Bishop Wayne Malcom preaches on tribal identity and kingdom entrepreneurship at Rivers Apostolic Centre
Bishop Wayne Malcom visits Rivers Apostolic Centre in Australia for the first time, preaching on the concept of "kingdom tribes" drawn from James 1:1 and the book of Numbers.
Summary
Bishop Wayne Malcom, introduced as the "business bishop," delivers his first sermon in Australia at Rivers Apostolic Centre, hosted by Apostle Rory and Apostle Suzette. He opens with an extended exploration of entrepreneurship as a biblical concept rooted in Genesis 1, arguing that God first revealed himself as a creator of value for others and that Jesus was raised in an entrepreneurial household. The central argument of the sermon is that the body of Christ has been organised around houses (local churches) when it needs to be organised around tribes — and that only tribes, not houses, can take territory. Drawing on the census in Numbers and the tribal positioning around the tabernacle, Bishop Malcom argues that scattered tribal identity is the root cause of Christian communities having large numbers of churches but little cultural or economic impact. He closes with a call for kingdom entrepreneurs to come forward for prayer and impartation, declaring a new chapter in their economic trajectories.
Key Takeaways
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Communion Service — Opening Reflection
Aaron Salisbury: In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on the throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is filled with his glory.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. In the year that King Uzziah died. Uzziah represents the flesh, what we can do for ourselves. We can read about him in Chronicles — all his achievements, all his greatness, and he did well. But it was the year that King Flesh died that Isaiah says, "I saw the Lord." We see him at the same time as our fleshly expectations and what we think we can do of ourselves to impress God. Do all you can, be all you can — but it's not going to cut it when it comes to the presence of the Lord. It ain't going to cut it.
The angels are around the throne 24/7 and they're singing, holy, holy, holy. Imagine that. They're in the throne room. And they're seeing all the different aspects of God, all the different attributes of God — his wisdom, his all-powerfulness, his omnipresence. And there's only one way to wrap it up. All the attributes of God, there's only one way to wrap it up, and it's to go, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And we've been singing that today.
You see, when God — it says that there is no variableness, there's no shadow in his turning. Because there's no light brighter than he is for him to cast a shadow. He's the it. He's the everything. He's the all. He's the Holy One. And so as we sing holy to the Lord today — holy is the Lord — we stand amazed in his holy presence. And yet this one, who is the only one worthy to offer a sacrifice, becomes the sacrifice. Because there was nobody else worthy to do it. There was nobody else worthy to bring something to God but himself. And so he brings himself. The offerer becomes the offering, and we enter in through that amazing sacrifice into the holiness of his presence. And he looks at you and he thinks you're pretty good. It'd have to be God. Hallelujah.
So we come to the table. We come to the table of mercy. We come to the table where this holy God — the audacity, if you will, the audacity of God to send his Son so that you could enter into that sacrifice, the holiness of God. And we see before us bread and wine. Pretty simple — the most powerful feast on the planet. Jesus, our sacrifice. The Holy One. God himself. Manifest in the flesh. Sacrificing himself for us because nobody else was worthy. And that's our story today. That's our gratitude today. As we come to take bread and wine today, we stand amazed at the holiness and at the sacrifice, and that it embraced us into the kingdom.
Great is our God and most worthy to be praised. There is none like you in the heavens above or the earth beneath. But you sent your Son — the one who was in the beginning, who always was, through whom the worlds were created. The only one worthy to offer a sacrifice himself became the sacrifice. Lord, what can we say? Holy. Worthy. Holy is the Lamb.
Father, as we come today, we come with extravagant gratitude for an extravagant feast that only you could have thought of. Touch our hearts, Lord. We thank you for the cleansing of the blood, the healing of the bread. And we come by faith to say, thank you, Lord. And we enter into the covenant that he created. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Communion and Prayer for Healing
Aaron Salisbury: So I'm going to invite you to come. We're going to break the bread. And if you would today, because there's some extra folks here, just go around the table so that you can partake from both sides of the table to expedite things today.
Please come, for the feast is ready. Please come. Partake. Just take the bread and the wine.
So grateful, Lord. We are so grateful. You know, in this bread and wine there's healing. Every curse is broken — the curse of sickness, the curse of sin, the curse of poverty — it's smashed in this. What you're taking on now, you are taking into yourself the substance of the fullness of what God intended for you. What a good thing. Thank you, Jesus.
We're just going to take a moment. Are there any sick among us? Could I see your hand if you need prayer today? We've got a couple in the middle here. Would somebody please move to them and pray over them at this time of communion? By the faith that this represents. Anybody, anyone over this side, just turn around, have a look. If somebody is needing prayer, let's not just skip it by for healing today. It's in this moment of communion — common union, communion. Praise God. Hallelujah.
Father, we just release the benefits of communion into people's lives today, that they might go out of this house healed and whole. Just let your healing power permeate this place, Lord. In the name of Jesus, we give you all the praise. Thank you, Lord. Lay hold of it, guys. Lay hold of it. Thank you, Jesus.
Announcements — Missions Sending and Engagement Celebration
Aaron Salisbury: Well, welcome to church today. Are you glad you came? I'm glad you came. And very soon we're going to introduce the bishop to you, but we're just holding that one. But you can give him that round of applause just for being here.
Meanwhile, we just have a couple of things before we take up offering. Deb, we want to pray for you. Come, Deb. Come on, Debbie. Debbie's going to Cambodia on missions outreach. For those of you who are visiting in the house today, we are mission-centric. And so almost every Sunday we're sending somebody somewhere for something, just to keep the ball rolling. But Debbie, you're off to Cambodia. What are you going to do?
Debbie: Well, we're going to the capital city, and we're going to be going to hospitals, the Bullock district, ministering to the areas in there, the homeless, everywhere that God sends us.
Aaron Salisbury: Everywhere God sends you. That sounds good. Just reach out your hand. We're going to pray for Deb as she goes. How long are you away for, Deb?
Debbie: Eight days.
Aaron Salisbury: You're going to have to heal them quick, love. We've got eight days to do this, right? Get in there. Father, we thank you for Deb. We bless her as she goes. We pray that you would go before her as well as go with her. That you would send your angels to guard her — left, right, front, back — that she would be resting in your perfect will. We cover her with safety, Lord, with health and with strength. And we pray that the anointing that you have given her — gather up, Deb, the anointing that is within the house, gather it all up, the anointing that abides within you — and take it with you and come back with stories that blow our doors off because of the glory of God. In Jesus' name. Amen.
If anybody wants to give a gift to Deb to buy a cup of coffee while she's in Cambodia, you're allowed to do that.
And one other announcement that we have today. We have an engagement in the house. So Levi's there clapping himself. Levi and Brie, come on up. Awesome. Congratulations. That is amazing. We are very excited about that. I'm wondering if Wendy and Aaron, if you would come — I'm going to ask them to pray a blessing over these guys.
Wendy: Let's bow our heads together. Lord, this is a wonderful day, Lord, a day of celebration. Lord, we come together, Lord, we unite our hearts, Lord, and we say thank you, Lord Jesus, for bringing these wonderful two together. We thank you for bringing Levi and Brie together. Lord, we thank you for the blessing of holy matrimony. Lord, it's holy because you are in the center of it. Lord, we thank you that both Levi and Brie love you so much, Lord. You are the center of their relationship. So, Lord, we celebrate. We say yes, Lord. Amen. We bless them, Lord. We speak the favor of God upon their relationship. Keep them, Lord. Unite them. Build them stronger and stronger together. Lord, we thank you. Let every need be provided for, Lord. We thank you for all the bookings, all the arrangements, all the food, all the people, everything — the vehicles. Bring it all together for their big day, Lord, in the name of Jesus. We thank you, Lord. It's going to be wonderful. It's going to be amazing. And, Lord, we give you all the praise and all the glory. Hallelujah. Amen.
Aaron Salisbury: Yeah, give it up for these guys. Well done, guys. Well done. So good. Bless you both.
You know, I've got to tell you a little secret about Levi. You all watched the footy on Wednesday night, right? And you saw who won. Well, everybody else, all the other young people at our place, they're all watching the footy and they're screaming and they're yelling and whatnot. Levi says to me, can we just go somewhere and talk about the word? He's my boy. How good was that? So beautiful.
Big congratulations as well to the parents, to the grandparents, to the best ladies, to the best men, to everybody as well. Super exciting as Levi and Brie prepare to cut covenant with one another. We are amped about that. So exciting. And yes, go the Queenslanders.
Welcome to everybody who is visiting with us today. It's so good to have everybody here. We've had an awesome weekend already in the Lord and the Lord's done amazing things in the house. Let's give a hand to the worship team. They did an awesome work of leading us into the presence of the Lord this morning. So good. Please feel free to visit with us and have a cuppa after the service. We'd love to get to know you a little bit better. Tea and coffee at the back. There's sanctuary time at the front here for prayer. But if you need to head out and have a cuppa there, then please feel very welcome to do that.
Prayer for Wisdom in Finances — Reflection on Solomon
Aaron Salisbury: Well, I've been, interestingly, in the book of Kings, and it's so profound — the phenomenal wealth that God endowed to Solomon. Mind-blowing. I would suggest that you go and read it and see what the Lord is able to do to and with one person.
But in the book of 1 Kings 3, it speaks about Solomon just as he's become king. He had to contend a bit to become king. He heads to a place, and there he is, and he has a dream. I found this very fascinating that he had a dream with this, because we know that all things come from God and all things belong to him. So even the request in his dream is birthed from God. And God says to him in the dream, what is it that you would like? Ask me, what is it that you would like? And he says, I would like discernment to be able to govern the people, because there were multitudes of people, and discernment to be able to decide and see the difference between good and evil. So he's asking for discernment in that dream in two areas — governance, and the discernment between good and evil, to be able to weigh which way to go.
And I felt very strongly this morning for us as the kingdom people in Australia that this was a very important prayer for us to be praying. That we would have the discernment to know how to govern ourselves, our finances, and the kingdom finances in this nation. And at the same time, that we would have the discernment to be able to decide between good and evil. We need wisdom around our finances. And although not many of us would be called to rule a nation or to be a king, we all have the responsibility under God to steward ourselves and to steward what he gives into our hand and what he calls us to oversee.
This is a time for discernment. This is a time for wise governance. It's a time for discerning between what is good and what is evil. As different things come to us, and a few shocks from our government with regards to taxation, I want to encourage us as a people to remember the exact thing that Apostle Rory said this morning — that God does not change. He does not shift like the shadows. He does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And he is still our mighty provider. And as we go low in him, he then gives us the ability to gain wealth and also to be able to know what to do with that wealth.
So this morning, as we consider our tithes, our offerings, and our missions giving, I want us to be thinking about what Solomon asked for. He did not ask for wealth. He did not ask for other things. But he asked for this discernment.
So let's stand together and in our community, we come forward to bring our tithes, our offerings to the Lord and our missions giving. But before we do that, I'm going to ask Andrew Zimmerman, who's part of our leadership team here, to come. Andrew is in the business of accountancy and taxation, is in the midst of this season and has not known a season like this where things have shifted so dramatically with a change and a proclamation from government. But I want to encourage us as community that of the government of his peace, there is no end. Amen? But I want to ask Andrew to come and pray a blessing over the finances in this body, in each pocket, and in each family.
Andrew Zimmerman: Just wondering if you could put your hands out. There's a principle that what's in our heart will manifest in our hand. And just as Wendy has said, we are coming into an unprecedented time. And this is not the time to sit on our hands. This is not a time for us to bury our gift. This is a time to say, Lord, here am I.
So, Father, today we stand on behalf of our nation with our hands out to say, Lord, here am I. Send me. Lord, for those of us who are called, appointed, and anointed in the business realms, we thank you for the wisdom to govern finances and wealth well. Father, I'm asking for an increase for the body of Christ in the area of finances. Father, that we would see a doubling, a tripling, a quadrupling, a 5x, a 10x, a 100x, Lord, on business, on ideas. Father, that there would be food in your house, that there would be seed in the storehouse. Lord, that missions will go out from Australia and New Zealand in the next ten years like never before. And we pray, Lord, we see the day where intercessors are on full-time wages all across this land, where worshipers are on full-time, nighttime watches being paid excellent money. Lord, we just call in wages for missionaries and prayers and worshipers. So, Father, we thank you for Jesus. And we put our hands out today and say, Lord, increase what's in our hand and bless your people in Jesus' name. Amen.
Aaron Salisbury: Well, come on forward. If you're visiting with us today, you're welcome to bring an offering, but please put your tithe in your storehouse. And you're welcome to contribute to missions as well as we send people all over the world to see his kingdom come.
Introduction of Bishop Wayne Malcom
Aaron Salisbury: Well, welcome everyone again. Wendy has welcomed you to the church. We just want to reiterate that. It's so lovely to have you with us today. And it's my awesome duty to welcome Bishop Wayne Malcom to our platform. So as he comes, would you please give it up for him? Stand, welcome him. Give him a good Aussie welcome.
And because Suzette knows him much better than I do, she is going to tell you a little bit about him and introduce him more fully. And she's also going to talk about the conference that we'll be on later this week. So, Suzette?
Apostle Suzette: Thank you, Apostle Rory. So good to be here. And I just want to say that this is a firstfruits for Rivers. First time the bishop's in Australia. First time he's speaking. And if I can say this, we sowed him as firstfruits into the house. Because we're all seed. Amen. We're all seed. So it's been an honour. I've been mentored by the bishop for about the last almost two years. My daughter Danielle has joined us as well. And it has been absolutely life-changing, transformative. My brain has stretched, my spirit has grown, and my circumstances are changing. And it's just been the most amazing journey. Hasn't always been easy, because pulling down what you've always believed is never easy. But he's expert at pulling down strongholds.
So just a little bit of background. The bishop was saved at 15. First sermon preached at 17, pastoring at 21. So he's pastored churches. He's travelled the world preaching. There's been huge crusades. He's pulled churches together to transform communities. There's a whole rich history there. But for the time being, he's known as the business bishop. And it really is a pioneering voice. He might be named bishop, but it's apostolic in total endeavour. And it's in the field of biblical economics and economic theology. What he does is he equips entrepreneurs. But look, not just entrepreneurs. Ministry people need this. Husbands and wives need this. Young people need this. Because the world is changing so much and so quickly. The goalposts are moving. The rules are changing. And if we don't get to the forefront, then we lose. Because God's kingdom should be at the forefront. God's kingdom is to be innovative. God's kingdom is to be pushing the boundaries. God's kingdom is to show the way. And Bishop Wayne is a thought leader. He's a pioneer in this movement.
For three decades, he's worked at the intersection of theology, strategy, and marketplace leadership. And really, we need this. Let me just say, the body of Christ in this nation is at a tipping point. And we're either going to step into kingdom and be transformational to our nation and bring biblical economic redemption to our nation, or we are going to lose it. Generations are at stake. The young ones growing up, the children, the teenagers. For the sake of the oppressed in our nation, this is a time for us to move. And God has sent Bishop here. And it is a God-sent thing. And I so appreciate you coming, and the hours that it took.
So if you want to be part of a revolution — and I'm using that as a kingdom revolution — if you want to be a part of this, Bishop is holding a conference, a summit next Saturday on the Gold Coast. So if you're interested in coming, it's up on the screen. My daughter Danielle in the front, if anybody wants to register, Jason can help put people in the right direction. But truly, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us as a nation. We're teetering. And I don't want to leave it too late. We've got to step in now. So this is a call of God to every believer — step up, step in, and step out. Thank you, Bishop.
Bishop Wayne Malcom — Opening Remarks and Gratitude
Bishop Wayne Malcom: God bless you. And you may be seated in heavenly places.
I want to seize this opportunity to celebrate and honor the amazing and outstanding gift of leadership that God has blessed not only this house and this region with, but our very generation with. I think that Apostle Rory is a gift from God. And we celebrate you. We cherish you. And we love you so very much. It is my first time meeting Apostle in person. And she is just lovely. You have to love her. She's just absolutely such a blessing. She is so full of energy and life. And as I was speaking to both her and Dave, Dave said, well, we thought about retiring, so we just put on some new tires and kept going. I just think you're absolutely amazing. And we celebrate you. Thank God for your life, your leadership, and your amazing legacy.
I am so grateful for the covenant connection that we have found with Apostle Suzette, who came into our program almost two years ago. And she is not a hearer of the word. She's a doer. And there are a lot of people who are seminar junkies, right? They just love listening. They love hearing. They love getting new information. Ask them what it was about the next day, and they're like, it was good. It was really good. Well, what did he talk about? Business. She's not like that. She just takes the notes. She prayerfully considers how can we implement this and make a change. And the evidence and the fruit is so manifest in her life. And I am here because of her faith. And I want you to help me celebrate Apostle Suzette and Danielle.
And of course, I've made friends along the way. Me and Jason go back a little way. And he's meeting me for the first time, so he knows that I'm not AI — I'm real. And I now know that he's real. And so we've just had a great time.
Can I just celebrate the worship team and just the culture of the kingdom that is so obvious in this house? You are such a blessing. And literally, the presence of God — I sense the manifest presence of God quite early. Like when I'm getting out of the car. This is it. God's here. And that is a testament to your conviction, your faith, your hunger for God. It just feels like home from home. And you've all made me feel very welcome.
And I cannot believe that I'm wearing the same shirt that I was — I looked and I said, no way. Because they're going to think he only has one shirt. But it just turned out that way. And strangely, I needed a case for my iPad, right? And a green one turned up that I ordered from Amazon. Look at me. I mean, I know what it looks like. Just, it's not always what it looks like.
So I think we're going to have some fun today. Are you ready to have some fun today? All right. I want you to look at your neighbor and say to your neighbor, let's have some fun today. And I should warn you that I say a lot, and I say it very fast. So my advice is that you get whatever audio recording exists, right, and video, and go back over it. And my deep condolences to anyone who tries to take notes, because you're going to struggle to read your own stuff.
I've got a lot to say, but I'm going to make to you the same promise and pledge that King Henry VIII made to his many wives when he said, I will not keep you too long. No, honestly, I assure you, my preaching is never as long as it seems. I'm just checking your humor quotient. It's very important. No, we're going to say some things that are deep. And in some cases, we understand more in the morning when we wake up than we do in the moment, because the Word of the Lord just starts unfolding and starts unpacking and starts connecting with your own experiences and with the things that you know, and you begin to see, ah, this is what the Lord was saying to me.
The Business Bishop — Entrepreneurship as a Biblical Calling
Bishop Wayne Malcom: So we're going to have some fun today, and I want to kick off. I'm going to be reading from James 1, verse 1. But before we do, let me explain the business bishop piece. Because I didn't come up with that, by the way. I was introduced as that at a conference. A friend of mine had me preach, and he said, I'm pleased to present our friend, the business bishop. I like that. And of course, by that time I had developed somewhat of a reputation for supporting and blessing entrepreneurs. God gave me a very deep love and admiration and extraordinary respect for entrepreneurs very early on in my life. I've always admired the courage, the character, the resilience, the determination, the bounce-back ability of people who go on to build businesses. And so business systems became a passion of mine.
Of course, my first passion is the Bible, the Word of God, and the Lordship of Jesus and the kingdom. And so I had these two passions. And I used to keep them separate. I used to think, well, this is me with my Bible study, and this is me with my business study. Until I began to find a lot of business in the Bible. And I began to find a lot of Bible in the business. And instead of separating that, I began to explore the Word of God, perhaps through a new set of spectacles. And it surprised me how little there was in the Christian bookstores about this, and how little there was speaking to the entrepreneurs in the body of Christ. It was surprising to me at first. And I thought, I'm going to have to go to specific passages that give wisdom to business leaders, commercial leaders. I thought it's all going to be in Proverbs. And I found it as early as Genesis 1.
And by the way, I never preach a long sermon. It is my introduction that takes all the time. So just bear with me through the introduction.
In Genesis 1, we are introduced to God. And God introduces himself to us wearing very particular clothes. They're work clothes. He's working. In the beginning, God created. And I see in Genesis 1 God making things for us. Just think about it. He doesn't make the sun, the moon, and the stars because he's having trouble seeing anything. He doesn't cause the dry land to appear because he can't swim. He's not populating the earth with vegetation, animals, the sea with fish, and the air with fowl for himself. He's doing it all for us. So he introduces himself as the ultimate creator of value for us. He is creating resources for us, opportunities for us, and an environment in which we can survive and thrive. And that's how he introduces himself.
Then he says, let us make man in our image after our likeness. So the creator is now creating other creators. And he is basically saying, look, you are no more like me than when you are creating things for other people. Because that's how you first met me. You were the beneficiary of a world I made for you. And entrepreneurs basically create value for others. So don't think of the entrepreneur as the suit guy and the office and the pen. No. An entrepreneur is simply someone that does unto others what they would have done unto themselves fundamentally, and says, I have a skill set, a gift set that could serve you well, that could make life easier and better for you, that can improve your chances and your opportunities. And so I'm going to use my gift in service to you. And we are no more like God than when we are creating solutions and value and resources for other people.
Now I saw this in Genesis 1, so it wasn't a surprise to me that down the road, Jesus is born into an entrepreneurial family. Jesus is born into an entrepreneurial household. Joseph is not just a carpenter. He's the carpenter. Is not this the carpenter's son? What does it mean, the carpenter? He's the main guy. He's the biggest company in carpentry. And I know we think of carpenters as people that make tables and chairs, but the entire infrastructure of the ancient world depended on the craft of a carpenter. There were no houses without carpenters. There were no boats without carpenters. There were no tools for farming without carpenters. There was no military without carpenters. The entire infrastructure of the ancient world relied on carpenters. And to make it even more significant, the word translated carpenter effectively means a smith — therefore he possibly dealt with iron, he possibly dealt with everything else. He's a craftsman. And he's such a master craftsman that everyone knows him.
So Jesus grows up watching people making orders, watching Joseph taking money, doing the invoices. He grows up in this entrepreneurial family, in this entrepreneurial environment. And we know Joseph was good. How do we know he was good? Because he had to pay taxes. He couldn't escape. He had to pay taxes. So he must have been good, because if he wasn't good they'd leave him alone.
Is it a surprise that when Jesus said, I'm going to build an ecclesia, I'm going to build my church, he doesn't go to the synagogue looking for recruits? He goes to the marketplace and he recruits entrepreneurs. Because there is an innate discipline and an attitude and a culture that you develop when you commit to creating value for others. And when your life and your own livelihood depends on the quality of the value you create for others, you have a certain psyche. And God says, that's the psychology that I want to use. Is this making sense?
Now I said all that to say this, and don't worry, my introduction's almost done. There will be a wealth transfer. There must be a wealth transfer. Proverbs 13:22 says a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. That cannot be speaking of heaven. Please, please, please — don't let's get to heaven and all the sinner's wealth is all up there. No. That's something that's supposed to happen on earth. And it has to happen, because nothing will change in society, nothing will change in Australia, until the right people have the resources to do the right things.
You want to ask what's wrong with our country? What's wrong with our country is that bad people are rich and good people are broke. That's what's fundamentally wrong. The wrong people have all the money, the resources, the power, and the access. So the wealth transfer has to happen. But it's not going to happen by us dreaming about it, singing about it, and proclaiming it. Let me tell you how it's going to happen. It's not going to happen by the rich suddenly becoming benevolent and thinking, huh, why don't I just give a couple million to the church? It's definitely not going to happen by the government suddenly becoming benevolent and saying, oh, why don't we just bless these believers with millions? No. It's going to happen the way it always has happened. It's going to happen through enterprise. It's going to happen through entrepreneurship.
And if it's going to happen that way, then God is going to use some entrepreneurs to become stewards of the wealth transfer and custodians of the wealth transfer. And it's important that kingdom houses get behind these people. Because even if you're not one of them, you can be part of the team. It's important that we get behind them. And it is unfortunate that that segment in the body of Christ is sometimes the most undervalued, underrated, underrecognized, underutilized segment in the whole body of Christ. Isn't that amazing?
Now, it's not here, because you're a kingdom house. But in some places, you know what the entrepreneurs get? A day once a year. We have an entrepreneurs' day and celebrate the entrepreneurs among us. In some cases they get a week. And in most cases they don't even get mentioned. And you know what's ironic about that? There would be no church buildings without the entrepreneurs. There'd be no Christian schools, no hospitals, no mission programs. I serve on boards with some large NGOs, and we talk about the fact that, how does the funding work? Some of these NGOs, hundreds of millions in a year. But where does it come from? Fundamentally, about 80% of their revenue comes from high-net donors, and 20% comes from the gifts that we regularly make. Without high-net donors, do you think there would be any megachurches in America? Do you think there would be any megachurches in Australia, in the UK? Do you think that Christians would have schools and hospitals? Without high-net donors, it's not going to happen.
So how many of you — just raise your hand if you believe God wants you one day to become a high-net donor in the kingdom of God. Just raise your hand up to God. That's right. Because he's going to trust you to become a steward of tremendous resources. And part of my assignment is to get us ready for that. How many of you want to be ready for that?
Was my introduction okay? I never preach a long sermon. It's the introduction that takes all the time. So I best read some Bible. Should we do that?
James 1:1 — Kingdom Tribes
Bishop Wayne Malcom: So I'm going to read James 1. I'm reading from the KJV. I love the KJV. And it's not for any particularly religious reason. I happen to think that Shakespearean English represents the golden age of English language. So I am more inspired by, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world," than I am by, "Look. Over there. It's the Lamb. He's coming this way." And the real truth is that I got saved as a teenager, I loved reading the Bible, I committed it to memory, but back then it was all just King James. So I'm just too lazy to learn it all in another one.
Here's what it says. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings. I'm going to speak into our collective consciousness and prophetic destiny from the subject: Kingdom Tribes. I'm going to talk about Kingdom Tribes.
Would you slip a hand up to the Father? Pray with me. Pray for me. Pray for us. Let's ask the Holy Spirit for the mind of Christ. Hallelujah.
Sweet Holy Spirit of the living God, we are in your presence, basking in the sunlight of amazing grace. Grateful for the grace that caught our falling souls, looking beyond our faults to see our needs. Lord, today we are asking for wisdom and revelation and the mind of Christ. We're asking for an elevation in our understanding, a paradigm shift. Help us to see what we couldn't see before, to see more clearly than ever before. Help us, Lord, to walk in the light. Just be glorified and magnified in this moment, and raise up out of this house custodians of the wealth transfer and stewards of the wealth transfer. Raise up out of this house the righteous who will be rich. In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus, we have prayed, and all the people said amen.
I guess we've all seen what cities look like when the ungodly are rich. We're yet to see what a city looks like when the righteous are rich. But I can tell you it would be a different kind of city. How many believe you're going to live in that kind of city one day?
House, Tribe, and Territory — The Ancient Israelite Identity
Bishop Wayne Malcom: I want you to notice this is odd in James 1, right? He doesn't say greetings to the twelve churches. You notice that? He sends greetings to the twelve tribes that are scattered. And I guess theologians are still grappling with that. Greetings to the tribes.
Well, I think if we're to understand it, we should perhaps go back to the beginning to understand how it is that God's people were ever associated to tribes. Would that be good?
What we learn from the scriptures is that every Israelite in the ancient world had a sense of belonging. There were no lone rangers. You had a sense of belonging because every Israelite belonged to a house, a tribe, and a territory. It's like your birthright. You inherit a house, a tribe, and a territory. So much so that they identified themselves by those three. Like they didn't have surnames, okay? Like Christ is not Jesus' surname, right? They had first names. Then it was the son of — that's the house. Of the tribe of. And sometimes the name told you what tribe it was. So the ancient Israelite identified themselves as belonging to a house, a tribe, and a territory. And they grew with that consciousness, that particular sense of identity.
It gave them more than identity. It also gave them purpose and promise. Because each one of these tribes came from one of Jacob's sons, right? The sons became tribes. So if you like, a house became a house of tribes, not just a house of sons. And there's a difference between a house and a tribe. Obviously, a tribe is much bigger than a house. Sons are raised in houses to become soldiers in tribes. A son is born into a house or adopted, raised in the house to become the soldier in a tribe, because the tribe is much bigger.
Now, Jacob, when he was dying, summons his sons around his bed and prophesied over each of them distinctly, gave them a unique prophecy. But the prophecy was tribal. It wasn't personal. It was a prophecy to Joseph, but it was about Joseph's posterity. It was about the tribe that would emerge from Joseph. And you all know that Joseph effectively became two tribes — Ephraim and Manasseh. Well, there are promises made to Joseph that would be fulfilled in Ephraim and Manasseh. And their promises were made, prophecies were made, so that everyone born in that tribe inherited the promise, the prophecy. And they all possessed a unique sense of purpose.
So once I know who I am, and I know my house, and I know my tribe, I automatically inherit a sense of purpose. I'm not lost. I'm not a lone ranger. I'm not confused, because my tribe has told me who I am in God's eyes.
And here's the beautiful thing. None of those tribes were independent. They were interdependent, because none of them were complete, right? They had strengths, and they also had weaknesses. And unfortunately, a strength by definition is a weakness. Because if you're really strong in this area, it probably means that you're really weak in another. Isn't that right? And we get back to Solomon for just a moment. He asked for the wisdom to lead. He needed wisdom in a few other areas too, but he had a lot of leadership and financial wisdom. There were some other areas he wasn't so wise. This, I guess, is the complex contradictions that we have to deal with in ourselves. Like none of us is just perfectly strong. We are strong and we are weak at the same time. We're smart and we're stupid at the same time. Isn't that right?
Now, the tribes are that way. They have strength, but the strengths only matter when they complement the strength in another tribe. Because if you try to go it alone as a tribe, you lose, because the enemy takes advantage of your weakness. But because strength is evenly distributed throughout all of the tribes, if we collaborate and we connect, then we are strong. That's why in the Bible, you never have an army of Israel. You have the armies of Israel. Because the armies of Israel are made up of the strengths of each tribe.
Well, we're familiar with some of the strengths of the tribes because some of it's been preached pretty well — like the sons of Issachar. They had understanding of the times and they knew what Israel ought to do. Interestingly, Issachar and Judah had a close relationship. Why? Because Judah was a tribe whose destiny involved government, administration, and leadership. And I know about the praise, but it's government, because the earliest prophecy says the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. So they know that government, kings will come out of Judah. But kings need counsel. So Judah and Issachar would stay pretty close together. Because if you can divide these tribes, then you've lost the essence of why God has endowed each tribe with a unique set of strengths and a unique set of responsibilities and a unique assignment.
Egypt, Sinai, and the Recovery of Tribal Identity
Bishop Wayne Malcom: I want to take it a little deeper before we go there. You may know this. I didn't know this until quite recently, so if you do know it, congrats. But when God delivered Israel from Egypt, from the house of bondage, the deliverance was more than physical. Because you can physically come out of circumstances without those circumstances mentally coming out of you. So they had to be delivered not just physically from the house of bondage. They had to be delivered psychologically, and intellectually, and philosophically, and emotionally. They had to be delivered from it. Because slavery and oppression is not just a force acting on your body. It's a force acting on your mind.
And for 400 years, Israel is in a strange land that becomes very hostile and very toxic, very antagonistic towards their faith and their values. So that in that land of Egypt, before the Exodus, all they have is houses — scattered houses. They have lost tribal identity, because they just live where they live. And they are whatever the Egyptians say they are. And only because of their unique names do they have any connection to a tribe. But they're not allowed to practice tribal culture, because they are oppressed.
So now when they come out of bondage, they walk through the Red Sea. The first place God takes them is to Mount Sinai. He takes them to Mount Sinai. And at Mount Sinai, he gives them the covenant, the law. What we call the law, or the old covenant, it doesn't start in Genesis. It starts in Exodus at Mount Sinai. That's the covenant, the law. Everything before that, Jesus calls it the beginning. In the beginning, it was not so. Moses said, but in the beginning. That's before Moses. Is this making sense?
So watch this. At Mount Sinai, God gives them covenant, gives them the law. And when you watch the movies, you would think, well, they got the law. Then they did the golden calf while Moses was getting the law. And then they got corrected, and everything was hunky-dory, and then they moved on to go to the promised land. But that's not exactly how it happened. What happened was God gave them the law. Yes, the golden calf happened. And that situation got squashed. But they didn't leave Sinai, because God had to give them something else. Are you all ready for it?
God gave the blueprint and the instructions for the tabernacle. And this was all happening at Mount Sinai. So now we have law. We now have the tabernacle. Why do we need the tabernacle? Because the tabernacle is the house of God. The tabernacle is where the Ark of the Covenant would be, which is the throne of God to Israel. And the tabernacle had to be built because the tabernacle would be the center. The presence of God would be the center of the movement. See, if the movement has no center, then you just have a lot of houses moving in their own direction. We cannot move together unless there is a center. So God says, let them make me a sanctuary so I can live among them. I want to live among them. I want to live in the midst of them. But here's what it literally translates: I want to be at the center of the camp.
See, the presence of God has to be the center. We're not really ready to move from slavery to mastery just because we got out of slavery. We have to have covenant with Christ at the center. So even though the journey's ahead, we're not going anywhere yet until we establish the center of the movement.
And what we learn is that Moses, you're not the center. Moses, you're not the center. You might be a leader, but you're not the center of the movement. Because I'm going to take this family and I'm going to make it a nation. And if the family's going to become a nation, then it needs a center that doesn't die. He said, Moses, you're not going to be the center of the movement. My presence is going to be the center of the movement. This is not going to be a movement built around personalities. It's going to be a movement built around presence.
This is why we struggle today at the shaking of personalities. A lot of what we've built in the last century was built on personalities. And the body of Christ always got shaken. If a personality transitioned, passed away, or if a personality was exposed or toppled or something went wrong with a personality, it would destabilize the body of Christ. But God never wanted the movement to be built around a personality. He wanted it to be built around presence. Everybody say, I'm following the presence.
So we got the law. Now we've got the presence. Surely we're ready to move. No. There's one more thing we have to do.
The book of Numbers, which most people don't know, happened at Sinai before they moved. But if you doubt me, just read the opening verses. Because it will tell you that in the year after, in the first month, and then in the second month. So Numbers happens after the tabernacle is set up. The tabernacle is built. It took nine months to build. Because it's a type of Christ, who is the Word made flesh and tabernacled among us. It took nine months to build. But it was set up in that one month.
Now we have the center. The second thing they had to do, the second month, was to conduct a census and number the people. Well, that's weird. Because I'm sure there's another verse in the Bible that said you're not supposed to number the people. But God says, Moses, I want you to conduct a census of everyone. Well, not everyone. The fighting men. Men over 20 who are of fighting age. Now, I'm preaching about a time that was very gender specific. But the application is not gender specific. So calm down. Men of fighting age. I want you to conduct a census. I want you to get their names. Why are we going to get their names? We need to get their names because their names are going to tell us where they came from. Because they've lost their tribal identity when they were slaves in Egypt. And if they're going to move forward, they're going to have to recover a sense of who they are, what promises they possess, what purpose they hold. They're going to have to reimagine themselves.
So this wasn't a census in order to give Moses confidence about how big his army was. No, because Moses never relied on the size of his army. But he says, we need to know who are the Reubenites, who are the Simeonites. We need to know who are the Levites, and we need to know who's of Judah. We need to know who the sons of Issachar are. Because they have a special gift. And if we don't know who they are, then we are without that gift as a nation. So we need to know all of them. It's Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Joseph who becomes Ephraim, and Manasseh.
We had to know who they are. Because if they don't know who they are, we can't move from this mountain unless we know who we are. And so much stagnation is the result of not knowing who we are. We encamp at mountains of fire and trumpets and supernatural experience and expression. And we stay at those mountains when our destiny was to possess a promised land. But we'll encamp at that mountain until we realize who we are.
The Revelation of Christ and the Revelation of Self
Bishop Wayne Malcom: Let me put it this way. Jesus said to his disciples, who do men say that I am? Oh, well, they think you're one of the prophets. Okay, well, who do you say that I am? Peter speaks up. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Well done. You're blessed, Simon, because flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. Because that's not the popular opinion. So you didn't get that from anyone. My Father revealed that to you. Now I say to you that you are Peter.
Hold on a second. The moment you get the revelation of Christ, he will give you a revelation of you. Because your revelation of Christ won't make him more Christ. But your revelation of you is going to make you more you. So it is not enough for me to know who Jesus is. I've got to hear him tell me who I am. Because it's one thing to know how great he is in you. But it's another thing to know how great you are in him. And this is why the revelation has to go two ways.
This is why Israel is trapped. They are encamped at Sinai. They have a tabernacle. They have a law. There's no Egyptians following them. But they don't know who they are. So if they start moving, it's just scattered houses moving in different directions. It's people arguing about who's in charge, who's not in charge. It's leadership squabbles. It's competition. It's all the stuff that we see in the modern church.
So he says, number the people, conduct the census. Why? Because here's what's going to happen. Around the presence, we're going to position the children of Israel under banners, standards that represent their tribe. All Reubenites, there's your banner. All the Levites, there's your banner. All of Judah and Benjamin, that's your position. Why do you need us in this position? Because I need you to remember that there's a prophecy over your life. There's a promise over your life. There is a plan for your life. There is a purpose for your life. And you've got to stand in a place where you are constantly reminded of your purpose, your promise, and your prophecy. You can't afford to forget who you are. Otherwise, you're going to lose sight of God's purpose for your life.
Now, three tribes to the north of the tabernacle, four tribes. You got tribes positioned around the tabernacle. Now God says you can move. The cloud lifts, and that cloudy pillar starts moving, because now we're moving in formation. Now we're not squabbling about leadership and responsibility and who's in charge and who's not in charge. We've established that order, and now we're moving in that order. Because now we can take over a country. Now we can take a territory. But we can't take a territory while we are just houses with no tribal identity.
Houses Cannot Take Territory — Only Tribes Can
Bishop Wayne Malcom: A house cannot take a territory. If you doubt me, ask Joshua and Caleb. When you get to heaven, say, Josh, Caleb, I remember you saying, let us go up at once and possess it. We're well able to overcome it. And then you had to wait 40 years. Why didn't you just go? And Joshua and Caleb would say, a house can't take territory. It takes a tribe to take territory. Because the territory is assigned to tribes. And the houses of the tribe have allocations in a tribal territory. So the land of Israel is all, if you look at an ancient map, it's tribal territory. Zebulun is here, and the land of Benjamin is here, and Judah is here. Because that's how it is. Because it's the land that is inherited by the tribe.
Now, interestingly, just give me a few more minutes — slight detour, but I'm coming back. In ancient Israel, ten of the tribes were scattered. They were in the north. After Solomon, the kingdom was divided into Israel and Judah. Israel in the north, Judah in the south. Ten of the tribes in the north, two in the south. The ten tribes were attacked by the Assyrians, and they were scattered. And guess what? They never came back. So where are they? No one knows. And make it worse — no one cares. Because without tribe, there is no territory. There's no power. There's no position. There's no provision, because you're scattered.
But the southern two tribes were exiled several times, but kept their tribal identity. The southern two tribes are Judah and Benjamin. They kept their tribal identity. The prime minister of Israel today — his first name goes back thousands of years. Judah and Benjamin took the areas that are disputed by some, but clearly ancient Judea. And they're still having an impact. They're still taking territory — commercial, economic, intellectual, property. Still making a difference in terms of the global economy. Still so significant that even if millions are being slaughtered in the center of Africa, they get no airtime whatsoever. But anything happens in that little region right there, front page for decades. How is it that a little geography has so much of an impact on geopolitical life? It has to do with the power of people in their designated place.
When prophetic people are in their designated place, they become very powerful. Very important for you to know that houses cannot take territory. Only tribes can.
The Global Awakening — God Mobilizing Kingdom Tribes
Bishop Wayne Malcom: And this means that there is an awakening happening in the body of Christ globally. Everywhere I go, I see the awakening. You know what the awakening is? God organizing and mobilizing kingdom tribes. And here's what he's doing. He's basically saying, do you know who you are? Do you know the purpose and prophecy over your life? Well, you're going to have to connect. And I'm not talking about church connections. This is deep. Because tribes are bigger than houses. And in any one tribe, there'll be many houses.
This is more about knowing your role and recognizing other people who have the same role. And celebrating people who have the same role. And realizing we may be in different houses, but we are the same tribe. Because you're going to meet some people that are in a different house, but they are the same tribe. Because you know your role, and you recognize that same assignment upon their life.
It is an awakening. It's tribes. So I was praying about coming here. And I'm like, God, what are you really doing here? And then he begins to speak to me about kingdom tribes. Had me do a deep dive study. And I begin to realize that there is some economic territory that needs to be taken. But we're obsessed. We are literally obsessed with houses. As if any one house is going to change the country. We celebrate houses. It's an obsession.
God is raising up hubs. Apostolic hubs. For tribal recovery. Restoration. Where people whose prophetic destiny involves creating wealth know that they are seen, recognized, celebrated, resourced.
We've tried to create unity by uniting churches. And it's so difficult. Churches don't want to be united. Sorry to have to break it down to you. Churches are so competitive and territorial over their allotment. That the unity we've been looking for is going to happen at a tribal level. Where you say, I know you're in a different house, and that's okay, but we are the same tribe. It's where deep calls unto deep. What I mean is that something deep in you connects with something deep in someone else. It's Elizabeth is carrying destiny. Mary is carrying destiny. And the destiny in Elizabeth salutes the destiny that is in Mary. And we're entering a season where you don't know people after the flesh. But something inside of you salutes and resonates and says, you know what? We're in a different house, but we are of the same tribe.
We were scattered. And this is where I close. I always close where I start, by the way. James, the servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes that are scattered. That's the issue.
I go to Africa quite a bit. I've preached in some of the biggest meetings in the history of the world. I've preached to an ocean of humanity. You can't see the back of that crowd. And you can't rely on any crowd feedback whatsoever. Why? Because there's a delayed response. Because if you say praise the Lord, yes — but there's political corruption, economic instability and uncertainty, undeveloped infrastructure, no energy, roads with potholes, bridges that you dare not cross. And yet millions of Christians praising God all night, sometimes two, three days. Millions of churches but no impact on the culture. What you're seeing is millions of houses with scattered tribes. Because there is a tribe in those millions of houses that could have fixed the roads. There is a tribe that could have taken government and brought it under the auspices of the Holy Spirit. There was a tribe that could have turned the economy around.
Where I live, 60 years ago was a desert. Today it's one of the most modern cities in the world. So if you can create a modern city in 60 years with leadership, why have some of these nations struggled for many decades, even though the Christian presence was strong? It's because you have houses with scattered tribes.
So the message now is, can we just transcend? Now, not only do we love our houses, we need our houses. Because children are not born in tribes, they're born in houses. And they're raised in houses. But the sons who are raised in houses must become soldiers in a tribe. That's why the numbering system in the book of Numbers was: number the soldiers from the house. Get the record of the house so we can know how many soldiers we have in the tribe. And God said, that's how we're going to move forward and take the land of Canaan.
And we have tried everything else to generate church unity and church cohesion — there's this conference and there's that one and we're going to get together. Let's just think a little more deeply. My challenge to you is to think a little bit more deeply. It's a different house. But we're the same tribe. And at some point, we're going to need these apostolic hubs that can mobilize us as a tribe. Because many of our leaders won't do it. But it's the leadership that has prophetic vision that says, you know what? I really don't care which house you're in. There's an anointing and a grace on your life to do this thing. And so long as you're disconnected, displaced, dislocated, you will be disabled. And that's what we're seeing — disability. Not inability. Literal disability in the body of Christ. Because bone must come to his bone. If the bones are going to live, you've got to connect. There has to be connections. And those connections have to be at a more fundamental level — tribal.
So I know my assignment when it comes to tribes has to do with these value creators who are going to steward and facilitate the wealth transfer. You're a kingdom hub. And listen, I know a kingdom church from a regular church. You're a kingdom hub. That's why I don't sound strange to you. In some places, if I preach this same message, the aliens have landed. This is the Martian. A Martian preached the message this morning. Okay? Didn't speak a word of English. But you're different. I could tell in the way the offering was prayed for. I could tell in the scripture that was read. I could tell in the unction on your apostle when she spoke about the year that King Flesh died. That's all kingdom talk.
You have a very special purpose, and it is to mobilize tribes in this region. Because until we mobilize the tribes, there's going to be no movement. It's stagnation around a mountain. But God is raising up voices to mobilize tribes. And all the tribes are not about making money. That's just a tribe. There's other kinds of tribes. I saw it at work here today, that specialize in other things. Because there are other mountains of culture that we have to conquer. But there have to be voices who can mobilize these tribes.
Prayer for Kingdom Entrepreneurs
Bishop Wayne Malcom: So I want you all to stand on your feet. I'm going to invite everyone who has a business or has a business idea to come and meet me in the altar here. Because we're going to pray over you. That's part of my gift set, I guess — I bless entrepreneurs. And they tend to tell me that things happen for them afterwards. So if you have a business or you have a great business idea, please come on out and we're going to pray together.
Just begin to worship where you are. Begin to worship, because there's an impartation and an anointing and a revelation that you'll walk away with today. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus.
All right, just lift your hands to the Father. Amen. By the authority and the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I declare and I decree that your tribal identity empowers you to get wealth, that God may establish his covenant. You shall remember the Lord your God, because it is he who gives you the power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant.
And so now, Father, we thank you for the gifts and the graces, the unction to function, the wisdom, the revelation, the skill and the ingenuity and the ideas and the tenacity that you have placed in this people. Father, there has been discouragement, there have been obstacles, setbacks and disappointments, but in the mighty name of Jesus, we declare today is a new day for God's entrepreneurs. We declare that today is the morning when joy shall come to God's entrepreneurs. We declare that this day today is the beginning of a new chapter in your economic trajectory. And in the mighty name of Jesus, let the tribal DNA and gift sets that have laid dormant just begin to be stirred up. Let those gifts be stirred up in the mighty name of Jesus.
And now, God, bless this house and this people with ideas and inventions, with ingenuity and genius. Give strategy and direction. Give the wisdom of Solomon, knowledge and understanding, discernment and judgment. God, we pray that out of this place will arise a generation of righteous and humble millionaires and billionaires out of this very moment. Let the seed of a new possibility be planted in your people. And God, may we find connections — covenant connections, kingdom connections, tribal connections — all over this region. Mobilize the entrepreneurs, God, all over this nation. Organize and mobilize those with that anointing, those with that grace, those with that assignment. Mobilize and organize so we can move from this mountain to the place of purpose, to the place of power, to the place of plenty.
In the mighty name of Jesus, we rebuke every demonic spirit that comes against your business. Every witch and wizard, every spell, every hex, every curse that has been sent against your success — we break it and bind it by the blood and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we declare your liberty and your freedom to prosper in him.
Keep those hands lifted in his presence. I want you to pray out of your belly, pray out of your inner mind, pray out of your spiritual intelligence. Because he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto man, but he speaketh unto God. No man understands him. Howbeit in the Spirit he speaks mysteries. Speak the mysteries out of your belly. Because in there is a solution. In there is a strategy. In there is the breakthrough.