SECTION II
The Twenty First Century Apostle
We live in a time
of incessant acceleration of change. The unyielding verisimilitudes of this era
demands structural change in all echelons of life. The Body of Christ is not an exception to
this whirlwind of creative chaos. Mike
Regele spoke of the death of the church in terms not of its final demise, but
of the essential precondition for resurrection.[1] The prerequisite for resurrection is change
or transition. The body of Christ is an
organic miracle of diversity expressed in a unity of purpose.[2] Yet, the body of Christ is undergoing a
transformation that will accentuate its ability to not only express the unity
of purpose, but to evolve into the full stature of Christ. This cannot occur
unless we stop fighting the currents of change.
To become effective at change, we must leave behind the imaginary
organization of individualism, designed by our flesh, and learn to work in a
real organization, which will be a dense network of interdependent
relationships, intensively focused on manifesting the corporate “Christ” on
earth. John 17:21 implies universalized
corporateness of the Christ Body as the major requirement for global
revival. The solutions that the
corporate Christ needs are present within the Body.
No longer can we define the purpose of God or the Body of Christ by a
part, to understand our part. We need a
consciousness of the Body of Christ.
The Holy Spirit has
been intensifying the global prayer movement for the last twenty or so
years. The church has birthed a
reformation that is transforming its face through its cooperation with the Holy
Spirit in incessant global intercession.
We prayed for revival, but God sent reformation. The reformation came before global revival
because great preparation is needed for reengineering systems that will
conserve the fruit of evangelism for rapid planting of the harvest as sons of
the kingdom in the earth. This can only
occur as the Body of Christ becomes aware of its predestined interconnected
relationships and giftings. The
Apostolic reformation is the precursor of the endtime harvest. The Bride makes herself ready by becoming
keenly aware of her parts. The purpose of the apostolic reformation is expedited
through the Bride making herself ready for the Lord Jesus Christ.
In Divine Confrontation, Graham Cooke said
that only apostles and prophets can rebuild the church through the violence of
change. When expansion comes in the Body
of Christ, pressure occurs in the areas that are juxtaposed to the
expansion. In an article on apostolic
ministry, Noel Woodroffe stated that the following characteristics identify the
Apostolic Reformation:[3]
1. A complete radical
renovation of the mentality of the Church globally as God removes all aspects
of limitations from our faith.
2.
Recognition that we are a generation of destiny coming
rapidly into the realization that we are in the best position to actually bring
an end to the ages in our time.
3.
A radical movement away from dead religious and local church
limitation to a Kingdom reality that invades every aspect of life.
4. A positive bringing
of the mass of ordinary believers into the reality of ministry, thus radically
broadening the base of the assault upon enemy positions in every area of life.
5. A complete
restructuring of the way the kingdom is financed and the recognition and faith
for huge financial input in the Kingdom for the push to the end of all things.
6. A ferocious thrust into governmental prayer
across the nations of the earth as a tidal wave of prayer and expectation
sweeps through demonic territories worldwide.
7. A coordinate
invasion of all territories internationally that have not yet received the
declaration of the gospel.
8. A deliberate,
strategic, heightened warfare against illegitimate spiritual thrones world-wide
as God gives the Church insight and heightened powers of discernment.
9. A purification of
ministry and ministers as new leadership is shifted
into place and a global reshuffling of leadership, by the Lord, is underway in
the Church.
10. The return of
effective recognition and operation of apostles and prophets to complete the
function of the five governmental ministries of the church.
11. The achievement of
a great momentum in the Church that will push it through the ultimate end.
12. The global
harvesting of the earth of souls for the Kingdom as God closes the ages down.
[1] Eddie Gibbs, Church Next (Downers Grove : Intervarsity Press, 2000), p. 67.
[1] Ibid. p. 67.
[3] Noel Woodroffe, Questions
About the Apostolic (Caribbean Resource Center & International Ministries,
1999 - accessed on April 2001) available http:// www.acts29online/apostoli.htm; Internet
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