“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

With all that happened with Influencers of Bakersfield over the last six months, there was some unforgiveness forming up in me towards the board members especially the chairman of the board. As I back packed out of the north fork of the kern river three weeks ago, God hit me with this, “When are you going to forgive them?”  As I walked I realized that there was a venom forming from the unforgiveness and that venom was going to push the relationships further and further apart.  Gods heart for this crisis, is that reconciliation would happen and that I needed to leave a door of my heart open to that work of reconciliation.  I was growing in my contentment of never seeing those men again, but God wanted different. So I asked, Father would you disciple me in forgiveness.

Two weeks later I ended up at a men’s retreat for the Bridge Church in Bakersfield.  And there God met me, around a fire pit at victory circle at Forest Home Christian Camp. When asked, by a good friend of mine, “What do you need prayer for”, I told him “I have unforgiveness in my heart.”  One by one Steve Elcano asked me to name them and say out loud, “I forgive you…and I forgive you…, and I hold nothing against you.”  Nine people in total until nothing remained. An enormous weight was lifted off of me and a roar formed in my soul out of a growing authority in Christ. I began to see a line in the sand with a darkness in front of me The roar pushed back on the darkness and to my left and right were other lions roaring. I felt a miraculous healing fall upon me and a vision for the future ahead of me. One chapter of life coming to an end, while a new chapter is beginning.

With that I wanted to give you all an update on where we are at in this new chapter.  First, I will explain what I mean by, “Forming Generative Kingdom Community” through an event we hosted last Sunday.  Then I will outline four questions I am asking and hoping to answer.  Lastly, I will outline where we are at in the process of getting work done.

Generative – Producing, creating something new.  Spirit led, having power to initiate and originate. Fruitful, multiplying, dynamic energy.

We hosted a Friends Giving Dinner for all the high school discipleship groups we sponsor.  In all 8 campuses and 400 students, to which we had 140 for dinner. After the event Colleen and I sat down and asked the question, “Why did we do that?”  Extravagant set up, costly, exhausting and no really ROI from a worldly perspective. And here is what we came up with:

To model what healthy Generative Kingdom Community looks like.  Here are the main principles modeled.

1. God Breathed – Without the breath of God, His Spirit, all our activity is just dust and lifeless.  His presence has to be at the center of all we do
2. The Table – a main part of Jesus ministry and a main part of ours.
3. Beauty – Gratuitous Goodness. Generous expression of Gods love
4. Welcoming, inviting – Jesus is constantly referring to the kingdom of heaven as a banquet or wedding where people are invited and welcomed to
5. A place where people can give of themselves without expecting anything in return.  There has to be space for people to express their unique giftedness towards mankind. Too often there is no place for people to serve with their gifting.
6. Generative – There is a multiplying, generating quality when Jesus is present. He produces life forward in us and through us to others. He generates new life in our assemblies.