December 31, 2010
subscribe, view past issues and Get Releasing Kings Thy Kingdom Come Which Great
Commission? – I was recently
sharing in a local
church about life purpose and a lady explained that, “Our purpose is to
lead
others to Jesus.” I hadn’t thought about it for years, but that used to
be
exactly my belief. If you asked me to recite the great commission, I
would have
said it is to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all men…
but what
the verse really says is to make disciples of all nations. Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations…. Matt 28:19, Lu 24:47 Our tradition
(the gospel of salvation) points us toward getting people saved and
building
the church alone. The Gospel of the Kingdom has some ramifications that
point
to marketplace ministry and Releasing Kings. The difference is driven
by whether
we believe the church and the Kingdom are the same thing, or different. 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originally made no distinction between Church and Kingdom.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 and touching cities and nations. I’m not
defining the Gospel of salvation as bad – we are not leaving any prior
beliefs,
just expanding the application from an individual-only and church-only
focus to
include a city and nation focus. It’s a big deal! The Gospel of
Salvation – If our life
purpose is the
salvation of souls (he that wins souls is wise), then my heart is
focused on a
vision to grow my local church. My concept of revival is to see
miraculous manifestations
in meetings, and I love conferences. Worship is singing in the presence
of God
with such a prophetic anointing that every heart is engaged (this is my
favorite example).
I’m prone to view secular society as Babylonian systems and I emphasize
their
Godless corruption. Under this view, my goal for people is to see them
get
saved, added to the local church and equipped in their spiritual gifts.
The
mission to reach the lost and grow the church is a top priority in
terms of
vision, and people in the congregation generally “serve” the
church-growth
vision in some way at least financially and by volunteering for some
responsibility or leadership role in the church. The end state for this
theology is usually a rapture up to heaven; an escape from a lost and
morally
bankrupt culture led by the antichrist. The Gospel of the
Kingdom – Under this
strategy, the goal is to
disciple nations through believers participating in, and influencing
the seven
mountains (government,
media, arts/entertainment, education, business, church and family).
This is an
even more effective way to win individual souls, so we are not
deviating from the
emphasis on individual salvation or the need for a personal savior in
Jesus. We
are targeting the transformation of cities and nations intentionally.
Our
definition of revival includes signs and wonders; however, we incubate
them in
the local church and expect their primary occurrence to be in the
marketplace.
I still love prophetic worship in church, but now I’m feeling the sense
of
worship in my work. I feel the Father’s blessing trading alone over my
computer
and going to Poland out of the overflow – It’s fun! We realize that
what
happens in church meetings or conferences is simply training to equip
the
saints for the real work of the ministry, which occurs at work. Our
efforts at
evangelism targeting Kings in our “gentile” cities and nations is
similar to
Paul’s expression of the great commission: "Go!
This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before
the people
of Israel.” Acts 9:15 NIV Reaching out to
Kings - We remember
the poor and maintain a
focus of reaching out to them. However, they are not the sole direction
of our
outreach. Reaching cities and nations involves working with people who
already
have influence and affluence in society. We don’t generally view our
culture as
a corrupt, Babylonian system that we must abandon. We have the faith
and optimism
to reach it and change it. Releasing Kings - In addition to
supporting local
churches and pastors, we encourage people to explore their heart’s
desire and
make the transition from servant to King (Jn 15:15) and to get involved
in the mountain
of their calling. We believe that their personal ministry will find its
best
expression outside the church in their vocation. We help them through
the
maturing process to connect their spiritual calling with their
vocational
financial support and their dream. When vocation, ministry, wealth and
destiny
converge, we see people operating in a level of excellence that is
unique,
powerful, professional, fulfilling and full of ministry opportunities
in the
marketplace. Kings worship and bring glory to God through their life’s
work. Saints do the
work! - While we add
people to the church,
there is a viral aspect in the Kingdom… for the simple reason that the
work /
ministry barrier is broken down and because the saints (not just the
staff) are
doing the work of the ministry. The end state of Kingdom-oriented
marketplace
ministry has a role for Kings and nations (which are saved) bringing
glory to
God: The
nations will walk by its
light, and
the kings of the earth will bring
their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for
there
will be no night there. 26 The glory and
honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing
impure will ever
enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but
only
those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Rev 21:24-27
NIV A Pioneering
Season – Marketplace
ministry is in a very
pioneering stage. Most pastors are open to the idea, but are unclear
about how
to embrace it. I believe that, in time, we will identify a version of
Releasing
Kings and helping people find the desires of their hearts that can be
used to
equip the saints in local churches to the benefit of all: churches,
nations,
cities and saints. Is House Church
the Answer? - Others see a
solution in the shift
toward Kingdom as a change from the institutional church to organic,
small or
house church formats. I do think market place ministry will spawn
micro-churches
in the workplace. However, I see that as a byproduct of the viral
aspect of
getting all the saints involved in ministry. I really believe that
churches of
every kind, size and location will benefit from an emphasis on the
Gospel of
the Kingdom. Reducing the size of the church and eliminating the
building
payment doesn’t necessarily connect people with their dream, vocation,
wealth
and calling to excellence in their mountain as Kings (a Royal
priesthood). In
some ways it can spawn even more introversion. When our model for
Releasing
Kings in the church mountain has enough working examples in churches of
every
size to reach a tipping point, pastors will be on board. I’ve budgeted
a decade
for the process and it started several years ago. It’s an exciting
privilege to
be involved in this transition. In the other mountains, Kingdom
progress feels
a little more like a jailbreak that is well underway. The Jail-break
feel – I’m thankful
for new friends in
Warsaw who have helped us to see this dynamic in a fresh way. I’m also
thankful
for Pastor Andrzej and Store House Church for opening a door and
modeling the
release of Kings. There are people who long to be Kings and make a
difference
in our world. Their hearts leap when God gives them permission to ask
for their
dreams and desires. They are running with signs and wonders and
salvations in
the marketplace already. Their exploits with wealth and their divine
appointments with influence are amazing. God is adding people who are
getting
saved who already have the influence and affluence to make a
difference. The
Kingdom is within them… their heart’s desires hold the keys to the
Kingdom and
they are already hungry to bring glory to the King of Kings. We are
just
releasing something that is already in heaven and needs to be on earth
–
Freedom to be the unique “you” God created to do great exploits. Now
the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom. 2
Cor 3:17 NIV For
we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God
prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:10 NIV Kingdom
is a prior newsletter with many more examples that you might enjoy. Video Version:
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 ministčre 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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