November 27, 2009
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From Pew to Palace First Love - When I first got saved the feeling of being known and loved and accepted by God was amazing. When I first found a church home I loved the feeling of God's presence sweeping over the congregation. We soared like eagles in worship and the prophetic. Finding the Holy Spirit had given us gifts and learning to use them to minister to people took it all up another level. I loved God and church so much that after 16 years I decided to become a pastor. My theology was that If God was reaching the world by planting new churches I wanted to see how many I could plant. I had no concept that if God could call a believer to minister through business or a political office. I worked as an engineer but I regarded it as secular and the church as sacred. As a pastor I encouraged people to help me do what God was doing - build His Church... build our local church... and if they didn't have a heart for that, I assumed they didn't have a heart for God! I must have made people feel like they were tossed off a turnip truck. I mistakenly thought the church and the Kingdom were the same thing. Hearts get lost - Everyone should experience first love in a church setting. We all need to learn to serve and the church is a great place to do it. As the years go by the new wears off for for many. They, and their pastors, assume their love has grown cold. As believers mature they can start to feel used... a cog in the machine. Here's what is really happening. As we mature in the Lord God begins to write on our hearts and we develop a yearning to do other things. Once we were happy to serve in another man's vision; helping our pastor build the church is a common one. But now we begin to long for our own vision. If we don't see the hand of God in this process of moving from servant to King, we just write our hearts off as rebellious and give up on our dream. Now we're really miserable. We don't enjoy our dream and we don't enjoy church. Hearts get found - We're on our way home from Ukraine and I'm writing from a motel in London. I'm still pinching myself over what happened. We helped hearts get permission from God to dream.
Pastoring Kings - This is really simple and really powerful. When people reach a level of maturity and God begins to write on their heart it can be a confusing time. What we can do for them is give them permission to talk to the Lord about those dreams and begin to make them real. Most Christians have no concept of looking for the will of God in their own heart's desires. Nor do they have any concept of seizing initiative to make that dream come true. It's Kingly! They were programmed to be servants and now we have to update the software so they can be Kings. They will still serve but it may be outside the church in the marketplace from a position of ruling and reigning. If our ship doesn't come in, we swim out to get it. There's another important change: Kings operate from a cup that overflows - there is a level of prosperity and generosity on this move that releases ministry. I like to ask two simple questions when I find a believer whom God is stirring to become a King; 1) What's your dream? and 2) how can I help you take the next step? The secret - This isn't really a secret. God is building the Kingdom through Kings who are pursuing the desires of their hearts. We're here to conquer six other mountains and reach our cities and nations through business, media, arts & entertainment, education, and family. When my heart is released, it and the Holy Spirit, naturally lead me into my mountain. That doesn't mean I stop going to church. But it does mean that my heart is in a different mountain. I'm not just growing the church, I'm building the Kingdom. My heart aches for mature believers trying to be good servants in church when their hearts are really pulling them into another mountain. The better way to say it is that my heart is having a party and its really fun to invite aching hearts into this much joy. That's what happens at the conferences. Here's what it feels like. We're doing what we love, we love what we do, it bears amazing fruit and we do it from a position of abundance - an abundance of love and an abundance of finances. Want some? Your heart does. The plan is written in there somewhere.
Desire to Destiny is available now at our store along with reviews. Not sure what your dream is? This book will help you pull the curtain back on your future. Newsletter - If your newsletter comes incomplete (filtered), you can always catch the latest version in our archive along with 200 others. 1600+ people from around the world get Kingly encouragement from our weekly newsletter. Invite a friend to subscribe - they will be blessed. How to Start a Small Group - Kings are increasingly getting involved in Bible study or mentoring groups to facilitate their "Release." Here are some helpful suggestions www.Releasing-Kings.com/Starting-a-Group.html. We've also updated our Vision Brochure with graphics to show how to become a King and how you can help Release Kings. French Translation - Releasing Kings is now available in French thanks to the efforts of Cees Bakker and Support Ministries in the Netherlands. In France, copies can be obtained from Editions Menor or Librairie Chretienne CLC. The Title in French is “Libération des Rois pour le ministère dans le monde du travail”. Cees is also the guy who made the Dutch translation possible - available through his website. He can be contacted for Releasing Kings conferences in France and throughout Europe. Facebook - I'm starting to post more information on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/john.garfield1
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