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I had recently posted briefly here on CityData a comment about a pastor of a local church who claimed to have "became aware" that God had called him to be an Apostle. He then took out ads on local billboards to announce this "revelation". I wondered today if he was still "at it" with his ministry so I did a google search of his name and found that he has a current blog as recently updated as December 2010. It was like nearly 20 years ago that I concluded that this man was deluded. Even after I was out of this strange church and attending a Baptist congregation, I'd occasionally run into someone from this Assembly of God and they'd always tell me how the Baptists did not have the Holy Spirit, etc.... I'll never forget how much he loved to preach on hell and how he once called me out in the congregation because I could not control my crying at church. Anyhow, here is a recent post of his from his blog:
Quote:
I believe and am fully persuaded that because, in the Spirit, my life and ministry are accurately aligned to the Chief Cornerstone, then I am the cornerstone to which other apostles may safely align themselves and their apostolic ministry. May it always be true.
The Holy Spirit Gifts of the Apostle is a gift that is an office gift, whose calling is to build churches and bestow an anointing of Christ on the church leaders for the victory, and the area were the people to that church will come will be cleaned of curses that can inhibit the success........Some Apostle groups will have teaching material for a blessing of revelation from Christ, and prophetic calling for chuches for their works....... Apostles are the builder and growers and expanders for Jesus .......... There are many believer of theosophy who believe the gifts of the Apostle are past, but theosophy does not come from Jesus..........
It doesn't make sense to me that there would be Apostles today and here is an example of why from a page I found online about the topic: Are There Apostles Today?
snippet:
Quote:
The Apostles Foundational Role Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostlesand prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Ephesians 2:19-22
Here we see the church compared to a building.
Jesus himself is the chief cornerstone. The apostles and prophets make up the rest of the foundation. This analogy helps us to see the foundational role of the apostles. When building a building, the first thing that is laid is the foundation. Everything else is then built upon that one foundation. Do we then go back after building a couple of stories and lay the foundation again? No. It is only done once. The foundation is laid one time in the beginning and then never again.
The same is true of the apostles. They served as a foundation for the emerging church. We should not expect to see another group of apostles later on any more than we would expect someone building a building to lay another foundation on the fourth floor. After all, Jesus Christ, being the chief cornerstone, is a part of this foundation as well. We certainly do not expect there to be another Jesus Christ, do we?
Everytime I hear someone claiming to be an "apostle" I can't help to think of that movie "The Apostle" that came out several years ago and how crazy that guy was......I don't believe there to be modern day apostles any more than I believe in ET.
Everytime I hear someone claiming to be an "apostle" I can't help to think of that movie "The Apostle" that came out several years ago and how crazy that guy was......I don't believe there to be modern day apostles any more than I believe in ET.
Hmmm... I never saw that movie. Was it like a holly wood movie for entertainment purposes, or some other type of film?
In the church I spoke of, the men wanted to be called by certain titles when spoken to. I wonder why?
I guess since the definition or the word Apostle means 'one who is sent'....anyone who spreads the gospel could consider themselves one. But since we associate the word with the 12 original disciples and Paul....out of respect....we don't use it in the original context and generally avoid the title.
I don't really care if someone feels they need a descriptive name. God may not let them keep it once they get to heaven though.
I had recently posted briefly here on CityData a comment about a pastor of a local church who claimed to have "became aware" that God had called him to be an Apostle. He then took out ads on local billboards to announce this "revelation". I wondered today if he was still "at it" with his ministry so I did a google search of his name and found that he has a current blog as recently updated as December 2010. It was like nearly 20 years ago that I concluded that this man was deluded. Even after I was out of this strange church and attending a Baptist congregation, I'd occasionally run into someone from this Assembly of God and they'd always tell me how the Baptists did not have the Holy Spirit, etc.... I'll never forget how much he loved to preach on hell and how he once called me out in the congregation because I could not control my crying at church. Anyhow, here is a recent post of his from his blog:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by a man its members believe to be God's chosen prophet, or spokesman. We believe his role is the same as the Apostle Peter's was in Christ's original Church. Directly under him are twelve Apostles, whom we also believe to have been called by God to serve in this capacity. Here's a recent picture of them:
I'm with Glory B. I do believe there is supposed to be some kind of order and leadership, but all believers were given the Spirit. There wasn't ever supposed to be a top-down kind of pattern for the real church. The "leader" was supposed to be a shepherd; somebody who cared so much for the sheep that they would starve, be beaten, and endure all kinds of pain for the sheep under them (you know, like in the Bible) just so the sheep (weaker, uneducated, confused) could be free and healthy.
Everytime I hear someone claiming to be an "apostle" I can't help to think of that movie "The Apostle" that came out several years ago and how crazy that guy was......I don't believe there to be modern day apostles any more than I believe in ET.
I'm really wondering why this is, Ilene. In Ephesians 4:11-14, Paul states:
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive..."
In other words, prophets and apostles were an essential part of the Church Jesus Christ established. They were its foundation. It wasn't just the words of the Apostles that would be needed until the Savior's return. It was individuals who held the same authority as the original twelve did and who functioned as they functioned in directing the affairs of the Church. Paul states that without this organizational structure, Christ’s followers would be like children, persuaded first one way and then another, and unable to distinguish between true and false doctrines, being subject to the teachings of those who were crafty and who desired to deceive them. He also pointed out that this organizational structure was to remain in place until we all became united in our faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Do you really think we're there yet? It was precisely because the Apostles were all killed and that the leadership they provided ceased to exist. Look what the result is: 30,000+ different denominations of Christianity. Just imagine how different things might have been today if there had been twelve Apostles leading Christ’s Church from the very beginning! We could look to them to for guidance and direction, knowing that they were called by the real Head of the Church to lead it in His physical absence.
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