FEBRUARY 2014
ISSUE 10
T H E N E T W O RK Kingfisher comes of age! So... 21 years old this month. Traditionally, this is the point at which someone comes of age. Although the 'coming of age' is quite a variable thing around the world, it generally means the age at which you take on adult responsibilities. At one time it was the age that you could vote, when a woman could move out of her parents' home legally, and in many countries, it's the age when it becomes legal to drink alcohol.
And now, we are coming of age. One of the implications of us as a network together reaching the age of 21 is that we are now expected to be spiritual adults. Not just as a numbers thing - you know, now we're 21 we're automatically considered spiritual adults - but because the next seven years are going to be years that require spiritually mature people to step up to the mark and rise to the responsibilities of Kingfisher being in that place of having national and For us at Kingfisher, our 21st birthday international impact. To handle has a deeper significance, in that many greater blessing in a mature way and years ago, God gave us a prophecy to be the mature, prophetic voice that I have talked about on occasion that God is positioning us to be. The in the past regarding the history of next period in the life of this network Kingfisher being divided up into is to be a period marked by seven-year periods. The first seven maturity. This is the expectation years of our life as a church was to be Jesus Christ has of us, and that a time of establishing in hardship maturity will be shown in a number and need. The second seven years was of ways: to be a period of restoration of all those things that were stripped of us in that first seven years. That second set of seven, the years of restoration, culminated in the planting of our second church, which was a visible restoration of the mandate to plant a network of churches that God had given us right at the start of our life. The third set of seven - the set of seven years that comes to an end this month - was to be known as the years of fulness. Having had our vision restored, we would begin to move into operating in the arena that God had always designated for us...the national and the international stage. And we have seen the launch of the international network in Africa and India, the Mature community establishing of a national profile in terms of our work in the community Having come through the fire of the and among LD adults, highlighted by past year, where community has come the launch of the Social Enterprise. under a lot of strain, what comes out The time of the fulfilling of our God- of this is a passionate commitment to given mandate, the time of coming building something that truly honours into our true, God-given identity. God, where how we treat each other
“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return.�
Luke 12:48
really matters and how we have a unifying vision of what a God has called us to be and how he has called us to get there. Throughout life there are 'refiner's fire seasons' - times when God allows pressure to grow and pruning to happen - for the purpose of forging something of great value. This is true at an individual level and at a community level, and our community has certainly experienced a 'refiner's fire season' over the past year - but as a result, God has birthed a deeper, more committed, more mature community among us. Mature spiritual habits Mature believers don't just read the bible in a 'get in, get read, get out' fashion, they "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within (them)" (Colossians 3:-6, NASB), recognising that "Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. (Hebrews 5:14 NLT) Mature witness God is giving us greater visibility, both in this country and internationally. In this country, our Treasure Seekers ministry is gaining national recognition, whilst internationally the network is growing with hundreds coming to faith in Christ in Africa and India. With greater exposure comes greater responsibility to be credible, reliable and consistent witnesses. "But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly.When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. (Luke 12:48 NLT) At the age of 21 Jesus Christ is calling his own-up church to take its place in his greater plans. What an exciting year we have ahead of us!