From Pew to Purpose

From Pew to Purpose
When the Saints come Marching - We live in a church culture believing we should equip the saints but we don't quite know how to graduate them into the marketplace to change the world. Last week we made A Case For Mentors. Let's take that theme one more step into the sequence we all go through. First it's permission to pursue your dream, then it's finding your purpose (mountain, vocation, ministry and model), and lastly it's hooking up with a mentor to convert all of these pie-in-the-sky dreams into a prosperous vocation and ministry.
1. Permission from God - Your dream begins when you give yourself permission to dream. I have to embrace the theological position that God has written His will into the desires of my heart. Not there? Many believe our hearts are evil and get trapped in religion, "I'm obeying the will of God for my life and I'm living above my carnal desires." That attitude is good for new believers, but over a life time, it will eventually ship wreck - I've tried it and so have you.
One of the early signs that God is unveiling your heart's desire is that you see someone else "modeling" your dream… you’ll be drawn to emulate that person. When you see someone with a calling, gifting, and anointing similar to your own, you naturally will gravitate toward them. You’ll experience a healthy envy that draws you into their anointing. They are examples the Lord is showing you to pull you into your own destiny. Let your envy work its way into mentoring. We are drawn into their anointing by the Holy Spirit. Godly mentors don't focus on accountability; they focus on making you a success and letting you hold yourself accountable to something that works.
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Cor 11:1
…for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 1 Cor 4:15-16
Join with others in following my example, brothers Phil 3:17
You became imitators of us and of the Lord 1 Thess 1:6
We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. 2 Thess 3:9
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. Heb 6:12
The Kingdom is being built by people who are having fun, prospering in every way, and sharing from a cup that runs over in abundance. If you're struggling in this area my first suggestion is to read Releasing Kings. It was designed to provide a very Biblical basis for this move in our hearts.
2. Coaching to Find Your Life's Purpose - It is helpful and encouraging to sit down with someone good at reading people, who will ask the right questions and help you explore what's in your heart. There are many professional coaches who can help you find your marketplace ministry. I'm borrowing a four step coaching sequence from Michelle Bizek as an example. Since we're mentioning Michelle we should also point out that women are particularly being called out by the Holy Spirit to pursue their hearts and often it's women coaches who are setting them free.
Explore where you are, what beliefs and choices got you here, where you want to go and what you want to change,
Discover your dreams, values, strengths, challenges and possibilities,
Align your discoveries to design goals and actions that satisfy and fulfill,
Integrate your actions to create new results and move you toward your goals.
A coach can get us started setting goals, writing a plan, making a schedule... getting off our south side. We wrote Desire to Destiny to address this same process. Read it - you'll be blessed.
Two Suggestions - 1) I'd like to see coaching happen in the church as a pastoral function. Why not set a goal that part of our discipleship process is helping every member of the body find their mountain. It's not that hard and its not very far from the counseling that already goes on in most churches... except it is proactive instead of reactive.
2) Our missions trips should include this same process. We're not about just getting people saved so they can sit in the pews. We need to think of follow-up in terms of helping / coaching new believers to connect with their marketplace calling.
3. Mentoring - It's important to distinguish between coaching and mentoring. Coaches make their money from the people they help and have a pastoral ingredient. Mentors make their money from their field of expertise and help people out of an apostolic fathering ingredient. They don't need your money! Although they love to share their insights and help people become successful, they can't afford to waste time on people that aren't serious.
Mentors can show you how to do things. Even better, they can show you what not to do because they have already made all the mistakes. Mentors have a life time of connections that allow them to get things done quickly and efficiently. They can shave years off our dream realization.
Who's your mentor? For starters, get acquainted with those same people you would like to emulate and ask if they would help you. Couch that question in terms of how you could help them. Use your phone and make a divine appointment! We're not just asking for information or training, we're asking for a relationship with a "father." Your commitment to succeed is measured by your willingness to find a mentor(s).
PS: many who read this newsletter are being called to be a "father" and provide this mentoring aspect of discipleship for others. We've used a web page called interviewing Kings to highlight a few examples of those folks. There are millions more... rise up and find your sons! Pull some one else up to your level.
 
We're Dancing
 
John and Sue     www.Releasing-kings.com