Cultivating a People for God

From the Preface:
This book is meant to help you to think and see things more from God’s eternal perspective. It will try to draw your attention to God's yearning throughout the course of human history. That is not easy because we are comfortable with our temporal perspectives and like to keep everything under our control based on what we have learned in our time and culture.
I wrote this book primarily to call Christ’s church to pay attention to, and live according to what God wanted in the beginning and wants in the end. However, you will find it helpful in solving some of the problems you face with your ministry and your personal walk with God. Yet this helpfulness is only a by-product, because your problems are only overrun and melted away when you are blessed with God's presence as you first sought His heart and kingdom, and accomplishing His plan.
This book clarifies the church’s mission in a fresh perspective based on God’s will for His people. It explores His simple requirements and instructions for Christians to live, and engage easily to cultivate people for Himself. In the process of our journey together, you may find a new theological emphasis on God’s original design of humanity and find new, deeper theological insights in the area of worship, stewardship, fellowship, discipleship. This may in fact challenge some of your church ministry approaches and spirituality paradigms.
We celebrate with the many regularly fruitful churches and Christians. They thrive in a time when the Christian faith is under attack. Unfortunately, many Christians and churches of all sizes around the world are experiencing crises in their spiritual journeys and in church ministries. No matter if you or your church is doing well or poorly, this book will still benefit you in many ways. Though my target readers are pastors and church leaders, any serious Christian can experience a rich spiritual journey reading it. If you believe in creation, the final judgment, and heaven, you will find this book beneficial.
This book was written over twenty-seven years. . . . My desire to write the book began in 1994 but the theological framework and title for the book was not settled until 2017 - after the Lord taught me as much as I could absorb in the process. I pray God will call on someone who sees the value in this message to continue the journey I traveled.

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From the conclusion:
God has taken me on this journey on discipleship for over thirty years. It started in 1988 with my desire to seek His will and principles in church and ministry as well as for personal spiritual growth. I had not embraced too many marketed answers easily over the years.. . . .
My calling is to focus my energy so I can dedicate myself to following what God has given us in Exodus 19, 20 and Deuteronomy 6—to cultivate a people for God following His strategy.
This book is an interpretation of God’s heart for what He wanted in the beginning and for eternity. It is also an invitation for you to see the Commandments and the Great Commission as an integrated system that represents God's heart. By living and teaching them, we will have the best approach to fulfill the Great Commission, we will please God, and we will be blessed in the journey. It is about a call to prioritize properly among programs, implementation strategies, institutionalization, and clarity of the goals in God’s heart (owning His people the way He wants). We have discovered a new path for transforming our minds and spirits so we can be living sacrifices for the Trinity God (Romans 12:1–3).
I hope you will find as I did the way of being God’s people and how to do His work. I am confident that when you apply the four ships in a balanced way in your own life and ministry, you will find a fulfillment and freedom different from many of the theories or principles you found useful before. As much as your heart is seeking after God’s will and plan, He is readier than you are to reveal to you His mind and heart and bless you with the joy of knowing His will. I hope and pray the insights you capture in the Holy Spirit while reading this book will cause your life to be influential and effective in spreading a culture that is after God’s heart.
I invite you to enter this new dialogue, give priority, love, and attention to God, and explore and pursue His mind and heart with a loving and submissive heart. I hope that new dialogues will take place in churches, seminaries, and wherever else people share this vision of cultivating a people for God with the same heart and mind for Him. I hope this fresh viewpoint and foundation will give you confidence in doing God’s will and enter a path that pleases Him. Lastly, I hope at least that this book had at least stirred up your love for God.
Blessings to you as you faithfully and worshipfully carry out His will - of bringing a world to the Four Ships culture in which we can cultivate a people for Him.
May God be pleased and honored with our fellowship in this journey together. Glory to God in the highest, and blessings to all those who love Him.