The Shepherd's Flock USA

Many years ago, when I went through U.S.A.F. Basic Training at Sampson Air Force Base, our T.I. (Technical Instructor) was an ex-marine that re-enlisted in the U.S.A.F. This T.I. called me aside, and told me that he thought that I was the best marcher in our Flight, and was making me the honorary Right Guide. In this position, the Right Guide marches in front of the 4th Squad Leader and sets the cadence (movement) for the whole Flight Squadron when marching.

A couple of years later, as a Buck Sargent (A/1C), I graduated from the NCO (noncommissioned officers) academy. At graduation, we marched in the parade grounds for the top brass, with an Air Force Band playing military marching music. Proud? You bet. I felt the hair on my neck stand up – with pride. Everyone was in step, as one. “Sharp” is the way I would describe the marching.

After my discharge, I joined the active U.S.A.F. Reserves for two more years. While serving in the Reserves, we marched in the 4th of July parade in Binghamton, NY. I was totally embarrassed because of the sloppy, out of step, marching of the U.S.A.F. Reserves in this parade. When everyone is marching in unison, as one, because all of them are “in step”, it is a sight to see and appreciate.

Now, for the rest of my story… Those of you who have read and followed my articles, you know there is going to be an analogy to this article, and here it is:

As a professed Christian, are we in step, as one group? The obvious answer is no! I think of the Hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers.” If you are not familiar with this Hymn, here is the lyrics to the chorus:

“Onward Christian Soldier! Marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus, going on before.”

Are we marching as to war? No! Is it a war? Yes! It is a war between good and evil. And? We are losing battle after battle. Yes, we know that in the end, God wins and Satan is the loser. Which “Master” are we serving, God or Satan?When I speak of “we”, I’m talking about “Christians.” If I may, let me use this example.

Two women are neighbors, and are standing on a street corner, watching the parade. Marge has a son that’s in the school band, and as the school band marches by, she turns to her neighbor, Susan, and says “did you see my son John in the band?” Susan says yes, I saw John. And Marge says “he was the only one in step”! The conclusion is that Susan and everyone else knows that John was the only one that was out of step! Let us set the world’s opinion aside. Spiritually speaking, John may have been the only one “in step.” Too many people are “marching” to the cadence of Satan’s drum beat. They are in step with the world, and out of step with the Lord.

There are Baptists, Methodists, Catholic, and many other denominations that are marching in this parade. Are they all in step? No! Even within their own denomination, they are not all in step. Divided we fall, united we stand, is the results. We are all “marching” to a different drum beat and we are not in step. The ones who are “in step” are the ones who are “in” Jesus, and he is “in” them. Jesus Christ explains this much better than I can. So, take your Bible and read John, Chapters 14 and 15. Highlight or circle in red, the word “in”, then read these two Chapters again. I have been told that “in Christ” is shown 132 times in the Scriptures. We could write a book about being “in Christ”, but we don’t need to, because God already did that – its in the Bible.

People in this world, look at the parade of professed Christians, and see that they are out of step, not “marching” as one, and an atheist would maybe ask us: “which God do you worship”?How pathetic is that!?

Let me give another example: If “professed Christians” stood together as one, we could accomplish much. If we stood together, we could bankrupt Disney World by not going there until they stop their “pride” week. We have way too many “hired hands” in our churches. Jesus Christ explained about “hired hands”. (Read John 10:11-16) He also told us about one flock with one Shepherd! We professed Christians don’t read and meditate on our Bible daily. When we die, if they did autopsy on our soul, the cause of death would be “starvation.” Ouch!

As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be. We have arrived. Too many of our “religious leaders” of today are like the religious leaders when Jesus was on earth teaching. They infer we’re good, but we’re not good.Our righteousness is as filthy rags. None are good, no, not one.

When is the last time we witnessed to someone, holding up Jesus Christ? When was the last time someone witnessed to you?When we witness to people, most will say “you are preaching the choir.” Instead, we should hear an “Amen.” If they are not singing praises to God, they are not even in His choir. Their reply is indicative of “I’m good to go.”

If our lifestyle never changed after we repeated and accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we never “got it.” If He doesn’t live “in” you, and you don’t live in Him, you never got it.We have all read from experts, that we are a 87% Christian nation. Really?If we believe that, we’re ignorant and deceived.

Example #1: During the Great Flood, there were probably millions upon millions of people living on this earth. How many did God save? The answer is eight!

Example #2: The wisest man to walk this earth, not counting Jesus Christ, was King Solomon. He asked God for wisdom. If you question his wisdom, remember that he wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes! He said he found one man out of a thousand to be upright.

Example #3: Jesus Christ said: “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are “few” who find it.” (Matthew 7:14)“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37)“For many are called, but “few” are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)

So much for the lie that says we are a 87% Christian nation! The key word is “few”.Jesus Christ said “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

Are we in step with Him? Are we marching to war? Are we a member of the Body of Christ?

There seems to be no end to the memberships that people can join. There is no point in listing the millions of memberships one can join. Instead, let us consider being a member of some church and their Denomination. It’s my understanding that each Denomination has it’s own rules, regulations, laws, and doctrine. These memberships differ from church to church, Denomination to Denomination. Here is the question that we should ask.
How is being a member of this church or that church, different than what’s in God’s Word? We just opened a bag of worms, so to speak. The answer is, of course, interpretation of the Bible. Who is right and who is wrong? The preacher holds up his church and their Denomination, and if he does, go find another church. A preacher should hold up Jesus Christ, not himself, his church, or his Denomination. To separate the real born again
preacher from the “hired hands”, you have to know what God says in His instruction book….the Bible. For instance, Jesus Christ Himself told us in the Scriptures about the “hired hands” preacher’s. I can visualize an atheist asking a Christian, “Which God do you worship”? Why would he ask that question? Because there are so many religions and well over two hundred Denominations and so the atheist thought that each one had their own God.
Each one of these religions and Denominations think that they are right.
Here is how I would explain it to the atheist. Each religion has their own interpretation of who their god is. In truth, there is only one true God and He is alive. I would explain the Triune God, (Trinity). I would explain to him
about Jesus Christ and the word Christianity.
Christianity is not a religion. It is a love relationship with Jesus Christ. I would tell him about God sending His only son to earth to pay for our sin debt because God is holy. By Jesus Christ dying to pay our sin debt, we could repent of our sins and ask Jesus Christ to forgive us. We could ask Him for forgiveness and repent, and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. We are all sinners and failed to obey God’s laws. Those of us who repented of our sins
and followed Jesus Christ, were called Christians. As we read the Bible and follow the teaching of Jesus Christ, and believed and obey Him.
That makes us a member of the body of Christ and Jesus Christ is the head of this body. Members of the body of Christ make up His Church !
All of the churche’s that you see are buildings where people go to worship God. God’s church does not have a P.O. Box or a Sreet address in some town or State. God tells us to pray without ceasing. Read Luke 18:1;
1 Thes 5:17; Eph 6:18, Col 4:2; and Rom 12:12. Because Jesus Christ lives in us and the Holy Spirit indwells us, we can pray to God 7/24. God gave each one of us our own will and we can choose to follow Him or satan.
You need to know that Jesus Christ never taught Denominations. They are all man made. Read the Bible and follow Jesus Christ and obey Him. If you
become a member of His church, the body of Christ, and obey what the Bible tells us, your soul can spend eternity in heaven, not hell. The most important membership, is being a member of the body of Christ. If you don’t know Jesus Christ, what you do know is immaterial. I pray that you make the wise choice and make the commitment to follow Jesus Christ
and His teachings.

A. Thoughts of the wicked, described as:

Evil Gen 6:5
Abominable Prov 15:26
Sinful Isa 59:7
Devoid of God Ps 10:4
Futile Rom 1:21
Known by God 1 Cor 3:20
In need of repentance Acts 8:22

B. Thoughts of the believer:

Comprehended by God 1 Chr 28:9 and Ps 139:2
Captivated by Christ 2 Cor 10:5
Criticized by God’s Word Heb 4:12
In need of examination Ps 139:23

C. Thoughts of God

Not like humankind’s Isa 55:8-9
To believer, good Ps 139:17

The battle between good and evil begins in the mind.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
We are not who we think we are, we are what we think.

All of us have probably heard and read that the Bible says “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” Obviously, discipline is important to God, otherwise He wouldn’t talk about it in His instruction book to us. Discipline is a tool used to teach the child between right and wrong. “Right” is doing things God’s way and “wrong” is not doing things God’s way, but our way.
When the child is old enough to understand yes and no, they are old enough to understand right and wrong, per Mom or Dad’s perspective. There are many, many ways to discipline a child. A spanking or standing in a corner of a room, no T.V., no video games, etc. etc.
Lack of discipline by the parents will adversely affect the child through his/her life. It is necessary that Dad and Mom work together as they teach the child. Otherwise, the child will use the weaker parent to get their way. Here is an example: “When your Dad gets home from work, you’re going to get it.” The leadership in home is the responsibility of the father with help from the mother. Without fear of the Lord by the parents, the child will be taught the fear of God and even parents, is not necessary. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. There is a lesson here, from God. Fear of parents if the child misbehaves, is important for the child to learn this lesson. The lesson is, if they don’t fear the parents, they will not fear the Lord, therefore the consequence of not minding the parents teaching them, that they don’t have to mind God either.
We have all heard of “tough love.” Tough love is making the child mind and if necessary, spank them. Of course, we have all heard the comment that “this is going to hurt me more than it will hurt you.” Why do we say that? Because we love them and don’t want to hurt them.
In truth, the lack of discipline will become more destructive and “hurt” more to the child, as he/she goes through life. If we truly love our child, we must understand and discipline them from God’s point of view, not our point of view. The lack of discipline by the parents will affect the child throughout their life and will also affect their attitude. In addition, the child will not have the respect for Dad and Mom that they need to have. These children will pass this lack of discipline on down to their children, because it is what they were taught. Many of these children will get into serious trouble. They are doing these bad things because they are crying out mentally, for help. It is one way for them to be noticed by their parents.
The “friends” that these children choose to pal around with think a lot like they think because they too, never received the required discipline.
To compound this lack of discipline problem, there are hundreds of thousands of boys that grew up with no fatherly discipline. They get into trouble because they did not receive the discipline that they needed. Some of them join the military. This is the only real chance that they have to receive discipline. Many of them are discharged because they are “unfit ” for military service. You parents who don’t believe in disciplining your children, should read this.
The children who never received the discipline, face another serious problem. Being a Christian. Yes, God has rules, regulations, procedures to follow and obey. You know, obey is to do what you are told to do. This situation shows how serious discipline really is. We have millions upon millions of people that did receive discipline as a youngster, who are now grown up, and fail to obey God. Do you comprehend how serious this lack of
discipline is now? The lack of discipline could very well send your children’s soul to hell. If you have children, you better take a closer look at disciplining your children and understand why God says to teach them discipline.

There seems to be no end to memberships that people can join. There is no point in listing them, because there are millions upon millions of memberships that people can join. Instead, let us consider being a member of some church and some Denomination.

My understanding is that each Denomination has it’s own rules, regulations, laws. doctrines for it’s members. These memberships differ from Denomination to Denomination, from church to church and there are many non Denominational churches that differ the same way.

Here is a question that we could ask. How is being a member of this church or that church different than what’s in God’s Word?
We just opened a bag of worms, so to speak. The answer is, of course, interpretation of God’s Word. Who is right and who is wrong? If a preacher holds up himself, his church, his Denomination, more than holding up Jesus Christ, go find another church.

To separate the real “born again” Christian preacher from the “Hired Hands”, you have to know what God says in His instruction book, the Bible. For example, Jesus Christ Himself, told us about the “Hired Hands”.

A “Hired Hand” does not care about the Sheep but the Good Shepherd does. For those of you who don’t know, “Sheep” represents Christians. The “Hired Hand” is not a good shepherd, and couldn’t care less about the sheep. I can see an atheist asking a Christian, “which God do you worship?”

Since there are over 200 Denominations in the United States, and they all say that they worship God, can you understand the atheist’s confusion? I can! Here is how I would explain Christianity to the atheist. Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with Jesus Christ. I would explain why Jesus Christ was sent to earth by the Father (God).

We were all sinner’s and did not live up to God’s standards. God sent Jesus Christ to earth to pay for our sin debt and if we repented of our sins and accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, we had the opportunity for our soul to go to heaven.

There are cold, lukewarm, and hot Christians. Jesus Christ clearly told us that He would prefer that we would be cold or hot, but not lukewarm, because He spews lukewarm Christians out of His mouth, i.e., they make Him vomit.

Now, let us get back to our subject of memberships. I don’t care what church or Denomination or non-Denominational you are a member of. But, I want you all to be aware of the most important membership on earth. That membership is being a member of the body of Christ.

Jesus Christ is the head of this body. Since God wants us to be on fire for Christ, you should be “born again”. A little common sense would say that cold and lukewarm Christians are not “on fire” for Christ, and that their soul will probably not make it to Heaven.  You can pick and choose the Scriptures that you agree with and the one’s that you don’t agree with. When you do that, you are playing that you are God. Scriptures are not for your multiple choice.

All of the churches that you see are not His Church. They are buildings. God’s church does not have a P.O. Box or an address in some town or State. The “church” is you and me, not some building. Christendom is nothing but chaos with all of the Denominations.

Jesus Christ said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus never said that your preacher, priest, and or rabbi is the way. The Disciples were really concerned when Jesus told them that he had to leave them to go and sit on the right hand of God. He told them that He would not leave them as orphans and would send them a Helper.

He did after He went up to Heaven. That Helper was sent not just for the Disciples, He was sent for us too. Jesus said that He was our Helper, Counselor, Tutor, Guide, and Comforter. He did not say that your preacher, priest, or rabbi was. He said that was the job of the Holy Spirit.

I want you to think about being a member of the body of Christ. That is the membership that will get your soul to Heaven.