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Monthly Message: SEPTEMBER 2008
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NOTE: Church Leaders Are Not
Automatically Spiritual Fathers, but Lead Offices are Extension of God Who is the
Father of His House. |
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efore David attempted to take on Goliath he
knew the importance of submitting himself to Kingdom authority. King Saul gave the consent for David to go fight, but
since he could not see past David as the "sheep herder" or the "harp
player", Saul tried to put his own armor on David. |
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Walking a short distance in the cumbersome
clanking armor, David finally took OFF
Saul's suit of tin, because while David needed the authority vested in the King's approval, he didn't need
to pursue his assignment in another man's armor. He didn't allow a
COVERING to become a SMOTHERING. Five
stones and a slingshot in the Name of the Lord is more
powerful than a full suit of armor fitted to another man's purpose. As Kingdom leaders, our goal is not to develop permanent
dependant followers that "look like us" but we MUST
raise up champions that are developed into GOD'S IMAGE who know their
PURPOSE, VISION, and DESTINY.
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NOTE: David
came IN THE NAME OF THE LORD
(relationaliy) but also came in
submission to the OFFICE of
KINGDOM AUTHORITY
(positionally).
Young champions need 2
basic dimensions of development to become solid leaders...
1. RELATIONAL:
fathering or mentoring as protégés and
2. POSITIONAL: offices for discipleship,
training, and release of ministry.
Let's look
briefly at these principles...
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1.
RELATIONAL:
The
Kingdom Principle of Spiritual Fathers..
The Apostle Paul said (in 1Corinthians 4:15), "For though you
have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers:
for in Christ Jesus I have begotten (birthed) you through the gospel".
The Apostle Paul was saying, you can have many
teachers telling you HOW & WHAT to do, but not many
"fathers" shaping the WHY and
WHO we are.
The word, "father" in this
regard is defined as a founder, beginning, a seed, cultivator, and senior
elder. Abraham was called the "father" of many nations (but of course he did
not physically father everybody), and George Washington is called the "father"
of a nation because of "founding" or "birthing" new culture and government. There are those we call "fathers" of movements, and even refer
to some as the "spiritual father" of a church because they founded it or have
come to elder status of honor, but ultimately we must remember that it is GOD'S HOUSE and
HE is THE FATHER of HIS HOUSE and spiritual fathers are
surrogates of Him. |
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Note: Being a "spiritual father" is not a POSITIONAL OFFICE, but a
RELATIONAL representation of God's
Character, Heart and Mind into sons until the Father God's image is BIRTHED and Christ is FORMED
into their heart (Galatians 4:19). It is NOT our "DNA" being formed in young
champions, but it is God's IMAGE being fashioned in them. Genuine
spiritual fathers never seek to impose their "armor" on a
"son" or "daughter", but they impart anointing out of the mantles
they carry to lead these young champions by example on a journey of discovery
and purpose.
How a "spiritual son" treats a "spiritual father" in areas of
respect and loyalty is
reflective of their true relationship with God the Father, but a
"spiritual father" understands that this LOYALTY is not for
control to their ministry needs, but for the purpose of the developmental
process in a spiritual son or daughter.
Saul loved
David
as long as all David did was to play his harp for him, but when David
graduated to conquering giants, Saul felt betrayed in his own selfishness, and
it became Saul's undoing.
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NOTE:
It should also be noted that "spiritual fathers" must
NOT seek to take the place of physical "Dads" or their authority in the
family and home, but one of the priorities of spiritual fathers is to lead
physical fathers to become the priest and spiritual leader to their own
families.
True Kingdom "fathers"
(men and women of God) have a specific
passion, dynamic, or developed calling that speaks into the heart of a
young protégé bringing
greater understanding to their Kingdom career and purpose....
bringing us to... 2.
Positional:
The Kingdom Principle of Delegated Offices of Authority..
JESUS
THE SON of GOD opened access to
us as sons of God to come directly to God
RELATIONALLY, but then He set OFFICES & GIFTS in men and women
POSITIONALLY as extensions of His NAME,
NATURE, POWER and AUTHORITY to
GOVERN His HOUSEHOLD and ESTABLISH HIS KINGDOM RULE
in Kingdom citizens.
DAVID may not have looked up to Saul as a
"fatherly" example, but he fully respected the POSITIONAL AUTHORITY Saul carried
as the covering of a king. Corinthians 12:28 says
He SET apostles, prophets, teachers, and then other gifts, administrations, and operations, along with
Ephesians 4:11-14 apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors and teachers to equip saints into the work of their
ministry by developing them into the measure of the stature of the
fullness
of Christ. While
RELATIONAL "fathering" births
character, integrity, and purpose,
POSITIONAL offices
bring order, authority, and
training to
equip champions to become further
extensions of God the Father. |
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When David went out in proper Kingdom protocol IN THE NAME
OF THE LORD, he not only accomplished another page in his own destiny, but his EXAMPLE of Kingdom
LEADERSHIP released a whole new generation of sons in the
army of God.
King Saul harbored jealousy and instead of celebrating the
NEW THING God was doing in David, he went out to kill David only to end up
falling on his own sword of FORMER INEFFECTIVENESS.
True spiritual fathers and leaders never seek to make
young champions slaves, but they set aside the focus
of their ministry "thousands" to celebrate the 10,000's these NEW David's
bring forth and help them develop character for lasting success. TRUE KINGDOM
LEADERS bring healthy transition to protégés finding their
own ARMOR that is fit to their unique vision to go beyond anything we've
ever accomplished.
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A Note
from Rick Kendall...
I'd really love to hear from you and get
your thoughts and comments about these
monthly messages.
If you get a moment, email me at
victory554@msn.com and
consider emailing these articles to your
family and friends by sending this webpage
link:
http://bodynetwork.org/main.html
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