Raising up an Apostolic and Prophetic Generation

“I was given instructions that I assume was one of the primary reasons for the encounter. It was the guidance to pray for the rising up of a new generation of leaders—prophets of the apostolic mould. Leaders who could once again gather the people of God into communities of radical faithfulness.” 
–Richard Foster, Prayer

            In 1978, as Richard Foster was praying and strolling across a beach in Portland, Oregon, something unexpected took place: God started talking back to him. He does not know how long the conversation went on, but it was a thrilling experience. During this time, Foster noticed a large rock in the middle of the water which was being beaten by waves, but stood as a bastion of unconquerable strength. Then he saw an ancient tree which had been hit by lightning. The tree was dead in the middle and only had a few parts on the outside that were still alive. As he looked at this he felt God saying to him that the Church in many places looks like the ancient tree; dead in the middle with only small remnants of life on the periphery. Then he turned again and looked at the strong rock beaten by the waves and heard God say, “But that rock is what I am calling my church to be like.” It was then that he was given instructions to pray for a new generation of leaders—prophets of the apostolic mould. I was born in 1979.

            This is a very personal story because it has to do with what I consider my life’s purpose and calling. As an 18 year old, I wrote my life’s purpose down which I have distilled to the following words: “To raise up a new generation that will make known the love, the life, the power, and the voice of God to their world.”

            It is at this point that I want to introduce two concepts that are important to me as well as to the movement which I belong to: the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC). In January 2010, the late Bishop Ron Carpenter, Sr. made a proclamation via his monthly webcast that our church is an Apostolic Prophetic Church. For those unfamiliar with these terms, I can highly recommend (among others) the book written by our current leader, Bishop Doug Beacham on Rediscovering the Role of Apostles and Prophets. However, my purpose in writing this article is not to define the terms apostles or prophets; but to tell how they describe my life’s purpose.

            Nine years ago, I began my career as a “missionary” to Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The biblical term for missionary is also an apostle. It is one who is a messenger or one who is sent out to be an emissary with the authority of a king or a leader. I do not place the title regularly before my name or on business cards, but I recognize that my primary calling in life is to be an apostle. More importantly, we as a church must be apostolic if we are truly following the example of Jesus, the greatest apostle (Hebrews 3:1).

 Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus was a friend to the drunkards, the tax collectors and the prostitutes. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers and did all that he saw and heard his Father telling him to do (John 5:19). Jesus built and still is building his church today (Matthew 16:18). Jesus power came out of his intimate relationship with his father. His identity was based on the words said at his baptism, “This is my beloved son in him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Hearing the voice of Father God and sharing it with others is a simple definition of being prophetic. The followers of Jesus did the same works he did 2,000 years ago and they are still doing them today.

My brother, Aaron, an IPHC missionary (apostle) to Fortaleza, Brazil, is experiencing what scholars call “a church planting movement.” Every few months, I get new pictures where hundreds of new believers are being baptized. Paralytics being able to walk, blind people being healed, deaf people being able to hear, new believer beings baptized are normal there. Last I heard, they have seen nine blind people healed in 2014. Healings, Prophecy, and the use of the other spiritual gifts are normal in an apostolic and prophetic church.

In Europe, at this time, we are not experiencing the large amounts of miracles or  baptisms taking place as in Brazil…yet! But we are seeing people getting healed on the streets, at psychic fairs, at businesses, and even at churches. J I am monthly travelling with teams from the Netherlands to other cities and nations to train people in operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit (Prophecy, Healing, Words of Knowledge, etc.). We serve a supernatural God so it should be natural to move in the Supernatural. (Naturally Supernatural by Gary Best is also the title of a great book).  Yet the goal of moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit is not to be supernatural, but to demonstrate the love of Jesus in a tangible way.

Last week I took a young man on the street to do evangelism. He stopped the first person he saw and asked them if he knew Jesus loved them. That person ran away as quickly as he could from us. I then told my friend to try another strategy. We went to a park where three young guys were skating. I asked them if I could give them a spiritual gift such as healing or an encouraging word. They were amazed as they watched how Jesus healed them of their different pains (back, foot, and ankle). I shared my testimony of being healed of Cerebral Palsy and how Jesus loved them and they were so happy and thankful they wanted to take our picture to remember us. Again, the goal of being apostolic or prophetic is not to gain a new title, but to show people the love of Jesus in a very tangible and personal way.

Another great example of a modern day apostle was a man named John Chapman, otherwise known as Jonny Appleseed. Chapman was a missionary who planted not only the gospel, but also apple trees in large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia. His life is a parable of what I desire God to do with my life. Chapman would plant apple tree nurseries and then go on to return every year or two to check on them. What the Apostle Paul did with the churches he planted is what Chapman did with the people he met and with the apple trees he planted. This is a wonderful model I hope to follow.

In Amsterdam, we are planting new churches and starting new groups which we believe are like greenhouses or nurseries from which future churches and ministries can be started from. My desire is to start a bonfire here in Amsterdam from which we can carry torches to go to other cities and nations and help rekindle old fires and even start new ones. We believe that the word of God is like a fire that should not be just shut up in our bones or in our churches, but that should spread the healing power of God’s love to other places (Jer. 20:9).

However, one of the most important characteristic of an apostolic and prophetic church is radical, selfless and sacrificial love. Two men were once travelling in a snowy cold mountain late at night. They needed to get to the next village before they literally froze to death. However, they found another traveller who was already frozen and nearly dead. One traveller said, “Come on, let us pick him and save him.”

The other responded, “Forget it. If we carry him then we will all die. You can try to save him, but I am going to save myself!”

The one traveller had a difficult choice to face. Was he was going to carry the dying man or let him die? He chose to pick him up on his shoulder and tray to save him at the risk of losing his own life.

All night long he walked with the man draped over his shoulder. He thought he was going to die, but just when he thought it was over, he saw the lights of a village in the horizon. This sight gave him new strength and he was so glad to arrive safely in time to save himself and the fellow he had picked up. What he found to his astonishment was that the friend who had abandoned him in order to save himself was found lying face down frozen in the snow a hundred meters away from the village.

The body heat of the dying man had kept him alive as he carried him on his shoulder, but the man who tried to save himself froze to death. This is what Jesus meant when he said those who save their lives will lose it, but those who lose their lives for him will save it (Matt. 16:25). This is also a picture of what it means to be an apostolic and prophetic church. It is not primarily about giving away spiritual gifts to people (healing, prophecy, etc), but primarily about radically loving people the way that Jesus loves us. That is what I want to give the rest of my life to: to raise up a new generation that makes known the love, the life, the power and the voice of God to this world. That is a description of an Apostolic and Prophetic Generation.