The YWAM Christian Teaching Podcast

Trent Sheppard speaks to us about Priesthood in this episode of the Youth With A Mission Teaching Podcast.

Trent Sheppard is currently a collegiate minister and teaching pastor in Boston Massachusetts. Trent worked with Youth With A Mission in the United Kingdom for eight years running “The Factory” ministry in Harpenden.

Trent Sheppard has also written a book called God on Campus: Sacred Causes & Global Effects (Campus America Books) that talks about the legacy of spiritual awakening that stretches from the founding of the earliest colleges in the United States to a global movement of nonstop student prayer.

You can find more Youth With A Mission foundational teachings at the YWAM Podcast Network web-site, ywampodcast.net. While there you can comment on the teaching, let me know what other teaching you would like to hear, and subscribe to receive future episodes.

In this episode of the Youth With A Mission teaching podcast we have the privilege of hearing from Darlene Cunningham as she shares with us about families in missions.

Through some extremely personal and inspiring stories from her own life as the co-founder of Youth With Mission, as well as a full-time mother and wife, we hear some great principles that Darlene and her husband Loren Cunningham have used in their family as they raised their children and co-founded a global ministry.

Visit us at ywampodcast.net to hear more teachings and to subscribe to this show.

In this Youth With A Mission teaching Podcast,  Corrie Ten Boom teaches and shares her experience of “Gods Perfect Logistics”. With experience gained from personal hardship she humbly shares how victory comes when we look at Jesus, rather than ourselves or others – our security is in Him and nothing else.

Corrie Ten Boom stood up against the Nazis during The Second World War in Holland. They hid many from the Nazi regime, but were eventually betrayed and put in Nazi concentration camps. In this time of sharing from Corrie we hear how she was days from being put to death when by a miracle, she was released from the camp. Unfortunately Corrie was the only member of her family to survive the war.

We hope that you are inspired by this classic teaching from Corrie Ten Boom:

(Thank you to Proclamedia for permission to use this video)

Jesus did it, the Bible tells it, I believe it, and that settles it. (Corrie Ten Boom)

Corrie Ten Boom’s story is shared in many books, of which the Hiding Place was made into a movie with the same title. Her story is significant because of what God did in her life and that of others, both during and after the war.

… being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might, so that you may have great endurance and patience … (Colossians 1:11, NIV)

Jesus’s Great Commission to His followers:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

From an early age Darlene Cunningham was aware of a distinct calling from God on her life. Loren and Darlene Cunningham co-founded Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and have been ministering around the world for over 50-years.

Darlene is a “prime mover” in YWAM in the areas of facilitation of vision and leadership development. One of her greatest heart motivations is to discover leadership gifts in young men and women, and to help them reach their full potential in God.

Darlene is eagerly sought as a speaker worldwide because she is recognized as a woman of faith and wisdom who hears from God. She is uniquely qualified and experienced to give leadership to those within Youth With A Mission because she understands the lifestyle, pressures and joys of the Mission from an inside perspective. Whatever the context, she constantly points the hearer to God’s faithfulness in every situation, and His great grace

The Belief Tree is one of our most requested teachings from Darlene Cunningham. You can read the teaching on the web-site, www.ywampodcast.net, as well as watch a YouTube video, or listen on this podcast.

The Belief Tree

by Darlene Cunningham with David Joel Hamilton and Dawn Gauslin

Jesus’ strategy to evangelize the world was to multiply Himself into His disciples, who would reproduce men and women of like vision and values, who would multiply disciples, and so on (2 Tim 2:2). The goal was and is to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), to disciple all the nations (Matthew 28:19) and to produce fruit that will remain (John 15:16). This is the call of Youth With A Mission and University of the Nations, and should be the goal of every disciple.

How is good and lasting fruit produced? How do we reproduce in others the vision and values God has given to YWAM? It is not enough to be well organized and pass on information: we need to have ingested the foundational beliefs of the faith and the values of the Mission in order to pass them on to successive waves of learners. If this is not done, we will only copy a model and we will never be able to answer the “why” questions.

We need to know what we do believe and why, and we need to know what we do not believe and why.

The Bible uses many illustrations of trees, soil, vines, pruning, fruit, leaves and seeds to speak to us about our lives, ministry and fruitfulness. I first heard the analogy of the “Belief Tree” from Darrow Miller, of Disciple Nations Alliance, who speaks on biblical Christian worldview. He teaches that “ideas have consequences,” that there is a direct link between roots and fruit, what we believe and how we behave. I have since developed the illustration and use it as a foundation for nearly everything I teach. This simple illustration can provide a reference point, a measuring rod, for making decisions and evaluating the fruit of your ministry both individually and corporately. I trust that God will use it to bring insight and impart life to you in such a deep way that it becomes a part of your “toolbox” as well.

As you consider a tree, the soil represents our worldview. The roots represent our foundational beliefs; the trunk represents our values. The branches represent our principle-based decisions and policies. The fruit represents our actions/programs. The seeds represent the genetic code for reproducing life. And of course, the DNA of that First Seed was/is Jesus Himself, living in us! In order for there to be cycles of healthy life, the DNA must flow from the roots, through the trunk, along the branches and into the fruit. The seeds in the fruit start the process all over again.

SOIL = WORLDVIEW

One of the first things it is important to identify about ourselves and/or others is, “What is the environmental worldview that I was raised in, and what is the worldview of those I’m relating to?” Even though you may have come to Christ through the work of the cross, what is the background that has influenced your family, your culture and your thinking, even in subtle ways? This is the soil in which your “tree” grows. Is it Animistic? Hindu? Muslim? Secular humanism? This will affect the glasses through which you see everything. Much of the western world has a Judeo-Christian background, but it has declined into a worldview of secular humanism: “It’s all about me. If it feels good, do it. Truth is relative–it’s whatever I think is right for me.” Even in the way we present the gospel, it is important that we do not feed this lie. We value the individual, but we don’t worship the individual! It’s all about Jesus!

Often the errors in the worldview in which we have been raised need to be transformed to align with a biblical Christian worldview, which then forms the tap root of our beliefs. Four foundational truths of Christianity, identified by Dr. Francis Schaeffer, which must be included in our beliefs are:
1) God is infinite and personal. He is absolutely limitless and cannot be measured; He is uncreated and has no beginning or ending. And He is a personal/relational being with an intellect, will and emotions. Only the God of the Bible is both infinite and personal.
2) Men and women are finite and personal. We are made in God’s image as personal beings (with intellect, will and emotions), created for relationship with Him and others. But we are finite. We have a beginning point and definable limits.
3) Truth is constant and knowable. Truth doesn’t change; it is absolute. And we can know truth (“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32).
4) We are responsible for our choices. The consequences of our good/right/wise decisions lead to rewards and life; the consequences of our bad/wrong/sinful decisions lead to punishment and death.

ROOTS = BELIEFS

The roots of the tree are our basic beliefs, which must grow out of the truth of God’s Word or our tree can’t bear good fruit. All of our beliefs must be rooted in the Scripture.

Other elements of our basic root system include things like believing the truth about God’s nature (the essence of who He is: all powerful, all knowing, all present, etc.) and His character (how He chooses to express His nature: He is loving, kind, just, holy, merciful, etc.). Of course, we could spend volumes and eternity describing these foundational roots, because there is no end to the vastness and wonderfulness of our great God! But these are some of the most basic things we must learn from the Word and teach to those we disciple, in order to develop deep roots that can nourish their lives and influence every decision.

All of our YWAM Discipleship Training Schools should spend a major amount of time teaching and wrestling with the root system of our basic beliefs. The curriculum defined by the International DTS Centre and approved by the YWAM Global Leadership Forum gives excellent guidelines to follow in building strong roots (www.ywamdtscentre.com).

When we truly know God, when we learn how to hear His voice through time spent in relationship with Him, when we understand that because He loves us, His will is always the highest and best for us, for others, for Himself and for the universe, we will spend far less time in the syndrome of “I should have, could have, would have.” We are more settled in knowing that His will is always good and His grace is always sufficient.

TRUNK = VALUES

In Youth With A Mission, we place a strong emphasis on our Foundational Values. I am the one who began the process of identifying and writing down these values so that we could pass them on to successive generations of YWAMers for continued fruitfulness. I have come to realize that the values on their own presuppose that everyone has the same worldview and foundational belief system, which they do not. That is why, in recent years, I’ve begun teaching the “Belief Tree,” because our values grow out of and clarify our underlying beliefs. Just as a tree doesn’t begin with the trunk at ground level, our values are not the starting point. The starting point for producing fruit that remains is first the seed of Jesus planted in our lives, aligning our worldview with a biblical Christian worldview, and then the root system revealed throughout the Bible: who is God?…who is man?…what is truth? etc. For example, Foundational Value #14 states: “YWAM is called to value each individual.” Why? Because God is a personal God, who created mankind in His image, as personal beings, so that we could live together with Him in a relationship of love. We are to value what God values.

BRANCHES = PRINCIPLE-BASED DECISIONS/POLICIES

The limbs of the tree represent the principles by why we make decisions, whether personal or corporate. Again, our decisions must grow out of and reflect our values or they lack strength. Jill Garrett, who introduced the Strengthsfinder assessment tool to YWAM, uses the architectural definition of the word “integrity” to illustrate the need for consistency between our purpose, vision, beliefs, values, principles and practices. All must be in line with each other and with the Word of the Lord in order for the structure to be sound and have integrity.

Have you ever been in a situation where a policy (i.e., a corporate decision) was implemented that just didn’t set right? Usually, it is because it is not consistent with what we say we value. Our principles and practices should be born out of our beliefs and values. They should be the seamless extension of them. When a practice is established, there should be a response in our spirits that says, “Well, of course! If we believe and value this, then the automatic fruit of our decisions should be that!”

Let me give you a really practical example. There was a situation once at a campus where I was the operations director. While I was away on a trip one time, an experienced older person was put in charge of the transportation department. When I returned home from my trip, I discovered that a new policy had been established regarding drivers of YWAM vehicles: no one under 25 years of age was allowed to drive the YWAM vans. I thought “Oh, we must have changed insurance companies, and they have set this rigid requirement.” So I set out to find the reason for this new rule, because it seemed very restrictive. When I asked, “Why do we have this new restriction? Has the government made a new rule? Or have we changed insurance companies?” I discovered that it was neither. The transportation manager was of the opinion that young people tended to be more careless and irresponsible than older drivers and decided to set the age limit higher!

God called us to be YOUTH With A Mission! Our sixth Foundational Values states: “YWAM is called to champion young people.” We can’t challenge young men and women to go into difficult and dangerous places, and possibly even lay down their lives for the Gospel, and then tell them we don’t trust them to drive the vans! It would be okay to have a requirement for all potential drivers to pass a driver’s test based on skills, but it is not okay to have an automatic judgment that “youth are irresponsible.”

Think about it: if decisions have been enacted at your campus or in your school that do not reflect who God is, or what He has called us to value, then guess which things needs to change! I am constantly in this evaluation process myself, and have faithful friends who challenge me with questions like: “Darlene, how does this or that decision reflect the justice of God and our call to be international?” God has called us as a Mission to a season of realignment. We need to be diligent to see that there is consistency between our beliefs, values, principles/decisions and actions/programs. This needs to be continuously evaluated.

We have made a policy, a corporate leadership decision, in the University of the Nations that we are required to have at least three hours of intercessory prayer per week in all of our courses. Why? If this is just a “rule” which is disconnected from our values and beliefs, then prayer can become a totally lifeless dead work. Buddhists pray. Hindus pray. Muslims pray five times a day! But they are not praying to the true God. Because of our root belief that God is both personal and infinite, we value prayer as the avenue of two-way communication with this God who hears and cares and has the power to act. Not only that, but He designed us to be co-creators with Him through prayer. He chooses to involve us in releasing His will “on earth as it is in heaven” through praying the things on His heart. It will transform our prayer lives when we really grasp this and make ourselves available to hear from God like we believe He wants to create with us in prayer!

FRUIT = ACTIONS/PROGRAMS

The fruit is the outward expression of the life of the tree. On an individual basis, it is our actions and behavior. On a corporate level, it is our programs and practices. In a healthy tree, the roots draw in life, giving nourishment that flows through the trunk and the branches resulting in the production of good fruit. That’s what we want for our lives and our ministries: good fruit that remains.

The amazing thing about fruit is, it has seeds inside! The seeds carry the DNA—the essential genetic data that will reproduce future generations of healthy, fruitful trees. Every successive season, there is new fruit, and though each fruit is unique, it carries the same DNA and will reproduce the same kind of tree as the one that it came from. You’ve probably heard it asked, “You can count the number of seeds in an apple, but can you count the number of apples in a seed?”

Programs like the Discipleship Training School are “fruits” of our ministry tree that should reflect our beliefs, values and principles. Every DTS around the world can and should look different from the others–just as every apple is an apple but each one is unique–because the people God brings will be different and the needs will be different. We must continuously evaluate our methods and models as well to be sure that they support the new life and growth. God wants to give a fresh infusion of His Spirit and creativity into each school, but they should all carry the DNA, the genetic code, of a DTS and of YWAM.

Oftentimes people look at a program such as the DTS and want to replicate it. But it doesn’t work when it is disconnected from the YWAM “tree” from which it grew. Another ministry or a church may draw elements from a YWAM DTS, or run a similar discipleship program which may be very effective. Though the basic Bible beliefs are be similar, the values for every organization are different, and their programs should grow out of and reflect the unique characteristics of the things God has called them to embrace.

As mentioned earlier, integrity is when our worldview, beliefs, values, decisions and actions flow seamlessly, with no disconnect. Our actions and behavior should clearly align with what we say we believe. When this isn’t happening, there a break in the flow.

Here is another personal story that illustrates this point so clearly. As is our custom, one night Loren and I were hosting a large group of YWAMers for a meal at our home. Afterward, a number of people offered to help me clean up. One young leader, holding an armload of aluminum soda cans, asked “Darlene, do you recycle?” I replied, “I believe in it, but I don’t do it.” When I heard the words come out of my mouth, I was so shocked that I gasped out loud. I had been teaching on the Belief Tree to that very group of people! I asked the helper, “Did you hear what I just said? I said that I BELIEVE it, but I don’t DO it!” It’s true that in Hawaii, recycling is not required by law, and they don’t make it easy to accomplish, as recycle systems are not in place. But I went out the next day and bought recycle bins for aluminum cans, plastic bottles and glass and I have recycled from that day to this.

My friend and co-worker, David Hamilton, has added another dimension to this Belief Tree teaching which will help you in using this as a very practical tool in your life:

WORLDVIEW = what is REAL

This is our un-thought-through presuppositions about reality. It’s what we generally accept or believe from our environment or the way we were raised, without questioning.

BELIEFS = what is TRUE

You may ask, “But aren’t what is real and what is true the same?” Yes, if there is integrity; but if there is not integrity, what seems real to us and what is actually true may be very different. (Remember the foundational truths of Christianity outlined above: there is absolute truth, and it is constant and knowable.)

For example, in Africa some tribal people are animistic, so what is REAL for them is that they believe spirits exist in different forms of nature – rocks, the sea, lions, etc. According to their worldview, if you get sick it’s because someone has put a curse on you. When an animist becomes a Christian and believes that Jesus is the Son of God, they believe this is TRUE. When they become sick, they know Jesus can heal them because He is powerful. But if they pray to Jesus and don’t get well, they often quickly revert to the reality that they have known, which is that sickness is caused by evil spirits. So they may go back to the witch doctor to remove the curse.

This syncretism (mixture of opposing belief systems) works against integrity. Every culture and every individual has issues of syncretism. Identifying and ridding ourselves of it occurs as we mature in integrity.

VALUES = what is GOOD

Isn’t truth good? Yes, it should also be considered good. Why is this different? When you embrace something as good, it’s something you do because you like it. You find it desirable or beneficial. There is some internal delight.

When you read through the 18 YWAM values, you might read one and think “I’ve got to achieve this” or “I need to work on this one.” This is an indicator that you see this as a principle or truth that is right, but you have not yet learned to really love it. As long as it’s something external that you have to live up to, rather than something internal that you delight in, then it has not yet become a personal value.

PRINCIPLE-BASED DECISIONS/POLICIES = what we think is RIGHT

Once you have embraced something true and attributed value to it, it will lead to right decisions and policies. Just living by the rules and doing what is right is not discipleship! What we want to see as a result of true discipleship is internal government. This is one of the most important things in the world, to be self-governed, have self-morality, and lead ourselves based on God’s principles, not on external boundaries.

ACTIONS/PROGRAMS = what is WISE

If all these others things are aligned, our behavior/actions will be wise.

We need to learn to make decisions that bring harmony between what is real and true and right and good and wise. Only then are we are walking in integrity! How do we discover whether there is seamless integrity or disconnections? By asking questions.

There are two questions that will lead you to insights at every level of the Belief Tree:

1. “WHY?” This is a discovery question that leads us to foundations/presuppositions.

Let’s look again at the example about young people not being allowed to drive YWAM vehicles, and use the question “Why?” to lead us from the action back down to the presuppositional worldview.
ACTION: young people can’t drive YWAM vans.
Why? Because of a faulty POLICY.
Why was the policy wrong? Because it did not reflect that we VALUE young people.
Why should we value young people?
Because our BELIEF about God, based on His Word, tells us that He values young people: Jeremiah, Mary, Timothy, David, Samuel, Daniel, Joseph…all of the disciples. Our Biblical Christian worldview tells us that we are made in the image of God from birth, not just from the age of 25!

When you get down to the “belief” part, you should always have a “God said in His word” upon which to base your belief.

It is so important to ask the WHY question. You cannot get understanding and make wise decisions without this. When people don’t understand beliefs and values, they just copy a model, and the life soon goes out of it. It becomes dead works.

You can also do the opposite, move from the roots to the fruit, by asking the question:

2. “SO WHAT?” This question leads us to understand implications/applications.

WORLDVIEW – we are made in image of creator God.
So what? We BELIEVE we can co-create with Him.
So what? We VALUE prayer as a good thing; it changes things!
So what? We make PRINCIPLE-BASED DECISIONS: I will give up whatever it takes to have time for prayer: sleep, food, social activities.
So what? My ACTIONS/BEHAVIOR line up: I establish a lifestyle of prayer.

The reason a lot of Christians fail is because they go straight from understanding something to be TRUE to doing something because it is RIGHT. They skip the step of VALUE and it becoming GOOD/delightful. It’s not hard for me to do what I embrace as good and delightful. But if I only try to do something because I know it is RIGHT, I will fail much more easily.

As you keep asking the Holy Spirit to examine your life and reveal any place where there is a lack of integrity, you can invite God to transform your mind and thinking so that you will grow in maturity and greater likeness to Christ!

Summary:

We must know WHY we believe WHAT we believe. Our practices and programs should be a reflection of our beliefs, values and principle-based decisions. We should be able to give an answer when asked, “Why do you do what you do, the way you do it?” It is an opportunity to share our beliefs, values and principles. And if we don’t have an answer or we don’t know why, it is an opportunity to seek answers and make sure that our actions and the fruit of our lives and ministries are a true reflection of Jesus.

I love the story of one family—a husband, wife and two teenage kids—who came to do a DTS at YWAM/UofN Kona and heard me teach on the Belief Tree. They were fairly new Christians and the husband was a successful businessman. I’m sure he had sat through many courses on decision-making, but the Spirit of God had a profound impact on him and the whole family through understanding the Belief Tree. It gave them a simple yet practical framework for making decisions and evaluating whether their lives were in alignment with their beliefs. When they returned home after DTS, the family spent most of a two-week vacation to Ireland working on their family Belief Tree, defining their beliefs, values, principles and actions. They drew it on a large piece of poster board, and upon returning home, they hung it on the kitchen wall. It is there, in the busiest room of the house, that they gather to make family decisions, evaluate where they have come from and where they’re going. It is there that they also have that occasional discussion regarding outward behavior that may or may not match what they say they believe–not only the children’s behavior, but the parents have invited the children to hold them accountable to live what they say they believe. What a wonderful and simple yet profound tool for checking the integrity of our lives and ministries!

* * *

Scriptures for additional meditation/study:
Psalm 1:1-3, Colossians 2:6-7, Matthew 7:15-23, Matthew 13:1-9, Jeremiah 17:7-8, Isaiah 61:3,11, John 15:1-17, Colossians 2 & 3, Romans 11:16.

© 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012 & 2014 Darlene J. Cunningham and Dawn E. Gauslin, Youth With A Mission. All rights reserved.

Source: www.ywam.org/for-ywamers/the-belief-tree/

In 2003 John Dawson began serving as the International President of Youth With A Mission. Prior to that he served as the director of YWAM Los Angeles, the International Director of Urban Missions, as well as the founder of the International Reconciliation Coalition. John is now one of the Global Elders of Youth With A Mission.

John Dawson is a well known and respected international speaker, who has visited and taught in many nations around the globe. He is also a best selling author of the book “Taking our Cities for God” and “Healing America’s Wounds“.

When John took over the presidency of Youth With A Mssion in 2003 there was a sense in the mission of the need for “Alignment”. Although the message that you will now hear is 13-years old, alignment is still something that we believe God desires in our mission …

Taking our Cities for God – John Dawson

You are in the middle of an invisible spiritual war! Explore strategies for faith and prayer that can win the battle! Just imagine for a moment–living in a community where children meet to pray, crime is almost nonexistent and people fill the churches. InTaking Our Cities for God, you will explore dynamic and life-changing strategies to help you tear down the strongholds that have held your community back from its full spiritual potential. Remove the roadblocks that prevent your city from experiencing spiritual renewal and revival! This revised handbook with its thirteen-lesson study guide invites you to take part in a cleanup effort that will open the heavens above your city and allow God’s blessings to flow freely.It’s original printing over twelve years ago launched an era of successful prayer walks, mapping and strategic intercession. Now is the time for you to claim your spiritual authority and take your city for God!You will:

• Discover God’s purpose for your city.
• Study and grasp your city’s spiritual history.
• Discern the strongholds that work against your city.
• Join others to intercede for your city.
• Develop a plan to break the strongholds and bring your city to God

You can watch John Dawson’s Message about Allignment here:

One of the key foundational principles to the establishment of the University of the Nations, Youth With A Mission’s training arm, is the idea of the seven spheres, influences, or mountains, of society. The seven spheres are:

• Family
• Religion / Church
• Education
• Government
• Media
• Celebration (Arts, Entertainment, and Sports)
• Economics (Business, Science, and Technology

The idea behind the seven spheres is that it is through influencing those areas of society, that the entire society can be influenced with the gospel.

In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission and the University of the Nations, shares about those seven spheres, and how God is influencing the nations through them …

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership.

Loren Cunningham is the author of a number of books including:

• Is That Really You God? Hearing the Voice of God
• Daring to Live on the Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances
• Making Jesus Lord: The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights (formerly titled Winning God’s Way)
• Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership (co-written with David Hamilton)
• The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country

John Dawson, one of the past Presidents of Youth With A Mission, shared at YWAM Together about Leadership and the YWAM Family, about what it means to lead the family, and how God is leading us as global ministry in this area. You will also get to hear input from Loren and Darlene Cunningham, Larry Baldock, and others who were in attendance at YWAM Together in Townsville, Australia.

John Dawson is former President of Youth With A Mission and a well-loved author and leader. He is founder of the International Reconciliation Coalition, a global network dedicated to healing wounds between people groups and elements of society. He is former founder/director of Youth With A Mission-Los Angeles and the International Director of YWAM Urban Missions. 
John Dawson is the author of two books including Healing America’s Wounds and his best seller Taking Our Cities for God.

You are in the middle of an invisible spiritual war! Explore strategies for faith and prayer that can win the battle! Just imagine for a moment–living in a community where children meet to pray, crime is almost nonexistent and people fill the churches. In Taking Our Cities for God, you will explore dynamic and life-changing strategies to help you tear down the strongholds that have held your community back from its full spiritual potential. Remove the roadblocks that prevent your city from experiencing spiritual renewal and revival! This revised handbook with its thirteen-lesson study guide invites you to take part in a cleanup effort that will open the heavens above your city and allow God’s blessings to flow freely.It’s original printing over twelve years ago launched an era of successful prayer walks, mapping and strategic intercession. Now is the time for you to claim your spiritual authority and take your city for God!You will:

• Discover God’s purpose for your city.
• Study and grasp your city’s spiritual history.
• Discern the strongholds that work against your city.
• Join others to intercede for your city.
• Develop a plan to break the strongholds and bring your city to God

You can watch the full unedited YWAM Together sessions below:

A passion of Youth With A Mission is to provide bibles in every language, to every people group, around the world. There are ministries happening at many different YWAM locations working towards seeing this happen.

At the recent YWAM Together in Australia, David Hamilton and Jill Thorton shared about how to end Bible Poverty and they had other people from around the world share their stories as well…

An important part of YWAM Together, and Youth With A Mission working towards ending Bible Poverty, was the End Bible Poverty Now Prayer covenant:

Prayer Covenant

I agree with Jesus that human beings do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)

I believe that we must obey Jesus’ command to teach all people and nations(Matthew 28:19-20), therefore they must have the Bible in their own languages.

I declare that I will help end Bible poverty worldwide. I will pray and do everything possible to serve the following steps…

• Translation of the Bible into the 1,800+ languages that have no portion of Scripture.
• Production of Scripture in the most accessible form for each person, whether print, audio, video, mobile device, or online.
• Distribution of the Word of God to everyone on earth by praying, working, recruiting, and supporting others for the task.
• Education of people to understand and apply God’s Word. (Matt. 28:19,20)
• Motivation for everyone, everywhere to engage with the Bible regularly. (Matt 4:4)

You can sign the End Bible Poverty Now pledge, and find out more about the project, at their web-site.

You can also watch the presentation in two parts below:

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

From 7 – 13 September, 2015, over 1300 different YWAM Staff and Students gathered in Townsville, Australia for YWAM Together to hear what is happening with the mission.

One of the first sessions during the conference was Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With A Mission, share an update about YWAM around the world, and about the state of world missions. As usual Loren shared exciting stories of faith and what God is doing around the globe. He is also joined by David Hamilton, who brings us his own, analytical look at the state of world missions.

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership.

Loren Cunningham is the author of a number of books including:

• Is That Really You God? Hearing the Voice of God
• Daring to Live on the Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances
• Making Jesus Lord: The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights (formerly titled Winning God’s Way)
• Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership (co-written with David Hamilton)
• The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country

In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast Loren Cunningham speaks on co-creating with God.

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership. Being one of the founders of Youth With A Mission means that much of who YWAM is, and what YWAM does is born out of Loren’t faith and understanding of who God is, including the fact that we are called to be co-creators with God, and that He never stopped creating, and that all creation is enabled by the Holy Spirit.

I hope that you enjoy this classic teaching …

We are called to be co-creators with God. The creation is enabled by the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8 (NIV)

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Is 48:7 (NIV)

They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, ‘Yes, I knew of them.’

Is 43:19 (NIV)

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership.

Loren Cunningham is the author of a number of books including:

• Is That Really You God? Hearing the Voice of God
• Daring to Live on the Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances
• Making Jesus Lord: The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights (formerly titled Winning God’s Way)
• Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership (co-written with David Hamilton)
• The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country

In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast we continue our series of teaching from Corrie Ten Boom with her teaching about God’s Love …

Corrie Ten Boom was an inspiration to many, including Youth With A Mission (YWAM) staff and students to whom she shared her story.

Together with her family she stood up against the Nazi regime in Holland during the Second World War. In their house in the Netherlands they hid many different people who were on the run from the Nazi Gestapo. Unfortunately the Ten Boom family was betrayed and they were put into prison, and later sent to concentration camps. There Corrie was able to share the gospel with her fellow prisoners, who lived in horrible conditions together. Through a miracle Corrie got released, but from her family, she was the only one who survived.

She shares her story in many books, of which the Hiding Place was made into a movie with the same title. Her story is significant because of what God did in her life and that of others, both during and after the war. (source: YWAM Memorial)

We hope that you are blessed by this classic YWAM teaching…

“There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.”

The Way of Love

[1] If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. [3] If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

[4] Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant [5] or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; [6] it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. [7] Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

[8] Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [9] For we know in part and we prophesy in part, [10] but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. [11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. [12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

[13] So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

(1 Corinthians 13 ESV)

Corrie Ten Boom was an inspiration to many, including many Youth With A Mission (YWAM) staff and students to whom she shared her story, including the ones who were reaching out from the castle of YWAM Hurlach at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Together with her family she stood up against the Nazi regime in Holland during the Second World War. In their house in Haarlem they hid many different people who were on the run of the Nazi Gestapo. Unfortunately the Ten Boom family was betrayed and they were put into prison, and later sent to concentration camps. There Corrie was able to share the gospel with her fellow prisoners, who lived in horrible conditions together. Through a miracle Corrie got released, but from her family she was the only one who survived.

She shares her story in many books, of which the Hiding Place was made into a movie with the same title. Her story is significant because of what God did in her life and that of others, both during and after the war. (source: YWAM Memorial)

We are very privileged in YWAM to have recordings of some of Corrie’s teachings before she passed away in 1983. The first teaching that we offer to you here on the YWAM Teaching Podcast is about Surrendering our life to Christ.

She speaks on how we must abide and be filled with the Holy Spirit for the Lord to use and work through us. Using John 15, she describes that the only way that we can truly abide is through complete surrender and obedience to the Lord.

John 15

I Am the True Vine

[1] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. [2] Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. [3] Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. [4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. [5] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. [7] If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [8] By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. [9] As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. [10] If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. [11] These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

[12] “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. [13] Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command you. [15] No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. [16] You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. [17] These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

The Hatred of the World

[18] “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. [19] If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. [20] Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. [21] But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. [22] If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. [23] Whoever hates me hates my Father also. [24] If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. [25] But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

[26] “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. [27] And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

(John 15 ESV)

This episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast presents us with a classic and timeless teaching from Loren Cunningham. Loren speaks on the importance of submission and relinquishing our “rights”. He calls us to lay down the things we cling to so that we can experience complete freedom in our relationship with God and be fully available to serve Him.

Joshua 1: 3 (NIV)

I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.

Exodus 3: 5 (NIV)

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Joshua 14: 9 (NIV)

“So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’”.

Ruth 4: 7 – 8 (NIV)

(Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.) So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.

Mark 8: 34 – 35 (NIV)

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Responsibility – Rights = Reward of Relationship with God

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership.

Loren Cunningham is the author of a number of books including:

• Is That Really You God? Hearing the Voice of God
• Daring to Live on the Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances
• Making Jesus Lord: The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights (formerly titled Winning God’s Way)
• Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership (co-written with David Hamilton)
• The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country

You can read more about Loren Cunningham on his personal web-site.

In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast, Loren Cunningham shares a message based around Matthew 6. He describes how we can trust in God in finance, and how this is a very practical way that God can display his faithfulness to us …

Matthew 6: 25 – 34 (NIV)

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership. 

Loren Cunningham is the author of a number of books including:

• Is That Really You God? Hearing the Voice of God
• Daring to Live on the Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances
• Making Jesus Lord: The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights (formerly titled Winning God’s Way)
• Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership (co-written with David Hamilton)
• The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country

You can read more about Loren Cunningham on his personal web-site.

Floyd McClung is the international director of All Nations, an international leadership training and church-planting network.

Floyd shared with teaching with a Leadership Training School (LTS) that was held in New Zealand in 2000.

All Nations, the organisation that Floyd McClung is the international director of, has partnered with local churches to send short-term and long-term church-planting teams to more than thirty countries and provides specialized leadership and discipleship schools. 

Floyd McClung is the author of the book Father Heart of God – Experiencing the Depths of His Love For You. Father Heart of God is one of the key teachings in Youth With A Mission, and much of this teaching is covered in Floyd’s book.

Floyd is also the author of Living on the Devil’s Doorstep: From Kabul to Amsterdam. He shares some of the stories from this book in this teaching about planning to go.

In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast Pete Sutherland and Todd McCormick introduce us to the inductive bible study method used by the Youth With a Mission School of Biblical Studies.

The goal of inductive Bible study is to be taught by the Word, letting it guide us into truth. In the inductive method, we want to allow the Holy Spirit to be our teacher as we let our conclusions evolve from what we observe. We do not want to approach the Scriptures with a thesis in hand that we attempt to support by searching its pages (which is a deductive approach). Therefore, preconceived ideas (beliefs that we have come to accept from sources outside of the Word) must be laid aside as they may blur our vision from seeing what the Bible may really be saying. In this way, we become listeners of the Scriptures rather than dictators to them.

This teaching originally appeared on the YWAM Turner Valley web-site. 

The inductive method of Bible study (in contrast to the deductive approach of approaching the text with pre-drawn conclusions) is outlined as follows:

1. Pray, the Holy Spirit is your teacher
2. Independent – no helps (commentaries are great…but they may keep us from letting the Bible speak to us)
3. Let the text speak for itself
4. Let your conclusions evolve out of what you have observed:
   • Lay aside your preconceived ideas and let the Bible speak for itself
   • Try to be impartial
5. Become a listener and hearer of the Scriptures. A thorough examination of the content becomes the basis for one’s conclusions

The 3 basic steps of inductive Bible study are:

1. Observation: What does the text say?
2. Interpretation (exegesis): What did it mean to the original hearers and original readers?
3. Application (hermeneutics): How does the truth of this book apply to my life in the 21st century?

These three steps should be done in consecutive order. Observation should be done first, followed by interpretation and ending with application. Thorough observation leads to good interpretation and good interpretation leads into life-changing application.

In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast Loren Cunningham shares about Releasing Women into Ministry.

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership. 

In 2000 Loren Cunningham, David Hamilton, and Janice Rogers authored the book Why Not Women, which took a look at the issue of women in missions, ministry, and leadership. The book took a look at:

• A detailed study of women in Scripture
• Historical and current global perspectives
• An examination of the fruit of women in public ministry
• A hard-hitting revelation of what’s at stake for women, men, the Body of Christ, God’s Kingdom, and the unreached.

Loren Cunningham is the author of a number of books including:

• Is That Really You God? Hearing the Voice of God
• Daring to Live on the Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances
• Making Jesus Lord: The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights (formerly titled Winning God’s Way)
• Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership (co-written with David Hamilton)
• The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country

You can read more about Loren Cunningham on his personal web-site.

Eldership – Tripod Message for Youth With A Mission

When I was seven years old, my family and I visited Niagara Falls. I have an indelible picture in my mind of what I saw: a barge, wedged against a huge rock right at the edge of the falls, with the water raging around it. I was forever impacted by the story I heard: 

Two young boys had been guarding the barge, safely tied to a dock far upstream. When night came, they fell asleep. As the boat gently rocked, the knot loosened and they began to float downstream. The boys slept on… drifting… not knowing they were in danger.

Hitting rapids, the lads awoke with a jolt. Realizing that they were in peril, they yelled for help, but no one was awake to hear their cries. As daylight came, people saw the boys in distress, now rapidly rushing toward eminent death, but there was nothing anyone could do-they were too far out in the middle of the river, and no one could reach them in time. They fell to their knees and cried out to God to save the boys.

Miraculously, just at the edge of the falls, the barge hit a huge rock and lodged securely against it. From there, the townsfolk were able to throw ropes and rescue the boys.

I shared this story in 2001 with the Youth With A Mission Global Leadership Team gathered in Kenya, expressing my concern that there were areas where we as a mission were “adrift” from our founding values and this drift could lead to our demise. Few organizations are able to continue with vision and passion beyond the second generation. Although YWAM was then 41 years old and had many thousands of full-time participants working all around the globe, future multiplication could not be assured by momentum alone. We needed God’s understanding of where we had drifted and His re-alignment to bring a new thrust of apostolic growth.  I carried this concern continuously in my heart.

Then, on July 13, 2002, God reassured me that we as a mission had “hit the rock.” He promised that if we would obey His course correction, He would give us a new apostolic release. I wept with gratitude and relief.

The following month, the Lord called me to a time of fasting and prayer for YWAM. I asked “what are the essential ingredients for regaining our apostolic edge?” He began to bring an understanding of key elements for growth that I will explain below.

ELEMENTS FOR APOSTOLIC GROWTH

The following elements thrived among us as a mission during our first four decades, resulting in many new ministries and launching of YWAMers globally, but in the 90s we began to drift in some places. These are the moorings that I believe will bring about a renewed apostolic thrust

1. Freedom in the Spirit
2. Spiritual Eldership
3. Relationship

All of these must function under the Lordship of Jesus, according to His word and His will.

FREEDOM IN THE SPIRIT

Every individual, from the youngest to the oldest, must have freedom in the Spirit to hear and obey the word of the Lord. This opens up creativity for Him and from Him to initiate among us anything He wants to do.

We teach students, “You can hear God’s voice…but you also must obey it and step out to trust Him to do the impossible.” The steps are: (1) God gives revelation, (2) we interpret the revelation and (3) we apply what we understand. We may make mistakes sometimes in our interpretation or application, but that’s not evil-that is how we learn. Often the young and inexperienced hear God most clearly, for they do not yet believe that it can’t be done!

It is important that individuals have this freedom in the Spirit to hear and obey God, but this is not done in a vacuum or independently. Otherwise you can end up with the “tyranny of one.” This is where it becomes important to understand how spiritual leadership works.

SPIRITUAL ELDERSHIP

Elders are not necessarily older in age (Timothy, a youth, was an elder and appointed other elders). But elders have a breadth and depth of experience and spiritual maturity, and they fulfill the leadership criteria outlined in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

True elders are submitted to the Lordship of Jesus and to their followers, as servant leaders. They have a responsibility to take to God in prayer any word that is submitted to them by an individual, and also to test it according to the scriptures.  This trust is sacred, and they should receive this new, baby vision like a grandparent would receive a grandchild. God’s heart is broken when new vision is stomped on by leadership; He says, “it would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck…” Luke 17:2 (NRSV).

According to Timothy and Titus, spiritual leaders must be hospitable.  The Greek word for hospitable, “xenophile,” means “a lover of the new, the strange, the different.” Thus they are open-hearted toward new vision and pioneer projects, asking God to “show us if this word is conceived by You and give us the timing and other application details.” Then they should coach the group in how the word is best applied in the context of the whole.

Let me give you an example:  In 1970 a multinational YWAM team felt God told them to go to Afghanistan.  At that point in time, short-term teams of young people did not do that kind of thing! They brought their guidance to me, as their spiritual leader. The easiest thing would have been to say “no, it is a closed country. The risks are too high”–especially since my younger sister was on the team! But I had to pray about it, and God said “yes.” The team went and ended up taking thousands of Gospels in local languages.  They were arrested, but their judges had to read the “evidence,” the Gospels they were distributing. The team was then released and instructed by those judges to continue to distribute the Gospels!  YWAM has now ministered in Afghanistan for more than four decades non-stop, through every war.  This is the fruit of honoring God’s word, to whomever He gives it.

Spiritual leadership is like Moses going into the tent of meeting in the Old Testament, where he would meet with God and listen to Him about the affairs of the people. He then would come out and deliver the word of the Lord. A danger in any organization is for structures to dominate, taking a position above this emphasis on meeting with God. When that happens, suddenly decisions are made according to budgets and structure instead of the voice, vision and values of the Lord.

I believe every YWAM ministry should have spiritual eldership. Even small teams going on short-term outreach should identify who the leaders are and lay their hands on them and pray for God’s anointing (Acts 13:1-4 and Exodus 40:15).  These individuals, as well as those serving over them in leadership, should take seriously their mandate to seek the Lord on behalf of the people and bless them (Numbers 6:22-27).

There is nothing in this concept of spiritual leadership that says one person is better than another. God calls us to salute the dignity, value and equality of every person we come into contact with. Whether you have the ministry of an apostle or the ministry of helps, everyone is equal. The functions are different, but every ministry is equal in value to every other ministry.

RELATIONSHIP

During the 1970s, there was widespread abuse of the concept of “eldership” among the body of Christ. One teaching defined eldership in a way that sanctioned extreme control over individuals’ lives and possessions.  In an effort to distance ourselves from this movement, I believe YWAM backed off too far and we stopped exercising biblical spiritual leadership. This is one of the drift factors that must be righted.

Spiritual elders are to lead primarily through prayer, influence and relationship, not through control. One of the main ways this is done is through teaching.  According to 1 Timothy 3, a leader must be “able to teach.”

Jesus said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers among the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10:42-44).

Leaders who control people with clenched hands will produce followers who will one day shake their clenched fists back at them.  This kind of hierarchical leadership is not kingdom authority.  Inevitably it will produce rebellion.

Instead, if you lead in an open-handed way–giving and serving–you are leading in Jesus’ way.  He said, “Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

There are times and situations when spiritual leaders need to act with authority, but they should only intervene with authority after appealing through relationship. They must make sure it is the right battle (issue), the right time, and approach the situation in the right way. And in these contexts there need to be structures and legal boards in place that hold these elders accountable in all legal and financial matters, “rendering to Caesar, the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Autonomy, with each person, ministry or base working independently, is a non-scriptural concept. But likewise, if eldership is operating outside of these other factors-freedom in the Spirit and relationship-it leads to legalism and a hierarchical leadership that is not godly.

An apostolic movement dries up when there is not integration of these elements: freedom in the Spirit, spiritual eldership and relationship, all operating under the word and the will of the Lord. When they are operating together, it brings much fruit (e.g., Acts 15). May it ever be so with YWAM!

_________________

© 2004 Loren D. Cunningham.  All rights reserved.

In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast Joseph Avakian tells us about the journey that God took him on in Discovering and Restoring the Identity that God created him with.

Joseph Avakian has been working with Youth With A Mission since 1984 and has been involved in teaching and projects around the world. He has been responsible for pioneering and launching many of the schools that YWAM is currently running in the area of communication. Joseph was also one of the key developers of the current YWAM logo.

You can find out more about Joseph Avakian on his personal web-site and blog.

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David Hamilton shares with us about God’s Calling and Gifting on us as individuals in YWAM, and God’s unique Calling and Gifting on Youth With A Mission as a Missions Organisation.

David Hamilton has served in YWAM for almost 30-years. During this time he has served in many different roles, including:

• The International Associate Provost of the University of the Nations
• Assistant to the YWAM President
• Member of the International Leadership Team of the U of N
• Member of the Global Leadership Team of YWAM
• Director of Training on the YWAM/U of N Kona campus
• Vice President for Strategic Innovation at YWAM’s University of the Nations

In this teaching David Hamilton talks about some of the unique ways that God has and is using YWAM in the world. They include stories of:

• Solar powered audio bibles small enough to fit in a g-string of pygmy people
• Training lab rats to assist in the disarming of land mines
• Malaria research in Brasil and Uganda
• and many more stories …

David Hamilton has also participated in the writing of three different books:

• Courageous Leaders – Transforming Their World
• His Kingdom Come – An Integrated Approach to Discipling the Nations/Fulfilling the Great Commission
• Why Not Women? – A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership

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In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast we get to hear from Dean Sherman as he shares about The Spirit of the World – 1 John 5:19.

Dean Sherman is dean of the College of Christian Ministries for the University of the Nations. He is a respected international Bible teacher, having ministered in 49 states and more than 40 countries. He and his wife, Michelle, make their home in Salem, Oregon. They have two children.

Dean Sherman has written books and created video and audio teachings that have been used at YWAM locations and churches around the world about the topics of relationships and spiritual warfare.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE FOR EVERY CHRISTIAN

How to Live in Victory & Retake the Land

God has called Christians to overcome the world and drive back the forces of evil and darkness at work within it. Spiritual warfare isn’t just casting out demons; it’s Spirit-controlled thinking and attitudes. Dean delivers a no-nonsense, both-feet-planted-on-the-ground approach to the unseen world.

RELATIONSHIPS

The Key to Love, Sex, and Everything Else

With clarity and a sharp wit, Dean Sherman illuminates the often confusing and mysterious world of love, sex, and relationships in this accessible, hard-hitting examination of romantic love and sexuality in the Christian’s life.

• Learn the secret of your “attraction gift”
• Discover that the real question is not  “How far is too far?”
• Investigate the meaning and value of being in right, godly relationships with others.
• Build your life relationships upon God’s logical, loving, and freeing precepts.
• Begin the healing process if you struggle with sexual sin from your past.
• Understand the loving and practical principles behind the relationship boundaries God has established.

Relationships: The Key to Love, Sex, and Everything Else is an immediately relevant and refreshingly direct discussion of the most dynamic and foundational facet of our lives. Bold and thorough, this book is the answer for those who are disillusioned with the self-centred, anything-goes attitude modelled in much of today’s media or the legalistic advice that attempts to reduce relationships to a list of rules. With balance and thoughtfulness, Dean Sherman offers a soundly biblical alternative that works.

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In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast we get to hear from Loren Cunningham as he talks about the Conditions for Knowing God’s Voice.

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership.

Loren Cunningham is the author of a number of books including:

• Is That Really You God? Hearing the Voice of God
• Daring to Live on the Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances
• Making Jesus Lord: The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights (formerly titled Winning God’s Way)
• Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership (co-written with David Hamilton)
• The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country

You can read more about Loren Cunningham on his personal web-site.

This teaching is an earlier recording and has some gaps in the middle of his talk. We have put the teaching together as best we can to convey Loren’s message, but you will probably find that some of the middle of his talk sounds disjointed. After listening through a number of times we have decided to publish this teaching in it’s current state as it is a valuable teaching about hearing God’s Voice.

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In this YWAM Teaching Podcast we get to hear from Joy Dawson as she talks to us about Spiritual Authority.

Joy Dawson’s Bible-teaching ministry and missionary journeys have taken her to fifty-five countries on every continent. Most of her teaching ministry has been at spiritual leadership conferences. Multitudes have been blessed by her television and radio ministries, and countless lives have been changed through the international distribution of her audio and videotapes. The character and ways of God are the Biblical basis of her penetrating teachings, which cross denominational lines (from her web-site).

Joy Dawson has authored or co-authored eight different books:

• Forever Ruined for the Ordinary
  The Adventure Of Hearing And Obeying The Voice Of God
• How to Pray for Someone Near You Who Is Away from God
• Intercession, Thrilling and Fulfilling
• Intimate Friendship with God
  Through Understanding the Fear of the Lord
• Jesus the Model
  The Plumb Line for Christian Living
• Knowing God
  A Devotional About the Character and Ways of God
• Some of the Ways of God in Healing
  How to get answers and directions when you are suffering
• The Fire of God
  Discovering its many life-changing purposes

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In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast we hear from Winkie Pratney as he shares with us about what it means to be “Free as a Slave”.

Winkie Pratney is a youth communicator, Christian apologist, evangelist, and writer from Auckland, New Zealand. With a mostly teenaged audience, Pratney speaks world wide to over 500,000 annually in churches, universities, high-schools, and Christian-oriented festivals.

Winkie Pratney has written over 20 different books since he began writing in 1964. The latest book that he published is called Ultimate CORE: Church on the Radical Edge. Ultimate Core is described as:

This in-depth approach to discipleship is designed for young people who want to experience and radiate the core of heart commitment to Christ. The ULTIMATE CORE is grounded in the ageless principles taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Relevant chapter topics range from purity to spiritual gifts to evangelism and offer insights to empower and challenge older teens and twenty-somethings to become effective, powerful Christians for this millennium. Written by Winkie Pratney and Trevor Yaxley, two youth ministry and evangelism experts.

Some of Winkie Pratney’s other books include:

• Youth Aflame: Manual for Discipleship
• Devil Take the Youngest
• Revival: Principles To Change the World
• Counterfeit Conversion ($0.99 on Kindle)
• And many more books …

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In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast we get to hear from Darelene Cunningham as she shares about Who is Jesus to a group of YWAM Leaders.

Darlene Cunningham is the co-founder of Youth With A Mission and continues to be active in the YWAM eldership.

You can read and download more from Darlene Cunningham on the YWAM Life web-site, including her teaching about the YWAM Foundational Value about hearing God’s voice here.

Photo of Darlene Cunningham by Rob Darby.

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In this edition of the YWAM Teaching Podcast David Hamilton talks about inovation in YWAM. David talks about various stories that express how innovation is a core part of the identity of Youth With A Mission. This teaching was originally recorded at a YWAM DNA conference in Woodcrest North Carolina.

David Hamilton has served in YWAM for almost 30-years. During this time he has served in many different roles, including:

• The International Associate Provost of the University of the Nations
• Assistant to the YWAM President
• Member of the International Leadership Team of the U of N
• Member of the Global Leadership Team of YWAM
• Director of Training on the YWAM/U of N Kona campus
• Vice President for Strategic Innovation at YWAM’s University of the Nations

Over his years in YWAM he has witnessed many different unique innovations, including:

• Development of a new bread of “YWAM” Goats in Uganda
• Candle Making in Thailand
• A unique preschool curriculum used by over 900 organisations around the world
• Focussed and specialised ministries like Cowboys With A Mission

David Hamilton has also participated in the writing of three different books:

• Courageous Leaders – Transforming Their World
• His Kingdom Come – An Integrated Approach to Discipling the Nations/Fulfilling the Great Commission
• Why Not Women? – A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership

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In this YWAM Teaching podcast we hear from Loren Cunningham as he shares with us about the Importance of the Bible and the need to continue the work of previous generations in getting it into new places. This teaching was originally recorded at a YWAM DNA conference at YWAM Woodcrest in North Carolina.

Loren Cunningham is the founder of Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the co-founder and International Chancellor of the University of the Nations (U of N). He is also the leader of the YWAM UofN Campus in Hawaii and a member of the YWAM International Eldership.

Loren Cunningham is the author of a number of books including:

• Is That Really You God? Hearing the Voice of God
• Daring to Live on the Edge: The Adventure of Faith and Finances
• Making Jesus Lord: The Dynamic Power of Laying Down Your Rights (formerly titled Winning God’s Way)
• Why Not Women? A Fresh Look at Scripture on Women in Missions, Ministry, and Leadership (co-written with David Hamilton)
• The Book that Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change Any Country

You can read more about Loren Cunningham on his personal web-site.

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In this YWAM Teaching podcast we get to hear from Jim Stier share about the privilege of suffering for Christ.

Jim Stier is a former president and executive director of Youth With A Mission. He has also served as the international director of evangelism and frontier missions, and the national director for Brasil. He is currently involved internationally as a part of the YWAM eldership.

Jim Stier contributed to the continued discussion about eldership in Youth With A Mission in the April 2012 International YWAMer, Leadership Takes Shape.

Jim Stier wrote the book Against All Odds and is a contributor to the book His Kingdom Come – An Integrated Approach to Discipling the Nations / Fulfilling the Great Commission.

You can hear more of Jim Stier’s teaching on the YWAM Madison podcast and find even more on the YWAM Life web-site.

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In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast we get to hear from Darelene Cunningham as she shares about Faith at a North American Leadership Conference.

Darlene Cunningham is the co-founder of Youth With A Mission and continues to be active in the YWAM eldership.

You can read and download more from Darlene Cunningham on the YWAM Life web-site, including her teaching about the YWAM Foundational Value about hearing God’s voice here.

Photo of Darlene Cunningham by Rob Darby.

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In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast Lynn Green shares about how we in YWAM can avoid the pitfall of institutionalising leadership.

Servant Leadership is on one of the foundational values of Youth With A Mission:

EXHIBIT SERVANT LEADERSHIP
YWAM is called to servant leadership as a lifestyle, rather than a leadership hierarchy. A servant leader is one who honors the gifts and callings of those under his/her care and guards their rights and privileges. Just as Jesus served His disciples, we stress the importance of those with leadership responsibilities serving those whom they lead.

It emphasises the importance of leadership being a lifestyle, and not a hierarchy. 

1 Samuel 8 (NIV)

Israel Asks for a King

¹ When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.^[a]2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. ³ But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

⁴ So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead^[b] us, such as all the other nations have.”

⁶ But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. ⁷ And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

¹⁰ Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

¹⁹ But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. ²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

²¹ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. ²² The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

Tom Hallas, a member of the YWAM Global Leadership Forum and the YWAM Asia/Pacific Field Director, wrote an article about Servant Leadership entitled “Serving as Sons”, which you can download and read here.

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In this episode of the YWAM Teaching Podcast Lynn Green shares about financial integrity at a Base Leader Training Session.

Leadership Letter from Lynn Green about Personal Finances, February 2007:

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

For the past couple of years I have been hosting and speaking at Base Leaders’ Training Weeks. I think they are a lot of fun. I really enjoy meeting with base leaders from different nations and continents, learning about their joys and triumphs, struggles and disappointments and helping them find a way forward. As a result of listening to these leaders, I am beginning to identify some common and widespread issues we are facing.

Recently a base leader asked, “What do you do when one person from a staff couple takes a job to supplement their income and then the other member has to take responsibility for child care? We end up having just one person on a part -time basis and yet we are housing an entire family. How do we respond to this?”

I could readily understand the question because I see this issue cropping up all over the world and it can dramatically change the dynamics of a YWAM base. In practical terms, it can lead to less ministry happening in and from the base simply because you don’t have the same man-power available. It can actually be more damaging than that, but it will take me a bit to explain.

I joined YWAM when I signed up for a School of Evangelism in 1969. I loved that year in the SOE! The best part of it was living in an old hotel with a bunch of other young people (especially one particular young lady whom I married before the year was out) and with Loren and Dar. We saw them relate to one another as a married couple and then as parents. I still have warm memories of Karen and, later, David Cunningham bedded down in little sleeping bags in the lecture room in the evenings. There was no doubt at all that the entire family was called into missions! From the very beginning, they demonstrated that single people, couples and families are all welcome in YWAM and that God has put a special anointing on YWAM to welcome families in ministry.

A number of years after my first experience in YWAM, a young couple by the name of Dale and Carol Kaufman were at the newly established base in Kona. It was the summer of the Olympic outreach in Montreal and Dale was deeply disappointed because he had no freedom to go to the outreach. Their disappointment was turned to an adventure and the birth of a new ministry, King’s Kids. Over the years God would use it to mobilize thousands of children and then families into outreach together. I personally know many families who would say that their family came to deeper togetherness and spiritual maturity as a result of outreaches with KKI and, as far as they are concerned, their children are serving God today because of KKI.

YWAM may not be unique in this calling but we are certainly unusual. Traditionally, most mission organizations were not family oriented. From time to time we still meet missionary children who had very painful experiences in boarding schools or because their parents were not allowed to have more children due to the policy of their mission. Times have changed, thank God! When Darlene Cunningham and a team from the Global Leadership Team first started working on the values of YWAM, they noted how God had led Loren and Dar at the beginning and how much He had blessed families in YWAM and that is why we included the following value:

YWAM recognizes the value of the family. We affirm the importance of fathers, mothers, and children all sharing a call to missions and contributing in unique, complementary and vital ways. We support the necessity for each individual family to be a strong and healthy unit. (Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 40, 6:6-7, 32:46; Proverbs 31; 1 Timothy 3:4)

Being a YWAMer is not a job, it is not a part-time calling and it is not a calling for just one member of a couple. Now, before anyone reading this gets tempted to be defensive, I want to say clearly that we are also not a rule-based movement. There will always be exceptions to the norm and many of those exceptions will be wonderful! We will not start making rules that both members of a marriage or all members of a family must always be full-time staff with YWAM.

That is, however, the norm that God used to start YWAM, and we are most anointed by God when we stick closely to the values that He established at the beginning. So, I am saying that we are very likely to lose some of our power and distinctiveness when we allow another approach to become the norm.

The base leader I referred to earlier went on to ask, “What do you do when the person with the employed spouse is on your leadership team?” I suggested that, in this case, the example they set will multiply quickly and in a short time you will have only a few full-time staff available. He nodded his head sadly and said, “That’s exactly where we are now. How do we get back to where we started, with all full-time people living at the base?”.

There was no easy answer to that question. The road he described is a downhill road—easy one way but a battle the other. It’s much better to not go down it in the first place. If you and your base or team have not walked down that road – don’t start now! If you have, then start addressing the issue in prayer. If you went down that path without thoroughly seeking God first, then you will probably need to start with repentance. Don’t condemn anyone, but do ask God how to get back to the place of full anointing.

You might also need to ask God’s forgiveness for misusing his gifts. For example, if you live in a YWAM property that was purchased (or is being purchased) by gifts and income from staff, students and other donors then you are, in effect, living in subsidized housing. The money was given to the vision of YWAM—taking the gospel to the whole world—not to provide housing subsidies for Christians in paid employment. You may have inadvertently allowed an unethical situation to arise. That needs repentance and a commitment to make the hard choices to get back to the place of obedience.

A shortage of money is often the reason why someone who is in YWAM decides to find a job. I know there are occasions when God has led some of us to take a part-time job or to take a full-time job temporarily. But that is relatively rare. Very often, in the face of financial shortages, we are tempted to take matters into our own hands and provide for ourselves through a job. But another one of our values states:

YWAM is called to practise a life of dependence upon God and His people for financial provision, both corporately and individually. (Phil 4:6-7, 10-20; 3 John 5-8).

It is not unusual for God to use financial shortages as a way of getting our attention so He can say something very important to us. When we decide to go out and meet the need ourselves, we could miss God’s purposes.

Like any seasoned YWAMers, Marti and I have experienced long periods of very little financial support. We have also had some financial crises, both personally and in the various teams and bases we have led. Our experience is that God always used those times to produce breakthroughs in us or in our team/ community.

This life of dependence upon God and His people is a wonderful adventure. Sometimes it is very testing, but as we learn to wait on God, hear His voice and obey, we live a great life. If this is a hard area for you; if you have struggled with unbelief about money; if you think it is much easier for some people than for others; or if you think faith for finances doesn’t work where you live—do go back and study the scriptures. See what Jesus promised in Matthew 6 when we ‘seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness’. You might also find a copy of Loren Cunningham’s book, Daring to Live on the Edge ($5.99 at YWAM Publishing); it will certainly build your faith.

Remember, when we obey God and live by the values He has placed in our foundations, then His power is more active in our lives and our circumstances. That is how we can fulfill the promise Jesus made, “anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12).

May God pour out His power on you and through you as you obey His word!

In His Peace,

C. Lynn Green

You can download the .pdf of this letter from ywamlife.com.

You can also find a document entitled Guidelines for Financial Management of a YWAM Ministry on ywamlife.com. The document offers guidelines and advice on how to set up and maintain the financial aspects of a YWAM ministry, fundraise for YWAM and manage assets belonging to a YWAM ministry.

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