Jesus, as the good shepherd, calls his own sheep to come out of Judaized, apostate Christianity, and into the green pastures of shalom. And for this to occur, we must come to share in Christ's own judgment of false shepherds, as -thieves and robbers- and be prepared to come out from among them. We must not cling to the familiar, but hear our shepherd's voice, and follow him out.

Fear is a problem for many Christians. Some beloved children of God suffer from deep anxiety even to the point of clinical intervention. But fear, like all human emotion, is simply part of being human. Now that we are in Christ, it is possible to learn to experience and express our fears in a healthy manner. The proper fear of God, the voice of our good Shepherd, and the support of a small group are tools for managing fear.

Jesus left no room for interpretation when he referred to all who had come before him as -thieves and robbers.- What made them thieves and robbers- And does the modern pastor-centered church serve merely as a platform for modern thieves and robbers- Here are some practical points of discerning whether your pastor is a servant or a thief.

Central to the good Shepherd narrative is the truth that Christ's sheep hear his voice and follow him. But many Christians are far more atuned to other voices, and must learn to train their senses to hear and obey the voice of their good Shepherd. The quality of communication between Christ and his sheep being that of the communication between the Father and the Son.

This is a brief but important comment on how destructive the modern prosperity gospel is to the mental and spiritual health of those who subscribe to it but do not prosper accordingly. The fact is, no one prospers from this teaching. The only reason the teachers of this lie appear to prosper is because they are stealing money from millions of deceived followers- it isn't because God is blessing them. Come out and stay out. Avoid this teaching and its lying preachers.

Jesus judged the Pharisees first as blind leaders before he judged them as thieves, robbers, strangers, and mere hired hands. Most Christians today are led by spiritually blind leaders, and therefore fall into the ditch. How can you discern spritually blind leaders, and avoid them- That's the topic of this lesson.

Having sought out the now outcast man from the synagogue, Jesus then revealed himself to this man whose physical blindness Jesus had earlier healed. Jesus is stepping in as this man's advocate and defender, as well as Lord and all-sufficient Savior. And Jesus now also turns to those who had judged both himself and the man to be sinners, and unworthy of fellowship. But it Jesus who is acting as prosecutor and judge, not the Pharisees.

The good Shepherd narrative presents Jesus as defender, prosecutor, and judge. Jesus defends his sheep, and also prosecutes, then judges false shepherds and those who follow them. The question is, what is his role in your life at this time-

It may be easy to think that discerning and exposing apostate teachers is an obsession with the negative- and that danger does exist. But a large part of the the Bible does address the problem of idolatry and apostate religion because such thing bring blasphemy upon the name of God, and destroys lives. But the overarching goal of the Spirit's work in the text is to create an ever-increasing conformity to the image of Christ. This is the main purpose of this study- to expose falsehood and increase Christlikeness in the believer. The Spirit's work of conforming tthe believer into Christ's image is the definition of Spirit-uality.

To be a Christian is to be a -Called out one,- that is, a member of the ekklesia, the church, the called out people. But what is it to which we are called- Many who hear the Lord's call to come out of apostate religion, choose to remain in dead, even apostate denominations and churches becaused they fear leaving what they have been taught to be the -the house of God.- But here we have another opportunity to let go of appearance and instead discover the reality of what it means to be God's household. . . -whose house we are- -Hebrews 3-6-.