THE GREAT TRANSFER OF WEALTH

The Great Transfer of Wealth

Are You Ready?

by C. Peter Wagner

 Since somewhere around 1992, recognized prophets have been hearing that God is poised to release unprecedented amounts of wealth for the expansion of His kingdom. You have probably heard some of these prophecies. They have come from many different directions over the years. It is one of those words that seems to have been widely tested and affirmed.  In this case we're not looking at just one prophet or at what might be considered an outburst of flaky prophecy. Although I may be wrong, it seems to me that the great transfer of wealth is an authentic revelation from God.  When this happens, my understanding is that the funding we have had up to now for the expansion of the kingdom of God will look like pocket change. Many churches and ministries currently experience an annual cash flow in the low millions. A few have reached into the tens of millions, and some giants may surpass 100 million. It seems, however, that the wealth about to be released is considerably greater than this. I wouldn't be surprised if we see figures up to the billions. One friend of mine who specializes in philanthropy has even hinted that the numbers might be larger.

Why Is God Waiting?

 I am writing this in 2004. These prophecies have now been with us for 12 years. Assuming that the prophets are accurate and that God has truly told us what He is up to, the question then becomes: Why hasn't this transfer of wealth happened up to now?  I think that timing has entered the picture here. As I attempt to discern what the timing factors could be, I come up with two. The first relates to government and the second to management.

Government

First, it would seem reasonable that God would entrust the body of Christ with this wealth only after the biblical government of the church had come into place. As I have said repeatedly in Global Prayer News, the biblical government of the church has been coming into place with the recognition of the gift and office of prophet in the 1980s and the gift and office of apostle in the 1990s. I believe that the Second Apostolic Age actually began in 2001. If I am correct, we are one step closer to seeing the wealth released.

Management

We now need to take the second step, which I feel would be a public recognition of apostles in the workplace. The people of God in the workplace are as much the true church during the week as they are on Sundays when they gather to worship. If so, the church in the workplace is founded on apostles and prophets.  Let me show you how this relates to what I mentioned above as the issue of management.

The Four Links

I can picture four links in the chain of the great transfer of wealth.  The four necessary links in the chain of transference of wealth are: providers, managers, distributors, and field marshals. The goal of the process is to get funds from the providers to the .. field marshals. The providers have the funds under their control. It doesn't really matter whether they are Christians or non-Christians. The Israelites, for example, were financed by the wealth of the pagan Egyptians. The managers have the skills to handle large sums of money so that, rather than go down a black hole, it generates a steady cash flow for the kingdom of God. The distributors are networked with the field marshals, to whom they transmit the funds. The field marshals direct the work on the front lines to evangelize, plant churches, care for the poor and needy, and transform society.  I believe that the providers and the field marshals are already largely in place. God would not promise the money through the prophets if He did not know that it was available and who controlled it. And around the world we already have identified large numbers of skilled, experienced, trustworthy field marshals who know how to use money wisely in extending the kingdom of God. Those are the first and last links in the chain.  We are weak, however, in the middle two links, managers and distributors. The managers would undoubtedly be drawn from workplace apostles. These are individuals who, unlike most nuclear church apostles, have professional skills in handling large sums of money in the marketplace. But while extended church apostles may know how to manage the money, most have limited knowledge of how to spend it. This is where the distributors come in, mostly, it seems to me, nuclear church apostles. They are the ones with the broad relationships to the field marshals who can most effectively use the funds for the glory of God.

"If—Then"

Having said this, I need to add a caveat. Please do not assume that there is an automatic cause and effect relationship between having this chain in place and the transformation of society. It will only function as it should if God's people are willing to obey. Instead of a simple "cause-- effect," let's admit that there is also an underlying "if— then:" "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).  God literally wants His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. He is poised to release unprecedented resources to make this happen. We in Global Harvest Ministries are praying that it will happen soon, and we hope that we are prepared for any role that God has for us in this exciting new season.

(Used by permission)