This week I received an email from a Pastor in
Zambia that gets our newsletter.
"Dear John, Greetings. I am a Zambian Pastor. I
want to start a Marketplace Ministry. How do we do that?"
I want to answer that question for Kings and pastors that are drawn toward what God is doing through Kings
in marketplace ministry right
now. The answer comes in several parts. The first is how to impart the
information; e.g. What can a small group leader or pastor do to awaken
hearts to ministry in the Marketplace. The second part is how to
help them transition from a pew]-only ministry to being a prosperous King
with a vision and the means to expand the Kingdom. The third deals with
encouraging them through the warfare to a place of victory. Don't forget
all of these principles apply to women as well. God is opening many
doors in the marketplace for women.
1. Awakening hearts with
the Message of releasing Kings - I think the easiest way to
get started is to go through the material in the books to provide a
Biblical basis for being entrepreneurial, prosperous and generous. We try to provide an overview in our conferences.
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Sharing the material - You can
provide copies of
Releasing
Kings and/or
Desire to Destiny and teach your way through the chapters. One of the
easiest ways is to make the book(s) available. As a pastor, I preached
most topics in Releasing Kings on Sunday mornings.
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Teachers Guide - We do have a
teaching guide for Releasing Kings that can be downloaded from the web as a PDF file. It
contains the graphic we use in the book and in our conferences - see
http://www.releasing-kings.com/Teachers-Guide.html
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Newsletters - In addition, there
are 70+ newsletters with additional material indexed to chapters in
the book at
http://www.releasing-kings.com/Newsletter-Index.html. We expand a
related topic every week.
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Conference Notes - We also do
conferences on marketplace ministry. We include the latest
version of the notes on that page. The conferences are great way to launch
interest in a group of people. Contact us if you would like to do
one.
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Background Reading - We have a
recommendations page that refers to five of Harold's books that
relate to part 2. I strongly believe that having the right
theological foundation helps people naturally become "Kingly."
The person who teaches the material should read these books. It's a really good foundation for Kings that would
enable them to teach the conference notes (or their own). The
other books are all around $12 and can be ordered from our
recommendations page.
I think
it's wise to keep the number of session under 10-12 sessions just to
go over the message - It's not that complicated!
Releasing Kings
Chapter Sessions Related Reading
Escaping Dualism
Victorious Eschatology, 2nd ed.
Note:
you can continue with Desire to Destiny. The outline follows a
logical coaching progression of seven "Keys" we all go through shown
in
Vision and Goals Brochure. The book also includes thought
questions at the end of each Key/section. Releasing Kings lays the
Biblical foundation; Desire to Destiny is intended to help people
through the process of discovering and implementing their dream.
2. Encourage people to be
Kingly – The process must be both “taught” and “caught.” It
has a theological foundation and a practical application. Often times
people see themselves in the example of another businessman, elected
official, or artist that models something God is asking them to do.
We’ve used interviews with established Kings to provide some of that at
http://www.releasing-kings.com/Interviewing-Kings.html. However, a
personal relationship that includes mentoring from someone locally is
ideal.
Marketplace Ministry is all about finding the
connection between the person's ministry and vocation. What are they
wired to do? We can help people down that road in several ways; prophetically,
through counseling, and by connecting them with an obvious mentor in the
field of their choice. God will already have motivated them to move
toward their calling. Kings are energized by finding themselves and
catching a vision to do something for God in the marketplace.
The second is, “What’s their passion?” If money
were available, how would they use it to expand the Kingdom? Being a
King includes wealth (I will bless you) and notoriety (I will make your
name great) and using that power and influence to "bless the nations."
As God's favor increases, so does the burden to bring others up to the
same level.
"I will
make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will
make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Gen
12:2-3
3. After They've Started
- People that take the challenge to inherit the land of their
personal destiny are not necessarily prepared for the steady stream of
challenges and warfare that go with doing something for God. Setbacks
are a normal part of any business/ministry. We have to focus 80% our
faith and our results on the favor of God and the breakthroughs He
brings. However, we're not ignoring the 20% of the price in travail and
problems to achieve those results.
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Spiritual Cheering Section -
Marketplace Ministers need a network of prayer support and garden
variety encouragement from their peers and pastors. They need a
cheering section that embraces their vision. They need regular
prophetic encouragement.
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Plans and goals - Every Marketplace
Ministry needs a business plan that maps out dreams and goals on a
time table and budget that can be updated as time goes on. Too often
people get a partial leading from God and move without practical
wisdom of how to manage the staff, keep track of the cash flow, and identify the
first priority with a living business plan.
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Tell success stories - When Kings
have success celebrate with them. It's a great opportunity to show
others the power and provision of God. Testimonies encourage
everyone. Marketplace ministry is very contagious. A few examples of
Kings having fun and everyone will want to get out in the water.
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Showcase the fruit - The fruit
is in turning the money into ministry. We tell the message to make
the money to do the mission (see
brochure). Most Kings want to go beyond giving money and really
engage a personal ministry. Sometimes locally sometimes in the third
world.
Howard Ferris is my favorite example. He's a civil engineer that
went to Pakistan and conducted crusades and got over 50,000 saved.
Note: If you
have a story of how you're Releasing Kings through your church or group,
send me an email. I'd love to hear about it and share it with others.
Life is an adventure. People are a blessing.
God is amazing. We're winning.