The Feeding Ministry of a Shepherd

Bishop Ogoe continued to teach on the feeding ministry during the second evening session of the 2018 Art of Shepherding Conference.


He challenged participants to have a vision to advertise God well, saying, "Don't let your ministry be one which wearies everyone. When your ministry is beautiful it does not weary anyone."


He elucidated that the template for a beautiful ministry is Isaiah 40:11, which says, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." He urged participants to know that our members must speak like David, who said, " The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."


He reiterated that a lot of pastors are not gifted with with worldly wisdom (1Corinthians 1:27). Adding, he said that most pastors are weak yet God intentionally chose you despite your foolishness. In fact, God chooses the ignorant and uneducated to shock the wise.


It's interesting to discover that the very thing that we lack is the very thing that is required for ministry. Can you imagine an ignorant person chosen to study?


Bishop Ogoe emphasized that pastors who don't like knowledge can never be great. He noted, "You must be scholarly. The ministry is not for fools or idiots...you must study."


He urged, "You can't feed with what you don't have. In the ministry we learn. Feeders are students. Good feeders are scholarly."


Continuing his discourse on the type of knowledge the Pastor must acquire, the man of God stated that we must have knowledge of the five-fold ministry. He said, "Have knowledge of the power ministry. Have knowledge of evangelism. Learn about evangelism, the prophetic...if you don't know how to operate in the prophetic, you'll lose your members to prophets in town."


He taught that the model for ministry is Jesus. Bishop Ogoe encouraged pastors to know about other ministries and to feed the sheep with the power of God.


He recommended Bishop Dag's book "Amplify your Ministry," saying, " Without amplification, people don't hear about your ministry. Develop your supernatural abilities...any ministry without the power of God is a mistake."


To illustrate the importance of amplification, Bishop Ogoe asked that his mochrophone be turned off while he continued to minister the Word of God. Over 80% of participants could not hear him even though he was really teaching the Word. When the microphone was turned back on, he explained, "Your members in Takyiman cannot hear you because you have not amplified your ministry."


The final kind of knowledge you must acquire is knowledge of secular subjects. He said, "Your ministry must be an enviable one...When a great shepherd appears, he's a man of knowledge."


Reading from Psalm 23, Bishop Ogoe concluded by encouraging pastors, shepherds and leaders present to rise up to defend their sheep with the rod and the staff and taught that the shepherd is a man of authority.