Introduction

Today marks the second lecture of our second global online seminar, Pastoring the Church: Building Pastoral Relationships. In the previous lecture, we discussed church pastoring. What is pastoring? Pastoring plays a crucial role in building a church. Among the pastors I've encountered, many aspire to manage a thousand or even ten thousand people, as if more numbers equate to better. But I don't prefer that, because I can't manage it. If I gather so many people, I wouldn't know what to do with them. I prefer pastoring individuals one by one, and my disciples also favour individual pastoring.

Pastoring God's flock is not a mechanical production but personalised care. Today, I will talk about pastoral relationships. Without a relationship, there can be no pastoring. This relationship must be one of love. If it is your own child, you will naturally love them. But if you naturally don't love your own child, the chances of that child growing up peacefully are likely not high.

Today, if we want to feed, nurture, and pastor spiritual infants until they grow into adulthood, it must be within a loving relationship. Because God is love, and if we can reflect God's image, it is in pastoring. If you have been a believer for several years but have not grown, why is that? It is because you have not done the work of pastoring. A Christian, regardless of their level of education, must grow into adulthood to restore the glorious image of God. If you grow to a certain point and cannot grow further, why is that? It is because you have not done the work of pastoring. Pastoring is the best thing for our growth.

Today, I want to share with you about Building Pastoral Relationships. It is a very remarkable thing. There must be relationships between people. If there is no relationship between people, then if something goes wrong, it becomes a big problem. Conversely, if there is a relationship between people, even if something goes wrong, it's not a problem. The saying “no relationship becomes a problem, relationship becomes no problem” can only be said in Chinese, it is impossible to translate it into English, it will confuse people.

We Chinese are very clear about relationships. Our understanding of relationships is among the best in the world. When Chinese people gather together, they love to talk about their network of relationships: I know such and such minister, such and such governor, such and such director, such and such section chief... because they feel that their relationships determine their value.

The Christian Faith is About Building a Relationship with God

Our Christian faith is about building a relationship with God. Before our Lord Jesus was crucified, He told us: You must love one another! Love is a relationship. If you and I have a loving relationship, and then you make a serious mistake, I will do everything I can to help you correct it, because I have a loving relationship with you. The Christian faith must have love. A faith without love is very strange.

The Lord Jesus loves me, but in many other religions, if you say, Lao Tzu loves me, or Confucius loves me, it would be very strange. But in the Christian faith, the Lord Jesus asked Peter: Do you love me? Then feed my sheep. Pastoring is about building a relationship. Building pastoral relationships is a very important thing. What kind of relationship you have with people determines what you say. When I used to work in a company, there were leaders above, employees below, and colleagues to the left and right. The tone of speaking to a superior is very different from that of speaking to a subordinate. To keep every relationship healthy, the way of interacting cannot be the same.

Christians must know that our relationship is a cross. Above, we establish a relationship with God; below, we establish a relationship with the sheep we pastor; to the left and right, we establish a relationship with brothers and sisters who serve together in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastoring is Building Relationships with People

Today, we are talking about pastoral relationships, which is about how to build relationships with the people we pastor, the sheep below. This is very important. If you are not serious, I tell you, your service will be very difficult.

One pastor built a church according to what I said, and within a short period of one year, he achieved great results and learned a lot. Later, he and his colleagues came to learn from us regularly, and I was happy to share with them. Today, his colleague asked me a question: How to pastor? I told them: Pastoring must be serious. He replied: Being serious is very tiring. When I heard this, I felt very sad. I asked him, Aren't you tired of raising children? Yes, I am. If a person pastors seriously, it is really tiring. If we approach pastoring with a coping mentality, coping today, coping tomorrow, how will we answer when Jesus comes one day?

So, today, brothers and sisters, some people ask me, I am very tired of serving, are you tired? Serving is really a very hard thing. All the colleagues I have trained serve very diligently. To be honest, today we have an idea, which is to make the church's customer service surpass that of multinational corporations. Although our brothers and sisters are not our customer service, the church must establish a very professional customer service to better serve those who really need help.

Our church must surpass the world's enterprises, because we are a heavenly enterprise. How can a heavenly enterprise not be able to do better than a worldly enterprise? For a time, a sister suffered from depression and called the church one by one. Either the phone was not answered, or when it was answered, they talked nonsense. If you call the hospital, the hospital will say, Come quickly, we have an emergency room here.

So today, we need to know that the church really needs to be transformed. When the Apostle Paul first established the church, it was about weeping with those who weep, because there was a loving relationship. When the other person felt pain, you would also feel pain.

We are a loving body, we have established a pastoral relationship. Whether we can pass on God's love in this process depends entirely on the pastoral relationship.

Some brothers and sisters asked me why I didn't serve them. I am frank with everyone. Today, the Lord Jesus said: You will do the things I do in the future, and you will do even greater things than I do. God trained 12 disciples, and those 12 trained another 12, and so on, it is really amazing.

Serving According to God's Will

I have a very strong hope in my heart, that the people I train will serve according to the model in the Bible and establish a loving relationship with those below.

This is what we think in our hearts, but if the other party is not willing to accept it, and if you don't need me to pastor you, then don't pastor you. Know that a relationship is about both parties. Can the people we train today pastor God's flock with the heart of a father and mother? I really feel bad for my colleagues, because they really put all their heart and soul into serving.

Being a preacher is really a challenge. There are some jobs in the world where you can be lazy. The first is a pastor, and the second is a teacher. These jobs are a matter of conscience. You can do it like that until you die, or you can cope with everything. That's why many churches are still doing well today, with a group of pastors who like to cope with pastoring, and a group of sheep who like to be pastored in a coping way.

But our church needs people who are willing to love God, willing to give themselves for God, willing to love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul, and strength, carrying the destiny God has given us.

What I see today is that our colleagues are really dedicated. Know that building a pastoral relationship is crucial. If we build a pastoral relationship, then looking at the matter of intercession becomes different. It is not intercession, but we pray together. Some people don't understand. I seriously deal with the bad habits on you, because this matter is related to you.

Begin to understand this matter. Only by building a pastoral relationship can there be pastoring. One thing I don't quite understand is that I used to know some pastors who said: It is not right for you to do internet church, there is no physical contact. When I looked at what this physical contact was, he asked me to go in to study, so I sneaked in. In a gathering of thousands of people, the pastor said: Turn around and say to the person next to you: Jesus loves you, and I love you too. I thought to myself, what is this for? I love him, but I don't even know who he is. After saying that, everyone left after the meeting. Next time I meet him, who is he? I can't figure out who it is, whether his last name is Zhang or Wang. I can't figure it out.

Brothers and sisters came out of this. I used to listen to sermons in physical churches and turn around to tell the person next to me that I love you. If it is a small church with dozens of members, that's fine, everyone knows each other. But in a large church with four or five thousand people, who knows who? The pastor who suggested me to do physical church, I was thinking about this is very dangerous. What is dangerous? People think that thousands of people sitting in chairs in rows are loving each other. In fact, they don't care about your problems, and you don't care about their problems. What kind of relationship is this?

The Church is a Connection of Love

To build a church, we must build a church that loves one another. Loving one another means that above is our Lord Jesus or pastors, and below is a connection of love. With a connection of love, God dwells among us. If we build a club where I buy your insurance and you get me some business, can the Lord Jesus be among you?

Many churches now are gathering churches. Later, I read the Bible and realized that the church of the Lord Jesus is not a gathering church. Fifty thousand people pour into a stadium. What is that for? What relationship do they have with each other? What relationship do you have with the person next to you? That day, I went to deliver books to a gathering of 50,000 people. Everyone's face was numb. I put my warm face on a lot of cold butts, because I had no relationship with them.

Today, we need to know one thing. The physical church is not a real thing. A gathering of thousands or tens of thousands of people is just pursuing an atmosphere, which is not as good as many concerts. What is the problem? Is this what God wants? The earliest churches were all home gatherings, with a dozen or twenty people gathering together in homes, without crosses or anything. But there was one thing that is incomparable today. The church at that time was called loving one another. The Lord Jesus was clearly among them. If we build a pastoring church, the Lord Jesus will be clearly among us. We must readjust our concepts. Do you have a correct view of the church? A certain big cathedral, where people go in and you don't know me, and I don't know you, is useless.

In our church, almost every pastor and his sheep have a lot to say to each other every week and every day. Among us, there are some brothers and sisters who actually have no relationship with him, but they met online and then started pastoring. After pastoring for a while, they insisted on coming to me. When they met, they were like old friends who had known each other for many years. In fact, they had never met before, but they were very familiar with each other's voices. They knew what kind of person this was, what their situation and problems were, and where they needed to improve.

Within the scope of my pastoring, when I meet people to talk and pray together, I will tell them: You need to change this place, and you need to grow in that place. This is what I have prepared for a long time. This person needs a breakthrough in which area. When we meet, we talk about these things. I don't like to gossip about family matters. I hate being like an old woman. What is an old woman? It's not that you are called an old woman when you reach a certain age. Some people have not reached that age yet, but they have already become old women, talking nonsense and gossiping, without saying anything that is edifying.

Why is it called pastoring? Because it edifies people. Do more things that edify people and benefit others. In the concept of physical churches, many people think that queuing up to sing a few hymns is a church. The Lord Jesus does not dwell in noisy churches, nor does He dwell in churches that only preach doctrines. Where does He dwell? He dwells in our loving pastoral relationships. I think what I said is rather sharp, but if you ask me today: Is this what the Bible says? I can pat my chest and tell you: This is really what the Bible says. If you don't believe it, go and read the Gospel of John carefully. God dwells in our loving relationships.

Speaking of this, I have many stories. Yesterday, I went to talk about a robot business. The person I met was a friend I had known for over 20 years. After meeting him, after exchanging a few pleasantries, we started talking about business. He asked me how I was doing. I said: I am very well, very happy. Why am I happy? Because you can't understand this, because I pastor the church. Then I talked about pastoring, and he gave me a very surprised expression. He shared with me that he had four children. His eldest son had autism. He finished junior high school and high school but did not get into college. He went to a polytechnic institute or a vocational school. After graduating, he could not work. The whole child became autistic. He was a Christian for over 30 years. He used to be very zealous when he was young, but after his child became autistic, what happened? No one cared about this. I said bluntly that deliverance works.

Among us, there is a mother whose child is almost 18 or 19 years old this year. He is the kind of person who is not smart at all. He went to elementary school in a muddle, and he went to middle school in a muddle, and then he became like this. After he became like this, the mother didn't know how many tears she shed. As a result, under our pastoring (of course, there are many stories in the middle of pastoring), he is now able to make a living. He used to not know how to count at all. He didn't know how much people took and how much was left over for himself. Now, this mother is pastoring God's flock with me. This is such an exciting thing.

What is particularly sad is that pastors don't care about the problems of their brothers and sisters. They think it is normal. No one cares about his problems. The pastor is so busy! One thing I am most surprised about is that in this generation, they do what Jesus didn't do, and they don't do what Jesus did. I am very surprised. God looks down from His throne in heaven and is even more surprised. Is this still a church?

God Dwells in Our Loving Relationships

Today, a good friend of mine came to learn from me how to build a church. He shared with me that there was a couple who were old Christians. The wife had a serious illness and could not speak. Her husband went to the church, and their pastor told him to accept the reality, that this was God's arrangement for him. Is this God's arrangement? I have never read about this in the Bible. Many pastors bring a lot of curses because they talk nonsense.

Encourage the pastors among us to read the Bible carefully. Say what the Bible says well; don't talk nonsense about what the Bible doesn't have. We must be rigorous when reading the Bible! It cannot be casual! There are different levels of Christians. In this world, people are divided into three categories: the lowest are Christians who do not keep and follow God's word; the middle ones are people of the world; and the highest are Christians who keep and follow God's word. What do we keep and follow? God asks us to love Him!

The scripture says:

If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! (1 Corinthians 16:22)

This is very serious! If you don't love God, let that person be accursed! You believe in Jesus, but you don't love the Lord, and you are cursed. You are below, trampled under the feet of the devil and the people of the world. I encourage everyone to be a resounding Christian if you are a Christian; be a great doctor if you are a doctor; be a great engineer if you are an engineer; be a great teacher if you are a teacher.

These professions of teachers and pastors are jobs of conscience. Because they are jobs of conscience, some people mess them up. Unlike doing IT, if you write a software that doesn't run, you can quickly find the problem. Pastoring, if you pastor well, it is very good. If you pastor poorly or don't pastor at all, many people also think it is normal and mess around casually, but this is a job of conscience!

We must know: God dwells in our loving relationships. If you have a problem, your pastor values it more than you do. He cares about your problem more than you do! If we carefully observe, we know many churches, and there are more people who run to special conferences. I also don't understand why people run special conferences. What are they doing? What good can it do?

There was a sister whose mother had cancer. I led her mother in prayer. She felt that it was very good to pray with me, so she came to find me. I served her with all my heart and soul. She asked me if I could lead her in prayer. I also knew her pastor, and I was even very familiar with him. Her pastor's illness was also healed by my prayer. This sister was almost 40 years old and had migraines. I led her in prayer, and it was healed in 5 minutes. She has had migraines since she was a teenager, and it has been very difficult until she was almost 40 years old, and no one cared.

After I served her, she asked me a question: Why have I run so many special conferences and so many anointed pastors have prayed for me, but I haven't gotten better? Why did you pray and I got better? I replied: I have a habit. As long as I take over your problem and do this thing, unless you don't let me take care of it, I won't give up as long as you don't get better! I am pastoring her mother, so can I not care about her problem?

Our God is full of grace! If you are a long-term Christian and have illnesses, you really need to be careful, because it is all a violation of God's word. Today, we need to understand what God's will is. We must grasp God's will. God asks us to pastor His flock. Occasionally, sheep from other churches come, and we also let them eat their fill. Some don't leave, and the pastors of other churches ask how we stole their sheep.

I said, it is your sheep who came to steal our grass! They eat so much that they can't get out! We have a lot of spiritual food and grass here! We have a lot of spiritual assets on our website that you can't finish listening to for a year or so. Among us, if you have a problem, we will definitely serve you very seriously.

## Serving God's Sheep with the Heart of a Father and Mother

The person who came to me today is a pastor who established his church ten years before I did. His mother, who had suffered from insomnia for twenty years, came to me saying, Oh, my son's prayers make it worse; my medication has quadrupled. I responded, Alright. When such matters come to me, I take them seriously, persisting until they are resolved. Even today, I check on her condition every few days. Recently, she asked, Can I buy a book? I gifted her one.

This embodies the pastoral mindset. In shepherding, everyone gets tired. My mother raised five children, and you ask, Was she tired? Of course, she was! In those days, one had to chop firewood and burn coal; even making breakfast was difficult.

Only the one who is tired knows the extent of their weariness. Can shepherding not be tiring? However, because of the love of Jesus Christ that motivates us, we strive with all our might to please God. If we enjoy playing computer games, do we get tired? If we love playing mahjong, do we get tired after several hours of playing? If I love Jesus, can I be tired of shepherding? It's the same principle. If you love the sheep God has entrusted to you, your tears will flow when their sickness is healed, because you long for their healing and deliverance daily, longing for them to break free from bondage.

Nothing can compare to this. If you ask me what satisfies me most, it is seeing brothers and sisters delivered, seeing brothers and sisters able to overcome and be freed from oppression. Every time I see everyone's deliverance, my tears flow. Although I don't express it, I continue to serve, and I am very thankful to God. What could be better in this world than shepherding God's flock? The reward is exceedingly rich.

In this generation, there are many tangled thoughts when it comes to shepherding. A pastor's wife had cancer. Being the enthusiastic person I am, because I have ministered to many who have been healed of cancer, I sent him a message: Here is my phone number; if you need prayer, I can pray with you. He replied, Thank you. Upon seeing Thank you, I understood the unspoken meaning. I am not discerning good and evil, but I can tell that it meant, Forget it. It was disbelief because he did not believe there was a pastor like me in this world.

Many people ask me, Is it true that everyone who comes to you gets healed? This sounds like the serpent's words in Genesis, asking if all the fruits of the trees could be eaten. It's about the same meaning. I said, Yes, everyone gets healed because if they are not healed when they come to me, I will pray until they are healed.

Two years ago, when my mother had dementia, she was in a terrible state. Now, she can work with me. Her dementia is basically gone. Although the demons still come frequently, I drive them away. Now, the old lady is fine, making chive boxes by herself, and walking briskly. Could she have made it to today without our shepherding?

The problem with my mother was that it was named. We, as pastors, must also be resolute and completely overcome through the Lord Jesus. Those among us who are being shepherded must also arise. How we serve you today is how you must serve others in the future, passing it down from generation to generation. God's blessings extend to a thousand generations, and God's church can see God's glory.

Speaking of church, when we see someone who is sick, many say, I will pray for you. The person being prayed for says, Thank you. Will they really pray, or is it a fake prayer? No one knows. Anyway, they just type a message and pray for you during mealtime, without caring whether you get better.

We must know that since we serve God, we must do it earnestly. The Apostle Paul says in the Bible:

> Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:15)

Today, can we serve with the heart of a father and mother so that God can dwell among us, because that is love? Parents get tired raising children, but they do it willingly, don't they? Therefore, Jesus said, The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Today, we must begin to understand that not only is Jesus a good shepherd, but our Lord Jesus also hopes we will be good shepherds before Him. Why did He say to Peter, Do you love me? Feed my lambs. God has a good intention for us, which is that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. But where are the shepherds who lay down their lives for the sheep?

## The Good Shepherd Lays Down His Life for the Sheep

God hopes that we will be good shepherds before Him. Why did He say to Peter, Peter, do you love me? I love you. Shepherd my sheep, feed my lambs. God has a desire in us, which is that **the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep**. But where are the shepherds who lay down their lives for the sheep? God sits in heaven, on His throne:

> He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intercede; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. (Isaiah 59:16-18)

Many of us cannot understand why God wants us to shepherd. **Shepherding is walking with God**. There is nothing better in this world than walking with God. If we cannot walk with God, what is the meaning of our lives? How will we give an account to God in the future?

Without us, God will still shepherd. God's plan has nothing to do with whether we come out or not. The same is true for you. God lets us shepherd so that we may receive rewards. God does not need us too much, because we were not present when God created all things. However, God wants us to walk with God and work with people. If you are truly willing to work with God, God is also willing to work with you. Isn't that the most wonderful thing in the world? **Working with God enables us to grow.**

Where should one's faith in the Lord reach? **Faith in the Lord should lead to growth and maturity, full of the stature of Jesus Christ.** How can we grow and mature? When we see a child able to run errands, we know that the child is older. We judge how much a child has grown by the work he can do. We can only grow in service, so that we can grow into the full stature of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, you must know today that if you have not grown, you have reached a time when you should serve. It is not that service needs you, but that you need service. **A person cannot grow without serving, and a person cannot be joyful without growing, and then they will have lived in vain.** If you don't want to live in vain or live blindly, if you don't want to merely survive but want to live out God's glory, take the path of service.

Service is shepherding. Some people say, I am a free preacher. I don't quite understand what a free preacher is—going on stage to preach and then taking your bag and going home. You have no pastoral responsibility. The revelation of a victorious church is shepherding. Not building a church, not shepherding, just preaching—what is that if not fooling around? You don't need to take any responsibility.

> Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:15)

## Shepherding in a Relationship of Mutual Love

God wants us to love one another; God does not want us to merely preach to one another, but to love one another in shepherding. Each person has a shepherd, and then we are joined together in Jesus Christ. God dwells among us, and then we are unified in Jesus Christ. The state of victory can trample on the devil and the enemy, and then we see God's glory. God clearly dwells among us.

It is a tragedy for the church of Jesus Christ and a tragedy for themselves when many who do not love God choose the profession of pastor. It is an extremely painful thing for someone who does not love God to serve. What could be more tragic than this?

I ministered to a senior pastor who had hydrocephalus. This pastor complained to me, Look, we pastors only get one day off a week. How can I not get hydrocephalus? I was surprised. From my twenties until now, I have not had a single day off. Where is there time to rest? When I am tired of shepherding, I do carpentry. When I am tired of carpentry, I continue shepherding. I don't sleep more than a few hours each day. Some people take sleeping very seriously. If they sleep less, they feel uneasy and always want to make up for it. Sleep is not important; what is important is where we spend our time each day? Brothers and sisters are beginning to emerge from the myths of sleeping more.

This pastor told me, Look at my coworkers. Every three years, we have to replace them. As long as a small group leader resigns, we have to take over. It's very hard. He calculated the schedule of a small group leader for me. They arrange three Bible studies for their group each week and attend one training session. After a week, they have almost no rest time. Of course, they will burn out and exhaust their energy.

I find it strange. I have never read in the Bible that believing in the Lord means burning out. Paul served the church so much, but he didn't burn out. This pastor has hydrocephalus. When he wants to work, he feels sleepy. When he wants to sleep, he can't sleep. It's very painful. If you let someone who doesn't love God serve God, it's too hard. How can they not be tired? You see, I am being very honest, right? I just think, why can't people in this world understand God's will? If you don't serve God, you live and live and then die, and it's also very hard.

If you don't serve, even though you save time, what will you do when sickness comes? If there is a case of dementia in a family, it can torment the whole family. My mother's dementia is gone. If someone gets dementia, what should you do? If God does not walk with you, how can you live your life?

## Walking in God's Will

Today, we must know one thing: we must walk in God's will. There is nothing better in this world than walking with God. Reading the Old Testament is even more astonishing. At that time, three million Israelites moved with their families.

Imagine, if we didn't have cars today, and all our luggage was carried on our bodies, and God said, Move out!, the Israelites would have to set off, dismantle their tents, and carry all their luggage on their shoulders. Some children would be defecating, some urinating, with families in tow, holding one in their arms, leading one by the hand, and carrying one on their back, walking in the wilderness. If I lived in that era, I would be very miserable. I would also ask, God, what are you doing? Why don't you come and save me? What's the point of walking? Walking and walking, there's no water to drink, and the children are crying and making noise. How hard that would be!

I don't understand what's good about walking like this. If I were among them, I would probably complain like the Israelites, but there's nothing I can do. Later, I slowly understood a principle: why walk like this? This is equivalent to training soldiers. Only by training well in the wilderness can they enter the Promised Land and defeat the enemy.

Believing in God requires real commitment. If you read the scriptures carefully, only those 20 years and older who can fight with knives count. Others don't count. To enter the Promised Land, you must be able to fight. God will fight and win for us. It's not us strolling in wearing fancy pants. That is our God's army. That's called training soldiers!

Christians will live very hard times in the will of the Lord Jesus, because our service comes at a very deep cost. Sometimes we lack nothing in our service except sleep, which is very hard. Working hard and getting very tired makes us really want to rest. But if we don't train and fight in this place, how can we obtain the Promised Land? If we live like the people of the world, it will be even harder.

I have come to understand one thing: anyway, people come into this world and it is very hard, but that hardship has no glory to speak of. However, serving and shepherding diligently in the Lord Jesus Christ, God will surely prepare a glorious crown for us in eternity. Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! Why should we grit our teeth? We cannot love the things of the world, because after loving them, we have to pay the price. There is a saying: What goes around comes around. If you are messing around in Jesus Christ, don't you still have to pay it back?

## Shepherding with Genuine Commitment

We are shepherding God's flock with genuine commitment. Although it is hard, it is very prosperous! God is with us. Although we are very troubled in our hearts and oppressed, it is really satisfying to see brothers and sisters get delivered. Coming before the Lord Jesus Christ and receiving His crown, with such hope, is really good.

Anyway, there is no hope in the world. People live in this world, living and living and then dying. So, we must begin to know that establishing a shepherding relationship is a difficult thing. Establishing a shepherding relationship requires genuine commitment. So, when I meet pastors, I tell them to be genuinely committed, because I have seen too many who play it falsely. They will send messages saying, I will pray for you.

Genuine commitment is very hard. In our shepherding process, we see that the most critical point of a person's growth is to deal with the bad habits in them. Do you want to deal with the bad habits in them? If you want to deal with this conflict, you don't know what the outcome will be. Maybe they will just walk away. Many people's problems are themselves, but they don't know it. People think their problems are brought by others. The problem with people's discernment of good and evil is that they blame others.

When there is no one to blame, they blame the moon. So, today, all the problems of our brothers and sisters are themselves! Dealing with people's problems is really critical. Not dealing with laziness is not okay! Dealing with people's problems today is really critical. One day, when I was traveling far away, I saw an old man who was paralyzed. I was enthusiastic and said, I will pray that you can get up and walk. Do you believe? I said, Where is your pastor? She said, My pastor is very busy. No matter how busy, you are the only one who is paralyzed, right?” After believing in the Lord for many years, she had many bad habits and said many harsh words. After much effort, she stood up and walked. But the old woman said, Our pastor is not like you. Our pastor speaks very nicely. You speak so harshly. My heart sank. I thought this often happens.

**I think establishing a shepherding relationship is crucial.** Today, I didn't talk about how to establish a shepherding relationship, because there is a special course teaching everyone how to establish a shepherding relationship. **This shepherding relationship is a relationship of genuine mutual love.** Since it is genuine, spiritual children should be raised as your own children and never outsourced to someone else.

Today, outsourcing is very fashionable. Children are sent to technical schools after birth, and mothers are busy earning and spending money. In fact, the education of children is the responsibility of parents, not just physical parents, but spiritual parents also bear the same responsibility. If we shepherd God's flock, we will be genuinely committed, and every sheep will be delivered and become strong. Let us begin to change our concepts today.

Why am I sharing these things with everyone? Because there are still many among us who have not been shepherded. When we see these sheep who have not been shepherded, doesn't it hurt? It hurts a lot, but no one cares. Your problems are your problems. The pastor has a lot of problems, even more than yours. As a result, no one dares to lift the lid of the pot, because when you lift the lid, a swarm of wasps will come, which will sting you to death. So, everyone covers the problems, pretending that brothers and sisters are at peace, playing it falsely.

## Conclusion

Today, if there are such people among us, I encourage you to start thinking about whether you are willing to establish a relationship with your pastor. You may not trust him, but after a period of testing, you will know whether he is your pastor. **I have trained many people to share the responsibility of shepherding with me. They have also trained a large group of people to share their shepherding responsibilities.** This is my deep desire, that God's flock may all have shepherds, unlike me in the past when I had no shepherd for so many years.

Thank God! He still graces me even today. Although it was very difficult in that situation, it was very hard when no one cared. When I encountered problems, I bore them myself. For this reason, I also thank God for giving me bad experiences, allowing me to define the establishment of a shepherding church, so that God's flock can be fed in God's house, built up to grow into adulthood, full of the stature of Jesus Christ, and become mighty warriors who can conquer and plunder. Whether it is a state of sorrow or a state of prosperity, this is my deep hope.

If you are willing, begin to try among us. I never morally blackmail anyone. If you are healed and delivered, and then you are willing to live according to your own way, returning to your own church, that is very good. If you are willing to take what I have taught and go out to establish a church, according to the word of God, that is very good. If I can contribute, I will contribute. Even if there are a thousand or ten thousand such churches in this world, they cannot serve everyone. Some churches have ten thousand people believing in the Lord, but no one shepherds them. They call many people to believe in the Lord, but no one cares. This is a tragedy.

**I believe God has a desire to raise up good shepherds in this era. If, because of what I have shared, you are able to desire to also be a good shepherd, if you love God and want to shepherd God's flock, if you want to be reshaped, I think God will surely delight in your decision.**

May God bless everyone!