November 27, 2005
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Kings – The Future is Bright I’ve had a couple of experiences in that last month where the Lord has contrasted the old and the new. I am personally still in a state where the Lord is rewriting my practical understanding of scripture as it applies to the marketplace. Every month I realize some new foundation has been laid and my past emphasis grows evermore distant… and embarrassing. Back to my recent experiences…
The Sky is Falling Gospel – Sometimes I’m amazed that God has blessed my own nation while our Christian message has been so negative. You can purchase nearly any book on the end times in the local bookstore and most predict the decline of our nation and the general doom of the planet before Jesus comes back to rapture a beleaguered Church. If wealth is mentioned from the pulpit it is nearly always in the context of warnings about materialism and greed. Our message has not been one that teaches people to inherit the blessing of God. It more approximates the monotone of how to avoid wealth and its associated evils. Contentment with mediocrity is the take home message implemented with a paycheck-to-paycheck life style and supplemented with credit card debt. People are taught to give and save, but how to grow is conspicuously absent in practice and precept. Those that choose to stay behind in this swamp of fear and poverty of spirit are destined to live out their unbelief in the same wilderness as the children of Israel with the same prophetic promise... not a message I'm excited to share.
The transition – Change for many is helped along by a few decades of personal stagnation. You have to get good and tired of the old before you’re emotionally ready for the new. Then, along comes revelation – God pulls back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz and the realization of being duped by your own belief system begins to settle in. The next decision is what to do with it. Here’s my favorite quote.
Generation X – The blessing of the next generation is that they have not been exposed to the pabulum of this mediocre message. My observation is they are ready to take God at his Word with no transition. The Good News – has, by contrast, an amazingly different sound. It does include the warfare, but it adds God’s goal of an astonishing victory for God’s people that is as old as the father of our faith.
Here is where I experienced another “wake-up call.” God’s people are already hearing the distant drum of a mighty army God is raising up to take the Gospel throughout the earth via the marketplace. Theirs hearts leap when Moses stands up and prophecies to their mediocrity, “Let my people Go.” Even now there is an anointing and a people ready and willing to inherit wealth and turn it into ministry; to possess fame and turn it into glory for God. They are led by God who is even more ready and willing. Here’s the Plan – Imagine a future without the weight of the gospel of poverty. Here is what the future really looks like. 1. Discipleship will include the whole gospel. We’ll equip the saints with salvation, healing, the prophetic… and teach them how to receive, multiply, and export their inheritance of God’s blessing. 2. Nations - The United States is a nation blessed by God with a call to export that blessing and the gospel message behind it to every nation. She will not decline. She will raise others to her level and beyond. Many other nations will take the challenge of God’s “National Call” on their people. Like gifts within a local body, each national gift will complement others with the goal of expanding the Kingdom until it fills the earth with God’s glory.
3. Kings in Action - Just as the threat of global conflict during the cold war evaporated into nothing, the threat of terrorism and future conflicts will be defeated by the influence of Kings in commerce and politics. They will carry and fulfill the promise that, “all nations will be blessed through you.” Like their God, they will be "unfailing."
4. Missions - The concept of missions will increase from planting Bible Colleges and churches to “redemption and lift.” We’ll understand the good news includes raising, not just the natives, but the nation as well. Righteousness, justice, mercy, and prosperity will flourish as a result of Kings in the mission field. 5. The Gospel - Secular history sees the church as primarily a hindrance to progress. The church fathers generally viewed commerce, interest, and capital as evil. When Copernicus first conceived of the planets rotating around the earth in the mid-1500’s Martin Luther called for the removal of his head… and he was a reformer! I think I would generally agree that Christianity has not had the influence God intended. Why? We’ve only just begun to preach the gospel that God intended. Our message really will produce fruit at the level of God’s promise… to bless all nations. The Gospel in its most Biblical form releases people to be courageous, innovative, prosperous, generous, loving, and evangelistic (Kings). I'm passionate about this - Think about it for a moment. We’ve preached a poverty message and God has still blessed a nation. What if we preached the gospel in its fullness and encouraged people to prosper? On behalf of Christians in my own nation and in my own generation, I'm repenting for cursing the future of the United States with false prophesies. Forgive us Lord for being ashamed of your plan to bless this nation; We didn't know what we were doing. You're blessing all nations; it's the devil that's trying to destroy them.
Life is an adventure. People are a blessing. God is amazing. We're winning.
Love, John & Harold (are dancing - Join us) PS: Two books relate to the theme of this newsletter. If your interested in the History of the US I recommend reading The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel. Harold is in the process of writing another book about the Olivet discourse - the three chapters where Jesus talked about the future (Mt 24, Mk 13, and Lu 21). These are the 3 most misunderstood and misquoted chapters in the Bible. Until Harold's book is out take a look at Phillip Mauro's book The 70 Weeks and the Great Tribulation, especially Ch 13. It was an eye opener for me in 1995 and it was written in 1921. Conferences - The Last trip to the Netherlands was a real eye-opener! I greatly underestimated the value of our book, the impact of the message on individual lives, and the value of live conferences. I witnessed the power of God being unleashed in the hearts of men and women by simply explaining the theology and experience behind releasing their heart's desire to expand the Kingdom. Seeing the lights come up in the hearts of God's people feels like sponsoring a jailbreak. One of my goals is to equip others to help us share the message in conference formats before we get overwhelmed with the momentum of what God is about to do. If your church or organization is ready, we can help you start a fire... a big one!
PS: Send us your feedback! We get lots of interesting emails at "You Wrote Back" http://www.releasing-kings.com/you-wrote-back.html
_____________________________________________________________________ Interested in your own WEB? We've posted information on the software we use to create this web site. If you survive the learning curve without losing your sanctification (mine is barely intact), it really is easy to use and the cost is $299 a year - much less expensive than hiring someone. The primary benefit is the ease of making your own changes. Additional info is at: http://www.releasing-kings.com/releasing-websites.html
Progress - Kingly Bio's are Up We've completed the first round of interviews with Kings. These are real people that have been blessed by God in the Market Place and have hearts for ministry. Check it out at http://www.releasing-kings.com/Interviewing-Kings.html. If you have a success story, we'd like to post it by giving you a web page on our site.
Progress - A Teacher's Guide We've completed the first version of a study guide that targets those teaching the material in Releasing Kings. It includes a page of notes on each chapter, all the graphics suitable to make overheads, and a PDF file of the book with the key points highlighted that includes marginal notes, comments, and questions. This material is available for purchase on the teacher's guide page of the web. 509-308-6873
God has given us a great tool to communicate a message that sets people free in an amazing, contagious, life-changing way. If you haven't read it - get it. If you have read it - give it. http://www.releasing-kings.com/Ordernow.html
We've gotten a ton of positive feedback on the newsletter too... get it, give it. Reloading Seniors was powerful. Pass the link on. http://www.releasing-kings.com/Newsletter.html
PS: don't forget to look at the free reports - show your pastor the article on marketplace ministry from the pastor's perspective. You can simply email him this link or print a copy to give him. http://releasing-kings.com/pastors-perspective.html
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