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Supernatural Personnel

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By Bill Ebert

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Table of Contents

Introduction.................................................................7

Leadership and team building.....................................9

Chapter One.............................................................................11

Moses Builds the Tabernacle.....................................11Chapter Two.............................................................................17

The Treasure in the Field...........................................17

Chapter Three..........................................................................23

Role Relationships.....................................................23

Functioning in Multiple Roles...................................25

Chapter Four............................................................................27

Co-laborers................................................................27

Kingdom Principles for Co-laboring.........................30

Government...............................................................30

Chapter Five.............................................................................33

Jesus Preaching Jesus................................................33

Going to the Next Level............................................34

Chapter Six..............................................................................37

The Power in Delegation...........................................37

Chapter Seven..........................................................................41

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Know Those You Labor Among................................41

Chapter Eight...........................................................................45

Trust No One.............................................................45

Trust is Not Trust ......................................................47

Put No Confidence in the Flesh.................................50

No trust in the court system.......................................51

No Trust in Your Ability to Hold Wealth...................52

No Trust in Your Reasoning for Provision................52

Chapter Nine............................................................................53

Authority and Responsibility.....................................53

Honest Communication.............................................54

Define Roles and Rules.............................................55

Dont Judge Motives.................................................57

Station........................................................................58

Building a people.......................................................59Chapter Ten..............................................................................61

Promotion..................................................................61

Dysfunctional Relations............................................61

Chapter Eleven ........................................................................63

Kingdom communication..........................................63

Personality vs Purpose...............................................63

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Keeping your Hands Open........................................64

Perfect Communication.............................................65

Life Mastery..............................................................66

Finding and Fulfilling................................................67

Unfulfilled Expectations............................................67

Embracing Conflict...................................................69

Rocks in their Stream................................................70

Vision Turns to ISMs.................................................72

Idealism.....................................................................72

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Thank you so much for reading this draft and helping me get it

ready !!!

This is first draft and areas highlighted in yellow have more

content coming

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Introduction

The Kingdoms of this world should be subject to the Sons ofGod, the revelators of Heaven. God has heavenly vision or

kingdom design for every area of our lives. It requires

alignment for us to see the flow of God or the blessing of God

in our families, businesses and churches.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for

brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the

precious ointment upon the head, that ran down

upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that wentdown to the skirts of his garments; Psalm 133:1-2

Alignment with God is very important but alignment with each

other is just as important. It is the job of every member to seek

in humility their particular area of influence and work.

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Working to yield in both opinion and effort, preferring one

another, listening and looking for areas where we can be in

agreement.

We see the way the kingdom of God works; if we get inalignment with the purposes of God, we will be empowered

with gifts and supernatural talent or unction to fulfill God's

plans for the earth and thereby fulfilling our destinies and those

around us.

Paradigms or ways of thinking need to be reconsidered and

realigned to God's way for us to have His full blessing and

assistance. Many times people look only for helpers who will

reinforce their understanding and vision rather than continually

looking for God's.

This book is not an exhaustive training for leadership or team

building but rather an overview of major issues. These are

short paragraphs or chapters with kingdom paradigms to help

you realign your life, organizations or families toward God's

way of seeing and doing things.

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Leadership and team building

It is typically held that leaders do not mingle withemployees, officers do not fraternize with enlisted men and

captains of starships do not reveal their weaknesses to their

crew. These are all systems set in place by our society to make

leadership "less messy". Though this concept does make for a

smoother running organization, it also kills the very life flow

of what mentoring, discipleship and a team community should

supply. This way of thought breeds dictatorship-style leaders

and prohibits some of the very finest of people from reaching

the potential God has called them to.

An array of commentaries, articles and books have been

written on team work, leadership and building communities.

These terms or subjects are universally accepted, but the

definition and application of these principles vary so much that

clarity is needed to have any practical application. Variance on

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the application is so diverse that it is as if we are speaking

different languages and yet using the same words. It is subjects

like these that give us an idea of what the Tower of Babel was

like.

I chose many building terms while writing this book because

of the continual reference in scripture to building and its

processes as well as my exposure to the construction industry

for much of my life.

We all desire to have lives of fruitfulness and success in

family, life and ministry. My hope is that this book will help to

give some Biblical/Kingdom foundation for more fruitful

relationships as well as help redefine Godly roles in all that wedo.

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Chapter One

Moses Builds the Tabernacle

Gods ultimate plan is to build a habitation for Himself.

Moses was the first to build a type and shadow of this plan

Moses climbed the Mount of God, received a grand and

glorious vision, but before returning to camp, God instructed

him on the "Supernatural Personnel" that He had placed in his

group. Moses was told that the Master Builder would place the

Spirit of Wisdom on these men and that they would worktogether to build the Habitation of God. See Exodus 31

In similar ways, God births plans and visions in the hearts of

individuals. The carrying out of these plans are determined by

the giftings, skills and personalities He sends to work alongside

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us. Just as God required Moses to seek out supernatural

personnel, He requires us to be humble enough to realize that

we cannot complete any worthy kingdom plan alone.

What do you suppose would have happened if Mosesignored Gods direction and decided not to work with the

people He placed in the camp to build the tabernacle? We are

not given a choice as to the building material when God places

a person in our life.

I have seen many an organization fail as they rejected the

person God sent to help them get to the next level. As we can

never achieve any great change, thinking in the ways that got

us here, many times God sends us those who think differentlyto help us fulfill the plans and dreams God desires for us.

These difference, unseen for what they are, many times causes

division frustration and missed opportunity.

The individuals God directed to assist in building the

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Tabernacle, He "filled" with the Spirit of Wisdom,

Understanding and Knowledge. This building task required

skilled craftsmen in wood, gold and fine linen. Moses was

required to seek help from those individuals who were within

the camp. When God gives a vision to accomplish something,

He makes provisions in revelation, finances and personnel to

see it accomplished.

Without these people, Moses would not have been able to do

the things God called him to. These types of Biblical examples

should be heeded seriously. If we are called to carry out a plan

for God, it is our responsibility to ask, "Who is called to be a

part of the 'Supernatural Personnel', how do I recognize them

and how do we work together to build His Plan?"

In building the tabernacle, Moses cant tell the goldsmith, I

think we need to melt the gold at 247 degrees. The goldsmith

might be very hesitant to take lead from Moses as, Thats not

how you melt gold.

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Moses worked together with the goldsmith, but had to

submit to the wisdom of the skilled craftsman when his part

was being done. Many of today's leaders would do well to

allow their people the freedom to make mistakes and help to

formulate the building processes of the plan. Even though

Moses was the one God chose to speak through, he was still

required to submit to circumstances, personalities and opinions

of the skilled craftsmen.

There were certain things about the building of the

tabernacle that could not be changed. For some things God told

Moses, It has to be exactly this tall, it has to be exactly this

wide. The goldsmith could not say, You know, it would work

better if it was two inches shorter. There was no flexibility in

the construction sizes or the end result. The goldsmith did not

have the authority or role that allowed him to change the vision

to his own specifications. However, the goldsmith did have the

authority to say, You know, we are going to need this much

gold to complete the job. Were not supposed to talk the

craftsman out of that jobhe is the expert. The trick here is to

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find the proper balance of authority, responsibility and develop

role relationships that work.

It would do a team well to first determine what parts of the

plan are open for discussion and input. It saves time to clearlycommunicate the areas that are not open for input or outside

the area of responsibility and authority from the other team

members. The problem with this type of communication is it

frustrates the typical leader in today's systems and

organizations. The typical leader or what is sometimes referred

to the type A personality already thinks he knows what needs

to be done and despises the details and slowness of talk.

One way to handle this is to assign the defining stage to agroup or a person who loves this clarity process and re-

communicate the decisions to the leader in a more concise

method. Leaving open the directives as points of question for

the leader to instruct.

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Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,

that he may run that readeth it. Hab 2:2

The leader or visionary has the first responsibility to

communicate the vision, to describe where we are going and

what it looks like once we arrive. The TEAM helps define how

long it will take, what resources are needed and many times,

how we get there. Often a very wise leader will write his plans

in chalk and hand God the eraser. Letting time, culture and

circumstance decide the final outcome.

Herein is the wisdom of kingdom teams. We determine by

the design of God who is called to fulfill what function and

then through fearful submission one to another we find places

of overlapping compromise, acceptance, other areas of

individuality and self rule.

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outside the circle are areas of flexibility or willingness to grow

share or give and take in control or rule. And the lightest parts

and the places where we need help or require instruction or are

willing to share or engage others.

In my experience of working with thousands of companies

and churches in the last 25 years I find that the most important

thing I can do to help any company is to define how much

help I can give them and in what capacity they will let me

engage. In the more unflexable companies or churches the boss

has very strictly defined culture, process and goals as well as

the paths he set in place for them to get there, trying to consult

a leader like this is completely impossible as an employee as

his understanding of employ is to own and direct the employee

till his objected end is achieved. Some are willing to engage on

a outside service or consulting relationship and this role

definition seems to help him let go enough to hear outside help.

It is like the old school Pastor who, once a person becomes a

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member of his church there needs to be permission for things

like bible studies or prayer meetings as the pastor in this role

believes it is his job to protect the flock but the same person

not a member can write books or have TV show or have

meetings or pray with people and many Pastors are suddenly

ok with that or even encourage prayer with others not in his

congregation.

Defining your engagement and understanding how others are

best equipped to work will empower and make the relationship

inspire more freedom and fruitfulness.

This is not just for leaders as there are people who work

better under defined goals and tasks and those who flourishunder little supervision with extreme flexibility. More on this

in Role Relationships.

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Chapter Two

The Treasure in the Field

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure

hidden in the field; which a man found, and hid;

and in his joy he goeth and selleth all that he hath,

and buyeth that field. Mat 13:44

This man sells everything he has to buy the field. He didnt

go buy the treasure--even though that is what he wanted--he

bought the field. He had to buy the field to obtain the treasure

and sells everything to get it. Along with the field came

overgrown grass, rocks and problems.

When a new person walks into our life, they are a field;

theyve got overgrown grass, rocks and trouble. But inside of

every individual there is a treasure, the greatest gift and the

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most precious substance. The kingdom of God is entrusted to

His children, The Creator of the Universe can be found in

them.

The kingdom of God is established in earthen vessels, allneeding mercy, forgiveness and unconditional love. We will be

rewarded greatly as we serve and embrace His children with

longsuffering, patience and kindness. It is in relationships that

the hidden treasures and the purposes for our life are found,

loving your neighbor as you love yourself.

The Church is like a box of cereal; its full of flakes, fruits

and nuts, but there's a prize in every box. We have to start

embracing one another with all our weaknesses because insideeach of us lives Jesus Himself and the Glory of God. Unless

we sacrifice our comforts and purchase through love and

patience the people God puts in our life, were going to

continue to miss the treasures of God.

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Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro his

father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the

flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to

the mountain of God, unto Horeb. And the angel of

Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out

of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold,

the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not

consumed. And Moses said, I will turn aside now,

and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.

And when Jehovah saw that he turned aside to see,

God called unto him out of the midst of the bush,

and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.

And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy

shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou

standest is holy ground. Exodus. 3:1-5

We are like this bush; earthen and heavenly, consumable, yet

not consumed, indwelt by the presence of God yet not burned

up. It is when we "turn to see" this great thing that God has

done in others that we will begin to receive the ministry and

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glory deposited in our fellow believers. Jesus said, "If you will

receive a prophet as a prophet you will receive a prophets

reward." Matthew 10:41

This is not some heavenly reward that God will hand you

some day in eternity, but rather the ministry of the prophet will

manifest when we receive the gift of God He has deposited in

the prophet.

Jesus had difficulty performing any great works in His home

town because they did not receive Him. How much more do

we need to receive each other to begin seeing the body operate

as it was intended? You may have heard it said that a person

will rise to the expectations placed on them, but I would say in

the kingdom of God, believers will grow and manifest ministry

as those around them will have faith in God and receive each

believer as a minister of Christ. You have the ability to draw

ministry from others by encouraging them and expecting great

things from them.

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Our culture tells us that only "full-time preachers" are real

ministers. Lets begin to change this mentality so that we might

mobilize allto become ambassadors for Christ. 2 Cor 5:20

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Chapter Three

Role Relationships

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into

him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

From whom the whole body fitly joined together

and compacted by that which every joint supplies,

according to the effectual working in the measure

of every part, makes increase of the body unto the

edifying of itself in love. Eph 4:15-16

In many of our relationships, we will play more than one

role. For example, in marriage, a Christian man will relate to

his wife as a husband, a brother, a friend, a co-parent and if

they work together, a boss or employee. Depending on the task

they are performing or the discussion they are having, he willrelate to his wife in a different role. Clearly defined role

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relationships make for clearer communication and productivity.

The foggier or misunderstood a role relationship is, the more

room there is for strife or confusion.

The scriptures teach us to relate to others according to theirstation in life as it relates to our station in life. God has

established these authorities for His ultimate purpose and

learning how to relate in Godly or Kingdom principles will

help us to walk in more harmony together. Joel 2.

The source of many conflicts is the lack of establishing

proper role relationships. For example, a business owner

becomes a good friend with one of his employees. They agree

to go fishing on the weekend. If the boss treats his friend as anemployee by making him clean the fish, bait the hooks and

load the car, it makes for a well defined line of authority, but

it's not going to make for a lasting friendship. In another case,

a ministry employer believes his ideas should be followed

without question, but his employee perceives that his position

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This may seem complicated at first glance, "Do you mean I

have to change role relationships every time I change topics in

a conversation?" It's not as hard as it seems, actually we

automatically change roles, we just dont think about it.

A few examples and some ways to understand this principle

will help us in future relationships.

Going back to the boss and employee fishing, as the

conversation stays on fishing each person's level of experience

and personality will determine who has control in the

conversation. If the subject changes to what needs to be done

Monday morning at work, suddenly the employee finds

himself in a submitted position. Conversation could continueall day switching back and forth. As topics change, levels of

authority and submission are established for each topic.

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Chapter Four

Co-laborers

For we are laborers together with God: ye are

God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

According to the grace of God, which is given unto

me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the

foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let

every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 1

Cor 3:9-10

Co-laboring is an interesting and wonderful concept with

many variations in its application. The scriptures give

examples of co-laborers, but there doesnt seem to be a perfect

pattern on which to build this concept. We see more in

principle than in pattern. For example, Jesus co-labored with

John the Baptist and only one time were they recorded to have

a conversation (Mat 3:14-15). The twelve Apostles co-labored,

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but their labor was done out of an intimate daily community of

prayer, fellowship and labor. This latter form of co-ministry is

the one I will spend most time defining because it is the most

difficult to maintain and is currently a form of ministry greatly

lacking in the Church.

Some are called to a place of aloneness, but this is not the

general rule for we are called to be "stones fitted together". On

the other hand, it is not essential that we go to the other

extreme and say that everyone must live in a community where

we know everything about those we labor with. Knowing

whether a person likes the color red and enjoys sleeping in on

Saturdays has its place in community, but is not the type of

knowing we need pursue when building relationships in the

kingdom.

One of the most difficult things we do as believers or leaders

is to work with other people. Even in the most God-ordained

and established relationships like marriages, families and

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churches, there are conflicts, power struggles and

misunderstandings. Weve seen the fruits of miscommunication

and misunderstanding in church splits, divorces, family splits

and heated arguments. Even when we know it to be the will of

God for us to walk together with someone, we know that it

doesnt mean smooth sailing.

The understanding and yielding to authority and

responsibility will bring much peace to organizations, families

and churches. Most conflicts in the world today could be

avoided if we operate within the kingdom principles of

communication and understanding role relationships.

God has established the government of role relationships andauthorities and if we follow them, we will have more harmony.

Understanding, that the form is never enough; if we build the

perfect organization but have not the blessing and presence of

God, it will be a total failure. A nation or people can only go so

far by building on principle alone; the building of God is living

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and moving and must never be confined to structure alone but

be open and free to move outside the boundaries of our current

understanding or it will become dead, as most do. Eventually

becoming a tool of the enemy to resist the flow of God.

Kingdom Principles for Co-laboring

Our churches, businesses and marriages steal their ideas

from the world far too often when it comes to how we should

operate and manage our relationships. We need to establish our

communities on scripture and Spirit-led living rather than on

worldly foundations if we desire the blessings and the

abundance of the kingdom.

Government

The governments that we are most familiar with are a

Democracy where the social conscience rules and a

Dictatorship where a single man or small group rules. If aChurch bases its government on the principles of a strong

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dictatorship, the people will be afraid, intimidated and

cautious. Individuals will find themselves in bondage even to

the truths of that Church. A Pastor or leader who is afraid of

losing control or authority, or doesn't believe that God can rule

his Church, has to resort to control and dictatorship where his

word is final and no one can question, confront or correct him

because he is the leader. The other extreme is where the

Church is ruled by a board or the opinion of the masses. This

breeds compromise and weak leadership that is not able to

truly lead their people into victory. God established His Church

on kingdom principles and the Church is to be ruled as a

Theocracy.

A theocracy will at times look like a democracy and other

times seem to be a dictatorship where only those who are open

enough to truth and close enough to the leaders, will know the

labors involved in co-ruling a theocracy. Jesus still desires a

place to lay His head. Leaders should work together to hear His

voice, do His work on His timing, His direction, His purpose,

His plan, His way.

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Chapter Five

Jesus Preaching Jesus

Jesus still appears in a form that we dont recognize to see if

well find Him. He was on the road preaching resurrection to

two of His own disciples and they didnt know who He was

because He appeared in a form that they didnt recognize. We

dont get a more powerful message than Jesus preaching Jesus.

He sat down with His disciples and broke bread with them. The

same is true with us in that place of fellowship, of broken

bread, that we commune with one another. It is at that level of

intimacy that we finally realize, This person is Jesus. Yes, we

have to suffer through inconvenience, disappointment and

frustrationour brother's fieldso that we can get the

treasure.

We have to be willing to go down to that next level andrealize that in the fellowship with our brother, the place of

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broken bread, we can find out what his gifts are. Some peoples

gifts shine brightly and it is real easy to see the gift, but the rest

of Jesus sits out in fields and we miss Him day after day.

Going to the Next Level

In most cases, God will intentionally send someone with

faults, problems and areas that are our button-pushers.

Aggressive personalities dont like other aggressive

personalities, and Hes going to send aggressive personalities

our way, someone who doesnt agree with us just to see if well

receive them anyway. Are you going to fulfill My vision and

My plan, My way? Or do you just want to make it

comfortable? Do you want to put pads on this cross you

promised to bear? Are you going to suffer inconvenience,

frustration, and confusion with someone that I gave you

intentionally that you dont like. Or are you going to flounder

through life with some successes and some failures? He has a

plan to see our visions and our plans successful, but we have to

do it His way; sometimes, its going to hurt and its going to

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kill us. Our circumstances are there intentionally to kill us.

Two of the greatest forces of the universe are trying to kill us

and one of them is going to win--we need to let God do it.

Some of the greatest gifts and callings are surrounded with

some of the ugliest filth you ever want to meet, embrace them!

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Chapter Six

The Power in Delegation

Moses who was called to be the leader was referred to in

Scripture as the humblest man alive. Even though he was

called to lead, he made many administration and management

mistakes, but he was humble enough to recognize his

weaknesses, his inabilitys and his need for other people. When

his father-in-law gave him counsel that he needed captains of

50s, captains of 100s, and captains of 1,000s, Moses took the

advice realizing that in his own ability and strength he alone

could not do the simplest of task of counseling. The masses

became overwhelming task for a single man. Likewise, in

every stage; counseling, building, gathering stones and

perfecting the stones, we need to find out what our gift and

calling is and do that one thing. We then draw on the gifts and

talents from those God has placed in our life and help them do

their part.

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In administration, delegation is a necessary key. We cant

delegate if were so proud and believe that we're the only one

who can do the job. The power in delegation and the difficulty

in delegation is to wait for the right person to do it. God, if

this is Your vision, You are going to provide me the help. And

we wait until the right person comes in to assist in fulfilling

Gods vision. When they do come, spend time with the

individualsnot with the eventuntil they are ready (not

perfect) and release them. Give them the authority and

responsibility to do their part and let go.

If we have so many events going on and are burnt out, its

probably not God. My yoke is easy, my burden is light.

Overworked is not the cross; it is an emphasis on flesh and

activity. That is not what the kingdom is about.

No matter how grand and glorious of a plan we have, we

cant go out and do it all by ourselves. We have to wait for the

right person and deal with them and not the issues. We have the

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tendency to 'help' our team members do their job, or help them

improve their life. Many times we think its for their own good

or for the good of the organization and give individuals tasks

that theyre not good at. Even though we see a weakness in a

persons life, we in most cases, need to keep them from it and

not help them go through it. We shouldn't force people into

failure situations just because thats a weakness for them. One

of Jesus prayers was, Lead us not into temptation. Its not

our job to take the role of the enemy and press someone to a

place of temptation. Find the gift in a person and see if we can

mold it into one vision.

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Chapter Seven

Know Those You Labor Among

Wherefore exhort one another, and build each

other up, even as also ye do. But we beseech you,

brethren, to know them that labor among you,

and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;

and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for

their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves.

And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the

disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the

weak, be longsuffering toward all".

1 Thessalonians 5:11-14

We're required to know the spiritual condition of those we

walk together with in ministry. Even though it isn't a bad thing

to know the temporal or earthly conditions of those we walk

together with, the scripture does not emphasize that we need to

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have a detailed chart of the day-to-day events done by those in

ministry with us. The other extreme would be to see someone

you co-labor with occasionally and judge the success of the

relationship by getting a "good feeling" or the numbers of

people they have following them.

In this area, I have seen all the extremes played out from

someone appointed to ministry responsibility without any

relationship, to those whose lives were so over examined that

they could never measure up to the standards of leadership.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to see if

relationships are healthy and moving toward this scriptural

condition:

First, do I have a number of people in my life both

more mature and less mature who know me well

enough to exhort, admonish, encourage, and support

me?

Do I have relationships that rely on me to regularly

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exhort, admonish, encourage, and support?

There are so many things that could prohibit the

effectiveness of this type of fruit in your life and ministry. I

will attempt to address only a few:

Leaders dont desire this type of relationship.

People are so wounded and mistreated they are not willing to

trust.

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Chapter Eight

Trust No One

This section may seem to be a contradiction to some of the

principles of scripture and even some of the things written in

this book. I believe that this is a common experience in the

kingdom of God--finding a truth that seems to contradict a

different truth is usually a good opportunity to find an even

deeper one. In most cases a person will hold to one truth or the

other rather than find the balance or third truth that makes it

alive. Examples of this would be the division of faith vs worksto enter the kingdom, grace and judgement for the believer,

woman called to ministry, submission, or freedom in worship

vs. tradition. Where I dont plan to address these issues in this

book I will bring up a new one:

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It is better to trust in the LORD than to put

confidence in man. Psa 118:9 It is better to trust in

the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

Psa 118:8

Offering trust, believing all things or giving someone of a

trustworthy report the things of the kingdom are principles we

are to live by. But when our reliance on the ability of others is

our determining factor in our decision rather than our trust in

God's ability to accomplish the things that need doing, we are

misplacing trust that should only be given to the Master. This

perspective of trust will always lead to failure, disappointment

and for both parties, it will hinder the work of God. In a

situation, the trusted feels obligated to a human expectation

rather than a surrender to God and the trustor holds hisexpectation out as reward rather than the promise of God to

hear the words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant".

This may be difficult for many to hear because our culture and

society has put a big emphasis on the topic of trust.

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Trust is Not Trust

The world, our society, movies and TV fill us with this

worldly trust concept that prohibits freedom in relationships

and maintains co-dependent behavior in many roles we

maintain in our lives.

You may have heard comments like these I just can't stay

married to him, I just dont trust him, etc.

This is not to ignore wisdom in choosing people to hold

positions of responsibility. Instead, it is to set proper guides in

these choices rather than our prejudices and standards that are

many times motivated by our own fears or worldly principles.

This seems to be an issue mainly with those persons in

authority who are responsible or capable to give others

positions of power or responsibility but can't seem to find

people whom they can trust.

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If our standards are our concepts of ability or maturity, we

will hinder growth in those around us.

We see this in the home of a teenager; Dad knows his son's

weaknesses and past failures and therefore can not see beyond

them to trust him to be responsible with new freedoms. Or

the boss who sees desires in his workers to rise above their

current stations but knows that their skill set will cause them to

make mistakes if they are given more.

A person will justify these behaviors by saying he is

concerned about his people or business but unless his co-

laborers are rebellious or severely lacking in character, it is our

responsibility to allow people to grow and have responsibility

before they are perfect.

God gave me a wife before I was a good husband, He gave

me children before I was a good father. We need to be an

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example of His trust in others by allowing those around us

some room to grow and not cutting them off when they make

errors in deed or judgment.

I was talking to a man once about some of my pastexperiences in business. In his analysis of the reasons why

some things went bad in my past was due to me allowing those

who were not mature to handle things they were not ready for.

He asked me if I learned my lesson yet. I told him I still

believed it was the will of God for Jesus to let Judas hold the

moneybag. Today, some of my most faithful friends are those

who I allowed to mess up knowing they probably would and

taking just as much responsibility for their actions as my own.

Many of these people tell me how much they appreciated the

opportunity when others would not give them a break. Sure its

a risk, but what is more valuable to God than the discipling of

His children? What business or organization should stand if

true disciples arent being made in them?

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Put No Confidence in the Flesh

"Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because

he knew all men, and needed not that any should

testify of man: for he knew what was in man".

John 2:24, 25

We have been bombarded by the media and the social

conscience to exalt the concept of trust way beyond its true

intent. Trust in most cases has nothing to do with empowering

others to fulfill their destiny, but rather an earthly, self-centered

and misplaced romanticism that will ultimately strangle the

"trusted" and discourage and disappoint the "trustor".

Our hope and trust should only be in Jesus. We surroundourselves with the trustworthy, yet Jesus fellowshipped with

thieves and sinners. He even gave His money bag to the

betrayer in the group.

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Many of the concepts of scripture have been turned inside-

out and therefore have lost their power. Mt. 15:6 Freedom is

manipulated to such a degree that it no longer has any life, but

only division and death. Christians have misinterpreted trust so

often that what is accepted is, "We first develop trust in others

before they will hear our gospel," or "I can't give someone

responsibility until I can trust them with it," or "I dont know if

I can continue to walk with, stay married to, fellowship with

this person--I just dont trust them. The American concept of

trust is just selfish expectation in disguise; it breeds suspicion,

fear, separation and confusion. Jesus' most basic teaching

surrounded the issue of trust. Listen for it in these quotes:

And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile,

go with him two. Mat 5:40-41

No trust in the court system

And if any man would go to law with thee, and

take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

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Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that

would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Mat

5:42

No Trust in Your Ability to Hold Wealth

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and

where thieves do not break through nor steal:

Mat 6:20

No Trust in Your Reasoning for Provision

Therefore I say unto you, be not anxious for your

life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; noryet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the

life more than the food, and the body than the

raiment? Mat 6:25

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Chapter Nine

Authority and Responsibility

The understanding of authority and responsibility will bring

much peace to organizations families and churches. Most

conflicts in the world today could be avoided.

The idolatry of individualism in America has influenced

even the way we think about spiritual growth. Most spiritual

formation teaching tends to be self centered without any

reference to our relationships to others. This is completely

unbiblical and ignores much of the New Testament.

Proper authority and kingdom principles must be established

that will help resolve conflicts and teach people how to work

together, become fitly joined where each part "supplies" to

build the habitation of God.

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There is so much that could be said on the subject of

communication that book stores are filled with books on the

topic of communication. So for the sake of space time and

simplicity, I will only mention a few tools for effective

communication.

Honest Communication

Honest communication is not very well received in our

society but is crucial to building fruitful and lasting

relationships. One of the drawbacks in honest communication

is that sometimes it eliminates and alienates those who might

walk together with you. Jesus used many methods to gather the

masses but once they were gathered, He was more concerned

with truth and quality than with numbers of people.

The possibility of offense keeps people from being honest

with each other. In addition, we dont want to be rejected and

honesty causes us to be vulnerable to rejection. Honest

communication takes time. This and other reasons keep us

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from "real" relationships, but dont settle for mediocrity

because our society has established norms that keep us separate

from our family. Break free from fear and communicate.

Define Roles and Rules

If we dont define our desires and expectations, people will

offend our boundaries and continue to say and do things that

make us uncomfortable. Lets say you were to invite a guest

into your home for a season. While your guest was living there,

they began to discipline your children and eat all your food,

you would probably define the rules of the home quickly. If

you make clear from the start what you expect and help the

other person find solutions to what they see as needs, you willbegin harmony.

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Dont Under-Communicate or Over-Communicate

Seeing that everyone is different, there are no set-in-granite

rules. Depending on the consequences of that relationship or

the tasks that are involved will determine how much time

should be spent with the person defining roles and rules. It

would be commonly expected that if a school director hired

someone to head up their Christian school, they would want to

spend a great deal of time in defining authority lines,

philosophy, responsibilities and gaining a place of agreement

on important issues before committing to such a trustedrelationship. In another instance, to hire a person to mow your

lawn you might not even need words, just point them in the

general direction. Now, if a school director is the type person

to hire a School Master and then point him in the general

direction, but spend twenty minutes telling the lawn guy just

how he wants his yard to look, he should reconsider his

leadership position and ability.

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Dont Judge Motives

Years ago, my daughter Hannah who was three years old the

time, was playing with a friend who was a few years older and

he thought it would be fun to play hide and seek. He said to a

visiting friend, "Let's hide from Hannah and run from her".

Well, you all know a three year old little girl judged his motive

and began to cry saying, "I'll never play with you again!"

Offenses are taken many times and communication stopped

just because one person improperly judges the motives of

another. How many times have we seen someone give us acertain look or say something to us sharply and we

automatically assume they are mad at us.

We must always believe the best of people removing the

suspicion that is so prevalent in our society. We are being

trained by the world to protect ourselves and to judge every

persons motivation. In movies, we know the motivation of

everyone by the background music and in life we carry it on

with our limited life experience assuming the motive of othersby our weakness, woundeness or limited experience.

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We might see someone intense and raising his voice often

and assume he is an angry person who just does not care about

others feelings, or see someone who does not work or produce

as well as others and assume they are lazy. A leader or good

team member does not assume motive but helps discover it. If

the motivation is bad we help fix it.

Station

We are all subject to the positions we hold in this world.

Some would clamor to be free of the limitations placed on

them by the conditions of their stations. I would like to suggest

they are for our good and part of the plan of the Kingdom to

make us stronger to help us find God and to mold us into the

people of God we are called to be.

We are all subject to restrictions of our station and free from

them at the same time. Jesus was teaching in the temple at the

age of 12. His arguments amazed the teachers of the day. He

was the Son of God and could have done much to teach and

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work for His heavenly Father even at this early age. But His

comments and actions show His understanding of His station.

Building a people

A wise man, Wade Taylor said, God makes no perfect

people and no perfect organizations on purpose. We are not to

look to our building but to the Builder. We who labor alone

labor in vain. If we look to any of these instructions as our

standard or to the pattern as our hope, we have missed the path

of peace and life. Our hope is only found in Jesus and His

continual guiding. It is possible that God will choose our life to

not fit any pattern and our labors to be without evident

building. This is a great and wonderful thing about serving our

God, He is God and does things in unique ways.

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Chapter Ten

Promotion

People first 'and' last. You have heard a father and husband

make the excuse that the reason they are always working and

have no time for the family is because they care for the family

and want the best life for them so they are workaholics. OR the

Pastor who in attempt to save the world, his own family is lost.

Even his closest workers in the church are burned out, used up

and then tossed aside when they are having hardships.

Dysfunctional Relations

Many years of counseling, I have run into the question as to

whether a person finding themselves in a codependent,

dysfunctional or abusive relationship wondering if they should

leave or stay. Many circles promote the position that leadership

is always right and when they are wrong, you quietly submit

until God changes their heart. While this may seem like aposition based on grace and peace, it is actually the opposite in

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many cases. Consider the current doctrines and positions we all

currently hold dear all came from a group or individual who

would war against the established leadership to change the

status quo.

On the other hand, God does establish rule and authority in

government and business as well as most areas of life including

the family.

Paul stayed; Peter left. We see in the book of acts that both

Peter and Paul found themselves imprisoned by unbelievers

and God opened the prison doors for them to escape. In the

case of Paul he chose to stay a prisoner wrongly accused and

Peter chose to leave the system that held him.

In both cases, the men followed their beliefs and conscience

to determine which was best for them and those on the outside

can argue who was right or who was wrong and why but God

judges the motive and the heart.

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Chapter Eleven

Kingdom communication

I hope to someday write an entire book on this subject but

here is an overview.

Personality vs Purpose

Are we fixing people vs helping them find their calling? So

many times we try to make people in our image or in an image

we think is best for them. In our attempt to help some we

thwart or frustrate many. We have rule in our circles not to help

adjust a person's personality or preferences even if it annoys

others but only focus on what God desires for the person and

the things that are hindering the agreed goals we have with

each other.

In this way, we can celebrate differences and leave room for

diversity in temperament and personality.

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A calm person seeing the benefits of calm does not have to

make the energetic and active members in his group conform

to his personality and the prompt or exacting person does not

have to teach the relaxed 'go with the flow' person all the

benefits of punctuality.

What we do want to focus on are what we call the rocks in

their stream the attitudes, sins, or actions that are hindering

their flow with God and their influence in the areas they are

called.

Keeping your Hands Open

You own nothing, without God we can do nothing. I believe

the key of David, being able to have a throne that was

established forever and ever was that David did not do it.

David allowed the call of God to become manifest by the

timing and will of the Father. Many great things are done in the

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name of the Kingdom but few men are willing to wait on the

Lord and 'only' do what the Father says do.

It is also just as important to hand over the rule of your

office and the keys to your kingdom to those around you in realdelegation and ownership for them to become who God has

called them to be.

Perfect Communication

Mastering communication but never expecting it. Patience,

long-suffering, kindness, gentleness and love are the keys to

true kingdom communication. Communication is difficult in a

world of distraction and sound bite communication where the

average person won't read a book and the youth of our country

will rarely watch a video that is longer than 4 minutes.

Mastering the language and arguing flawlessly is not

kingdom communication. An anointed, God purposed heart,

preferring one another, speaking the truth and challenging

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those around us to greatness. This is perfect communication. If

you were to live this perfectly God's will would be done and

fruit would be born, whether you find yourself and your

organization successful in the world's eyes or not.

Life Mastery

Excellence in God's house is unlike that of the world. After

times of refreshing and encouragement we immediately suffer

pain, rejection or temptation for the purpose of making the

Word real and drive it deep into our character. Those who draw

back God has no pleasure in and the work of the fiery press

seems to almost disappear.

We are to become the message not just preach it or force it

on others. Ever learning never coming to the knowledge of the

one true God is the condition of most who call themselves

believers and it is time we become those who do not run from

trouble but embrace all forms of conflict and allow the process

to change us and to kill what needs to be killed.

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Finding and Fulfilling

The greatest goal of any leader, husband or father is to find

and fulfill the gifts and calling of those in his employ or sphere

of influence. The glorious opportunity to find the balance of

service and practical leadership growing in our ability to lead

others to the Creator.

Unfulfilled Expectations

Mastering the skill of peacemaker can be one of your most

worthy endeavors. If you were to master this one area you

would gain in influence in every single area of your life.

Since 100% of all life's conflicts come from this one thing,

how effective would you be as a peacemaker if you mastered

the cure.

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Whether it is a country going to war or two little kids

fighting in the park the conflict is exactly the same root. There

is one or more expectations being unfulfilled. Someone wants

something and they don't see it happening.

Listening is the first key to mastering this skill. Listen first

to the person who is suffering and then listen to the Spirit of

God. You will be surprised with exercising this listening you

will begin to find the root cause for each persons unfulfilled

expectation.

There are basically three solutions to unfulfilled expectation

1. we stop expecting and accept the reality of the current

condition.

2. we change the situation or person who can give us what

we need and thereby fulfilling our expectation

3. we move toward compromise or negotiation and

change both people's expectations and now have

resolve.

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Embracing Conflict

In the movie Matrix 2, Neo walks in a room and is asked by

the doorkeeper is he is THE ONE when Neo replies yes the

doorkeeper immediately begins fighting with him swinging

kicking wildly to do whatever he can to hit Neo. Then just as

suddenly as it starts, the doorkeeper stops and says, Ok, you

are the one.

Neo replies, Well, you just could have asked.

The response was amazing. The doorkeeper said, You don't

really know someone till you fight with them.

How true this is on so many levels. Until we can get to

honest communication we are living in a false reality or social

game of politics or politeness.

Just as it is true that friendship is built on inconvenience the

reality of kingdom is only found when its foundations are

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revealed. How many times I've seen popular leaders after

calamity or failure say I never knew who my real friends were

or the motivation of those around me until the success fell

away.

I'm not saying to pick a fight with everyone you know or to

be so offensive that only the truly spiritual will be be able to

stand you. But I would say relationships unchallenged are

relationships unfounded. In a world of superficial people,

covenant-breakers and a sound bite society, do not be surprised

if those you call friends are few.

Rocks in their Stream

Wounded and imperfect people make for bad partners and

co-laborers. But too bad, that's all you get to work with. I have

been on the inside some of the largest ministries and businesses

in the world, behind the scenes of some of the most prosperous

and fruitful adventures. You would be shocked to find the types

of people who are running these ventures.

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Some of the organizations that are gathering large numbers

of customers and huge followings in ministry are run by some

of the weirdest, silliest or dysfunctional people you can image

and yet, God has many wonderful things coming from them.

Not only is He using these things in spite of their weakness

but many times because of it. For example, one the the meanest

and proudest leaders I have ever worked for was also one of

the most fruitful, purging and purifying for this ministry he

worked for. What caused so much pain in the lives of some

was used of God to bring fruit and life and purge many hearts

and motives. God was not in the anger and the meanness of

this person but He did a work anyway.

The really bad thing in this case was this angry person saw

God doing this purging work and it reinforced his agenda and

caused him to be even meaner. God's grace on those we abuse

is no excuse for abuse and yet the unhealthy version of the

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submission doctrine, the command and control mentality of the

world still propagates and justifies these behaviors.

Chapter 12

Vision Turns to ISMs

I have seen many cases where a person or organization has a

wonderful vision, but turns to frustration in many of those

joined with it because leadership breeds idealism or schism

Idealism

Idealistic relationships, processes and systems may be a vision

from heaven; but in reality, personalities, skill-sets and

circumstance will always, on this side of glory, prohibit

perfection and breed frustration in many if the people in the

systems don't measure up to the leaders ideals.

Leaders sometimes add levels of human perfection or

performance that are unreasonable. With the old paradigm that

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leaders are to drive results, people get driven instead of served

or led. Expectation in levels of commitment, dedication and

performance obligate people to the whims and expectations of

the leader or organization instead of freeing them to find their

voice in their performance and calling.

Leaders can have both.

The typical aggressive leader feels unsure when he relinquishes

control, believing the job will not get done as he would do it or

sees it. This many times restricts people from seeing things

from their own gifting and trying to perceive what the boss

would do.

There are secular and kingdom companies today who have

discovered a new way one where the people and their voice is

just as important as the leaders vision.

It isn't until the leaders realize that excellence is secondary to

human growth, participation and grace. The people are the

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reason for the vision not the vision.

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