2. The Principles of G12

Transcription

2. The Principles of G12
The Principles
Of G12
Biblical Reference
“The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in
charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good
for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth; he will
put him in charge of all his possessions.” (Luke 12:42-44)
MODULE 2
LESSON 2
Objectives
1. To recognise the origins and characteristics of the Vision.
2. To identify the important elements to successfully apply the Vision.
3. To identify every stage of the Ladder of Success.
4. To recognise the characteristics of an Encounter.
5. To implement the principles of successful leadership.
INTRODUCTION
Many people often wonder how to effectively put the G12 Vision into practice. This lesson
will provide an in-depth look at the basic guidelines needed to develop it correctly.
This chapter also contains historical fragments of how the Vision developed in Colombia,
and how it subsequently stretched to all the nations of the world.
1. WHAT DOES THE WORD ‘VISION’ MEAN?
The Oxford Language Dictionary defines Vision as a mental concept of a distinct or vivid
kind, an object of mental contemplation; the action or fact of seeing or contemplating
something not actually present to the eye; and something which is apparently seen
otherwise than by ordinary sight e.g. having the nature of a revelation, supernaturally
presented to the mind either in a sleep or in an abnormal state. (OED)
What can we deduce from these three concepts? The consistent theme is the fact that to
have a clear vision of what we want to achieve, it is not necessary to see in the physical. In
a supernatural way, or in our case, through a firm relationship with God and His Word, we
can touch His heart, leading Him to reveal His perfect plans for our lives and ministries. It
was in this way that one day the Lord revealed the plans He had for MCI (Misión
Carismática Internacional) and for all those who would want to be a part of those plans.
2. THE BIRTH OF G12
After pastoring small churches for nine years, the Lord called me to start a new church with
the cell vision. We started with eight people in our living room. Just half a block away from
where we lived were the head offices of a youth ministry aimed at the university students.
They had managed to produce excellent materials for growth through cell meetings.
I wanted to learn how they did things so that we could apply the same to our ministry, so I
asked one of the students for help. However, he replied, “I’m afraid I can’t do that, they have
banned us from teaching the materials to others.” I told him that I was happy to attend some
sort of training, but slightly dismayed, he answered, “That isn’t possible either, because it’s
only available to those who belong to their ministry.” I was so sad, but not discouraged; I
just tried to do the best I could.
The only information I found on cells was in Dr. Cho’s books. He is a pastor in Seoul, South
Korea where he leads the largest evangelical church in the world. Although we did not
achieve the results we were hoping for, his teachings helped us a lot at the beginning. In the
year 1990, God gave me the revelation of G12 bringing an explosion to the cell growth in our
ministry.
3. BEING IN AGREEMENT, COMMITMENT AND GENEROSITY: KEY REQUIREMENTS
FOR ENTERING THE VISION
Being in agreement
A pastor from Portugal shared with me what the Lord had revealed to him in relation to
“being in agreement”. One day, this pastor asked the Lord, “Why did the adversary rebel
and become Satan, if we assume that he was a cherubim who lived in holiness and who was
always in an atmosphere of complete purity?”
He then received divine revelation concerning the way the adversary had conceived evil in his
heart. This creature was one of the highest ranking in the angelical sphere, because the Kingdom
of God is organised in ascending order: Angels, Archangels, Seraphs and Cherubim. The
adversary was the patron cherub, and it was his responsibility to protect the sanctuary (the Most
Holy Place of God) with his wings extended. Because he was so close to God, he heard everything
He said. There was a moment when God, (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), said, “Let us make man in
our image, in our likeness” (Genesis1:26a).
Making man in the image and likeness of God meant that man would have the nature of
God, and would be superior to all the angels in the Heavenly Kingdom. Although this cherub
was perfect, holy and full of wisdom, he allowed something incorrect in his heart – he was
not in agreement with the decision that God was making.
The adversary lost all the privileges he had enjoyed in the Kingdom of Heaven because of
his rebellion. As soon as the Lord placed man in the Garden of Eden, he made it his mission
to prove that he had been right in saying that man would never be perfect. He tempted the
first couple so that he could gain control over all humanity.
We find the opposite in Jesus’ ministry. He did not argue with the Father when He was sent
to the world to take man’s place (whose fallen nature now made him lower than the angels),
leaving His place of authority and honour. He never said anything that was not in agreement.
Perhaps there were thoughts that crossed His mind about not coming to earth, but He
rejected them and only accepted the thoughts that came from the Father. He said, “…yet
not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42b).
There is never disagreement within the relationship of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit);
each knows how to submit to the other. The Father gave Jesus a mission and He accepted
it. He lived in a body that God had prepared for Him, just like any other man, maintaining
His identity as the Son of God. The spirit of rebellion begins when there is disagreement
with authority.
We experienced this at a ministerial level with someone who was part of our team. Every
time we launched a project, this person would say: “I don’t agree.” In an effort to be
understanding towards our team, we missed many victories on several fronts, and his
opposition opened a door to the adversary in his mind who in the end removed him from the
purpose of God. Jesus taught us what it is to submit. Even in the hardest moment of His
life, when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said, “My Father, if it is not possible for
this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (Matthew 26:42).
Jesus is the greatest example of submission, and so we should learn from Him. With good reason,
He said, “…learn from me , for I am gentle and humble in heart…” (Matthew 11:29b).
Humanity has two options: to lean towards disagreement or towards agreement. Pilate said,
“Who do you choose: Barabbas or Jesus?” Thank God, we chose Jesus.
Commitment and Generosity
If you as a leader do not enter fully into the Vision, your disciples will not enter fully either.
Jesus could not delegate redemption; He could not entrust it to somebody else, not even
someone He trusted. No! Nobody could replace Him. It is the same with the G12 Vision:
we cannot give it to others so that we evade our responsibility; we must immerse ourselves
in the Vision – it is a commitment that we must assume. I could have accepted commitment
to just my ministry, without allowing anybody else to know the strategy of growth; however, I
understood that this is a vision given by God for the Body of Christ. The first thing that the
Lord told me was regarding generosity in sharing the Vision with others. He told me to teach
it to other pastors and leaders who felt unsuccessful, bringing them hope through the vision.
4. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VISION
A. It is innovative. We know that God has raised up people with a powerful anointing for
miracles. But now, through the team of twelve, God is helping His servants in the
pastoral work. Although Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, He delegated all His
authority to twelve men and the work was spread among them.
B. It brings strength to the ministry. The Vision brings consistency to the ministry from
the very moment that you start to implement it. One of the main principles is the
character formation of every member of the team of twelve, so that they will be upright
people, with the fear of God, commitment, filled with the Holy Spirit, and without
indiscretions or arguments that the enemy could use to attack or accuse them.
C. It allows a team to be trained. In the Vision, the twelve are trained so that they can
effectively represent their leader. Pastoring through the G12 groups maintains a balance
within the leadership, because the leader protects his team, and the twelve protect him.
D. It enables people to be ministered to. This involves imparting spiritual authority to
people, enabling them to receive the victory in their trials and problems. For this reason,
you should meet with your group of twelve weekly so that you can share a time of
friendship and spiritual growth.
E. It bears fruit. In the Parable of the Sower, the Lord Jesus speaks about four kinds of
land where the seeds fall. Only the seed sown on good soil gives abundant fruit. This
shows that we should support the leaders that bear fruit, and that it is imperative to
create a pleasant environment for the development of leadership so that the fruit will be
more abundant.
F. Every person becomes a winner of souls. Anyone who wants to multiply must have a
strong desire to win the lost. Solomon said, “He who wins souls is wise” (Proverbs11:30b).
God gives us strategies to be more effective in His work, be it to develop
evangelism through personal contacts, through small meetings or through large events.
G. It unites homogenous groups. Men win men, women win women and youth win youth.
It is not as challenging for men to win women because women are more sensitive,
spiritually-minded and open. Men’s great challenge is to win other men, demonstrating
his ability as a leader. The women are now setting us a great example by growing in
every area where they have responsibilities. We have also seen that the hand of the
Lord is upon the lives of the children and the teenagers; He has placed in them a spirit of
conquest to reach many of their age for Christ. This is why working in homogenous
groups is such a great blessing.
5. THE GOVERNMENT OF TWELVE, G12
To clearly develop the Vision, the Lord needed to establish twelve columns which would be
supported by Christ, The Cornerstone. Paul said that we are “built on the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone”(Ephesians 2:20).
He also explained that:
“No one can lay any foundation other than the one
already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).
No engineer would dare approve the construction of a building knowing that only eleven of
the necessary columns were secure, as it would cause serious structural problems.
Something similar to this happened when the Lord called His twelve. There were eleven
good columns and one imperfect one, which Mathias replaced. The result of the complete
twelve was great growth: after Peter’s first speech, three thousand people became
Christians, followed by five thousand after his second; and so the Church grew at an
overwhelming rate.
How to form a team of twelve
As a leader, you should involve your people when forming your twelve. This means that
before they assemble their own team and multiply cells, they should help you to complete
your twelve. When you have your complete team, they will receive the vision that God has
put in your heart. Practically, the key group of twelve is that first group. The forming of this
team can often take a year.
Who to work with
What is true in the natural is also true in the spiritual. If a husband does not involve the wife,
there will be no multiplication because multiplication is the result of teamwork.
However, someone whose spouse, for whatever reason, does not have the same
commitment to the ministry can still be part of a team of twelve. Their main goal should be
to win their husband or wife for Christ and to spark the flame of passion in them to win the
lost (1 Corinthians 7:16-17).
Single people are also suitable to be in a team of twelve, as long as their testimony and love
for the ministry is worthy of this place of honour.
6. THE LADDER OF SUCCESS
The steps of the Vision (Win, Consolidate, Disciple and Send) are
collectively known as the Ladder of Success because each step is like a
rung; as you advance, you will enter into a higher level in your ministry.
You must win a person before you can consolidate them. If we do not win, we cannot
consolidate. If we do not consolidate, we cannot disciple. If we do not disciple, we will have
no one to send. The foundation is winning, and as you can see, we must master all the
areas of the Vision, becoming expert soul-winners.
Win
Have you ever wondered why Jesus told Simon and Andrew, “Come follow me, and I will
make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). We need the expertise of a fisherman to win
souls, and a fisherman is not made overnight; their expertise comes from practice. In the
same way, parents must first have a child before they can really learn to look after, protect,
feed and educate them. It is impossible without first having a child. This Vision has no value
if we do not win.
After my personal encounter with Jesus, my life was transformed completely and a great
desire was awakened in me to rescue those who were far from Him. Although I did not yet
go to church, I always asked everyone I had any contact with about their spiritual condition.
When the Lord led me to a small church, it provided a great opportunity to gather all the
people with whom I shared my faith. I was continually winning souls and taking people there.
I realised, however, that almost none of those I won persevered. At first I did not understand
why this was and I thought that this was normal behaviour for Christian churches. Then, I
understood that there was no great effort to create a pleasant atmosphere for new Christians
in these churches. I was able to see how the pastors prayed that God would save souls, but
when they came to the church, they told them off and mistreated them with their words, and
so the people did not come back.
Consolidate
Follow-up, or Consolidation, begins the moment someone is won, and continues until they
become fully committed. The goal is that none would be lost as we apply this God-given
Vision.
A practical point: it is advisable that the person who evangelised also consolidates because they
already establish a friendship and relationship of trust.
As a result, it is so important for every member of the cell group to know how to consolidate.
If you are a leader, take the time to teach your disciples about the process of consolidation
and bear in mind that this process could change according to each person.
To begin with we take the personal details of those who give their lives to Jesus and we
telephone them within the first 48 hours, with the goal of meeting them wherever is suitable
for them within the first week. We have understood that contact should be immediate; we
cannot allow fifteen or twenty days to pass by because the fruit could be lost. Some lose the
fruit because they wait too long before collecting it. It is not a question of asking for
multitudes, but of being able to manage them. When we contact people, we start to get to
know them. Some consolidators from our church once took the follow up cards for an area
of the city and went out to make house visits. Whilst there, they discovered that one of the
cards had a false address. Nevertheless, they asked for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
One of them thought that perhaps not all of the numbers were wrong and they decided to go
to another area to which majority of the numbers corresponded. They went from house to
house, asking for the person until they found her.
When she opened the door to them, she could not believe it. Today she is a great leader.
Consolidation should be immediate, because your intention is to strengthen the step of
salvation that they made.
Encounter
The Encounter is the first experience of confrontation that the new believer has with God,
with His Word, with themselves and their past. The grace of God is there for them to
completely root sin out of their lives. They will be able to reflect on their daily life and learn
to see by faith, enabling them to conquer the best future.
“If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his
dwelling! I would state my case before him” (Job 23:3-4).
Every Encounter has five objectives:
1. Assurance of salvation. Through the Word, people are confronted with their
condition as a sinner which leads them to genuine repentance.
2. Inner healing. Many people have experienced emotional hurts throughout their
lives which the Lord wants to heal.
3. Deliverance. Every person battles with a weakness in their own carnal nature.
Everyone must become aware that they are fighting a battle against the powers
of evil that are trying to crush their will.
4. Fullness of the Holy Spirit. A person must be genuinely converted i.e. have
received freedom and inner healing, in order to receive the fullness of the Spirit.
5. Knowledge of every step of the Vision. Your disciples should receive the
revelation that they were called by God to serve Him and win others for Him.
Disciple
Everyone who receives the blessing of salvation and are consolidated will subsequently
require training. This is provided through discipleship or the School of Leaders “Training
For Your Destiny”.
The goal is that they reach the fullness of measure of Christ.
I have been able to understand that the best way to form effective leaders is by helping them
to learn the language of faith, through dreams and vision. The heroes of faith are simple
people who have attained a great trust in an extraordinary God. Leaders of this calibre will
always have the strength to conquer and will be able to raise up a great ministry.
One day I sat down on the floor of a small room and started to dream. I dreamt that the
building was so full that people had to wait outside, wanting to come in. This vision was so
clear that I felt as if it was already happening. I later shared this dream with our church of
around thirty people who committed themselves to dream the same dream. We then wrote
the number two hundred everywhere to prophesy our growth. We became really pregnant
with that vision. After three months, the miracle happened, just as we had dreamed it.
This first experience gave shape to our ministry. We were able to understand that the things
of God always go from little to much. The whole church learned how to use the language of
faith through dreams and visions. As a result, I am convinced that nothing will be impossible
for them. A church that moves in this kind of faith will always be an advancing, conquering
church.
Imagine yourself not just as any kind of person, but as a leader of multitudes. Look at the
stars and think, “Lord, my disciples will be as numerous as the stars in the sky.” Stop to look
at the sand on the seashore and confess: “Lord, thank you because the souls I win and the
disciples I consolidate will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore.” Visualise the
multitudes surrendered to the work of God because you received the divine strategy to win
through G12.
Send (Cellular Ministry)
This takes place when a person who has been trained and equipped gets ready to guide
others to Jesus’ feet.
David had the responsibility of looking after each one of his father’s sheep. He faced wild
animals, storms and many other adversities, but he never allowed even one of the sheep to
be lost. God first tests us by entrusting us with one cell; if we are faithful with it, he can trust
us with more responsibility.
Characteristics of a cell leader:
! A person of momentum.
! Someone who knows how to look after each lamb.
! Someone who discerns what spirits are operating around them and knows how to
defend their sheep.
! Someone who needs the support of the angels to make their work more effective.
! You can not allow your cell to decrease in size; you should constantly be advancing,
conquering souls week after week.
! Multiplication: Breaking your personal record.
Just as some athletes live their lives training to break their own record in the next
competition, as a Christian leader with a great passion to win the lost, you should maintain a
spirit of prayer so that God will give you the grace to influence a greater number of people
every day.
CONCLUSION
It is our responsibility to commit ourselves to God, making the decision to be the best
multipliers, faithfully reproducing ourselves in others. God has called us to multiply. I was
able to understand this when the Lord gave us the revelation of G12: from each one of our
disciples should come twelve. This can be achieved in one year as previously mentioned.
Destiny Training
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Module 2 Lesson 2
The Principles of G12
Name: ___________________________________________________
Pastor: _______________________________________________
Date: _________________________
Please hand in at your next training session
ACTIVITY QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Describe the birth of G12:
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2. What are the key requirements of the Vision?
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3. Write down five objectives of an Encounter:
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4. Pray the following prayer: “Lord, thank you because the souls I will win and the
disciples I will consolidate will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore.” After
you have made this declaration for a few days and have begun evangelising,
describe your experience, in your own words:
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
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5. Draw a line between the words in the left-hand column and the definitions in the
right-hand column.
WIN
A process of follow up that should
happen quickly, because its purpose is to
strengthen the step of salvation that the
person made.
BE IN AGREEMENT
The grace to each day influence a
greater number of people.
MULTIPLICATION
Takes place when a person who has
been formed and equipped prepares to
guide others to Jesus’ feet.
CONSOLIDATE
Training that each believer requires in
order to reach the fullness of the
measure of Jesus Christ, provided
through discipleship or the School of
Leaders.
SEND
To motivate a person to agree to come to
where Jesus is and receive Him in their
heart as their only Lord and Saviour.
VISION
To not argue against the Father’s
decisions, nor any authority put in place
by Him. To fulfil God’s command with
obedience, submission and love.
DISCIPLE
Comes through visualising multitudes full
of faith and prayer.