APOSTOLIC DYNAMICS, BENEFITS & ALIGNMENT
How to Activate the Apostolic in You (Part
One)
by Jonas Clark
Jesus wants to activate the apostolic in you because it
releases dynamics and benefits that will enrich your life. He's
given you a team of teachers to accomplish His goal. We call
those teachers five-fold ascension gifts.
We know that Jesus imparted five distinct gifts to equip His
Church: some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, pastors
and teachers. Since the 1990s the Holy Spirit has been teaching
us about the apostle's ministry and the release of apostolic
grace into the Church. Even though some are still debating the
existence and inclusion of modern-day apostles, Scripture is
clear that He gave five gifts for "the perfecting of the saints
for the work of ministry" (Ephesians 4).
APOSTOLIC DYNAMICS
Jesus thought five graces, including apostles, were important to
the success of His Church. Let's look at how the apostolic grace
releases apostolic dynamics and discover how apostolic alignment
benefits the believer.
Apostolic grace releases apostolic dynamics. if we can recognize
what apostolic grace does then we can position ourselves to
benefit from it. Just as a pastor imparts pastoral grace, and a
prophet prophetic grace, it stands to reason that an apostle
would impart apostolic grace Consider what happens when you
throw a rock in a pond…the impact of the stone hitting the water
creates a series of waves. This is what we call the ripple
effect. Just like the ripple effect, apostolic grace sets
apostolic dynamics in motion throughout the Body of Christ.
IDENTIFY THE DOMINATE GIFT
If you take the time to step back and look at the Church you can
see a pattern of ministry. Our services have a structure. We
open in prayer, sing some songs, make announcements, receive an
offering, preach or teach the Word, have an altar call, and,
finally, close with more prayer. The dominant grace of the main
leader of that local church is set in motion during those
services.
Every church has a dominant gift that leads and influences the
direction of that church. If we are a pastoral church we focus
on caring, counseling and nurturing our members. And, of course,
there is nothing wrong with that. If we have a five-fold teacher
as the main leader then we would be well versed in the Word of
God. If we have a five-fold prophet as our set-man we would be
more open to prophetic words, deliverance ministry, stronger
prayer and spiritual warfare. But what if we have an apostle as
our main leader? What would the dynamics in the church be then?
What would the ripple effect of that grace release? Could it be
possible that an apostolic five-fold gift would release
something a bit different?
FIVE-FOLD APOSTOLIC GIFTS
These questions mark the importance of studying the various
five-fold ascension gifts. How can you draw out what you don't
know exists? It's extremely important to point out that the
apostle's gift, listed as first (1 Corinthians 12:28), is still
only one of five specific ascension gifts. All five gifts are
extremely important, and for the church to function fully it
needs all five for the perfecting of the saints. Let's take a
look at some of the things that the apostolic might release.
Dominion, the apostolic has one direction to go: It seems
that many are rapture-focused and far fewer dominion-focused.
But no matter your view, whether it is pre-, mid- or
post-tribulation, the result is that you are coming back to this
earth. I believe if a person is born again then they are
heaven-ready, but you can be heaven ready and still not prepared
to live in victory. The apostolic grace is not preparing a
people to leave the earth but to invade, occupy and influence it
for Christ. Jesus said, "Occupy until I come."
Learn more about Apostolic Dynamics in
THE APOSTOLIC MINISTRY TRANSITION KIT
APOSTOLIC EQUIPPING EVERY BELIEVERS
Mobilizing into purpose: The apostolic grace is a mobilizing
grace. The apostolic focuses on equipping every believer to do what
they are called to do. You can't mobilize what's not prepared.
Equipping is only one measure of the five-fold ascension gift
function. Where a pastor might focus on identity and purpose, the
apostolic takes it to the next level of "mobilizing into purpose."
It's not enough to find purpose, one must seize purpose. It wasn't
enough for the Israelites to see Canaan Land, they were required to
cross over and "possess the land."
Equipping: Along with the other five-fold ascension gifts the
apostolic identifies both spiritual and natural gifts in people and
puts them where they need to be. The Church has done a good job at
blessing people but the Holy Spirit wants to do more than bless
people. He wants to equip them for Spirit-led living. Currently
there is a shift from blessing-only focused ministry toward blessing
and training people to do what they are called to do. The "one hour
of power" model of ministry on Sunday mornings is being challenged.
To do more than bless people will require a strong commitment from
church leaders, the willingness to place a demand on people to grow,
and, in some cases, a complete restructuring of the local church to
leave what I call "stage ministry" and enter the apostolic dimension
of equipping every believer for the work of the ministry, placing
them on ministry teams, and sending them out of the local church
with specific assignments.
APOSTOLIC LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Leadership development: Apostles don't work alone. Jesus sent
them out two by two. Leadership is one of the strongest apostolic
dynamics being released into the Body of Christ. Because leadership
models the way, the apostolic gift is creating a leadership
development culture. We know that every thing rises and falls on
leadership. We also know that most organizations, including our
churches, are weak in leadership and we are desperate to add more.
The apostolic grace is spotlighting that weakness, and since the
apostolic is relationship-based it is requiring us to spend more
time on leadership development.
Out of the sanctuary: The apostolic is preparing people to
get out of the sanctuary and into the world. The local church is not
just a place of worship it is also a place of blessing, equipping,
prophetic instruction, and governing. Our world is under demonic
siege. Every night news reports broadcast the working of secular
humanists that undermine the Judeo-Christian fabric of our nation,
Islamic (Muslim) extremists filled with an ideology of hate that
kill innocent people, and homosexual pedophiles preying on innocent
children through malicious use of the Internet. The apostolic grace,
working in humble unity with the other five-fold ascension gifts, is
preparing Christians to invade the world with salt and light rather
than escape the world.
THE ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
Kingship of the believer: Not every believer is called to be
a five-fold ascension gift, but every believer is part of the royal
priesthood, both priests and kings. Many believers have a hard time
thinking of themselves as kings. For some, suggesting that believers
adopt a kingship mentality meets with resistance because it launches
negative concepts of unwarranted superiority, abuse of authority,
unearned respect, and even an uppity attitude. None of these images,
however, convey the intended biblical concept of kingship. The
apostolic grace is leading the Church into kingship...
KEEP READING -- PART TWO
God bless you. Your partner,
© by Jonas Clark
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apostolic and
prophetic resources.
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