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You Have a S.E.A.T. at the Table
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Around the Network This Month
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• Affecting Destiny 2026 • |
• Upcoming Fall/Winter Gatherings • |
• Featured Resources on YouTube • |
• Genesis: New Beginnings • |
• Voices from the Network • |
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A Message from Destiny Network
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Dear Destiny Network Family, |
As we continue walking through this season together, we're grateful for every opportunity to strengthen leaders, encourage churches, and build lasting relationships across the network. |
Whether you're preparing for a new ministry season, planning for the fall, or simply taking time to be refreshed, we're honored to be part of your journey. |
This month, we're looking ahead to exciting opportunities to connect, grow, and gather together. We hope these updates encourage you and remind you that you have a S.E.A.T. at the table. |
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GENESIS: The Heart Behind Affecting Destiny 2026
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In this special message, Pastor Tony shares the heart behind this year’s Affecting Destiny Conference theme and why God is calling us back to the beginning. Discover how returning to God’s original design prepares us for what He wants to do next. |
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Join Us for Affecting Destiny 2026
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Affecting Destiny is just around the corner, and registration is officially open! |
Join pastors and ministry leaders from across the nation for three powerful days centered around this year's theme: |
GENESIS
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Together we'll return to the foundations, rediscover God's original design, and receive fresh vision for the future. Through dynamic teaching, powerful worship, and meaningful connection, Affecting Destiny is designed to strengthen leaders and equip the Church for what lies ahead. |
Visit the conference website for registration, speakers, hotel information, and conference updates. |
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You Have a S.E.A.T.
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Table Gathering - Mi-Wuk Village, CA
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August 27
Word of Life Church
Mi-Wuk Village, California |
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Table Gathering - Clewiston, FL
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November 3, 2026
New Harvest Church
Clewiston, Florida |
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These gatherings are designed to encourage pastors and leaders through authentic relationships, meaningful conversation, and shared experiences. Whether you've been part of the network for years or are joining us for the first time, there's a seat waiting for you. |
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Destiny Network One Day
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November 5, 2026
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee |
Join us in Pigeon Forge for a special Destiny Network One Day Conference. |
This one-day gathering is designed to encourage and equip pastors and ministry leaders through powerful teaching, meaningful relationships, and practical leadership insights. Come expecting to leave refreshed, strengthened, and inspired for the season ahead. |
Registration is now available through our Events page. |
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New on YouTube
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Our YouTube channel continues to grow with conversations, leadership resources, conference messages, and past episodes of Destiny Network Amplified designed to encourage and equip pastors and ministry leaders. |
Whether you're catching up on a favorite message or discovering new content for the first time, there's always something to strengthen and inspire your leadership. |
Be sure to subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss what's coming next. |
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Genesis: New Beginnings
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Pastor Tony Rivera's upcoming book, Genesis: New Beginnings, explores God's pattern of restoration, renewal, and purpose throughout Scripture. This month's excerpt offers a glimpse into the heart of the message and the invitation to return to God's original design. |
Enjoy this exclusive preview. |
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Identity Before Assignment
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Why God Forms You Before He Sends You |
A Destiny Network Reflection |
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion…’” — Genesis 1:26 |
Before God ever entrusted humanity with dominion, He did something far more foundational. He defined identity. |
There is a divine order in Genesis that modern leadership culture often reverses. We are quick to hand people a title, a platform, or a task, and slow to ask whether they know who they are. But God does not work that way. He does not assign responsibility before establishing identity. He does not send before He forms. He does not release authority before likeness is secured. |
This is one of the deepest distortions in leadership today: doing without being, functioning without formation, ruling without resemblance. God does not begin with assignment. He begins with identity. |
Genesis 1:26 opens with a conversation, not a command. “Let Us make man…” Humanity is formed out of relationship, not out of a task list. Before there was work to do, there was belonging to receive. Identity is not discovered through activity; it is bestowed through relationship. |
This matters more than we often realize. You are not who you are because of what you do. You do what you do because of who you are. When leaders build their identity around function, insecurity is never far behind. The moment the function shifts, identity fractures. But when identity is rooted in God’s likeness, an assignment can change, a role can end, a season can shift, and the soul remains steady. |
Notice, too, the order in the verse itself. God does not say, “Let man rule,” and then explain who man is. He says, “Let Us make man in Our image… and let them have dominion.” Image comes before dominion. Authority flows from resemblance, not from ability. Humanity was given dominion not because it was powerful, but because it reflected God’s nature. Dominion without likeness becomes domination. Authority without identity becomes abuse. God entrusts power only where character can sustain it. |
This is why God so often delays assignment in a leader’s life. Many of us have asked, “Why hasn’t God released me yet?” Genesis gives a simple answer: because formation is still happening. God is never late. He is intentional. Delay is not denial; delay is development. He is not withholding your assignment to frustrate you. He is protecting you, because authority released prematurely damages both the leader and the people that leader carries. |
This pattern echoes throughout Scripture. Israel is called God’s son before receiving the law. David is anointed before he ever rules. Jesus is affirmed as Son — “This is My beloved Son…” — before His public ministry ever begins. Identity is always affirmed before assignment is activated. Leaders who skip sonship end up striving for validation through their success. Leaders who are rooted in sonship lead from security instead of pressure. |
There is a reason Adam was formed before he was placed, and known in intimacy before he was ever handed responsibility. Formation happens in God’s presence, not in public visibility. If you are in a hidden season right now, hear this clearly: it is not a wasted season. It is a foundational one. |
And notice this — identity, in Genesis, is never meant to be isolated. “Let Us make man” reflects a relational God, and it forms a relational people. Leadership formed in isolation becomes distorted leadership. God forms identity in community, where relationship sharpens character, accountability preserves humility, and connection guards perspective. Covering begins at creation, not at crisis. |
This is also why authority that must constantly be asserted is already weakening. Position can grant power, but only likeness grants true authority. Creation responded to Adam because he reflected the Creator, not because he demanded a response. The leaders who influence environments most effortlessly are rarely the ones leaning hardest on their titles. They are the ones who have been deeply formed. |
So if you find yourself in a season where God seems to be stripping platforms instead of adding to them, do not panic. He may not be dismantling you. He may be re-forming you. Identity rooted in God cannot be shaken by transition, because it was never tied to your assignment in the first place. |
Let this be your declaration today: I receive my identity from God. I refuse to build my worth on assignment. I trust formation before function. I am formed before I am sent, known before I am visible, and aligned before I am released. Because identity precedes authority. Likeness sustains dominion. And what God forms, He can trust. |
This article is an excerpt from Tony Rivera’s forthcoming book, Genesis: New Beginnings — Reset, Realignment, and Re-Creation, Chapter 6: “Let Us Make Man: Identity Before Assignment.” |
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VOICES from the NETWORK
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Every leader sees through something. We like to think we God has a beautiful way of writing new chapters in our lives—chapters we may never have expected, yet chapters filled with His faithfulness, grace, and purpose. |
For nearly five decades, I have had the privilege of serving the Lord in ministry. Whether traveling, speaking in churches and conferences, encouraging pastors and leaders, mentoring others, or simply sitting across a table listening to someone’s story, my greatest joy has always been pointing people to the hope found in Jesus Christ. |
For many years, my husband, Bishop Tony Miller, and I shared that calling together. We loved serving the Church, building meaningful relationships, and helping people discover God’s purpose for their lives. Those years profoundly shaped my heart and deepened my love for God’s people. |
When Bishop went home to be with the Lord, I entered a season I never imagined I would face. Yet even in the deepest places of grief, I discovered that God was not finished writing my story. His faithfulness met me there, and in time, He opened an unexpected door through the birth of Kathy Miller Ministries—a ministry devoted to sharing hope, encouragement, healing, and the love of Christ. |
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Through Kathy Miller Ministries, Your Story Blooms was born. It is a ministry designed to create safe and meaningful spaces where women who have experienced loss can gather, build friendships, share their stories, and discover that hope can bloom again. |
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Through Meet Me at the Table, Bloom Boxes, mentoring relationships, and gatherings across the country, I have the privilege of watching God bring beauty from ashes in the lives of so many women. |
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Today, I continue to travel and serve wherever God opens the door. As a pastor, speaker, mentor, Certified Grief and Trauma Coach, and Certified Lifeline of Hope Coach, my passion is to encourage people through God’s Word, walk alongside those navigating difficult seasons, and remind them that they are never alone. |
As I continue this journey, my prayer is simple: that every person I meet would leave with a little more hope than they had when they arrived. |
Whether around a table, in a church, at a conference, or through a simple conversation, I want people to know that they are seen, they are loved, and that with God, their story is never over. |
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I look forward with faith and expectation to wherever God leads next through Kathy Miller Ministries and Your Story Blooms. I trust Him to continue bringing hope, healing, and beauty from the ashes—one heart, one story, and one life at a time. |
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TAKE THE NEXT STEP
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Whether you’re looking to connect more deeply, partner with the mission of Destiny Network, or simply need someone to stand with you in prayer, we’re here for you. |
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STAY CONNECTED
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• Subscribe to our Youtube channel. |
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