Make the most of your valleys !

Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Make the most of your valleys
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Jesus said, ” In this world you will have trials and tribulations,but be of good cheer that I have overcome the world”. It’s not always the mountain top, sometimes we take wrong decisions like lot that pushes us down to Sodom and gomorrah valley experience or having pride like Joseph can get us into the pit and prison valleys. At valleys we encounter trials, tribulations, sickness,relationship issues,losses, frustrations and bottom of life – Spiritual Warfare against principalities and powers of darkness. Instead of getting dejected, depressed or complaining, how do you get the most benefit out of valley experience ? Remember it’s only in valleys the fruits grow, infact valley experience is a great opportunity to transform yourself by humbling yourself trusting in the finished work of Christ. Grow yourself in the fruits of the Spirit,develop more of Christ nature – love,joy,peace,patience,kindness,goodness,faithfulness,gentleness and self-control. God Holy Spirit is with you when you walk through the valley of shadow of death, the light of God is there and you just see the shadow of death but it’ll not come near you as you walk in Word of FAITH with the Grace of Jesus and exercise the Authority ( rod and staff) that Jesus has given you meditating the Word of God. Remember God allows valleys – storms, tests etc,. in your life as through those experiences you overcome,grow into the fullness, matureness of Christ. If there are no tests, then no testimonies to God. Remember God is like eagle who pushes the kid, trains the kid to learn to fly but catch the kid before it hits the bottom. Imagine if the kid is fearful and afraid of flying ? What a shame, the strength of the eagle is seen to soar more higher through the storms. The eagle is not afraid of storms but motivated to soar higher. Remember God has created you as an eagle not a chicken that cannot fly. As you spend more time in Word, the Holy Spirit 🔥 will keep you warm, comforted during those cold valley nights. Your FAITH on God will grow increase as you cling more closely to God’s Work in Holy Spirit and use your Authority in Christ to rebuke the storms, demonic attacks, exercise your faith and reign with Christ and overcome all your trials and come out of valleys with more growth, strength of blessings as a mighty overcomer Victor in Christ in Holy Spirit 🔥 and Power in Jesus name. Be blessed overflowing soaring like an eagle more higher more stronger through the storms, valleys in Holy Spirit 🔥 Amen. 💖👑🔥👑🔥👑💖

Put on New Man

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22‭-‬24 NIV
http://bible.com/111/eph.4.22-24.NIV

When a person believes and accepts Christ as His Lord and saviour sincerely he/she quits the kingdom of darkness and enters into the kingdom of God as the Spirit is born again whereas the body and mind still carry the old man hence requires a continuous renewal discipleship into the NEW man. The old man is under the dominion of passions and desires which in themselves are evil, are instruments of and are characterised by deceit.The new man consists of righteousness and holiness which has it’s root in TRUTH. As Christ instructed us we need to deny the evil desires, lust, alcohol and every unholy nature of old man and proactively chase venture into the new man in Christ as a hunter with passion and delighting everyday in the growth in the kingdom of God as God takes us higher and higher, glory to glory for no eyes has seen what exciting things that God has prepared for those who love Him. It starts on earth and continues into heaven forever and forever. Are you enjoying your new man in Christ feeding your mind with Word of God, applying Word of God everyday, growing healthy, stronger than ever before, delighting rejoicing in Him everyday ? Yes you’re called to manifest the glory of God. The earth is groaning for the sons, daughters of God to rise up to release heaven on earth. You are transformed to be the light positioned on earth to shine for such a time like now and fulfill your purpose that God has created you as the NEW man in CHRIST. Let your NEW man delight in the Lord and fulfill the desires of your NEW 💓 Hallelujah what a Glorious Journey as a NEW man in CHRIST with the Holy Spirit 🔥. Amen 💖👑💖

Word of God is Alive and Active ! Hebrews 4:12:- For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. The powerful living Word of God changing lives, prophecies being fulfilled is a proof witnessed and even today live demonstration of miracles , signs, healings, deliverance in Jesus name is happening every where in the world. St. Ignatius read the Bible which transformed him to start the Jesuits Society providing education and service throughout the world. Martin Luther brought Revival awakening to the Power of Faith in the Word of God. Holy Spirit filled 🔥people like Smith Wigglesworth, even today TB Joshua demonstrating LIVE the MIGHTY Power of Word of God by sincerely following believing in Jesus Words – resurrecting dead people, healing sickness, casting out demons in Jesus name for the Word of God is Jesus Christ our Lord who became flesh and dwelled on earth in our midst and releases life to those who obey, honour the Word. Word of God is a tool in hands of Holy Spirit. As we love, speak, believe the Word, Holy Spirit works on your faith and releases the power needed for healing, deliverance etc,. As you read, understand the Word, Holy Spirit exposes your thoughts, intentions and enlightens us with TRUTH and help us to renew our mind to become more like Christ to walk in Holy Spirit 🔥 everyday. Are you living , using the TREASURE of Word of God, meditating Word of God day and night and making your life and others prosperous and successful ? Are you tapping into the Power of Word of God transforming your lives and others changing the world as a light and salt to the earth ? Oh what a glorious Abundance Blessed Life in Holy Spirit through the Word of God in Christ. Be Blessed overflowing by meditating on the LIVING and ACTIVE WORD of GOD in Jesus name Amen 💖🔥💖

MEDITATION

Wednesday, 15 February 2012

MEDITATION

Meditating the Word of God and action with unshakeable belief as per the Word is the Key to Prosperity and Success. (Joshua 1:8)

Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Notes:- A Blessed Man meditates on the Law day and night and he is just not happy but  delights in the Word. Such a person is like a tree planted on the riverside who is healthy, wealthy, fruitful, and always prosperous in his work and business.

 

Joshua 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Notes:- Here God is speaking to Joshua, giving him instructions / Keys to prosperity and success. God is advising Joshua to not just read the bible, but meditate on bible verses day and night. The objective of meditation is to help him to become the ‘Doer of the Word’. When he becomes the Doer of the Word, then he will become prosperous and successful.

 

Home Group Discussion:- Discuss the Keywords

1)   What is Meditation? How to Meditate?

2)   Differentiate between happy and delight?

3)   What is Prosperity and Success?

4)   Who is a Blessed Man in this context?

 

Example of Meditating on the Word of God:-

Psalms 23:1 The Lord is my Shephered.

How do you meditate this Verse?

Who is the Lord? It is God who created the Universe. The God who has created the earth and gave His own son as a sacrifice for mankind. The God of signs and wonders. The God of everlasting Kingdom.

Who is a Shephered? A protector, provider, caretaker. Whose Shephered is God? Is he Pastor Daniel’s Shephered alone? God is My Shephered. He is so close to me. He loves me, takes care of me, cherishes over me. He is the Good Shephered who laid down His life for me to protect me from destruction. He has given me Abundance Life.

 

Meditation – the word meditate means hagah or mutter (speak with your lips and or ponder in your mind). It’s like a cow chewing the cud.

Chewing a cud is a process by which some animals, called ruminants (camels, goats, sheep, deer, and cattle), thoroughly digest their food.

The cow, for example, has a stomach organized into sections to take care of hard-to-digest food. When the cow first takes in food, it chews it just enough to moisten it. Once swallowed, the food goes to the stomach’s first section, where it is mixed with chemicals and softened. This softened food is called the cud, small balls of food.

Next, the stomach’s muscles send the cud back up to the cow’s mouth, where it is re-chewed and swallowed again, this time going to another section of the stomach, where moisture is squeezed out of the cud.

Finally, the food enters the last section of the stomach, the true stomach, where digestive juices mix with the food and start it on its way to the intestine to be completely digested.

Meditation is part of our daily life. Even when you’re worrying you’re meditating on the darker side. For instance, what will happen if I loose my Job? Do I need to move to a different city? How will I pay my Mortgage etc,.. When we meditate on God’s Word we’re meditating on God’s unbreakable promises, we are Positively charged for action resulting in Prosperity and Success.

Meditation helps you to Believe and get Breakthrough in Life

Another important aspect of meditation is that it helps you to believe. Many people read the bible, but not many believe in their heart and act on it. When you keep on meditating the promise of God as a solution to whatever you’re going thru, though you started with weak faith, there will be a point when you actually start believing the Word in your heart resulting in a breakthrough. Only those who believe and act can see the Glory of God in their lives.

John 11:40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”

Mark 9:23 “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”

 

Meditate on the following Bible verses during your personal bible study and prayer time with God.

James 2:17:- In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Deuteronomy 7:14:- You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.

 

Living in the Balance of Grace & Faith

 

 

 

One of the most common questions I’m asked is “What do I need to do to receive the blessings of God?” It is usually followed by this explanation: “I have been praying, reading my Bible, going to church, and paying my tithes, yet I don’t seem to be able to get my prayers answered.”

In that question and explanation lies the root of the problem: They have fallen into the trap of linking God’s response to their performance. They have not properly understood the balance of grace and faith and their relationship to each other.

By definition, the word grace means unmerited, unearned, undeserved favor. Therefore, the good news is, grace has nothing to do with you. Grace existed before you ever came to be. Another way of saying it is, grace is God’s part. Faith is defined as being a positive response to what God has already provided by grace. In other words, faith is your positive response to God’s grace, or faith only appropriates what God has already provided for you. Therefore, faith is your part.

Grace and faith work together, and they must be in balance.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says,

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Sometimes we read a passage from Scripture that is so familiar, we don’t stop to think about what it is really saying. In this verse, a profound truth is being declared. It says we are saved by grace through faith, not one or the other. Think of it this way—grace is what God does; faith is what we do. It takes both working together to receive salvation.

Salvation is not dependent on grace alone. If it were, everyone would be saved and going to heaven, for God’s grace is the same toward everyone (Titus 2:11). He has already given the gift of salvation to everyone through Jesus. It is by faith that a person receives what was done 2,000 years ago.

Most of us believe that in order to be saved, we need to ask God to forgive us of our sins, but that isn’t what the Bible teaches. In 1 John 2:2, it states that Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world. Jesus didn’t just die for those He knew would accept Him; He died for every sinner who has ever lived on this earth. And He died before you or I ever committed a single sin.

Here is a radical truth that would get me kicked out of most churches: Sin is not an issue with God! The Lord isn’t waiting for us to ask Him to forgive us of our sins. The sins of the entire world—past, present, and future—have already been forgiven. Even a man like Adolf Hitler had grace extended to him! Jesus loved Hitler and paid for his sins just as He did for yours and mine. God is no respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11).

God has already done His part; it is now up to you to receive the truth by faith and make it a reality in your life. Amen!

John the Baptist said in John 1:29,

“Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

In John 16:8-9, Jesus said,

“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me.”

The church often misinterprets this scripture and preaches that the Holy Spirit is here to convict you of all your sins. That is not what the Holy Spirit is here to do. He is here to convict you of the single sin of not receiving Jesus as your Savior. The only conviction is that of believing in Jesus Christ.

People do not go to hell for committing adultery, stealing, or even murder. Those, like all sins, have already been paid for. This is what the Bible says in John 16:8-9—the only sin that is going to send people to hell is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. So, stop magnifying sin in your life!

The message that much of the church is preaching causes us to become conscious of sin instead of conscious of righteousness (Rom. 3:19-22). It also causes us to link our performance to all the other blessings of God.

God’s grace has provided not only for salvation but also for every need of your life. That provision is not based on whether you are reading the Bible enough, praying enough, going to church, or even paying your tithes. Before you ever had a financial need, God created the provision. Before you were sick, God, through grace, provided your healing (1 Pet. 2:24). Before you ever became discouraged, God blessed you with all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3). God anticipated every need you could ever have and has met those needs through Jesus before you existed. That’s grace.

Jesus hasn’t saved, healed, delivered, or prospered a single person in the last 2,000 years. What God provided by grace 2,000 years ago now becomes a reality when mixed with faith. Faith appropriates what God has already provided. Faith doesn’t move God; He isn’t the one who is stuck. Faith doesn’t make God do anything. Grace and faith work together, and our part is to accept what God has already done. Grace must be balanced with faith.

Many Christians believe that God moves sovereignly as He wills, when He wills. That is because religion teaches that God controls everything and that nothing can happen without His permission. However, it’s not true—everything isn’t up to God. I have a teaching called The Believer’s Authority that explains this in more detail.

For instance, when my father died, I was told God needed him in heaven more than I needed him here. Even at twelve years old, I knew better than that. Why would God need my dad in heaven? God didn’t kill my dad. That is not what the Word of God teaches. The Scripture makes it very clear that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (Heb. 2:14 and 1 John 3:8). Satan is the one who goes about seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Satan is the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

God is being misrepresented. If He was guilty of all the things we blame Him for, there isn’t a civilized nation on the face of this earth that wouldn’t convict Him of crimes against humanity. I think the idea that God either causes or allows evil so that we will somehow grow spiritually is the worst heresy in the body of Christ. It renders people passive and takes away their hope.

If you really believe that God controls everything, what’s the use of doing anything? After all, it’s all up to God, right? If you believe that God is trying to teach you something through sickness or poverty, why see a doctor or look for a good job? Why not suffer as much as you can and really learn the lesson? I mean, how dumb can you be and still breathe?

Brothers and sisters, that is terrible doctrine. The Bible says that in the last days, people will call evil good and good evil (Is. 5:20). Denominations today are teaching that when you get sick or experience financial problems, God is causing it so He can teach you something or humble you. That is an example of calling evil good.

God is not responsible for killing babies, for rape, violence, poverty, or sickness. Satan is the author of evil, and the Bible clearly states that we are to resist the Enemy (James 4:7). Resist means to actively fight against something. If we aren’t fighting against sickness, for example, then we are submitting to it. To casually say to Satan “Please leave us alone” is not resisting the devil. We need to get angry at the devil, and we won’t get angry if we believe that God is the one causing or allowing the problem.

God’s will doesn’t automatically come to pass. Jesus said that not everybody will be saved (Matt. 7:13), yet Scripture says it is the will of God that none should perish (2 Pet. 3:9). God has provided salvation, healing, financial provision, and everything else we need, but if we don’t respond in faith to what has been provided by grace, we won’t receive.

God’s will is for everyone to be healed. Acts 10:38 says that Jesus went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, and it calls what He did “good.” And 1 Peter 2:24 tells us that we were healed by His stripes, yet most of us still do not receive His healing into our lives.

It is not the truth that sets you free; it’s the truth you know that will set you free (John 8:32). And the truth is that you need to put your faith in what God has already done, not in what you do. God, by His grace, has already provided healing, prosperity, forgiveness for sin, and much more. However, it must be appropriated by faith.

God has done His part by giving His Son, Jesus. His grace has provided everything through the sacrifice of Jesus. This is nearly too good to be true because there is absolutely nothing we can do to earn it and nothing we can do to lose it. Our part is simple: We respond to His grace by faith and appropriate what has already been accomplished.

As simple as this sounds, most Christians don’t understand this concept. Make sure that is not you. This is foundational to your relationship with God and the reason you may not be seeing your prayers answered. To help, I have just released my book Living in the Balance of Grace & Faith in paperback. Previously it was only available in hardback. It is also available in CD and DVD.

Don’t confuse this with my very first book, which I wrote in 1987, entitled Grace and Faith. This was a short version of what has now evolved into a more complete teaching, Living in the Balance of Grace & Faith. I believe this message is at the heart of the Gospel, and it’s the heart of the message God has given me to help transform the world.

Many emphasize grace and others emphasize faith. But too few emphasize balancing grace and faith. It’s like sodium and chloride: Taken individually, both are poisons and can kill you. When mixed together, they become salt, which you must have to live. Grace without your positive response of faith won’t save you, and faith that isn’t a response to God’s grace will bring you into condemnation. But put your faith in what God has already done for you, and you have the victory that overcomes the world (1 John 5:4).

God bless you,

By

Andrew and Jamie

Faith: Your Link to Promise and Victory

BIBLE MEDITATION:

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians

2:20

 

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:

The life of Joshua in the Old Testament is an illustration of Jesus. As a matter of fact, Joshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus. The Lord Jesus is our heavenly Joshua who leads us into the land of promise and victory. And what is this victory? It is a victory of faith.

 

There is nothing more, nothing less that will achieve the victory in our lives but faith. Victory is not achieved by fighting. Victory is received by faith.

 

ACTION POINT:

You see, when God has a gigantic task He wants us to perform, He gives the contract to faith. Your faith links your nothingness to God’s almightiness and victory is yours for the taking!

How to Frame a Nation with the Law of God

Friday, August 12, 2011

Following are the expanded notes from a speech Bishop Mattera made on August 7, 2011 to 150 political, business, and military leaders in the African nation of Rwanda, including the Speaker of Parliament.

First of all, I want to say that I am pleased to address you, the political and community leaders of Rwanda for the magnificent job you have been doing in rebuilding this great nation! Most in the United States have no idea how much progress you have made, the great attitude of your people and the motivation to move forward in spite of all the global challenges! I will be sure to pass the word around when I go back home to New York City!

Today I would like to speak to you about: “How to Frame a Nation with the Law of God.”

Regarding the separation of our faith from public policy, or the privatization of faith: This concept was foreign to the Founding Fathers of the United States where I come from and also to Scripture.

The original covenant of God to humankind was the Cultural Commission found in Genesis 1:28 in which God’s people were called to be servant leaders that would influence every square inch of the created order, including policy, economics and politics.

Jesus reaffirmed this cultural covenant in Matthew 28:18-20 when He told the church to disciple and baptize whole nations, teaching them to observe everything He taught them in private. This means Jesus viewed the Bible as a blueprint for nation building, not just a book to get individuals to heaven!

Furthermore, Jesus came to the earth to be King of kings. This is seen in His conversation with Pilate in John 18:37 and in His biblical titles and functions as found in Psalm 2:8-11, Rev. 1:5, 19:16. This has vast political implications because it means Jesus is not only the spiritual savior of the world but the political leader of the world as the President of presidents, Governor of governors and King of kings!

Furthermore, His followers have a duty of representing their King and kingdom on the earth to the political and economic powers that be!

He also called His followers a political term, “the ekklesia,” which was used during the 200 years before Christ coined it in Matthew 16:18. The term was used when Greek citizens came together to enact public policy.

We believe in the separation of church and state but not the separation of God and state!

When liberals in the West say morally cannot be legislated, I laugh. Whenever a law is passed the lawmakers are imposing someone’s morality on the people! It’s just a question of whose morality, God’s or mere humans’?

When laws derive from human conventions and opinions instead of from God’s law, then a nation is vulnerable to arbitrary fiat law based on the vicissitudes of men. This can lead to slavery or another legalized holocaust as we saw in World War II!

It is interesting that Adolf Hitler was an avid reader of famous eugenicist Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, who started the first abortion clinics in Harlem, New York City—the place where the most African-Americans were concentrated in the United States. Read some of the reasons why she wanted abortion clinics in black communities:

“The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”
-Margaret Sanger (editor). The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.

“Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race.”
-Margaret Sanger. Woman, Morality, and Birth Control. New York: New York Publishing Company, 1922. Page 12.

“We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. And the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”
-Margaret Sanger’s December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, she and her organization, Planned Parenthood, have been largely successful in the United States. The latest statistics show us that for every 1,000 African-American children born, 1,500 are aborted! Thus, the death rate is higher than the birth rate for blacks in the USA. Many in our nation are calling this legalized genocide!

Regarding the fact that true laws come from God: The Book of James 4:12 unequivocally states that there is only one law-giver and judge: God! Since the Protestant Reformation, especially since John Calvin, the wealthiest nations in the world have come out of a Protestant ethos based on biblical law, which essentially teaches that every political leader is only legitimate if he or she correctly represents God to the people. It was for this reason that Samuel Rutherford of England was executed in the 17th century when he wrote the book Lex Rex which debunked the notion of the divine right of kings.

So what part of the Bible do we use to disciple a nation?

The Place of Civil Law in Regards to Discipling the Nations

1. Civil law is an extrapolation of the Ten Commandments, and the Ten Commandments are an extrapolation of the Great Commandments found in Matthew 22:37-39.

2. An example of this extrapolation of the Ten Commandments is Exodus 20-23, in which the Ten Commandments are shown in chapter 20, with chapters 21-23 unpacking them principally in civil law.

Studying the civil law is important to formulate an economic and political blueprint for those called of God to enter the marketplace as leaders.

The historic reformed view is to apply the civil law of the Pentateuch (especially Exodus and Deuteronomy) principally.

(The civil law is composed of thee 613 laws in the Old Testament that explain the application of each of the Ten Commandments. This shows us that each of the Ten Commandments is really a category with vast implications for any nation. These civil laws can be applied in principle but not exactly because some of these laws were particular to the nation of Israel and the culture of their day. But the moral laws, as I already stated, are always relevant and applicable because they are grounded in the created order and are universal. Thus every political leader or jurist should study both the moral and civil law in order to know in concept how to structure a nation.

3. The general rule regarding the law is that it is broken into three parts:

a. Ceremonial law (especially found in Leviticus). This was totally done away with in Christ because He as the Lamb of God fulfilled all the shadow and types of ceremonial law (John 1:29; Hebrews chapters 9-10; Galatians chapters 3-5).

b. Moral law: Is still in effect in the New Covenant. For example, the Fifth Commandment is quoted exactly in Ephesians 6:1-4.

c. The civil law: Is to be applied in principle as a blueprint to guide the construct of a civil government. The New Testament modified the civil law, especially in regards to capital punishment for most sins except murder. For example, Paul never espouses the death penalty for adulterers, homosexuals, etc. although he tells us in Ephesians 5:3-6 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the offenders. Also, 1 Corinthians 6:11 shows that former adulterers and homosexuals were saved and forgiven without Paul speaking of the capital consequences of the death penalty.

4. Those that believe we ought to follow the civil law exactly in the New Testament are called theonomists. Although I highly regard most scholars with this view, my reasons for disagreeing with them are too numerous for this brief speech.

Thus, the Ten Commandments are still in effect and relevant to all cultures and all societies at all times as we shall see in a moment.

So, to summarize the Bible, we have the Cultural Commission found in Genesis 1:28 and Matthew 28:18-20 that give all Christ-followers the mandate to steward every aspect of the earth. Then you have the Ten Commandments with its subsequent civil laws that are meant to be the guiding light for nation building. Then you have Jesus’ two sentence summary of the law in Matthew 22:37-40. Then you have all of this summed up in one person, Jesus, who said of Himself: “I am the way, the truth and the life, nobody can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The following is an explanation of the Ten Commandments and how following them will bring prosperity and well-being to a nation!

The Blueprint for Biblical Economics and the Transfer of Wealth:  The Ten Commandments and Biblical Prosperity

I. The Prologue: Exodus 20:1-2

1. Before the commandments were given, God reminds His people that He had to take them out of the bondage of slavery before He could give them the commandments.

2. We then conclude that this demonstrates that God connects the ability to own private property, economics, and individual freedom with true worship. (Furthermore, the Hebrew word for work and worship are one and the same. Also, holiness doesn’t just describe the inward condition of a person but any thing or activity set apart for the work and honor of Jehovah.)

3. This prologue also shows us that slavery and economic bondage limit the worship of God because the biblical definition of worship is ultimately connected to God’s seed serving and positively influencing every realm of the earth.

a. The so-called Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 and Luke 11 clearly connects worship (“hallowed be Your name”) with God’s kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven.

b. If the dispensational pietists are correct and God is only interested with inward holiness, then why didn’t God just tell the Israelite slaves to sing songs and practice the joy of the Lord while making bricks for Pharaoh?

c. Also, the Ten Commandments weren’t just given as a moral code for individuals but as a corporate blueprint for national shalom, prosperity, and for transferring the resources of the earth to those that will biblically manage the planet.

II. The Ten Commandments

1. “You shall have no other gods before me.”

a. This teaches that the nation and its citizens must base their religious, social, and economic systems only on the precepts and worship of the One True God. Essentially, we can’t force every person in a nation to worship God but a nation should favor the Judeo/Christian worldview in it laws if it is to prosper (as the USA did its first 150 years of existence), while at the same time granting religious freedom to individuals in regards to their style of worship as long as it doesn’t conflict with the biblical values the nation espouses.

b. Thus the first four commandments have to do with our vertical responsibility to God. The best we can do is favor the Christian religion in our culture and laws without forcing it on people, because our nations are not theocracies like Israel was.

c. I will quickly summarize the next three commandments and then we want to jump to the last six commandments which are categories of how the people of a nation should relate to one another horizontally.

d. These first four commandments also refer to the fact that a nation must always be grounded to the cause, root, and foundation of the universe; focus and loyalty must always be to Him!

e. Matthew 6:33 brings more light to this. We should never put our business or the love of money before our pursuit and loyalty to God. Thus, while we believe in the meritocracy of the free market, believers must see themselves as stewards of the earth under God to spread His covenant (Deuteronomy 8:18). This is fleshed out in part by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, which means we are motivated to create wealth to minister to the poor and empower people to replicate our gifts as wealth creators. (Putting God first thus means we are not putting money or capitalism first.)

2. “You shall not have a graven image of anything in heaven and on earth.”

a. This not only refers to worshipping man-made idols but is a command to always accurately reflect the nature, holiness, and purpose of God as His image-bearers (Genesis 1:26-27).

b. It is very troubling to me when I see how quickly believers who believe for prosperity go to court and sue other believers, not reflecting the clear will of God found in 1 Corinthians 6:1. While in church on Sunday they tithe and claim a blessing, and on Monday they are in court suing another believer or operating their business with the worldly competitive cutthroat mentality so they can have more money to continue living a self-centered life that doesn’t represent God’s ways.

3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.”

a. This means that as believers we are to honor who and what His name represents and also to use His name in faith, believing His promises as His hierarchy to exercise dominion on the earth.

4. “Honor the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

a. Believing business owners should not require their workers to work seven days a week.

b. The Sabbath does not only mean one day in seven but the law extrapolates the Fourth Commandment to mean taking time off with families to worship God during religious feasts (Deuteronomy 16:1-17) and taking a sabbatical once every seven years, etc. (Leviticus 25:20-22; Exodus 23:12). Christian business owners are guilty of breaking the Fourth Commandment if they don’t give their employees adequate time off for vacation and worship.

c. The Sabbath is a sign between Him and us that ultimately He does the work. Taking time off to rest shows you have faith in him to prosper you.

5. “Honor your father and mother so that it will be well with you on the earth.”

This teaches us that state governments should respect families as one of the jurisdictions on the earth. Thus they should not impinge upon families by weakening the family unit with legalizing same-sex marriage, over-taxation, death taxes, and the like. Families are responsible for their children more than the state unless their children are unruly and are arrested. The more responsible and powerful the family unit, the less people in a nation are incarcerated and the less taxes are needed to support individuals from fragmented homes who don’t know how to take care of themselves. (For example, 85% of the five million men incarcerated in the USA have an absent father or come from a broken home! The curse of the land is fatherlessness!)

a. This has to do with respecting and building upon the foundation of your forefathers and parents.

b. In regards to economics and wealth, if children obey the Lord and honor their parents, then their parents will trust their wealth to their offspring.

c. This commandment is the basis of Proverbs 13:22 and flies in the face of the death/inheritance tax that liberals have instituted, because they want to transfer wealth (dominion) from the jurisdiction of the family to the state. After all, whoever has the wealth has dominion. (In biblical times wealth was based more on family property and job skills than the currency exchange based on money). God always equates dominion with owning land (e.g. Joshua 1:3; the point of the Israelite Exodus out of Egypt was to give Israel their own property and thus freedom to worship the Lord).

d. Children who didn’t honor their parents were disinherited and in cases of severe rebellion were put to death. (In biblical times, capital punishment was given for this because a child’s rebellion isolates and separates them from the generational blessing preceding them. Thus they start with nothing and are on their own; independence is the same as a death sentence in the eyes of a covenantal God. Read Deuteronomy 21:18-21.)

e. The story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 clearly shows that what motivated the backslidden son to repent and go home to his family was economics. His economic ability was connected to his father’s wealth. If this happened today, the prodigal son would have bypassed his family and went to the local welfare office for state aid.

f. In biblical times, wealth was not only in land but in the amount of children you had (read Psalm 127:3-5). There was no welfare system like we have today; families were responsible for taking care of their own family members in need. In the case of old age, a person’s children would carry on the family business and maintain the property, and the aged would live off this arrangement.

g. In modern times, because of the fracturing of the nuclear family, the state has now come to the rescue (after helping to destroy marriage with welfare entitlements) and the sense of wealth being equated with having children has been reversed. Now people say they can’t have children because they can’t afford it!

h. The present fractured family structure along with the secular messianic state caring for the poor and the aged (with social security) has contributed to the demise of the traditional family. Now many parents are in conspiracy to kill off their offspring (abortion) for convenience, thus cutting off potential financial supporters in the future. Because of the lack of generational planning and respect for traditional families, many don’t even care for their parents properly and have pawned off the care of the aged to state-funded nursing homes and entitlements.

i. Secular humanists like Margaret Sanger and Thomas Dewey have successfully changed the paradigm of the American people to a one-generational self-centered society dependent on a messianic state that is in competition with the God of the Bible.

6. “You shall not murder.”

a. The command not to kill really means not to murder (killing in a just war and in capital punishment was sanctioned by both the Old and New Testaments). Romans 13:4 shows capital punishment was carried over into the New Testament and was entrusted to civil magistrates.

b. Legalized abortion breaks this commandment and is the new genocide of African-Americans. This is so serious some say American blacks are threatened with extinction within 50-100 years in the United States.

c. Africa should learn from the United States and Western Europe and not cave in to pressure from the IMF, the World Bank, the United States, or the United Nations to have legalized abortion!

7. “You shall not commit adultery.”

Adultery is a category that includes all sexual relations outside traditional marriage between one man and one woman. Read Leviticus 18 for the extrapolation of this law. Rwanda should not cave in to the West in regards to legalizing same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage has resulted in Catholic Charities closing down in Massachusetts. Many individuals working for the civil government in New York State have been fired for not wanting to participate in same-sex marriage. Many individuals in the six states of the USA where same-sex marriage is legal are being sued if they refuse to do business with a same-sex marriage couple (like a photographer or someone who makes wedding dresses). Thus individual Christians and non-church institutions are not exempt even if the churches are!

Also, in the Nordic nations same-sex marriage has watered down marriage so much that most people choose not to marry anymore!

Same-sex marriage normalizes an abnormal arrangement in which two people come together in a union and raise children in a home without either a mother or a father!

a. A husband or wife who commits adultery divides a family, causes a divorce, and causes shipwreck with the inheritance and generational wealth potential they could pass down.

b. Adultery is not wrong because God doesn’t want us to enjoy pleasure; it is sin because it divides the loyalties between spouses and destroys the spiritual, emotional, and financial well-being of families for generations to come.

c. Much of the cycle of poverty can be traced to adultery, divorce, cohabitation without marriage, etc. Numerous studies have shown that children of one man and one woman committed to each other in marriage have the best chance for economic, emotional, and spiritual stability in their lives. (Read “Do Mothers and Fathers Matter?” at the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy’s website: http://www.marriagedebate.com/pdf/MothersFathersMatter.pdf)

8. “You shall not steal.”

This commandment is a slap in the face to Marxists who don’t believe in private property!

a. The present progressive tax structure is legalized theft. First Samuel 8:10-18 teaches that any civil government, religious or secular, that extracts 10% or more in taxes or tithes is in competition with God as to who will be the provider and king.

b. In regards to those who own private businesses: When owners pay people less than what has been agreed upon (cheating them) or less than their skill demands and what they are worth, and they (the business owner or company) has the money to do so, then they are breaking this commandment.

c. When we don’t celebrate with and affirm what people are worth in regards to our words and actions, we are also undervaluing them and stealing from them their dignity and diminishing their calling.

9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

a. Some say this means not to lie, but this really has to do with bringing false accusations against another in a court of law. Of course, those engaged in this kind of activity attempt to manipulate power and the system to receive benefits they don’t deserve, whether it is suing for money, land or property. Following this commandment is essential for the prosperity and harmony of a nation or people group. We can see today how many doctors are going out of business because of all the malpractice lawsuits; also, car and homeowners insurance is going through the roof in large part because of false claims. This litigious American culture is a sure sign that we as a nation have forsaken the Ten Commandments.

b. Essentially, nations should make a person who sues pay all the legal expenses of both parties if they lose their case. This would greatly limit the number of people who break this commandment!

10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.”

a. A prosperous nation or people must base their values on justice and equity.

b. This present liberal economic system is based on egalitarianism, not justice.

c. Egalitarianism is a system in which the state attempts to even the playing field by granting to people things they haven’t worked for with the following socialistic policies:

i. Affirmative action, in which a person is given entry into school or given a job because of the color of their skin, ethnicity, or gender instead of being qualified for it. Affirmative action is reverse racism because it has the potential to stop a person from being accepted into a university because someone else less qualified has a different skin color.

ii. The progressive tax structure that forcibly takes from those who make the most money in order to fund entitlement programs for the poor. In essence, a rich person is penalized for making more money than a poor person because they have to give more money percentage-wise to the state.

iii. The biblical model is a flat tax in which rich and poor both pay the same amount (either the 3% poll tax in the Old Testament or the 10% tithe).

iv. Although believers are commanded to voluntarily care for the poor, the Bible expressly commands us not to favor either the poor or the rich in regards to civil matters (Exodus 23:3, 6; Leviticus 19:15).

v. The underpinning for these egalitarian policies is covetous people who penalize success and reward failure. Even Jesus taught in Matthew 25:29 that God gives to those who have and takes away from those who have not. Instead of taking away from the rich, God often gives to those who are rich because they are usually the only ones who understand how to steward wealth. For example, a poor person that wins one million dollars in the lottery has a good chance of still being poor once the money runs out.

d. When covetousness is integrated into a society it creates class warfare, division, and poverty. When success is celebrated it creates more wealth and more jobs for those less skilled. The story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 shows that it takes a wealthy person to adequately serve the poor. (A poor person couldn’t have possibly afforded to lend a stranger an extra donkey, pay for a person to stay in an inn for a week, and pay for their medical

Contrasting a Kingdom Mindset with a Church Mindset

Contrasting a Kingdom Mindset with a Church Mindset – Joseph Mattera

Jesus, John the Baptist, and the apostles went about proclaiming the kingdom–not the church (read Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 10:7; Acts 28:30-31). Although the church is in the kingdom, it is not the entire kingdom.

“Kingdom” denotes the rule of God over the whole cosmos, not just a single entity on the earth, like the church. In spite of this, most preaching today has as its goal to get people to make a weekly two-hour commitment to come to a building on Sundays and to give tithes to support that building! This is because a spirit of religion has captivated the church and blinded the minds of church leaders, so that we now have a very limiting church mindset instead of a kingdom perspective. The negative results of this cannot be overstated.

In essence, a kingdom mindset regards Christianity as a biblical world and life view centered on the person of Jesus Christ who is Lord of all creation. This has vast political, economic, and sociological implications! Those with a church mindset view Jesus merely as the King of the church, not the King of all earthly secular kings.

The following are contrasts between these two mindsets:

1. A kingdom mindset releases all saints as ministers in the marketplace. A church mindset merely trains people to serve in a church building on Sundays.

2. A kingdom mindset creates wealth to transform a community and nation. A church mindset motivates giving to build our own church programs.

3. A kingdom mindset is a holistic approach that integrates the gospel with politics, economics, and public policy. A church mindset insulates the gospel from politics and public policy.

4. A kingdom mindset views the Bible as a blueprint to structure every aspect of society. A church mindset views the Bible merely as a pietistic book that enables us to escape the world, enter heaven, and be spiritual.

5. With a kingdom mindset churches embrace and love their surrounding unchurched communities. With a church mindset churches only embrace converted individuals within their faith communities.

6. A kingdom mindset trains people for all of life. A church mindset trains people only for church life.

7. A kingdom mindset nurtures leaders who are world changers and “cultural creatives” who articulate truth to society. A church mindset nurtures leaders who speak religious language relevant only to church people.

8. A kingdom mindset speaks of the rule of God over the entire created order. A church mindset speaks of the rule of God through deacons and elders over those in a church congregation.

9. With a kingdom mindset pastors release their people to their vocational callings in the marketplace. A church mindset controls people by marginalizing their marketplace callings and emphasizing only their Sunday ministries.

10. A kingdom mindset applies a Spirit-empowered approach to the natural world. A church mindset involves a spirituality that separates from the natural world.

11. Those with a kingdom mindset are working toward a renaissance of Christendom. Those with a church mindset merely strive for a particular expression (denomination) of Christianity.

12. Churches with a kingdom mindset equip 100% of the saints to fill up all things in every realm of life (Ephesians 4:10-12). Those with a church mindset have as their primary goal to equip the 2-3% of the congregation called to be full-time church pastors, ministers, and missionaries

Why I Preach The Kingdom

Why I Preach The Kingdom – by Joseph Mattera

As a follow-up to what I wrote last week, “Contrasting a Kingdom Mindset with a Church Mindset,” this week I would like to continue to focus on the importance of the kingdom.

By “kingdom” I mean the rule of God over all creation. This includes understanding that the church is not the entire kingdom, but is only in the kingdom as its primary agent of proclamation and application.

My eyes were opened in 1995 when I went from a dispensational belief system to the kingdom message. As a result, the positive results in my life, message, and ministry cannot be overstated! Believing the Cultural Mandate in Genesis 1:28 has caused me and my wife to understand how to think generationally and practically, resulting in us having two more children, training our children to be world changers (for example, my son Jason is now the editor of Human Events and has already written a New York Times bestseller), reshaping the way we view youth and children’s ministry, and moving the people in our church from a poverty mindset to a mindset of biblical prosperity.

I will attempt to summarize all of my reasons for preaching the kingdom, both for my own benefit and the benefit of those who read my writings.

1. The kingdom message connects the whole Bible and all its covenants to the original Cultural Mandate found in Genesis 1:28 (be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over the created order). Without this passage as our starting point, we cannot properly interpret all other subsequent biblical covenants, including the New Covenant, since the Cultural Mandate is the original covenant of creation which shows all of humanity our purpose.

2. The kingdom message connects Jesus in His dual role as both Creator and Redeemer (John 1:3, 11, 14; 3:16). Those who preach that the cross is only for individual redemption miss the truth that the cross of Christ was also for the purpose of reconciling all things in the created order back to God (read Colossians 1:20).

3. The kingdom message brings the church back to the overarching narrative (instead of only focusing on various subplots of scripture) which reveals the ultimate purpose of God for the cross and the church: the gathering together in one all things under the Lordship of Christ (read Ephesians 1:9-11).

4. The kingdom message is a generational message connecting the dots between the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) and the seed of Abraham who would become the church (Galatians 3:29) who, as children of God, are called to bless all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3), rule as kings in the earth (Genesis 17:5-7), and possess the gates of our enemies (Genesis 22:17). By implication, this means the gospel message is holistic and applicable for our children’s children to engage in politics, public policy, economics, and all the practical affairs of this life that are under kingdom influence and blessing.

5. The kingdom message alone gives Jesus His proper place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords because every king must have a kingdom to qualify as a king! To separate the gospel from the kingdom is an attempt to give good news that only applies to the next life. Hence, it does away with the power of the messianic prophecies that speak of Jesus’ call as ruler over the nations (read Genesis 49:10; Psalm 2:9-11; Psalm 110:1-3; Isaiah 9:6.7; Daniel chapters 2, 4, 7).

6. Preaching the kingdom motivates and releases all the saints in the church to serve as ministers of the Lord in His kingdom. (Only 2-3% of all Christians are called to serve in full-time church ministry.) Every kingdom has need for architects, lawyers, judges, educators, sociologists, politicians, economists, social workers, writers, etc. Understanding this is exciting for every person in church because of their various callings to serve God in the marketplace.

7. Preaching the kingdom releases Holy Spirit inspired creativity! The first move of the Holy Spirit was not on the Day of Pentecost but when the Spirit hovered over the newly made creation of planet earth (Genesis 1:1-3)! Hence, the Holy Spirit is still excited and hovers over the creativity found in God’s image-bearers as we walk out our vocations in the marketplace!

The greatest composers, musicians, athletes, writers, poets, playwrights, and filmmakers should come out of our churches! The greatest universities (such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton, founded when the church preached the kingdom in the 17th and 18th centuries) should be founded by Christians! Hospitals and the greatest charities should be founded by Christians and churches! Future mayors, governors and presidents should come out of the Body of Christ because we are called to possess the gates of our enemies and have kingship and rulership in our spiritual DNA (read Genesis 17:5-7)!

8. The kingdom is what Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul preached and is the primary theme of the New Testament (read Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Mark 1:15; Acts 28:31).

9. The kingdom message causes the church to be holistic in its approach to ministry because, even by its very name, it pressures us to think of how we as believers can collectively steward the created order and manage the earth.

10. The kingdom message, if received and preached again by the majority of true believers, would most definitely result in us redeeming cultures, transforming cities, and bringing biblical reformation to whole nations. Thos would spare nations from either judgment or extinction for not following the pattern laid out in the Ten Commandments for structuring nations.

Hence, the only hope for the United States is the preaching and application of the kingdom message! As in other words, Haiti doesn’t need another healing crusade. What Haiti needs is an apostle of government to become president who will bring kingdom order and root out corruption!

11. The kingdom message announces Jesus’ inheritance as found in Psalm 2:9-11.

Where does it say in the Bible that Jesus would have died on the cross if there was only one person on the earth and/or one sinner to redeem? I hear preachers say this all the time! Show me chapter and verse for this!

Jesus died to redeem whole nations and people groups. This goes along with our inheritance as saints as found in Ephesians 1:10-11 and is part of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19, when Jesus commanded believers to disciple all of the nations, not just individual people but whole people groups!

The discipling of nations was very common in early church history. For example, when the heads of Gothic Germanic tribes would convert then all of their people converted as well. Whole nations would be baptized!

12. The kingdom message pressures pastors to become theologians who have a biblical worldview instead of only preaching the same feel-good, therapeutic messages Sunday after Sunday.

13. The kingdom message brings back to the fore true discipleship as it pressures every believer to study the scriptures pertaining to their particular marketplace calling as they learn to think biblically but speak secularly.

14. The kingdom message makes sense to everyone, especially world changers who come into our churches and feel bored when they are told that the highest calling they can have in life is to serve as an usher or minister for two hours every Sunday.

Because we have preached a truncated gospel we have lost the greatest world changers–politicians and statesmen with callings like Churchill and entrepreneurs like Bill Gates–because they come into our churches and only hear messages dealing with life after death. Thus, they leave and go into the world where their gifts are truly appreciated!

The current church mindset only appreciates and ordains Sunday preachers instead of nurturing and commissioning people called into secular culture as ministers and prophets. It is a sad thing but, given the kind of preaching we hear every Sunday, many churches currently have no place for believers called like Joseph (the prophet economist who saved Egypt and Israel in Genesis 37-50), Daniel (who, as a prime minister prophet brought transformation to Babylon and Persia), or Nehemiah (a politician who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem)!

15. The kingdom message allows parents to recognize the marketplace callings upon their children and to disciple them in the scriptures accordingly! Not all of our children are called to be full-time church ministers but all of our children are called to serve as ministers in the kingdom!

16. Those who preach the kingdom message view the entire Old Testament as relevant today to apply both the moral law (Ten Commandments) as the foundation of judicial law, and its extrapolated 613 civic laws that apply the moral law to specific judicial situations for the purpose of structuring society. Thus, the kingdom message causes believers to take seriously the Old Covenant and study it as much as the New Covenant. (The Old Covenant civic laws have been modified, especially laws regarding sexual sin and capital punishment, because of the revelation of grace in the New Testament.)

17. The kingdom message causes us to reinterpret many salvation passages from an individualistic application to a systemic and corporate application. For example, Luke 4:18 connects Jesus as King announcing that in His new kingdom He will release the oppressed, empower the poor, and release the captive. This concerns systemic justice, not just casting a devil out of an individual. Compare this to Isaiah 61:1-4 to get the true meaning and context. Communities and cities are redeemed and lifted by the kingdom message.

In Conclusion: Ten Implications of the Kingdom Message

1. We understand that being born again is not about going to heaven but having our eyes opened so that we finally see the Lordship of Christ over all the earth as King of Kings (read John 3:3-6).

2. We understand John 3:16 as not just God loving individual sinners but sending His Son to redeem the created order. (The word “world” in the Greek is “cosmos” which is the systems of the created order.) Thus, God wants us as His kingdom people to apply the Bible to economics and public policy, not just to prayer and the fruit of the Spirit.

3. The ministry gifts found in Ephesians 4:11 are seen as equipping the saints for the work of the ministry in the marketplace to fill up all things, not just for church ministry (read Ephesians 4:10-12 for the context).

4. We shift from a platonic/dualistic approach to life, in which we erroneously believe that God only values spiritual things, to a holistic approach in which we value the material world as well. (John 1:14: The Word became flesh, thus flesh is not evil.)

5. There is a movement toward incarnation in which we not only “march for Jesus” but we “move in” for Jesus and immerse ourselves in our communities, not just our churches. We should serve our cities with our marketplace callings as ministers of the kingdom, not just serve God on Sundays in church buildings.

6. The church is to nurture apostles of government, law, economics, and education, not just ecclesial elders involved in church government, church by-laws, tithes and offerings, and nurturing Sunday school teachers.

7. We understand and view Jesus as the King of the earth, not just as the Head of the Body of Christ.

8. We understand that the church is not the totality of the kingdom but is the primary agent of the kingdom as salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16).

9. We are to labor not only for revival but societal reformation because revival brings people into the church and reformation places believers in societal leadership.

10. We now understand that the Bible is not really a book about heaven (it says very little about heaven!) but a book about God’s people stewarding the earth.

Both the Old and New Covenants serve as blueprints for local faith communities to branch out and structure societies with a biblical worldview as salt and light.

Although we believe in the separation of church and state because they are two separate spheres of authority in the created order, we do not believe in the separation of God and state because all of life is about religious and moral choices.

There is no such thing as moral neutrality. Either society will be under the rule of an atheistic, humanistic religious order or under a biblical religious order.

For much more information on this subject read my book dealing with the Cultural Mandate entitled Ruling in the Gates (Creation House; 2003).

Contrasting Kingdom Leaders and Church Leaders

Contrasting Kingdom Leaders and Church Leaders by Joseph Mattera

by RICH CAREY on DECEMBER 1, 2010

There is presently a revolution taking place among those on the leading edge of change in the Evangelical Church. The result is a transition from a church mindset to a kingdom mindset in which the walls of church buildings are no longer able to contain the raw creative energy of Christ-followers who are committed to preaching and applying the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the world, including its systems and structures.

As political solutions and big government attempts to heal our land fail miserably, more people will look to faith-based partnerships and churches to find solutions. Hence the irrelevancy of old church patterns and traditions will become more noticeable in the decades to come.

Consequently, it behooves us to continue to study the contrasts between leading-edge kingdom practices and old, irrelevant religious church patterns that have failed to effectively evangelize and transform communities with the gospel.

The following is a contrast between leaders with a kingdom mindset and those with a church mindset.

I. Kingdom leaders interpret Matthew 28:19-20 as referring to discipling all nations. Church leaders believe it only refers to all individual ethnic peoples.

The Body of Christ is now re-thinking the Great Commission scriptures of Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:19-20. Instead of viewing them as commands to merely evangelize individual souls, now many are viewing the command in Mark 16 to ‘go into all the world and preach’ as a command to apply the gospel to both individual sinners and world systems. Matthew 28:19-20 is now regarded as the New Testament equivalent to the Cultural Mandate found in Genesis 1:28.

II. Kingdom leaders attempt to nurture and release world-class leaders who serve their communities. Church leaders nurture only those who serve in Sunday ministry.

Kingdom leaders understand that only 2% to 3% of those in their congregations are called to full-time church ministry. These leaders believe they are called to equip the saints for the work of the ministry which, in the kingdom, includes marketplace vocational ministry, not only ecclesial ministry. With this view, there is room for everyone in the congregation to be set apart and trained as a minister of the gospel.

III. Kingdom leaders understand and work with God’s common grace. Church leaders only understand and work with those who have experienced saving grace.

Kingdom leaders understand that God’s grace has been poured out to all of humanity so the world can function normally. Romans 13:1-7 calls civic leaders God’s ministers (diakanos or deacons). If God calls unredeemed leaders His ministers then kingdom leaders know they can also partner with political and community leaders, even if they are not in full agreement when it comes to faith and core values.

Church leaders only work with those that are in full agreement with their core religious values, thus insulating themselves from the world around them.

IV. Kingdom leaders have a biblical worldview that encompasses all of life. Church leaders have a semi-Gnostic Greek view of Scripture that regards only spiritual things as important.

Kingdom leaders know that the earth is the Lord’s and not the devil’s (Psalm 24)! They know that the Word became flesh. Thus, the material world is also sacred and something to be cultivated (Genesis 2:15).

Church leaders are only concerned with spiritual things like prayer, healing, the gifts and fruit of the Spirit, etc. These spiritual things are only really effective if they are applied to our walk with God and its concomitant love of neighbor as salt and light.

V. Kingdom leaders are working towards a new Christendom. Church leaders are only trying to produce individual Christians.

Kingdom leaders desire to interweave the principles of God’s Word into every fabric of culture so every nation and city favors Christianity and bases civic laws on biblical precepts.

Church leaders are not overly concerned with politics and economics but with adding new converts who, without a biblical worldview, will only perpetuate humanistic ungodly systems with their partial “spiritual” gospel.

VI. Kingdom leaders teach the church to embrace their secular communities before they experience conversion. Church leaders embrace people into their faith communities only after they experience salvation.

Kingdom leaders regard their cities and communities as gifts to the church and to the people who live in them. They embrace their communities in humility and send their members into their communities as servant leaders who will be the greatest problem solvers of the most challenging human needs.

Church leaders only embrace individuals in their communities after they have professed faith in Christ. Thus, they insulate and isolate themselves and their churches from the felt needs of their communities, yet are joyful as long as their churches are growing and their bills are paid.

VII. Kingdom leaders turn the world upside down (Acts 17:1-7). Church leaders restructure their local churches.

In Acts 17 it was said, when the apostles came into a community, that ‘those who turned the world upside down have come here also.’

Nowadays the typical church mindset is only concerned with what happens within the four walls of the church building. There are many churches that, if they closed down, the local community boards, police stations, and political leaders would barely notice they were gone!

VIII. Kingdom leaders articulate Christ as Lord over every culture. Church leaders preach Christ as only the head of the church.

Kingdom leaders recognize Jesus’ place as King of every secular king. This has vast cultural and political implications, and pressures the church to engage the secular arena.

Those with a church mindset only preach Christ as the head of the church and neglect Jesus’ function as King over the unredeemed world!

IX. Kingdom leaders shepherd whole communities. Church leaders shepherd only their church congregations.

Kingdom leaders understand they are called to communities, not only to local churches. Hence, they see themselves as chaplains and spiritual leaders of regions.

Church leaders feel no responsibility to their communities because they feel committed only to those who attend their Sunday services.

X. Kingdom leaders attempt to exorcise demons out of ungodly social systems. Church leaders only cast devils out of individual people.

Kingdom leaders understand that Jesus came to redeem systemic sin, not just individual sin (read Colossians 1:20).

Church leaders only feel called to deal with individual evil. Thus, they interpret passages such as Luke 4:18 as dealing with the individual poor and oppressed, neglecting the systemic reference from which it came. (Read Isaiah 61:1-4 to see that Luke 4:18 concerns redeeming and restoring desolate cities, not just individuals in need.)

XI. Kingdom leaders pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Church leaders pray for revival in their churches.

The Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11) teaches us to pray that God’s will would be done and His kingdom would come on earth. Thus, kingdom leaders have as their prayer focus the kingdom being manifest on the earth.

Leaders with a church mindset are content with only the signs of the kingdom (healing and deliverance of individuals as found in Matthew 12:28 and Hebrews 2:1-3) instead of striving for a manifestation of the kingdom in their cities that impacts the quality of life politically and economically (Isaiah 61:3-4).

XII. Kingdom leaders believe for the gospel to economically lift whole communities. Church leaders believe for greater tithes and offerings to support their building projects and programs.

XIII. Kingdom leaders gravitate toward the complexities and challenges of cities. Church leaders gravitate toward lives of isolation and inward focus.

Before the Civil War, when the American church preached the kingdom message, the church was able to draft the founding documents of this great nation, and start schools and Ivy League universities, all for the purpose of placing godly leaders in society as the future presidents, governors, mayors, scientists, artists, writers, etc. The church took the lead in cultural reform.

But after the horrible experiences of the Civil War the church lost hope in the kingdom being manifest on the earth and started to focus on the imminent return of Christ and the rapture. This resulted in American culture being lost to secularists in one generation!

This turning away from the kingdom message led to church leaders isolating themselves from the looming threats of biblical higher criticism, Marxism, Darwinism, the infiltration of non-WASP immigrants, Sigmund Freud and psychology, and the Industrial Revolution. These brought many pressures upon the nuclear family as men had to go into the cities to find work. Instead of engaging the culture and these challenges head-on, the American church started looking for escape and changed its theology! The present move of God is finally bringing the church back onto the biblical footing of the kingdom message.

XIV. Kingdom leaders equip people for life. Church leaders equip people for church life.

Kingdom leaders inspire and equip the saints to serve in their cities as salt and light, to be like Daniel and Joseph who prospered and held significant leadership roles in the midst of pagan systems and kings.

Church leaders train people to be good altar workers, ushers, Sunday school teachers, Sunday preachers, etc.

XV. Kingdom leaders honor Jesus’ dual role as Redeemer and Creator. Church leaders separate redemption from creation.

Kingdom leaders realize that the Jesus who died on the cross (John 3:16) for the sins of the world (John 1:29) is the same Jesus who created the world (John 1:3-4).

When we apply the Word of God to culture we are embracing Jesus’ ownership of the whole world. But when we preach the cross of Christ only for individual sinners and do not also apply it to the created order we separate the Redeemer from the Creator!

XVI. Kingdom leaders are forward thinkers. Church leaders long for the past.

Kingdom leaders are excited about the future advance of Christendom in every facet of life and for every nation. They are excited over the increasing influence of Christ in culture. They train believers to replenish the earth by placing godly leaders in the realms of science, art, media, education, economics and politics. The sky is the limit for them!

Those with a church mindset long for the past, when life was much simpler and everyone in a community embraced the role of Christianity in culture. They do not like the vast complexities that social fragmentation has presented because it distracts from, and interferes with, their nice and neat Sunday church attendance parish structures.

XVII. Kingdom leaders apply their faith to the earth. Church leaders are focused on escaping the earth and making it to heaven.

The Bible is essentially not a book about heaven. It is not concerned with another geographic location whether spiritual or physical. It is mainly concerned with the person of Christ and His rule and dominion in the cosmos (read Ephesians 1:9-11)! Because of this, the Bible is the most practical book about life on the earth that has ever been written! Kingdom leaders understand and embrace this reality.

Church leaders emphasize heaven since they have no real sense of purpose to give to the majority of their congregants who are not called into full-time church ministry.

XVIII. Kingdom leaders envision the building of universities with theology serving as the “queen of the sciences.” Church leaders envision the establishment of church-centered Bible institutes that avoid liberal arts and the humanities.

XIX. Kingdom leaders are entrepreneurs. Church leaders are stuck in maintenance mode, merely holding their ground until Jesus comes back or they make it to heaven!

XX. Kingdom leaders pray for revival to bring people into the church and reformation to place believers as leaders in world systems. Church leaders merely pray and believe for higher attendance on Sundays.

XXI. Kingdom leaders work for cultural transformation. Church leaders focus on waiting for the rapture.

Jesus told the church to occupy until He comes. Kingdom leaders are busy strategizing how they are going to start schools of government to train political candidates, start businesses to create wealth to expand the kingdom, and develop educational programs to break cycles of poverty for at-risk children.

Those with a church mindset do not get involved in quality of life issues because their theology doesn’t allow for it! They think it is like arranging the chairs on the Titanic because the world will soon end when the antichrist takes over!

XXII. Kingdom leaders train their children to walk in biblical dominion in society. Church leaders’ highest hope is that their children don’t fall away from the faith!

Kingdom leaders have dominion as the primary goal for their children. They don’t teach their children to get secure jobs in big companies; they teach them to become the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies! They don’t teach them how to fish but how to own a lake! They echo the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 28:10-13 that teaches believers are called to be the head and not the tail, to be above and not beneath, to lend to many nations and not to borrow!

Church leaders take a defensive posture with their children by merely praying that they would not fall away from the faith. Even many who teach apologetics and biblical worldview are stuck in the church mindset because they are only teaching their children how to defend the faith instead of also how to advance the kingdom!

XXIII. Kingdom leaders empower the poor to own the pond. Church leaders give the poor some fish.

Kingdom leaders understand how to break poverty mindsets over people by equipping them to create their own wealth. Church leaders have an entitlement approach in which they merely feed the poor instead of equipping them to start their own businesses or work in high-level positions that will enable them to be prosperous for the sake of the kingdom!