A Case For Mentors

A Case For Mentors
Releasing Kings - Lest Week's newsletter, Church or Kingdom, was the kick off for this theme. The church isn’t mentoring people into their mountains. Five-fold ministers generally lack the expertise for mentoring people in non-church mountains and are specifically not able to teach others how to multiply finances. The Kingdom goal is to help people find a ministry vocation they enjoy (in the marketplace mountain of their choice) coupled with a prosperity ingredient that takes them well beyond a 40 hr/week job so they are really free to engage in the ministry and missions side of their work. We’re searching for a solution to fully equip the saints to the point of releasing Kings locally and to change the “salvation, church-planting only” approach to missions. The result is that missions should be thought of as at least self-supporting and perhaps profitable.
Mentoring - We have a vision brochure that provides a roadmap for releasing Kings based on Desire to Destiny. I want to suggest that in this present hour, personal mentoring is the missing ingredient that helps turn saints into Kings.
From Informational to Relational - Western Christianity is information based. We think if we have a sermon, coach, book, or conference we can run with an idea and bring it into reality. Prophetic people are particularly susceptible because the Holy Spirit is prompting them along the same lines as the "information" they are getting. So... they start a business, make an investment, or get a new job and fail. Why? They had the right idea and the push of the Holy Spirit!
"Information" and "revelation" are only the start of the process. Pastors, teachers, coaches, etc., can teach us what is possible, but mentors show us how. Our relational models to move from knowledge to practice, at present, are surprisingly “non-relational.” We’re prone to assume we can figure it out in one class or one seminar when the price tag is a life-time of being fathered to the next level and fathering others ourselves. Practically, the real secret to escaping poverty and becoming a King, is an enduring relationship with a "father" that is already moving in our vision.
Fathers vs Teachers - Let's clarify some terms and the sequence of events. First we articulate our heart's desire and set our goals on something we want to do and someone we would like to emulate (pick a mountain, a vocation, a ministry, and a model). The second step is finding someone who has the right experience to look over our shoulder and help us on an ongoing basis.
Note - Coaching is very popular right now. However, most coaches have experience in coaching and nothing more. They are generalists that lack the specific expertise you need. They can teach you how to coach and load you up with expensive materials that sit on the shelf. But, they may be missing real marketplace experience in your field. You want a mentor that is already successful at your chosen vocation / ministry in the marketplace.
The purpose of a mentor or father is to make you successful by showing you "how" and helping you see new opportunities. We don't need a contract or a covenant and they have no motive to rule over us or "lord it over us." The right mentoring relationship gets you through blind spots, poverty, and areas of self-sabotage that you can't see - otherwise the information would have been good enough. Get it? We learn by doing, not listening. It's called practice. We do need to be good listeners. Hearing information is just never enough. Teachers have knowledge, mentors have wisdom and understanding.
Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers... 1 Cor 4:15 NIV

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Tim 4:3 NIV
The relationship can be a single father or mentor, a network of like-minded and experienced peers, or a home group of kings with experience in your area of interest. It's quite often a combination of all three; a father, a network of peers, and fellowship with your support system. Corporate CEO's usually have a "board" for exactly those reasons. So should we.
The price tag - Christians are usually familiar with the concept of apostolic fathering and carry a belief that it should be free. Many marketplace fathers are very generous with their time and interest in other people. However, it's seldom free. Business mentors don't want to waste their time with people that aren't serious. So you should expect to find a way to reimburse your mentor. This is a relationship that has spiritual and financial value. If you find the right mentor the cost will be a bargain relative to the financial gain you receive.
Here's a hint. If your mentor makes his money mentoring, he's a professional coach. You're looking for a mentor that makes his wealth in his business using his expertise. Coaches talk a lot (preach), speak in generalities, and make things sound mysterious. Business mentors can really do things. They can explain a path forward in simple terms and show you how to do it because they are doing it themselves. They can help you find a network of connections, help you through financial decisions, help you find start-up capital, and help make sure your business plan and cash flow are viable so you won't shipwreck. They can see problems coming, not just diagnose a disaster after the fact.
Missions - What if we had enough mentors to cover missions? The gospel isn't just salvation and church planting. Our message is abundant life and changing nations. What if the product of our missions work was self-sustaining believers functioning in the marketplace and contributing to their local society? Prosperous converts, rich in every way and generous on every ocassion! What if we taught them how to multiply finances? What if we learned how ourselves?... from a mentor. Now, go find one.
But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. Deut 8:18 NIV

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Cor 9:8 NIV

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion... 2 Cor 9:10-11 NIV

PS: I decided I wanted to switch from engineering to day trading 18 months ago. I'm not recommending that decision for everyone, "but" I found two mentors that embody the qualities of this newsletter. Greg and Dan... spirit filled, a vision to help people, and totally prosperous from their own trading endeavors. They are examples, not just theoreticians. Thanks! May the Lord unveil a million more just like them.

We're Dancing

John and Sue www.Releasing-kings.com