Marketplace Fathers

Marketplace Fathers

What’s fathering? – When we start our discipleship process in church we learn to serve and we get our spiritual mentoring from the pastoral covering in our church. It’s a healthy process that works. At some point our maturity takes us from servant to friend (Jn 15:15) and we develop Kingly aspects in our ministry. We give ourselves permission to pursue the desire of our hearts and we begin to take land; usually in another mountain.

It’s at this point that fathering takes on a different look. As servants in church we only looked for spiritual mentors. As Kings the wall is broken between spiritual and natural and we value our vocational pursuits and find ministry in them. Doctors “minister” to their patients; Teachers “minister” to their students; businessmen “minister” to their customers. Marketplace ministry crosses back and forth between natural and spiritual ministry so often that the lines get blurred and one leads to the other routinely. Doctors can prescribe medicine and heal the sick through prayer all in the same day – get it?

Back to Fathering… Learning how to be proficient and prosperous in your vocation is greatly enhanced by a mentor. A spiritual brother or sister who has flourished in his field can show you how to succeed in the same area in terms of financial prosperity and ministry opportunities. Listen to “fathering” in the Bible.

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." Mal 4:5-6 NIV

And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luke 1:17 NIV

Seasons – I believe we are in a season where the Lord is highlighting fathers and mentors. We are learning to network; there is a hunger in Kings to receive the wisdom of fathers. Fathers are hungry to find their sons and help them succeed. It’s just something the Lord is placing on hearts right now.

We are at a point in history where the need for fathering has never been greater. For decades our society has been ravaged by the affects of war – not just physical war where we lose men, but spiritual war that has come against the family and men, specifically. Divorce has torn homes apart and left millions of children without a consistent, positive father figure. The “sins” of our society have caused men to sell their souls for a bowl of pottage or stripped them of their manhood. All of this and more has left a generation crying ‘where are our fathers’. God is answering this call by raising up men and women with a passion for the next generation of Kings. They are not motivated by profit but by a true father’s heart that is committed to his children and by their dreams and the desire to see others achieve theirs for the benefit of the whole world.

What does your Father look like? He or she has the vocational wisdom to propel you into your future. They have done it before (experience) and they have been prosperous. They are spiritually mature, but they don’t wear their spirituality on their sleeve. In fact, I don’t need them to teach me what I already learned as a saint equipped in church; I need them to teach me how to apply those truths and relationships in the marketplace.

Note: Just so you know this isn’t just theory, my mentors at the moment are Dan Gaub, Nathan Gaub and Greg Dalessandri… all great brothers with a huge vision who know how to prosper in my area of interest. They are teaching / fathering me to be successful in a very specialized area of day trading. I know that’s not generally applicable to others, and this is not a recommendation, but it’s a big deal for me.

These Fathers are excited about God, but they are also excited about their mountain and the sphere they’ve been called to minister in. Fathers of Kings know how to work hard, find success, multiply money, convert money to ministry, and have fun doing it. People are drawn to them because they are not “religious” in the sense of forcing themselves to do things they don’t enjoy. They are pulled ahead by the natural desires of their hearts and they enjoy life at that foundational level. They don’t have separate boxes for spiritual and vocational and ministry.

Andrew - I met Andrew Ferguson at a Brian Klemmer conference (recommended by one of my mentors). Of course our mutual friend was the mentor. As we got acquainted, I realized Andrew was a father to Kings in the business mountain. He’s currently CEO of Mobile Spike, but he’s had experience starting and running other companies and he’s the perfect guy to review a business plan and improve it. I believe he’s one of many that the Lord is raising up to help the next generation of Kings building the Kingdom of God. Andrew’s vision is to help entrepreneurial people find success and connect with their Kingdom purpose.

In the future he will gradually move from CEO of one business to mentoring multiple businesses (fathering) with four simple goals:

* Help business startups to become profitable by assessing the business plan, cash flow and strategic relationships
* Find the Kingdom purpose in the marketplace ministry of the business
* Connect people with angel investors who can take them to the next level quickly, and
* Assist investors in finding well-managed and profitable opportunities with a ministry ingredient

You’ll enjoy his interview.

How to Find Your Father – The first step toward being Kingly is finding your heart’s desire and deciding what you want to do. A father or mentor will appear when you have that direction and decide you want one. God himself will assist on that front with divine appointments.

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John and Sue www.Releasing-kings.com