Jesus Is Looking For Kingdom Men
Kingdom Men
& Women #1
By Tim Timmons
NEWPORT BEACH, CA (ANS) -- What
is a kingdom man? I have had the privilege of knowing several
personally-in Dallas, DC, Detroit, Las Vegas, Arizona, Virginia,
Georgia and California. Kingdom men are quite rare, yet when they
emerge Jesus and His kingdom break through in the midst of the darkness
and chaos of this world.
 |
| Mike Buskey and Tim Timmons posing with several of the
mentors at the House of Peace in northern India. |
There are two ways to approach the
ministry. The
first is clergy-only. In this approach only the clergy, the "minister",
is able to do the ministering. The second is everyone-a-minister. In
this approach there is no line between clergy and lay, no levels of
work or spirituality-brothers only. In the first, God is limited to a
few who have been mostly separated from the real world and therefore
have a faint touch with the people and their needs. In the second, God
is unlimited in touching the world. In the first, the only ones who
work for God work for the local church or ministry and they are paid to
do so. In the second, all who live under the reign of Jesus and His
kingdom can work for God.
What has proven to be the most effective ministry of the
Gospel is
not churchmen who represent the church, but kingdom men who represent
the King and His Kingdom. This was Jesus' message throughout His
earthly ministry.
Kingdom men and women are caught up with and follow one
leader-Jesus-and by their very existence are perpetuating a covert,
subversive, invisible (CSI) movement that pierces through any cultural
or religious barriers. There is a terrific new book on the market right
now entitled, THE STARFISH AND THE SPIDER: The Unstoppable Power of
Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom. This is a
book about the power and magic of groups engaged in self-organizing,
non-hierarchical projects. Some of the examples include Wikipedia,
eBay, Skype, Napster, Alcoholics Anonymous, al Qaeda, and many open
source and decentralized projects which are starfish like.
From the book: "Starfish have an incredible quality to them.
If you cut an arm off, most of these animals grow a new arm. And with
some varieties such as long-armed starfish, the animal can replicate
itself from just a single piece of an arm. They can achieve this
magical regeneration because in reality, a starfish is a neural
network-basically a network of cells. Instead of having a head like the
spider, the starfish functions as a decentralized network." This
metaphor has a myriad of implications and applications. Think of
Christian churches and organizations that are known by their leader.
Pull down the leader and damage the church or organization. That's the
nature of the spider-like entities. On the contrary, the movement of
the kingdom of God Jesus launched with his early disciples is still
vibrant today, as long as it remains like a starfish.
There
are some amazing men and women within the Jesus movement today who are
not known for their building projects or honored for their great
pledges to the local fundraising drives, but are literally practicing
and underwriting the Jesus movement in the marketplace without any
regard for the cultural or religious barriers in our world.
I want to share with you a series of snapshots of these rare
men and women of this kingdom.
I met Mike Buskey nearly 30 years ago. He was just another
"Christian" who was doing his best to be a good "Christian". He
subscribed to all of the "Christian" seminars and training sessions on
evangelism and how to study the Bible and became, by any standard, a
well-taught "Christian".
In the last several years it is clear that Mike has changed
dramatically. Mike has become a kingdom man. We started hanging out on
purpose and developed a good and safe friendship. We supported and
challenged one another to walk the walk and talk the talk. We became a
team of best friends who were serious about embracing the principles of
Jesus as a lifestyle and mentoring others to do the same.
This relationship has transformed and strengthened us so
that
we are empowered to follow the calling of Jesus on our lives. We were
no longer playing the religiously correct game of clergy and layman,
but we became simply brothers. I spent so many years as a "lone ranger"
and paid a dear price for it. My heart longs for every cleric-pastor,
missionary, Christian leader-to seek out kingdom men to walk alongside
them. Jesus will most surely show up in that kind of relationship.
Mike Buskey is the founder and CEO of DM Sourcing. After
years
of working for some of the largest high-tech corporations in the world,
Mike stepped out on his own to utilize the network he had developed
throughout the world. Developing a business with global applications
requires a multi-faceted understanding of two key elements: culture and
commerce.
DM Sourcing agents have the knowledge and experience
required to
effectively interact in the complex world of manufacturing and
electronics software development. Over a long period of time, Mike has
developed strong business ties with Asian manufacturers in mainland
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Central America.
Although DM Sourcing launched originally into sourcing in
the
high-tech arena, they are now able to work with most anything that
requires manufacturing. Whatever a company buys that is manufactured,
DM Sourcing can design and manufacture it for less, sending that
savings to the bottom-line.
When Mike Buskey meets with a potential client, he has a
most
unique approach. Instead of manipulating and positioning himself to
"get what he can out of the client", Mike asks a simple question: "How
can we help you accomplish your vision and goals?" Many may ask this,
the in this case Mike actually means it! He is not in the practice of
grabbing whatever he can out of the deal, but committing himself to
giving all he can to make the project be most productive-a true win-win
relationship.
But there is one more dimension that Mike has added to his
simple formula of success. He doesn't stop with a win-win
relationship-a win for the client and a win for himself. Mike makes it
all work out for a third win-the kingdom movement. It's a WIN-WIN-WIN
in every DM Sourcing transaction. So, Mike sees DM Sourcing as a
conduit for funding kingdom projects throughout the world and he is
serious about it.
Mike is not only a brother, a giver, a servant; he is a
participant in the kingdom movement. Recently Mike and I flew around
the world-from LA to India to Tokyo. He is one of the point men for
launching mentoring (discipleship) houses in seven cultures around the
world-for the powerful and for the poor. After leaving a Buddhist
settlement in northern India, we flew on to meet with leaders from 13
nations from all over Asia. There was quite a variety of religions and
cultures represented-Buddhist, Hindu, Moslem, Jewish and Christian-all
assembling in the name of Jesus. Mike spoke at the first evening of
this conference and thrilled the audience with his candor and
simplicity of following Jesus as a businessman who does business
throughout Asia.
People aren't attracted to another religious discussion or
to a
church or certain denomination. They are positively attracted to the
most irresistible one ever-Jesus.
As
Mike has said many times, "I see myself as a conduit for the kingdom.
Everything I am and all that I have belong to Jesus anyway, so why not
make a difference by doing things that will last forever."
Jesus is looking to raise up more men and women of the
kingdom. The only requirement is that you be interested and willing.
Then listen to Jesus' orders and opportunities he places in your heart.
Be a kingdom man!
