November 19, 2010
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Kingdom "Have
Fun, Make Money, Love
People" My personal
journey toward marketplace ministry and this Kingly mindset started
with four
aspects of theology, and it changed my perspective on being
entrepreneurial and
contending for the Kingdom. We carefully wrote about these four topics
in Releasing
Kings,
part 2. My
theology felt like those global warming glaciers for a few years… big
chucks of
my traditions cracked off and fell into the ocean. Most of us are going
through
a transition and we’re allowing our hearts more freedom "and" we're
finding the will of God already written on our hearts my the Holy
Spirit!. We saw “heart
liberation” a lot in these two conferences in Warsaw and Ukraine. 1.
Thy
Kingdom Come
– I originally made
no distinction between Church and Kingdom. I felt that business and
politics
were kind of “dirty” and tried to keep myself focused on God in my
church. Now
I understand that the Church equips the saints for the real work of
ministry in
our cities and culture. The Church is in the Kingdom, but it’s not the
entire
Kingdom. Now I’m celebrating politicians and business leaders who are
building
the Kingdom in our culture. 2.
The
nature of God
– My tradition was
that God controlled the future, and my job was to obey his leadings.
Now I
understand God’s sovereignty to mean that he can and does control some
future
events, but He makes room for us to manage or steward much of our own
lives.
Knowing that, I’m much less passive and more assertive or
entrepreneurial
about… everything. In addition to Releasing Kings you can read more on
this
topic in Who
Is God
by Harold Eberle. 3.
The
nature of man
– My tradition
emphasized that man is basically sinful and needs a redeemer. That’s
true, but
it’s not the whole story. When we get saved and mature, the Lord starts
writing
on our hearts. In fact, we’re created with specific gifts and talents
that fit
nicely in His and our plan for our lives. Now I pay attention to the
desires of
my heart and I often find the will of God already present. We wrote a
prior
newsletter on the Gospel
of the Kingdom
and Harold wrote a
great book entitled Precious
In His Sight. 4.
Eschatology
– When I was in
college, I believed Jesus would return before I graduated. Since then,
I’ve
dropped my dispensational views and realized that we’re not going
anywhere
until the whole earth is filled with His Kingdom Glory. I’m no longer
hiding
from world events, waiting for the rapture. I’m changing the world.
Harold has
lots of details in Victorious
Eschatology.
Life
Application - Sound
doctrine has ramifications in very practical areas. Joseph
Mattera
did a great job of
summarizing those ramifications in the following 12 points. I’ve added
some
edits. Our goal isn’t to dismantle the existing church or criticize our
pastors. We just need to personally give our hearts permission to get
involved
in the Kingdom. 1.
A kingdom
mindset encourages all saints to be ministers in the marketplace. A
church
mindset merely trains people to serve in a church building on Sundays.
We can
serve the church and really enjoy it while our own vision is taking
shape. I
see a lot of believers in their early 30’s moving toward their heart’s
desires
and their personal calling in the marketplace. 2.
A kingdom
mindset creates wealth to transform a community and nation. A
“church-only”
mindset motivates giving to build our own church programs. There is
plenty of
money and ministers to do both. 3.
A kingdom
mindset is a holistic approach that integrates the gospel with
politics,
economics, and public policy. A church-only mindset insulates the
gospel from
politics and public policy. 4.
A kingdom
mindset views the Bible as a blueprint to structure every aspect of
society. A
church-only mindset views the Bible merely as a pietistic book that
enables us
to escape the world, enter heaven, and be spiritual. 5.
With a
kingdom mindset we embrace and love our surrounding unchurched
communities.
With a church-only mindset, we’re prone to only embrace converted
individuals
within our faith communities. 6.
A kingdom
mindset trains all people for all of life. A church-only mindset trains
people
only for church life. We should honor those who labor among us “and”
celebrate
the exploits of Kings in the marketplace at the same time. 7.
A kingdom
mindset nurtures leaders who are world changers and “cultural
creatives” who
articulate truth to society. A church-only mindset nurtures leaders who
speak
religious language relevant only to church people. We’re prone to get
way too
introverted and stay within the four walls. 8.
A kingdom
mindset speaks of the rule of God over the entire created order. A
church-only
mindset speaks of the rule of God through deacons and elders over those
in a
church congregation. It’s easy to get entangled in a bunch of rules
that make
us look irrelevant to our culture. 9.
With a
kingdom mindset, pastors encourage and value vocational callings of
their
people in the marketplace. A church-only mindset controls people by
marginalizing their marketplace callings and emphasizing only Sunday
ministries. Our job is to make disciples in church without being afraid
to
“direct” them. But someday they mature and we need to release them as
Kings in
the marketplace pursuing the desires God has placed in their hearts. No
one can
just plug into the church, and tithe and listen to sermons for the rest
of his
life life. If we don’t release their hearts as Kings, we lose them to
boredom.
Their dreams wither and die. 10.
A
kingdom mindset applies a Spirit-empowered approach to the natural
world. A
church-only mindset involves a spirituality that separates from the
natural
world. We practice in church to be equipped and do the real thing in
the
Kingdom – at work. 11.
Those
with a kingdom mindset are working toward a renaissance of Christendom.
Those
with a church-only mindset merely strive for a particular expression
(denomination) of Christianity. We charismatics love revivals and
conferences
and worship. Now we need to learn how to multiply finances and convert
money
into ministry and impact our cities. 12.
Churches
with a kingdom mindset equip 100% of the saints to fill up all things
in every
realm of life (Ephesians 4:10-12). Those with a church-only mindset
have as
their primary goal to equip the 2-3% of the congregation called to be
full-time
church pastors, ministers, and missionaries. It’s fine to have 5-fold
ministries in the church; let’s just not forget the goal… to release
the 95% of
the congregation to do the real work of the ministry outside the church. Wisdom – The Church is
a big ship that will
take years to turn. I’ve seen some dramatic changes in over my
lifetime. I
think it would be wise not to sink that ship in our zeal for the
Kingdom. As we
find better methods to equip the saints and change the world, we’re not
abandoning the Church or her role in making disciples. We’re just
finding
better and faster ways to release Kings into their own heart’s desires.
During
my pastoral days in our second church plant, I tried to switch everyone
over to
marketplace ministry. To my surprise, I found half my congregation
didn’t want
to. Pastors and churches are not the limiting factor in this transition
to
Kingdom – it’s me!!! Shouldn’t we expect our pastors to be excited
about
church? That’s what God has called them to do. If they err a little on
the
church-only side, that’s OK. I’m more worried about you and I. My heart is
longing for disciples who will release their hearts to embrace the
wisdom and
anointing required to create wealth, and convert money into ministry.
It’s
really a lot of fun. Let’s teach them how, in church… That’s what we
did in
these last two conferences. The pastors we worked with made it all
possible. Pretty exciting! PS: You
may
also enjoy the video
version of this newsletter.
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. 1800+ 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. Lastly we've created a guideline to help you take your dream to the next level by considering the elements of a business plan. See Write Your Business Plan. 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 posting more information on Face book at http://www.facebook.com/john.garfield1
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