DeanSweetman.com » Sowing Seed

Rise and Build, Next Generation, Part 3

Dean — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:44:27 +0000

When we get our financial affairs in order in the natural, we position ourselves for breakthrough in the supernatural. I’m encouraging you to think about how you can challenge yourself in the upcoming Rise and Build campaign. Many people doing their part, giving small and large, have built our church. Giving above and beyond the tithe takes faith. In 2 Kings 4, the widow is told by Elisha to go and get all the vessels she can, not just a few. When it came time for her to pour her small portion of oil into the large vessel that would merely soak up the last of her oil, it took faith to believe that the oil would continue to flow.

Oil in the Bible is a metaphor for the Spirit in both the Old Testament and New Testament. Oil was used to burn for light, to cook, even for healing. Oil was always used in making their lives better, and just as oil was critical to their lives, the Holy Spirit is critical to our lives. Everyone is able to minister in the Spirit, and it is through the Holy Spirit that we find the miraculous. It is also through the Spirit that we can challenge ourselves in giving. There is story after story of people challenging themselves in the natural in giving with supernatural results.

I want to take a moment to present an opportunity for ministry especially for Easter in relation to the story of the widow’s oil. In verse 4, Elisha tells her to gather empty vessels, go into the house, shut the door and start to pour the oil into the empty vessels. The Spirit can move anywhere (marketplace, street, hospital) but some miracles are meant for the house (the church). All around our lives are empty vessels needing to be filled. If someone is struggling in his or her marriage, they are empty; if someone is battling cancer, they are empty; if someone doesn’t go to church, they are empty; if someone is facing financial hardship, they are empty. Think of empty vessels around you and determine how you can pour the oil of God into their world. Let their desperation embolden you in reaching out to them to bring them into the house.

Lastly, make sure your oil isn’t flowing in the wrong place. It is great to give to causes but don’t put giving to something that can heal naturally before giving to something that can heal supernaturally. It is time to start believing the word spoken over your life. Set aside time to consider what you can do.

Verses Used:
*2 Kings 4:1-7

Rise and Build, Next Generation, Part 2

Dean — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:32:27 +0000

Christ is asking us to lay down our lives, and pick up a cross. We all know what the cross meant to Christ, but what does the cross mean to us? It means surrender. On the cross Jesus surrendered all His rights. He died and the temple curtain separating God from the people was torn in two. When that happened God didn’t escape, mankind was allowed in.

“If anyone wants to follow Me, let him lay down his life, and pick up a cross.” For us, a cross is symbolic, the surrender isn’t. How do we give up everything? God doesn’t want our house, He wants the right to tell us to hold a D-Group there. He doesn’t’ want your Ford (Lexus maybe), He wants the right to say, “Haul a load of groceries to the Quinn House in it.” That willingness is the key; remember a key has one function: Locking or Unlocking – whatever is powerful, or valuable; like an engine or a vault.

God has the powerful to give; you have the valuable to release. What power do you need? What of value are you willing to give? In 2 Kings 4 the Shunammite woman gave her food, and her home, God gave her a new life – a child, but then it all seemed lost when the child died. When it looked like everything good had been lost, God raised the child from the dead and gave her back what she needed most, a life.

So what about our everything, are we willing to give? What does God have, is He willing to give? God gave His Son, He is all in. Are we?

Verses Used:
*2 Kings 4: 1-7
*Matthew 16:24

Rise and Build, Next Generation

Dean — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:59:16 +0000

What is the difference between a Son of the House and a Servant of the House? That is an excellent question. The answer is spread throughout the Bible. One of the main answers is, in a sense, another question. Are you a Son? Well, how is your fruit? I.e: what do your actions say about you?

2 Kings 4:1-7 contains a story of a woman who was a Daughter of the House. Her husband (called a “son” of Elijah in the story) had just passed away, leaving her and her two sons in deep debt. This Daughter of the House ran straight to the answer: God. She sought out Elijah, her husband’s spiritual father, for advice; she accepted his advice, and, what is more, she obeyed it. That is the first and most prominent fruit of a son or daughter; they obey the Father. And when they obey the Father, His blessing falls upon them.

The house of God thrives on the obedience of the Sons and Daughters. Without Sons and Daughters, the House grows old and stagnant and stale. Nothing new happens; there is no fresh outpouring of the Spirit, for the House is old and set in its ways. Sons and Daughters bring fresh life and energy to the House; they bring faith in their obedience. And who is it they are obeying? The Fathers of the House.

Paul writes in I Corinthians that there are plenty of teachers in the House but not enough Fathers. People flock from teacher to teacher; they listen as long as the teacher says things they like. If the teacher starts getting too deep or too personal they leave in search of a new teacher. People do not want to sit under a Father. Fathers bring correction. Fathers bring discipline. Fathers do not say what the people want to hear. But it is fathers that build the sons and daughters.

Think about that for a moment. Who is speaking into your world? Are they the type of person you want to be in five, ten, even twenty years? Then they are your father or mother. Sit. Listen. And learn from them (and take the bumps and bruises of the ego that come with it). God is speaking through these people. He, first and foremost, speaks through His Word. Then, He speaks through His Spirit. And, finally and most often, He speaks through the people He has places around us. The longer we sit and listen, the more of their spirit we catch and the more of God we hear.

So, as we gear up towards a new Rise and Build campaign, take a moment to think. What is God saying to you? Are you listening to the Fathers and Mothers in your world? Are you ready to obey what it is they are saying? If the answer is yes, then you are a Son and/or Daughter of the House.

Verses Used:
*II Kings 4:1-7
* I Corinthians 4:15-16
*II Corinthians 3:1-4

The Tithe (part 1)

Dean — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:38:33 +0000

The tithe is found in both the Old and New Testaments. We see Abraham paying Melchizedek the High Priest a tenth of what he took as spoils of war, along with the first communion. People in those times learned to give their tithes of crops abundantly into the storehouse, a literal building that could hold food and seed in case of famine. In modern times, we pay our tithes to the local church – not a TV ministry, not a parachurch organization, but to the (store) House of God. If we have not learned yet that tithing is not an option for us as Christians, how can the church be “chief upon the mountains” as the bible declares? Tithing brings honor to God, brings blessing into our lives, and causes God to throw open the Windows of Heaven – it is the only time we are allowed to test God! He is saying to us, “Try it! Put Me to the test, I want to blow you away with My generosity as you learn to be generous!”

We are called to respect the altar of God – back in the days when priests offered sacrifices for the people, there was an increase of bribery as folks wanted to get rid of their lame, crippled and diseased cattle or sheep, and paid the priests to offer those on the altar, as if God were blind! Malachi was a prophet to the priests who had a lot to say about honoring and respecting the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, as you can read in the verses noted above. God’s principles don’t change, He will always bless you if you put Him first. If we have all our bills in front of us and wait til they are paid up to pay our tithes, we will never manage the 10% because the bills always seem so insurmountable. But if we line them up and put the tithe at the head of the line, we will find that supernaturally, the money is there to pay the rest! The priests (pastors) are responsible to tell the people that God is righteous and deserves the firstfruits of our labor, as Malachi aptly points out. We will miss out on a huge life blessing if we allow that 10% of our paycheck, disability or unemployment check (whatever we are getting as income, as opposed to monetary gifts from others) to go unpaid to the local church, the storehouse of blessing.

Tithing is probably the scariest thing we will ever do as Christians! It is easy to get saved, but it sure it hard to trust God with our money. Only 6% of the church in America tithes, according to Barna Research Group. This proved true several years ago, when Ps. Phil asked me what I had given in an offering. We discovered we’d given the same amount, and in a group of over 100 people, each of us had contributed 1/3 of the total offering taken that day. The 6% had prevailed, sadly. We are promised a return on our tithes and offerings, thirty, sixty or even a hundred times over what was given. No bank has ever given me that much of a return! What God can get through our hands and into others, He will get to us so we can do it again. If we are on food stamps, share some with others – there are always areas where we can give to people.

We have to learn that God sees our heart, He knows how much we make, and He is asking us to repay Him for the blessing of being able to work, or being able to draw a check due to disability, unemployment, etc. We want everyone in this church to thrive, and tithing is foundational to making that happen. We must look at our hearts, decide to give the Lord the honor and respect He deserves, lay our tithes on the altar, and watch the miracles unfold! I can’t wait to share more about this and tell you great stories of many who have tithed and received new jobs, raises, bonuses – all because we took a chance and risked loving God with our whole hearts.

Verses Used:
*Numbers 18:26
*Malachi 1:6-8
*Malachi 3:8-10

The Four Rivers – The Euphrates

Dean — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 19:12:02 +0000

The Euphrates River–the final river in the Four Rivers series–is the river that means to “break forth into fruitfulness.” It is the simplest of the rivers to grasp: God wants us to be fruitful. That is it! So simple! God loves simple things. Humans make things too complicated; God makes it simple. He wants you to be fruitful, and the way to fruitfulness is obedience. Obey God. See? Simple.

Matthew 25 tells the tale of three servants entrusted with their master’s money while he is away on a long journey. It is an accepted fact that the man on the journey is Jesus. He is leaving for a time, and He entrusts His servants with His property. Jesus came to earth to save us and to establish the Kingdom. He got the work started through His death and resurrection. Then, He said, “The rest is up to you.” He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us in our charge to change the world. He trusted us with His resources (money,abilities, etc…) like the man in the parable entrusted his servants.

What happens next is the real gem. The man gives to his servants according to their abilities. Wait a second. That’s not very fair. Why don’t all the servants get an equal share? That’s because “fairness” is no Biblical. God wants us to have more then other people. He wants us to prosper and be fruitful. There is no ceiling or cap to that. It is ongoing. Those who cry over how unfair it is are the ones trapped in the small-mindedness of the world. Very simple. Two servants prospered because they used their resources; one did not. When the master returned, he rewarded those who increased and cursed the one who did not.

So use what God has given you! Sow it! Invest it! And watch the blessing of increase come into your world.

Verses Used:
*Matthew 25: 14-30
*Psalms 1

The Four Rivers – The River of Anointing part 2

Dean — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 19:01:35 +0000

The concept of the Rivers and the Garden continues to unfold the further we go into this series. The garden of the heart is filled with seeds that grow and produce fruit, providing even more seed. But what do we do with this new seed? Do we store it in barns, afraid that we won’t have enough seed in the future? Or do we give the seed to God and let Him scatter it? God can do more with the little seed that we have then we could ever hope to dream of if we keep it stored away. God has promised time and again that whatever we give to Him, He will give back to us. And He has also shown that whatever we hold in our hands, refusing to let go for fear of loss, will be lost through the decay of time and death. No man on his death bed is happy that he clung to all his riches. No, he wishes more than anything that he had done something with that which he had obtained.

The River Gihon, as stated last week, is the River of the Anointing. It means “to burst forth.” When something bursts up, it flows out. God began with the River Pishon (increase) and the moved on to Gihon (anointing or flow). You first receive increase and then you let it go somewhere. There is no use having seed if it is not going to go anywhere. You can have it all–fame, fortune, the praise and accord of others–but it means nothing without the anointing that flows out into the world.

John 9 tells the tale of Jesus healing a blind man by placing mud on his eyes and telling him to “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam.” Siloam means “sent.” Siloam is also the spring of the River Gihon. Jesus sent the blind man on a mission to receive his healing. The blind man had to grope about, asking for help to find the spring of the sent. And it was there that he was healed. Gihon and Siloam are the River of the sent: those who are sent out on missions; those who are a part of other people’s miracles. Do you want to be a apart of someone’s miracle? Then GO! You don’t have to (and we strongly advise against this) put mud in people’s eyes. But speak well of them. Tell those in authority that their employees are the best! Help with your words and actions! And through that, people will receive their miracle.

Verses Used:
*Genesis 2: 13
*John 9:6 & 7
*I Kings 1: 32-35

The Four Rivers – The Garden

Dean — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 18:35:50 +0000

Every single piece of wisdom and truth in the Bible starts with a seed. Think about that for a second. A seed–everything important about the Kingdom begins with the seed. Jesus said in Matthew 13 that if you don’t understand this parable, you will not understand the rest. The principle of the seed is the gateway to all the others!

Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing the four rivers that flowed from the heart of the Garden of Eden. But before we can, we must understand the importance of the Garden. We need to go back to the beginning. Genesis tells the story– “In the Beginning…” In the beginning, God planted a garden. He didn’t make the garden magically appear; He planted! He put seed in the soil! Soil is a second part of this already mind altering concept! God created soil to be worked. Let that sink in. God purposefully designed soil to be worked so that it could produce. Growth requires work. Soil must be prepared; seed must be planted; work must be put into it; and then there is growth! God set everything up from the beginning. He planted the seeds to grow the Garden in rich, worked soil, producing Paradise. Eden is the image of what the earth was supposed to be and can be again.

Referencing back to Matthew 13, the human heart is the soil where all seeds are planted. The human heart is designed to have things planted within. It craves seed. It does not care which seed is planted as long as something is planted and something grows. The heart is the battlefield; you are responsible for the outcome. You are responsible for the condition of the soil; you are responsible for what goes in; you are responsible for what grows. You and you alone are responsible for the garden of your heart.

And whatever you let into your heart flows out of your life. Jeremiah 17 talks about what happens when a person allows the knowledge of the world to be planted in their hearts. They become a shrub. That is what it says: shrub. The very word is unpleasant. Have you ever met a person who is a shrub? I have. You can see it all over their lives. They are dry and barren and salty. They are a shrub barely scraping by in the desert of their life. However, in contrast, Jeremiah calls those who place their hope and trust in God and who willingly submit to His covering tree planted by the river.

So choose now:]Will you allow your heart to get dry and shrub-like? Or will you work to till the soil of your heart, allowing God to work along side you in breaking up the hard ground of attitude and bitterness and pain to create a soft field that yields to the seed and produces good fruit? What will it be?

Verses Used:
Genesis 2:4-14
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Matthew 13: 11-17

First Fruits

Dean — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:55:33 +0000

Leviticus 23:9-11 (NLT): Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf. On that same day you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord.

The First Fruits, though mentioned seven times in the New Testament, is an Old Testament concept. Before we move forward into this essential truth, we must understand that the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, or the Law is still important to us of the New Covenant. Why? Because, though the Law presents itself as a long list of rules, it is, in reality, God establishing truth. Yes, the Law without its fulfillment (JESUS!) is a curse (as Paul says) upon life, making things so very hard. But, after Jesus came and fulfilled the law with His death and resurrection, we became free to look at the Law as God’s truths, and it is from this platform that we proceed into the First Fruits.

The First Fruits came out of a festival where the Hebrews would bring their first cut of grain and a one year old male lamb to be sacrificed before God. The offerings were presented to the Priests (thank God we no long need a priest to mediate for us; we have Jesus, the High Priest) on the day after the Sabbath. The priests would prepare the sacrifices and place them on the burning alter. God would smell the smoke and accept the offerings. Very simple. So, how does that apply to us now? Seeing as this is Atlanta, there is an obvious lack of sheep. And, as stated before, we live in the New Covenant where Jesus fulfilled the Law, so…do we need lambs?

No. But the principle is still the same. You see, the First Fruits is not about giving God a lamb-burger. It is about remembering what God has done for us. If you believe as I do, you know that Jesus died on a Friday; was in the grave through Saturday (the Sabbath); and rose again on Sunday (the day after Sabbath). Think that over for a minute. Jesus was presented as the perfect replacement on the day after Sabbath! Jesus is God’s First Fruit. When Jesus was crucified before a blood thirsty crowd whose only goal was to silence Him forever, His blood became the First Fruit–the Fulfillment of the Law. God wanted Jesus’ blood more than the crowds screaming “Crucify Him!” He wanted it so much because He knew that when the blood and water hit the ground that it was a seed being planted. And that when Jesus rose again on the third day, He became the fulfillment of First Fruits Law, and from that moment on, the Harvesting of the NATIONS would begin!

You see, in this, the New Covenant, the First Fruits is about PEOPLE. All throughout His ministry, Jesus used the image of grain and wheat to represent people. (“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.”) The New Covenant First Fruit Sacrifice is all about People (wheat/grain), Jesus (the lamb), and the holy Spirit (the wine–wine was also part of the sacrifice). So, when you give in the First Fruits Offering, you are giving to the empowerment of the House to reap the harvest. You are giving to the changing of people’s lives. It is always about the people.

The Response

Dean — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:38:23 +0000

Genesis 14:17-20 (NLT): After Abram returned from his victory over Kedorlaomer and all his allies, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.

Psalms 110: 4 (NLT): The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

Hebrews 6:19-20 (NLT): This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. (con. in chp. 7)

Money is a real thing. It is easy for Christians to have faith in eternity. Eternity is unseen. We can hope for something unseen and seemingly far off. That’s simple. But money is right in front of us. Day and night, it is on our minds. Do we have enough? How can we get more? It plagues relationships and destroys marriages. There is no freedom in money….UNLESS it is used to the glory of God.

Now, in order to use money for God’s purposes, you need to know the TRUTH about the tithe. The Tithe is not a “give God lots of money and He will give you ever more money!” (Though, it is 100% Biblically true that blessing is on your life if you tithe). I cannot prove the “give money and God gives more money” ideology Biblically at all. I prefer to teach the Bible, so the Bible I will teach. In regards to the tithe, here is what I have found.

The Genesis account of Abram and Melchizedek is the first ever mention of the tithe. It happened long before the early church sold all their things (homes and fields included) in order to provide for the poor, long before Jesus said for us to give him everything, and long before the Law dictated that the Hebrews tithe. This event happened at the very start of God’s redemptive plans for the earth.

God chooses Abram as the vessel to begin the plans of redemption for earth. When God wants to move on earth, He chooses one person to use. He is preparing Abram. During this time of preparation, Abram achieves a great victory through the Lord. He gains massive wealth! Immediately, the world comes in to make a deal. The King of Sodom represents the world. He is hoping to trick Abram into a deal. (Even now, the world is trying to strike a deal for your money: “Buy this or that or wear this or eat that, and you will feel good about yourself!”) But God intervenes.

Enter Melchizedek: a man with no family, no lineage, and no point of origin. He simple appears. This is odd, for everything and everyone in the Old Testament has some sort of origin in the form of “Such and such begot from such and such and so on.” There is nothing like that for Melchizedek. But we do know one thing about him: He is the King of Justice and Peace (“Melchizedek” means Justice; “Salem” means Peace).

He and Abram meet at a table where He, Melchizedek, produces bread and wine. Together, they break the bread and eat. Then, Abram gives Melchizedek a tenth of his spoils. Such a strange response! Completely against human nature or will. Abram gives it without prodding. Melchizedek does not ask or demand it of him. Abram simply gives it as a response. What is it to which he is responding? God.

Melchizedek–it is believed by many scholars including myself–is actually Jesus. There are several points in the Old Testament where Jesus came before His time to encourage His people. These events are known as Theophany. Jesus came in the midst of chaos, and Abram responded to Him. You see, even here, before Law or Salvation, God was establishing structured principles into the earth; He was sending truth in the chaos. The bread and wine were not by accident. Jesus was sharing the covenant with Abram. And Abram’s heart responded to God by giving ten percent of what he had.

God was not after Abram’s stuff. God is not anti-stuff. He is not out to steal all your stuff. God truly is not concerned with your stuff. He says it plainly in His Word that if you put HIM first, then you can have all your heart desires (Matthew 6:33). Stuff is not the issue. God wants your heart. It was Abram’s heart that responded to Melchizedek. It was his heart that drove him to give. And that is the truth of the tithe. Yes, we could study the laws that dictate tithe; yes, we could look at Jesus and see what He asked for (and 10% looks mighty nice next to the 100% Jesus requires); and yes, we can even preach on how the early church gave up everything. But God is interested in the response of the heart. How does your heart respond?

The Bible Principle of Sowing and Reaping

Dean — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:51:38 +0000

Genesis 2:8-9: Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God planted seed in the ground to plant trees. We can’t have fruit without trees and we can’t have seeds without fruit. God created this cycle and this principle when He created the first seed.

God planted beautiful trees in the garden, and in the center of the garden he placed the tree of life. Jesus – Jesus was meant to be in the middle. “I am the vine and my Father is the gardener.” Christ is the vine, we are the branches, grafted into the vine as we connect to Christ. His seed is planted in us.

God wills it that we all should prosper, multiply and be fruitful. He has given us the ability to bear fruit. Part of the fruit that comes from and is released from our life comes from giving. Our gifts are like seed. When we sow, we create a field of righteousness in our lives. By putting seed in the ground and creating our own garden, our gifts of giving put Christ at the center of our life – our garden. The Bible says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Our attitude towards giving demonstrates very clearly what is at the center of our garden – our world.

When we plant in the soil of our lives and Christ is at the center, God multiplies our seed. But if we aren’t planting, how can we be fruitful? If we don’t plant, God has nothing to multiply.

Jesus said if you don’t understand this parable – you sow, you reap – you won’t understand any of the other parables or principles of the Kingdom. When we give, we are giving to Christ, the head of our church, the high priest, the center of our garden. The result is fruit and blessing in our lives, as we become fruitful and multiply.