My family and I were faithful in a ministry for over 25 years, nearly from the beginning of the ministry.

We supported the vision of the pastoral leadership in every way, with time, effort, and money. We believed that God put His Spirit in them and made them pastors to shepherd His people. We believed that they were given to us as pastors just as the Lord Jesus said in Ephesians 4:11. We had no doubt that God placed us in the ministry to know, to serve, and to put our faith in the Good Shepherd under His appointed shepherds.

In the beginning, we and the other believers in Jesus Christ who were placed in the ministry (“the sheep”) were well-fed, protected, guided, and watched over! The sheep had a faithful overseer in the senior shepherd, so the sheep served the Lord with gladness in His pasture as stated in Psalm 100. The sheep were being edified by the Spirit because spiritual gifts, more prominently the word of knowledge and the word of wisdom, were in full operation in the ministry. The lives of individuals and families were being changed by and for the glory of God!

Overtime, roughly 15 years, something began to happen within the sheepfold. The shepherd began to displace the sheep from the sheepfold if the shepherd no longer wanted them there. Even though the Good Shepherd would put new sheep in the sheepfold, they didn’t stay long. They ran from the shepherd quickly. Even more alarming, faithful sheep who had been in the sheepfold for nearly 10 years began to scatter. As a result, there were divisions within families. Sermons became more and more shepherd-focused. Unscriptural requirements were demanded from the sheep. Therefore, confusion became rampant and contention abounded with the few sheep that were left in the sheepfold.

Why did all of this unfold? Because the shepherd distorted the voice of the Good Shepherd. The voice of the shepherd grew more and more strange until it became unrecognizable. Jesus speaking about Himself in John 10:1-5 said this:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

In early 2024, I finally left the ministry I was a part of and faithfully supported for over 25 years because I no longer heard the Chief Shepherd’s voice in the pastoral leadership, and I was no longer serving the Lord whom I love with gladness. By faith through grace, I found the courage to relocate to a healthy sheepfold where the Shepherd’s voice is clear.

The purpose of this blog is to help the body of Christ, sincere believers in Jesus Christ all over the world, break free of spiritual bondage caused by strange voices. This serves as a resource for those who love the Lord Jesus and want to be obedient to Him, but are having or have experienced dread or fear in your walk and relationship with Him because of pastoral leadership that has degraded His word. If you have left your first love because of this degradation, it can be restored along with your peace and joy. Through the living word of God and by the Holy Spirit, you too can gain the strength and courage to flee from a strange voice speaking in the name of Jesus (Matthew 7:22).

The Lord Jesus told Peter to strengthen his brothers after recovering from his sifting experience. Know the Shepherd’s Voice will help the body of Christ identify and escape unhealthy sheepfolds, to be restored from spiritual degradation caused by pastoral leadership, to remove any heavy yokes imposed, and to no longer follow a stranger. This is possible and can be accomplished by knowing the Shepherd’s voice.

If you have had a similar experience or if you are going through a similar situation right now, welcome to Know the Shepherd’s Voice where we will learn together, take a journey to healing, and grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). Healing and restoration is possible!

In our next post, we will explore the root cause of an unhealthy sheepfold.

Disclaimer: Before making decisions or changes that affect your spiritual life and well-being, always personally seek God for His perfect will for your life and always follow peace.