Wily always managed to steal the incomng hireling/under shepherd from the flock before he arrived. He spent many hours on the phone building his political network and was astute in covering all the bases. The hirelings loved him - he was the kind of ram they needed to help them break in a new fold, bring things under control, etc.

The sure-footed, swift marathon runner was right there at the door welcoming each newcomer, inviting them to dinner at his home, giving them plenty of fun and relaxation, passing out little token jobs so that they were immediately encircled in his camp and considering it an honor to be so.

The lambs thought Wily was the most loving ram they had ever known. When they ran their fingers through his fleece it was not in the least like wolf hair, but was thick luxurious wool. How were they to know that it was synthetic? He was their mentor. They wanted to be just like him and they became just like him - a sheep in wolf’s clothing or was it a wolf in sheep’s clothing? I get the two confused.

There were many sermons about “coming out of this world” but the little unsuspecting lambs thought that meant having nothing to do with the black sheep in the world. They thought they were accomplishing that by doing everything and going everywhere with the sheep in their flock, spending all their time chauffeuring their little lambs around to the fold-sponsored activities designed to keep the little ones in the fold/world (as opposed to the world/world). They honestly thought they had made their exodus out of the world and were safe from that unclean thing. Little did they know that as soon as they stepped inside the door and entered the political arena of the fold “leaders” or “aspiring leaders” that the world not only awaited their arrival, but came right in with them and thus remained solidly entrenched in its comfortable place. Satan (that old sheep hater) saw to it that his same sin system (sheep destruction) was alive and well in their midst of which they immediately became part of, contributed to and oblivious to. They came in and hit the ground running never realizing that they really had only changed locations - not hearts.

The ewes vied for high-ranking positions such as flower arranging, coffee making, tending the library, etc. The rams had their prestigious goals set in front of them as well. The high visibility jobs were the most coveted and sought after.

It was natural that few realized what was taking place. After all, competition, vying for position, achieving status and rank had been a way of life to them when they were out in the world. They really didn’t have time to compare what seemed natural to them with the supernatural ways of the good Shepherd and His Father. Hence the sheep that had been given to the Good Shepherd by His Father were stolen from Him before they had a chance to learn the error of their past ways.

The upper shepherd, who was given the fold by the Good Shepherd to feed and care for, was surrounded, impaled and imprisoned in a tight, well-drawn net of politicians. He had long ceased to be effective and spent most of his time legendizing himself by traveling around the world and paying audiences to listen to him preach “another” gospel. Those in charge in his absence continually plotted to wrest the organization from him and tampered with the Good Shepherd’s true teaching whenever they had the opportunity. When things would finally come to a head and push came to shove, he was always able to get things “back on track” and gloss things over so that the sheep were none-the-wiser.

Then things began to change. It seems that the Good Shepherd had become extremely nauseated by this whole lukewarm satanic mess that was being perpetrated in His name. Divine regurgitation revealed all sorts of hybrid rottenness. What had been safely hidden under the guise of flock “unity”W came spewing forth shattering the grand illusion we all had. The Good Shepherd’s teaching had long since been compromised for the sake of “unity” actually almost from the “get-go.”

The upper shepherd, in his enthusiasm to do a “work” for the Good Shepherd ran ahead of the Good Shepherd carving out his own methods and modes operandi. He thought he knew how the Good Shepherd wanted it done. He forgot that the sheep belonged to the Good Shepherd and had merely been given to him to care for. He often quoted the Good Shepherd saying, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” but he rarely quoted it in relationship to himself but rather to the poor sheep as they doggedly milled around the depleted pastures looking for something worthwhile to eat.

It seemed that he began well. He certainly seemed to take to the truth like a sheep takes to grazing, but it seems that also he applied the world’s methods and values of doing things from the beginning. He discovered the writings of other upper shepherds that had gone before him and incorporated it into his own as if it had been personally revealed to him directly from the Good Shepherd Himself, failing to mention the sources from which his foundational truth sprang. The sheep began to look upon him as a great spiritual leader and eventually elevated him to the status of “the only Apostle” in the world doing The Good Shepherd’s work.

When he was small in his own eyes, which appeared to be only for a short period of time, he was usable and the Good Shepherd certainly used him. He was a talented ram and a very persuasive teacher. He was an expert in advertising and knew how to sell his product. He had a driving passion to do this great work for the Good Shepherd and had at one time been a ram of great conviction and courage. He handled himself well in adversity and was adept at shutting the mouths of his critics and enemies.

In addition to these qualities, he also had a driving ambition to be someone great. He was a very short ram and some said he had a “little ram complex.” He was impressionable - especially by top corporate leaders such as bank presidents, CEO’s, etc., and was even able to get interviews with men such as Henry Ford and other famous personages when he was a young ram in advertising. From an early age, he had been ambitious and this seemed to be a lifelong driving force.

When he was small in his own eyes and the response to his ministry was meager and fledgling, he seemed to go straight ahead on that narrow path laying a strong foundation.

However, as time passed he felt thwarted because the small groups that formed around him were fickle and short-lived. The sheep would allow themselves to be drawn away by other rams from other folds that scratched their itching ears. He stated in his autobiography that he couldn’t hold the groups together because wolves would come in and drag his little lambs away.
When he first broke away from his original pasture where he received most of his training, he seemed to understand that the Good Shepherd’s government as shown in the recorded words of the Good Shepherd was not the ruling bodies of men. But how was he going to solve this problem of losing his little lambs to outsiders who came in his absence?

He also seemed to understand at one time that the true flock was really a spiritual organism and not a physical fold/organization. So where or when did he begin to change his view?

Growth in a physical organization, especially a lucrative organization demands unity if it is to survive and continue to be successful. In corporations and other worldly organizations, unity is gained through systematic control. I might add that the word “satanic’ may be placed in front of systematic control. If you are going to run a worldly organization, you must put in place a worldly system of control, i.e. monarchy, hierarchy, corporate boards, committees, etc., whatever it takes to have unity, harmony and cohesiveness.

When dealing with a spiritual entity, unity can only be achieved by spiritual means. A spiritual organism inspired by the Spirit of God is not a control mechanism but is a cohesive body fused together in unity by truth - the only system of doctrine that can produce true unity. It’s Originator, Creator, Sustainer and Disseminator is the Good Shepherd and His Father. He rules His flock, not by controlling, but by teaching the sheep to control themselves by exercising the free moral agency that He has given them in the right way. He determines who He

wants in the organism and He places them there. If a sheep comes by responding to the call of the Good Shepherd, he or she belongs. If they come by any other means, they don’t.

When an upper shepherd takes his eyes off the care and maintenance of the sheep and on to the size of the fold, the flock is in serious trouble. When the primary focus is doing a “work” that necessitates the expanding of the fold it is always at the expense of and risk to the flock.

Sheep-shearing becomes the financial means of expansion. The sheep are looked upon as property to be exploited. Special diets with chemicals are added to the food supply to enhance and speed the growth of wool. Too-frequent sheep-shearings leave the sheep exposed to the elements and often the coffers are depleted before shearing time because inevitably expansion grows more rapidly than the support system that propels it.

You may wonder why the sheep become so addicted to this shearing process. To a sheep the noblest calling is to yield up his wool for the need of others. They were created for this purpose and this is all they know how to do. Is there a more noble cause than being a part of helping to do the “work of the Good Shepherd and His Father” on earth?

Consequently #’s and $’s become the primary focus giving opportunity for wolves posing as sheep to come into the fold. The Good Shepherd’s Father is no longer hand-picking and selecting the sheep to give to the Good Shepherd, but the upper shepherd is buying up as many as he possibly can or herding in the wayward and lost black sheep whitewashing them so that they appear to be the same as all the others. Fear tactics were used to herd them in. Dire predictions of doom and a promise of a “place of safety” that will protect them from the great tribulation that is about to come upon all the world was a very effective tool of persuasion.

In order to expand, the groups had to be solidified under the shepherd, and additional shepherds were needed to be trained that could go in and control the sheep not allowing them to stray from pasture to pasture as they were prone to do. The shepherd came up with a clever way to do this and he even convinced himself and others this was the Good Shepherd’s idea. Hence, the creation of Hireling University.

Hireling University appealed to the shepherd because he himself did not have the formal training that he felt his potential warranted. A big fleecing took place that gave birth to Hireling University which soon became known as The Good Shepherd’s College where hireling ministers were manufactured, trained to all teach the same thing (keep-the-sheep-in-line sermons). They were sent out into the field at young ages with instructions on how to keep the groups together so that when fleecing time came, it would not be an overly difficult task to shear them as quickly as possible. These hireling under shepherds were groomed carefully and precisely as shepherds should be groomed. It became very difficult to differentiate between the real thing and the fake. The fake hid behind a well constructed facade of the Good Shepherd Himself.

This was so cleverly done that the unsuspecting sheep never missed the Good Shepherd when he was shut out of the fold by the hirelings. After all the sheep were just sheep - innocent, unassuming, politicized, dumbed-down, by mind conditioning control, i.e. “Don’t judge! If you make a simple judgment you are being judgmental and that is a grave sin. If we feed you inferior fodder, it isn’t for you to question, we know what is good for you, you don’t! Besides your attitude is being tested and if you dislike the taste it is because of your bad attitude. Your job is to serve, serve, serve (pray, pay and stay). Thus the dumb sheep became dumber, afraid to think for themselves and unable to make discerning righteous judgment

The “upper shepherd” quickly brought in the controlling mechanism that was needed. Soon a ministerial hierarchy of hireling ministers were trained and in place and things really began to take off. The sheep may have been ill-nourished, naked, cold, compromised and completely dominated, but the money from all that wool was launching a “world-wide work” of preaching the gospel and that was what was really important. They were excited and honored to be part of such a wonderful and noble endeavor and all for the Good Shepherd. So the sheep didn’t complain of being left out in the rain, cold and hungry or being run over by the rams. After all a good attitude was what was going to save them in the end and determine their place in the Kingdom, wasn’t it?

Time passed and the upper shepherd grew old. Two years before the old shepherd died, he stated in a sermon that in the 6,000 years of history the fold had accomplished what the world had failed to do - the flock had achieved complete unity. He saw to it that everything was “back on track”, satisfied that unity had been re-established.

What he didn’t know (unless he found out just before he died) was this....

Indeed, there was unity, but at what great price had this been achieved? And what kind of unity was it? The Good Shepherd’s truth had been sacrificed on the altar of unity, a physical organization had replaced the spiritual organism, love for the Good Shepherd and the fellow sheep had been replaced by a competitive system of greed and treachery. But there was unity. Never mind that in their midst walked all sorts of spiritually bent characters. There were potential sacred namers, calendar freaks, private interpreters of the Good Shepherd’s Words with bizarre teaching and a host of all sorts of other conceptual rifts that dared not raise their fuzzy head for fear of decapitation.

Many black sheep (whitewashed) had entered the sheepfold through other doors. They mingled and munched right along side of the innocent lambs and blended in so well they couldn’t be told apart. Finally the Good Shepherd could take no more. He allowed the winds of apostasy to blow the fold down forcing some of the sheep out. He would have to scatter them before he could eventually draw them back to Him apart from these controlling influences.

There were those who refused to leave. They simply couldn’t function on their own. They couldn’t think for themselves. They no longer knew what they believed. And they had no place to go. They couldn’t bear to part with their fellow sheep that they had fellowshiped with for years. Besides wasn’t the Good Shepherd going to handle this and deliver them?

Those that went out into the wilds dreaded the thought of being out in the dark woods alone where all sorts of wolves were lurking about. They immediately began to look for a safe haven. In the absence of the Good Shepherd they forgot that He loved them and had purchased them with His very blood, that He promised to never forsake them, that He alone could care for them and fulfill their needs. They had too long trusted in the physical organization and the hirelings that they could see and didn’t think to turn to the Good Shepherd for comfort and safety. He was waiting in the wings for them to want His help but they didn’t see Him.

The hirelings hung on to their jobs for dear life. You couldn’t run some of them off. Finally, many of them were forced out but went reluctantly. Had it not been for the fact that they were assured no disruption in the receipt of their salary, many of them would have refused to be fired.

Little folds began springing up here and there. The same hirelings that had been at the heart and core of the original problems once again sported new clothing of the finest wool. They made great pronouncements how they had stepped out on faith to stand for the truth. And there were new faces as well, some of the aspiring “nare-do-wells” that never had their chance finally saw their opportunity.

Some ordained themselves and set up shop with a flurry of newsletters, articles, pertinent information dispensed all in the name of helping the poor little lost sheep. Occasionally a sprig of wolf hair may spring from beneath their attire but they quickly rearrange their wool to cover any sign of their true nature before the unsuspecting sheep take notice.

For the most part it is business as usual - sheep shearing has resumed with only a slight disruptive ripple and even bigger potential is presenting itself - especially to those who had never had a chance to be present at the former sheep shearings and carry the purse from the market.

New technology has been added. Computerized dispensing of sensitive spiritual questions & rounds of debate have been launched. A network of energies are being pooled to develop a refreshing new table of spiritual delectables and is being promptly offered to the confused, muddled, lonely and hungry sheep.

Promises of freedom to graze in other pastures is being given. Promises of a voice in government is being offered, but beneath the surface they wait for the right time to place the controls in again. In some cases new fencing is being placed around some pastures. Once again, fear is being instilled in the lambs so they don’t dare leave the fold for fear of being eaten by the wolves crouched right outside the door. No mention is made of “insiders.” Some are being told they are the only elect of the Father and the Good Shepherd and they must keep themselves from the unclean thing. The unclean thing has expanded in meaning from the wicked world to include many of the other sheep folds where many friends were seeking new grazing ground.
The only thing is that it just isn’t as simple as it used to be. Though it may be hard to believe, a few of these dumb sheep have become wolf-wise and just aren’t that easily ensnared into a wolf-infested fold as they once were. The new found freedom has given them space to see the hierarchical structure of the fold for what it is - a clever counterfeit of the true government of the Good Shepherd. They have become avowed hierarchical haters and having escaped such a dangerous situation are determined to never make that mistake again. When fleecing time is announced, they simply don’t put in an appearance. And if they do, they are telling the shearer where to begin and end and sometimes just where to go. They have begun the unheard of thing of parceling out their wool which some say is the unpardonable sin. And to add to the confusion, some sheep reject all guidance and have struck out on their own to graze lone pastures or pastures sown with variant grazing grasses.
And those true ministers of the Good Shepherd who have been for many years and are teaching the unadulterated truth of the Father and the Good Shepherd and have been given the responsibility to expose these treacherous wolves are condemned by the wolves as being destroyers of the “House of the Father and the Good Shepherd.”

Being one of those wolf-wise myself, I have come to understand many things. While I was able to discern the direction that the fold was headed in it’s teachings it took leaving the big fold and entering another small fold to see the big lesson that had escaped me. My perception had just not been honed enough.
Being so deep in the fold, I couldn’t see the light. It took another fold created in the image of the old, the same old fold games being played, the same old sick sycophants panting and whispering the praises of their “godly” shepherd, watching the upper shepherds bring in the same wily wolves for the sake of building an organization all over again to make me realize that I could not be a part of this.

Upon leaving this fold, I learned another supreme lesson, the lesson I should have learned in the very beginning: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.”

The fold, the hireling upper under shepherds had usurped the Good Shepherd’s rightful position in my life and I had allowed it to happen. Even though I had a good sense of what I believed and was careful to check things with the words of the Good Shepherd I fell for the sleight of hand that fold government was the Good Shepherd’s government. I had committed idolatry right along with the rest of the sheep. But hopefully I am in the process of repenting.

I said all of this to say this:

Where are the true sheep and shepherds who will stand for the truth like David, a shepherd after God’s heart. Like Jeremiah who spent days perhaps months in dung up to his neck rather than compromise the truth! Where are those who are willing to be tortured in the most excruciating way considering it a privilege to die for the teaching of the Good Shepherd?

How many can be counted who have refused to compromise with others and remain faithful to the teachings of the Good Shepherd and His Father? How many refused to create followers for themselves knowing it was a usurping of the Good Shepherd in the lives of the sheep and an exaltation of self? How many refused to be all things to all people knowing it led to compromise with the covenant they made with the Good Shepherd when they heard His voice and placed themselves under His care?

How many refused to be dominated by their ewe wives who also want a following - who were lusting to be the First Ewe and an opportunity to preach those sheep-beating sermons that they had not been allowed to do all those years because they were ewes.

But count, if you can, all the wanna be’s” who are finally “gonna be’s”, the “has been’s” who are “once again’s”, the “nare do wells” who are finally coming into their own. Oh yes, let’s not forget the little lambs who are tagging along behind bleating for a little recognition and a little special treatment which has been denied them for so long.

To you self-appointed teachers - I say this in all due respect and kindness - I don’t need you. I wouldn’t give you 15 cents for all the sermonettes I have heard for these many years. In fact they were so shallow and ineffectual I can’t remember one that stands out vividly in my mind.
To you bright and shining upcoming ram stars, the internet ram egotists, I am not impressed. Somehow the Good Shepherd and His Father do not strike me as a networker or an ecumenist. The picture I get of Them is that They are the great Unifier, They know how to build Their spiritual Family and didn’t consult us in the beginning when They were developing their plans and do not need our input unless They decide to allow us to have a part in it.

I will prophesy that most of the newsletters being sent my way will end up in the outhouse of so much recycled dung (excuse my crudeness please) as toilet paper - so rough in texture that Sears catalogs will be in great demand once again. But by all means, keep sending them, they might come in handy when the power goes off, outhouses are back in and there is no local Sears.

So to all you “use to be’s”, “has been’s”, “wanna be’s”, “gonna and gotta be’s” - shove off. Who needs you? I am not impressed by your intellectual abilities or your ability to spiritualize away the truth. Your internet, egotistical side trips may seem productive and sophisticated to you, but I fear that one day the Good Shepherd is going to have to retrieve you from cyberspace. I would venture to say that you all are making fools of yourselves in the eyes of the Father and the Good Shepherd, certainly in mine.

As of this writing, please do not concern yourselves with me any longer. I have the best Teacher there is and He is capable of giving me gifts of true ministry in spite of your interjection in my life. He has His true shepherds, few perhaps, but He can do with one what He can not do with all of you put together. Those true shepherds are the ones you are refusing to listen to. Apparently it hasn’t occurred to you that the Good Shepherd just may be giving you space for repentance. It might behoove you to listen to His voice that is being spoken through His true shepherds however few there may be.

For ewe sheep who are taken in by these charlatans, perhaps you need to take a closer look at your own motives. Remember “Birds of a feather flock together” and “Sheep in wolves clothing become wolves.”

I think what the Good Shepherd desires of all of us is the following:

signs of a humble spirit
fruits of repentance before God
move out of the Good Shepherd’s way and let Him go His job
don’t hinder, be a helpmeet
be a family member - not a ruler
pastor don’t patronize
become a recipient of grace
stop being an ingratiator
humble yourselves from self-exalted pedestal
descend to the level of just plain sheep
fall out of love with the sound of your own voice
fall in love with the voice of the Good Shepherd and our Father

Then He will be in a position to do whatever it is that pleases Him because He alone knows your true capability, where He plans for you to be and your trustworthiness. Who knows what He has planned for you but Him? But know this, little ones, it is far greater than you could ever imagine for yourselves.

Respectfully yours,

A Descendent of Deborah