First Love – When I first got saved the feeling of being known and loved and accepted by God was amazing. When I first found a church home I loved the feeling of God’s presence sweeping over the congregation. We soared like eagles in worship and the prophetic. Finding the Holy Spirit had given us gifts and learning to use them to minister to people took it all up another level. I loved God and church so much that after 16 years I decided to become a pastor. My theology was that If God was reaching the world by planting new churches I wanted to see how many I could plant. I had no concept that if God could call a believer to minister through business or a political office. I worked as an engineer but I regarded it as secular and the church as sacred. As a pastor I encouraged people to help me do what God was doing – build His Church… build our local church… and if they didn’t have a heart for that, I assumed they didn’t have a heart for God! I must have made people feel like they were tossed off a turnip truck. I mistakenly thought the church and the Kingdom were the same thing.
Hearts get lost – Everyone should experience first love in a church setting. We all need to learn to serve and the church is a great place to do it. As the years go by the new wears off for for many. They, and their pastors, assume their love has grown cold. As believers mature they can start to feel used… a cog in the machine. Here’s what is really happening.
As we mature in the Lord God begins to write on our hearts and we develop a yearning to do other things. Once we were happy to serve in another man’s vision; helping our pastor build the church is a common one. But now we begin to long for our own vision. If we don’t see the hand of God in this process of moving from servant to King, we just write our hearts off as rebellious and give up on our dream. Now we’re really miserable. We don’t enjoy our dream and we don’t enjoy church.
Hearts get found – We’re on our way home from Ukraine and I’m writing from a motel in London. I’m still pinching myself over what happened. We helped hearts get permission from God to dream.
One example – after the conference in Dnipropetrovsk a couple came up and thanked us for coming while they tearfully hugged us. The “before and after” change in countenance on the faces was amazing. When people realize God is allowing them to pursue their own dream instead of just being a cog in the wheel of life – they just break… joy, tears, release, anticipation, regret, amazement, excitement. We saw it happen to every King we spoke with. The reason – It’s something the Holy Spirit is already saying to them, “dreams can come true.” We’re just putting words to the music. You can hear the same thing listening to Lance Wallnau videos on my face book page.
Pastoring Kings – This is really simple and really powerful. When people reach a level of maturity and God begins to write on their heart it can be a confusing time. What we can do for them is give them permission to talk to the Lord about those dreams and begin to make them real. Most Christians have no concept of looking for the will of God in their own heart’s desires. Nor do they have any concept of seizing initiative to make that dream come true. It’s Kingly! They were programmed to be servants and now we have to update the software so they can be Kings. They will still serve but it may be outside the church in the marketplace from a position of ruling and reigning. If our ship doesn’t come in, we swim out to get it. There’s another important change: Kings operate from a cup that overflows – there is a level of prosperity and generosity on this move that releases ministry.
I like to ask two simple questions when I find a believer whom God is stirring to become a King; 1) What’s your dream? and 2) how can I help you take the next step?
The secret – This isn’t really a secret. God is building the Kingdom through Kings who are pursuing the desires of their hearts. We’re here to conquer six other mountains and reach our cities and nations through business, media, arts & entertainment, education, and family. When my heart is released, it and the Holy Spirit, naturally lead me into my mountain. That doesn’t mean I stop going to church. But it does mean that my heart is in a different mountain. I’m not just growing the church, I’m building the Kingdom.
My heart aches for mature believers trying to be good servants in church when their hearts are really pulling them into another mountain. The better way to say it is that my heart is having a party and its really fun to invite aching hearts into this much joy. That’s what happens at the conferences.
Here’s what it feels like. We’re doing what we love, we love what we do, it bears amazing fruit and we do it from a position of abundance – an abundance of love and an abundance of finances. Want some? Your heart does. The plan is written in there somewhere. Have fun, make money, and love people.
I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Heb 8:10 NIV
This new plan I’m making with Israel isn’t going to be written on paper, isn’t going to be chiseled in stone; This time I’m writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts. I’ll be their God, they’ll be my people. 11 They won’t go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They’ll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. Heb 8:10-11 MESSAGE
