The Heart of the Vision
 

The desire to see people healed and delivered precedes the desire to see fruitfulness.  It takes months and years to see people healed.  The Encounters and School of Leaders are part of the path to healing, but the personal, genuine ministry of the leader is what makes the difference in the long run.  The focus is, of course, the cross, because leaders in themselves cannot change a person; however, the continual focus of bringing people to the cross will bring a total restoration to their lives.

The heart of the vision says in a loud voice: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING HERE IS YOU AND THE CONDITION OF YOUR HEART!  The mechanics of the vision simply help us bring people to wholeness in their hearts.  Any leader that is thrust into leadership without a whole heart is a temporary solution to a need. 

We need long-term solutions to a world that needs Jesus.  The first question asked to a leader in preparation should not be, Have you opened your cell?  It should be, How is your heart?  Once the heart is taken care of, the ground is prepared to mold the character of an individual.  This is a task that can take a long period of training, accountability, etc., but it is necessary to see long-lasting results in the life of the believer.

So what else is at the heart of the vision?  The focus is so strong on OTHERS that the main focus of leaders is no longer to develop their own large ministries, but to see those who are working with them to develop.  The path Jesus followed was that of a servant to His twelve and then stepping back and allowing them to try their wings in ministry.  His desire was to bring them to higher levels in their ministries.

You will only know how much people need to be healed, loved, and believed in when you enter the vision.  We have a fatherless generation that is screaming out for leadership and affirmation. 

You are a candidate to move in the heart of the vision if you are not seeking your own life, if you are willing to get down in the mud with sinners who are struggling in your church, if you are secure enough to let young men with little wisdom begin to assume important parts of you ministry, and if you are willing to share the fruitfulness God has given you with others.

The FOCUS:
The focus of healing first, not fruitfulness.
The focus of serving, not being served.
The focus of mentoring, fathering, and developing.

The focus of building and believing.
The focus of OTHERS.

Final Thoughts:
The heart of the vision is critical to imparting the vision to your local church.

*If the heart of the vision is not understood, you could place leaders in positions of leadership before assuring that they are spiritually whole.  This will lead them to become weary or discouraged in the vision.

*If the pastor does not catch it, the congregation will not love the vision.

*If the heart of the vision is at the forefront, the church will embrace it with open arms.

*The heart of the vision brings the correct balance to the vision.

*Your heart must be open to being taught a new philosophy of ministry.

*Churches can grow without having the heart of the vision, but they will have great difficulty entering multiplication.

*The heart of the vision will be the oil in the motor that keeps it moving and growing.