The Shepherd’s Fold
Teaching Ministry
Home Page

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Last updated on May 1st,
in the Year of our Lord, 2009

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NOTE:
You may ignore most of the “pop-ups” in the far,
right-hand column, since we do not endorse some of
these ads. If you would like to“close” the column on
the right, simply click on the gray button-tab in the top,
left-hand corner of the column. The button is just left of
theimage, and it looks like this:

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An
“INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE”
FOR ANY OF OUR NEW VISITORS:

Ezekiel 34:12-16 - (12) “I will search for [and I will surely find] all of My sheep [please note -- we are His sheep...not some pastor’s, some church’s or some denomination’s; ultimately, we belong to and are protected by the Lord GOD], and I will deliver them out of all those places where they have been scattered during the dark and cloudy day [meaning those times of gloom, depression & deception]. (13) I will gather them from every country [wherever they have been scattered], and I will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, (14) and I will feed them in a good pasture, and their fold shall be upon the high mountains of Israel. They shall rest there in a good fold, and they shall be fed in a fat pasture [where food, water and shelter is plentiful]. (15) I will feed My flock, and I will cause them to lie down in peace & rest”, says the Lord GOD.

(16) “And furthermore...
• I will seek that which was lost,
• I will bring again that which was driven away,
• I will bind up that which was broken, and
• I will strengthen that which was sick... however:
• I will destroy the fat [the rich, the proud & the arrogant] and
• I will overthrow those who ‘seem’ to be strong [in their own might, using violence, manipulation & intimidation to get their way], and
• I will feed those rebellious ones with judgment and justice [as ordained and declared by My Divine Law].”

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Having said that -- and fully knowing that the previous five verses are, indeed, relatively heavy -- we nonetheless gladly welcome you to The Shepherd’s Fold. We take seriously the Word spoken by our Lord in the above verses (most especially when read in conjunction with John 10:1-18 & Luke 4:18-19). It is our hope not only to be good neighbors, but also to be of some comfort and an encouragement to Christians and others who may wander through our neighborhood. We believe the Lord is truly seeking out His sheep, and anything we can do to aid in their comfort, feeding or sheltering, we feel obliged (and called) to do.

Sometimes “comfort” is just a listening ear and an understanding heart, and the Lord has graciously given us these. What we hope to accomplish is to bring fresh bread and refreshing water to the “hungry and thirsty sheep” of the Lord’s fold. We’ll have encouraging thoughts and some helpful teachings from time to time, so please bookmark this page and return when you may feel tired, hungry, lonely, or you just need someone to talk to.

What’s in a Name? Some people have asked: “Where’d you get the name, The Shepherd’s Fold?” Well, in the olden days -- while away from their village -- shepherds herded their sheep into a “sheep fold” as darkness fell. The “fold” was usually a roughly-made enclosure of piled-up stones or wood, and the shepherd stayed in an adjoining hut or cave. The shepherd was always close by and in intimate contact with his sheep, each of which he knew unfailingly at a glance, and each of which he knew by name. With that understanding, it is the hope and desire of this site that its writings and its sharings will be a comfort and a shelter to anyone who may be “away from their village”.

You may drop us a line, here, by visiting our Personal Page
(Please see note at bottom of this page...)

The Teaching for May-June 2009

Through the Fire & the Water

Many times, in the life of the Christian, there will come circumstances and situations that will “stretch us” and “push us” to what we may feel is our breaking point. In the New Testament these times are called trials, testings and temptations. This teaching takes a look at trials, tests and temptations and endeavors to separate and distinguish the three areas. Every Christian will encounter trials and tests -- it is unavoidable -- and each believer will find themselves facing temptations more than a few times in their Christian experience. How we act and react during these times of trial will determine many things in the area of faith, knowledge and experience. Hopefully, this teaching will be helpful and encouraging, and perhaps in may even give some insight on how to “avoid” certain failings. In any event, it is our hope that the teaching will enable Christains to see that “we are not alone”. Every Christian suffers and struggles and even fails. It’s what we do afterwards that matters.

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The Passion of Christ

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swt Here are some qualities of a good shepherdtws

Just like Jesus, a good shepherd will be someone who:


Cares for us...

Knows each of us by name...

Speaks to us, and we hear, understand and trust them...

Goes before us when we go out and leads us when we come in...

Assures us that the Lord gives us Life, more abundantly than we could ever hope for: His Life, Eternal Life...

Teaches us to know the Lord’s Voice, so that we have no need to fear the howling of ravenous wolves that lurk about...

Will feed us, clothe us, give us water to drink, and -- like Jesus, our Great Shepherd -- will always be our protector and covering, never leaving us or forsaking us.

And lastly, but most importantly...good shepherds will lay down their lives for the Lord’s sheep -- willingly and gladly.

• • • Needless to say, a “shepherd” is any minister or leader • • •

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• • • May the Lord Jesus truly bless you, as you
“search out” and study what is shared above • • •

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• • • John 3:16 • • •
. . . . . . . . .
So...you’ve never accepted Christ?
Unsure of what it means to “be saved”?
Have other questions about Salvation?
Click the John 3:16 image above.

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Or perhaps you’ve wondered: “What are the Marks of a Christian?” What does -- or should -- set Christians “apart” from the world? What are some of the characteristics of a Christian? What, exactly, are the “marks” of a Christian? At the link above, you’ll find a printed version of a “radio sermon” preached in 1944 by retired missionary, George O. Welch, taken from his recently published autobiography: “Memories of a Sky Pilot” (used w/permission). It tells the story of him and his wife, Gladys, as they travel first north, to Alaska, and then south, into Mexico, Ecuador and other locales in South America.

Our Guestbook
If you have time, please stop by and
Sign Our Guestbook
OR
View Our Guestbook

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Here you can take a look at our
old guestbook. It’s pages may be a little
worn, but the words there are still warm!

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Here are just a few teachings found within our site:

Gifts of the Spirit

The Mantle and Calling of the Prophet

A Look at the Apostle -- Called and Sent from God

What is a true “Shepherd ” of the Lord?

“Chaos” in the Kingdom of God
(this is a six-part teaching)

What is a “Covering ” ?
(an 8-part teaching)

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A Message for the “Remnant ”

Moving the Church from“A” to “ Z ”
(From “Abiathar” to “Zadok”...
this is another 8-part teaching)
[[[Read these excellent companion teachings]]]
“The Zadok Priesthood” ~ discerning
between holy and phony ministries.
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A timely message by Leonard Ravenhill,
entitled “Who’s Touching the Ark?”

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Books by Rev. David Dean

Here are some books by Rev. David Dean, a very close and dear friend of ours. All of these books are at a very minimal cost. His ministry focus is “The Christ Life”: dying to self; taking up your cross and following Jesus -- without any reservation. In today’s church this is not a very popular topic, to be sure, but we share these four books at Brother & Sister Dean’s request, and because we feel they will help anyone seeking a deeper walk with the Lord. Please click the above link to access these books, or you may click HERE.

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Philippians 4:8

“A Visitor From Heaven”

Visit the Zadok Press...

Here you’ll find all the teachings in our site
listed, where they are grouped into categories)

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And here is an
Alphabetical Index
of all writings, listed A thru Z

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Here you will find
Our Statement of Faith
(What we believe)

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Our Favorite Links

Here Is Our

You Are Most Welcome to Visit
(Family Photos were added in January ’99)

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Click here for
Page Two.
This is sort of an “Extra” Page

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Here is a tribute to
Christ for the Nations Institute’s
Pioneer Class of 1971
(Class photos, updates, etc. -- please visit)

The “Early Years” at CFNI
The unabridged, unedited, uncut and
complete article about the First Year Class
(The “original article” -- published in the CFNI Alumni
Magazine -- was so “cut to pieces” by the editing staff,
we felt compelled to publish the entire article online!)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And...just in case you “missed” it, here is the online version of the radio sermon, “ Marks of a Christian”, by George O. Welch, a first-year student at CFNI -- used with his permission. This is a simple, direct and insightful look at what a Christian should be.....

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And here, on these pages, you’ll find our:
Favorite Links, our Old GuestBook & our Personal Page

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And now...for those who are visiting for the
first time, here’s one hopefully helpful tip:

Our teachings and writings can be rather lengthy from time to time, and while we might hope you would read them all, we would much more prefer that you “got the most” out of them. This might mean reading them over an extended period of time. You might want to “bookmark” this page, and read at your leisure. That’s what several people have done, and that is what we do if we know we’re unable to “finish” someone else’s page in one visit. We tend to get more out our visits to other people’s sites if we’re able to take the time and be leisurely about it. We hope this may be of some help.

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If you have a need, a concern, a question or even some comment, drop us a line either in e-mail or in the Guestbook “comment box”. We will get back to you as soon as possible. It is our hope and our prayer that the Lord will richly bless each of you who journeys through these pages, that He will make real the “call” He has placed upon your life, and that He will “stir up” the gift that He has so graciously invested within you. Speaking of Gifts (and especially if you might feel you “have no call” or have no idea what your gift may be)...please check out our teachings on

“Gifts of the Ministry”

“Gift of the Apostle ”
“Gift of the Prophet”
“Gift of the Evangelist”
“Gift of the Pastor”
“Gift of the Teacher”

“Nine Gifts of the Spirit”

“Words of Wisdom & Knowledge”
“Gift of Faith”

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One Final Word

If you have questions or comments, please write us.

However, PLEASE NOTE THIS: We are attempting to “thwart” the numerous (and very invasive) E-mails (Spam) we are receiving -- not only from undesired businesses, but even worse -- constant invitations to pornographic sites. Of course, not only is this “offensive”, but we certainly recognize it as an obvious and arrogant attack of the enemy -- and so we are, in essence, “fighting back” the only way we know how...by keeping our e-mail addresses as “inaccessible” as possible.

As you may or may not know, many people on the WWW are using programs that do nothing else but go about “finding” and “pulling off” e-mail addresses from main page sites (like this one), adding them to their ever-growing list of e-mail addresses, or selling them to others. Because of this, we have “re-routed” any genuine visitors to our Personal Page, where you can find our real address -- there you can notify us. We still get unwanted and offensive e-mail, but not as much as before.

And we do understand this: All of the various places where we have “signed” a GuestBook (leaving our e-mail address) are “open invitations” for all of those e-mail gatherers out there, but what can you do...? (If you know a simple solution, please tell us.) Now we are being more careful and discerning about how and where we leave our e-mail address. In any event...we are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you, and if this proves to be “ill-advised” on our part, we shall try yet a different kind of approach.

We do appreciate any input, questions or help you may give us.

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You have been listening to “As the Deer”.
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(We have been having some difficulty with Crescendo!
If you can’t “hear” any music, please let us know. Thanks.)

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Thank you so much for visiting our page. You are
visitor number since February 29, 2000.

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Please note: We “reset” all of our counters
to ZERO (0) on Leap Day, February 29, 2000.