The Father does not only seek true worshipers, but he seeks those who will nurture the hearts of those true worshipers. He seeks SHEPHERDS!! His ideal candidate does not always possess the skills necessary at the time of recruitment, but he is able to identify a diamond in the rough. Those he uses as unofficial shepherds possess the tenacity and resilience to take the process of refining and therefore build up tolerance for the journey they will take others through, as they are used by God to mentor others into becoming more unofficial shepherds.

It's within relationships that people become the best of themselves. The Lord has chosen shepherds to share this type of relationship with his people. The question is, are these relationships in place in the body? The answer is yes, they are. Who they are, what do those encounters look like, and where are those relationships being fostered? They are within the normal pastor and congregation interaction, but would it surprise you to learn that many of them may not be the normal "pastor" and "congregation" relationships, or even the small group pastors/leaders megachurches put in place to handle the massive growth they are experiencing. I can guarantee you Christ has a flock, and shepherding must take place, and he is seeing to this, even if it's not the traditional way we are used to it. He has called, and people have responded and are still responding to his call to shepherd his flock.

This then is what led me to write this book about the Good Shepherd and how he is ensuring that his heart is being developed in those he calls his earthly shepherds. A critical question to answer is, how do you know you are called to be a shepherd. What are the qualifications, attributes, and/or characteristics? I believe if we answer the question of what makes Christ "the" Good Shepherd, we would get the answer to these three questions. In this book I have looked at Christ as the Good Shepherd, then I examined the lives of regular men and women who I see exemplifying these characteristics. Men and women I call unofficial shepherds are being used by God to shepherd his flock. They are men and women who truly love the Lord and have a passion for his people, men and women who have allowed him to process them out so that they can be used by him to shepherd his flock.