JOEL 2 GENERATION

Last night our community gathered and the testimonies shared of the people healed this week past week went on and on.  Our basic rule for testimony time is this – the testimony has to be something that took place during the week leading up to our weekly meeting AND that it needs to be miraculous/supernatural in character – a healing, accurate prophetic words or words of knowledge, dreams or visions, an exorcism, etc.  In some places the testimonies will come from just a few people, but this is NOT the case here in the muslim country in which we are living.  There are regularly as many as 10 different people sharing testimonies in a single meeting – and sometimes even more.  It is just a thrill to see what God is doing and I am always encouraged to see how many, men and women, old and young, who are being used by God each week to demonstrate God's Kingdom to the lost every single week. As we have believed this is to be "the norm", it has become normal.  

We don't seem to change very much even though we claim to know better.  Jesus didn't come to be the one man show, but chose 12 others, then 70 others and broke it open on the Day of Pentecost by pouring out His Spirit on "on flesh" and you'd think the rest would be history.  However, the "one man show" continues to be be model perpetuated by many and bringing people to "the special meeting with the gifted individual" continues to be the predominate model that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are being used.  I know there are notable exceptions, and the explosion in the past 30 years of "ministry teams" have been one of the healthiest things that ever happened to the Charismatic Church.  That however hasn't put the "one man show" model out of business.  It doesn't seem to matter how many of these individuals (which can of course be either men or women) crash and burn, fall into error or in some other way get off track and

1. Apostolic Ministry is "in Christ" - Jesus is the Chief Apostle - the focus is upon Christ and NOT the Apostle/s. - Heb. 3:1 -­ "consider (fix your thoughts) Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession" - 2 Cor. 4:5 ­ - "for we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake" 2. Apostolic ministry begins in humility & continues in humility - Consider the Incarnation. God left heaven can became a man IN HUMILITY - Phil. 2:3 - "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves" 3. Apostolic ministry honors women ­ Mary "birthed" Jesus' earthly Apostolic ministry, women followed Jesus. - Gal. 3:28 - "there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus". 4. Apostolic Ministry is "team-oriented"­ Jesus buil