Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton's Posts - Black Preaching Network
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Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
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Striving Versus Abiding
tag:abcpreachers.ning.com,2010-03-05:916966:BlogPost:1247101
2010-03-05T12:14:29.000Z
Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
Striving Versus Abiding<br></br>
By Os Hillman, March 5, 2010<br></br>
Powered By Marketplace Leaders<br></br>
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Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. - Psalm 127:1a<br></br>
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What does it mean for the Lord to build the house? It almost seems a contradiction when we consider that we might be the builders in this passage. God wants us to allow Him to build the house. He explains further:<br></br>
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Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord…
Striving Versus Abiding<br/>
By Os Hillman, March 5, 2010<br/>
Powered By Marketplace Leaders<br/>
<br/>
Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. - Psalm 127:1a<br/>
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What does it mean for the Lord to build the house? It almost seems a contradiction when we consider that we might be the builders in this passage. God wants us to allow Him to build the house. He explains further:<br/>
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Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat - for He grants sleep to those He loves (Psalm 127:1-2).<br/>
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God is telling us there is a way of working without striving. There is a way to conduct business without sweating and toiling for outcome. His warning to each of us is to avoid thinking that outcome is based on our sweat and toil. Outcome is based on obedience. That outcome is sometimes more than we deserve. Sometimes it is less than we hoped for. His desire for each of us is to see Him working in our daily work life. He wants us to avoid looking to our own effort to gain an outcome.<br/>
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One day Jesus called out to Peter from the shore of the lake and suggested he throw his net on the other side of the boat. It was this simple act of obedience that yielded a tremendous catch that he would not have received unless he obeyed.<br/>
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We are called to work; He is called to bring forth the fruit. He is the vine. We are the branches. Fruit comes forth naturally from a healthy tree.<br/>
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Today, ask God to show you when you enter into striving. Ask Him to show you the difference between loving trust and obedience and striving for outcome. It can be challenging for us to balance this in our daily work experience. He wants to help us walk in this freedom and rest.<br/>
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Knowledge + Action = Faith
tag:abcpreachers.ning.com,2010-03-04:916966:BlogPost:1246109
2010-03-04T12:22:04.000Z
Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
<div align="left"><div class="syndicationTitle" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.3em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdanda;">Knowledge + Action = Faith</span></div>
<div class="syndicationByLine"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdanda;">By Os Hillman, March 4, 2010…</span></div>
<div class="syndicationPoweredBy" style="font-size: 0.8em;"></div>
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<div align="left"><div class="syndicationTitle" style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 1.3em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdanda;">Knowledge + Action = Faith</span></div>
<div class="syndicationByLine"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdanda;">By Os Hillman, March 4, 2010</span></div>
<div class="syndicationPoweredBy" style="font-size: 0.8em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdanda;">Powered By <a href="http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/" target="NMSITE" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">Marketplace Leaders</a></span></div>
<div class="syndicationBody"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdanda;"><i>For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. - Hebrews 4:2</i><br/><br/>The people of Israel were called out of the bondage of Egyptian slavery. God said they would be brought out of 400 years of slavery so that they might worship Him. God desired to bring them into a place of milk and honey - the Promised Land. Yet that generation never entered into the Promised Land. Why? They never took what they knew in their head and transferred it to their heart. Finally, it never resulted in actions that were based on what they believed.<br/><br/>When I was a new Christian I heard an illustration of what belief and faith looked like when combined. If you were a trapeze artist and were skilled at walking across tightropes over high places, you might even be willing to walk across Niagara Falls. In fact, I would have confidence that you could because I had seen your abilities as a trapeze artist. However, if you asked me if you could push me in a wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls, you would be challenging me to put my beliefs into action. This requires faith, participation, and risk, which, until now, was based only on mental assent.<br/><br/>The writer of Hebrews is telling us that if we believe God but do not enter in to those promises, we are like the man who chooses not to get into the wheelbarrow. If we don't act on our beliefs, then we remain in the desert like the people of Israel who never received God's promises. They did not combine what they knew in their head with a faith that was put into action.<br/><br/>Has God spoken to you about an area in your life that requires a step of faith? Let God provide the courage, as He does the knowledge, to act in faith on what you believe.</span></div>
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<div align="left"></div>
<div align="left"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Verdanda;"><span style="font-style: italic;">You can receive the TGIF Daily Devotional FREE by email each day - <a title="Subscribe to TGIF!" href="http://msg1svc.net/servlet/FormListener?bWxtOjY6TE4=" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">start today</a>!</span></span></div>
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Co-Managing the Earth: The Foundational Work
tag:abcpreachers.ning.com,2009-11-06:916966:BlogPost:1084674
2009-11-06T12:54:59.000Z
Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
Co-Managing the Earth: The Foundational Work<br />
By Dennis Peacocke <a href="http://www.marketplaceleaders.org">www.marketplaceleaders.org</a><br />
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“Do business until I come…” Luke 19:13<br />
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We are now standing at the foundation-laying stage of one of the most significant Christian movements of church history, the advocacy of a Christian values-based economy. How we work with God’s Spirit in helping to lay that foundation will have potentially enormous effects on the global future of the church in the…
Co-Managing the Earth: The Foundational Work<br />
By Dennis Peacocke <a href="http://www.marketplaceleaders.org">www.marketplaceleaders.org</a><br />
<br />
“Do business until I come…” Luke 19:13<br />
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We are now standing at the foundation-laying stage of one of the most significant Christian movements of church history, the advocacy of a Christian values-based economy. How we work with God’s Spirit in helping to lay that foundation will have potentially enormous effects on the global future of the church in the 21st century. It will also signal the emergence of an alternative to the world system’s left-right, capitalism-socialism single paradigm of economic possibility currently available to the nations of the world. The economics of God’s Kingdom is about to appear upon the world’s stage.<br />
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While some may call this emerging Christians-in-the-workplace movement a “marketplace ministries” phenomenon, such a definition is far, far too limited. This awakening of Christian economic theory and practice will do much more than merely legitimize the validity of believers working out a spiritual mission in the workplace. It has the clear potential of radically redefining historic economic theory and catapulting biblical Christianity out of the current stereotype of only concerning itself with sexual morals or abortion-related issues. As vital as those issues may be, they have only served to further isolate and “ghettoize” believers from touching the gears and levers of the economic mechanisms that drive the entire world. Indeed, in a world increasingly preoccupied with issues of economic lifestyle, job, and capital development, for believers to powerfully impact those issues is nothing short of major historic news. Beyond that, it will truly be an unexpected strategic “end run” around the current entrenchment’s biblical Christians now face in the world system’s marginalization of them.<br />
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While the majority of Christians often seem oblivious to the effects of their surrounding culture upon them, clear thinking Christian leaders must be highly aware of those forces and their ability to neutralize the vitality of historic Christian faith. Jesus said that man’s religious traditions have the startling ability to dilute the power of God’s word upon mankind. The world system’s values have trapped believers and unbelievers alike in a no-win vise between the values of capitalism and socialism with all its attendant liberal-conservative machinations. What now lies at our doorstep is the possibility to help break whole nations free of this destructive vise, especially Third World nations, which are genuinely seeking alternatives to the First World’s economic corruptions and abuses.<br />
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Believers must do more than simply legitimize personal ministry in the marketplace. Only doing that will serve to “baptize” either capitalism or socialism in the process because we have failed to confront either alternative from a biblical point of view. Both Christ and history will then judge us for “missing the day of our visitation.” Let us not miss that day either out of fear of the world system’s objections or the misguided hopes of fellow believers trapped in the desire to be “personally blessed and fulfilled” without addressing the needs of humanity which surround them.<br />
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Where We Now Stand<br />
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This focusing upon Christian service in the marketplace is an undeniable outgrowth of the vision of a growing number of Christian leaders globally emphasizing the gospel of the Kingdom of God in all its manifold mandates and ministries. As I have said repeatedly, Martin Luther helped usher in the understanding of the “priesthood of all believers.” This present move of God to have believers praying and acting so as refocusing upon the call to see God’s “Kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven” will press upon us all the reality of the “ministry of all believers.” Calling all believers to discover their God-given passion for Christ touching every sector of human life and culture goes far beyond just the marketplace ministry movement. It calls believers everywhere up to the challenge of seeing their spirit-driven passions lived out as unto the Lord, and to the benefit of surrounding people and institutions currently living outside of His values and motivations. The message of the Kingdom is the hope of the world. It is also the passion of Christ for the nations He won at Calvary.<br />
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The “movement” will take three general phases, relative to the marketplace dimensions of the Kingdom that we are now discussing. Each of the three phases is critical to the development of the other, and they progress in sequence.<br />
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Phase One: The Affirmation of Christian Ministry in the Marketplace<br />
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What is now beginning in the church worldwide is the first stage of the Holy Spirit’s “invasion” of the marketplace world of economics and workplace service. Believers are discovering the validity of the workplace as a ministry or calling. It’s not only not carnal to work there, it is actually a valid calling if it is done in faith and as service to Christ and His Kingdom. Work is now beginning to be seen for what God always intended it to be for redeemed man: an activity of creative, active worship.<br />
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The scriptures tell us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is the active realization that what we are doing is birthed in God, empowered by God, and directed unto God. Faith in the workplace is the active awareness of this truth and the dedication of its fruit and results back to God with gratefulness and consecration. While work provides food and sustenance for others, as well as ourselves, it is also an activity which allows man to partner with God in an obedient sowing and reaping relationship. This consecrated labor also builds personal character and conviction in the reality of obedience to God’s laws providing both prosperity and creative growth in us as we gain insight into the nature of God’s ways.<br />
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No longer left out of “the ministry,” the Christian worker begins to experience the ministry of all believers, and escape what was previously either simply the “drudgery of work” or the soulish thrill of “keeping score in life” by means of money or things. Faith-filled labor thus becomes a vital avenue to God Himself. This is wonderful, but it is only phase one. However, without believers beginning to practice the systemic deeper values of God’s Kingdom in the realm of marketplace economics, it leaves the world’s value systems unchanged at a core level. The world’s two basic paradigms of capitalism-socialism are neither fundamentally addressed biblically nor challenged. We as Christians are being edified, but the marketplace is only marginally changed because we are still not engaged in its redemption until we self-consciously, by faith, engage that “public” dimension of our marketplace ministry. As in all things in Christ, what begins as a private act of faith must mature into a public act which helps redeem both people and institutions. True private faith brings change to the social dimension of man.<br />
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Phase Two: Evangelism through Service<br />
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As we all know, service to God and others is the most basic of Christian ethics. The ultimate service is to empower others by helping to lead them to Christ as the source of life and truth. Evangelism in the marketplace will therefore become the second mark of the movement following the legitimizing of marketplace ministry as a valid form of Christian service.<br />
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Dualism, the Greek-based philosophy of separating “good spirit” from “evil matter,” has been the Achilles heel of Christian practice for centuries. Whereas biblical Hebraic theology is wholistic, that is, it recognizes no inherent separation in God between spiritual life and secular life, dualism has polluted evangelical Christianity in grievous ways. The marketplace was “carnal” because it dealt with “earthly things” like business and money. Church and Sunday were “spiritual.” Adultery was properly viewed as sinful, but the worldly realm of economics was viewed, like politics, as some kind of “neutral zone” where Christianity had no real place trying to affect the system of economic production, management, or distribution. Hence, no Christian ministry was possible in that realm. All that kind of thinking is now changing as a truly biblical, wholistic Kingdom worldview is emerging in the evangelical world. The “marketplace ministry movement” is in reality simply a specific branch of the larger sweep of the theological rediscovery of the Kingdom of God and Christ’s passion to see it gradually impact God’s earth before He returns.<br />
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Workplace evangelism will force believers to walk their talk or shut up until they grow up. No longer a “neutral zone” where Christians can believe in Jesus but practice business the world’s way, the workplace will properly be seen as our most fertile evangelistic field. Our witness, however, must be one of ethics, attitude, and actions rather than simply Bible verses or religious platitudes. Evangelistic “programs” must give way to lives that demonstrate a difference. For years I have taught two things: One) Whoever creates capital will lead the 21st century, and Two) The marketplace and Christian economics will lead to the world’s largest evangelistic harvest in the 21st century. Both of these inter-related phenomena will be led by the motivation to empower people by demonstrating the superiority of Christ’s values in every dimension of human life.<br />
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Phase Three: The Systemic Reformation of Christian<br />
Economics and Business Practices<br />
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Christ came to save souls and redeem God-given institutions such as the family; the role of civil government; ecclesiastic life; and commercial and work-related enterprises. Work was ordained by God before the Fall. It is His idea, just like marriage, and Christ came to restore for God what sin and the world system claimed falsely as their own domain. True Christianity not only changes lives, it reclaims for God what scripture says has always been, and always will be, His and His alone.<br />
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As I stated at the beginning of this article, if believers only go through the first two phases of this “marketplace movement” and limit their spiritual work to authenticating their workplace ministry and evangelistic service there, without actually touching the fundamentals of the economic system itself, we will have sold Christ short. What then, in summary form, are some of the specifics of this systemic change I am advocating? Let’s look at them now.<br />
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Broadly speaking, socialist thinking is driven by the desire to focus all things around the central idea of security. The need for security itself is a God-given need, but ultimately only fulfilled in Christ through His grace and man’s obedient responses to His laws and principles. “Security” is not a wrong concept in and of itself, but like all things, Satan and the world system offer man a false and unattainable security and violate numerous principles of God in the process. Confiscatory economic redistribution, the centralization of civil government acting as a false “god” and ultimate provider, the loss of efficiency and creative productivity through “tenured positions” are but three of those multiple violations.<br />
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Capitalism, on the other hand, is equally driven by God-originated ideas falsely filtered and corrupted by the world system’s alternative economy to God’s Kingdom economy. The driving concepts of “opportunity,” “gain,” and reward for faithful labor, risk, and investment have likewise produced some highly undesirable systemic results. Among them are the marginalization of human beings both economically and in terms of turning them into “units of disposable production”; false and unethical financial reporting and rigged trading practices driven by insatiable greed; destructive rather than enlightened competitive motivations; utilitarian production and markets which prey upon man’s vanity, need for superiority, or destructive uses of people and the environment, to name but a few of the “headline issues” common to all of us.<br />
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Kingdom economics, on the other hand, is driven by obedience to God and a recognition that His goals and motivation for mankind are to drive our spiritual life in all areas as we, like Christ, only seek to do “what we see the Father doing.” God, our Father and pattern, is motivated by the systemic values flowing through His Kingdom of empowering others through gift discovery and development; character formation; power and resource sharing as faith and initiative progressively reveal the ability to handle power; relationally-driven organizations rather than utilitarian-driven organizations; investment banking services rather than usurious, interest-driven banking practices; resource-backed currencies; and goods and services driven by long-term generational thinking rather than short-term maximized profits, creating unstable and non-sustainable enterprises. The list could go on and on, and it is these kinds of things we at Strategic Christian Services seek to address in our schools and seminars.<br />
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What an incredible challenge we now face as believers. Our world is shrinking rapidly due to technology and globalization. While these phenomena are filled with a myriad of evil potentialities, they can be used the more so to spread God’s Kingdom to the realm of the marketplace and Kingdom economic practices and policies. But we must act out of a concern for the big picture, God’s picture, rather than thinking either too small or too privately. Unlike Joash, we must not strike the arrows sparingly, or in single-generational ignorance. God is putting a quiver of truth upon our backs and a Spirit-led bow in our hands. Let us shoot, my brothers and sisters, and not one arrow less than the Master has given us!
Our Work Versus Our Value
tag:abcpreachers.ning.com,2009-07-07:916966:BlogPost:856975
2009-07-07T04:30:09.000Z
Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
Our Work Versus Our Value<br />
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman<br />
Reprinted by permission www.marketplaceleaders.org<br />
Monday, July 06 2009<br />
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"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." Genesis 2:15<br />
Man was created to have seven basic needs. Each of us has a need for dignity, authority, blessing and provision, security, purpose and meaning, freedom and boundary, intimate love and companionship. When we go outside God's provision to meet…
Our Work Versus Our Value<br />
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman<br />
Reprinted by permission www.marketplaceleaders.org<br />
Monday, July 06 2009<br />
<br />
"The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." Genesis 2:15<br />
Man was created to have seven basic needs. Each of us has a need for dignity, authority, blessing and provision, security, purpose and meaning, freedom and boundary, intimate love and companionship. When we go outside God's provision to meet these needs, we get into trouble.<br />
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Every man has a need to work and gain satisfaction in caring and seeing something come from his efforts. Many of our basic needs are derived from our work; it was one of the first acts God did for man in the Garden of Eden. He gave him responsibility to care for and work the Garden. God knew man needed to be productive. He needed to gain satisfaction from his work.<br />
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The danger of this is when we allow our work to be our complete source of purpose and meaning in life. This leads to a performance-based life. A performance-based life says, "As long as I perform in my work, I am acceptable to myself and others." This is a subtle trap for all of us. It can lead us to become workaholics if we are seeking acceptance through what we do. Sometimes this can be on a subconscious basis.<br />
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Our value must be centered in Christ, not in what we do. If we lose our job or our business, this should not devastate us if we are centered in Him. It will certainly create difficulties, but God is the orchestrator of all the events in our lives for His purposes. Even difficult times have purposes.<br />
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Today, ask the Lord if you have a proper balance in your work life. Is Christ the central focus? If you work long hours, ask yourself why. You might discover that God may not be the central focus.<br />
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<br />
www.marketplaceleaders.org
Help Save DJ Young Publishing Co. Site - Appeal from great granddaughter of DJ Young is a COGIC pioneer.
tag:abcpreachers.ning.com,2009-04-13:916966:BlogPost:610279
2009-04-13T04:01:13.000Z
Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/71468986?profile=original">DJ Young Pub Co Petition.doc</a><br />
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From: Raynard Smith<br />
Mar 31, 2009 9:22 AM<br />
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Subject: Fw: Help Save DJ Young Publishing Co. Site<br />
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Greetings COGIC Scholars,<br />
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Below is an appeal for help from Dr. Ladrian Brown, the great great granddaughter of D.J. Young a COGIC pioneer. Please let's assist her in her urgent endeavor. Grace and peace.<br />
<br />
Raynard<br />
<br />
Forwarded Message-----<br />
From: Ladrian Brown<br />
<br />
Sent: Mar 27, 2009 4:05…
<a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/71468986?profile=original">DJ Young Pub Co Petition.doc</a><br />
<br />
From: Raynard Smith<br />
Mar 31, 2009 9:22 AM<br />
<br />
Subject: Fw: Help Save DJ Young Publishing Co. Site<br />
<br />
Greetings COGIC Scholars,<br />
<br />
Below is an appeal for help from Dr. Ladrian Brown, the great great granddaughter of D.J. Young a COGIC pioneer. Please let's assist her in her urgent endeavor. Grace and peace.<br />
<br />
Raynard<br />
<br />
Forwarded Message-----<br />
From: Ladrian Brown<br />
<br />
Sent: Mar 27, 2009 4:05 PM<br />
:<br />
Subject: Help Save DJ Young Publishing Co. Site<br />
<br />
<br />
Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.<br />
Proverbs 22:28<br />
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We need your help! An invaluable historical landmark of the Church of God in Christ, the African American heritage, and the Kansas City community is in danger of being destroyed for a road expansion project. The D. J. Young Publishing Company was the pioneer publishing house of the nation’s largest black Pentecostal denomination, the Church of God in Christ, Inc. The founder, David J. Young, was also a leading founder of the denomination and served as the first prelate of Arkansas, Texas, and Kansas, where he established more than twenty-five churches.<br />
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U.S. Congressman Dennis Moore paid tribute to D. J. Young before the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. and placed his biographical sketch in the Congressional Record (see pages E700-E701, <a href="http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=E700&dbname=2009_record">http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?position=all&page=E700&dbname=2009_record</a>,).<br />
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You can help! No matter where you reside, by simply printing the petition attached to this message and obtaining the signatures of your friends, family, church members, etc., you can join us in helping to preserve this precious monument:<br />
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<br />
<br />
Signees should be voter eligible.<br />
Use a separate form for citizens of Kansas.<br />
Mail your signed petitions to the address at the bottom of the form by May 15, 2009.<br />
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Please don’t disregard our urgent appeal! The D. J. Young Publishing Co. building is the last remaining original structure of D. J. Young’s legacy as both his original home and church were previously acquired and destroyed. I’m sure you’ll agree that city improvements are much needed, but not at the expense of the important historical sites that represent the rich legacy of our pioneering forefathers! According to a February Kansas Department of Transportation News Release, the city is receiving $22 million in stimulus money for city road projects – projects like the Parallel Parkway Improvement plan, which involves the destruction of the last remaining original structure commemorating Bishop D. J. Young and the early years of the Church of God in Christ in the state of Kansas.<br />
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Make your voice heard! Often times we identify issues that concern us but don’t take the time or coordinate our efforts to make our voice heard in a meaningful way. Let’s make our voice heard this time.<br />
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Don’t delay! We thank you, in advance, for your prompt response to this message and for joining our efforts to preserve the D. J. Young Publishing Company historical site.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ladrian P. Brown, MD, CEO<br />
D. J. Young Heritage Foundation<br />
2401 North 9th Street<br />
Kansas City, Kansas 66101<br />
(913) 579-2741<br />
ladrianbrown@hotmail.com
We Must Come Together To Save Our Children
tag:abcpreachers.ning.com,2009-03-27:916966:BlogPost:543242
2009-03-27T19:32:30.000Z
Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
WE MUST COME TOGETHER TO SAVE OUR CHILDREN<br />
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I went in the Department of Juvenile Justice (Superior Court) at Meadowlark Lane, San Diego, CA and on its walls read this which is reprinted with permission.<br />
<br />
by:<br />
Sharon Pratt Dixon<br />
Mayor of Washington, DC<br />
<br />
She states:<br />
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We must come together to <u>save</u> our children; to <u>say</u> to them in the <u>strongest terms</u>: If you are on the way to <u>trouble</u>, we will <u>help</u> you stay out of <u>trouble</u>; if you are <u>already</u> in trouble,…
WE MUST COME TOGETHER TO SAVE OUR CHILDREN<br />
<br />
I went in the Department of Juvenile Justice (Superior Court) at Meadowlark Lane, San Diego, CA and on its walls read this which is reprinted with permission.<br />
<br />
by:<br />
Sharon Pratt Dixon<br />
Mayor of Washington, DC<br />
<br />
She states:<br />
<br />
We must come together to <u>save</u> our children; to <u>say</u> to them in the <u>strongest terms</u>: If you are on the way to <u>trouble</u>, we will <u>help</u> you stay out of <u>trouble</u>; if you are <u>already</u> in trouble, we will do everything we can to <u>save you</u>; but if you <u>ARE</u> the trouble, we will take <u>whatever</u> action is necessary to protect our community.<br />
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<br />
Evangelist Patrica A. Lewis<br />
CoverUpMinistry
Understanding Your Purpose - (Workplace Ministry) Do You Know who is Arthur Guinness?
tag:abcpreachers.ning.com,2009-03-27:916966:BlogPost:539717
2009-03-27T01:52:10.000Z
Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
Understanding Your Purpose<br />
<br />
Business as Mission: How two grocers changed the course of a Nation<br />
Mark Markiewicz YWAM, UK (co-founder of the Central Asia Business Consultation, CABC)<br />
Reprinted by permission<br />
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In the time of revival, at the turn of the last century in Britain, it was as if God poured out an entrepreneurial gift on his church and people started doing things that were unheard of. These are the people, normal people in the pews, that God got a hold of and helped them to use their…
Understanding Your Purpose<br />
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Business as Mission: How two grocers changed the course of a Nation<br />
Mark Markiewicz YWAM, UK (co-founder of the Central Asia Business Consultation, CABC)<br />
Reprinted by permission<br />
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In the time of revival, at the turn of the last century in Britain, it was as if God poured out an entrepreneurial gift on his church and people started doing things that were unheard of. These are the people, normal people in the pews, that God got a hold of and helped them to use their entrepreneurial skills to change society, to see churches grow, and to see missions grow.<br />
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GUINNESS<br />
One of them was a man called Arthur Guinness. Guinness is a wonderful drink, it's a black dark beer with a white head and if you've never drank it, I don't want to encourage you to drink, but its rather nice, so give it a try. Guinness is the national drink of Ireland. You've probably all heard of Guinness but don't know his personal history. Guinness was a young Christian man who was once walking the streets of Ireland crying out to God, "God do something about the drunkenness on the streets of Ireland." Everyone was getting drunk on whiskey, there were whiskey houses, gin houses, etc. and his cry to God was do something about the alcoholism on the streets of Ireland and he felt God speak to him. In fact he felt God say this: "Make a drink that men will drink that will be good for them."<br />
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That was his mandate from the Lord. "Make a drink that men will drink that will be good for them." He then brewed a beer and called it Guinness. It's a dark stout beer. You can still get it on the National Health Service prescribed to you when you're pregnant because it's so good for you. My wife drank it throughout her first pregnancy. Guinness is exported from Ireland as a food because it is so full of minerals and natural trace elements, etc. It has incredible qualities to it. So Guinness made men a drink that was good for them.<br />
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He was an entrepreneur and, believe it or not, people started buying it and drinking it. And now it's the national drink of Ireland. Irish men don't go and drink much whiskey; they go and drink Guinness. And its almost impossible to get drunk on Guinness because its so heavy, so full of iron that you feel so full you can't drink more than a couple of pints. It has a fairly low alcohol level. (OK-The recipe has changed recently and it's a bit more alcoholic than it used to be, so don't try it.)<br />
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Doing missions through business is certainly a valid thing to do. Or should we do business for missions, i.e. should we do business and make money and give it to missions. Or should we be doing business as mission. I think Guinness is somebody who did business as mission. He didn't go into business to say, 'Lord, I'm going to go into business and I'm going to make some money so that I can help your missions.' His mission- eradicating alcoholism on the streets of Ireland- was the answer to that problem. It wasn't sending out more missionaries - the answer was to produce a drink that men would drink that was good for them. His business was the mission. I think there is lots of validity in all the different models but this is just one particular model. Doing the Business was the Mission.<br />
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At another time Guinness was walking on the streets of Ireland and met another young man crying on the streets. And he talked to him and this young man said," I'm crying because of all these kids living on the streets." There were hundreds and hundreds of kids abandoned living on the streets of Ireland and Guinness said, "What would you do if I gave you some money?" 'Well," he said, " I'd buy a home, a Christian home, and we'd fill it with God's love; and we'd fill it with these children who need to be parented and loved in the way God intended for them to be loved." And Guinness said, "Look, you do it and I'll pay for it." That young man was called Barnardo and he started Barnardo's Children's Home, which became one of the biggest children's homes in Great Britain, all funded by Guinness.<br />
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Guinness met another young man who wanted to be a missionary in China called Hudson Taylor. Nobody would accept Hudson Taylor to go with their mission society so Guinness said, "Look, if you're willing to go, I'll pay for you to go." Guinness paid for him to go. Then Hudson Taylor wrote back and said we need more workers. Guinness himself said, "I'll find the next ten and send them and pay for them to come." Then Guinness decided there was a need to train people all the time to be going out to China because there was so much need, so he built a college to train people to become missionaries to China.<br />
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He was elevated to the House of Lords because of his philanthropy and because of his wealth and he became Lord Iveagh. As Lord Iveagh, he brought about many, many changes in Britain in the legal system. We used to have dueling on the streets. You have seen it in the movies, take 10 paces and turn around and shoot each other- if you're in conflict. He said, "No." The Biblical principle is if you've got something against somebody, you have to talk to them; if they don't change or if they don't accept what you're saying, take somebody with you; legal representation, a lawyer as we now call it, and if they still don't listen, then you go to a public court and you get witnesses and before witnesses you then argue your case. And he hooked Biblical principle to the British Judicial System. He was a young entrepreneur who changed the judicial system of Great Britain through applying Biblical principle.<br />
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People like Guinness are heroes of the faith in terms of businessmen. They should be our heroes if we were going to do Business as Mission and also give huge amounts of money to missions and bring about social reform and build churches.<br />
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BOOT'S<br />
Another one of my heroes is Jesse Boot. If any of you have been to England you may have been to Boot's the Chemists. Boot's the Chemists is the oldest chain of retail shops in Britain. They are also the biggest retailers in Britain. I think about 75% of women in Britain shop at Boot's weekly. Those are amazing statistics- the biggest retailer in Britain is Boot's. If you go into a Boot's store as a business person and analyze what they do, you'll be very confused. There's a pharmacy. They sell vitamins and minerals, herbal supplements, all that kind of stuff as well. They sell pots and pans for cooking food and then they sell books and sell baby clothes and food. It's an odd combination of things to sell in one shop. If you put together a business plan and went to a bank and said, "We want to open a chain of chemist shops that also sell baby food, pots and pans and this and that," the bank manager would laugh.<br />
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The story proves a fascinating one because Boot's father was an apothecary, a chemist, to the wealthy families of Britain. He used to make these herbal remedies and coat them in gold leaf and these very, very wealthy people would then have these gold leaf covered tablets that they would take when they didn't feel quite 100%. Jesse Boot's was a Christian young man and he was appalled at what his father was doing. "You're making medicines for the people who don't need it. What we need is someone to make medicine that the poor people can afford to buy and use." So Boot set about starting to make medicines as cheaply as possible and selling them as cheaply as possible to the poor people who really needed them. He had a cart that he used to wheel into the market at Nottingham and he used to help the poor people that came along. He would diagnose what was wrong with them and sell them what they needed. They were just basic medicines in these huge big jars and he'd dispense them the best he knew how and he made medicine available to the poor people in Britain.<br />
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He got married and his wife said one of the problems is not just that they need medicine but they need a good diet throughout the whole year. So they started processing foods. Foods that were good for people and processing it in such a way that it would be preserved and they could sell it throughout the year. That's why they added food to the medicines they sold. She said another thing we need to do to is teach people how to cook this food properly. So she used to run little cookery classes and then added pots and pans to what they sold. Then she was concerned with illiteracy- she was really the driving force behind Boot's. All these people that were coming to the cookery classes were illiterate, so they started helping people to learn to read and write and they added books in these little libraries. All the lending libraries in Britain come from Boot's. They started these little lending libraries where people could come and they were in shops by this time and they could come to learn to read when the shops closed and borrow books when they needed to, etc. The children were in bad condition so she started making children's clothes and selling children's clothes alongside these things.<br />
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It was a very holistic approach to business and that business was their mission. They were effecting change in society through their business- they weren't doing business for missions. Boot's company grew- as I said, it's now the biggest retailer in Britain- it grew to such an extent that at one point he decided to start training people to do what he was doing. He set up a small college and he recruited people to train them to make medicines for poor people that they could afford and to expand his company. That became Nottingham University, now one of the biggest medical universities in Britain. It trains thousands of people to go into medicine. He built Nottingham University with the profits from his company and the aim of Nottingham University was that half of the people they trained would end up making medicines for poor people and be pharmacists. He invented the whole pharmacy system in Britain. The other 50% were trained to be pharmacists and chemists and go out overseas to those who haven't got medicines. So half was to train people for missions and the other half was to train people to effect change in the UK. This isn't very long ago, yet when we look at some of these nations we are working in, some of them actually need business people who will go with the mission to be the solution to the problems.<br />
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TWO GROCERS<br />
A couple of hundred years ago there were two Christian grocers in London who ran market stalls. One of them said to the other (this is what I imagined to have happened) "You know as Christians, we're supposed to have honest scales. It says so in the Bible. So how should we do that?" "Well, I'll tell you what, I'll come and check your scales on Wednesdays to make sure their accurate and you come on Sundays and check mine, we'll make sure their accurate. There is a Biblical principle here that we'll make part of the way we do business." As these two grocers met together, they came out with a list of twelve principles that they felt were the guiding Biblical principles of the way that they should do business in London.<br />
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Then something interesting happened. People preferred to buy from them because they knew they would get a good product, at a fair price, with honest scales etc, etc., etc. They preferred to buy from these grocers. And other grocers who were Christians said this isn't fair, we need to be honest. "So the two grocers said, "OK, if you sign up to these twelve principles and we hold you accountable for these twelve principles, then you can join our association of Christian grocer's." In those days it wasn't called exactly that, but it is still in existence today, and is called the Most Worshipful Company of Livery Merchants. And the Master of it is the Grand Master of the Most Worshipful Company. It's very odd and peculiarly British.<br />
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And then the bakers came along and said, "Yeah, these grocers are doing so well by applying Biblical principles, we're Christians, let's apply these same principles to our baking business." And then the saddle makers, and the fan makers. There were twelve original companies. There were thirteen separate trades in the city of London and twelve of those trades agreed to live by a set of twelve biblical principles to govern their businesses and they were the most successful businessmen. The thirteenth trade was the masons, and the masons became known as the Free Masons because they were free from the principles of the other twelve companies.<br />
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Very interesting. So anyway, the twelve great companies of the City of London are still known this way today. Now there are 300 companies in the City of London registered as Livery Companies. The latest one was the Most Worshipful Company of Information Technologists. So everybody that joins one of the companies in the City of London, even today gets a list of the principles they have to sign up to. There are 36 Biblical principles to guide your life. And they call the book Some Rules for the Conduct of Life to Which Are Added A Few Cautions.<br />
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The livery companies re-formed as companies that would live according to these biblical principles. And they effected change and what happened was that the rulers of the nation in Britain began to see the effect of these companies and said "What we need to do is make it a law for the whole nation. So instead of just these grocers having their honest scales, every scale in Britain needs to weigh accurately." The government Weights and Measures Department which we have today can trace its history back to the day when these two grocers decided to keep themselves accountable for Biblical principles. The government, the King, then adopted that principle and said this should be an issue of law- every scale in Britain should be honest. Every product should be a good product at a fair price and all of the government institutions that we have today in Britain can trace their history back to the Christian Grocers Association of 1600 and something or other.<br />
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Each trade in the City of London appointed what they called a foreign officer. His job was to manage the import of products from overseas to make sure they adhered to the same principles and standards that are set out in the 36 principles. So the whole thing of fair trade came out of that. If they were using slave labor to produce something, and we were not, then they were not allowed to compete against us because that was unfair trade. And the governments of the twelve companies each had their foreign officer and they used to meet in a place called the 'foreign office.' And the government of England's foreign office today, which deals with all our international politics out of London, is the historic home of these foreign officers who managed trade. Weights and Measures, the Health and Safety at work, all of these things come from these companies.”
What Is Workplace Ministry? How would you define workplace ministry?
tag:abcpreachers.ning.com,2009-03-25:916966:BlogPost:535056
2009-03-25T19:14:43.000Z
Evangelist Patrica A. Allbritton
https://abcpreachers.ning.com/profile/PatricaAAllbritton
Workplace Movement<br />
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What Is Workplace Ministry?<br />
Os Hillman<br />
Reprinted by Permisson<br />
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How would you define workplace ministry?<br />
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Workplace ministry is an intentional focus of equipping men and women in all spheres of work and society to understand and experience their work and life as a holy calling from God.<br />
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Is workplace ministry an evangelism program? Not in the sense of what most people think about evangelism. Workplace ministry is a holistic approach to bringing Christ into our work lives.…
Workplace Movement<br />
<br />
What Is Workplace Ministry?<br />
Os Hillman<br />
Reprinted by Permisson<br />
<br />
How would you define workplace ministry?<br />
<br />
Workplace ministry is an intentional focus of equipping men and women in all spheres of work and society to understand and experience their work and life as a holy calling from God.<br />
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Is workplace ministry an evangelism program? Not in the sense of what most people think about evangelism. Workplace ministry is a holistic approach to bringing Christ into our work lives. When we do this all aspects of life and work are impacted. Associates at work become the primary source of building meaningful relationships that can lead to salvation. However, we must go beyond that. We must allow God to show us how to work well,, how to gain ideas and strategies to succeed, how to love our fellow workers, how to experience the power of God in a workplace context so that they see a difference in us. That is what changes the world.<br />
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Is workplace ministry part of most local church ministry today?<br />
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No. Consider this statement by Doug Sherman, author of Your Work Matters to God. "Our surveys reveal that 90-97% of Christians have never heard a sermon relating biblical principles to their work life." Most church members have never been intentionally trained to apply their faith in their work life where they spend 60-70% of their waking hours. When a survey is asked of the average congregation, “How many of you have been intentionally trained to apply your faith in your work life, very few hands are raised. Church leaders are often surprised because they feel they are equipping their people. The disconnect is because the teaching they receive is often not relevant to the level of application most Christians desire and need to apply it in their workplaces.<br />
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What is the best model in the scriptures of workplace ministry? Jesus was our best model. He spent more than 50% of his life as a carpenter. Of 132 public appearances in the New Testament, 122 were in the workplace, of 52 parables He told, 45 had a workplace context. Of 40 divine encounters in the book of Acts, 39 were in the workplace. That is where most ministry took place. It wasn’t in the synagogue. More than 75% of the characters in the Bible were working people who did ministry as part of their work. Work in its different forms is mentioned more than 800 times in the Bible, more than all the words used to express worship, music, praise, and singing combined.<br />
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Should workplace ministry be another ministry like men’s ministry?<br />
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No. Workplace ministry is simply returning to the early foundations of the church which focused on equipping every believer to be a minister where they are. It is the priesthood of every believer. However, in the early 300s the Greeks began to create the sacred/secular divide and pluralism came into the faith. This created a spiritual hierarchy that God never intended. Workplace ministry should be part of the DNA of every church. It should be the core message that affects all other areas. If it becomes just another program only those who are executives will participate. Workplace ministry is for moms, students, executives, secretaries, government workers, nurses, and vocational ministry workers, etc. We all work. We all need to learn what it means to take Christ’s presence into our workplace.<br />
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In what ways is the local church failing to do this? This is done in several ways. Here are just a few:<br />
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There is an unspoken word that says workplace believers are second class citizens spiritually by the words and actions we communicate in our churches. It is a sin of omission. When we use terms like “I am in full-time Christian work” it alienates those in secular work.<br />
When we commission missionaries in public services without ever commissioning workplace believers as having equal importance, we are sending a message to the average Christian that his ministry at work is simply less spiritual and not as important as the overseas missionary.<br />
When we view workplace believers primarily for their monetary contributions we are validating them for only one purpose.<br />
When we equate ministry with their activity in the local church, we are saying the rest of the week at work is not ministry.<br />
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There are many other ways we alienate the average worker.<br />
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Isn’t men’s ministry considered a form of workplace ministry?<br />
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No. In fact, most men’s ministry does not address this important area and in my opinion has been a major oversight of men’s ministry today. "If Christ is not Lord of my work, He will never be Lord of my family" says Doug Sherman, author of Your Work Matters to God. I believe this quote from Doug is true because most men get a great deal of self-esteem needs from their work. If Christ is not part of that, I would agree He will not be a part of any other aspect of his life. This is why men’s ministry would be wise to incorporate the importance of men experiencing Christ in their workplaces and resource them.<br />
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What can churches do to equip and release their people into their workplace as missionaries? We need to consider the workplace as the major “9-5 window” for missions today. This is where real transformation can take place because the workplace is where authority is in the cities. We thought we could change cities through pastors and church leaders and prayer walks. This is not true. Church leaders don’t have the authority in the cities. We need to equip and affirm the apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists and pastors in the workplace. We need to think about church planting in a different way. “How many churches can a local church plant in the workplace this year?” That is how we need to think. We need to think about building the Kingdom of God in the workplaces in our cities – prayer groups, bible studies, prayer breakfasts, outreach luncheons, etc. We have a complete list of ideas churches can do . And we can help direct churches to other ministries who specifically are working with churches today as this new move of God is emerging.<br />
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Finally, we need pastors to do what they are called to do – equip their people to be effective where they spend 60-70% of their waking hours – the workplace. In order to do this it has to be intentional, long term and foundational to the church. The pastor must totally buy into it.<br />
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For more read our Faith & Work Fact Sheet and 26 Actions Steps Churches can do. Other related articles How One Pastor is Doing It, Are We on the Verge of a Workplace Transformation.<br />
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International Coalition of Workplace Ministries 3520 Habersham Club Drive,<br />
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Cumming, GA 30041 678-455-6262 fax 678-455-6264 www.icwm.net<br />
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