OpenHeaven.com






Home   |   Contact Us   |   About Us



Home


>
Forums



Active Topics



Member List



Search



Register



Log In



Help



News



Free Download
Books & Videos




Articles



Links
Kingdom Revival
House Church
Market Place




Networking



Prayer



Library



Old Reports



Audio/Video
Live Webcasts




Contact Us



About Us




OpenHeaven.com
DIGEST ARCHIVE
by Article Titles
and Date


KINGDOM
GROWTH GUIDES


Ron's Newest Book
END OF THIS AGE
God's Intervention
on Planet Earth
Free Download


VOICE of
PROPHESY
FORUM


Kingdom
Prophetic
ARTICLES by
Ron McGatlin

RON'S KINGDOM
BOOKS
Free Download

PAT BOON'S
Fatherhood
Message and
Communion

Watch This
Powerful 2 min
Video

Baptized With
HOLY SPIRIT
AND FIRE

Holy Spirit
Filling/Baptism

Holy Spirit
Power
 

Deliverance
Ministry

VIDEO
Supernatural
Deliverance
Nick
Griemsmann

Hearing God

Deeper
Spiritual Life

RaisingThe
Dead


Billy Graham's
Message to
America - Video

How I Escaped
the
Mormon Temple



Older Book Reviews by Steve Eastman (Forum Locked Forum Locked)
OpenHeaven.com Forum : Older Book Reviews by Steve Eastman
Subject Topic: A Review of George Warnock’s Feed My Sheep Post Reply Post New Topic
Author
Message
<< Prev Topic | Next Topic >>
Moderator
Admin Group
Admin Group


Joined: 03/16/2005
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6133
Posted: 05/22/2005 at 2:52pm | IP Logged Quote Moderator

A Review of George Warnock’s Feed My Sheep

By Steve Eastman

        From time to time in the church, movements have arisen overemphasizing the authority of the five-fold ministry.  This is usually in response to a lack of emphasis on several of these ministries.  George Warnock wrote Feed My Sheep back in 1980, during the declining years of one of these authoritarian movements.  Although many feel those days are long gone, there are still pastors relying on “armor-bearers” to carry their luggage and forbidding their constituency to visit other gatherings of saints.  The message of Feed My Sheep is still needed today.

        Warnock, who was always finding New Testament truth in the types and shadows of the Old Testament, calls our attention to I Samuel 8, when the people asked for an earthly king to rule over them.  He paraphrases their plea in modern day language, “Yes, Lord, it is true… we wanted a king so we could be like other (denomi)nations… we wanted a nice church system in our community, so we would no longer be a reproach to other churches….”  He reasons that just as an earthly king uses his subjects to plant his crops, drive his chariots and reap his harvest, an overly authoritarian church leader busies his people with his activities. Warnock reminds us that we cannot appease God by working for him.  “God will not allow you to rest until you find that rest in union with Himself alone.”

        Warnock, like many commentators, links a major decline in the spirituality of the Church to the Roman emperor Constantine, who put the cross on the battle standard.  “We believe it was due to the subtle tactics of Satan that Constantine sought to Christianize paganism, by making Christianity the state religion, by baptizing the armies into the new Christian religion, by elevating the ministry to places of leadership in the land, and by granting the Christian Church, all kinds of earthly favors.”  As we shall see, having authority by virtue of some kind of office apart from a close relationship to Christ, has wrecked havoc with the church.

        About the time Feed my Sheep was written, there was a common teaching that God expects us to obey our spiritual authorities whether they are right or wrong; even though He might have to deal with them, He would judge us by whether we submitted.  On the other hand, the book reminds us about the time in I Samuel 22 when Doeg, acting on an order from King Saul, killed the priests of the Lord.  Warnock quotes God’s response, as given though David in Psalm 52, “God shall likewise destroy thee forever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living.”

        Warnock sheds light on a question that has perplexed many about Jesus, and in so doing shows that true spiritual authority does not originate with an office.  Despite many opportunities for Jesus to exert authority by virtue of being Messiah, He downplayed the office.  Instead Israel’s Messiah “… conquered in the temptation to act in His own right on the Mount of Temptation … He conquered in the temptation to act in His own right under the pressure of the people to make Him king and He conquered in Gethsemane under the pressure of the powers of darkness to throw away the cup that God had given Him to drink.”  He did what He saw the Father doing and spoke what He heard the Father saying.  He wanted people to follow him because they sensed His union with the Father.   Even though He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, he is more frequently pictured as the Lamb.

        This brings us to the question of the purpose of the ministry.  Warnock finds an Old Testament example in Joshua.  He not only led the people into a new land, but encountered the Captain of the host of the Lord in Joshua 5.  “Dear Lord, grant unto Thy servants everywhere, whom Thou hast chosen to lead your people into the new realms of our heavenly heritage, such a direct open confrontation with Thyself, that they shall know of a surety that Thou, O Lord, art alone responsible as the Captain of our Salvation, and as the Builder and Architect of your Church, to bring your people into the inheritance that Thou hast prepared for them.”  Like John the Baptist, whose purpose was to point to Jesus, they must decrease, but He must increase.  As a sheep becomes mature, he is less dependant on the earthly shepherd and more dependant on the heavenly shepherd.

archive.openheaven.com
         



Edited by Ron McGatlin on 11/09/2011 at 6:51am
Back to Top
View Moderator's Profile Search for other posts by Moderator

Sorry, you can NOT post a reply.
This forum has been locked by a forum administrator.

  Post Reply Post New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum