The Fleecer

Out of all the stories I was told 
many years ago, the story of a 
young man struck me 
This young man was very gifted 
spiritualy 
Whenever and wherever he ministered, 
word of wisdom word of knowledge 
and prophecy would flow like a river 
Another minister of the gospel met 
this young man and invited him to a 
series of tent meeting crusades all 
over America 
The young man saw it as an opportunity 
to minister to more people and accepted 
the deal 
They got to a city 
The other minister set up the tents and 
the crusade started 
The young man ministered, many cases 
were called, the supernatural began to 
manifest 
Healings (Both physical and emotional) 
took place 
When the young man was done, the 
spirit 
of repentance fell upon the people 
Many started crying and wailing 
The other minister saw an opportunity 
to cash in 
He began to announce that God
wants the people to give all their 
belongings Gold, silver, copper, money, 
and other valuables 
People complied and a lot of money 
was thrown on the altar 
The young man was expecting a call 
for repentance and was deeply 
disappointed by the actions of the 
other minister 
After the ministration, the young man 
asked the other minister why he fleeced 
the people instead of saving their souls 
The other minister said "When you shear 
a sheep and remove its woolen fleece, 
does it not grow back? 
Did the gospel come to them free of 
charge? Were the tent and your meals
a free gift? 
You focus on preaching and let me 
focus on making us rich!" 
They went to another town, the young 
man ministered again and the power 
of the Holy Spirit moved mightily 
The other preacher did what he did 
the other time and they made a lot 
of money 
After the ministration the other minister 
announced a one on one counseling 
session with the young man 
He announced that the session will 
attract a certain amount of money 
The news spread to other counties close 
by and the turnout was very impressive 
The young man was happy
His gift has finally found expression 
He was meeting with all sorts of people 
and the more people he met, the more 
the power of the Holy Spirit was made 
manifest 
Soon their ragged tent meeting was 
changed into a proper trampoline tent 
and they were able to get a piano and 
some sound amplifiers 
It was the young man's dream to minister 
to as many people as possible 
Even though he had reservations about 
the "fleecing", he couldn't complain 
because without it they wouldn't have 
gone as far as they did 
On some days they had a crowd of up 
to 1000 in their meetings and sometimes 
he would minister all day and late into 
the night 
After 10 years of ministering all over 
He had a vision 
He saw himself standing before the 
Lord at the Judgement seat of crown 
He stood there while others were 
crowned and celebrated for their feats 
for the gospel 
He waited in vain for his name to be 
called so that he can receive his own 
crown and handshake but his name 
was not called 
He ran to an angel and asked that the 
angel check his name in the book 
He was sure there was a mix-up 
somewhere 
The angel told him his name was not 
on the list, he had been invited to
witness what would have been... 
He snatched the book from the angel 
and began to search frantically 
through the pages 
He was so sure his name was in the 
book 
He was still searching when he woke up 
He was drenched in sweat and tears 
were streaming down his face 
He had been crying from his sleep 
He knew it was a warning 
He started packing his clothes and 
other things 
He knew he must leave the company 
he hitched himself to 
He knew going on with the tent meetings 
would cost him something more 
than gold 
When he announced that he was leaving, 
the other minister got angry and 
snatched his bag from him 
"Everything you're packing belongs to me! 
I own you! 
You were nothing but a street bum when 
i met you. 
I put food in your tummy and clothes 
on your back. 
I made you famous. 
I am your manager and this is a show! 
Nothing but entertainment.
How can you have a scary dream about 
heaven or hell? 
You're a clairvoyant, a mind reader, a 
mentalist. That's all you are! 
I have put your gift to the best use and 
managed it to benefit many people. 
If you walk away, i will find another 
act that will sell better than you. You
better sit down and think about 
what you're doing" 
He was shocked 
His partner never took "God" seriously 
As far as his partner was concerned, 
it was all a gimmick 
They were conmen who use the 
name of God to draw in the gullible and 
fleece them of their gain 
The entire "crusade" was a sham! 
No wonder he couldn't find his name 
in the volume of the work 
The gospel he preached was the gospel 
of the belly 
The gospel of fine raiments and money 
The gospel of Gehazi 
The gospel of dogs 
He was twenty-eight when he joined 
forces with the other minister 
He was thirty-eight when he left 
He couldn't minister anywhere on their 
previous tent meeting trail because the 
people already associated him with 
the team he hitched himself to 
He traveled very far 
He started all over at the age of 40 
in Australia 
He started with nothing and joined
forces with nobody 
He started preaching from the moment 
he landed at the seaport and within 
three years he had planted ten churches 
He told his story often 
The story of how he turned a blind eye 
to the obvious just because he didn't 
trust God to provide for his daily bread!
He returned to the USA at the age of 
seventy-five 
He took his wife and children to the 
old trail where he used to preach the 
gospel 
He wanted them to see all the territories 
he covered while preaching the gospel 
of the belly 
In one of the towns he took them to, he 
heard about his old friend 
That other minister that loved to fleece 
the sheep 
He was still alive but suffering from liver 
failure as a result of alcohol abuse 
His friend recognized him and started crying 
He was moved to tears too 
He prayed for his friend and told him about 
the forgiving power of gospel 
His friend accepted Jesus as his Lord and 
saviour and a few minutes later died in 
his arms 
His wife and children were stunned by 
the preserving power of the gospel 
Despite all the wrong things his friend did, 
the Holy Spirit still preserved him until 
he made his peace with with God! 

PS: I have seen people driven by other 
motives to preach the gospel 
I have watched other sands sink and fail 
The gospel is the only power of God 
unto salvation 
Jesus is the only rock upon which the 
gospel is built 
Not religion, not Moses, not money, and 
surely not lies