MARKET-PLACE APOSTLES.....Who’d a ‘thunk’ it?!



            Someone once said, “Once you know “who” you are, the world will step aside and let you pass.” Actually, that’s a Biblically-sound saying. Prov 18:15-16 (NKJV) says: THE HEART OF THE PRUDENT ACQUIRES KNOWLEDGE, AND THE EAR OF THE WISE SEEKS KNOWLEDGE. 16 A MAN'S GIFT MAKES ROOM FOR HIM, AND BRINGS HIM BEFORE GREAT MEN.

 

            With this in mind - understanding that you ARE the market-place Apostles of this House (you have been taught from the very beginning of our time together to be respectable, responsible, filled with integrity) - KNOW THIS: IF YOU DON’T WANT TO ‘PASS ON’ INFORMATION, DON’T SPEAK! Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV) DEATH AND LIFE ARE IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE, AND THOSE WHO LOVE IT WILL EAT ITS FRUIT. This became extremely apparent to our Peru Team during our most recent trip. People literally approached US and asked for prayer - not just prayer for healing or prosperity - but prayers for repentance and salvation!! People actually SAW the Lord IN us and THROUGH us and they desired what they SAW. It was - without a doubt - the most powerful trip I’ve ever been involved with! And I thank God I was privileged to be part of that awesome group!!

    

Listen:

 Everyone around you is soaking and will walk away with knowledge - both good and bad - because of your conversation and/or demeanor. Your behavior; your deportment; the way you conduct your facial changes and your eye movement will speak as loudly - if not more so - than your actual words!

            Our ‘job’ as Pastors (for the most part) is to turn you into ‘leaders’. Of course, there are people who will come who need instruction from the standpoint of a ‘baby’. They’re “new’ to the things of the Lord. But as I stand before you from week to week, I see that you are NOT babies! And at the stage of the Christian walk you’re in, you are now responsible and obligated for much more than people from many other churches. Why do you suppose our families have consistently been under attack in one way or another? It’s because healed, healthy families are necessary to do the path-cutting tasks God has chosen for us. Remember: He told us early on that we would NOT be followers; but that we would forge ahead and cut through the jungle so that others would have paths to walk on unobstructed. That sounds really ‘neat’ on the surface; but one thing I have consistently found to be true in this ministry: NOTHING has ever been easy!

            God is working amid and among us - obviously, that’s why the enemy tries so hard to bring us down. Whether it’s from a lack of proper rest, arguing among yourselves, etc., Satan’s minions will surely bring DIS-honor in your home and in your marriage if you don’t recognize what’s going on; and allow it to continue.

            So................. “Purpose” or “perversion” ------ you’re always in one or the other!

Remember: BUILD your relationship with those who are close in your life. If you’re married, steadily construct your relationship so that you truly are “ONE”. If you are not - remember that God, Himself, is your Partner; and you can’t fool Him into thinking you’re “All That” when you’re really a hypocrite! 1 Ki 9:1-4 (NCV) SOLOMON FINISHED BUILDING THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD AND HIS ROYAL PALACE AND EVERYTHING HE WANTED TO BUILD. 2 THEN THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM AGAIN JUST AS HE HAD DONE BEFORE, IN GIBEON. 3 THE LORD SAID TO HIM: "I HAVE HEARD YOUR PRAYER AND WHAT YOU HAVE ASKED ME TO DO. YOU BUILT THIS TEMPLE, AND I HAVE MADE IT A HOLY PLACE. I WILL BE WORSHIPED THERE FOREVER AND WILL WATCH OVER IT AND PROTECT IT ALWAYS. 4 "BUT YOU MUST SERVE ME AS YOUR FATHER DAVID DID; HE WAS FAIR AND SINCERE. YOU MUST OBEY ALL I HAVE COMMANDED AND KEEP MY LAWS AND RULES.

            You see, we can no longer be “lone-rangers”. We must pour into each others lives. And as we do that, PURPOSE, PROMISE AND DESTINY will emerge in and through us into - first of all this house - and then, into the whole city of Waycross. In fact, it’s already begun. Our ministries expanded to the market-place, when we began the television ministry. After that, Pastor became the Chaplain at Ware State Prison. People all over two counties watch us - not just Pastor - but all of us! That makes us responsible to maintain a position of integrity at all times. And even though our Pastor is no longer the State Prison Chaplain, the staff AND the prisoners maintain that, in fact, Pastor Randy is STILL and will ALWAYS be their Chaplain!!

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Here’s the “Kicker”: THOSE WHO STAND ON PRINCIPLE WILL ALWAYS SUCCEED.

THOSE ON ‘POWER’ TRIPS WILL FALL ON THEIR FACES!

 

How do you stand on the principles you’ve embraced when it seems that everything is going wrong? 1. You apply the blood of Jesus to your situation. 2. You pray for your adversary. 3. You go for the ‘gold’ of your situation! Remember Psalm 138:8 which says, “THE LORD WILL PERFECT THAT WHICH CONCERNS ME.” So, you submit to His perfect plan for you; and, you set your eyes on the “PRIZE OF THE HIGH CALLING....” (Phil. 3:14)

 

One of the things that has always been apparent in our ministry is this:

Luke-warm people LIVE in the realm of mediocrity. ACCOMPLISHMENT IS ON THE EDGE!

Don’t think for a second that Peter was mediocre when he jumped out of that boat to walk on water! That was as close to the edge as it gets! Most of the time, when people go ‘overboard’ for the sake of Jesus Christ, everybody around them thinks they’re NUTS! Peter wasn’t a nut-case. He was - at that point - totally committed and submitted to the Lordship of His Savior!

 

Someone once told us that our future, our finances and our fame are tied up in an ‘adversary’. The word ‘adversary’ means opponent.

What would David have been without Goliath? What caused the people to give favor to David? HE OVERCAME HIS ENEMY!

David had passion. When a man has passion, he succeeds. Passion creates pursuit. Passion can create great pain. You become willing to suffer to obtain your goal. John 2:14-17 tells how Jesus took the ‘time’ to make a whip when He saw people buying and selling in God’s Temple! He never changed His focus. He thought, “I’m NOT going to put up with this in My Father’s House!!” And He drove them out!

Listen: whatever you CRY over, you can heal! Because you will have compassion! God is PASSIONATE - He responds to your FAITH - NOT your NEED!

Whatever you are passionate over, you become!

When the “reward” becomes greater in your vision than your adversary, you will overcome the enemy. See: your future is contained inside an adversary (in David’s case it was Goliath).

So..................

            KNOW YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Know your passion - identify it! And remember: your passion is always assigned to an enemy.

The biggest problems we face:

1. Lack of faith

2. Abundant adversaries

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We believe there are 4 steps Pastor and I are responsible for regarding you:

1. COACH - develop skills

2. TEACH - develop your understanding

3. TRAIN - develop performance

4. MENTOR - develop character (essentially the reason for tonight’s lesson!)

 

You see, we need “relationship” with each other.

            Even in the drug industry, gangs KNOW who they can entrust their lives to. That’s why when you truly have a CONVERTED drug-abuser, you have a TRUST WORTHY individual. They’re principled!

 

In coaching you with these 4 steps, you gain wisdom, knowledge and understanding. One of the great things about you as a ‘people’ is how you’ve grown. You have learned that God isn’t afraid to put “AUTHORITY” in His chosen people. We’ve learned together that when “the man” (in our case, it’s Pastor) shows up - SO DOES GOD! Not that He’s not here with you, alone. Of course He is! But when the chosen vessel of God comes to stand in God’s Presence in his specific anointing, God honors the entire congregation with His undivided attention.

And you’ve also learned that REAL ‘learning’ is not only to digest - it is also to be able to REPEAT what you’ve become aware of.

 

Our real goal is to ignite the heart-beat of the father to the son. Our job is to reproduce children who reproduce children.............and on and on and on!

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One more thing:

            Loyalty to your brothers and sisters does not qualify you for anything!

But Un-loyalty DIS-qualifies you for EVERYTHING! Remember Judas walked the same path the rest of the men walked! But it was his act of disloyalty that cost him everything!

WE ARE FAMILY....................FAMILIES LIVE, WORK, UPHOLD AND LOVE EACH OTHER!