Every serious battle ends with a few undefeated men standing among the dead and wounded, and an abundance of weapons and equipment that are no longer needed. Take what you want. 

One benefit of not quitting is that you gain the resources needed to build that one big significant thing. That’s the nature of apostolic ministry.  

Apostolic ministry does not have an expiration date, career shift, or retirement. There is a shift into new levels of influence as we build bigger, but the gift on the inside never comes to a halt. The next generation will always need us to empower them to do more than we did, even after we are dead. 

Longevity is a hallmark of apostles. Our ‘in it for the duration’ commitment produces confidence in those who follow.   

Imposing a term of ministry on pastors or missionaries is a recipe for stopping growth. Ministries won’t grow and new leaders will not rise without an eternal Kingdom attitude. The same holds true for appointing people into positions of authority.  

In some areas within our organization, churches have been listed into geographic regions under an appointed overseer. Not only does this conflict with our stated values, but it removes the incentive for churches to plant daughter churches. Bureaucracy is anti-apostolic. The strong regions of Victory churches are those planted by apostolic ministry, and they remain strong as long as they continue under the apostolic planter and their succeeding generations. We have built an apostolic reach across 10 nations of Asia by planting and leading it together. If we give up our autonomy to an oversight executive, our vision and growth will head down the backside of the bell curve.  

David Cartledge, in Apostolic Revolution, noted, “The Assemblies of God in Australia had the practice of pastors moving from church to church, although it was never an official policy. Pastors would tend to move to a better or larger church as the opportunity arose, and this usually created a nationwide shuffle of preachers. It also created instability in the churches, as the average length of ministry was about four years. Consequently, there were no large churches.”  

He goes on to say that there were no leaders raised up in the local churches. Pastors had no need of help because they weren’t planting or growing churches. They weren’t connecting with potential future leaders.  

The next natural step in the demise of apostolic vision is to establish Bible colleges to attract and train the next generation of leaders. And the final nail in that coffin is to hire the failed pastors as teachers.  

Apostles recognize the importance of building the Kingdom infrastructure. We build the platforms and lay the tracks into new frontiers. We pioneer systems and structure for planting churches, raising leaders, media, communications, training, business… a myriad of creative ministries. And there is a destiny here for anybody who is willing to enter through the proper door.  

Disconnected preachers do not invest in building into the next generation. They may be somewhat helpful but they are not apostolic. Teaching does not make you an apostle, supporting does not make you an apostle, traveling does not make you an apostle, opening a church does not make you an apostle.  

An understanding of apostolic ministry opens the door to the greatest levels of effectiveness for us as individuals and as teams. Apostolic ministry springs from relationship, a covenant adoption level of relationship, and multiplies the Kingdom into the next generation. 

The little guy selling chai tea on the train in India is not helping the railway, he is helping himself. Enjoy the chai and focus on the next frontier.  

The straight talk here: https://www.facebook.com/101385096647355/posts/1857425464376634/