The Prophet’s Cosmic View

Bryan Purtle wrote an excellent article on the Prophet’s Cosmic view.  We desperately need this kind of understanding so that we might have a more complete picture of the prophet and what God desires.  Take a few minutes and read it.  It’s worth the time to let God speak to your heart on a issue that is vital in our day and time. We desperately need to recover and demonstrate this reality.

http://pilgrimagetozion.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/the-prophets-cosmic-view/

The Foundation of the Apostles and Prophets

“You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone” - Ephesians 2:20

Recently in some circles, there has been a lot of emphasis on Ephesians 2:20.  What I want to focus on though are those who have begun to use it as a prescribed leadership structure for New Testament Christianity.  They have taught that the church is to be governed by Apostles and Prophets and that the lack of that governmental model is one of the reasons for the church’s lack of advance (we will ignore the fact that the church’s lack of advance seems to be primarily limited to western nations).   The significant question that needs to be asked could be phrased this way, “is this a model for church government, or is it something altogether different?”

Now up front I have to be very clear about something so that what follows is not misunderstood.  I believe in the ministry gifts of the apostle and the prophet and this post is not for the purpose of arguing whether they are or are not legitimate gifts.  Apostles other than the 12 and Paul are listed in the New Testament and we find prophets named as well.  In addition, Paul lists apostles and prophets as valid ministry gifts in other passages (Ephesians 4:11, I Corinthians 12:28).   Based on the New Testament, if you want you want to discard the apostle or prophet that is fine but you need to discard the pastor, teacher, and evangelist as well to be intellectually honest because they are all listed together.  Nevertheless, I digress as the purpose of this post is not to defend the existence of these ministry gifts.  Rather we want to make sure we understand exactly what Paul was trying to communicate and whether or not this Scripture is being applied accurately.  So let us examine Ephesians 2:20 and see if it is in fact the correct leadership structure for the New Testament church or if it is something altogether different.

Are you Jealous?

I have been deeply moved the last few days over the issue of Jealousy for the Lord and for His name.  Are we truly jealous for the name “Jesus” and the demonstration that are attributed to His name?  As the world continues to use that precious name as nothing more than an expletive and ministers use it for their own purposes, I wonder if we are truly jealous for His name or if we have slowly become desensitized to it all. Recently I have watched some videos of various ministers and ministries that have simply made my heart sick.  The antics on stage, if not blasphemy, were probably as close as you can get and yet the crowd loved it.  In all of this I wondered, where are those that are jealous for the Lord and for His name?  As I noticed the crowd laughing and taking it all in, I wondered where are those jealous for the bride?  I mean this is Jesus’ wife we are talking about and these men are making a spectacle of the Lord before His own bride and she is drinking it all in. In a dream I had recently there was both a deep anger and a deep weeping over things.

Something within is burning and asking the deep question, are we not jealous for Him?  I understand there are differences in ministry styles, personalities, and giftings and we have to give grace to different members of the body, but I was observing things that were clearly demeaning to the Lord and His people and they were being opening attributed to the Lord and His Spirit.  They were allowing the Lord, His name, and His Spirit to be demeaned and mocked by men claiming to be ministers.  Where are those who will stand and separate the holy from the profance?  Where is the holy jealousy that caused Jesus to overturn money tables?

As I considered this issue of jealousy,  I began considering what a pure and holy jealousy really is.  After all, many are “jealous for the Lord,” but what they often mean is that they are jealous for their ministries, or their own perception of how things should be.  Often “jealousy for the Lord” is really the desire to criticise and tear down those you do not agree with.  Seeing then as jealousy for the Lord is an urgent need in our time and, at the same time, there is much jealousy that is not truly jealousy for the Lord, how are we to discern the difference?

A Solemn Prophetic Warning

The days we are living in are very serious. We must prepare for the days ahead. They will be days of great glory as God visits His pure church and days of great terror as judgment comes and evil increases. We must stay so very close to the Lord that we may endure and overcome (note Jesus’ message to each of the 7 churches at the beginning of revelation).

I recently came across this prophecy from Stanley Frodsham. Stanley was involved in the Pentecostal movement in the first part of this century. He knew Smith Wigglesworth who actually performed his wedding. I am not posting this in response to anything in particular, but just because I think it is incredibly valuable for us to heed this word and allow God to speak to us through it. It is truly preparation for the days ahead. This is very long for a blog post, but read on. It is worth it.

Deny Yourself

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” - Matthew 16:24 (AMP)

The call to deny yourself is central to the Christian faith. Although it is something we do not like to talk about, denial of ourselves is a fundamental requirement of following Jesus. Most of us read this verse and immediately consider the obvious things that we are called to turn away from. Most of these things are external and obvious sins of the flesh.

The problem is that in our basic understanding of this directive, we often fall short of what God is actually aiming at. We are so used to external religion that we read this statement and our mind immediately filters through all the fleshly, outward things that we need to contain or even purge from our lives. While this is helpful to be sure, this is just the first stage of what God is wanting to do and if we do not push beyond the outward observance of this commandment we will miss something that is vital if we are to truly know God. Missing this thing can be the difference between living as a nominal Christian and living as one that knows God.

Sent

But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of Whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men [be expected to] preach unless they are sent? - Romans 10:14-15b AMP

I was recently reading a section in Apostolic Foundations when the verses above simply jumped off the page. I believe the key to the whole passage is found in the last sentence that begins verse 15. The critical word here is sent. Now, this sort of passage is most typically used to support missions and other administration issues that revolve around the practical issues of sending men to preach the gospel. I certainly have no problem with this as there are financial and logistic tasks involved in the sending of men to preach the gospel, but I do not believe this is the heart of what God is trying to convey here.

The issue of sending and of being sent is critical if we are to recover the life that pulsated through the New Testament church. The word sent that is used here in verse 15 is the word “apostello” and it is from this word that we get the word apostle or “sent one.” If we are going to recover the reality and power of the first century church, we have to recover an accurate understanding of the word apostello and just what it means for men to be sent to preach the gospel. We desperately need to understand just who is doing the sending and how men are to be sent. To recover the reality and power of these words we need look no farther than the church at Antioch.

Spirit of Abortion

The pro-life campaign 40 days for life just ended. It was 40 days of seriously considering the abortion issue before God. Early in the 40 days I was outside a local abortion clinic just quietly considering the issue of abortion in prayer. As I was considering the issue of physical abortion, immediately the issue of the spirit of abortion and how it permeates our society and our lifestyle came to me. It was as if the Lord was saying that the most critical thing was to consider the spirit of abortion in my own heart that I could then have power on the issue of physical abortion. When we think of abortion we tend to think primarily of the brutal, physical act of abortion in the womb. However, this physical act is only the most brutal demonstration of a principle that is found throughout our culture.

At the root of the issue of abortion is the issue of pleasure and the free pursuit of it with no accompanying responsibility and no pain. This pursuit of pleasure becomes intense enough that we are willing to sacrifice even ourselves and others in our pursuit of it. I fear that this root runs much more deeply in us, believers included, than we know. Take a minute and just consider a few of the ways this spirit has quietly permeated our lifestyles.

I am God’s Wheat

The issue of martyrdom is central to a vibrant Christianity. Tertullian famously said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” The reality is that the church is called to martyrdom. The Greek word “martus” that is used in the New Testament can be translated in the English to “martyr” or “witness” depending on the context. For example, in Acts 1:8, Jesus called His followers to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. The word for witnesses there is martus. We are called to be His martyrs. Whether or not we are forcibly killed for the gospel is actually a minor issue. Following Jesus requires an inward martyrdom from the word and it’s system. It requires a death to the ways of thinking and understanding that we were born with. In short, we must first be martyrs in our heart if we are to be true witnesses on the earth.

This concept is particularly difficult for western Christians. For one thing, the world is so appealing and comfortable that we find it difficult to root ourselves in an eternal reality. It is just too comfortable in this time and in this age. Secondly, western culture and the church have become intertwined in such a way that we sometimes assume our western culture is the equivalent of a Christian culture. While Christianity and Christian ideals have been a significant influence on western culture, we cannot consider western culture to be equivalent with a kingdom that Jesus clearly said was not of this world.

A Kingdom of Weakness

One thing is for certain. Jesus is coming and He is bringing His kingdom with Him. There is no doubt in my mind that this is at the top of God’s current agenda. While considering this, what causes me to tremble at times is to consider how radically different His kingdom is from our perception of what a kingdom should be. I think we often fail to realize that, in the limited demonstration we have of the kingdom, the kingdom is always disruptive. There is simply no way around that. It is a confrontational kingdom that confronts every other system and kingdom that has been, is, or ever will be. Yes, Jesus is coming with His kingdom, but His kingdom will not be an improvement an an existing structure, rather it will be a radical overthrow of everything that we have known up to this point.

What makes me tremble at times is to consider how confident we are in our understanding of the kingdom. Sometimes I think we almost have a chip on our shoulder as Christians expecting that Jesus is going to come at the last minute and vindicate our religious system collectively known as Christianity. In the midst of this I believe we fail to see that His kingdom is going to be completely disruptive, not only to the kingdom of the antichrist, but to the kingdoms that we live and participate in on a daily basis.

Apostolic Foundations - Art Katz

Apostolic Foundations should be required reading for all believers. That may seem like a strong statement, but I mean it. It is not that it is the only book that believers should read, but it is one of the best and one that really has the power to shape the way you approach your Christianity. There are no steps, formulas, or strategies in this book. Rather Art brings you face to face with the reality of the way Paul thought and lived and forces you to examine your own personal Christianity in light of that.

Regardless of whether you agree with Art on every point or not, the journey through Apostolic Foundations will force you to consider your approach to Christianity in a way that is very necessary. We spend far too little time considering our own lives given that the way we live in this age has so much influence on the next. I had the honor of meeting Art Katz before he died and hearing him speak and I can honestly say that Art was one of those rare believers that had an air about him that was as unique as an Old Testament prophet. Art was often called extreme and was a polarizing figure, but the blessing of being around him was worth the pain of self examination.