The Kingdom Cowboy artaylor124

Summary:
The church will never be the church, which is us, until we, as God’s people, start connecting with the Father and start maturing in Him. That means opening up to the leading of the Holy Spirit to bless people, whether it’s an encouragement for someone to receive the Lord into their heart, or praying with and lifting up someone who comes to you for help. You don’t have to be some high-powered ministry to do this. All it takes is love and the help of the Holy Spirit for you to help God’s people to be all they can be in the Father.
 
Show Notes:

It’s so important to get people to look at the little everyday things that they go through, and see where they can see God moving, because He’s trying to set us up for something much greater, depending on how good of a steward we have been with what He has already given us.


When talking to someone, we should never try to push any conversation around to Jesus. Ministry usually opens up when someone seeks you out to tell you their problem or the concerns that they are having. They are trusting you enough to talk about it, which is a great sign that they are asking for help.


When these situations with people start happening to you, it’s because God has been working His heart in you to respond. As we are faithful in these things, the Father starts to give you more opportunities to bless and help people.

 
Quotes:

When you start to see those signs and honor God in those situations, He test you in the natural to see if He can trust you with the supernatural gifts. 


God tests us all the time, just in the natural course of life. When we start to get more aware of the kingdom and more aware of what God’s doing, we notice those things more.


If God has your heart, He can get your feet where they belong. God is sovereign in that there are things in front of us that He wants us to respond to in a kingdom way.


When you are in the right place with the Lord, ministry comes to you.


The Father made all of this stuff where it’s simple. If we just do it, it always works. It works every time.


You are not going to get proficient in ministry unless you do a little of it.


I’d rather miss by doing something, than miss by just playing it safe all the time.

 
 
References:
2 Timothy 4:2
 
Takeaways:
We will never be effective at ministering to God’s people until we step out and allow the Holy Spirit to move through us. We only get efficient at ministering after we do it several times, even when it’s uncomfortable and we don’t know what we are doing at first. All of God’s people are crying for someone like us to bless and lift them up.
 

Summary:
There are so many Christians in this day that don’t even believe in healings of any kind. That is definitely not what we believe here at Trinity Fellowship. The challenge is to keep praying for healings when you don’t see everyone healed. It is easy to play it safe, but it’s another thing to go after it and really believe God, even when things look impossible. Let’s become like little children and just believe. And when you do become a part of someone getting healed, don’t let yourself get puffed up and start biting on the pride hook. That is the thing that can destroy a Christian faster than anything.
 
Show Notes:

There have been many people over the years who have come to Trinity specifically to be healed. Why? Because they know we will pray for them and we listen and we believe that God really heals.


When praying for healings, it’s easy to err on the side of caution and play it safe. It’s another thing to go for it and really believe God, even though not everyone gets healed. It’s better to pray for the impossible and see God move, if He wills.


It’s so important that we, as God’s people, don’t take credit for what God does through us. Pride can sneak in on us so fast if we aren’t careful. That especially holds true for those who are spiritual leaders of Christian groups.

 
Quotes:

It’s not an anointing on just one person here at Trinity. It’s a family anointing. It’s an anointing on this house. So we all have that ability for God to use us that way.


I believe that God is bringing us to a place where we’re going to see more of that (the healings) if we can be good stewards of it. That’s the key.


I can name a dozen healings that I’m praying for every day who have cancer, and then these little kids, who really don’t even know what is going on, can just say, “Fix it, Lord”, and it happens. And God told me, “because I can trust them with it”.


The people that God’s doing stuff in, around, and through, are at the greatest risk of pride. It never comes in the front door. It always comes in the side door.


We all have this desire for our life to mean something of significance. And, you know, we can get so far out of balance that we have to watch out for, as spiritual people, that we don’t take credit for something.


Pride kills what God is doing in your life quicker than anything, and spiritual pride is the worst kind of pride. Everybody knows you have it except you.


When your message becomes more important than the people that you’re supposed to deliver it to, you are out of business and you may not know it for several years.

 
Takeaways:
When it comes to praying over someone for a healing, let’s quit playing it safe, and really go after seeing people healed. Let’s be more like little children, who just believe and things happen. As we start to see more success, let’s not let pride slip into our spirit, and run the risk of loosing everythng that the Lord has given us. 

So many Christians have a fear of stepping out and praying or lifting others up, whether it is at the golf course, in a group of guys drinking coffee, or at your workplace. That’s why this teaching of equipping the saints is so important. There are so many opportunities out in life, where people are reaching out for help, but not many Christians are really willing to step out and take the chance in asking them if they would like some prayer or encouragement. Crossing the threshold means that you have matured enough in the spirit to recognize and seize an opportunity to minister when the opportunity presents itself. Everyone looses when we, as Christians, fail to recognize and take advantage of these times, but, on the other hand, everyone wins when we do.

Summary:
Being equipped for the work of the ministry is something that the whole body of Christ should be concerned for, not just a few pastors, elders or deacons, which is something that the Bible Belt promotes. All Christians ought to be matured and prepared to seize the opportunity to encourage, pray for, or stand with people who come to you, reaching out for help.
 
Show Notes:
    • The main function of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers is to equip the rank and file of the whole body of Christ to do the work of the ministry.   The church is never going to be the church until we embrace this truth.    • If a church is limiting itself to a few elders/deacons and or a pastor to do all the ministry, that church is crippled and will likely go no where.  This practice promotes a culture for most of the people to not grow or move in God.    • Most people have a real fear of getting up in front of a group, but we aren’t necessarily talking about that kind of ministry.   It’s basically doing the works of Jesus out in public, wherever opportunities arise.    • When people come to you with a problem and want to talk, if we aren’t careful, we will miss a real opportunity to encourage or pray with them.  It’s easy for these opportunities to slip by if we aren’t thinking about it.    • When someone opens up to you to share their problem with you, first off, he or she has a level of trust in you; second, they are really asking for help, and third, that’s the open door to encourage them and even pray with them over that problem.    • Disappointments that come because you didn’t take the opportunity to encourage or pray with someone can end up being a huge learning experience, and it tends to prepare you for the next opportunity.  
 
Quotes:

Equipping the saints for the work of the ministry is one of those things that has either been ignored or overlooked in modern Christianity in the Bible Belt, for the most part, because in the Bible Belt, they expect the pastor to do everything.


All you have to do to have a kingdom business is to make it about the people rather than about the money.


We don’t try to push the door down. I don’t see Jesus doing it. We don’t do it either. But if the Lord opens the door, step through that door.

 
References:
Ephesians 4:11-12
 
Takeaways:
It’s so easy for most Christians, because of fear, intimidation, or lack of training, to back off and think that those kinds of things are supposed to be limited to just a few. That’s not true at all. Being willing and prepared to love, encourage and pray for those in need is something that ought to be at the forefront in every Christian’s thinking.
 

Summary:
The foundational ministries- apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, were never sent to do all the ministering in a church, but rather were created to equip and help all the believers mature and come to the place where they become the ones to get out and do the ministry. Without all five of the foundational ministries, most churches will tend to settle on a much lower level in their maturing process.
 
Show Notes:

Many people, when they have a Bible Belt mindset, think they are supposed to come to church to get fed, and they tend to complain if they think that isn’t happening. But the people who usually complain about being fed rarely do anything with what they are fed. Jack Taylor used to say, “Well, you know, babies have to be fed. Adults feed themselves”.


When you talk to people about ministry, most think they have to get up in front of people, which scares them off. That’s actually is just a small part of what you have to do in ministry. Most ministry happens on the golf course, at a store, or even at your work. It is simply encouraging someone or praying with them for a need that they might have.


When Jesus was walking on the earth, was He ever referred to as a pastor? He was referred to as a shepherd, which is a much better word for a leader.

 
Quotes:

In the Bible Belt, there’s a mindset that the guy who’s up front does all the ministry. He’s expected to be good at everything. That’s just not the case. That’s not even a biblical concept. Their main function is not to do all the ministry, but to train the body of Christ to do the work of the ministry.


Being equipped is a lifetime process. I’ve been doing this a long time, but I’m still being equipped for the work of the ministry. I’m still learning about ministry. Do not wait until you think you’re thoroughly equipped. You are going to be better at doing ministry by simply doing it.


The reason this is so important is that the body of Christ needs to be equipped for those opportunities and open doors that happen out there, because there’s a lot of them, and there’s going to be a lot more of them. So there’s no way one guy can do it.


In the traditional evangelical church, you don’t hear much about the function of apostles and prophets. You do hear about teachers, evangelists and in paying pastors.


An apostle has the God given ability and anointing to see what God wants the church to be, to see where the church is now, and how to move the church from where it is to where it needs to go.


We live in a religious mindset in the Bible Belt that there are not apostles and prophets anymore. To me, that is a subtle, deceptive trick of the enemy, because they are so needed. The apostles and prophets are the foundation of the church.

 
References:
Ephesians 4:11
1 Corinthians 12:8-11
 
Takeaways:
There are so many churches out there that are stuck, doing the same thing week after week, year after year. One of the reasons is they either don’t know about the importance of the 5 fold ministry talked about in Ephesians 5, or they refuse to believe that they still exist and are very much needed in this day. Without true apostles and prophets, churches tend to be stuck and lack life that these ministries can provide. That’s why so many people aren’t equipped for the work of the ministry.
 
 

How can any of us even begin to speak the truth in love, as Jesus was able to do, without really being equipped to do so? God has to put these abilities in us and that comes through this equipping process, worked deep within our hearts.