in the Spirit and grounded in His Word. Among the three models of churches in the early New Testament, the church at Antioch proved to be most in alignment with the model of developing breakthrough believers. The church at Jerusalem was primarily built on the apostle Peter's personality (Acts 2), without which when persecution hit the church they all scattered (Acts 8). The is quite common for many churches established upon the senior Pastor's personality. When the Senior Pastor is away the attendance declines and the offerings decrease. The church at Ephesus was one in transition as Priscilla and Aguila showed the way of God more perfectly to Apollos (Acts 18:24-26). We all need mentors. Even ministers need ministry to strengthen, encourage and empower them. This Apollos received and as a result he grew into another level of meaningful ministry. In the natural realm, every shepherd has a sheep dog to help keep the sheep in order. The sheep dog barks a bit and gives the shepherd some rest throughout the day. The sheep dog has his own way of getting through to the sheep. The sheep dog may be a bit more rough, but nevertheless the same results are derived. A sheep dog in modern day church vernacular could fall within the fivefold ministry offices. Such a minister could be local within your congregation or in the body of Christ at large worldwide. This sheep dog of sorts can take the pulpit for the Pastor and say certain things to the congregation that the Pastor might want to say but be a bit hesitant in articulating. The sheep dog can be a bit more bold and aggressive in order to get the sheep to wake up, come into alignment with the vision and stop fighting one another. When a Pastor is weary in well doing, he needs to call in a sheep dog to bark a while. Don't let your congregation, church committee or a few irritating church members get the best of you. Call in the sheep dog to help set the house in order! Paul Davis is a traveling minister and author of several books. Paul is a life coach (relational & professional), popular worldwide keynote speaker, creative consultant, humor being, adventurer, explorer, mediator, minister, liberator and dream-maker. Paul's compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has also brought revival to many in war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His nonprofit organization Dream-Maker Ministries is building dreams and breaking limitations. Paul's Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate destiny discovery and dream fulfillment. Contact Paul for officiating your wedding or event: RevivingNations@yahoo.com 407-967-7553. For additional info: http://www.DreamMakerMinistries.com, http://www.CreativeCommunications.TV, http://www.itietheknot.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Davis http://EzineArticles.com/?Pastor-Help:-A-Sheep-Dog-for-the-Shepherd&id=268510 phentermine 37.5 mg diet pills
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