ILLUMINATING LEADERS, INFLUENCERS, AND MIND MOLDERS
It’s one thing to get to the gates of the seven mountains of society. It’s quite another thing to have something to say when you get to the gates of the mountains.
—ED DELPH
Here is a wisdom principle for those of you who pastor churches, own businesses, or are involved in any of the seven mountains (or community spheres of influence). It has to do with growth and influence. Solomon, who was the wisest man who ever lived, understood the principle of both/and. He understood the principle of growing up into all aspects and combining all the elements of an initiative to bring the initiation to fullness and completion. The points below on Solomon came from my book Church@Community that I wrote in 2005. It is as relevant today as then.
Let me ask you a couple of questions: What three elements need to come together in a church for the church to influence or have the potential to change a community for the better? What three elements made the queen of Sheba lightheaded? Let’s look at the following verses and draw out another “three-legged stool” of wisdom.
So King Solomon became greater than all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom (1 Kings 10:23).
All the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart (1 Kings 10:24).
When the queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built…(1 Kings 10:4).
The three elements of this stool are having revelation, having a model, and having a platform. First, you need a revelation from God, something to say that is biblically correct, spiritually accurate, or a dream or an idea that comes from God. Without this revelation, you will have nothing to say. Second, you need a model or something to see—a model where God’s revelation has become a reality. And third, you need a platform, something to share with others that we shared with you. You are a sample of God’s example for others. Let’s further explore these concepts.
Something to Say: Solomon Heard from God
Let’s explore the first element of revelation. First, Solomon had a revelation regarding wisdom. He had illumination on the concept of wisdom. Flesh and blood did not reveal wisdom to him; like Peter in Matthew 16:17, Solomon received his revelation directly from God. The concept of wisdom went from his head to his heart and then to his feet. I call that the “head-heart-feet” principle. The Word became flesh and dwelt among them. It started from Heaven, but it ended up in a real and tangible way on earth. God’s revelation to Solomon gave him something to say and something to do. Revelation often works that way.
Solomon’s life was purpose-driven around wisdom. He incarnated wisdom. He was not some academic who professed or spoke about wisdom; he was a practitioner of it. The world needed answers and Solomon had the answers to give. He had something special that was uniquely his, and he lived it. The Bible says that all the earth came to hear the wisdom God had put into his heart.
If Solomon had lived in New Testament times, we could say that he was “making known the manifold wisdom of God through the church to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places” (see Ephesians 3:10). Solomon had a revelation on wisdom. However, a revelation on wisdom and a house built on wisdom are two different things entirely.
Something to See: Moving from Revelation to Reality
The second element that will make the “queens” of our communities faint is model. Solomon did not merely talk about a model; he had a model that legitimized his revelation on wisdom. The queen of Sheba perceived all the wisdom of Solomon (revelation), and then, according to First Kings 10:7, she saw (“my eyes had seen it”) that his revelation worked. This was not theory or hopeful thinking. Solomon possessed both revelation and reality. He made the intangible tangible. The incredible became credible. His evidence demanded a verdict. As Proverbs 9:1 suggests, wisdom has built her house and boy, was it awesome! Revelation without a model will not influence the influencers of the earth. Revelation must always be backed up by model. People of wisdom know this.
Something to Share: Revelation from God Is for Blessing Others
The third element that will make queens faint is what I call platform. Platform is the ability to get the word about the revelation and the model out into the community. It is a media issue for the church, business, or revelation. In the case of Solomon, the word-of-mouth method was used and “all the earth was seeking the presence of Solomon.” All the earth came for a “home tour” of the house that wisdom built. Solomon had the ability and model to get the word out into all the world. The model was not an end; rather, it was meant to influence the influencers of the world for God. The wisdom of God became real and tangible to the whole world.
This was not about Solomon; rather, this was about a deposit of wisdom into the world for others. The return was the queen of the south hearing about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord. Solomon, like Jesus, grew in stature and favor with God and others. As a result, he influenced the influencers in a redemptive way. It was a way that the earth could be filled with the glory of God. Platform is essential in creating a “community shift” back to God.
I don’t know about you, but I would have liked to have seen Jerusalem in the days of Solomon. I would have loved to have seen and experienced the convergence of revelation, model, and platform all at the same time. Solomon had all the tools in his toolbox. Wisdom understands excellence. Wisdom also understands that no one person or no single church can be excellent in all areas all the time. However, we can pursue excellence and we can be unusually good because excellence draws people to the glory of God.
The church today needs to have these three elements working together to influence the “queens of Sheba” back to God. Possessing one or two of the elements is incomplete. I have been to many churches that have a great “revelation” and yet experience church split after church split. The model is not one that draws healthy people, only dysfunctional people who are looking for a source of significance and security. Other churches are stable and may even be known nationally, but they possess little revelation. Still others have revelation and even a good model, but no one has ever heard of them. They might have favor with God but not favor with people. This is not wise.
A word to those of you in business or other spheres of influence: this principle is true for you also. Your business can grow and thrive if you have a revelation or something that you do that is uniquely yours. Your business needs to be a good model and as well managed as possible. Finally, you need to advertise and get the word out about your business. When you combine revelation, model, and platform, you will usually have success and influence. That’s how you cause marketplace ministers from the government mountain to faint like the queen of the south.
My Four Crucial Career Intersections
If you want examples of God speaking to me, I’ve got lots of them. I could share about how God led my incredible wife, Becky, and me together. I could tell you about particular instances where a Jacob’s ladder at the right time assured me, brought clarity, and propelled me further along the path of life. I could tell you about the time right before Christmas at my then-brother-in-law’s house when I experienced what I think was an actual appearance of Christ. I could tell you about how God clearly spoke to me, “Jesus is Lord,” at my conversion on a snowmobile at three in the morning on a golf course in Pinetop, Arizona. But there are four clarion instances where RHEMA provided illumination and direction in my career path. They may be helpful to marketplace ministers or to those called to ministry outside their churches. Your career is important and holy to God. Your roots are in church but your fruits will be in the community.
Gently Leading, Still Proceeding: The Exodus to Central Bindery
Like how God led Joseph and Mary out of Nazareth to Bethlehem, in 1974 God started repositioning me into my purpose and destiny. Twenty-four years old and equipped with a bachelor’s degree in personnel management, I was working as office manager for Grimshaw Mortuaries in Phoenix, Arizona. The company had close to eighty employees, four mortuaries, and one cemetery. I was the secretary of the corporation.
In March of that year, I had received Christ as my Lord and Savior. It was quite a conversion. Right away, I could sense that something was different. I immediately knew I was supposed to leave Grimshaw and start a new business. A print-shop owner from my church mentioned a small book bindery he knew that was for sale. The owners were quite elderly and ready to retire, and the business had dwindled down to a few accounts.
I knew nothing about book binding or printing. My vast experience in the industry was printing funeral folders at the mortuary. I looked at another business, but there was something about the bindery that caught my attention. I was a new Christian, but this was the business for me. I wasn’t aware of it, but I had received faith from God for the purchase of that business. It wasn’t presumption or a wish dream; rather, it was a faith-infused utterance from God providing illumination and direction. From that point on, it was done in Heaven. It just needed to be done on earth. We entered negotiations. And with the helpful eye of my father’s wisdom and business sense, we bought the business. That was the start of what is now Central Bindery in Phoenix, Arizona.
I was twenty-four years old and had never been a business owner. I had little to no knowledge of the book-binding industry. The one employee I hired as supervisor was a printing machine operator. The business was dying. The machinery was old. My main competitor was large, territorial, and intimidating. But I had one thing that trumped them all: I had God on my side (more accurately, I was on God’s side). I didn’t deserve it. I didn’t earn it. God gave me the opportunity to be part of what He was doing in my life and many other people’s lives also.
The first few years were interesting to say the least. What a learning curve! We built the airplane while it was flying. There were some spins and stalls. God had to carry us at times. I was under construction, and the business was under construction too. There was a whole lot of shaking going on. But after three years, everything started to come together. We became efficient and proficient. We expanded and bought new quality equipment. We formed the greatest team of people I have ever known in the business world.
By the time I was twenty-nine, Central Bindery was the largest book bindery in Arizona, with more than forty employees. The business was running as smoothly as any service business does. I had something to say, something to see, and something to share. I should have been happy, right? I’d arrived—or so I thought. There was something that was changing inside me. Something was stirring. The season was changing. We don’t change seasons; we adjust to them. Today, my brother owns Central Bindery and it’s grown even larger than when I owned it. Not only did the business change my life, but it also changed my brother’s.
What was the key to this? God spoke and I listened to what He had to say. It was the same principle as in the creation of the earth. “Let there be light,” and there was light, and God saw that the light was good. God was gently leading, still proceeding me to His dream, weaving me into His tapestry. And that’s a nice place to be.
Gently Leading, Still Proceeding: The Exodus to Being a Single Singles Pastor
While I still owned Central Bindery, the pastor who led me to the Lord, Jerry Landrey, telephoned me one day. That call in 1979 changed my life. Jerry said he was going to Indonesia to speak at some pastors’ conferences, and he asked me if I wanted to go with him. All I asked was, “Where is Indonesia?” A few months later, now as a five-year-old Christian, I accompanied Jerry to Jakarta, Malang, and Denpasar, Indonesia. There I met Dr. Harvey Lifsey of Christian Dynamics, which was the ministry conducting the pastors’ conferences. Seeing it was my first time overseas, I was stunned by what I experienced. Dr. Lifsey was inspirational and anointed. His speaking introduced me to my first real encounter with RHEMA.
When I listened to him, the Bible came alive. It was truth, but somehow it was more than truth. It was light. It was illumination. It was relatable and it applied to me. Bible verses I knew by memory suddenly jumped off the page. I understood those verses; I didn’t just have knowledge about them. For the first time since my salvation experience, I was exposed to both swords. I would never be the same again. Now I had a framework for illumination. I knew by experience the aha moment. Even though I didn’t know the word RHEMA, I received a RHEMA on RHEMA.
Flying back from that trip, somewhere between Jakarta and Hong Kong, God spoke to me: “Sell the business. You are now going into the ministry.” I was shocked. But His voice was just as clear as when I bought Central Bindery. My first response was, “This can’t be You, God. God, do You know how much they pay those pastors?” But God was speaking. It was obvious. This was the next step to something greater. God was weaving the tapestry of my life and many other people’s lives. I had faith that it was going to happen. I was like Mary with Gabriel, “Be it done to me according to Your RHEMA.”
When I arrived home, I told my father what God had spoken to my heart. My dad is the best businessman I have ever known, having more natural business sense than anyone I had ever met. When I told my father that I wanted to sell the business, he was surprised but nice. He must of thought I was crazy. I imagined him saying to himself, “Sell the business? Is he crazy? He doesn’t even know what he has done. Businesses are hard to grow. He has it made.” All those thoughts are rational, but when you walk with God, it can get a bit crazy at times.
Central Bindery sold for a large sum of money nine months later, on April 1, 1980. Six years earlier, I had put my last $3,000 into it, and that seed had multiplied exponentially. The business was both successful and significant, having changed the bindery-and-printing culture in Phoenix by being customer-oriented and the first in Arizona to use vastly superior machinery. Efficiency and productivity were increased. Central Bindery also teamed with many then-new print shops that are now some of the largest in the industry. We found new owners to grow with and we all grew together.
There I was, thirty years old, single, unemployed, but with some money. I had a word to go into ministry. I had no seminary degree or formal Bible teaching, but I was attending a singles ministry at Grace Community Church in Tempe, Arizona. Grace was fundamental and their ministers had more degrees than a thermometer.
I started my pursuit for ministry by interviewing at several churches to be a singles pastor. I started with what I had: I’m single, I know something about singles ministry since I attend one, and I have an undergraduate degree. At that time, singles ministry was quite a new phenomenon. Most just dismissed me right away because I had no degree in ministry. All I needed was one church.
The singles ministry I was attending at Grace Community Church had almost four hundred singles in the church’s Sunday school program. I played the guitar and was part of the group that led worship, and I eventually began teaching from time to time. The ministry became so large that the church leadership decided they needed an assistant singles pastor. Well, there I was. I was respected by the singles but had no theology degree, but I was cheap because I had some money. I had desire and a heart for singles.
They hired me despite my lack of degree. That was a miracle in itself. Those church guys liked those degrees. In September 1980, I became an assistant pastor at Grace Community Church. God had made a way where there seemed to be no way. Remember what David quoted Gabriel as saying earlier in this book: “No RHEMA spoken by God will not happen”? It never even occurred to me to worry at this point. I had received a faith-infused utterance from God, giving me clarity and direction in the next step of my life. I was to be a singles pastor at Grace Community Church for the next seven years (with up to 550 singles) then at Northwest Community Church (with up to 275 singles) in the Metro Phoenix area. Incidentally, the singles ministry at Grace is where I met Becky, my wife and ministry partner since 1983. When you are in God’s will by hearing first, speaking second, you find other treasures too. You also change others’ lives forever.
But the times were changing as I entered into my eighth year as a singles pastor. Eight is the number of new beginnings. I loved being a singles pastor—I had something to say, something to see, and something to share. But that was yesterday, and yesterday was about to be gone. The “this” was now a “that.” Time to adjust to a new season yet once again!
Gently Leading, Still Proceeding: The Exodus to Being a Lead Pastor
From 1982 to 1987, I was singles pastor at Northwest Community Church. It was a wonderful experience where I got to see the singles ministry grow from sixteen singles in the autumn of 1982 to 275 singles by early 1987. The church had grown too. When I started there in 1982, the attendance was about eight hundred people, but by early 1987, there were over three thousand. As a result of the growth, the church facilities needed to expand, so we purchased land at the high prices everyone was paying at that time. Finances were tight. Then the early north winds began to blow preceding Black Monday in October 1987. Offerings decreased along with people’s incomes.
In financial crises, generally the first pastors to be let go are the singles pastors. Not only was I a singles pastor, but I had an assistant singles pastor too. I knew one of us would have to go, so I chose to leave but not because of any of the outside influences I mentioned. God was speaking to me once again, and I knew it.
I had been thinking, dreaming, wishing, and wanting to start a church with both Spirit and truth—one that embraced the fullness of Christ, not just one theme or theology emphasis. The fundamentalists were right—well, partially—and the “Spirit-filled” side of the church was right—again, partially. It seemed like each side had what the other needed (much like a marriage). Both the gift-driven and the theology-driven churches were still lacking, wanting and in need of building up into the fullness of Christ.
After allowing God to speak to me in many ways—through others, through circumstances, through the LOGOS of God, and to my innermost being—a group of thirty-six believers started Hosanna Christian Fellowship in the autumn of 1987. That first year, we moved seven times to different rental locations. We called ourselves “The Church on the Move.” We grew numerically with no logical explanation. Everything we did broke the church-growth gurus’ latest laws. The first 20 percent of every dollar that came in went to missions. We learned about prophecy. We learned about apostolic ministry. We reached the nations. We were deep and wide. We had a strong desire to do what we sensed God wanted to do. It was a fascinating time. It was special and we knew it. But many sensed that ours was a temporary church, “John the Baptist” type of church, a prophetic church that was making the way for something greater. It would be a church for a reason and for a season.
After one year, we knew we needed to build, and I was amazed by the response of the people. Everyone had faith for it. It was expensive, but it never occurred to any of us that this was a big commitment. I gladly signed a personal guarantee. It was a “no brainer” because I had received a faith-infused utterance from God giving illumination and direction for the church.
Several years later, our services were near a thousand in attendance. Hosanna, although it wasn’t the biggest church in Phoenix, had tremendous influence in the city. I could go on and on about what the church did, but suffice it to say that God initiated and caused the church to grow despite itself. It was birthed prophetically to announce the “Jesus” of apostolic ministry and bring apostolic ministry into the mainstream of Christianity.
God was up to something in my life again. All three stages of my career occurred to get me to the fourth stage of my life. It was time to adjust for yet another season. God wanted to reposition me. My time as a lead pastor was coming to an end. A new season was on its way.
Gently Leading, Still Proceeding: The Exodus to an Apostolic Ministry Called NationStrategy
A time came when I was Hosanna’s lead pastor that I knew I needed to minister in and to the nations. God kept prodding me: “Go to the nations. Go to the nations.” I felt like I did when I sold Central Bindery. “What is this, God?” I asked. “I’m happy. I’m paid. I have a staff. I love the people. I have something to say, something to see, and something to share. Why should I give all this up?” But I couldn’t get any peace. I couldn’t go forward and I was slowing the church down. I was a bottleneck.
I brought in two organizational counselors who did a study of the church. They both said to me in a meeting, “Ed, you have two choices: you can minister to eight hundred people or you can change the world.” I thought that it wasn’t fair—they knew what I would say to that. That did it. “Okay, Lord, I’ve been down this road before.”
Near the end of 2000, several members of the board of directors and I started NationStrategy, which is a nonprofit organization that pastors pastors and leads leaders. To pastors, we are a resource ministry or “guide by their side” in building their churches for their communities. To community and church leaders, we help them envision and empower them for community transformation. We inspire. We care for. We equip. That’s called apostolic ministry. That’s what apostles do.4
In the last sixteen years, we have spoken in well over seven thousand church or community settings. I have been in or ministered in more than a hundred countries. I have written ten books. I have earned my doctorate in faith and culture from Phoenix University of Theology. And I have raised up successors in the Philippines and the United States.
But the most important aspect of my changing career testimony is this: at each intersection or place of advancement, God was there. He wasn’t mystical. He wasn’t hard to hear. God spoke when I needed a “let there be light” moment, and God provided the faith to do it. When I needed a RHEMA, it wasn’t hard to hear. And each time, as Every Nation leader Steve Murrell says, it wasn’t mystical; it was missional. And honestly, most of it wasn’t for me; rather, it was for me being where I am supposed to be in God’s tapestry so that it uplifts everyone around me. Each successive promotion was both necessary and a learning experience. I learned lessons at Central Bindery that I still apply today. The same is true with singles ministry and being a lead pastor.
If I can work with God in this way, then so can you too. Both swords of the Lord are your weapons—use them. And always build the way God builds. Listen for God’s voice so that you will have something to say. Do what you hear God say so you will have something to see. Once what you have heard becomes what they see, something real and tangible, then you will have something to share. When that happens, it opens minds, it opens hearts, and it opens doors of influence into the mountains. It gives you a passport into the mountains. It makes kings and queens faint. You are difference makers with the X factor: you hear God because you know God and know God’s voice.
Rhema in Business: David Lake’s Journey of Working for God
I (David) never wanted to be in business. I got into the swimming pool industry in 1995 and had a measure of success working for others. I was happy working a good-paying job, collecting my check on payday, and living life. It was nice because I never thought about work unless I was at work. After all, I didn’t own the company.
When 2008 rolled around, the economy crashed. My good-paying, secure job was no longer good-paying or secure. Although I was one of the last to be laid off, there was no compensation package. I had no problem believing that God was going to provide for me; He had repeatedly proved over the years that He would take care of me. The only question I had for God was what He wanted me to do next.
I had no money to officially go into business for myself, so I figured I would help people build their swimming pools by consulting for them. They would be the subcontractors and I would point them in the right direction. A couple of people had asked me to do this very thing even though I did not know the people who contacted me. I built their pools and made a little bit of money.
About this time, however, my mother sold some land she had inherited from my grandparents. She suggested I go into business for myself and offered to pay for the license to get started. After I got the license, business continued to be slow. I did some pool-service work and various other jobs God gave me to make a living. A short time later, however, a gentleman approached me regarding the use of my business license. He said he had a financial backer and they wanted to make me the construction manager and pay me a salary if I would help them build the company. I agreed to come on board and we began to build the business.
My task was building the processes of the construction part of the business, working on pricing, and creating a price worksheet that sales could use to sell the pools. We rented offices, hired salespeople, and set up product displays. Salespeople began meeting with potential clients and selling pools. We had a handful of contracts. It seemed like a good start.
It was during this time that God opened a door for me to go on a mission trip. I left on a two-week trip, and when I returned home, the general manager requested a meeting. He informed me that the investor was pulling the plug. They would no longer provide the financing to continue the business. Here is where things got interesting.
I went to the institution that issued my contractor’s license, and within two hours I changed the license from the existing business’s name back to my company’s name. This was a miracle. I immediately became the owner of the company, including all signed contracts and employees. Just like that, God took me from employee to owner through no efforts of my own. Within a couple weeks, the gentleman who talked me into using my license quit, then two of the four remaining salesmen quit. I was left with two salesmen and four contracts that one of the salesmen had negotiated. The only answer I had at that point was God. I did not know how to run a business, nor did I know how to build a business. But this presented no problem to God.
One of the salesmen God left to work with the company was a man I had worked with in the past at another pool company. He was one of the top-producing salesmen in the industry. When he and I worked for the other company, our relationship was adversarial at times. The culture of the company created conditions that tended to pit people against one another, and we both had personalities that tended to speak before we understood what was happening. Neither of us would have been intentional about working together. But again, this presented no problem for God. He gave us a common vision to keep the company going and granted us the grace to execute what He wanted to do. The second salesman left after selling two pools.
So here we were, one guy selling and one guy building. We had no capital to expand. Nobody knew who we were. We were operating job to job and day by day. The first year, we sold just a handful of jobs. God provided enough money to keep us going. The second year, our revenues tripled. The third year, our revenues increased another 40 percent. God continued to open doors for us. Then we opened our first showroom. God provided a comfortable income. I could continue to do ministry and pay for mission trips for the first time in my life.
Up to this point I had not heard much RHEMA. I spent a lot of time with God praying for wisdom to do what I did not know how to do. He led my steps, and I was quite content where He was leading, the pace of His leading, and the fruits of His leading. Then God gave me a RHEMA on a return trip from the Philippines. He gave me a scripture, a LOGOS, that set the stage for the RHEMA:
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come nest in its branches (Matthew 13:31-32 NKJV).
God said, “That is what a kingdom business is to be, and that is what I want My kingdom business to be.” I knew without a doubt that God wanted to grow the business. I had no idea how to grow a business, but what I did know is that He said, “Grow.” And because He said it, it was going to happen.
For a year, I prayed for God to give me wisdom regarding what to do to grow the business. And for an entire year, I got nothing. I returned to the Philippines the following year, and on my return trip home I received a second RHEMA from God: “Now!” God was waiting on His timing regarding our growth. I went home, put additional people on payroll, opened a second showroom, and spent money on advertising. I had no vision to do any of these things, but God had the vision. What God utters, there is no possibility of it not happening.
I still spend a great deal of time with God. We are always talking about what He wants to do with His business. Sometimes He gives me wisdom and sometimes He gives me a RHEMA. LOGOS, His written Word, and RHEMA, His utterances, are both essential for operating a kingdom business that He owns. I don’t know where I’d be without it.
Notes
1. Vance Havner, Pepper ‘n’ Salt (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1966).
2. Ibid.
3. 3. Ibid.
4. If you would like more information on NationStrategy, visit www.nationstrategy.com.