apostolic activation

                   

                           
                                                               Apostolic Activation

The recent move of God has brought the restoration of the five leadership gifts of Eph.4:11, but what is next on God’s agenda for the Church? According to Eph.4:12 it would be the activation of the saints into ministry doing the works of Jesus out in the “highways and byways” of the land. It seems that the Church can be attracted to meetings and outpourings as they occur in various locations on earth, which all revolve primarily around the anointed vessel being used at the time, and where believers enjoy a measure of blessing on their lives. But getting the Church to take that blessing out of the meeting and into ministry is another story. There has been abundant prophetic word about the saints’ movement and the activation of believers into ministry, however, we still all seem to be going to church and not being the church. Is there a key that can give us a breakthrough into what God wants for us at this time? I believe there is, and I would like to suggest what I consider to be a vital key to activating the saints into “teaching, preaching and healing” (Matt.9:35).
Could it be that we need a new wineskin for the new wine we are enjoying at this time that would move us away from going back to the same old model of ministry. Where can the saints really be active in doing ministry better than in their own homes? We are presently involved in training and activating believers to begin house church ministry, what could be more apostolic than to plant new churches. The House Church Movement, in my opinion, is the answer for activating the saints into ministry that will reach new believers and make new disciples, rather than just recycling believers from one congregation to another. We must teach people that ministry is more than what we do at church in the Ministry of Helps department. For years we have taught people to take a job in the church so that the public gatherings would run smoothly, enabling us to advertise our program and attract church shoppers. The goal in all this was church growth and bigger budgets, all justified by our need to fund the many programs we developed to meet the felt needs of people. I am a product of the church growth movement and it’s teaching, which has helped us to understand breaking barriers and better management principles. We have learned how to incorporate people into our vision, but we have yet to pass the ministry from the hand of
professionals to the non professional believers. When I speak of ministry I refer to the work of “evangelism, discipleship and deliverance” (Matt.9:35). Most believers still depend on the professional leaders to do this type of work, bringing people to church for someone else to get them saved, healed, delivered and discipled. The next step in activation following the restoration of apostles is to see the apostolic people taking responsibility for the real ministry of winning the lost and making disciples. Jesus told his disciples to “let down the nets for a catch”, “go fishing” and “fill up your boat”. Praise the Lord, let’s release the saints to do the same by training them to actually win their friends and neighbors to Jesus and bring them home for church. This may mean that they will not come to service each Sunday at the building, but will meet in homes on Sunday morning like the New Testament believers continued to do for years after Pentecost, and then meet corporately less frequently for a big celebration and impartation from the professional leadership.
For the Saints Movement to really be activated and released, it will require a change of structure for meetings and public gatherings. This will bring about multiplication instead of addition, and there will be real church growth as souls are added to the Lord daily.