subscribe to this Newsletter Plans of the Heart - Part 1 Several seeks ago we shared a newsletter about the International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) "Give a Fish or Make a Fisherman". I was so impressed with the Marketplace Ministry vision of this organization that I contacted them. Business Unlimited is a biography of the founder, Gunnar Olson. His heart and life express the practical outworking of a man anointed for the marketplace. I have marked up Gunnar's book with a dozen of my favorite parts. Here is one. Take a look at Gunnar's interview on the ICCC website. When we eventually bring our prayer in this way we often end like this: “Lord, this is what we want, but there’s one thing we want more than this. We want to be absolutely sure of being in the center of Your will. Therefore we submit what we want under Your will. Let Your will be done. Amen.” As we have learned to pray like this, the Lord has answered our prayers every time in a very distinct way. God requires us to morally own our decisions so that he can interact with us as adults rather than children who don’t really know what they want. He wants us to grow in authority and responsibility before Him to access His Kingdom privileges. Pg 119 Growing Up - We all subscribe to the fact that authority in prayer begins with understanding the will of God. What Gunnar pioneered was the understanding that knowing the will of God is closely tied to understanding the real desires of your heart. God isn’t particularly blessed by unthinking robots. He enjoys the maturity of children that have a will and share his desires from the depths of their own heart. Put your heart in gear - Most of have been taught our need to surrender, wipe the slate clean, and otherwise eradicate every carnal desire of our heart. Few know how to encourage the desires of their heart and find the place where our desires and God’s desires are one. I want to suggest something radical… no, Biblical! Finding the will of God starts when you begin walking toward the desires of your heart. The whole concept of staying in neutral until you hear from God has roots in faulty theology; a belief that your heart is evil and full of carnal desires. God does steer us, tweak the plan, adjust the timing, etc. But we’re the ones that offer up the plan, discern it, commit it to the Lord, and proceed with it. He likes your initiative… Your will is not an enemy; It’s a God-given gift and the desires of your heart are “normally” an expression of something God put there just like he promised, "I will put my laws in their hearts." (Heb 10:16) To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. Prov 16:1 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.     Prov 16:9 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: Ps 37:4-5 If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; 24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. Ps 37:23-24 When I previously read these verses, I could only see that God intervened and saved me from pursuit of my carnal desires. Now I can see what is plainly in the text; It's my responsibility to put together a plan based on the desires of my heart... and oh by the way, they match God's desires. Let My People Go - Hearts must be discerned, discipled, counseled, mentored and matured. But spiritual maturity begins when we give our hearts permission to dream and make plans around those dreams. It’s a different lifestyle. A religious spirit is really opposing your heart’s desire and trying to live out some notion of what God wants you to do (usually defined by others). One is oppressive, life-killing, bondage. But making a plan to live the dream God put in your heart is alive, creative, prosperous, contagious, generous, and fun. Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. 7 Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart." Ps 40:6-8 NKJV We delight to do your will Lord. It's in our heart.    Life is an adventure. People are a blessing. God is amazing. We're winning.   Love, John & Harold     (are dancing - Join us) New Book - Our goal in Releasing Kings was to articulate theological basis for Marketplace ministry such that people naturally mature toward being more entrepreneurial and more generous. Harold has continued that theme in a new book that I really enjoyed. This book is a brief explanation of Resurrection-based Christianity entitled Jesus Came Out of the Tomb, So Can You. It also appears on our Recommendations Page. There are four other books that tie closely to the chapters in Part 2 of Releasing Kings that are all worth while. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.  Isa 62:4-5 www.releasing-kings.com 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! Send us your feedback! johnsue@clearwire.com We get blessed by your emails at "You Wrote Back"  Past newsletters are now Indexed to Chapters in Releasing Kings! Newsletters associated with chapter 12 relate to this week's theme    _____________________________________________________________________ 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. johnsue@clearwire.com 509-308-6873     Friends Tell Friends 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     ____________________________________________________________________ You can get your copy of Releasing Kings for Ministry in the Marketplace at 1-800-308-5837 (or) http://www.releasing-kings.com/Ordernow.html