We have been addressing how there seems to be a major thrust toward unity in the church now. This will ultimately result in what I want to address next—a kingdom economy. That may sound big and complicated, but it isn’t. In fact, the kingdom economy is much simpler and easier to build on than the world’s economy, and it is going to begin to become a reality this year. What does this mean?

    To be the light of the world that we are called to be, we need to be a city set on a hill, a community that is an example to the world. What we build, even a separate kingdom economy, is not to withdraw from the world but to help it. We are called to be different and to do things differently in some very profound ways. However, some of these things we cannot do until we become the community we are called to be, which in some ways must be separate and distinct. We are called a “holy nation,” and the word “holy” means to be separate, distinct. This will begin to take place in preparation for the coming of the kingdom, but we will fail if the mentality or motives are monastic, rather than to be a blessing and light to the world. We prepare the way for the Lord by building a highway, and the highway is so that the nations can come to Him.

    What I was prophetically shown was similar to the Jews during the Middle Ages when they were scattered about in the nations. They had their own separate communities and commerce, but they did a lot of business with the nations they were in and helped develop the commerce of those nations. They were a community within the larger community, but they maintained their uniqueness and, to some degree, separateness, while being a blessing to all the nations they were sojourning in. The body of Christ is going to begin to do the same.

    At Heritage, we are seeking to build a community, not just a ministry base and conference center. As we developed the business plan for our Heritage Towers project for our seniors, we estimated that if we financed the units for the residents, it could bring between $200,000 and $300,000 into the ministry each month that would otherwise just go to a bank. This alone could support over a hundred missionaries, drill over a hundred extra wells in Africa, and so on.

If we started our own credit union, we could actually access funds at below 1 percent presently, and thereby offer rates far below other available rates, keeping much more in the families of our fellow believers. This “light” came to us as we began to foresee the coming and now present sub-prime credit crisis. We were thinking of ways we could help fellow believers who were in trouble to keep their homes. If we can do it in our community, we could show others, even the government, how to do it, helping us to be a light in what is now darkness or, at best, confusion. It is obvious our government does not really understand this situation yet, but we understand it, and we have a plan that could help correct it. However, we need to start by demonstrating it within our own community.

    This is the simplified version, but we are seeking to see and plan ahead. I believe that the only economic foundation that will not be shaken in the future will be an asset-based economy rather than a credit-based economy. However, we will not be able to get there all at once. We need a wise, practical, step-by-step plan to get there. Our ultimate goal is to raise up the strongest possible Christians in our church community, who are on the strongest possible foundations in every area of their lives, including being financially independent.

Being financially independent does not necessarily mean that they will have to have a certain amount of wealth, but it does mean that they are so free that they never have to make a decision in their lives based on whether they have enough money or not, but simply on whether something is God’s will or not. To do this, we all need to begin by getting out of debt. Not many will be able to do this in one year, but if you do not start, you will never get there. This is the year to start, and the ultimate result will be freedom.

    We see in the Book of Revelation that when the mark of the beast comes, it is so that you can buy, sell, or trade (see Revelation 13:17). Those who have been faithful to the Lord and built their lives on the kingdom that is coming, instead of the kingdoms of this world, will not care if they can buy, sell, or trade in this world because they will have another Source and will have built their lives on another economy. It will actually be far simpler to do this than it is to live in today’s complicated economy.

To build on the kingdom economy requires wisdom, faithfulness, discipline, and, at times, sacrifice. Ultimately, this will put us in a place of unprecedented and true prosperity that has much more benefit than just acquiring more stuff—it will put the people of God in a place to actually lend to many nations and not have to borrow, just as the Word declares.

This is going to come to pass—why not be a part of it? The result of starting down the path to it will result in immediate simplicity and freedom to be who we are called to be in Christ, which is our highest purpose. In the coming weeks, I will go into a bit more detail of just what the kingdom economy is and how we can practically build our lives on it. It is simple, easy to understand, and easier to do than build on the present world’s economy. However, we must embrace change.

One definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing while expecting a different result. We are going to have to do some things differently, and to some extent it will be a lifestyle change, but it will lead to a much better life. All we have to lose are the yokes that bind us.