“And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” – Jeremiah 3:15

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound – Isaiah 61:1”

There are gifts throughout the body of Christ for the benefit of the church.  Romans 12 speaks about gifts that come as a result of faith; 1 Corinthians 12 speaks of the gifts which come as a result of the Holy Spirit.  All of these gifts, such as teaching, prophesying, healing, and discernment, are for the edification of the church.

 In Jeremiah 3:15, however, God spoke of another gift.  He told Jeremiah that, after their captivity, God’s people would be given shepherds – pastors.  Pastors are a gift from God to His people.

PASTOR, SAVIOR, JESUS 

Our God is a Holy God. He gave us the gift of Jesus, His only Son. Jesus opened blinded eyes, healed the sick, raised the dead, walked on water, fed 5000 with the lunch of one child.

Jesus says in John 10:14-15,

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

On God’s governmental hand – the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, the teacher – only one has the same title as Jesus: which is Pastor.

4 REASONS OUR PASTOR IS A GIFT – Presiding Bishop Charles Edward Blake, Sr. leads an international flock of COGIC Bishops at the 112 COGIC Holy Convocation. Nov. 2019, St. Louis, MO.

WHY PASTORS?

God uses the Pastor to bring government to the flock. Many don’t understand this, even in the church where there are many gifted. But gifts without government is chaos.   We must recognize, especially in the times we live in, that pastors are gifts to us from God.

4 Reasons Pastors Are God’s Gift:

1. A Pastor imparts instruction, insight, and structure. Scripture declares in Ephesians 4:11-

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. This gives us great insight into God’s ability.  But what would it say about God that He could put the stars in the sky but could not keep them there, or to keep the earth on its axis? God is a God of government.  It’s important to know that one of the greatest abilities of God – even greater than His ability to create – is his ability to govern His creation.

4 REASONS OUR PASTOR IS A GIFT – “Africa should be close to our hearts,” says Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake, Sr., as he blesses orphans in Kenya.

2. He ushers the presence of God into the midst of His people. In Exodus 3:5, God tells Moses,

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Then at Jericho – a different geographical location – God spoke through an angel to Joshua, also telling him to take his shoes off, because he is standing on Holy ground. God spoke the same thing in 2 different areas, so we know that it wasn’t the geographics! It was that God spoke at that place which made it Holy. What makes West Angeles a great place is what ushers in the presence of God: and that is His Word.  And when a true man of God declares the Word of God with power and authority; where God speaks His word, then the ground becomes Holy ground.

3. He replaces the Ark of the Covenant. Jeremiah 3:16 brings us an understanding of God’s purpose for the Pastor:

It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the LORD, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.

4 REASONS YOUR PASTOR IS A GIFT – Bishop Blake calls on us to mentor the young men in our community through the Urban Initiatives’ programs.

To understand the significance of this passage, one must first understand the importance of the ark to Israel. The children of Israel, their enemies, even the gods of their enemies, understood that the ark represented the presence of God in the midst of His people. We now live in a time when Pastors become the replacement of the Ark of knowledge.  God’s anointing is on the life of the Pastor. God saw work for him to do and He anointed him to do it. Anointing is the ability on any man to accomplish the work, and there are benefits to God’s people as a result of that anointing.

4. He can change your life. Romans 10:14-15 says,

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? 

When you have a real presence of God in your midst, blessings find you. When he delivers the Word, you increase in knowledge. The Pastor gives his life to his flock. In his mouth is God’s power and authority of deliverance for your children, salvation for your marriage, and healing for your body and for your family.  It’s the anointing of God on a man’s life that makes the difference.

It is the preaching of the gospel that will always make the difference in any society.  It is the preaching of the gospel that brings salvation to a people. We have a gift in Presiding Bishop Charles Edward Blake, Sr: a man of vision, a man of purpose, a man of prayer and pursuit of excellence in ministry.

He is God’s gift to us.

Bishop Darrell L. Hines is a man of vision, purpose, prayer and a pursuant of excellence in ministry.  His primary mission is to fulfill the call of God on his life by proclaiming God’s uncompromising Word. He is committed to bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people of every ethnicity, nation, and culture. His purpose: “To tell a dying world about a living Christ.” Bishop Hines, a Stellar Award-nominated singer/psalmist, has appeared on Christian programming such as CBN, The Word Network, TBN and This Is Your Day with Benny Hinn, courtesy of Christian Faith Fellowship Church where he is Pastor.  Bishop Darrell Hines has been married to Pastor Pamela Hines for 37 years.  They are the parents of 2 children and the grandparents of 3.