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VISION FOR AN APOSTOLIC CENTER Dennis M. Sievers, Director of Ministries Historical Background A number of years ago my wife, Sandy, and I attended a Signs and Wonders Conference at the International House of Prayer (IHOP) in Kansas City. Todd Bentley was one of the speakers. Toward the end of his session he prophesied that God was going to establish apostolic centers across America. That word went into my heart and I felt that God would give us a center in Columbia if we sought Him for it. I had no clue what an apostolic center was or what it looked like but I began to pray for it personally and shared it with the Healing Rooms Ministries team members, encouraging them to pray also. About a year ago I called some people together that I knew were seeking the Lord for the city and who wanted more of His Presence and asked them to pray for an apostolic center. The last six months has brought an increase in knowledge and revelation concerning what the Lord is about to do on the earth, part of which pertains to apostolic centers. This has greatly encouraged me and I believe that Todd Bentley heard correctly. The information I am about to share is incomplete, but I am getting a clearer understanding of some of the foundational concepts the Holy Spirit is establishing in order to bring apostolic centers into being. I would encourage anyone reading this paper to seek the Lord for the city and and ask God to give you revelation as to what He is doing in Columbia. Its All About RelationshipsFor the last 10-15 years God's prophetic people in the Body of Christ have been calling for a deeper, more intimate relationship with our Lord. Intimacy has been the word of focus for conferences, articles in Christian magazines, CDs, etc. Our God has always been a God of relationships. Relationships start in the Triune Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) where each Person of the Trinity is perfectly submitted in love to the Other Two; each doing His part to carry out the divine purposes of the Godhead. We human beings were created by God to KNOW Him intimately that we might experience the Divine Relationship of the Triune Godhead and, to demonstrate those relationships to the world around us. God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and instituted marriage (the most intimate relationship between a man and woman) and told them to multiply, thus establishing the family where children could learn about Godly relationships in a safe environment. Adam and Eve's sin disrupted God's plan (but did not stop it). God then chose the nation of Israel to know Him and reflect His glory to the world ("I will be your God and you will be My people"). Israel forsook their relationship with God, indulging in spiritual adultery, resulting in severe chastisement from God. When Jesus Christ came in the flesh to the earth, He initiated the Church - a people of God who had essentially the same purpose as Israel in the Old Testament; to know God and reflect His glory to the nations. The Church started out well but just as its Old Testament counterpart, has followed a similar path. The Apostle Paul said that the Church was to be a sign to the world. Instead it has become a mirror, reflecting society back to itself (high divorce rate, fornication and adultery, division, criticism, etc.). The Church today stands fragmented, weak and powerless, with little or no influence on the culture around us. Culture has influenced the church far more than the church has influenced culture. However, the Bible does not provide for a third choice to represent God on earth. The Church is it! There is no other and therefore some drastic changes are about to come upon the Church, for its Head, Jesus Christ, will have His way. His Bride will reflect divine relationships and be the witness He has called her to be. What has been the problem? While the church has always had problems due to the presence of sin and Satan, God has always been at work, restoring Biblical truths (i.e. The Reformation, The Charismatic Renewal Movement, etc.) and calling His Bride back to proper relationships with Himself and with one another so that His glory is seen by the world. If we are truly in the "end times" as many Christian leaders believe; then we would expect God to finish the restoration of His Church so that it can accomplish His purposes. I believe we are in the end times and I believe the Holy Spirit is making it clear what is being restored. While God is most probably restoring a number of things, I wish to speak to two specific ones - the restoration of apostolic/prophetic leadership and the restoration of His Bride's true identity. Apostolic/Prophetic Leadership in the ChurchJesus Himself gave to the Church, "some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God..." [Ephesians 4:11-13]. These leaders then appointed "elders" (meaning mature men) to oversee local bodies of believers. Christians themselves oversaw the church under Christ's direct headship. Leaders were recognized for their functional giftings and spiritual maturity; not by title, education or office. Today the Protestant Church is dominated by a single person called the "Senior Pastor". In general, this person guides the church according to his/her vision, does most of the teaching through sermons, counsels, is usually required to possess a degree either from a seminary or Bible college, and is paid a salary from church receipts. By today's cultural standards this person is a professional administrator. There may be recognized teachers and sometimes evangelists on the pastor's staff. But where are the apostles and prophets of Ephesians 4:11? No where in the New Testament are they rescinded. No where in the New Testament are pastors raised to a position of dominate leadership. In fact, the word "pastor" (GR: poimen) is used just once in the New Testament and that is in Ephesians 4:11. I wish to make it clear that I am speaking in general and historical terms and not to any individual. Most "pastors" I know are Godly men and women, who are trying to serve the Lord the best they can. However, when today's church is compared closely to the New Testament guidelines, there is great discrepancy and it is these discrepancies we need to look at. So how did the church arrive at the pastor-dominated leadership so prevalent today which appears to be out of line with New Testament truths? To address this in detail would require a separate paper. I would refer the reader to a book by Frank Viola and George Barna called Pagan Christianity for a detailed discussion. The following is a very brief summary. The concept of a one-man dominated form of leadership in the church can be traced back to Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.) who promoted the elevation of one elder above the others to a positon of "bishop." In his writings he encouraged the church to regard bishops as "the Lord Himself." This one-man rule concept was encouraged by other early Christian writers but was given a tremendous boost when Constantine became Roman Emporer in the early fourth century. He made Christianity the official religion of his kingdom. He instituted the Roman top-down hierarchy into the church and elevated bishops into a high social class similar to his Roman civil leaders. Bishops were exempt from taxes, sat in positions of judges like secular judges and were paid a governmental salary. These "clergy" enjoyed special class status and were set above the "laity." Eventually, some bishops developed a class of leaders called "priests" and Old Testament forms of leadership crept back into the New Testament Church. Centuries later, the Reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli) preached the "priesthood of all believers" but never implemented it on a corporate basis. They simply substituted the word "pastor" for "priest." Since the Reformation the pastor has been the dominating focal point in the Protestant Church. Yet there is no Biblical precedent for this. In fact, history would indicate that this form of leadership (and other church practices) have resulted from the influence of pagan cultures surrounding the church. What is needed is a restoration of Biblical leadership as presented in the New Testament which includes the re-establishment of the apostles and prophets to their proper place in the five-fold ministries of Ephesians 4:11. The Holy Spirit began restoration of the prophetic office in the 1980s and 1990s with the Prophetic Movement. During this time the Lord began raising up spiritually mature men and women who were highly gifted in the prophetic. People like Rick Joyner, John Paul Jackson, Paul Keith Davis, John Sandford, Jill Austin and others who sought the Lord and began receiving prophetic revelations for guiding the Church. These revelations have been published in books, delivered at numerous conferences, recorded on CDs and DVDs and printed in Christian magazines. Out of this movement came the website "Elijah List" which has become a clearing house for many national and international prophets. The Church needs prophetic revelation because we live in difficult times. We need to know what our Lord is doing now and His strategies for building His Kingdom in these end times to bring in the Great Harvest. The Apostolic Movement As God began to restore the prophets to His church, they began to speak of the restoration of the apostle to church government. In a recent prophetic article entitled, "The Coming Apostolic Movement"(July 11,2009) Paul Keith Davis writes, "Over the course of several weeks the Holy Spirit has once again given several prophetic experiences pointing to the coming apostolic movement...this ministry will come forth not only with insightful revelatory messages of divine truth but also miraculous demonstrations of power through righteous vessels of honor and valor." If the Cornerstone of the Church, Jesus Christ, is raising up prophets and apostles, why is He doing this? Because apostles and prophets are the foundation of the Church (Ephesians 2:20). They are the primary revelatory giftings in the five-fold ministries of Ephesians 4:11. It is not to say the other three functions cannot receive revelation (all Christians can receive revelations), but God Himself has anointed the prophet and apostle to bring forth powerful revelations to help build His Kingdom. Dan Cheatham (Apostolic Alignment, Finding Our Place) refers to apostles and prophets as "Founders" and pastors, teachers and evangelists as "Grounders." Founders are pioneers, establishers and bring a now revelation. Grounders look to the long term, maintain and improve. Rick Joyner (The Apostolic Ministry) describes the evangelist as looking back to the unsaved world and feeling God's heart for them. The evangelist's heart is to bring the unsaved into the kingdom of God. The pastor and teacher have been given a heart to take the newly saved and mature them by teaching scriptural principles, while the pastor's heart is to watch over peoples' lives encouraging them to grow in their callings. These two giftings are more concerned with the status-quo being maintained. If the process stops there, the church can become inward and get caught up in religion. The apostle and prophet are the forward-looking giftings. The prophet's gifting is to hear what God is doing and saying now and in the future so he can give guidance to the evangelist, pastor and teacher as to what is on God's heart. Joyner further states, "The ultimate goal of the apostles was to to see those who joined themselves to the Lord to become like Him...The apostle's goal is not focused on the house as much as on the glory of the One who is to inhabit the house. True apostolic vision is Christ-centered, not church-centered...True apostles will not come with theories, forms, recipes and formulas, but with an impartation of true life and power of the Lord." Regardless of how the five-fold ministries are categorized, most leaders in the present move of God agree that the end time destiny of the church cannot be realized until the five-fold leaders are all in place and functioning in unity. John Eckhardt (A Shift in Leadership - From Pastoral to Apostolic) writes, "You cannot fulfill an apostolic calling with a pastoral mind-set. A pastoral mind-set will limit the leader and confine him to the local church...Our desire should be to raise up an apostolic company of believers who have a sense of 'being sent'. The entire Church needs to shift into this dimension. The church in the Book of Acts was first and foremost an apostolic church. They ministered in power and turned the world upside down." It is painfully obvious that the church today is not "turning our world upside down." The way the church has been doing things has not worked well. If the church is to become the apostolic company referred to by Eckhardt, then apostolic/prophetic leadership must come forth and take its anointed place. Restoration of the apostolic church. The restoration of apostolic/prophetic leadership to the church is not just so the church can claim it has apostles and prophets. According to Ephesians 4:11 the five-fold ministries is for the "equipping" of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edification of the Body of Christ..." Most Christians have interpreted the word "equipping" to mean "training." As a result, the pastoral - administrator type leadership has produced various training programs offering classes and workshops on various spiritual topics to "train the saints." Teaching and knowledge are good and necessary. However, what has been done has resulted in most Christians ministering inside the four walls (programs) while the unbelieving world outside is ignored. Apostolic churches will have teaching and some training, but their mindset is to go outside the walls to demonstrate Jesus in all walks of life. Part of the problem may lie in our interpretation of the word "equipping." R. Paul Stevens (Liberating the Laity) writes: The Greek word for equipping, katartismos, is used as a noun only once - Ephesians 4:12. But the word has an interesting medical history in classical Greek. To equip is to put a bone or a part of the human body into right relationship with the other parts of the body so that every part fits thoroughly back in its correct relationship with the other members of the body." Apostolic leadership has as its function to bring wholeness to the Body of Christ (true unity) while maintaining focus on the Lord Jesus Christ as the only and true Head. Apostolic leadership must assist believers in learning how to move as one under Christ's Headship. "The apostolic burden was not to bring the church into a certain form, but to see Jesus formed within His people. There is a difference - one is Christ-centered; the other is man-centered" (Rick Joyner, The Apostolic Ministry). Our training mentality has resulted in too much self introspection, focusing on my gifts and my ministry or my pastor or my church. All this has resulted in fragmentation of the Body with emphasis on what I can do for God. What can we do for God? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! We must turn our focus back to developing an intimate relationship with our Head, Jesus Christ. Then He will reveal to us what He wants to do, when He wants it done and when to do it. Apostolic/prophetic leadership will help bring those revelations into clarity. The context of Ephesians four is corporate. The Apostle Paul envisioned a corporate body coming forth uniting with its Head, Jesus Christ, to where it would be apparent to all that the Head and Body are working as one. The Message says it very appropriately, "He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ." When the Body of Christ truly begins to move as one under the direction of its Head, signs and wonders, miracles, healings, deliverances will follow revealing the love, compassion and power of our Father God. This will gather the great harvest that is being prophesied now. At the Columbia Wave Conference last April, the speakers Ian Andrews and James Maloney demonstrated, not what they as individuals could do but what Jesus in all of us can do if we will come together with our focus on Jesus. The conference was a small scale demonstration of an apostolic people. Columbia Apostolic CenterWhat will an apostolic center in Columbia, MO look like? Many Christians would answer this question, "we need a building", or "we need to start a building fund", or "we need to hire a pastor." For most American Christians, "going to church" means going to a physical building because that is where God is. Materialism is a stronghold in the American church and must be brought down. Our focus must return to our First Love. In addition, the Holy Spirit must be given the freedom to build God's house. A choke-chain has been placed around the neck of the Holy Spirit to "keep things in order." But whose order? When the Holy Spirit is controlled, revelation dries up and the status quo is worshipped because it is safe. When the organizational and administrative skills of men dominate, idolatry is not far off (Genesis 11:4). We must not look to the past or even to the present structures for help, but only to our Head. What He is desiring to build in Columbia will be unique both to Columbia and the times we are living in. Our vision must not be physical but spiritual as revealed through the apostles and prophets. Whatever Jesus is building we know it will bring forth a corporate servant made of individual servants (Isaiah 41:17-20). When this happens the world will see the "unity of faith" become a reality. An apostolic center encompasses a much larger area of influence than a single local church meeting. It would be a regional center where individual local meetings can come together in true Holy Spirit unity to:
We can catch a glimpse of how Jesus might do this from Isaiah 41:17-20 which pictures a prayer-answering God responding to the cry of His needy people by recreating a new world around them. Water and shade are the two great needs of a desert traveller (the church has been in a spiritual desert). The water represents three divine acts of God toward His people: MIRACLES (rivers in desolate places); MULTIPLICATION (fountains in valleys); TRANSFORMATION (pools in parched ground). The trees speak to the "unity of faith." the great variety representing the great diversity in the Body of Christ, yet all these being planted in one place (unity). The trees mentioned in the verse are not normally found together in the same environmental conditions. This enhances the wonder-working power of God to bring His Body together under His Son, Jesus Christ. Whatever the form Jesus decides to use to build His apostolic people is His business, but it is coming soon. It will encompass the Apostolic Movement and Jesus will be the true Head of His Body. We must embrace our Lord. We must be willing to lay down our traditions, opinions and wills to Him and let Him have His way with us ("...unless the Lord builds the house, we labor in vain").
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Healing Rooms Ministries of Columbia |
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