Restoring the Generations Conference held on Oct 22-24, 2010 was one of the most powerful conferences that KingdomLife has ever done. I don’t even think you can call it a conference. It was more like a group of people assembled together for a holy moment in time. We have never experienced God do so much in our midst in such a short amount of time. Literally, within a 24-hour timeframe, God restored generations, healed the orphan heart, turned the hearts of the fathers to the sons and the sons to the fathers, brought closure to cycles of abandonment, and opened the door to a whole new era of kingdom advancement. To say this weekend was “significant” doesn’t even do justice to the depth of God that was worked into our hearts. It was truly a weekend of redemption, connection, and crowning.

So much took place this weekend that we felt like we had to break it down into part 1 and part 2. So part 1 will cover Sonship vs. Slavery and the Orphan Heart, and part 2 will deal with Apostolic Fatherhood, Building Generational Highways, and a synopsis of Saturday night’s profound encounter. Don Crum kicked off the meeting on Friday night with the topic of Sonship vs. Slavery. He began his message by using the illustration of an air conditioner filter, and he said that our understanding of sonship is like a filter by which we process everything in life. Our mindset/paradigm/theology defines Father God and how we relate to Him. Many of us in the Body of Christ have been taught how to relate to Father as a servant, but we’ve never been taught how to relate to Him as sons and daughters. It is possible to be a servant in the kingdom without being in a father/son relationship with Him. The master/servant relationship is one that is performance/task oriented and it is based on the fear of punishment or the hope of reward. In contrast, the father/son relationship is inheritance-oriented and it is based on love and trust. In Luke 15:29, we see an example of a son who lived in his father’s house, yet operated out of a slave mentality. Even though he had been in his father’s house from a child, he did not understand that all that his father had was his. He thought that he had to work for it by serving his father, and because he didn’t walk in his sonship, he was never fully able to understand what the word “inheritance” really meant. In contrast, the prodigal son received a first-hand revelation of sonship when he humbled himself to his father and asked to be like one of his hired hands, only to find out that his father didn’t view him in such a way. The father viewed him as a son whom his heart longed for, and to whom belonged all of the rights and privileges of his kingdom (or domain). Once the prodigal son allowed his father to love him and receive him, he immediately stepped back into sonship and began to walk in his inheritance.

The next topic covered at the conference was the “Orphan Heart” by Pastor Larry on Saturday morning. The word orphan by definition describes one who is “bereaved or lonely, or one deprived of parents by either death or desertion.” The orphan heart is one that is disconnected from acceptance, love, and security by reason of damage and rejection by authority. The orphan heart is a pandemic in the Body of Christ these days. We are like the fatherless generation in Malachi 4 who is under the curse of orphan hood. We are like those mentioned in Romans 8:15 who are subject to a spirit of bondage. That word bondage is defined in the Greek as “a state of a man which prevents him from enjoying his inheritance.” Christians are walking in a state of bondage that prevents them from enjoying what is rightfully theirs through Christ. They do not understand that they’ve been adopted into God’s family. That word adopted literally means “to be placed or seated as a son.” Slaves do not have an inheritance; only sons have an inheritance. The enemy of our soul works so very hard to make sure that we operate as spiritual slaves our entire lives so that we will perpetuate the orphan heart. What does the orphan heart look like? Let’s take a look.

The orphan heart is one in which there is great emotional pain and a loss of belonging. It is a heart that is created through wounding and abandonment by authority figures. The person with the orphan heart will:

1. Struggle with authority
2. See God as only a harsh taskmaster
3. Be relationally-challenged and only experience very shallow relationships
4. Build walls to protect themselves
5. Not do well with intimacy
6. Become self-reliant, not needing anybody else
7. Become self-improvement addicts
8. View submission as manipulation
9. Be fiercely independent
10. Strive to be loved and accepted
11. Work themselves to the bone trying to find acceptance from others
12. Never feel satisfied or be able to “do” enough

The orphan heart is perpetuated generationally through abandonment, fear, and loss. It can be passed down from your family line all the way to you. The orphan heart will never allow you to rest. It will never allow you to feel loved or accepted.  It will prevent you from understanding your true identity and from walking in your destiny. It will hinder you from possessing your inheritance. That’s why God is trying so desperately to heal us in this hour of the orphan heart. An orphan heart cannot be cast out or delivered. It can only be re-positioned through adoption. Through understanding that we are adopted and that we have a place at the Father’s table, our hearts can turn TOWARD the Father and we can begin to function as sons. This is where we find our inheritance. Our inheritance as sons is to possess the earth and have dominion. It is not about getting gold, silver, wood, hay, and stubble as much as it is about possession, advancement, occupation, and reigning and ruling with Christ. God is looking for sons and daughters in this hour. He doesn’t need slaves.

The good news is that you can be healed of the orphan heart and possess your inheritance. Many in our conference this weekend were healed of the orphan heart, and we expect to see many this year possessing their spiritual inheritance!

Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”

We are living in a time when our nation needs change.  Not just any change, but the type of change that can only come through mature sons and daughters.  And in a time when our land is crying out for the revealing  of the sons of God (ver. 19), can any true sons and daughters be found in the kingdom of God?  We have plenty of babes and more than our fair share of spiritual adolescents, but are there any mature ones?  Are there those who know the secrets of the kingdom, possess the power of heaven, and know how to release the manifested glory of God that brings change?  The kingdom of God is the only thing that is going to effect change in our culture, and understanding and walking in the kingdom of God as mature sons is the first step.

Maturity is something that every believer must attain to in their Christian walk.  Even Jesus went through 3 stages of spiritual development in His walk.

1. He was first a babe (Luke 2:12).  Jesus came to this earth in the form of a man, but He had to begin His journey as a babe.  The word “babe” in Luke 2:12 is translated “newborn.”  It is defined as “needing to feed and nourish someone frequently.”  It’s spiritual connotation refers to newly born again believers.  Each one of us has to be born into the kingdom of God through a spiritual rebirth (John 3).  Many in this world today are becoming born again Christians, but these individuals need the type of around the clock nurturing, nourishment, and care that can only come through mothers and fathers in the faith.  We need more mothers and fathers in the faith that know how to care for these babes.
2. Then he was a child (Luke 2:40).  The word child here means “half grown boy or girl.”  The spiritual connotation refers to immature Christians.  How many immature Christians do we have in the Body of Christ today?  Everywhere we turn, we see immaturity.  We even see entire church systems in America built to facilitate spiritual immaturity.  Churches spend countless millions of dollars building the best Sunday entertainment venues in the world, the best rock and roll worship shows, the biggest and best children’s and youth ministries, and countless other outlets to keep the Saints entertained, busy, pre-occupied with themselves, and feeling good.  Is this not immaturity?  Is this not feeding half grown boys and girls the milk of the word instead of teaching them to grow up so they can receive the meat of the word?  When everything in Christendom centered on you and your needs being met so that you can feel good and have your ears tickled, are you not an immature believer?  And that’s ok to an extent.  Even Jesus was a child at one point, but the Bible says that He grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom…”  Church, it’s time for you to grow up!  It’s time for you to take off your diapers and put your big boy and big girl pants on.  It’s time for you to learn that the kingdom is not about you.  The kingdom is about God, and releasing His glory, His power, and His love to the world.  The kingdom doesn’t center on man; it centers on God.  It’s a realm where He is King, and He’s at the center.  Saints, you get to surround the throne, but you don’t get to sit on the throne.
3. Then He became a mature son (Isaiah 9:6-7).  The Bible says that even before Jesus was born, He was a son.  It says that the government would be upon His shoulder.  The word government is defined as “prevailing princely power.”  It is a word that represents maturity and sonship.  The increase of God’s government rests upon the shoulders of mature sons and daughters.  Those who are mature know how to carry His government in the earth.  They know how to access the heavenlies and legislate into the earth realm.  They know how to execute His judicial decrees and release His order in such a way that it brings His manifested power and glory to earth.  They know how to shift things in the natural realm by walking in a place of maturity in the spiritual realm.  They have, by reason of use, learned how to exercise their senses in discerning both good and evil (Hebrews 5:14).  Mature sons can cut and divide between what’s spiritual and what’s fleshly.  They can discern light from darkness.  They can cut and divide the Word of God, and they can wield the the weapons of warfare effectively to bring about victory in every arena of culture.  Jesus was able to do the miracles He did, effect the change that He brought, and change the world in which He lived because He was a mature son.  “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey[ed] Him.” (Hebrews 5:9) 

In Wrapping up, Here are 5 Quick Points about Spiritual Sonship:

1. We’re all on the road to spiritual sonship.  None of us have fully arrived.
2. One mark of walking in spiritual sonship is being able to receive reproof, correction, and rebuke from spiritual fathers and mothers in the faith without being offended.
3. We need the help of the Holy Spirit in order to become mature sons and daughters in the faith (Romans 8:15-17).  This is something that you can’t do on your own.  You need God’s help.
4. Going through spiritual suffering is a part of becoming a mature son, but don’t get caught up in the sufferings.  Keep your eye on the glory that shall be revealed in you through Christ (Romans 8:18).  We will all experience suffering, but the weight of glory that is being developed in our lives far outweighs the challenges we must go through.
5. Spiritual sonship says, “God, no matter whether you do what I want You to do in my life, heal me or don’t heal me, deliver me or don’t deliver me, I trust in You.  I trust in You till the death.”  Sonship starts when trust begins.  No matter what happens in your life, you acknowledge that He is Master, that you love Him unconditionally just as He loves you unconditionally, and you make your choice to continually walk together with Him.