It has long been a passion of mine to see the prophetic activities of the Kingdom of God embraced and integrated into the life of the local church. Training and instruction in these oft-misunderstood experiences and activities is usually relegated to external seminars and conferences. But if we, the followers of Jesus, are to understand and grow in our understanding and personal experience with these necessary activities, as well as the demonstration of these activities to the people and culture around us, they need to be integrated back into the life and experience of the local church, as Jesus intended, within their proper context and spiritual oversight.

I have personally experienced a significant number as well as several different types of prophetic experiences since I came to know the Lord in October 1973. My encounter with the Lord that evening in October was, itself, a strong prophetic experience I will never forget. I was raised Roman Catholic and grew up with a strong awareness of God's presence in my life, but I knew nothing of a personal relationship that I could enjoy with Him. A few months before that eventful day in October, I heard the message that I could experience such a relationship. That message and that prophetic experience changed the way I understood and experienced God in my life, for the rest of my life. I began a quest to know and understand who Jesus is and how He wants to work in and through my life. Because of these prophetic activities that were taking place in my life, understanding these activities, likewise, became a quest for me.

I was taught how to pursue my relationship with God through the youth ministry I began participating in shortly after my conversion experience. Yet I found it difficult to gain much ground regarding my understanding of the prophetic activities I had been experiencing. Many of the teachers I was exposed to didn't say anything one way or the other about such experiences, or they taught me that these experiences weren't for us today. That didn't make much sense to me, since I was experiencing them, but because I was so new and unlearned in what the Bible had to say, I put the prophetic stuff "on the back burner." Yet I continued to experience these sorts of activities and kept seeking the Lord concerning them in order to understand them and their purpose.

Over time, I began to learn more about them, that they are for us to experience and demonstrate in and through our lives. There were very few people around me who taught on these activities and could model how to pursue these activities as a part of the Christian life. It was difficult to find a church that taught on these types of scriptural activities and how to pursue them. I did the best I could to follow what the Bible said and to read what I could on the subject. I made many mistakes on this journey, and I did the best I could to learn from my mistakes. In 1997, I began pursuing a Master's degree in Practical Theology from Regent University, hoping to learn more about these activities I had been experiencing throughout my life. At the end of my studies in 2001, I used this topic of incorporating the pursuit of the prophetic activities of God within the life and ministries of the local church as the subject of my Master's thesis.

God graciously provided me with seasoned, experienced assistance as I began to write this thesis. Dr. Jack Deere served as my coach and mentor, as I prepared to write this thesis. Mike Bickle and the leadership at Metro Christian Fellowship in Kansas City, Missouri, and Rick Joyner and the leadership at Morningstar Ministries in Charlotte, North Carolina, provided invaluable insight and guidance when it came to the practical application and governance of these prophetic activities within the local church environment. They had experienced these kinds of activities and had endeavored to integrate them into the life of their churches and ministries. These three ministries were instrumental in helping me formulate the basis for this thesis, as well as the written communication of its message, possible.

Usually, when one completes his or her formal studies, these sorts of documents sit on the shelf in their home or office and gather dust. Yet in regard to this thesis document, God wouldn't let me put it on the shelf to gather dust. Over the last 17 years, God took a relatively obscure aspect of my thesis, the kingdom of God, and expanded my understanding of it in regard to its reality, presence, nature and activities on the earth, through His kingdom people, the church. What was once a confusing and little-known theological concept in my mind has become a real, tangible force in my life, as He has instructed and trained me in its powerful presence and operation on the earth. I couldn't keep this to myself.

As a result, I have expanded on this thesis document into a book titled Studies in the Kingdom of God. The book is actually two volumes in one. The first volume, Our Father ... Yours Is the Kingdom, discusses the reality and nature of the Kingdom of God, while the second volume, Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done, discusses the presence and activities of the kingdom of God on the earth in and through His kingdom people. Both books give a scriptural and theological foundation for these various aspects of the kingdom of God, while providing practical instruction and some real-life examples of those who have witnessed and experienced the prophetic activities of the kingdom of God throughout church history and in today's world, including several of my own experiences.

This book is a high-level compilation of what I have learned and experienced concerning the kingdom of God, and how the prophetic activities of the kingdom are to be a valuable and integral part of the life of every follower of Jesus. The spiritual training and instruction associated with the active presence of the kingdom of God, which the Holy Spirit desires to impart and conduct within each of our lives, doesn't happen overnight. The Holy Spirit is not in a hurry to do what is necessary to transform us into a person God can use to further the purpose and activities of His kingdom on the earth. As a result, the book does not simply contain theoretical, theological concepts and statements. I have included authentic, personal experiences that capture and communicate the kingdom's reality and presence on the earth today, and what the kingdom is here to accomplish in and through the lives of every follower of Jesus.

The kingdom of God did not come to promote the agendas, plans and purposes of the rich, famous, influential and powerful on the earth, even though these individuals can experience the presence and activities of the kingdom of God if they pursue it in the way Jesus instructed us. The kingdom of God is for every follower of Jesus who sets himself or herself to pursue it with vigor, patience, tenacity and faith as if it was the only thing on this earth worth possessing. That is because the kingdom of God is the only thing on this earth worth possessing, even if we possess nothing else. If we possess everything else but do not welcome, possess and experience the reality and presence of the kingdom of God, we possess nothing of eternal significance.

Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God is moving forward in the earth with great passion and determination and those who would take hold of it must do so with this same passion and determination, as a precious prize. Knowing what the kingdom of God is and how it operates isn't enough. He also wants us to embrace and experience it, and its power, so we can be its eye witnesses to those who live and work around us, within our personal spheres of influence.

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." Experiencing and demonstrating the presence and activities of the kingdom of God is the context in which Jesus made this statement. He commanded us to experience the kingdom and to take this witness of the kingdom to the world around us. We are to experience the reality and activities of the kingdom of God in our lives so we can be living witnesses of His kingdom to those around us, and to take the kingdom into every area of society and the seven cultural kingdoms of this world. This must happen before Jesus returns and He has left us here, with His Spirit, ability and authority to do just that. The kingdom of God is truly a precious prize.

We all desire to be actively involved with something that is significant and is bigger than we are. God has placed that desire within each of us and has provided a way for us to satisfy that desire. It is the kingdom of God, and He has placed it here, on the earth, for us to engage with, experience and demonstrate, as Jesus did, to the people of this world, beginning within our own spheres of influence. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matt. 6:33). We must start there. As we do, He will instruct us, train us and demonstrate through us the presence of His kingdom to those around us who so desperately need Him. Pursue Jesus and His kingdom because He is our precious prize.

To learn more and for additional information please go to kingdom-stuff.com/.

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