Dear Church Family:

Dawn and I were at the International Coalition of Apostles this week to hear what God is saying to the Church for 2008. There are many in the Church today that have not heard the title Apostle used in a modern sense. We have been comfortable with pastor, teacher, evangelist, and even prophet, but not too many are addressed as apostle. In the biblical sense, this word describes an office which is necessary to build up the saints into maturity as we prepare for Jesus to return. When the first apostles died, the office continued to be filled. Over time, this office was neglected or filled by people with other titles such as pastor, but in reality Jesus has given apostles to the Church for a very specific reason. They are able to build the Kingdom of God in places others cannot. The very definition of an apostle is “one who is sent.” They have a spiritual gift to put people together and oversee ministry in such a way that things are accomplished and completed that never were accomplished before. They have a spiritual gift to fight against principalities of darkness to bring people out of bondage and into liberty that is different than other offices in the Church. Finally, the apostles are important in setting the Church in order. People that feel out of place are able to find their place when apostles are building ministry. Everyone is not an apostle, but in this season of change, everyone should be connected to apostles and apostolic ministry. This may sound new to some of you today, but in the next five to ten years, talking about apostles will be common to many. Today I am going to lay a biblical foundation for this office so we can see the value of being correctly fit together in the body of Christ.