shepherd-1Too often people contradict the necessity of a pastor. They have the opinion that they can learn from reading the Bible and using other Theological resources at home that they can learn what a pastor could teach.

I however use experiences with a GPS navigation system to respectfully disagree. If you have used a GPS device, your experiences would likely support my disagreement. Namely, if you don’t obey an instruction for a left or right turn, the GPS will instruct you to make the first legal U-turn and go back. If you refuse to make the U-turn, it will say, “recalculating route” to accommodate your disobedience.

Unlike the GPS device, the Almighty God will NEVER say recalculating route, as it were, to accommodate a preference that deviates from what He prescribed in His Sovereign will. In this instance, He will NEVER change what He prescribed regarding being taught by a pastor.

Not being subject to His Will would most definitely precludes an individual from experiencing the bountiful blessings that obedience precipitates. Your humility and commitment to being taught by a pastor about serving the Lord, Jesus Christ, would be the magnetism that WILL draw Him to you by which you would experience manifestations of His presence as mentioned in the top video.

Note what the book of James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” It’s what I term as the reciprocal magnetic effect for obedience. And, only an experience can make it a reality.

The necessity of a pastor [Spiritual shepherd] is expressed in what the Sovereign God said to the people through the prophet Jeremiah in the book of Jeremiah. 3:15: “And I will give you shepherds according to My heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.” Given that it’s what God said, it cannot be circumvented.

God’s message in that verse is that it’s impossible for one to study the Bible and other Theological resources and learn what He anoints pastors [(men and women] to teach from the insights He gives them. Your compliance to what an anointed pastor teaches will precipitate God’s supernatural power being manifested in your life.

You could eliminate all doubt about a pastor by asking God for confirmation that he/she is one that He has anointed. Further confirmation would come from listening for members of the congregation testifying to experiencing the effects of God’s Supernatural power being manifested in their lives. Those experiences would be because of the members’ commitments to living by Biblical Principles based on the teachings of Jesus Christ as God inspires the pastor to teach.

Introduce yourself to some of those members. Your fellowship with them could evolve into true friendships, which could be invaluable especially when praying for you and encouraging you when the storms of life arise. And, we all occasionally experience them.

A good percentage of the congregation would likely have come from the church having programs that extend beyond its walls to perpetuate Spiritual, sociocultural, intellectual, and economic development. If it’s a small church and the pastor is an anointed teacher, has a passion for people, but the church does not have a strong outreach program, you may have the skills to strengthen the program. What that would cause God to do in your life would be astounding. Because, He has ways of rewarding people that endeavor to reach out to others that He loves, i. e., everyone.

Note the principal in the book of Proverbs 11:24-25. It that would apply to one’s use of personal skills as suggested above:

  1. There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty.
  2. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.

Note the two verses being combined and paraphrased: “It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on to possessions too tightly and lose everything. The liberal person shall be rich! By watering others, he/she is watered.” It’s one of those things that God can do in His Sovereign will that contradicts mathematics.

Last note about a God anointed pastor – You would discover the mystery of God speaking through one person and simultaneously addressing the respective needs of individual congregants. However, and most importantly, you would experience the reciprocating fellowship-relationship with Jesus Christ, which would navigate you through the courses of life in spite of its adversities. It’s The Law of the Spirit.