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The Praying Bank
Every move of God carries certain
trademarks. There is great excitement and impact among
God’s people. There’s a crush to be involved (When Sue and
I went to Toronto
about 10 years ago, I believe they already had been visited by
people from over a hundred nations). Lastly, seeing other
people “do” the new thing is God’s way of letting us know we can
do it too. Chuck Ripka is a great example and he's "doing
Marketplace Ministry"
right now. The ingredients are a Kingly business with vision,
ministry and prosperity.
This unusual bank successfully concluded
its first 18 months in business. The Riverview Community Bank,
around 30 miles Northwest of Minneapolis, takes care of more
than just their customers' money. According to Duane Kropuenske,
founder of the bank, 69 people have become Christians through
the bank's advisory service and something close to that number
have been healed. "People call us to ask if we are the bank
which prays with its customers," adds partner Chuck Ripka.
Kropuenske and Ripka initially founded the bank intending to
operate it - "the way Jesus would."
Located 30 miles northwest of Minneapolis,
the bank began when Kropuenske left a position managing a small
mortgage company to pursue his dream of opening a bank for the
Lord.
He persuaded his friend Chuck Ripka to
leave a mortgage loan officer position at another bank to
co-found the venture. Together, they sought God’s direction, and
within two weeks, investors who liked the idea began calling
about the $5.5 million needed to start the bank. Now the bank
has $85M in deposits and Chuck is a great example of marketplace
ministry in action. Check out the following:
The New York Times Magazine also wrote a
great article about Chuck and the bank in Elk River (I recommend
you take the time to read it). The PDF file is at
http://www.releasing-kings.com/Teachers-Guide.html. I
consider it a miracle - God is using the secular press to
trumpet this movement. Chuck is also getting
requests for extended interviews and personal visits from TV and
newspaper reporters from Japan, France, and England. CNN
is planning a to air a special news segments based on an
upcoming interview. God is giving world-wide media coverage to a
community bank in a small town in Minnesota. Pretty amazing!
The Lie of the decade
Separation of Church and
State
Earlier today I shared the article on Chuck
Ripka with a Christian in my own bank. As we chatted about the
great things God was doing in the market place, his knee-jerk
response was, "What about the separation of church and state."
Christians are afraid of the legal ramifications after all
that's been in the press. I'd like to suggest that this
particular false concept is the biggest lie the enemy has sold
since evolution was portrayed as science instead of religion.
The devil would like to convince Christians they should keep
quiet about their faith except in church and in the privacy of
their own home. Here's our heritage... The gospel has always
been shared in the marketplace.
I work in an engineering office with about
70 people. The office manager and his wife both have technical
and management positions and they are the authority. They are
open to Christ but don't go to church and are they aren't all
that hungry right now. They also have some spiritual authority
with the right to define the boundaries of what's acceptable.
Many of the staff are church-going Christians. Obviously, the
managers are very comfortable with Christians, but not very
comfortable with Bible studies and open prayer. So I just
operate within the boundaries. My primary prayer focus is for
the managers themselves. I've already has opportunities to share
the book and the possibilities of marketplace ministry.
Here's the balance
- Neither God nor the state want to require people to become
Christians. Its a matter of free will and should be. I prayed
with a store manager today. Not knowing what the boundaries
were, I simply asked if we could pray first, then kept it short.
He thanked me for praying and offered to buy 10 copies of
Releasing Kings to sell in his store. Even though some people
are not comfortable with prayer or public ministry, most are...
so we just walk through the doors that open (after politely
knocking). God does want us to convey our respect for people. Os
Hillman has a good article on the legal boundaries of witnessing
at work at
http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/articles_view.asp?articleid=8472&columnid=743
Here's the goal
- I want to own my own business and set the boundaries wide - so
the Lord can do any kind of ministry that's appropriate. Larry,
a member of our congregation, is a car dealer that believes in
ministry at work. He prays with customers routinely. He does
more ministry in his used car lot on a weekly basis than most
pastors do in a Sunday morning service. That's the way God
intended it. Marketplace ministry is both an adventure an a
party - it's fun to be used by God.
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.
john@releasing-kings.com
509-308-6873
Friends
Tell Friends
Harold and I have both been
hesitant to "market" this book... sounds self-serving.
Here's the "grassroots" reality. 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
Blessings,
John & Harold
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 |
