Strategy Specifics
Our Philosophy
We look for people who desire to grow God’s Kingdom, and serve them in any way we can. Maybe it’s starting a brand new endeavor with a visionary college student to meet an injustice. Maybe it’s partnering with an existing ministry to build a new team that will help that ministry meet its next God-given goal. Maybe it’s working through a difficult addiction or past issue with a Christian student to get that person ready for kingdom service. Maybe it’s praying with the leaders of a local church for God to reveal ways to make deeper connections with its immediate neighborhood or global outreach. If there’s a person, plan, or prayer network that needs to be developed to grow God’s Kingdom, we want to be part of that work.
God’s word is our guiding light
When we think about who we are going to develop, and how we are going to develop their personal character, plans, and prayer support, we turn to God’s word to be our guide. We believe biblical wisdom is the truth and character of God lived in context, and that’s what we are attempting to develop, wherever God allows. We believe the Bible to be the accurate record of God’s truth and character, and it is our basis for guidance.
To see the truth and character of God revealed because someone is living it in a way that his or her hearers can understand is the ultimate goal. Jesus did this for us - he came to us with the truth of God, and lived it in front of us while in human flesh, so we could understand clearly that the kingdom of God is real and ready for us to join. We hope to do that for others.
Listening Prayer
Using Mark Virkler’s Hearing the Voice of God curriculum, we establish that God still speaks to us today in revelatory ways, with Scripture as the guiding light for illuminating the legitimacy of what we experience in listening prayer. Listening prayer times meet once a week at least, and are facilitated by people with experience in the spiritual discipline of prayer, so there is always someone to verify what someone believes they have heard or felt from God.
Classes
Currently, we offer four different classes. We routinely offer Bible 101, a 12-week course designed to help someone read or skim through the entire Bible, getting the overall message and seeing how the Scriptures point to Christ. In addition, we offer Apologetics (to understand the logical arguments for the Christian faith, especially in regards to attacks on its legitimacy), Hermeneutics (a study on the interpretation of Scripture), and Spiritual Gifts (a collaborative approach to understanding spiritual gifts while meeting people who are mature in using those gifts to grow God’s kingdom). Classes generally meet once per week for 90 minutes and are discussion based, with varying amounts of study outside of class.
Small groups
We offer a variety of groups depending on the needs of students. Sometimes it’s the tried and true method of 12 step recovery, where students meet together with experienced leaders to go through the 12 steps in relation to areas of their life that they haven’t submitted to the authority of God. Other times it could be a book study on boundaries, and most often, we use our version of the Root Lies exercise together with a tool called the Rational Self Analysis. Whatever the content, the desire is to see young men and women grow in the Christlike character they need to become kingdom workers who grow God’s Kingdom.
Personal Mentoring
To simply be known by someone who is further along in the faith is often the best way of growing in Christlike character. We encourage and provide mentors for those seeking one-on-one counsel for character issues, relationships, confession, and prayer. One-on-one mentoring usually occurs once per week at a time of the student’s and mentor’s choosing.
Self-Assessment
Knowing one’s own strengths, weaknesses, and personality preferences are important for being able to function with success in one’s field of study, workplace, and interpersonal relationships. Through the guidance of experienced counselors, we offer people assessments in Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator and Gallup StrengthsFinder, as well as providing career counseling.
Belief
We believe our God is a God of specifics. He has a plan in mind for every person, creating everyone with particular work to do. In addition, God has specific ways He wants things done – there are essential qualities of justice, kindness, and excellence that go into every one of his plans. When someone listens for and clearly discerns the specific plan God gives, God’s Kingdom grows. We desire to see every kingdom worker employed in kingdom work.
Vision
“Without revelation people run wild, but one who listens to instruction will be happy.” (Prov 29, verse 18)A vision comes from revelation, a direct encounter with God. It is the picture that defines success, because it is the picture that God establishes and desires to see come to pass through our obedience. A vision is also informed by wisdom. We define biblical wisdom as living out the truth and character of God in context, and a vision is clarified by God’s word (truth and character), the setting where God wants to work (context), and the lives of the people who are carrying out the vision (living). A simple, clear, and articulate vision of what God wants to carry out helps people stay on course in the midst of heavy distraction or obstacles, helping people remain “happy” in all circumstances instead of “running wild.”
Mission
A mission statement defines the critical action(s) that need to happen in order to see the vision come to pass. In essence, it is the statement that says why each person involved exists in relation to the plan. If Jesus’ vision is God’s Kingdom on Earth as it is in heaven, then the mission would be to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them everything that Jesus taught, and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Great Commission gives each person a target toward which to go, reminding them of why they are doing what they are doing, as well as providing the foundation for how they do it. This statement defines exactly what needs to happen to see God’s Kingdom come into this world, and helps people focus on the work at hand instead of veering off course.
Values
Values are descriptive qualities that define how the work looks when it is accomplished. When building a house, the mission is clear - construct the house. However, values define how the house looks. Is the house warm and inviting? Environmentally friendly? Disability accessible? These are just a few of the words that can shape every aspect of the construction process. Individuals and teams need to have values in mind in order to properly shape the plan God has for them, and God has many values that we can emulate in our plans - kind, generous, beautiful, and focused on the vulnerable are just a few. Values color every aspect of a plan, making their way into every strategy, goal, and objective.
Strategies
Strategies are the methods that people or teams use to accomplish their mission. Strategies are deeply informed by values, often coming to light as a result of defining the values. Jesus’ strategies for establishing the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven included showing deep compassion to those in need, healing the sick, delivering the demon-afflicted, proclaiming the truth of God, and laying down one’s life for one’s friends. His methods inform our methods; whenever we think about strategies for a person or team, we are asking the question, “What would Jesus do in this situation?” From this fundamental question we can discern the strategies that will grow God’s Kingdom.
Goals
Tests are imperative to determine if our direction is accurate, and God uses them often to help shape and guide us. According to Romans 5, it is testing that produces perseverance, perseverance which produces character (or proof), and character that produces hope. In order to grow character, tests are a must, and goals define whether a test is successful or not. Goals have different functions depending on how much time is involved; long-term and short-term goals serve very different purposes, but are both critical for determining if the strategy is working. In making goals, we use the acronym SMART to define an effective goal - is it Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-based? Goals that have these qualities help individuals or teams determine the work they need to do today to be successful tomorrow, next year, and ten years from now. Goals keep kingdom workers on track, so they can grow God’s Kingdom effectively.
Tactics
A tactic is a word often attached to military operations. As Christians, we are in a spiritual battle with enemies, both seen and unseen all around us; we need to win each little battle in order to accomplish the larger task of establishing God’s Kingdom on earth. Tactics are the specific, day-to-day tasks that one must do to ensure that goals are met. How well a goal is accomplished often hinges on thorough attention to detail in the planning leading up to it. Is everything someone is doing today going to help reach the outcome of the goal? What else can we do to accomplish this goal with excellence? What does someone need to write / who do they need to call / what do they need to stop doing or postpone to make this next endeavor a great success? These are all tactical questions, and we see Jesus lead the way in thinking with great attention to detail. He was very concerned about who or what was directly in front of Him that day and how that interaction would help further his end goal.
Resources
Resources are the people, materials, and time necessary to see tactical success. Does the person doing the work have the information or training they need to be successful? Does this staff person or that volunteer need money to do a particular job effectively? Does that team or individual know the right people to help with their next critical endeavor, such as building a website, throwing an event, or crossing into a new cultural landscape? When a team or individuals have the resources they need, they can respond quickly and effectively, instead of having to pause to get the resources they need. Jesus always defines the resources we need, whether big or small - after all, He showed his followers how 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish were the resources needed to feed 5,000 people, and also showed that his body and blood were the resource needed to purchase our freedom.
Faith
Prayer often is the critical element of success in growing God’s Kingdom. No matter how gifted a person or team is, no matter how solid a plan is, success and failure rests on God’s favor. God is the one who has elevated slaves to positions of power and reduced kings to the depths of poverty. Those who are close to Him through the deep personal conversation of prayer have access to God’s power in ways others simply don’t. For those who seek to know him deeply in prayer, He can give critical insight into situations, help them discern the right direction at fork in the road moments, and move immovable obstacles with relative ease. Our hope is to equip people and teams with initial groups who can petition God for guidance and success in their plans, as well as spiritually “cover” each individual who is working to grow God’s Kingdom. For people and teams we are assisting, we send out weekly prayer requests to our prayer teams, while also building prayer teams for each specific person or team by reaching out to new volunteers and teaching them how to communicate prayer needs to each other.
Petition
Jesus speaks so often about asking God for help. Humbling ourselves to ask God for success instead of figure it out ourselves is a critical component to being successful in any kingdom-growing endeavor. Here is Jesus speaking to his followers, “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”Petition means to ask. Having a group of people who are routinely asking God for guidance, success, mercy, and forgiveness is invaluable to any team and to any plan if it’s going to accomplish what God wants it to accomplish.
Covering
Covering is all about having people praying for individuals or teams as they do work that God loves, but that Satan hates. Satan will do all he can to kill and destroy those who try to grow God’s Kingdom, and it’s a wonderful blessing to have a group praying for spiritual protection and endurance in the face of a spiritual enemy.In Luke 22, Jesus addresses his follower Simon Peter, saying “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus covered Simon Peter in prayer to God the Father, so that Simon Peter would persevere in the face of a significant spiritual obstacle. For all those like Simon Peter trying to grow God’s Kingdom, this kind of prayer is significant and important.