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Are you have a conference hangover? Yes, some of you? Hey, you're like I'm hoping

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this is the dream interpretation class because can we do like a practicum

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where we do nap time and then we interpret our dreams? Yeah, come on we can

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do this. I always am super excited about this time because I feel like this is

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the backstage pass to everything that we do here at Bethel in the prophetic and

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and the goal of this this time in this day would would be that throughout the

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day you would get practical tools for life and ministry in the prophetic and

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and whether you're leading a ministry in a school of ministry or in a church

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environment or even in a home group environment or you're just you're just

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starting out in the prophetic as an individual you're gonna get tools and

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and and and I feel like almost so to speak you may have walked in with a

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tool belt and you're waiting for the the exact things for for the different

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moments of ministry and you're gonna get throughout the sessions you're gonna

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hear from a bunch of our team and our goal is to give you what we have

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personally you're gonna get Ben Armstrong you know you're gonna get his

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stuff but you're gonna get Kim Koch she's incredible and you're gonna get

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all her stuff in her flavor and it is a big deal of ours you know we say the

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prophetic looks like you and I think what you'll do is you can walk away from

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a day like this and be more equipped than 90% of the church in the in the

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prophetic and that's that's fun that's amazing and it's I think it's it's

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really worthwhile and that's why we spend the time to do this and that's why

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we love that you're in the room and and you're joining us online and those of

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you why don't we just turn around wave at the camera say hello to everyone

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joining us online as well we want to equip the nation's that's part of our

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job it is to be generous with what God has given us and it is an apostolic

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mandate on our lives is to be generous with what God has given us give it away

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and reproduce reproduce so that's what you're gonna get today are you ready

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you're put on your seatbelt this is like fast drink from the fire hose flood of

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heaven you're gonna have a fun time we'll get a few breaks just some

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practical things for those that are in the room there's coffee and tea and that

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kind of stuff just be mindful as we're doing it we are we do have everyone

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joining us online as well so please just don't walk straight in front of the

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camera and like get get in their way but feel free at any time if you're dozing

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off to grab your coffee and wake up but we will have breaks throughout and and

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you'll be able to use the facilities and stretch and and do whatever so really

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the first session what I wanted to do is is break down what is leadership and

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leadership and and how do we promote people in our environment how do we grow

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them up how do we identify leaders in our environment in the prophetic because

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you know I think some people come in and and they think oh oh in order to be

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on the prophetic teams you know we do have an application and there's a sense

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of confusion sometimes because people think oh well what like what's the

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application look like well ours looks like give us a hundred prophetic words

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and we'll see if they're accurate and then if they're accurate you get to be

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on the team now you know you're nervous and that was nervous laughter I could

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hear it serious but but in all actuality that's not that's not what we're looking

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for in in and capturing people for our teams and I know Kim will spend some

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time on this but our deal is more character driven because the gifts are

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easy we can learn those really easy we can practice this stuff but if you have

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the wrong attitude how many ever played sports

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Sports in your life.

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How many ever played sports with someone

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who was excellent at what they did,

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but they had the worst attitude?

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Yeah.

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How many of you wanted to play with them?

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No, you didn't want to play with them.

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They are not good teammates.

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It poisons the whole system,

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and this is what happens when we get so focused,

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sometimes in ministry, on the gift itself.

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We can get focused on the gift itself,

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and we forget that giftedness

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has nothing to do with character.

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It does in this way.

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It has something to do with the character

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of the one who gave the gift,

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not the one who received the gift.

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So the gifts that are on my life,

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the gift of the prophetic that's on my life,

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the gift of wisdom that's on my life,

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the gift of healing that's on my life,

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it doesn't have to do with whether or not

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Ben Armstrong has great character.

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It has to do with the fact

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that Holy Spirit has great character.

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Holy Spirit's a gift of the Spirit,

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and it actually represents his character,

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his generosity towards us.

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How do you know if Ben Armstrong has character, then?

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How do you know if he really is connected

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with the Holy Spirit?

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I mean, Scripture says this.

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If you abide in me, and I abide in you,

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you bear much, oh, you mean not gifts?

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Sometimes we get it confused,

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and we think somehow, if someone's gifted,

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oh, they must be connected to God.

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They must be like super close with God.

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Potentially, potentially.

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But some years ago, as a leader at Bethel,

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I know, I'm telling on myself,

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but God is so good at doing this in the Bible.

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He tells us the good, the bad, and the ugly,

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and part of healthy leadership is being transparent.

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Not just transparent, but being vulnerable.

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Because there's a lot of people being transparent

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all day long.

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You can look at the transparency

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of their every awesome moment.

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Right?

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And they're like, well, I'm vulnerable.

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No, no, no, no, you're not vulnerable.

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You're transparent.

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I know you're not vulnerable,

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because when someone posts a negative comment on your thing,

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you delete them as a friend.

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Right?

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That's not vulnerability.

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Vulnerability is like, hey, I'm gonna be real with you,

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and you can feed back to my life,

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and not only can you give me feedback,

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but I'm gonna receive it,

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and where I need to adjust, I'm gonna adjust.

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And that's super healthy.

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Now, years ago, I can remember a time

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where I was sitting down with my wife,

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and I was talking to her, I was a little frustrated,

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and I said, baby, I've been a little short

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with the kids lately.

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I just haven't been as patient as I should be with them.

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And I just, I feel like my words haven't been as kind

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as they should be lately.

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And I just feel like I'm just not as loving.

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And all of a sudden, it was as if a light bulb

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turned on in my head, and I looked at my wife,

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and I said, baby, I'm disconnected from the Holy Spirit.

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And I realized I was naming off fruits of the Spirit.

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And the only way I actually have fruit happening in my life

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is when I'm abiding with the Holy Spirit,

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when I'm connected with Him.

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Yes.

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He's the vine, we're the branches, right?

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We're connected, and that connectedness

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does something in my life where my words are kind.

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Hey, guys, it doesn't show up at church first, right?

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Fruits of the Spirit's easy at church.

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We just kind of put them on as we walk through the door

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after we were just fighting with our kids and spouse.

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And then we treat everyone super nice.

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It's awesome.

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Probably not a great judge of whether or not

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my fruit life is really happening and my connection.

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with the Holy Spirit is happening.

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Where does it happen first?

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Your closest relationships.

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Your roommate, your spouse, your kids,

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maybe even your work environment.

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That's where it's gonna show up first.

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Do you have the fruit of the Spirit happening there?

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And I realized in that moment,

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I was disconnected with the Holy Spirit.

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And here's what's crazy.

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I was still traveling the world, preaching the gospel,

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people were getting saved, healed, delivered,

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prophesied over, my prophecy was accurate,

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my word of knowledge was accurate.

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All this stuff going.

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I thought I was good with the Holy Spirit.

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They let him be a pastor.

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Yeah, I repented.

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I said, baby, will you forgive me?

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And I went to my kids and I said, will you forgive me?

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And I went to Holy Spirit and said,

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Holy Spirit, forgive me.

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For getting so focused on my gifts

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that I forgot to abide with you.

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Because against these things, there is no law.

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In our leadership, in the way that we're delivering,

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in the way that we're operating in the prophetic,

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we want to deliver something

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that it will always land in people's hearts,

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that will always affect their life.

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How many of you would sign up for some kind of course,

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if you knew that course would teach you

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that every time you operated in one of the spiritual gifts,

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you would represent God every time?

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Who would sign up for that course?

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Yeah, well, there's a lot of keys in scripture

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that actually teach you that thing.

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And let's get focused on abiding with Holy Spirit.

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Let's get focused on 1 Corinthians chapter 13.

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You know, love is patient, love is kind.

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Oh, that sounds like fruits of the Spirit, right?

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There's this loving relationship.

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1 Corinthians 13 is written smack dab

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in the middle of 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14.

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I do math.

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That's good, Ben, you can count.

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My point is this.

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Spiritual gifts, 1 Corinthians 12.

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1 Corinthians 14, spiritual gifts again.

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Especially that you would prophesy.

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And smack dab in the middle of that is this love chapter.

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And somehow we get confused as prophetic people,

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and we get stuck with the idea that potentially,

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this was written for a wedding ceremony.

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How many of you ever been to a wedding

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and the minister, the pastor, the priest,

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whoever, the officiant, or maybe a cousin

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reading scripture, love is patient, love is kind.

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And then they try and tell the husband and wife

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to be all these to one another.

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Well, that's great.

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It works.

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It does work, and it works in the context of marriage.

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But the problem is it was never written

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in the context of marriage.

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It was written in the context of the administration

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of gifts of the spirit.

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It's saying your gifts look like something.

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I love Heidi Baker.

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She says love looks like something, right?

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Your gifts look like something.

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It should look like love.

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It should look like those things.

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So if you take any one of your spiritual gifts,

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I wanna know that I'm living in character

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and connection with the Holy Spirit.

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I wanna know that I'm abiding with him

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and that fruit's gonna happen.

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How do I know that happens?

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Well, I can just take one of the spiritual gifts

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and substitute the word love

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and put one of the spiritual gifts in there,

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and now you see how that gift should look.

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The prophetic is patient.

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The prophetic is kind.

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The prophetic doesn't boast, does not envy.

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The prophetic's not rude.

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How many of you ever heard rude prophetic?

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I've heard it in my life.

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The prophetic's not easily angered.

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We don't need angry prophetic people.

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The prophetic, it keeps no records of wrongs.

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It doesn't delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.

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What's the truth?

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The truth of who people really are.

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Our job's not to call out sin.

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These are all the things that we're looking at.

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person's life, and we're looking at these things to say whether or not they should get a badge.

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We actually have badges, right? Elijah, show everyone your badge. See, he's got a badge.

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You get a badge. You get that badge not because you're super gifted. Well, he is gifted.

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He's super gifted. But the thing is, he gets to keep and represent that badge because he has a

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connection with Holy Spirit. Because the character of his life, I can see through the fruit of his

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life. And sometimes people are so frustrated, no one will listen to me. I am so prophetic,

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don't they know? Yeah, you're also mean. You're also impatient. You're also not kind.

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You have zero self-control.

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They're not impressed with your gift. They need to be impressed with the fruit on your life.

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Against these things, there are no law. You want to become irresistible?

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And for those of us who are leaders in prophetic communities or trying to develop a prophetic

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community in our environment, that's got to be our focus. That's got to be what we're going after.

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That's got to be what we're hungry for because these things are what we want to reproduce.

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Reproduce. Some years ago, when I got hired on as the prophetic ministries director, which

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we, I didn't ever, there wasn't a prophetic ministries director. There wasn't like,

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oh yeah, yeah, that position. I know that one. I had to define it, you know?

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And I love that because it's important that titles and positions don't define you, but you define

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them. When I first came to Bethel or back to Bethel in 2006, 2007, I told my wife the first

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week we were here, we went home from church and I said, hey baby, we're pastors here.

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She said, what do you mean? I said, we're pastors. She's like, yeah, I hear that, but what do you

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mean? I said, we need to live out of who we are and never wait for a title or position

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to actually happen. So let's just happen in this environment. Let's be who we are from the get-go

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and not wait for anything like that. And let me tell you this. If you will pursue your passion,

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then titles and position will pursue you, but they'll never define you. You get to define them.

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But if you pursue the title and position, usually every time it puts you in a box

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and that's all you get to be and it will define you.

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And so we're in this role. We came here as school of ministry pastors. They invited us in to be

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school of ministry pastors. I did it for seven years and then got invited to be the prophetic

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ministries director. And a couple of unique things happened at that moment. About a month

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before I stepped into the role, Chris had already asked me to do this with another lady named

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Crystal Stiles. And we were just kind of pioneering this whole thing. Well,

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we had been doing it for almost a year and Crystal was moving and Crystal was like, okay,

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we need someone to run this full-time. And at that moment, we had a remodel going on

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on our big building over at College View. And they had these big air conditioning units that

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they were pulling off and replacing with new air conditioning units. And the old ones they took off

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was a certain brand, but the new ones that they were putting on were called Armstrong air

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conditioners. And I felt like from that moment, God was actually physically matching up what he

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was doing in the spirit saying, hey, you get to shift the atmosphere in this place.

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And then when he did that, right after he began to speak to me and he said, Ben,

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whatever you do, I want you to do it with three words in mind. And this is our leadership model

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here at Bethel Prophetic. And everything we do has a flavor of this. Number one,

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Ben, I want you to do everything with excellence in mind.

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Whatever you find to do, do it as unto the Lord, right?

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Do it with excellence.

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If there's anything worth doing, it's worth doing well.

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And I say excellence because I think there's this idea that we can get stuck in at some

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times called perfectionism.

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And we live under the weight of that one thing that I didn't get right, and it makes

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me a total failure.

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It'd be like this.

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For a couple of years, my wife kind of got in this mindset, and she'd tell you this.

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I'm not telling on her, but she'd tell you this.

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She would say, oh, when we fight all the time, and I'm like, what are you talking about?

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We do not fight all the time.

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You just don't know reality.

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I'm like, well, maybe not.

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But we fought for five minutes today, and I'm pretty sure the day is 24 hours.

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So 23 hours and 55 minutes, we didn't fight.

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And you're saying we fight all the time because we fought for five minutes.

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Can I propose that we're doing better than you think?

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And I think we get in that mindset when we're looking for perfection.

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We're like, I've got to do it 24-7, and if I don't get it all right all the time, I'm

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a failure.

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I know.

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Other people think that way.

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Not you guys.

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I'm just talking about other people.

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That's why I say excellence, and that's why I think God is after excellence.

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He is after that.

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Perfection is a potential end goal, but God is in love with process.

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And I love the way Dan Fairley put it a couple of weeks ago when he was talking about grace.

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Grace meets me right where I'm at.

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If I'm in sin, if I'm not perfect yet, grace loves me right there.

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But it loves me too much to keep me there.

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And then I grow line upon line, precept upon precept.

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We're not looking for perfect people in the environment.

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I can deal with rough edges.

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What we don't deal with is a bad heart.

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And so I can judge fruit on a person's life.

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How do we promote these people?

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How do we figure it out?

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I'll get to that in a minute.

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But you need to stay on the three words.

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So excellence.

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We're going after excellence.

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And he said, Ben, once it's excellent, you need to go to the second word, which is sustainability.

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It's got to be sustainable.

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Whatever we do, whatever we're pursuing, whatever we're growing, can it be sustained?

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Can it still happen if Ben Armstrong or Chris Vallotton's not in the room?

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Yes it can.

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Yes it can.

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Okay.

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Then now we get to step into our apostolic mandate, which is called reproduction.

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That's the final word.

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So excellence, sustainability, and reproduction.

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Reproduction is the apostolic model.

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Once you get excellent at something and it's become sustainable in your environment with

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real people, not virtual people, not the metaverse.

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I've seen people on the metaverse destroy their TV, crash through the coffee table.

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It was real-ish, ish, ish.

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Let's be careful that we're not reproducing something that we haven't created an excellence

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and a real sustainability with real tangible people, real tangible community.

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We're dangerous.

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It gets dangerous when you don't actually, and it doesn't have to, I'm not talking about

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you have to have 10,000 people that you do this with.

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I'm like, we've got a small group.

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We've got a home group of five people.

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We've been practicing this for five years.

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We're all doing it.

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We're doing it healthy.

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We're doing it under accountability, and now more people want to join, and so now we're

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going to reproduce.

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Now we're going to split from one group to two groups.

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And it's not it's not the division of oh, I don't agree with you

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So we're gonna divide and go over here and start our own thing. No, we've actually grown something

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cellularly and

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It's the nature of life to to cells do

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Divide to grow something bigger, but we're still part of one body

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We're still together

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Now that cell may divide and become a hand

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And and and that this cell may divide and become a foot, but we're still part of one body

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We just are different parts different expressions

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we've got so many people here from all over the world and

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Joining us from all over the world with all kinds of different backgrounds

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all

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Kinds of different family backgrounds family experience cultural backgrounds

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cultural experience

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even church experience

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Maybe you come from a certain denomination. Dr. V. You'll hear from him later. Dr. Ralph finstra my buddy. I

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Love this guy

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Hey, he's he's ordained it in the Reformed Church

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And I asked him to keep that as long as they'll have him

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Why because it's amazing it's incredible it's an expression of

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of Christ on the earth and

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And it may be a different flavor, but this is what makes us amazing is when we have this diversity

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That actually looks like the kingdom every tribe every tongue every nation

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Are you with me? Is this okay stuff? I

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Think we should all have an apostolic model in whatever we're doing

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That means once it's excellent and sustainable

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It's my

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Privilege and

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Responsibility to gift that away

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To empower others to take that all over the world like Brazil

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Come on team awesome

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So, how do we

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How do we begin to promote?

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people in our

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environment

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How do we begin to promote them? How do we identify?

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Whether or not someone's healthy, how do I actually experience them? This is what

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Boundaries are for and Kim's going to spend some time talking about prophetic ministry protocols

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But I you need to know this in in the world when we hear boundaries we think control

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When we hear boundaries or rules or structure while we're prophetic like I need freedom

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You can't control me I mean I hear from God

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You

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Ever heard that before like I hear from God this is important like

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And there's there's something about boundaries that are so important. They they tell me whether or not you're a sheep

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Or and they'll tell me whether or not you're a shepherd because it says that the

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shepherd comes through the

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Sheep gate and the sheep know the shepherds voice and

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Anyone else who tries to come in not through that gate?

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They recognize

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It's a wolf. It's something bad. They're like, oh, wait a second

403
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That's not the shepherds voice. They say they run away from them

404
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It doesn't say they entertain the voice

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Be wary of the people in the environment who try to lead the people

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But don't honor the boundaries and authority and structure set up

407
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It happens too many times

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it happens too many times and sometimes it's just

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Because there hasn't been a healthy structure set up and a healthy communication of that structure

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Let's not just automatically say all that

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That person's got a bad heart.

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Jezebel's spirit right there.

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I see it.

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That man is crazy.

415
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Don't listen to that.

416
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No, like that's not demonize people

417
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just because they're ignorant.

418
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And I'm not saying stupid, I'm just saying ignorant.

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They don't know better.

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We get to bring that health in the community.

421
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Whether you're a leader in the community,

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leading something, or you're one of the team members.

423
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You get to bring that level of truth

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and information to the environment.

425
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We become banks of the river.

426
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Oh, actually, or you become the current in the river.

427
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And they try and swim the wrong direction,

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they're gonna feel resistance.

429
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You know, one of our protocols, this is a fun one.

430
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Is we don't do in our sessions ministry,

431
00:31:01.280 --> 00:31:06.280
direction, correction, warning kind of stuff.

432
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That's reserved for mothers and fathers.

433
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And so we're not always mothers and fathers

434
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in someone's life when you're randomly talking to someone

435
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who showed up on the prayer line

436
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:21.560
or showed up to receive ministry there.

437
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And so at one point we were doing some ministry

438
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and our teams were, they're all out rocking it.

439
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And some of us leaders are on the side

440
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just watching how things going.

441
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And one of the ladies came over pretty concerned.

442
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And I watched her come up to Dr. V.

443
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You remember this, Dr. V?

444
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And she comes up and she's like, hey, my partner.

445
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Every word is directional and correctional

446
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and telling them where they're supposed

447
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to be missionaries to and all this kind of stuff.

448
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And Dr. V in his infinite wisdom,

449
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that's why he's called a doctor, because he's smart.

450
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I was wondering how he was gonna deal with the situation.

451
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And he said, oh, well, why don't you just go let him know

452
00:32:13.480 --> 00:32:14.320
what he's doing?

453
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And confront him on that.

454
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And she's like, me?

455
00:32:22.120 --> 00:32:24.640
Well, yeah, you experienced it.

456
00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:25.960
You were with him.

457
00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:28.440
Why don't you communicate with him

458
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and remind him that's outside

459
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of what we're supposed to be doing?

460
00:32:34.320 --> 00:32:39.320
And so with a lot of, I would say a fair amount of anxiety,

461
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a fair amount of fear and trepidation,

462
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she goes back to this young man, appeals to him,

463
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has about a 15-minute conversation.

464
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And it was a little shaky at first,

465
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but they figured it out and went back to prophesying.

466
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They went back to doing it and doing it the right way.

467
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Let's be careful that we're not like,

468
00:33:01.520 --> 00:33:06.000
oh, I put it this way, a lot of times in leadership

469
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and a lot of times in the, especially the prophetic ministry,

470
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especially the prophetic ministry,

471
00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:16.440
we don't give people a chance to practice.

472
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It's like you give, how many of you are parents in here?

473
00:33:20.920 --> 00:33:23.920
Raise your hand if you, okay, almost every one of you.

474
00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:33.720
When my children were young, I got them a bike.

475
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Now, the bike started out with training wheels on it, right?

476
00:33:38.840 --> 00:33:42.360
And then I didn't just put them on it

477
00:33:42.360 --> 00:33:45.160
and say, all right, have fun, see ya.

478
00:33:45.160 --> 00:33:49.440
I actually put elbow pads on them, knee pads.

479
00:33:49.440 --> 00:33:51.200
You know, they got a helmet on.

480
00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:53.200
They can barely even walk the amount

481
00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:57.120
of protective gear they're on, let alone ride a bike.

482
00:33:57.120 --> 00:34:00.160
And you know, have you ever seen those kids?

483
00:34:00.160 --> 00:34:02.560
Come on, it looks a little awkward.

484
00:34:02.560 --> 00:34:06.720
And then you run right alongside of them,

485
00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:09.760
holding onto the bike, even though it's got training wheels.

486
00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:13.960
And you're coaching them on, oh, pedal, yeah,

487
00:34:13.960 --> 00:34:15.840
you're doing it, you're doing it, you're doing it,

488
00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:17.920
come on, woo, woo, woo, you know?

489
00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:21.800
And as they're going, but this is what we do

490
00:34:21.800 --> 00:34:22.920
in the prophetic.

491
00:34:24.120 --> 00:34:29.120
We give a person the bicycle with no elbow pads,

492
00:34:31.120 --> 00:34:34.360
no training wheels, no nothing,

493
00:34:34.360 --> 00:34:36.480
just open your mouth and speak.

494
00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:41.360
Just let the Holy Spirit speak through you.

495
00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:47.199
And it's not working, like, what, no, what?

496
00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:54.639
Something must be wrong with me.

497
00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:58.320
Or they prophesy for the very first time

498
00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:00.360
and they fall asleep.

499
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:05.520
prophesize something negative, right? They see the dirt. They don't know we're not

500
00:35:05.520 --> 00:35:11.280
looking for dirt because they haven't been trained. Well, then what do we do? We

501
00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:15.880
take the proverbial bike away from them and say, ah, obviously you were never

502
00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:22.760
intended to ride a bike. That'd be like giving our kids a bicycle and they try

503
00:35:22.760 --> 00:35:30.400
it out and crash. Like, obviously you're not gifted at this. Come on. God never

504
00:35:30.400 --> 00:35:35.960
does that, but somehow we do that with the prophetic ministry. And good

505
00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:44.160
leadership structure actually allows for boundaries to be there so that you can

506
00:35:44.160 --> 00:35:50.840
learn and grow. And how do we promote the people in that environment? Well, number

507
00:35:50.840 --> 00:35:59.040
one, you get promoted. It says that both Samuel and Jesus Christ, it said of

508
00:35:59.040 --> 00:36:05.720
Samuel, remember he grew in favor with God and man. And it said the exact same

509
00:36:05.720 --> 00:36:13.480
thing of Jesus Christ. Now here's the difficulty. I wish that there was more

510
00:36:13.480 --> 00:36:20.760
details about how they grew in favor with God and man, but you see Jesus as a

511
00:36:20.760 --> 00:36:26.640
young boy, an infant first, then somewhere at 13, but really nothing in between.

512
00:36:26.640 --> 00:36:32.480
Samuel, too, you see him as a young boy. Remember, he's learning how to hear the

513
00:36:32.480 --> 00:36:37.080
voice of God. Speak, Lord, your servant's listening. He's learning there. And then

514
00:36:37.080 --> 00:36:41.400
you don't hear much about him until he's the prophet of Israel some thirty

515
00:36:41.560 --> 00:36:51.120
something years later. That's hard. I need to know what they did so I can create a

516
00:36:51.120 --> 00:36:58.560
school of promotion. The school of how to find favor with God and man, right? Because

517
00:36:58.560 --> 00:37:04.200
that's what we do. We're looking to be good robots. Do it exactly like

518
00:37:04.200 --> 00:37:15.240
someone else did it, and two plus two equals... Yeah, exactly. But that's how it

519
00:37:15.240 --> 00:37:22.160
is with God. He's like, two plus two for Dr. V equals ten, two plus two for you

520
00:37:22.160 --> 00:37:29.760
equals four. It's like, well, that's not fair. Yeah, that's relationship. It's

521
00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:36.520
different. God's going to treat you like you need to be treated. This whole push

522
00:37:36.520 --> 00:37:44.040
for everyone gets a trophy, everything's fair, is not kingdom. And what does it do?

523
00:37:44.040 --> 00:37:49.840
It creates weak children who feel like they should be entitled to

524
00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:57.840
everything. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. My kids used to say, Dad, that's not fair.

525
00:37:57.880 --> 00:38:06.960
You gave Maddie something and you didn't give me something. And I'd say, yep.

526
00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:30.400
But it's not fair. I know. But so I'm like, yeah, enjoy that. Until you can

527
00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:38.720
celebrate your sister getting favor, your favor and breakthrough might be a

528
00:38:38.720 --> 00:38:46.040
little further off. Or if you celebrate your sister, it can accelerate you into

529
00:38:46.040 --> 00:38:52.920
the favor that's on her life, too. We train our kids like, life is not fair. I

530
00:38:52.920 --> 00:38:57.520
don't know. Like, we train fairness in school and then we put them in real life

531
00:38:57.520 --> 00:39:04.840
and wonder why they fail. That's just not how God does things. In my

532
00:39:04.840 --> 00:39:08.600
relationship with my children, I'm going to treat each one like they need to be

533
00:39:08.600 --> 00:39:19.240
treated personally. And then throughout, we're going to celebrate that. And we're

534
00:39:19.240 --> 00:39:24.800
going to learn to celebrate each other and not expect everything to be given to

535
00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:34.040
us all the time. So how do they grow in favor with God and man? I mean, how do I

536
00:39:34.040 --> 00:39:43.280
judge favor? How do I judge the favor of God on Kim's life? We're not supposed

537
00:39:43.280 --> 00:39:52.880
to judge, brother. No, I can actually judge some things. I can recognize things. I can

538
00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:59.680
recognize the fruit of the Spirit on Naomi's life.

539
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:01.540
Recognize that.

540
00:40:01.540 --> 00:40:05.040
That's how I know if someone has favor with God.

541
00:40:05.040 --> 00:40:07.380
If you abide in me, I abide in you.

542
00:40:07.380 --> 00:40:08.340
There it is again.

543
00:40:08.340 --> 00:40:09.820
You bear much fruit.

544
00:40:10.740 --> 00:40:12.720
Against these things there is no law.

545
00:40:12.720 --> 00:40:16.900
That shows me that you have favor with God.

546
00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:19.380
The fruit of your life shows me the favor

547
00:40:19.380 --> 00:40:21.380
that you have with God.

548
00:40:21.380 --> 00:40:25.140
And then the other part is favor with man.

549
00:40:25.140 --> 00:40:27.840
Well, favor with man is two-pronged.

550
00:40:27.840 --> 00:40:30.260
It's community and leadership.

551
00:40:31.360 --> 00:40:33.820
You gotta have favor with both

552
00:40:33.820 --> 00:40:36.540
and that's why we have protocols.

553
00:40:36.540 --> 00:40:38.980
That's why we have a leadership structure

554
00:40:38.980 --> 00:40:41.060
where we say we have some boundaries.

555
00:40:41.060 --> 00:40:41.900
Why?

556
00:40:41.900 --> 00:40:43.860
So the community can get to know you

557
00:40:45.500 --> 00:40:48.540
and leadership can get to know you.

558
00:40:48.540 --> 00:40:51.940
Here's the problem that I see happen many times

559
00:40:51.940 --> 00:40:53.860
in prophetic ministries

560
00:40:54.860 --> 00:40:59.860
is maybe the person has favor with God

561
00:40:59.860 --> 00:41:02.300
and favor with the community,

562
00:41:02.300 --> 00:41:03.540
the favor with the people,

563
00:41:03.540 --> 00:41:06.020
but the leadership doesn't know them.

564
00:41:06.020 --> 00:41:08.620
And they're trying to do their own thing over here

565
00:41:08.620 --> 00:41:10.220
apart from leadership.

566
00:41:10.220 --> 00:41:11.460
You know what happens then?

567
00:41:11.460 --> 00:41:13.060
You get a church split.

568
00:41:15.860 --> 00:41:17.860
And then in the other way,

569
00:41:17.860 --> 00:41:19.740
maybe they got favor with God

570
00:41:19.740 --> 00:41:22.260
and favor with the leadership,

571
00:41:22.260 --> 00:41:24.740
but the community's never experienced them.

572
00:41:24.740 --> 00:41:28.020
And we have people come in here from all over the world

573
00:41:28.020 --> 00:41:31.820
and maybe galaxies as well.

574
00:41:32.820 --> 00:41:34.580
They're like, hey, don't you know me?

575
00:41:34.580 --> 00:41:36.700
I'm Joe Awesome,

576
00:41:36.700 --> 00:41:39.540
the intergalactic prophet of four galaxies.

577
00:41:39.540 --> 00:41:41.260
I'm like, awesome.

578
00:41:41.260 --> 00:41:43.340
Yeah, but our community doesn't know you.

579
00:41:43.340 --> 00:41:45.020
I know you personally,

580
00:41:45.020 --> 00:41:46.740
but would you do me a favor

581
00:41:46.740 --> 00:41:49.340
and would you go through the same training

582
00:41:49.380 --> 00:41:52.260
that everyone else gets in our environment

583
00:41:52.260 --> 00:41:54.780
so our community can get to know you

584
00:41:54.780 --> 00:41:56.820
and build relationship with you?

585
00:41:56.820 --> 00:41:59.800
Because if I promote you in an environment

586
00:41:59.800 --> 00:42:01.920
where they don't trust you yet,

587
00:42:01.920 --> 00:42:06.920
I'll lose their trust for me as a leader.

588
00:42:08.420 --> 00:42:12.060
That's why we don't just bring anyone in to,

589
00:42:12.060 --> 00:42:15.560
and oh, you don't have to live by our rules.

590
00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:21.400
And we get a lot of prophets who want to come here.

591
00:42:22.120 --> 00:42:25.800
Hey, can I speak at Bethel Church?

592
00:42:28.760 --> 00:42:31.040
And I'm like, yeah, probably not.

593
00:42:31.040 --> 00:42:33.040
We don't have any relationship with you.

594
00:42:34.300 --> 00:42:36.320
We need relationship.

595
00:42:36.320 --> 00:42:38.000
Well, who are you connected to?

596
00:42:38.000 --> 00:42:40.000
Because we're connected to a lot of people.

597
00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:44.120
Maybe we have the seven degrees of Bethel Church,

598
00:42:44.120 --> 00:42:46.880
like, okay, you're connected to this purpose.

599
00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:48.480
And well, we're connected to them.

600
00:42:48.480 --> 00:42:50.360
We know them, they vouch for you.

601
00:42:50.360 --> 00:42:52.920
Okay, we can start building relationship.

602
00:42:52.920 --> 00:42:54.280
Our community doesn't know you.

603
00:42:54.280 --> 00:42:59.280
So could you make sure you, when you are here,

604
00:42:59.520 --> 00:43:00.860
we're gonna give you this spot

605
00:43:00.860 --> 00:43:04.600
and we're gonna see how that goes with our community first

606
00:43:04.600 --> 00:43:07.400
before we open up something else.

607
00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:08.240
Why?

608
00:43:08.240 --> 00:43:10.940
Not because we don't like a person or anything like that.

609
00:43:10.940 --> 00:43:13.460
We're giving people opportunity

610
00:43:13.460 --> 00:43:16.740
to grow in favor with God and man,

611
00:43:16.740 --> 00:43:18.860
and that's how people get promoted.

612
00:43:19.940 --> 00:43:23.260
Are we patient enough with that process?

613
00:43:23.260 --> 00:43:26.900
See, in the world, boundaries are meant to control me.

614
00:43:26.900 --> 00:43:29.920
In the kingdom, boundaries are meant to promote me.

615
00:43:31.980 --> 00:43:34.020
It's all about your promotion.

616
00:43:35.140 --> 00:43:38.560
That's our structure, and that's what we try and stay with.

617
00:43:41.020 --> 00:43:45.620
I talked a little bit about authenticity and vulnerability,

618
00:43:45.620 --> 00:43:50.340
but I'll bring it in connection with 1 Corinthians 11, 1,

619
00:43:50.340 --> 00:43:54.360
where Paul says, follow me as I follow Christ.

620
00:43:54.360 --> 00:43:56.580
Leaders who are authentic and vulnerable.

621
00:43:56.580 --> 00:44:01.420
I'm not talking about, oh, hey, I sinned last week.

622
00:44:01.420 --> 00:44:03.820
Just wanted to tell you all.

623
00:44:03.820 --> 00:44:07.020
And then the next week, I sinned again last week.

624
00:44:07.020 --> 00:44:10.340
Hey, don't worry, I'm authentic, I'm vulnerable.

625
00:44:10.340 --> 00:44:13.260
No, I'm not talking about sin or moral issues.

626
00:44:13.260 --> 00:44:18.260
I'm talking about being real with life, with one another,

627
00:44:18.340 --> 00:44:21.220
being real with the good, the bad, the ugly,

628
00:44:21.220 --> 00:44:24.660
and those are the types of leaders we can follow.

629
00:44:26.140 --> 00:44:30.580
You know, I know, I've heard the quote many times,

630
00:44:30.580 --> 00:44:33.220
never trust a leader that doesn't have a limp.

631
00:44:33.220 --> 00:44:36.380
You know, that doesn't have, what are they saying?

632
00:44:36.380 --> 00:44:39.140
Don't trust a leader who's perfect,

633
00:44:39.140 --> 00:44:40.860
who has an image of perfect

634
00:44:40.860 --> 00:44:43.900
and only shows you perfect all the time.

635
00:44:43.900 --> 00:44:48.200
You need to know, like, there's the rub of life,

636
00:44:48.200 --> 00:44:50.500
there's the real of life with that leader,

637
00:44:50.500 --> 00:44:54.300
and those are the leaders we love to follow.

638
00:44:55.660 --> 00:44:58.260
They're real with situation, you're like,

639
00:44:58.260 --> 00:45:00.100
oh, I feel a little more.

640
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:08.480
successful in life. They have issues too. They fought with their kids. They do marriage counseling.

641
00:45:08.480 --> 00:45:13.840
Marriage counseling is great. Like, you should do that. Connection codes with Glenn and Phyllis

642
00:45:13.840 --> 00:45:20.800
Hill. Love after marriage. Like, that kind of stuff. Like, and what's great is this generation

643
00:45:20.800 --> 00:45:27.600
that's growing up right now, they've broken through the stigma of counseling.

644
00:45:27.600 --> 00:45:36.800
They like it. Now, there's a jeopardy that we, well, I go to a counselor and I just go to the

645
00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:41.600
counselor my whole life and never do anything about it. And it's permission to stay in your

646
00:45:41.600 --> 00:45:51.360
stuff. No, that's like saying, well, I have grace. I have grace. God forgave me again today.

647
00:45:51.360 --> 00:46:00.880
Right? Are you still with me? Are we sleeping in heavenly places? Christ Jesus.

648
00:46:03.520 --> 00:46:12.240
Those are the leaders we follow. How do I really define whether or not someone

649
00:46:12.880 --> 00:46:17.760
in our environment, now, there's a difference between being on the ministry team and then

650
00:46:17.760 --> 00:46:25.280
leading a ministry team. Right? There's levels of leadership. We see what they do with one thing,

651
00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:31.280
and then we promote them to another. And sometimes you won't know whether they're a good leader or

652
00:46:31.280 --> 00:46:37.840
not until you put them in a position that makes them squirm a little bit, and maybe is beyond

653
00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:44.320
where they're at. Sometimes it's the resistance of a new thing that exposes issues that wouldn't

654
00:46:44.320 --> 00:46:53.280
be exposed otherwise. I'm not saying I promote everyone in our environment so we can expose that

655
00:46:53.280 --> 00:46:59.440
issue that they're not willing to look at, but I am saying there's a certain level of pressure that

656
00:46:59.440 --> 00:47:06.720
comes on us that pops the zit, so to speak. I know that's graphic, but I'm like, no, there are

657
00:47:06.720 --> 00:47:12.880
certain things in God that before that moment in your life wasn't a big deal.

658
00:47:13.760 --> 00:47:18.640
And I'm not even talking about moral issues. I'm just talking about Holy Spirit. Maybe it was like,

659
00:47:18.640 --> 00:47:23.920
hey, there's a pebble in your garden. How about we get rid of that? Hey, that branch is looking

660
00:47:23.920 --> 00:47:29.040
funky over here, and it's actually going to take away from what you have over here. Will you let me

661
00:47:29.040 --> 00:47:35.680
prune that off and nip that off before it gets too big? Will you allow me to do that?

662
00:47:36.480 --> 00:47:43.200
And a lot of times, because of our situation, we're, I'm in my sweet spot. I'm on easy street. I'm in

663
00:47:43.200 --> 00:47:48.800
this thing. I don't have to deal with it. It's not a big deal. No big deal. Until you get pushed up

664
00:47:48.800 --> 00:47:54.160
into another leadership, then it becomes a bigger deal and exposes those places that need to be

665
00:47:54.160 --> 00:48:02.080
pruned. Great leaders constantly prune. What are we pruning for? Fruitfulness. We're not pruning

666
00:48:02.080 --> 00:48:08.560
because we're bad. We're pruning unto greater effectiveness, greater growth.

667
00:48:10.080 --> 00:48:18.400
It's so valuable. And how do I recognize these new leaders? Number one, Paul puts it this way

668
00:48:19.680 --> 00:48:27.280
in the book of Timothy. He's writing to Timothy, and he writes these two letters. And in 1 Timothy

669
00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:32.480
118, one of my favorite scriptures, and I quote it all the time, right, team? You're like,

670
00:48:32.480 --> 00:48:36.480
I've heard this one before. I know. It's the Word of God. It's pretty powerful.

671
00:48:40.240 --> 00:48:50.320
1 Timothy 118, Paul is speaking to Timothy, and he's really encouraging him, giving him a charge.

672
00:48:50.320 --> 00:49:01.680
He says, Timothy, my son, right? My son. Our leadership structure is all around mothers and

673
00:49:01.680 --> 00:49:08.480
fathers. Who takes ownership of an environment like a mother and father? Who walks by and see

674
00:49:08.480 --> 00:49:18.800
trash on the ground and picks it up? Who turns off the lights when they're the last in the room?

675
00:49:18.800 --> 00:49:23.760
Yeah, moms and dads, the ones who pays the bills, who have ownership of the house.

676
00:49:25.440 --> 00:49:31.280
You know, I can remember when I was a kid, the statement, hey, what were you born in a barn?

677
00:49:31.840 --> 00:49:40.800
Shut the door. What were they saying? Take ownership of your house. You're not an animal

678
00:49:40.800 --> 00:49:48.160
born in the barn. You own this place. You're part of a family. Take ownership. That is the

679
00:49:48.240 --> 00:49:54.320
leadership model. That's the promotion model. And Paul's talking to Timothy, Timothy, my son.

680
00:49:56.320 --> 00:49:59.840
Now, listen to this. In one version, it says,

681
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:08.120
Timothy, my son, I give you instructions in keeping with the prophetic words made over

682
00:50:08.120 --> 00:50:17.160
your life so that with them you'd fight the good fight of faith and have a clean conscience.

683
00:50:17.160 --> 00:50:25.160
And I get it, yes, the prophetic words themselves are weapons that give us faith and a clean

684
00:50:25.160 --> 00:50:31.640
conscience, but it's not just the prophetic words, it's the instructions of healthy mothers

685
00:50:31.640 --> 00:50:32.640
and fathers.

686
00:50:32.640 --> 00:50:39.640
I give you instructions in keeping with what the prophetic words once made over your life.

687
00:50:39.640 --> 00:50:44.760
Good mothers and fathers, they care about your prophetic destiny.

688
00:50:44.760 --> 00:50:48.840
Good leaders in the prophetic, we care about your prophetic destiny.

689
00:50:48.840 --> 00:50:51.880
You care about someone else's prophetic destiny.

690
00:50:51.880 --> 00:50:55.000
You see them the way God sees them.

691
00:50:55.000 --> 00:51:02.600
You view them the way God views them, and you are invested in giving instructions like

692
00:51:02.600 --> 00:51:11.680
a coach or like a father or a mother and direction that helps them apprehend their future.

693
00:51:11.680 --> 00:51:18.160
And what's it cause when I have good instruction and direction from a father or a mother and

694
00:51:18.160 --> 00:51:23.080
I have my prophetic words and I use both of them in conjunction with one another?

695
00:51:23.080 --> 00:51:26.480
They become weapons that create faith in my life.

696
00:51:26.480 --> 00:51:27.480
Faith for what?

697
00:51:27.480 --> 00:51:31.420
What I can't see.

698
00:51:31.420 --> 00:51:41.240
My future, that future awesome Ben, that's way over there, gives me faith for it.

699
00:51:41.240 --> 00:51:46.440
Not just that, it doesn't just give me faith, it gives me a clean conscience.

700
00:51:46.440 --> 00:51:50.520
Has nothing to do with thinking about sin there.

701
00:51:50.520 --> 00:51:57.800
Clean conscience in the context of that scripture has nothing to do with sin, has everything

702
00:51:57.800 --> 00:52:02.120
to do with thinking of yourself like God thinks of you.

703
00:52:02.120 --> 00:52:06.120
That's what a clean conscience is.

704
00:52:06.120 --> 00:52:07.960
You know what?

705
00:52:07.960 --> 00:52:16.080
If we fully thought about ourself the way God thought about us, there would be no room

706
00:52:16.080 --> 00:52:20.480
for sin.

707
00:52:20.480 --> 00:52:23.240
That's the cleanest conscience you can have.

708
00:52:23.240 --> 00:52:25.680
It's not, did I not think about a sin?

709
00:52:25.680 --> 00:52:28.160
You won't have time to think about a sin.

710
00:52:28.160 --> 00:52:32.920
You will never have a craving for that thing because you're so enamored with the thoughts

711
00:52:32.920 --> 00:52:39.120
and ways of God and who He says you are and you'll think like Him.

712
00:52:39.120 --> 00:52:43.680
The goal is to have the mind of Christ.

713
00:52:43.680 --> 00:52:48.600
Clean conscience.

714
00:52:48.720 --> 00:52:53.520
People don't need to hear how bad they are.

715
00:52:53.520 --> 00:52:57.160
They need to hear their prophetic destiny.

716
00:52:57.160 --> 00:53:06.340
Years ago Bob Jones was giving a prophetic word to a young man at a church and he calls

717
00:53:06.340 --> 00:53:15.120
out the young man and he says, hey, you're called to write songs that will shift a generation

718
00:53:16.080 --> 00:53:19.480
and you're going to lead worship and you're going to do all this stuff and prophesize

719
00:53:19.480 --> 00:53:22.880
over this young man.

720
00:53:22.880 --> 00:53:28.040
The pastor comes up to him at the end of the service and says, Bob, obviously you're not

721
00:53:28.040 --> 00:53:34.320
a prophet because if you're a prophet, you would know that that guy just had an affair

722
00:53:34.320 --> 00:53:39.640
on his wife and he's not going to do all that.

723
00:53:39.640 --> 00:53:43.440
Bob said, yeah, he already knows that about his life.

724
00:53:43.440 --> 00:53:49.440
What he doesn't know is that he's supposed to write songs, lead worship, and change a

725
00:53:49.440 --> 00:53:57.360
generation.

726
00:53:57.360 --> 00:53:58.720
That's a real father.

727
00:53:58.720 --> 00:54:01.720
That's a real mother.

728
00:54:01.720 --> 00:54:05.160
The grandmother who keeps praying for their kid.

729
00:54:05.160 --> 00:54:09.720
The mother who's like, hey, what's your son do?

730
00:54:09.720 --> 00:54:19.600
He's studying pharmacy right now, pharmaceuticals.

731
00:54:19.600 --> 00:54:28.680
You know, mom has that perspective of their children that never gives up and sees the

732
00:54:28.680 --> 00:54:39.640
best and they pray into that image every day until it's established.

733
00:54:39.640 --> 00:54:40.640
Who gets promoted?

734
00:54:40.640 --> 00:54:42.720
The people who show up.

735
00:54:42.720 --> 00:54:43.720
Who shows up?

736
00:54:43.720 --> 00:54:46.300
The owners.

737
00:54:46.300 --> 00:54:47.300
They show up early.

738
00:54:47.300 --> 00:54:51.240
They're the first one there.

739
00:54:51.240 --> 00:54:53.720
Don't tell me, oh, I'm just so prophetic.

740
00:54:53.720 --> 00:54:59.400
I was caught up in some glory, something.

741
00:54:59.400 --> 00:55:00.040
If you're really.

742
00:55:00.000 --> 00:55:04.120
Prophetic, like leadership-wise, we tell our teams,

743
00:55:04.120 --> 00:55:06.680
like, hey, you're not gonna get promoted

744
00:55:06.680 --> 00:55:08.160
if you can't show up on time.

745
00:55:10.120 --> 00:55:13.160
And I don't quite trust your words

746
00:55:13.160 --> 00:55:14.860
if you can't show up on time.

747
00:55:15.720 --> 00:55:18.720
Because if you really are prophetic, you know the future,

748
00:55:18.720 --> 00:55:20.040
you should be getting there

749
00:55:20.040 --> 00:55:21.960
before everyone else gets there.

750
00:55:21.960 --> 00:55:26.960
And the prophetic prophets,

751
00:55:30.600 --> 00:55:32.880
and the prophetic, prophetic people,

752
00:55:34.000 --> 00:55:39.000
should be the most stabilizing force in the church.

753
00:55:43.960 --> 00:55:45.640
You know, what's the church built on?

754
00:55:45.640 --> 00:55:48.440
The foundation of the apostles of the prophets.

755
00:55:48.440 --> 00:55:50.000
Foundation.

756
00:55:50.000 --> 00:55:52.080
It's there first.

757
00:55:54.640 --> 00:55:56.540
It's on time.

758
00:55:56.540 --> 00:55:57.540
It's solid.

759
00:55:57.540 --> 00:55:59.140
It's not weird.

760
00:56:00.380 --> 00:56:02.260
For weird's sake.

761
00:56:02.260 --> 00:56:04.320
I mean, I'm weird.

762
00:56:05.780 --> 00:56:09.020
But not just to be weird, right?

763
00:56:09.020 --> 00:56:11.620
It's if God tells me to do something,

764
00:56:11.620 --> 00:56:14.980
I'm gonna be obedient, and I'm gonna model that to people.

765
00:56:20.220 --> 00:56:22.420
This is good stuff, Ben.

766
00:56:22.420 --> 00:56:26.540
I really, I'm feeling it.

767
00:56:27.420 --> 00:56:28.800
This is awesome.

768
00:56:30.260 --> 00:56:33.780
Fathers and mothers and healthy leaders,

769
00:56:33.780 --> 00:56:35.980
they actually create an environment

770
00:56:35.980 --> 00:56:38.920
where it's safe to take risks.

771
00:56:41.100 --> 00:56:43.140
That's why research and development,

772
00:56:43.140 --> 00:56:45.940
hey, we wanna do this fun new thing.

773
00:56:45.940 --> 00:56:47.820
Well, I'm gonna make sure to show up

774
00:56:47.820 --> 00:56:49.700
with the fun new thing.

775
00:56:50.660 --> 00:56:51.500
Why?

776
00:56:51.500 --> 00:56:55.220
Because years ago, my son, Connor,

777
00:56:55.220 --> 00:56:56.620
he had a brilliant idea.

778
00:56:56.620 --> 00:56:59.860
I didn't know this idea, but he was young,

779
00:57:00.680 --> 00:57:01.520
and he had a scooter, you know,

780
00:57:01.520 --> 00:57:03.200
those little Razor scooters.

781
00:57:05.680 --> 00:57:10.680
And I am downstairs in this two-story house,

782
00:57:11.640 --> 00:57:16.640
and I hear this noise, this crashing noise,

783
00:57:19.120 --> 00:57:24.120
and this metal drywall things,

784
00:57:24.620 --> 00:57:29.620
and I come running around the corner,

785
00:57:30.900 --> 00:57:34.900
and Connor is upside down with the scooter

786
00:57:34.900 --> 00:57:38.460
tangled in his legs, going, oh,

787
00:57:38.460 --> 00:57:40.080
and wind knocked out of him.

788
00:57:41.460 --> 00:57:42.940
He finally catches his breath.

789
00:57:42.940 --> 00:57:46.220
I'm like, buddy, what happened?

790
00:57:46.220 --> 00:57:49.340
I tried to ride the scooter down the stairs.

791
00:57:49.520 --> 00:57:54.520
That's awesome, that is so cool, son.

792
00:57:58.000 --> 00:58:00.440
Hey, next time you plan on doing that,

793
00:58:00.440 --> 00:58:02.960
would you call me and make sure we're here

794
00:58:02.960 --> 00:58:05.040
just in case something like this happens

795
00:58:05.040 --> 00:58:06.480
and you need mom and dad?

796
00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:11.040
I celebrate the adventure.

797
00:58:11.040 --> 00:58:14.120
I celebrate the sense of risk.

798
00:58:14.120 --> 00:58:18.080
I celebrate that you tried, that's amazing,

799
00:58:18.080 --> 00:58:23.080
that's incredible, you're crazy cool, that's amazing.

800
00:58:23.140 --> 00:58:25.420
Man, I would be scared, you weren't scared.

801
00:58:25.420 --> 00:58:28.740
He's like, no, but now I'm a little scared to do it again.

802
00:58:28.740 --> 00:58:30.380
I'm like, yeah, that's learning.

803
00:58:33.300 --> 00:58:35.620
I'd be scared for you if there was no,

804
00:58:35.620 --> 00:58:38.460
like, oh, maybe I should think about this the next time.

805
00:58:42.140 --> 00:58:45.780
Can you just make sure mom and dad are in the room

806
00:58:45.800 --> 00:58:48.460
when you're taking risks like that?

807
00:58:50.240 --> 00:58:52.560
Where there's relational connection.

808
00:58:52.560 --> 00:58:57.280
I have community helping me out, giving me feedback.

809
00:58:57.280 --> 00:59:00.900
I have my leaders giving me feedback

810
00:59:00.900 --> 00:59:04.580
because I'm not only just good at this, I'm good at this.

811
00:59:07.960 --> 00:59:12.920
Prophets and prophetic people come into their fullest,

812
00:59:12.920 --> 00:59:16.420
most mature expression when they're rightly connected

813
00:59:16.420 --> 00:59:18.980
to God and rightly connected to community.

814
00:59:22.140 --> 00:59:25.660
If it's just God, I'm concerned.

815
00:59:26.980 --> 00:59:29.460
Well, God told me and no one can change my mind.

816
00:59:30.500 --> 00:59:31.340
Awesome.

817
00:59:32.700 --> 00:59:34.500
Why don't you go do that over there?

818
00:59:35.860 --> 00:59:40.620
You just can't do that in here because in here,

819
00:59:40.620 --> 00:59:43.640
we do it within the context of family,

820
00:59:43.640 --> 00:59:46.440
within the context of community.

821
00:59:46.440 --> 00:59:51.440
And I said it in my session at the conference,

822
00:59:51.620 --> 00:59:56.620
I said, the nature of deception, right?

823
00:59:57.080 --> 01:00:00.160
The nature of deception is that you don't.

824
01:00:00.000 --> 01:00:02.640
know you're deceived. That's why it's called deception.

825
01:00:05.280 --> 01:00:12.880
What keeps me from being deceived? Healthy community. People who know who Ben Armstrong is.

826
01:00:15.600 --> 01:00:24.160
And they know the Bible. And they know God. And they're like, yeah, 90% of that sounds good.

827
01:00:25.120 --> 01:00:35.120
Over here, that doesn't sound like the Bible. The devil loves to stand at the door of research

828
01:00:35.120 --> 01:00:42.320
and development to try and impart at least one little lie. He's not going to be overt and try

829
01:00:42.320 --> 01:00:49.200
and feed you 100% devil. He's like, yeah, take all that good God stuff and now let me

830
01:00:49.200 --> 01:00:57.840
twist it a little bit. It's exactly what he did to Jesus when Jesus was led into the wilderness.

831
01:01:00.080 --> 01:01:07.200
He goes into the wilderness and he takes the Word of God and tries to use it on the Word of God.

832
01:01:10.240 --> 01:01:16.560
I'm like, what? Like the spirit of stupid. I mean, he owns that. I mean, it is just like

833
01:01:17.520 --> 01:01:21.440
that. That's what he gives away all the time. And he's like, ah, man, I'm like,

834
01:01:23.440 --> 01:01:32.960
bro, devil, Lucifer, weren't you in heaven a long time? You're trying to use the Word on the Word.

835
01:01:34.000 --> 01:01:39.760
I'm like, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That's that guy you're trying to use

836
01:01:39.840 --> 01:01:43.520
the Word of the Word against. And it's like, what?

837
01:01:48.480 --> 01:01:56.720
Sheesh. If you really think about it, sometimes it's hilarious what the devil does.

838
01:01:57.840 --> 01:02:04.240
He's hilarious and he loses every time. I'm like, he's got one thing going for him. He's tenacious.

839
01:02:04.240 --> 01:02:14.240
He just keeps trying. It's like a flailing animal that's dying, doesn't know it's dead already.

840
01:02:16.000 --> 01:02:23.200
Problem with him is he's dead for eternity, just rotting, festering, torment.

841
01:02:23.200 --> 01:02:39.120
That was deep. You're like, yeah. Don't feel sorry for the devil. Don't feel sorry for him.

842
01:02:46.080 --> 01:02:51.920
Part of our leadership model, we talked about this idea of every tribe,

843
01:02:51.920 --> 01:02:57.120
every tongue, every nation, this whole diversity model, which is God's idea.

844
01:02:58.240 --> 01:03:06.160
It's God's idea. He created all of us. And one good thing, have you ever met someone

845
01:03:06.160 --> 01:03:12.640
that you instantly had an affinity for? You're just like, oh, we're like best friends and we

846
01:03:12.640 --> 01:03:18.080
just met. Anyone ever met someone like that? You just got along with them? Have you ever met

847
01:03:18.080 --> 01:03:24.560
someone you didn't have that with? It was the antithesis of that. It was like

848
01:03:24.560 --> 01:03:28.000
the whole other side of that. You met them and you're like, yeah.

849
01:03:36.320 --> 01:03:37.200
You're out of here.

850
01:03:37.760 --> 01:03:45.280
We're going to have people in church that are like that. What do we do with that?

851
01:03:50.240 --> 01:03:56.560
What do we do with the people? I don't like their style of ministry. It's just not right.

852
01:03:59.120 --> 01:04:02.000
Like we have a corner on every style of ministry.

853
01:04:02.720 --> 01:04:05.520
Like we have a corner on every style of ministry.

854
01:04:07.120 --> 01:04:11.600
It's like, that just rubs me the wrong way. And then we get into like,

855
01:04:12.320 --> 01:04:14.320
they're probably doing it from a bad heart.

856
01:04:16.960 --> 01:04:24.800
Right? Not you guys. Just like me. I'm just telling on me. I'm like, you guys are great.

857
01:04:25.680 --> 01:04:32.400
Oh, bless their hearts. Well, me, I'm like, oh, there's probably something wrong with them.

858
01:04:33.680 --> 01:04:40.080
And then I go to try and use my prophetic gift to dredge up the dirt in their own life.

859
01:04:42.160 --> 01:04:47.600
Have you ever? I'm like, you guys are like, I can't believe they pay this guy to do this.

860
01:04:49.200 --> 01:04:53.920
They should fire him. No, I'm just telling you real that comes up in your mind in a moment. What

861
01:04:53.920 --> 01:04:59.840
do you do with that? I can remember it happening some years ago.

862
01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:08.720
there was a particular minister here at Bethel Church. Oh, at Bethel. Yep. And I had that

863
01:05:08.720 --> 01:05:16.360
feeling. I met this person and I had that feeling of like, oh man, their ministry

864
01:05:16.360 --> 01:05:22.360
style makes me cringe. That's, that's horrible. Ah, I don't like that. And

865
01:05:22.360 --> 01:05:29.680
instantly I knew I was partnering with offense. I was partnering with accusation,

866
01:05:29.680 --> 01:05:35.160
the accuser. I was partnering with, I don't like things that don't look like

867
01:05:35.160 --> 01:05:47.440
me. I'm just telling you. We all have done it. And I said, Lord, would you forgive me?

868
01:05:47.440 --> 01:05:54.480
How do I deal with that? How do I deal with that thing? And God said, why don't

869
01:05:54.480 --> 01:06:04.960
you serve that person's ministry? Well, you know, I, God, I don't get paid to do

870
01:06:04.960 --> 01:06:14.200
that. I get paid to do this over here, what I like to do. You ask me a question, I just

871
01:06:14.200 --> 01:06:19.920
gave you the answer. What are you gonna do? And I went up to this particular

872
01:06:20.240 --> 01:06:26.200
person and said, hey, I, I, I lied. I said, I'd love to serve your ministry.

873
01:06:26.200 --> 01:06:37.040
But it's actually, it was true because love is a choice. I would love to serve your ministry.

874
01:06:37.040 --> 01:06:44.560
And I did it for two and a half years on a consistent basis. And within the first six

875
01:06:44.680 --> 01:06:52.800
months, all of a sudden, I began to see things that I liked. I began to see a perspective. I

876
01:06:52.800 --> 01:06:59.360
began to see an impact that that person's ministry style had that my ministry style

877
01:06:59.360 --> 01:07:06.840
didn't have. I began to learn and grow and receive from someone who didn't look like me.

878
01:07:06.960 --> 01:07:16.080
Romans 8, 19 is a key scripture for this. All creation longs for the sons of God to be revealed.

879
01:07:16.080 --> 01:07:22.560
I'm a created being. So what does that mean? I long for you to be revealed in my life,

880
01:07:22.560 --> 01:07:35.720
even if I don't like you. In God's infinite capacity to meet every single need that any

881
01:07:35.880 --> 01:07:44.160
person ever had, it's crazy that out of his love and sovereignty, he chooses not to do that.

882
01:07:44.160 --> 01:07:55.960
Let me explain. He chooses many times to take attributes of himself and he puts them in Josh,

883
01:07:56.280 --> 01:08:08.120
and he puts them in Josh so that if I want the fullness of God, I have to value Josh to get that

884
01:08:08.120 --> 01:08:15.600
attribute of God. And God does that with individuals. He does that with churches. He

885
01:08:15.600 --> 01:08:23.120
does that with church denominations. He does that with cultures, nations. I'm a nation's man. I love

886
01:08:23.240 --> 01:08:31.040
nations. Why? Because every time I go to a new nation, I experience a new culture, I get more

887
01:08:31.040 --> 01:08:38.880
of the multifaceted glory of God in his nature. I get more of him. Why? Because God has reserved

888
01:08:38.880 --> 01:08:46.920
unique aspects of himself to be only revealed in those people. Makes me have to value them.

889
01:08:47.880 --> 01:08:56.120
And then I find myself becoming more and more mature because I have feedback from people who

890
01:08:56.120 --> 01:09:07.200
do not look like me. And I start growing in a way that's incredible, in a way that's powerful.

891
01:09:07.200 --> 01:09:16.479
Let's talk about this last one. I'll wrap up with this. Five minutes and then you get a break. Come

892
01:09:16.520 --> 01:09:32.200
on, get ready. Coffee's over there, or in your kitchen. Come on. 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 2

893
01:09:32.200 --> 01:09:39.200
through 5. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate,

894
01:09:39.200 --> 01:09:45.720
self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach. He must manage his family well. If

895
01:09:45.760 --> 01:09:51.319
anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?

896
01:09:51.319 --> 01:09:58.320
My wife's statement is this. Revival isn't revival until it shows up in my home.

897
01:10:00.000 --> 01:10:06.640
What's she saying? It's got to start here first. If that doesn't affect this in a

898
01:10:06.640 --> 01:10:11.480
positive way, then something needs to change. Then that's not real revival

899
01:10:11.480 --> 01:10:16.720
because it starts in family. It started in a family and it's going to stay in

900
01:10:16.720 --> 01:10:24.200
family. Family is the container. It is what Stacy was talking about, the

901
01:10:24.200 --> 01:10:32.400
ecclesia. It's the community of believer. It's a family model and I've got to

902
01:10:32.400 --> 01:10:38.040
take care of my own family first. Now let me just tell you this

903
01:10:38.040 --> 01:10:45.480
because some people are like, well my daughter isn't serving the Lord anymore.

904
01:10:45.480 --> 01:10:50.800
How old is your daughter? She's 21. Well she's an adult. She has choices. Did you

905
01:10:50.800 --> 01:10:56.160
raise her that way? No I didn't. Well okay, like you're not

906
01:10:56.160 --> 01:11:02.080
disqualified from leadership because your children made a choice. Otherwise

907
01:11:02.080 --> 01:11:09.760
Jesus is disqualified from being a Savior because look what Judas did. You

908
01:11:09.760 --> 01:11:14.760
betrayed him. Well I thought Jesus was the best leader in the whole wide world.

909
01:11:14.760 --> 01:11:25.760
Potentially the whole universe and all eternity, right? Except he had Judas and

910
01:11:25.760 --> 01:11:31.640
he had Peter who denied him and all the other disciples except for one were

911
01:11:31.640 --> 01:11:38.040
scattered when Jesus gets murdered on the cross.

912
01:11:38.040 --> 01:11:47.400
But it's like how did he care for them? He gave them the same

913
01:11:47.400 --> 01:11:52.640
opportunities. The same opportunities to serve. The same opportunities to make

914
01:11:52.640 --> 01:11:57.000
choices. That's what leadership does. It actually gives freedom to make choices

915
01:11:57.000 --> 01:12:02.600
to see what people are going to choose and then their choice defines their

916
01:12:02.640 --> 01:12:10.040
character or where they're at in life. It's been really special right now this

917
01:12:10.040 --> 01:12:20.440
this season where both my daughters just recently, my daughter Kira, she's 21

918
01:12:20.440 --> 01:12:29.720
on the 22nd. She's like, God's been speaking to me dad. I'm like, yeah what's

919
01:12:29.720 --> 01:12:35.080
he been speaking? I know this is crazy and I said I'd never do it but I feel

920
01:12:35.080 --> 01:12:41.280
like I need to go to school of ministry. I'm like, yes.

921
01:12:42.920 --> 01:12:47.840
Now part of mom and dad's deal was we never wanted to force that on our

922
01:12:47.840 --> 01:12:53.480
children. It needs to be their choice. Well my daughter grew up in this

923
01:12:53.480 --> 01:12:59.480
environment and it's been really painful for her because it's a very transient

924
01:12:59.640 --> 01:13:04.040
environment. We have people coming in and going. It's coming and going,

925
01:13:04.040 --> 01:13:08.520
coming and going and she loves deeply and she gets these friends and she loves

926
01:13:08.520 --> 01:13:13.240
them so deep and the trauma of losing the level of friendship she had when

927
01:13:13.240 --> 01:13:17.800
they go and then having to start over with someone else has been so hard. She

928
01:13:17.800 --> 01:13:23.400
says, I don't know if I could ever do that again. It's painful but she just

929
01:13:23.440 --> 01:13:30.160
made that choice. My other daughter Madison, she was crying on the front row

930
01:13:30.160 --> 01:13:35.600
yesterday during the Inspire sessions, those season sessions and God's just

931
01:13:35.600 --> 01:13:40.880
touching her crazy snot cry like she's just in it with God on her knees.

932
01:13:40.880 --> 01:13:45.960
Rebecca Cooper's prophesying over her. You know, Haley's preaching her face off

933
01:13:45.960 --> 01:13:51.840
and like she preached all our faces off. It was awesome and all is happening. It's

934
01:13:51.840 --> 01:14:01.560
so incredible and she's like, hey dad, a friend of mine, her best friend

935
01:14:01.560 --> 01:14:09.160
growing up, they spent all kinds of time together. Her dad had a dream of Madison

936
01:14:09.160 --> 01:14:15.360
and in the dream she was going to a ministry school and the ministry school

937
01:14:15.360 --> 01:14:20.600
was $11,000 and she's like, well I can't afford that. I don't have the

938
01:14:20.600 --> 01:14:26.920
money for that and I knew instantly what this dream was about. She did

939
01:14:26.920 --> 01:14:32.640
too but she didn't want to admit it. I'm like, hmm, funny it said ministry

940
01:14:32.640 --> 01:14:42.240
school and this week she's like, hey I really feel like I'm supposed to go

941
01:14:42.240 --> 01:14:46.880
to school of ministry as well. So both my daughters. Now I'm just waiting on

942
01:14:46.880 --> 01:14:53.680
Connor, my son, come on. This is his year. But both my daughters and she's like, hey

943
01:14:53.680 --> 01:14:59.320
dad, did you know that ministry school, three years, cost $11,000 to go to school?

944
01:14:59.320 --> 01:15:02.000
I'm like...

945
01:15:00.000 --> 01:15:05.920
Like, hmm, I knew that.

946
01:15:05.920 --> 01:15:08.560
But I'm like, I'm pretty sure I might

947
01:15:08.560 --> 01:15:13.520
be able to get you a deal, might be able to get you a deal.

948
01:15:13.520 --> 01:15:15.120
Let me talk to my boss, KV.

949
01:15:17.680 --> 01:15:19.360
All right, well, hopefully we gave you

950
01:15:19.360 --> 01:15:21.800
some meat in that session.

951
01:15:21.800 --> 01:15:23.720
Lord, would you seal those things

952
01:15:23.720 --> 01:15:29.000
in our hearts and our minds and give us a great ability

953
01:15:29.000 --> 01:15:31.640
to not only apply it in our own life,

954
01:15:31.640 --> 01:15:36.240
but to be able to reproduce it in our communities

955
01:15:36.240 --> 01:15:40.440
and in the places and spaces that you've gifted us to lead.

956
01:15:40.440 --> 01:15:42.280
And that starts with our family, that we

957
01:15:42.280 --> 01:15:44.400
would reproduce that level of leadership,

958
01:15:44.400 --> 01:15:46.720
that level of father-mother leadership

959
01:15:46.720 --> 01:15:48.880
style in our own family.

960
01:15:48.880 --> 01:15:53.680
And we'd reproduce it in a way that looks like the kingdom.

961
01:15:53.680 --> 01:15:55.880
In Jesus' name, amen.

962
01:15:55.880 --> 01:15:57.760
How long is our break?

963
01:15:57.760 --> 01:15:59.920
15-minute break.

964
01:15:59.920 --> 01:16:03.080
Stretch, have fun, we'll see you soon.