2

others you will find

THE NEXT WAVE

www.icof.net

PUBLISHER

International Circle of Faith (ICOF)

The Next Wave - Contributing Editors

David Tait, J. Samuel Willoughby,

Lea Bates, Derrick Day, Bernie Wade,

Robert Straube, John Rogers, Cindye

Coates, Doc Burkhart & Bobby Sutton.

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THE NEXT WAVE MAGAZINE

P.O. Box 72 Sulphur, KY 40070

502.410.4263

Annual Subscription: $36 US.

How to Be Apostolic Without Apostles

Bernie L. Wade

The Binding of Satan Apostle Cindye

Coates

RELIGITICS:

ISLAM AND THE

PUBLIC SCHOOL

Treatise on Genuine

Apostleship

Dr. Len Robinson

Vision Three: Restoration

Apostle Robert Straube

RESTORE SUCH A ONE

Apostle Bobby Sutton

JOBIAN THEOLOGY

Bishop Derrick Day

The Only Ministry

of the NT Church

Bishop J. Samuel

Willoughby

3

HOW TO BE APOSTOLIC

WITHOUT APOSTLES

By Bernie L. Wade

Imagine you meet someone and in the

3course of the conversation they tell you

that they are Apostolic. When you ask

“What is Apostolic?” They probably don’t

give you a very good answer but they

may be able to give you the general

idea that it has something to do with the

Apostles. A natural follow-up question

would be, “So, how many Apostles do

you have in your church? They answer,

“We don’t have Apostles.” Or “We don’t

believe in Apostles.”

This may leave you

confused. You might

brave the question, “How

can you be Apostolic

without any Apostles?”

One of the buzz words of

the Church today is the

word Apostolic. Words

like Apostles, Apostolic

Reformation, Apostolic

succession, etc. are common.

Coalitions of Apostles have become

common. Churches with the words

Apostolic in their name are in every city.

Denominations with the word Apostolic

in them are equally as common. With

all this attention to the Apostolic one

would think that the mantle of those

New Testament leaders was active in

our modern Church.

While we have this abundance of the

use of the words Apostolic and Apostle,

most of these groups ignore the doctrine

of the Apostles and of the New

Testament Church. One should see a

BUYER BEWARE sign on most of these

self appointed Apostolic groups.

The word Apostolic is used to give the

impression that the group or church is

somehow connected to the Apostles of

Jesus Christ. While their title says

Apostolic, what is actually being offered

seldom represents the New Testament

Church or the Apostles of Jesus Christ.

If these groups or churches faced

litigation for false advertizing

they would be in real

trouble. What is advertized

is not “in the jar”.

The title of this treatise may

seem strange. You may

realize that the concept of

being Apostolic without

Apostles is like an apple

without a core or a car

without an engine. Yet, that

is exactly what we see

repetitively. Apostolic has become a

word almost without meaning joining

advertizing slogans like NEW, NEW &

IMPROVED, BIGGER, BETTER, etc.

FALSE APOSTLES

Inside most of these various Apostolic

groups or churches one generally finds

a variety of things. Few, if any, of these

actually recognize Apostles. Some

4

have not

considered their

position on

Apostles others

teach that there

are no longer

Apostles. For

some the

obvious lack of

Apostolic

anointing was addressed by titling some

of their pastors as Apostles. Among

these the word Apostle is more of a

man-made title than an actual

representation of the imprimatur of the

Holy Spirit resting the mantle of an

Apostle on that person. Most of these

groups continue to use the Roman

system. A system that was adapted

from Nimrod and is patterned on

Babylon and Egypt – not on the New

Testament Church of the Apostles of

Jesus Christ.

You might ask, “Why all the fuss?”

The idea of false Apostles is not new. In

his 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians Apostle

Paul wrote this chilling rebuke,

“But what I am doing I will continue

to do, so that I may cut off

opportunity from those who desire an

opportunity to be regarded just as we

are in the matter about which they

are boasting. For such men are false

apostles, deceitful workers,

disguising themselves as apostles of

Christ. No wonder, for even Satan

disguises himself as an angel of

light.” It is evident that these modern

pretenders have similar motives.

The purpose of the true Apostle is to

release Apostolic anointing. The

anointing of the Apostles was the power

to break every chain. When the Holy

Spirit was yet to manifest in Acts

Chapter 8, it would take Apostolic

anointing for the manifestation of the

Holy Spirit and to rebuke the evil plan of

Simon the Sorcerer.

In Acts 19, Apostle Paul found some

disciples of John but they were not

aware that the Holy Spirit was available

to them. After their encounter with

Apostle Paul they received the Holy

Spirit! This is the kind of anointing that

the Apostles of the New Testament

Church brought to impact those around

them. The vision of Charles Parham

and other like minded people of God

was to see restoration of the power and

anointing of the Apostles of the New

Testament Church.

Much of the modern

word usage related to

the Apostolic comes to

us from Charles Fox

Parham (the father of

the modern Apostolic

[Apostolic Faith] and

Pentecostal

movements) who in the early 1900’s

started the Apostolic Faith movement.

From this powerful man, filled with the

Holy Spirit, came a global group of

followers of Jesus Christ who were

focused on seeing Apostolic

5

Reformation; meaning the New

Testament Church and the Apostles

doctrine restored.

Those who continue to use the Apostolic

Faith name seldom resemble these

Apostolic Faith forefathers. Like an Old

Testament passage these wear the title

of their forefathers but “none of them is

able to speak the language of Judah,

but the language of his own people”

(Nehemiah 13:23). These modern

pretenders of the Apostolic seldom

realize that even these forefathers were

not satisfied with what they had

accomplished. Rather, they saw their

efforts as only a beginning and hoped

for the day when the restoration or

Apostolic Reformation would come to

fruition.

APOSTOLIC REFORMATION

In 1901, Charles Parham and his

Apostolic Faith band marched through

the streets of Houston, Texas

proclaiming that God was restoring the

Apostles doctrine. These had recently

understood that the Holy Spirit was still

available (like it was in the New

Testament) with the evidence of

speaking in other tongues as the Spirit

gave them utterance.

Parham was committed to breaking

down the racial, gender and other

barriers, while standing up to the

religious systems of his day. He

envisioned a restoration of the Apostles

and the New Testament Church – an

Apostolic Reformation.

However, men with less vision and

much more ambition hijacked the

Apostolic Faith movement creating a

plethora of denominations, groups,

churches, etc. These were generally

interested in speaking in tongues but

didn’t embrace Apostolic reformation.

Millions would receive the baptism of the

Holy Spirit (evidenced by speaking in

other tongues), but most would not look

beyond this introductory phase to know

more about God, His will and the

mandate he left for His Church and

those original Apostles.

Sadly, when we polled people to ask

them what Apostolic meant; even those

(Continued on Page 7)

6

CALLING ALL INTERCESSORS!

IF YOU ARE AN INTERCESSOR

OR WANT TO BE; WE ARE

LOOKING FOR YOU.

WE CAN ACCOMPLISH NOTHING

SIGNIFICANT WITHOUT PRAYER. TO

BECOME PART OF OUR

INTERCESORS DREAM TEAM

OR CALL.

502.410.4263

7

(How to be Apostolic continued)

who are part of groups that claimed to

be “Apostolic”, we found none of them

could even tell us what the word meant,

let alone explain the purpose, mandate

or imprimatur of the Holy Spirit

connected with its rightful

implementation.

In 1927, John G. Lake

vocalized the realization

that the Apostolic Faith

movement had never

reached the potential of

the divine mandate that

had been given to restore

the New Testament Church.

Among other things, John G. Lake:

called Azusa Street an

“advertizing stunt”1

said that the world does not

know true Christianity, 2

In spite of its popular impact,

Pentecostals (a detour from

the original vision of the

Apostolic Faith) failed to

exemplify true Christianity

John G. Lake made it very clear that this

movement was NOT “comparable with

the apostles, or the leaders of

Christianity in the first centuries.” He

said, “We have rather been an order of

1 John G Lake to Parham. Letter from John G Lake to

Charles Parham MAR 24, 1927 2 John G Lake to Parham. Letter from John G Lake to

Charles Parham MAR 24, 1927

cheap evangelism, with a rather cheap

evangelistic message that is not worthy

in the high sense of being called

Pentecostal (and certainly not

Apostolic).”

Thus, this Pentecostal movement

became a cheap replica of what God

had envisioned in the mantle and

mandate of the Apostolic. Lake

lamented this, “Jesus Christ is not a

church any more--just a mob.”

With little regard for this, modern

usurpers continue to tout the

Pentecostal movement as a genuine

Apostolic mandate even though nearly

all groups claiming to be or using the

word Apostolic are merely holdovers

from the efforts of the last century.

Lake described the situation this way, “a

group of little men with little minds,

trying to fill big men’s places in life and

in the work of God. It is pitiable and

laughable to watch the trick monkey

stuff. NAME WITHHELD is extremely

jealous, insanely so, and this causes

him to stoop to such dishonorable little

things as no one could believe unless

you were on the ground and saw it. It

always makes me think of a bantam

8

rooster among a flock of decent sized

chickens. The only thing the bantam can

do is strut.”

Speaking about the institutionalization of

the concept of Apostolic Reformation,

John G. Lake wrote this, “The spirit of

denominationalism in The Assemblies of

God (one of many pretenders for the

Apostolic mandate) is probably narrower

than even in the old churches from

which Pentecostal people have been

escaping for the last thirty years. So that

as a power to bless mankind and put an

ideal before the world such as the

scriptures outline and as our soul is

longing for, it does not seem to me they

are worth discussing or considering.”

Lake conceded that even the idea of

restoring the Apostolic was dying. That

was 90 years ago!

Lake, Parham and

their contemporaries

(Garfield Thomas

Haywood, Howard

Goss, Maria

Woodworth-Etter,

and others)

envisioned the

restoration of the

Apostolic Church that would be

powerful; releasing Apostolic anointing

in the earth. Lake recorded it this way,

“The same Holy Ghost through Peter

flashed out like a sword of glory and

smote the disease from the lame man at

the Beautiful Gate, was the same sword

that flashed out of his spirit and sent

Ananias and Sapphire to the

graveyard.”3

Lake voiced what was clearly

understood among these forefathers a

century ago. Holy Spirit filled leaders of

the days such as W. Fay Carrothers,

Seeley D. Kinne, Cannon, Dr. Kenyon,

Wallace understood that the outline of

the fivefold ministry in particular and the

church in general outlined by Apostle

Paul in I Corinthians Chapter 12 was a

model that had to be implemented in the

modern church if were to make any

claim to mantle of being Apostolic. This

was a model that was a foreign concept

to those who came from a plethora of

denominations to the Apostolic

movement.

Lake explained to Charles Parham that

the Pentecostals (a schism from the

Parham’s vision of Apostolic

Reformation) settled for one

manifestation of the spirit; ‘speaking in

tongues’ when Parham had envisioned

the whole of Apostolic Reformation John

G. Lake said, “I am rather inclined

feel, brother, that we have been too

small for God's uses and purposes in

this matter.”

NO APOSTLE – NO APOSTOLIC

So, how can you be truly Apostolic

without Apostles? The answer is

simple; you cannot be Apostolic without

Apostles! Just like you can’t have a

3 John G Lake to Parham. Letter from John G Lake to

Charles Parham MAR 24, 1927

9

working car without an engine. What

calls itself Apostolic today is primarily a

fraud living in the shadow of a dream

from the last Century. They are a car

without an engine. There are as was

instructed by Apostle Paul to his son

Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:5, …Having a

form of godliness, but denying the

power thereof: from such turn away.

For the last Century most of those

claiming to be Apostolic have done so

without Apostles. Like Rehoboam, who

replaced the gold shields of his father’s

with brass ones, the embarrassment of

operating without the

anointing of the Apostles

has been compensated by

replacing Apostolic

anointing with a plethora

of man-made programs,

systems and ideas. This

new cart uses men who

their man-made system

calls pastors to replace

nearly every function of

the five-fold ministry.

Many churches have a

multiplicity of pastors and

no other part of the

fivefold ministry is recognized. Seems

like everyone is a pastor.

Without Apostles there is no

Apostolic. No one can be Apostolic

without Apostles. Like Charles

Parham and a host of others, John G.

Lake hoped future generations would

build on their foundation to bring an

Apostolic Reformation. It was their

dream to see,

“A Holy Ghost united, authoritive and

God controlled and God-directed and

God-empowered body, through

whom God could meet the challenge

of Rome (man-made system of the

church that opposed the Apostolic

mandate) and hell and anti-Christ and

every other institution of the devil

that the latter days bring forth.”4

Efforts, movements and outpourings

that might lead the adherents to become

truly apostolic have been

met by with great

opposition by those in this

myriad of religious

traditions.

To be Apostolic we have

to return the church to

being truly Apostolic; not

just being Apostolic in

name only. Apostolic is

not a word on a sign or

letterhead.

We have a plethora of

movements claiming to be

Apostolic while operating

under the same system as the Roman

Church. Rome brought us a man-made

system; a new cart to replace the plan of

God. This man-made system has

generally been the impetus for a

plethora of movements, groups,

denominations, etc.

4 John G Lake to Parham. Letter from John G Lake to

Charles Parham MAR 24, 1927

The Egyptians taking Solomon’s shields of gold. Rehoboam replaced these with

shields of brass

10

What we need is to see a genuine return

to the New Testament Church. To really

be Apostolic, the church is going to have

to have Apostles just as the first Century

Church.

The true Church will, of necessity have

to see the restoration of fivefold ministry;

not only apostles but also prophets,

teachers, pastors and evangelists. This

will begin a restoration that will return

the church to the model of the

Jerusalem Church and subsequent

Antioch Church; a model of Church that

was abandoned in 380 AD

when Theodosius of Rome

claimed that all the Church had

to answer to him. This edict

ended 300 years of the Church

operating under the imprimatur

of the Holy Spirit and the

direction of the five-fold

ministry and ushered in a new

order of man-made rulers.

Apostolic means, like the Apostles.

Without the Anointing of the Apostles a

movement will never be Apostolic. The

Book of the Acts of the Apostles

outlines the exploits of men and women

led by the Holy Spirit who hazarded their

lives, their fortunes and their sacred

honor to give birth to the New

Testament Church. These turned their

world upside down. We will have to do

the same. We must be ready to

sacrifice everything for the cause of

Jesus Christ.

Submitted respectfully and prayerfully.

Bernie L. Wade is

President of

the International Circle

of Faith (ICOF), a

network of some 50,000

ministers, churches, and

parachurch ministries

representing more than 25 million

followers of Jesus Christ.

Coming in the January issue of the

Next Wave:

The Protestant Reformation has DIED

by Bernie L. Wade

Here is an excerpt:

Where are we at 500 years after Wycliffe started the Reformation? What have we lost? What have we recovered?

In 1500 John Wycliffe set out on the path to restore the Church to its New Testament origins. Wycliffe boldly declared that he would “do only those things that were Apostolic (that the Apostles taught) and NOTHING that the Papacy dictated.

His resolve would be the spark that would set in motion a movement that would eventually be identified as the

Protestant Reformation. Some 500 years after Wycliffe (who eventually was martyred for his faith) took his bold stance

It seems prudent to analyze how much progress we have made…

11

12

~ Dr. Cindye Coates

I wake up every morning to start my

day living for Jesus, rather than against

Satan. I don't have to bind Satan to get

over difficulties or to make it through life

and neither do you!

There is an un-biblical belief requiring

the Believer to engage in mortal combat

with demons in spiritual warfare in order

to further the Great Commission. This

concept of over-stating the power and

role of Satan is rooted in the false notion

that Christ descended into Hell to

wrestle the keys of Hell and Death out of

the hand of Satan in the corridors of Hell

in order to achieve our Salvation. “In

order for the Believer to live a victorious

life they must constantly battle Satan”,

says those who have been blinded by

this false sense of responsibility.

Defeated. Conquered. Bound.

“In this way, God disarmed the evil

rulers and authorities. He shamed them

publicly by his victory over them on the

cross of Christ.” Colossians 2:15

Jesus came to destroy the works of the

devil and according to Colossians

2:15 He did just that by dying on the

Cross. Period.

“Since the children have flesh and

blood, he too shared in their humanity

so that by his death he might destroy

him who holds the power of death—that

is, the devil“

Hebrews 2:14

It wasn't in the corridors of hell that

salvation was achieved and the devil

was defeated, it was on The Cross!

While some argue that a method of

salvation was achieved by the Cross,

they reject the notion that the devil was

defeated because of the Cross.

Because they read The Book of

Revelation as largely unfulfilled, they

also read the account in Revelation 20

of Satan's binding as also unfulfilled and

yet to happen in the future. But this

interpretation is against the New

Testament's description of Satan’s

position since the Cross.

"BINDING" IN THE BIBLE

"Binding" can be physical, such as being

bound by shackles, chains or ropes

(Mark 5:4) or bandages (Luke 10:34). It

can also be non-physical. That is,

someone could be bound by an

oath (Matthew 23:16; Acts 23:12), a

condition, or an obligation. Jesus

questioned whether it was right for Him

to heal a woman who had been 'bound

by Satan for eighteen years' (Luke

13

13:16). Christ also stated that we could

only 'bind' people on Earth with what

they were already bound by in Heaven.

In this sense, binding referred

to obligations and it meant that people

who could no longer do what the

Pharisees had done when they invented

certain rules they called 'binding rules'

(things forbidden), instead they could

only restrict people from doing what God

said they were restricted from doing.

Meaning of “THOUSAND”

When it comes to

interpreting the

passage in

Revelation 20 about

Satan being bound at

the beginning of “the

one thousand year

reign of Christ”, it is

assumed by some

(who believe in a

literal and future

1,000 reign of Christ on Earth) that

neither the Kingdom of God in which

Christ is king ("1,000" years) or “the

binding of Satan” has taken place.

Silly simplistic arguments are used to

dispute those, who like me, regard the

"1,000" years as linguistically

representing the rule and reign of Christ

from the close of the Old Covenant in

70AD to the present day (and beyond).

To ignore the way the Bible uses the

number "1,000" and to then impose a

literal understanding of it into the

Revelation 20 text is perilous. Job says

that he could ask “a thousand

questions” of God and have them all

answered. Surely this language is

stating the enormous depth of God's

knowledge rather than limiting God to

the capacity to only answer a thousand

questions.

The Law-Giver says that God's love

extends to “a thousand generations” to

those who keep His covenant. Surely

God's love does not expire after a

thousand generations of humanity? The

Psalmist said that God “owns the cattle

on a thousand hills”.

Does this imply that the

cattle on hill number

1001 and beyond are

not God's? It appears

that the biblical usage

of “a thousand” paints a

picture of a number so

large that it's not meant

to be counted as

“thousand” was the

largest increment. The words, “million”,

“billion”, “trillion”, etc… did not exist.

“Thousand” was the largest increment

and so it was used to figuratively

express endless longevity!

That's exactly what it means in

Revelation 20.

And he seized the dragon, that ancient

serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and

bound him for a thousand

years, Revelation 20:2

14

Secondly, since Satan is a non-

corporeal being (that is, he doesn't have

a physical body) physical objects, such

as metal chains, cannot restrict him.

Therefore, whatever binding means in

Revelation 20:2, its certainly cannot

mean a physical restriction. Since we

have already seen that binding can

mean something non-physical, it is far

more probable that the binding referred

to in Revelation 20:2 is symbolic

language for restriction.

The Cross terminally weakened Satan,

and the culmination of the Old Covenant

in 70AD destroyed his ability to exploit

the condemnation of the Mosaic

Covenant.

Therefore, rejoice O heavens and you

who dwell in them! But woe to you, O

earth and sea, for the devil has come

down to you in great wrath, because he

knows that his time is

short!” Revelation 12:12

The teaching of the New Testament is

that Christ came to defeat the works of

the devil. For those who believe that

nothing changed for Satan since the

Cross, then the statement in Revelation

12:12 becomes non-sensical as they are

forced into the absurd position of

claiming that the devil's short time is

from the Cross to the present day. This

type of Bible interpretation requires

mental, theological, and exegetical

gymnastics. For those of us not

prepared to abandon the ordinary rules

of Bible interpretation (including:

Context, Non-Contradiction, Original

Intention) such fanciful interpretations

are not only ridiculous but impossible.

Since we know that the Cross

announced the end of the Old Covenant

which continued to function until the

New Covenant had been preached to

every Jew in the Empire, and which

Christ said was conditional for the

ending of the Old Covenant-

And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be

proclaimed throughout the whole

world [Greek word: "oichoumene",

def'n: 'Roman Empire'] as a testimony to

all nations, and then the end will

come. Matthew 24:14

The writer of Hebrews, who wrote to

discouraged Jewish Christians

encouraging them not to succumb to the

taunts of Pharisaic Jews that the Mosaic

Covenant has not been done away with

since the Temple, Priesthood and

Sacrifices were still in place, revealed to

them-

In speaking of a new covenant, he

makes the first one obsolete. And what

15

is becoming obsolete and growing old is

ready to vanish away. Hebrews 8:13

Satan did everything he could to prevent

the first Church from preaching the

Gospel to every creature- because we

wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again

and again—but Satan hindered

us. 1Thessalonians 2:18

But despite Satan's best efforts, the

Gospel prevailed by 70AD- the word of

the truth, the gospel, which has come to

you, as indeed in the whole

world it is bearing fruit and

growing— Colossians 1:5-6

if indeed you continue in

the faith, stable and

steadfast, not shifting from

the hope of the gospel that

you heard, which has been

proclaimed in all creation

under heaven, and of which I, Paul,

became a minister. Colossians 1:23

When all those living under the Old

Covenant had had an opportunity to

convert to Christ and accept the New

Covenant, the Old Covenant could end.

With the end of the Old Covenant came

the 'binding' of Satan. From that point

Satan could no longer come into the

presence of God (as he did in Job 1-2),

instead he was 'bound' from

approaching God, and 'bound' for

eternal damnation ("bottomless pit").

Satan was defeated at the Cross. He

was bound at the close of the Old

Covenant. This means that he is

restricted from deceiving nations and

accusing the brethren in the presence of

God (since he is now cast out of

heaven). For those who claim that if

Satan is bound now "he certainly has a

long leash" - I suggest that if he isn't

bound now he certainly lacks

imagination! If Satan is not now

restricted from conducting unlimited evil

by the Lordship of Christ then his lack of

rampant evil is bewildering.

Noted church leaders are

quick to ignorantly attribute

natural disasters to Satan as

evidence of his unbounded

evil. But so-called natural

disasters are more often than

not a vital part of God's

maintenance plan for

sustaining Creation.

Earthquakes, tsunamis, bush-fires,

floods are all designed by God for the

purpose of sustaining life on earth.

The Biblical expression "1,000" speaks

of not meant to be counted.

(1) God owns the cattle on a 1,000 hills.

PS. 50:10 (2) Job could ask 1,000

questions and each time receive an

answer. JOB 9:3 (3) God's faithfulness

is to 1,000 generations, and so on.

DUET 7:9

In a similar way, after the close of the

Old Covenant Age with the destruction

of the Temple and abolition the

sacrificial system, Christ established His

New Covenant reign.

16

HOW FAR INTO THE FUTURE DID

REVELATION CLAIM SATAN WOULD

BE BOUND?

Some claim that the Book of Revelation

was written about events which were to

be fulfilled in the much distant future.

But the Book of Revelation makes

emphatic claims that its contents

pertained to its original audience. The

opening verses of Revelation could not

be clearer-

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which

God gave him to show to his servants

the things that, must soon take place.

He made it known by sending his angel

to his servant John...Blessed is the one

who reads aloud the words of this

prophecy, and blessed are those who

hear, and who keep what is written in

it, for the time is near. Revelation 1:1, 3

ESV

It flies in the face of logic to claim that

although it plainly states that its contents

are immediately about to happen, it

actually meant that they were thousands

of years off! That is an absurd

interpretation. This also relates to what it

says about the doom of Satan. The

correct interpretation of “Satan's time is

short" (Rev. 12:12) as the forty or so

years (an incredibly short time in the

scheme of Biblical history) as being from

the Cross to the destruction of

Jerusalem. To suggest that Satan's

"short time" was from the Cross to the

present day defies all ordinary senses of

language and basic critical thinking

skills.

“For this purpose the Son of God was

manifested, that he might destroy the

works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8

And He did!

Dr. Cindye Coates and her husband Dr.

Stan Coates lead a ministry team for

Solomon’s Porch in Atlanta. Both Dr.’s

Coates are graduates of International

Circle of Faith Colleges, Seminaries and

Universities (ICOF CSU).

17

18

EDITORS NOTE: You need to

understand what we have lost

before you can truly understand

Apostolic Reformation. This

article will explain.

Vision Three: Restoration

by Dr. Robert Straube

A. Introduction

In order to be birthed into the vision of

any local church, it is necessary to

understand what God is doing in the

Church today. It has been the tendency

of some to see the Church only from a

historical perspective – as in the book of

Acts or in the great revivals of the past.

We can learn from what God has done,

but we must not limit His present move

by His past ways. God is getting ready

to do an outpouring, as we have never

seen before, as soon as His Bride

becomes ready!

When writing to believers in the early

church, the Apostle Peter earnestly

desired that they would be “. . .

established in the present truth” (2 Peter

1:12). “Present truth” is that truth which

was revealed to them at that time.

The early church understood the

importance of moving with God in the

present tense. When standing before

the Sanhedrin court, the disciples had

an amazing testimony while sharing only

those things they had personally seen

and heard. The religious leaders “. . .

realized that they had been with Jesus”

(Acts 4:13). This world needs to see the

same type of people moving with God in

the present tense. The Church should

testify to a now relationship with Him,

demonstrating His power with signs and

wonders.

In hindsight, we see a glorious Church

in the first century. Comparing it to the

Church today makes us wonder if we

will ever see similar Christianity again.

Yet the Scriptures make plain that God

is restoring truth and spirit to the Church

in these final hours of history. That is

what Restoration is all about!

Haggai 2:9 “The glory of the latter

temple shall be greater than the former,

says the Lord of hosts: and in this place

I will give peace, says the Lord of

hosts.”

Joel 2:23-25 “Be glad then, you children

of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your

God; for he has given you the former

rain faithfully, and he will cause the rain

to come down on you – the former rain,

and the latter rain in the first month.

The threshing floors shall be full of

wheat, and the vats shall overflow with

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new wine and oil. ‘So I will restore to

you the years that the swarming locust

has eaten, the crawling locust, the

consuming locust, and the chewing

locust, my great army which I sent

among you.’”

Acts 3:20-21 “. . . and that he may send

Jesus Christ, who has preached to you

before, whom heaven must receive until

the times of restoration of all things,

which God has spoken by the mouth of

all his holy prophets since the world

began.”

B. Restoration Defined

The Hebrew word for “restoration” is

“shalam.” It means “to restore

something stolen or owed.”

The Greek word for “restoration” is

“apokathistemai.” It literally means “to

set something back to its original state.”

Its fullest meaning is “to be complete, to

finish, to refresh, to set again, to put

back into existence or use that which

has been lost.”

The Old Testament has many examples

of restoration where loss was incurred.

When real property was stolen, the

offender was responsible to make

restitution. Here are some examples of

this principle:

1. Restoration had to be made either in

a greater measure, more substance, or

better quality than that which was

originally taken. So, through restoration

one gained more than he had lost. This

principle is clear in the following biblical

principles of restoration:

Exodus 22:1-9

Five oxen were restored for the loss of one ox.

Four sheep were restored for the loss of one.

Two animals were restored for each one taken.

The best quality was to be given when making restoration.

Twice as much money was restored for theft.

Leviticus 6:1-5

An additional 20 percent was restored to that which was originally lost.

Luke 19:8

Even in New Testament days, the principle of restoration was mentioned.

Zacchaeus wanted to restore four times the money for any dishonest gain.

2. Sarah is an example of physical

restoration. The Bible describes her as

being well stricken (smitten) with age.

She was 90 years old – an old woman

who was past the age of childbearing.

However, God promised that she would

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bear Abraham’s son, who would be the

father of a great nation. This could only

happen through restoration.

If we follow along in the Genesis

narrative, we will notice that there was

an apparent physical change in Sarah’s

appearance. Abimelech, king of Gerar,

obviously wanted her in his harem

(Genesis 20:1-18), which leads us to

believe that God miraculously restored

her physical beauty. She was restored

to such an extent that she was able to

conceive and bear the promised seed,

Isaac.

Although man can restore physical

property, only God can restore spiritual

things (Joel 2:25). He alone can cause

change in the lives of believers and in

the Church. By God’s purpose – not

man’s plans – the years the Church has

lost are being restored.

C. The Present Truth of the Early

Church

The power of the Holy Spirit, which fell

on the Day of Pentecost, transformed

the disciples into dynamic witnesses

whom Christ used to establish His

Church. The apostles gave themselves

to prayer and study of the Word, which

caused the early church to operate in

truth. The New Testament was written

during this time by inspiration of the

Holy Spirit through such men as Peter,

James, John, Luke, Matthew, Mark, and

Paul. They experienced:

1. Salvation by faith (Acts 16:30-31)

2. Water Baptism by immersion

(Acts 8:38-39)

3. Holiness and sanctification from

the world (2 Corinthians 6:17)

4. Healing by the power of the Spirit

(Acts 5:16)

5. Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Acts

2:4)

6. Laying on of hands and prophecy

(Acts 13:3)

7. Resurrection of the dead (Acts

9:36-40)

8. Eternal judgment (Acts 5:1-11)

9. Praise and worship (Acts 16:25)

10. Joy (Acts 13:52)

11. Fellowship of the saints (Acts)

D. The Church Through Decline

Throughout the New Testament, the

Scriptures warned the early church

against slow deterioration. It seems as

if the apostles could look ahead a few

hundred years to see a Church which

would err from its commitment to truth,

holiness and sincere faith. Here are

some of the warnings of this decline:

Acts 20:29 “For I know this, that after my

departure savage wolves will come in

among you, not sparing the flock.”

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2 Peter 3:3-4 “. . .knowing this first: that

scoffers will come in the last days,

walking according to their own lusts, and

saying, ‘Where is the promise of his

coming? . . .’”

2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For the time will come

when they will not endure sound

doctrine, but according to their own

desires, because they have itching ears,

they will heap up for themselves

teachers; and they will turn their ears

away from the truth, and be turned aside

to fables.”

How could the Church, which had

experienced such power, such grace,

such liberty, and such pure worship fall,

into the death grip of the enemy? This

decline did not happen overnight, but

took hundreds of years as one by one

the truths were either formalized,

diluted, or lost altogether.

There is a span of approximately 60

years between the writings of the

apostles (which ended around 65 A.D.)

and the writings of the first century

church fathers (which began around 125

A.D.). During this lapse of

communication, the decline had already

begun to grip the Church. As the

Church expanded throughout the world,

it picked up many pagan practices from

other cultures. These compromises

soon were tolerated and seen as

commitment to the Word and the local

church was de-emphasized.

With the slow deterioration of the

Church, many of the revelation truths

were lost or formalized. The Church

reverted from life in the Spirit to a slowly

encrusting heartbeat of lifeless liturgy.

By the sixth century, the Church had lost

almost all truth it possessed in its

beginning. The material below, showing

what the Church lost during its first 500

years, is taken from Present Day Truths,

author Dick Iverson (Copyrighted 1975

by ABC Publishing and used by

permission.

www.abcbookpublishing.com):

1. 30-100 A.D. From the day of

Pentecost to the death of John, the

Church was a powerful instrument for

the extension of the kingdom of God.

From the death of the last of the original

Twelve Apostles we have no evidence

that this type of Apostolic ministry

continued.

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2. 130 A.D. Because the apostolic

ministry was no longer functioning in the

early Church, the parallel ministry of the

Prophet soon vanished. With the loss of

this ministry the doctrine of the Laying

on of Hands became nothing more than

a ritual. By 140 A.D., prophetic

utterance of any kind in the local

congregation was very scarce.

3. 150 A.D. With such lack of

dependence on the Spirit of God and an

actual persecution of the biblical

manifestations of the Spirit by the

established churches, it is not surprising

that the biblical experience of the

Baptism of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts

of the Spirit were no longer evidenced

by 150 A.D. Much of the external form

of these things was maintained, but the

people had no living encounter with the

spirit.

4. 160 A.D. As men no longer

demonstrated a Spirit-controlled life, it

became impractical to have a plurality of

eldership. Without a strong unity of the

Spirit, multiple leadership tends to pull

against one another. As a result,

monarchical bishops became the norm

by 160 A.D., and men began to appraise

clergy on the basis of natural ability.

5. 180 A.D. If man is not able to look to

the Spirit for direction and guidance, he

must look to other men. And so it was

with the smaller and more recently

established local Churches by 180 A.D.

Many of these smaller Churches

became so dependent on larger

Churches that they lost their Local

Church autonomy. By this time, many

such Churches were looking to Rome

for direction, and thus, early seeds of

Roman primacy are developing by this

early date.

6. 200 A.D. By this time the Spirit had

very little control over the lives of

individuals. Very little of the body of

Church doctrine and truth became the

actual experience of believers. A gap

began to form between doctrine and

experience. The external form

remained the same in many cases, but

the spiritual awareness of what was

contained in the form was beginning to

vanish. It was about this time that

Baptism began to be abused in many

ways. In 185 A.D. we have the first

record of infant baptism . . .

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7. 210 A.D. Since the distinction

between clergy and the laity was so

acute by this time, the concept of the

priesthood of all believers was not

understood or acknowledged.

Therefore, the ministry of the body of

Christ (Body-ministry) was not at all

understood. Because of all of these

trends, the truth was soon altered to line

up with experience, and the ministers or

clergy were the only ones designated as

“priests.”

8. 225 A.D. Most Churches by this time

were not receiving direct guidance and

teaching from the Spirit of God. They

could, therefore, no longer depend upon

the Spirit to bring and maintain unity of

the faith. In order to enforce and

maintain an external unity, creeds or

statements of beliefs began to be written

as criteria for Church membership.

9. 240 A.D. By the middle of the third

century much worldliness had crept into

the Church. Without the power of the

Holy Spirit to lead a separate life, the

standard of holiness and the sanctified

life held up by the early Church became

an unrealistic life for many. Some

recognized this problem and began the

first monasteries at this time. This made

provision for a double standard in

Christian living. There was the “average

Christian” and the “ascetic” who tried to

live the “deeper life.”

10. 300 A.D. Because of the rigor of

these ascetic groups, there developed

an over emphasis on works as a sort of

merit for eternal life. This merely laid

the groundwork for what was to come

later under Constantine.

11. 313 A.D. Constantine became the

ruler of the great Roman Empire and

chose Christianity as the best possible

of religions. At this time the state began

to exercise control over the affairs of the

established Church, and men of little or

no religious experience became

instrumental in shaping church doctrine.

Even the outcome of the Council of

Nicaea was the result of the efforts of

Constantine. He also needed more men

for his military to maintain the Empire.

12. 350 A.D. About 350 A.D.,

Christianity being the religion of the

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state, all those who were not in the

Church were persecuted. As can well

be expected, many heathens preferred

to be called “Christian” rather than face

the sword. At this time the experience

of salvation with the doctrine of

justification by faith and the new birth

into the kingdom of God was no longer

emphasized.

13. 380 A.D. This movement

culminated with Theodosius who made

Rome, which was already the capital of

the Empire, the final authority in Church

matters as well.

Thus the Church entered the period

known as the Dark Ages. It continued to

sink deeper and deeper into darkness

until the fifteenth century, a thousand

years later.

E. God’s Plan of Restoration

During the fifteenth century, the

revelation truths began to be restored to

the Church. God was once again

breathing life into His Church.

1. 1400 A.D. The first translation of the

entire Bible from the original scriptures

was made available to the common

people under the ministry of John

Wycliffe.

2. 1517 A.D. Martin Luther was used to

restore the most foundational of all truth

– Justification by Faith.

3. 1524 A.D. The Anabaptist

movement was started as it saw the

restoration of Water Baptism.

4. 1750A.D. Through the ministry of

John Wesley, the truth of Sanctification

and Holiness was restored to the

Church.

5. Nineteenth Century: A.B. Simpson

and others were used to restore the

truth of Healing to the Church.

6. 1901 A.D. The Baptism of the Holy

Spirit came in a mighty outpouring upon

the Church.

7. 1906 A.D. The Gifts of the Spirit

began to be restored in the Azusa Street

Revival.

8. 1948 A.D. The truths of the Five

Fold Ministry, Laying on of Hands, and

Praise and Worship were restored

through a mighty Canadian Revival.

God has moved in revival when each of

these truths was being revealed.

However, denominations were

established by basing their ministry only

on those particular truths. When new

truths were restored, these

denominations were many times the first

to persecute those who were following

the present moving of God. For

example, the Roman Catholic Church

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persecuted Luther’s followers because

of their position on justification by faith.

In turn, Luther’s followers persecuted

the Anabaptists because of their

position on water baptism. The

persecuted became the persecutors due

to their unwillingness to continue to

move into present truth.

We need to learn from historic errors of

the Church and continue to yield to the

Holy Spirit as He continues to restore

the Church unto full stature.

F. Restoration Applied to the Church

Today

For many years, the Church has made

attempts to fulfill the plan of God

through its own programs but without

the Spirit. The need for real restoration

within the ministry of the local Church is

apparent. Yet, since the turn of the

twentieth century, the amount of truth

restored has increased greatly and it

seems as if now each new decade is

seeing a greater illumination of spiritual

truth.

With such an abundance of truth, our

accountability increases. We must

maintain these precious truths without

allowing them to become meaningless

activities or empty form. Worse yet, we

must not allow them to become

antiquated. When truth deteriorates into

form or ritual, it becomes legalistic,

grieves the Holy Spirit and chokes out

life. We must not become stagnant by

camping upon the mountain of one truth,

for this will lead to a narrow perspective

of God’s overall purpose.

Even though many churches have not

even begun to enter into the spiritual

truths being revealed today, this does

not mean that only a small portion of the

Body of Christ will. God has been

restoring truth for the last 500 years,

and He will continue to restore it to

those who are hungry for more.

I believe that we are experiencing the

restoration of truth today. For example,

in Acts 15:15 we read that God has

promised to restore the power of His

presence to the Church. In this

passage, this is described as the

rebuilding of the tabernacle of David. A

thorough study of the Scriptures brings

us to the understanding that the

tabernacle of David speaks of worship

being restored as a priority to God’s

people. The spiritual application of the

tabernacle of David has to do with God’s

people gathering unto the Lord Jesus

Christ to worship Him and experience

His presence. The result will be “. . .

that the excellence of the power may be

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of God and not of us” (2 Corinthians

4:7).

We are privileged in this day to see this

truth restored to the Body of Christ.

There is a reviving of praise and worship

that is beginning to cover the earth “. . .

with the knowledge of the glory of the

Lord, as the waters cover the sea”

(Habakkuk 2:14). We are beginning to

see the fulfillment of all that the holy

prophets have spoken concerning

restoration. Be watchful, for now is the

time for signs and wonders, as a

testimony to the Lord’s power and

greatness, to soon follow.

Isaiah 61:11 “For as the earth brings

forth its bud, as the garden causes the

things that are sown in it to spring forth,

so the LORD GOD will cause

righteousness and praise to spring forth

before all the nations.”

“Lord Jesus, we thank you for

completing your Word for the restoration

of your Church. Praise, honor, and

glory are yours, Lord. Holy Spirit, we

ask you to bring forth your signs and

wonders as you raise your Bride from

her ruins as a witness to the nations of

your power and your grace. We pray in

agreement that your Word be fulfilled, in

Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Gratefully in His love,

Your Servant,

Apostle Dr. Robert Straube

From the book Foundational

Discipling Principle by Dr.

Robert Straube.

On Amazon.com:

or purchase it directly from the

publisher,

Dr. Robert Straube serves as President of

ICOF CSU. He is a member of the US National Fivefold Roundtable and

President of Rock of Zion Ministries

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Restore Such a One

Galatians 6:1

By Apostle Bobby Sutton

The last article that I wrote dealt with the

portion of this verse that tells us who

should be involved in a restoration

process. Paul writes it should be saints

of God that are spiritual. This gives us

the impression that the Christian church

should know if they are spiritual or

carnal. Paul does not

leave us in the dark

as far as the traits of

spiritual or carnal

people.

This is what Paul said

to the Corinthian

church "For ye are yet

carnal: for whereas

there is among you envying, and strife,

and divisions, are ye not carnal, and

walk as men? Paul records in Galatians

5:19-20 the deeds of the flesh. Then in

Galatians 5:22 he list the fruit of the

Spirit. If we are manifesting the fruit of

the Spirit and we are loving our brothers

and sisters then the scripture tells us

that we are spiritual people. The

purpose of this article is not to rehash

the previous point but to get to the idea

of restoration.

The word restore in the Greek has

several connotations According to

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown

commentary the word restore in Greek

is katartizete is used of a dislocated

limb being put back in place, according

to other Greek authorities the word

refers to setting bones, mending nets.

The instructions are clear as to how we

are to treat “fallen” brothers and sisters.

We are to treat them with the same

tenderness a physician would treat a

broken patient.

These definitions should give us a clue

as to handle a brother or sister that has

fallen into sin. The Apostle James tell

us in James 519-20 "Brethren if any of

you do err from the

truth, and one

convert him; Let him

know, that he which

converteth the sinner

from the error of his

ways shall save a

soul from death, and

shall hide a multitude

of sins."

Jesus taught us in Matthew 18:15-17

this about church discipline,

"Moreover if thy brother shall

trespass against thee, go and tell him

his fault between thee and him alone:

if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained

thy brother. But if he will not hear

thee take with thee one or two more,

that in the mouth of two or three

witnesses every word may be

established. “

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And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell

it unto the church: but if he neglects to

hear the church, let him be unto thee as

a heathen man and a publican."

There is no formula given to us for

restoring a brother or sister. In Matthew

Jesus is dealing with the trespass of one

brother to another and the formula is

clear. Tell your brother that he has

trespassed against you, if he will not

hear take one or two witnesses and if he

will not hear them tell the church. If he

will not hear the church then he is as a

heathen and excommunicated.

Interestingly enough we do not hear a

lot of this type of discipline going on in

the church. Usually if there is a quarrel

one of the parties stops going to church

altogether or they simply go to another

church of like faith if one is available.

That is not the way to solve the issue.

The subject of quarreling saints I will

cover another time. What do we do with

the excommunicated brother or sister

that comes back to the church family

that they offended?

What is the system for restoring a

brother or sister to the Lord and

fellowship with the church? It has been

my experience as a pastor that most of

the time when someone falls after a time

they return and "pray through"(to use an

old Pentecostal term) at an altar and

then get on with their walk with God. If

the person has been in a leadership

position the pastor gives them time to

see if they are able to resume that

position. In another article I will pursue

the restoration of a minister. In the case

of a parishioner, it has been my

experience, that the pastor serves the

role as the restoration team. This poses

the question of should there be

restoration teams in the church other

than the pastor? Is there a team of

spiritual people available to the ministry

of the church that can fulfill this role?

James tells us in James 5:14-16 "Is

there any sick among you? Let him call

for the elders of the church: and let them

pray over him, anointing him with oil in

the name of the Lord: and the prayer of

faith shall save the sick, and the Lord

shall raise him up; and if he hath

committed sins, they shall be forgiven

him. Confess your faults one to another,

and pray one for another, that ye may

be healed. The effectual fervent prayer

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of a righteous man availeth much.

“There are several topics covered in

these scriptures that I will not address at

this time. I will stick to the subject at

hand.

The phrase "confess your faults one to

another" is a powerful test phrase for

our spirituality. Usually our faults are for

the pastor’s office alone and no one else

is supposed to know what they are.

James seems to disagree with this

approach. Are we spiritual enough to

hear each other’s faults without

judgment? Hearing the faults and

praying about them could be prevention

to a person falling. Let me say at this

juncture that when we speak of a

believer falling into sin we are not

speaking of only sexual sin. We are

speaking of any sin that would cause a

person to stop coming to church or be

excommunicated. It could be anything

from gossip (now that should stir up

some discussion) stealing hubcaps,

beating your wife or wife beating

husband, or getting drunk. The system

should be the same for the person to be

restored.

What is the system for restoration?

1. The fallen person has truly repented

and experiences genuine sorrow for sin.

2. There is a decisive renunciation of the

act.

3. There is an attitude of non-

defensiveness, i.e. there is no excuse

making.

4. There is a spirit devoid of bitterness.

These four attributes must be in place

before a person can start to be restored.

The team has to speak to the person

and determine if these are in place.

Some people will fake true repentance

because they are a part of a social

setting in the church and they want to

gain that social part back. Some may

fake true repentance because they were

in a place of leadership and they

received their affirmation from that

position. The restoration team is not

there to make a determination whether

or not a person is faking repentance.

God will judge the hearts and He knows

if a person is sincere or not. If a person

seems to have real repentance then the

team should help.

What about the restoration team? These

people must be spiritual. If the fivefold

ministry is working in the church or if

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there is the traditional pastoral

leadership the ministry should know who

are spiritual and who are not. James

tells us in the above quote to call the

elders of the church. The word elder

comes from the Greek word

presbyteros– properly, a mature man

having seasoned judgment

(experience); an elder. These are

people that are known for their mature

walk with the Lord and the ministry can

put them in a place of trust. Once the

person has met the four criteria of

restoration then they can be helped to

regain their spiritual footing.’

The restoration team has to lay a

foundation of love. The offender has to

know that the elders love them and want

to help them. Jesus said the world

would know us because we have love

on for another. In order for a person to

be renewed into the kingdom the person

must feel love. No condemnation, no

judgment, no being treatment as a

second class citizen. I was a new

Christian and had the opportunity to

participate in a choir trip to Mexico. We

were singing in churches across Mexico.

In one of the churches the conversation

led to the subject of restoration of a

saint that had sinned. I was told that the

person could come back to church but

they must sit on the back row and slowly

make their way back into the

congregation. That does not sound like

a place of no condemnation. It sounds

like the person is branded and would

always have a cloud of condemnation

hanging over them. The object of

restoration is to bring the offender back

to full relationship with Jesus not to

constantly remind them of their sin. To

refer to the definition of the word restore

in scripture we are to treat those with

the same tenderness a physician would

treat a broken patient.

This is a formula that can be used as a

guide for a restoration team or someone

involved in the restoration of a brother or

sister in the Lord. Love must be the

foundation of the process. (The person

we are trying to help must know that we

love them as Jesus loves the church)

No condemnation. (Jesus has forgiven

their sin).

No attitude of superiority. (This could be

self righteousness and then you become

the fallen)

No discussing the sin. (Gossip)

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Availability. (If the brother or sister

needs someone to talk to that can give

spiritual answers to the issue)

Accountability. (The restoration team is

there for the person to be accountable

to if feeling tempted)

Gender specific. (Brothers should

restore brothers and sisters should

restore sisters. There is too much room

for transference and vulnerability in

these situations.)

Paul warns the restoration team in the

last portion of Galatians 6:1 "restore

such a one in the spirit of meekness;

considering thyself, lest thou also be

tempted."

James 5:19-20 " Brethren, if any of you

do err from the truth, and one convert

him; Let him know, that he which

converteth the sinner from the error of

his ways shall save a soul from death,

and shall hid a multitude of sins."

What a testimony to save a fallen

brother or sister from death and hide a

multitude of sins.

This article does not cover the entirety

of this subject, but it will give you a

guide to go by if you are involved in the

restoration process.

Apostle Bobby Sutton, MA

Christian Counseling is Vice

President of Missions for the

International Circle of Faith.

He is the author of the book,

“I Slept with Potiphar’s Wife”

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Is Tithing still Relevant? & Can God's Financial Structure cause us to Thrive

not just Survive!?

"God doesn't stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony." (1

Corinthians 14:33 Message Bible)

In the world's system, referring to whatever country we are resident, it is only right and legal that we contribute to the welfare of our respective countries. In fact our country of origin would not survive without a clear structure or system that really works. In the west we call this democracy and there are many different forms of democracy. Why would it not survive? Because living without structure is like living without a back bone! A society without structure or backbone is a lawless society governed and driven by dominant law-lords rather than a system that looks out for the genuine welfare of its citizens. Rather than just letting the strongest survive... its fairness for all. That is the aim of democracy no matter how flawed it is and included in this pursuit of 'fairness' is the necessity to pay taxes; which in turn 'maintains' the overall system. Various economies would be quite manageable if everyone contributed to the systems that have been established through these governments. I'm talking about democratic societies. Jeffry Grant gives some staggering figures about what he calls the 'Underground Cash Economy'. He says, "The greatest problem facing the government is their desperate need to generate additional tax revenues." Doesn't this sound like the Church? And yet we don't

need additional tax, what we need is additional tithes! Mr. Grant goes on to say, "Huge welfare costs and massive interest payments on the national debt have created staggering deficits. However, the resistance of voters to higher taxes has put the government in a difficult position. Studies reveal a huge amount of the economic and financial transactions are not being recorded or taxed at all. Increasingly, people are using cash in an attempt to escape high taxes." Over the last decades various studies have shown that the untaxed underground economies of separate countries are estimated to be well into the billions! With figures for the US economy much higher, even into the trillions each year; however if a significant part of this underground economy was taxed, budget deficits would disappear and governments would be able to begin paying off their national debts. In fact some economists estimate that one third of the economy escapes taxation!

Each government has to decide how to distribute this funding that is generated through these various taxes, for the welfare of its society. With democratically elected leadership, who have authority (locally and nationally), and the responsibly to make the right decisions on behalf of its society. I believe what God wants us to understand and reflect on such facts and figures so that the Body of Christ can rectify the error of perhaps more than 80% of its members, who make the poor decision 'not to tithe' and yet still think that God's Kingdom here on this earth will somehow supernaturally exist without the

36

responsibility of its own people. "There is no shortage of finance..."one economist said, "...in fact there are enough resources in this world for everyone to be a millionaire!" Consider our National Insurance contributions and pension schemes that are paid or given on behalf of one's self and one's own family's welfare or well being. These payments (in most cases) bring about personal returns. On thinking about such things God spoke to me one night and gave me a revelation that His Kingdom operates in much the same way. In fact a lot of what we have in society has been taken and established out of a spiritual kingdom. The difference is of course that man is in control of one system, (we call this the Babylonian system) and God is in control of the other! Because of the fall of mankind, much of our earthly system is influenced by greed and the love of money. But these attitudes don't just exist within our society the Church also is infested with much of the same spirit! Finally when it comes to tithing and giving offerings, we are ultimately free to decide what we do with our money, although our flesh usually wins every time! And it is those living and operating out of their spirit and not their flesh who are successfully led to do the right thing where their finances are concerned. Because at the end of the day everything belongs to the Lord and all the time that He is in control there is no chaos.

God is not the author of confusion; spiritual or financial. A book was once written entitled, "Why do bad things happen to good people." And in a similar way, why do faithful people suffer lack? Usually there is a link in the chain that has been severed. God has called us to be one, to be united and to work together in one accord. After all we are in the same kingdom! If only a small percentage of Kingdom dwellers know how to operate in their finances as the Holy Spirit dictates, imagine how much easier things would be if the larger part did their part as well!

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Father thank you that today I can be led of the Holy Spirit and not of dogma. I can submit my finances to You and see You move abundantly with them. It is always better to give than to

receive and I thank you that as I pursue righteousness and sensitivity to your Holy

Spirit, my giving will be a true blessing to your kingdom. Not compulsive giving that evaporates

and does not really bless anyone. But giving that is in line with the overall agenda of Your

Holy Spirit who can see the bigger picture. Help me to submit my finances today, so that when I

resist the devil from them, he will flee according to James 4:7. In Jesus Name.

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38

A Treatise on Genuine Apostleship In

the Kingdom Of God

by Dr Len Robinson

Genuine Apostles should be aiding other

genuine Apostles in the advancing of the

Kingdom. However those who in a religious

pretense say they are Apostles but are not

only have at the core of their interest

"building" their own little Kingdoms in the

name of the King.

The groups that call themselves Apostle

Groups, when you read the varied doctrines

that they banter about there is no

pronounced revelation of the Kingdom

besides the word Kingdom being used to

lace their messages in the way a dope

dealer may lace weed with PCP to boost the

stimulation one derives from using the

drug. In that regard many a minister

regardless to gifting is really no more than a

"hope" dealer.

The authenticity of apostolic ministry is not

found in the misinterpretation of Peter's

declaration about the Apostles doctrine.

We've made much to do about baptism in

Jesus name only as though Jesus is not also

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

And yet then there are other so called

Apostles who also don't know the doctrine

of the Kingdom of God at all. So on what

basis does one label themselves an apostle?

Many do so believing God has called them

to some high office and they like to be seen

of men as having arrived. These kinds of

leaders are not being driven by the voice of

God but are instead being driven by the

voice of ego.

Jesus did not give the Apostles apostleship

without first teaching them the Kingdom of

God. If I as an Apostle struggle with the

doctrine of the Kingdom that Jesus

preached I may just find that rather than

being an apostle I actually allowed religion

to make me a Pharisee.

So back to the earlier point. Genuine

Apostles will join in covenant agreement to

advance the doctrine of the Kingdom and

Christ throughout the nations of the world.

The covenant truth of the Kingdom of God

39

is that by submission to the Holy Spirit we

experience the reign of God and by living

according to God's image and likeness we

fulfill the law of the Kingdom which is love.

Every so-called Apostle should want Christ

to be formed in the people yet many of

today's apostles messages are about how

you can come into your season, walk in

your divine destiny and experience your

own breakthrough. And where

breakthrough is not the message, fathering

is and yet both messages are not the

message God sent Jesus to preach.

Are you a genuine Apostle.....then get with

other genuine Apostles who have escaped

religion and the traditions of men and are

no longer preaching private revelations but

are truly preaching the Kingdom. You are

honor bound by covenant relationship

between you and the Father to connect

with brethren of like precious faith for the

advancing of the doctrine of the Kingdom

and Christ.

Read Romans 6

By Pastor Saleem Inayat

Chairman – ICOF

FIVEFOLD

ROUNDTABLE -

PAKISTAN

Read Romans 6:5-6

Paul reminds us that our baptism was more

than just a dunking in water. In baptism, we

shared in Jesus' death, burial, and

resurrection. What he did to save us is now

shared with us. We die to sin and are raised

to be a new person, cleansed and made

holy, empowered by the Holy Spirit. We

have been set free from the power and the

penalty of sin. Amen

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41

Come and join an exciting new

church in Henry County Kentucky!

We are LIFE CHURCH OF KENTUCKY

MAKING DISCIPLES is what we are all

about. We are excited about what

God is doing in our ministry. We

continue to need experienced

leaders and those called to

leadership.

The Life Church Praise Band needs

dedicated musicians to join with us;

especially keyboards, drums, bass

guitar, guitar, and other

instruments.

Our Praise Team is open to those

who want to glorify the Lord with

song.

Come and be part of what God is

doing in our area!

Life Church of Kentucky is looking for

people who know sign language (ASL)

or want to learn for our sign team

ANOINTED HANDS OF LIFE CHURCH.

Life Church of Kentucky is looking for

ministers to join our team. Both

those who already are operating in

ministry and those who want to be

developed and trained.

Life Church of Kentucky is looking for

people to help in our Media

department: Internet Technologies,

social media, sound and more.

Life Church of Kentucky is looking for

people a variety of ministries

including children, youth, social,

music, praise, outreach, prison,

Hispanic, etc.For information on any

of these contact or office:

502.410.4263 or

42

ICOF members have united over 50,000 ministers

representing more than 25 Million constituents, several

hundred colleges, universities and other Christian schools,

orphanages & feeding programs, humanitarian aid

organizations, chaplains and other charities.

43

Hundreds will protest Islam

Lovefest History textbook

foisted on high school

students

Eric Owens

On Florida’s Atlantic Coast, some 200 or

more local parents and activists have

announced plans to show up at

Tuesday’s Volusia County school board

meeting to protest the public school use

of a world history textbook that devotes

a whole chapter to Islam but exactly

zero chapters to any other religions.

The textbook, called simply “World

History,” contains a 32-page chapter

fondly devoted to “Muslim Civilizations.”

Sections include descriptions of the

Koran, the growth of the Muslim empire

and the Five Pillars of Islam.

The planned protest will include a

demand that students rip out the 32

pages of the Islam chapter unless the

school district agrees to provide

students with a similar amount of

officially-sanctioned material concerning

other religions, reports local ABC

affiliate WFTV.

The seeds for the Wednesday protest

were reportedly planted after an

unidentified local mother started a

Facebook page demanding that local,

taxpayer-funded schools stop using the

textbook.

The district indicated that it will continue

to use the controversial book.

School district officials in Volusia County

insist that there’s no problem because

other religions come up as a matter of

course in the book. Thus, the argument

goes, there’s no need to have a single

chapter dedicated to, say, the Gospels

44

or the Pentateuch—or, for that matter,

Hindu or Buddhist religious traditions.

“Christianity and Judaism is [sic] spread

throughout the book,” a school district

spokeswoman told WFTV. The book’s

supporters also argue that students

know about Christianity but need

to learn more about Islam because of

its crucial importance in international

affairs.

On Monday, the Council on American-

Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a

statement criticizing the protesters.

“This group is displaying an alarming

level of intolerance and brazen

disregard of minority religions here in

the US. We find their actions Un-

American and against every core

principal that makes this country so

great,” CAIR said.

Critics of the textbook include District 2

Deltona commissioner Webster

Barnaby, who told WFTV that he is only

seeking equal time for other religions,

specifically Christianity.

“The problem is: there needs to be

balance. In America today, Christianity

is being relegated to the trash heap,”

Barnaby told the station.

“Why relegate Christianity to a footnote

in an entire history book, and you give

an entire chapter on the teachings of

Islam?” he added.

“To suggest that everybody knows

about Christianity, that is total

ignorance,” Barnaby also said.

The “World History” textbook is one of

three textbooks covering similar material

that meet Florida’s criteria for adoption

by the state’s public schools.

As a school district spokeswoman

noted, one reason school districts select

this book is because it covers

information required under Florida’s

Next Generation Sunshine State

Standards—the state’s version of the

Common Core.

The same textbook is used in school

districts across Florid and across the

country. Read

more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/11/05/

hundreds-will-protest-islam-lovefest-

history-textbook-foisted-on-high-school-

students/#ixzz2jnVPs4su

45

46

Jezebel, Occultism and the

End-Time War on the Saints

By Jennifer LeClaire

At first, I thought it was New Age

culture. But I was wrong. It

was occultism.

As I strolled through the streets of Key

West on a 24-hour getaway with my

daughter, I noticed something that I had

never witnessed in Key West before:

occultism seems fully woven through the

culture.

I’ve been going to Key West for more

than 20 years and have spent weeks at

a time on the tropical island. But

something disturbing has happened in

the 10 years since I last visited—and it’s

merely a microcosm of what’s

happening in the world today.

You can no longer walk down Duval

Street—the famous drag of shops and

restaurants—without running into the

likes of Mahadeo Jerrybandhan, a

renowned “peerless palmist” from

Trinidad with a long white beard and an

even longer white robe. But

Jerrybandhan is not alone. He has

plenty of peers in Key West, from

psychics to mediums to channels to

healers to tarot card readers to

astrologers. The only group I didn’t find

down there were the crystal readers.

Then there’s “Robert the Doll.” Key

West profiteers have designed so-called

ghost tours that explore the haunted

history of Key West, including old

wooden houses where spirits

purportedly walk. Tour guides will tell

you that Key West is one of the most

haunted cities in the world with elevated

paranormal activity. A local voodooistic

icon, Robert the Doll will supposedly

curse you if you take his picture without

permission or forget to thank him for the

privilege.

The Abomination of Occultism

As you can imagine, seeing all this

grieved my spirit. But I should not have

been so surprised. Occultism has been

slowly creeping into American culture for

decades as movie makers exalt

witchcraft and vampires while the music

industry pumps occult rock. Beloved, we

are in the midst of a great spiritual crisis

even now. Our literature, music, video

games, comics, films and television

shows are full of mysticism and the

occult. Some of it is subtle. Some of it is

blatant. All of it is wicked.

Again, this is nothing new. Occultism—

which broadly includes magic, séances,

channeling, hypnosis, necromancy,

astrology, extra-sensory perception,

47

alchemy, spiritualism and divination—is

strongly condemned in the Bible.

“There shall not be found among you

anyone who makes his son or his

daughter pass through the fire [which is

an ancient occult practice], or one who

practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or

one who interprets omens, or a

sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or

a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls

up the dead. For all who do these things

are an abomination to the Lord” (Deut.

18:10-12, brackets added).

The Lord rebuked Israel for practicing

astrology (Isaiah 47:10-14). Jezebel

practiced witchcraft (2 Kings 9:22) and

we know how that ended. Ephesus was

known for a population that practiced

magic arts (Acts 19:19). And the book of

Revelation makes it clear that “the

cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,

murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers,

idolaters, and all liars shall have their

part in the lake which burns with fire and

brimstone, which is the second death”

(Rev. 21:8).

Kabbalah, Kundalini and Jezebel

And yet we see occult practices,

like Kabbalah, gaining momentum in the

church. We see "prophetic words"

delivered in what appears to be

Kundalini fashion, with violent shaking

and demonic tongues against a

backdrop of tribal bongos that set the

congregation into hysteria. We see

a Jezebel spirit working to seduce saints

into idolatry and sexual immorality—and

oftentimes succeeding. We see all sorts

of strong delusion and strange fire with

occultic ties in the modern church.

But we should not be surprised. The rise

of occultism is a sign of the end times.

Satan’s plan is to fascinate our hearts

with occult power and deceive us. The

Holy Spirit, meanwhile, wants to

fascinate our spirits with a revelation of

the Son of God. I believe God’s people

are enticed by occultism when they

begin seeking spiritual experiences

above seeking God. It’s a subtle—and

dangerous—shift. Many Christians are

on fire for God, but that fire can

suddenly turn strange if we are not

rooted in the Word. If we seek

supernatural experiences, we will find

them—but they don’t always come from

Jesus.

Beloved, we must not play with strange

fire. Ultimately, the occult leads to

murder and mayhem—immorality of all

kinds. It’s not likely that you would ever

willfully visit the likes of Mahadeo

Jerrybandhan, the peerless palmist—or

any of his peers. But could you

ignorantly be engaged with occultic

48

practices that are opening the door to

deceptive dangers? Could it be coming

from what appears to be godly

influences—even within church culture?

Discernment or Deception?

Don’t brush the question off before

praying about it. If you want the truth,

the Holy Spirit will lead you and guide

you into all truth. Please hear me! Even

a little occult is a deadly poison—a little

leaven leavens the whole lump. The

Bible warns about deceptive

teachers, false apostles and deceitful

workers. The Bible warns about self-

deception. And it’s your responsibility to

keep your heart pure. If you've stepped

into this demonic ditch, repent now and

warn others.

Friends, we’re in an end-times war with

eternal consequences. Satan is using

the occult to seduce people away from

the kingdom of God to dance in the

kingdom of darkness. I pray that the

Lord gives you discernment and

awakens your spirit, for you do not know

on what day your Lord is coming (Matt.

24:42).

Let me leave you with a warning from

the apostle Paul: “Beware lest anyone

cheat you through philosophy and

empty deceit, according to the tradition

of men, according to the basic principles

of the world, and not according to

Christ” (Col. 2:8). Amen.

Jennifer is the

director

for International

House of Prayer-Fort

Lauderdale Missions

Base.

Jennifer also serves as news editor

at Charisma magazine. Her work also

appeared in a Charisma House book

entitled Understanding the Five-Fold

Ministry which offers a biblical study to

uncover the true purpose for the fivefold

ministry.

49

50

Life Support is a charitable organization (501 c 3) that helps families

in Henry, Trimble, Oldham and Carroll Counties in Kentucky.

Ways You Can Help Life Support

1. Join our team! We need the help of local businesses, churches, and individuals to make an even larger impact on the challenges that the working poor and those who are economically and socially disadvantaged face. The next meeting of our steering committee is January 21st, 2014. We would love to have you there! Put it on your calendar.

2. Organize a Food and Fund Drive

LIFE SUPPORT relies heavily on local support to continue to

provide meals to those in need. A company-sponsored Food

and Fund Drive is a great way to build team spirit and

community good will within companies, schools and other

organizations.

The 250 Pound Pledge

Food drives are great as it helps us stock empty pantry

shelves. It would really help the Life Support if you can

commit to collecting at least 250 pounds of food through your

food drive.

3. Donate Funds For every $1 donated, the Life Support is able to acquire and

distribute food for 4 meals. Donations can be made in cash,

by check, money order, Visa, Mastercard or American

Express.

4. In Kind donations (clothing, furniture, vehicles) are also welcome.

LIFE SUPPORT

P.O. Box 72 Sulphur, KY 40070

Phone: 502.410.4263

Rev. M. Joy Willoughby

Pastor - Life Church of Kentucky

Co-Chair

Rev. Jeff Maggard

Pastor – Sulphur Christian Church

Co-Chair

Rebecca Goins

Life Church – Sulphur Kentucky

Secretary

Dr. Bernie L. Wade, Sr.

Chancellor - ICOF CSU

Rev. Earl B. Higgins

Pastor – 2nd

Baptist Church

Campbellsburg, Kentucky

Rev. Blanca Wade

Pastor – Life Church of Kentucky

Rev. Jason Hunt

President

Frontier Christian University

Rev. Bernie L. Wade

Masterstouch Construction

Pastor Michael Jackson

Pastor – 1st Baptist Church

Pee Wee Valley, Kentucky

Rev. William A. Goins

Pastor – Life Church of Kentucky

Dr. Daisy R. Wade

PR - ICOF

51

TWELVE DIFFERENT

KINDS OF

APOSTOLIC

LEADERS

By Joseph Mattera

I have been in the apostolic movement

since the late 1980’s and have observed

many kinds of apostolic leaders. By

“apostolic” I am referring to a person

who functions in the apostolic ministry

gift as mentioned in Ephesians 4:11.

They may also oversee an apostolic

church that exerts great influence in

their community, and/or lead a network

of churches.

One size definitely doesn’t fit all in the

apostolic, or in any of the other ministry

gifts for that matter! They all have

different modes of operation and/or

function as well as different motivational

gifts and bents. Of course, any true

apostolic leader may have one or more

of the following characteristics.

The following are the different kinds of

apostolic leaders I have observed:

1. The Connecting Apostle

These apostolic leaders are like the

Apostle Barnabas mentioned in the

Book of Acts. Barnabas was always

connecting people together and was the

one responsible for connecting Saul

(later on he became the great Apostle

Paul) to the Jerusalem church (Acts

9:26-27). These leaders love networking

key people together, function with a

strong heart of mercy (they give people

second and third chances; read Acts

15:37-39), and have an amazing

understanding of where to place people

for the maximization of their gifts and

callings.

This kind of leader also has a burden for

unifying the Body of Christ and are

adept at creating horizontal networks or

associations of leaders in their regions,

either for fellowship or to fulfill a joint

mission (hence they are usually quite

ecumenical).

2. The Truth Apostle

Paul the Apostle focused on teaching

the truth and was committed to maturing

people in the faith through his teaching

ministry (Colossians 1:24-29). These

are scholarly leaders who write much

and attract people into their networks of

influence through their great scholarship

and practical insight. They also major on

quality, doctrine and developing

covenantal systems of engagement

within their circles of influence.

What separates these from others with

mere theological theory is their ability to

form strong coalitions with high-level

commitment to fulfilling the kingdom

mandate of spreading the gospel.

3. The Prophetic Apostle

52

These are intuitive, spontaneous

leaders who have an amazing ability to

think quickly with words of wisdom from

the Lord. They are great visionaries and

dreamers and think ahead of the curve

and have a great gift of exhortation

and/or preaching extemporaneously.

With their great gift of motivation, they

are able to attract many leaders into

their spheres of influence.

4. The Military Apostle

These are like military

generals in the Body of

Christ who create

hierarchical networks with

a strong top-down

leadership approach. They

usually lead strong vertical

networks with high

commitment and are not

really interested in

participating in ecumenical associations

(unless it fits their particular agenda or

they lead it). This is because they are so

focused on their purpose and lack

patience and grace to work with other

strong leaders who have a different view

of the church or who do not want to

submit to their leadership.

5. The Cultural Apostle

These apostolic leaders attract leaders

into their networks because of

political/social issues such as traditional

marriage, abortion, immigration, social

justice and the like. They have a

prophetic bent and are also great

unifiers of like-minded leaders.

6. The Signs and Wonders Apostle

These apostolic leaders are like the

Apostle Peter who spread the gospel by

the use of extraordinary signs and

wonders through the gift of faith (Acts

5:15). These leaders can draw great

crowds, build large churches, and

regularly take risks of faith regarding

finances, building bigger buildings, as

well as helping others walk in the

supernatural. They will draw

other pastors and leaders

into their networks that are

hungry for the supernatural.

7. The Community Apostle

These apostolic leaders dive

into the economic, social

and political lives of their

communities with a goal of shepherding

their cities, not just a congregation.

Many of these leaders create programs

that serve their communities with their

churches or networks becoming key

agents of change for surrounding areas.

8. The Missiological Apostle

This apostolic leader is focused on

statistics, trends, demographics and

cultural relevance, and helps lead

innovative networks and/or

organizations that lead the global

charge to spread the gospel. They are

very scholarly and introspective yet

brilliant leaders who are totally focused

53

upon kingdom expansion for the glory of

God. They are great lecturers in

conferences and provide a great service

for the Body of Christ at large as they,

like the sons of Issachar (1 Chron.

12:32), understand the times and know

what the church ought to do.

9. The Shepherding Apostle

This is an apostolic leader who is more

focused upon the lives of the leaders of

their network than upon having a

corporate mission. They have a paternal

anointing and take the most joy in

washing the feet of their sons and

daughters so they fulfill their vision and

destiny! This is perhaps the most

lacking apostolic leader in the church

today since there is a dearth in the

church regarding true apostolic spiritual

parenting.

10. The Entrepreneurial Apostle

This kind of apostolic leader is a

hyphenated leader with a dual ministry

of church and business who creates

wealth through initiatives that support

the work of the Kingdom of God. This

kind of entrepreneurial ability attracts

many leaders who desire an impartation

from them so they can also be

prosperous in everything they touch!

11. The Statesman Apostle

This kind of apostolic leader is a very

wise person who is able to represent the

Kingdom of God to other denominations

and those in the political and social

realms. They are generally very

ecumenical and have a ministry of

reconciliation and are sometimes called

upon to be peacemakers between

opposing groups. These leaders are

usually respected by Christian and non-

Christian alike and are by nature very

ecumenical.

12. The Intercessory Apostle

These apostolic leaders spend much

time in prayer and engage in high-level

spiritual warfare so light can break

through in dark places. They are able to

attract enough people to start large

organized networks of pastors and

leaders who believe their main calling is

to expand the kingdom through prayer

and spiritual warfare strategies. What

separates these from typical prophetic

intercessors is that they not only have a

great gift of prayer but also are able to

create influential networks of prayer

leaders.

In closing, many leaders I know

probably stand in about three to four of

the categories above. These twelve

kinds were written for the sake of clarity

but not meant to legalistically confine

our thinking in such a way that limits our

perspective regarding apostolic

leadership. Also, there are probably

many other categories others could

think of, which would further complicate

and mesh various anointing and ministry

functions together.

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55

THE LIGHT OF DAY

BY LEA BATES

John 9:4-5 “I must work the works

of Him who sent Me while it is day;

the night is coming when no one can

work. As long as I am in the world, I

am the light of the world.”

Christ had work to do. He was bound

to the One who sent him. He

willingly did what he was asked to

do by his Father. Time was limited

for him while on this earth. Time is

limited for us too while we are here.

Christ didn’t stop working at

pointing others to the Father. It was

not His desire that others make a

celebrity out of him. No! God was

the celebrity (if you will). Christ

didn’t just talk about what he

needed to do; He made a business of

it. Jesus understood that the

daylight was a time for working, for

when the night came one rested.

Do we not work while it is day? Your

lifetime is your day! While on this

earth we were sent here to share the

light. Christ has already had His day,

and He sits now at the right hand of

the Father. He shared the love of

God and told us to do likewise. He

never asked to be worshipped.

Instead He pointed all to the Father,

the Creator of all. Yet we have made

an idol out of a man who was sent

by God, who was God himself, who

only asked that we love others, to

carry out God’s desires and to give

the glory to the Father.

Knowing that death is certain, any

child of God should behold an

urgency to improve their inner

being, to desire even more of Him

and to do good. Our nighttime may

come on suddenly, without warning,

and our day to do our part to

enlighten His kingdom will end. Our

lamps will be snuffed out and

darkness will overshadow the day

where our assignment was laid

before us.

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Do we insist on walking in darkness

even while on this earth? Christ

came to give sight to a blind world.

He was God walking, faith talking,

grace living and love giving.

He represented everything about the

Father! He was light in our darkness.

Why would we desire to look

elsewhere? Can one not see more

clearly when light shines on

darkness? Dirty deeds are hidden

well in the dark. But the Light of the

world exposes them so that we may

clearly see. Then, through the Holy

Spirit’s power within us, we show

others how they may see. Quickly

and urgently should be our

motivations to lead others into their

own daytime, so they too may

experience His marvelous light.

Our God is not a onetime God. He is

an all the time God. He is not a

Sunday God or a whenever I feel like

I need him God. He is not a God of

convenience. He sent his only Son to

die for us. Yet we treat Him with

weakened homage and tradition.

He gives us trials to strengthen us,

yet we curse Him. A candle was

made to burn. So should our own

lights shine. So that others may see

His light shining within us and glorify

the Father who is in Heaven. Jesus

was the light from Heaven that we

look to for grace and mercy. We pray

to Him as he makes intercession to

the Father on our behalf. The only

cost is our willingness to yield

through faith as we allow His light to

shine within us. What are you doing

during your daytime? Is your light

shining for all to see?

Lea Patt Bates is a

writer and teacher

with prophetic

gifting. She is a

member of the

International Circle

of Faith

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INTERNATIONAL CIRCLE OF

LIFE CHURCH

MAKING DISCIPLES

502.410.4263

Come and be part of our Dream Team in the

quad county area of Henry, Trimble, Oldham and Carroll Counties.

MEMBER ICOF NETWORK OF CHURCHES

Currently meeting at Sulphur Christian Church

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INTERNATIONAL CIRCLE OF

FAITH LAUNCHES GLOBAL

NETWORK OF CHURCHES

Praise Jesus! I am delighted to introduce

the International Circle of Faith (ICOF)

Network of Churches. Since our inception

in 1932, ICOF has operated primarily as a

ministerial fellowship. By

the Grace of our Lord, Jesus

Christ, we have been

blessed to network 10’s of

thousands of ministers.

Going forward we will

continue to have a strong

interest in ministers and will

continue the ICOF Ministerial

Fellowships and the ICOF Fivefold

Roundtables.

However, we are launching a new initiative

to directly network churches. While we

have some 50,000 ministers in our Global

fellowship, we have to this point not really

gauged our impact on churches. Many

church families feel isolated, alone or void

of fellowship. We want to help. Thus, we

are excited to announce the launching of

the International Circle of Faith Network of

Churches. To become part of this network

please write to Dr. Bernie Wade’s office for

details:

EMAIL DR. WADE’S OFFICE

Or call the ICOF Office:

502.410.4263

There is NO CHARGE to become

part of the ICOF Network of

Churches. Each member church will

receive a Certificate of Membership

for the wall of the church and a plethora of

other benefits outlined in the membership

packet that can be obtained from

contacting ICOF.

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ICOF 2014 MINISTERIAL

CREDENTIALS ARE READY!

ICOF Credentials for the 2014-2015 year are ready at the ICOF Global offices. We

are excited about a plethora of updated features in our new

documents. We have updated both the wall and the pocket credentials. Because of the

interest in counterfeiting our documents we have updated

security measures for all credentials.

All members are encouraged to email Dr. Wade’s office for

their renewal.

Those interested in obtaining ministerial credentials can

also apply at this time.

502.410.4263

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61

Jobian Theology

By Bishop Derrick Day

In this article I’d like to take on a subject that has silently taken over a large

portion of mainstream Christianity.

Jobian theology comes from the premise that what happened to Job is greater than the finished work of Christ. Now, no Christian would ever admit to subscribing to such foolishness, but their words and deeds contradict this. By definition, a “Christian” is someone who aspires to be “like Christ.” However, many “Christians” when evaluating their own lives and circumstances, see themselves more “like Job” than “like Christ,” hence, “Jobians.”

Job is the “poster boy” for religion. Whenever someone has to explain why bad things happen to good people, religious apologists run to Job.

First to level-set, the common assumption is that God granted permission to Satan to afflict Job. Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, God was not setting Job up

to be knocked out-of-the-park by Satan. The question in Job 1:8 “Have you considered my servant, Job,” could be better translated “Hast thou set thine heart on,” or “Hast thou given thine attention to.” In other words, God was asking the devil why did he have his heart set on Job?

Satan saw the blessing on Job’s life and thought Job served God only because he was blessed. In fact, Satan’s strategy was to get God to afflict Job. It is important to note here that when Job was afflicted, it was Satan, and not God, who afflicted him.

Another thing to note is how Satan approached God about this. He showed up at a time when the sons of God (angels) were gathering at the throne.

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them (Job 1:6).

He tried to conceal himself among the heavenly host. There’s a lesson to be learned from this: that everyone among you isn’t with you!

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But back to the main point…

The next point of consideration is that Job was operating in fear. Job continually offered sacrifices for his children, whom he suspected weren’t living right:

And his sons went and feasted in their houses, everyone his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. (Job 1:4-5)

The proof that Job was operating in fear was revealed later:

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me (Job 3:25)

Nothing invites the devil into your situation more than fear. Paul said it best in his second letter to Timothy

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:17)

I’ve said in prior treatises that faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God. Conversely, fear is the currency of the principality of darkness. Job, like many Christians, today, failed to properly exchange his currency. As a result, he brought the will, culture, and intent of the principality of darkness into his world.

More to the point, Job was a man without a covenant. Job is the oldest book in the Bible, chronologically speaking and Job had neither the covenant of law nor the covenant of Grace. Job did not have either Jesus or the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This made Job vulnerable, and it is proven when God makes a profound statement that has been terribly misinterpreted by theologians:

And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. (Job 1:12)

The challenge I pose here is, where is the permissive clause? Where does God grant Satan permission to afflict Job? Let me help you, it ain’t there. I’ve done a lot of searching and study on this, and – as near as I can figure – whenever God says “behold,” it is usually followed by a truth. It is never used to grant permission to do anything. Here are some examples:

Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. (Deuteronomy 1:21)

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Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. (Isaiah 28:16)

In both cases, a truth is stated but no permission is granted. In other words, what is stated in Job 1:12 (“Behold, all that he hath…”) and in Job 2:6 (“Behold, he is in thine hand…”) was not granting permission, it was stating a truth! It is critically important that this is seen because sin gave Satan access to anyone outside covenant with God.

One thing that must be made abundantly clear, here, is that God did not grant Satan access to Job – Satan already had it! Job did not have a “hedge about him,” that was Satan’s misunderstanding. However, God did raise a hedge around Job twice (Job 1:12 and 2:6) limiting what Satan could do.

So, here’s the million-dollar question, “Why didn’t God stop all this?” Glad you asked. God can do anything but lie, fail, or violate His Word. The Psalmist tells us that God esteems His Word above His name (Psalm 138:2). Once God

establish a thing by His Word, He will not do anything contrary to it. A great example of this is the concept of seedtime and harvest; God will not do anything contrary to this principle

Another thing that must be clarified is that God is a good parent. Indeed, He is the most extraordinary of parents. As such, He will always do what is best for His children. That, said, would any good parent turn their child over to a known pervert to discipline them when they are out of order? Well, since God is the greatest parent and Satan is the greatest pervert – in fact, he’s the original pervert – God would not do that. It just doesn’t add up. But God gave man dominion in the earth (Genesis 1:26-28) – dominion by which God expects us to influence our environment with His Word. Therefore, God didn’t do anything about Job’s situation because Job, himself, didn’t do anything about his situation.

Whew. That was long winded – but I hope you caught it. If you didn’t read it again (and again, if necessary) until you do!

One more thing: do you realize that God didn't actually chasten Job until near the end of the book? That's right, God didn't deal with Job until chapters 38-41 - and when He did, did He heap more affliction upon Job? No, He chastened Job with His Word! This is consistent with 2 Timothy 3:16. In other words, the chastening for the child of God is the Word of God, not sickness, plague, oppression, pain, or poverty! And, at the end of God's chastening - and after Job repented (changed his mind) and prayed for his friends, God blessed Job with far

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more substance than what he had, before! Man, that is Good News!

If God afflicted Job then delivered Him, God acted against Himself - and since a kingdom divided cannot stand, God cannot be divided or double-minded! Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil and empower us to do likewise (1 John 3:8). God will not use the works of the devil to chasten and afflict His children when He already sent His Son to destroy those works!

Let me say this, God doesn’t miss – He does what He says and says what He does. He is perfect in every way. However, He expects us to emulate Him. Also the Body of Christ is an interdependent vessel – every part is dependent upon other parts. In other words, the timely blessing of others may be contingent upon us being in the right place at the right time. So, when bad things happen to good people, it ain’t God! Sometimes we miss it in what we pray for and decree. Other times we miss it when we miss an assignment. And, we must remember we live in a fallen world – and sometimes the devil uses the implements of this fallen world to thwart the prayers and actions of the Saints.

Bottom line, whose report will you believe? Will you trust in the finished work of Jesus, which gives us everything we need to experience abundant life (John 10:10) or will you place your trust in a statement that a mere man who suffered great loss without revelation of who stole from him (Job 1:21). Will you believe that God gives Satan permission to afflict you, or will you trust that God will protect you (2 Thessalonians 3:3, 1 John 5:18). Will you trust law, or place your trust in Grace?

In what and whom you believe determines whose you are – are you of Job or are you of Christ?

Bishop Derrick Day is Chairman of the ICOF Fivefold Roundtable of

North America and Pastor of Agape

Dominion Outreach. © 2013 - Derrick Day

(www.derrickday.com)

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Africa

KENYA Crusade in Mwanza, Kenya

Pastor Okumu We are praying for our brothers and sisters that are affected, by terrorist attack It is our moment of sadness, we need strength and more hope Our country has been passing through many challenges and we need prayers, I believe God is doing something powerful and new for our country, though the enemy is not aware God is raising a standard above our enemies God will be one of the powerful nations in the world people will never imagine Yes I believe Jesus is preparing this nation, and what has been happening is bringing us together, also makes people come together. Elder Victor Odongo Dear Beloved one in Jesus Name. Greetings to you in the Name of our Lord Jesus. Brother, how are you? How are your family and the ministry doing. Here we

are not well we are passing under the difficult situation, as I informed you here in Kenya in our Capital City there was a Terra gunmen attack the Business house it was noon time by the time we had finis3h the church comity and some of our Beloved one whom travel from Nairobi to our place to inquire me and other Elder we to give them a branch they were short Dead with the gun men when they where pass near this Business Building. "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." Ezekiel 22:30 "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..." Exodus 34:6 UGANDA Bishop George Kasharu We had a good women’s seminar for four days and this was great because the last day the church which sits four hundred people had nowhere to sit. Women came from many churches from Mafubira where we have 20 different denominations. This was the first women's seminar with good attendance our theme was' you see how bad the situation is the walls are burned down by fire come and let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem so that we may not reproach;. I preached last on the Saturday, surely we saw the hand of God

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Dear I send you my greetings in the lord we are fine in the lord and I want to appreciate you for the prayers you have been offering me we have been to Uganda in a Mission then we moved to Webuye for two days and today our pastors team are travelling to Tanzania in the same mission and it will take us 13 hours to reach so pray with our team that the lord will supply all our needs and he strengthens his servants. We believe that God will open to reign in his people and those in trouble to be relieved. The region of Tanzania is covered with Muslims but we are praying that the lord may take control over that. God bless you Yours Pastor Alex

KENYA

Praise His Majesty! Thanks for that comprehensive spiritual material and may God bless you. However, I called the Bishop from Nigeria and we talked but via e-mails. I would like to be part of this great team because as shared earlier when I called you, you said that by 2015 you will be in Mbita, Kenya. Be Blessed, Apostle Paul.

NIGERIA Hi Dr. Wade Sir, Blessings. Thank you for this mail. I want you to know that ICOF is waxing strong in Nigeria, ICOF women for Christ is strong, ICOF Chaplaincy is making a serious wave in Nigeria. I am believing God that by next year we will start building the multimillion naira ICOF Global Union African Co-operate Headquarters in Nigeria. This complex will be made up of: ICOF Global Union Co-operate African Administrative Headquarters, ICOF University and seminary, ICOF Chaplaincy Corp and ICOF business dept. we had already acquire that land. So we will start the buildings by God grace. Please let me know the time and the number of people that is coming with you to Nigeria and Africa so that I can plan well. Thanks and be blessed. Bishop Daniel Joseph.

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ASIA INDIA Dear Bishop Wade, From 20th November onwards up to 1st January 2014 we have special small group prayers. Please remember about our ministry in your prayers. I am very happy to share with you. At this time we need your prayers and support to feed the needy Orphan children and widows and old-age people in the Christmas time, and also we are praying in the presence of God to provide for them clothes and as it is winter season for us the old-age people and small kids is suffering lot without blankets. So please pray about this. If you come forward to help them we will be very happy. Christians have a clear command to care for orphans, and there are many ways to get involved—praying, giving, mobilizing your church or adopting a child helping for thier studies. I hope to hear from you also. Always our prayers will be with you. Your's Brother in Christ, Ezra Anand Kumar Garnipudi, Evangelist MALAYSIA

NEPAL Ministers training

PAKISTAN

I am Rev. Azar naz ,Chairman LIGHT OF THE WORLD MINISTRIES REGISTERED IN

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PAKISTAN.I am also Chairman All Churches Pastors Counsel in Pakistan.20 Pastors are working with me in different areas in Punjab. Last night on 16 October 2013, there was a whole night meeting in my church. Started from 8:30 pm and close 4:30am on

17 October morning. there were 74 people,

25 people accept Jesus as their Personal

Savior and baptizing with water, 20 people

received the baptizing with Holy Ghost. One

young man was abnormal since his

childhood. Now he is 28 years old, when he

came this meeting under the Shadow of the

Holy Spirit touched him and he is healed

completely right now. Praise the Lord, You

are requested to pray continue for them all.

God bless you.

Bishop can you share the word of God on

Skype in Pakistan. Jesus said “Go therefore,

and make disciples of all nations, baptizing

them in the name of the Father and in the

name of Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Javed Siddique

WONDERFUL REPORT OF GOSPEL WORK TRIP OF PUNJAB PROVINCE. From 7 to 11 Oct. I have preached with my Gospel team. I have come back from the Gospel trip of Punjab, I have preached in 4 villages of Punjab. Where more than 4000 people received blessings when they attend meetings. 300 received Jesus as their savior. 237 healed from their sicknesses.

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REQUEST FOR SUPPORT

MONTHLY GROCERY

With due respect, we want to bring into your

kind notice that LIVING HOPE ORPHAN

HOUSE was established in January 2011

and registered under the Islamabad Capital

Territory Administration in January 2012.

The Living Hope Orphan House is taking

care for 37 children (boys and girls), orphan,

semi- orphan, children of broken families

and poor families.

The management of Living Hope Orphan

House is running this institute with the

generous support of God fearing and well

wisher of orphan and poor children. Till

today we have no regular support from

government, non government organization

or any support from abroad. This institution

is situated in New Iqbal Town, Islamabad in

a rented building.

We are bearing a lot of expenses like,

building rent, bedding for children, food,

clothing, educational expenses (school fee,

books and stationary, uniform) and medical

expenses for these children. It is very

difficult to meet all the expenses of children

because we have no regular financial

support.

Therefore we request you to give us

Monthly Grocery for children. It will be a

great contribution from your kind hearted

decision. These poor and orphan children

will pray for your long life and prosperity.

Looking forward to your favorable

consideration.

Regards,

Bishop Dilshad Bhatti – ICOF Pakistan

Pakistan

Bishop Bernie Wade ministering with Bishop Tufail Bazmi

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Ministering in Pakistan with Bishop Tufail Bazmi

in their Friday evening meeting! What a wonderful presence of the Lord! What sincerity

of worship. – Bishop Bernie L. Wade

PAKISTAN (continued)

Pastor Saleem Inayat – ICOF Church of Lahore ministering in United Aram Emirates

Keep the ministry there in UAE in prayer.

Pastor Saleem Inayat has been

appointed Chairman of the International Circle of Faith Fivefold Roundtable of Pakistan.

72

NORTH AMERICA

USA We are excited to announce that a new web site is coming for ICOF Global. The IT Dept has removed the old site and a new one will be up soon! Keep watching! http://www.icof.net

ARIZONA

ICOF Fivefold Roundtable –

Phoenix with Chairman –

Bishop Derrick Day

KENTUCKY

LIFE CHURCH of Kentucky is

preparing for an

ordination/

consecration meeting.

November 24th, 2013

Dinner at 12:30

Meeting: 2 PM At Sulphur Christian Church,

Sulphur, Kentucky

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS TO THE NEXT WAVE MAGAZINE IS THE

WATCH

ICOF

TV LIVE

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New Orleans, LA

Friday, December 5

Greensboro, NC

Friday, November 14

Detroit, MI

Friday, October 10

Louisville, KY

Friday, September 5

Vancouver, BC

Friday, August 15

Des Moines, IA

Friday, July 18

New York City, NY

Saturday, June 7

San Antonio, TX

Saturday, May 24

Anaheim, CA

Friday, April 11

Tallahassee, FL

Friday, March 14

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On Friday November 8, 2013 Typhoon

Haiyan hit the Philippine Islands with

devastating fury. Recorded as one of the

strongest storms every recorded, its path

was three hundred miles wide. Super

Typhoon Haiyan has devastated the

Philippines. The UN reports over 330,000

people are displaced, and thousands are

feared dead. Many of the storms

survivors are desperate for supplies. To

ensure maximum relief to

the region, our bank is waiving all

transaction fees when you donate to help

the victims.

Our national pastors, their churches, and

congregations focus on ministry to the

poor. And we fear the worst for them. At

this time there is a tremendous need for

food, temporary housing, medicine and

finances. With a generous gift to the ICOF

PHILIPPINE RELIEF FUND you can be an

encouragement to our brothers and sisters

in Christ as they seek to survive and rebuild

their lives. To donate, email ICOF

PHILIPPINE RELIEF FUND

OR CALL: 502.410.4263

MAIL TO: ICOF PO. BOX 72 SULPHUR, KY

40070

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INTERNATIONAL CIRCLE

OF FAITH COLLEGES,

SEMINARIES AND

UNIVERSITIES

EDUCATING TOMORROWS

CHRISTIAN LEADERS

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WANTED INTERCESSORS

IF YOU ARE AN INTERCESSOR WE

NEED YOUR HELP! We are putting a

team of intercessors together to

pray for our new church plant. We

know that we can never accomplish

the vision that God has given us

without intercessors.

LIFE CHURCH of Kentucky is in the

process of a new church plant. As

part of our launch team we need a

plethora of God called intercessors.

We would love for you to be part of

what God is doing in our area.

If you will commit to praying for LIFE

CHURCH of Kentucky we will commit

to give you timely updates on the

needs.

Together we are makinh a real and

lasting difference for the Kingdom of

Jesus Christ.

Or Call

502.410.4263

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79

The ONLY Ministry of the New

Testament Church

By J. Samuel Willoughby

The lightning like speed with which

this tragically deceived, tormented

generation plunges toward an

eternity without God; wrenches from

the heart of every concerned saint

any desire for gospel games or

spiritual amusements. Leaving in its

place only a lonely crying out to

know where went the power of

Pentecost; and the profundity of its

gospel witness.

~From The Power Witness,

Mark Hanby & V. A. Guidroz

There are 18 separate verses, in the

New Testament, that speak to us about

ministry, using the word ‘ministry’…

THE MINISTRY:

Acts 1:17 For he was numbered with us,

and had obtained part of this ministry.

Acts 1:25 That he may take part of this

ministry and apostleship, from which

Judas by transgression fell, that he

might go to his own place.

Acts 6:4 But we will give ourselves

continually to prayer, and to the ministry

of the word.

Acts 12:25 And Barnabas and Saul

returned from Jerusalem, when they had

fulfilled their ministry, and took with

them John, whose surname was Mark.

Acts 21:19 And when he had saluted

them, he declared particularly what

things God had wrought among the

Gentiles by his ministry.

Romans 12:7 Or ministry, let us wait on

our ministering: or he that teacheth, on

teaching;

1 Corinthians 16:15 I beseech you,

brethren, ye (know the house of

Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of

Achaia, and that they have addicted

themselves to the ministry of the saints,)

2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore seeing we

have this ministry, as we have received

mercy, we faint not;

2 Corinthians 6:3 Giving no offense in

anything, that the ministry be not

blamed:

Ephesians 4:11-12 And he gave some,

apostles; and some, prophets; and

some, evangelists; and some, pastors

and teachers;

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12 For the perfecting of the saints, for

the work of the ministry, for the edifying

of the body of Christ:

Colossians 4:17 And say to Archippus,

Take heed to the ministry which thou

hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill

it.

1 Timothy 1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus

our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that

he counted me faithful, putting me into

the ministry;

2 Timothy 4:5 But watch thou in all

things, endure afflictions, do the work of

an evangelist, make full proof of thy

ministry.

2 Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me.

Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for

he is profitable to me for the ministry.

Hebrews 8:6 But now hath he obtained

a more excellent ministry, by how much

also he is the mediator of a better

covenant, which was established upon

better promises.

Hebrews 9:21 Moreover he sprinkled

with blood both the tabernacle, and all

the vessels of the ministry.

LET ME SAY FIRST OF ALL…EVERY

SAINT OF GOD HAS A MINISTRY…

EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US…

And you and I will stand in the Judgment

some day with the fruit of our ministries

or the lack thereof, and give account to

a great and awesome God, as to our

handling of the part of ministry that he

has placed into our hands…

However, in all these scriptural nuggets

concerning ‘the ministry’, there are only

2 passages out of the 18, which actually

tell us what ‘the ministry’ is and give us

clear insight into a real-time, day-to-day

approach as to how to perform that

ministry.

TEXTS:

Acts 20:24 But none of these things

move me, neither count I my life dear

unto myself, so that I might finish my

course with joy, and the ministry, which I

have received of the Lord Jesus, to

testify the gospel of the grace of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17-20 Therefore if any

man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away; behold, all

things are become new.

18 And all things are of God, who hath

reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,

and hath given to us the ministry of

reconciliation;

19 To wit, that God was in Christ,

reconciling the world unto himself, not

imputing their trespasses unto them;

and hath committed unto us the word of

reconciliation.

20 Now then we are ambassadors for

Christ, as though God did beseech you

by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be

ye reconciled to God.

THE ONLY MINISTRY FOUND WITHIN

THE NEW TESTAMENT IS…

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THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION!

Let me take the time to back up here for

just a bit and lay a foundation that we

can stand on from the Word of the Lord.

First of all, we need to know the answer

to the question, “What is the Gospel?”

MINISTRY: WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

(Theologically) 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you

the gospel which I preached unto you,

which also ye have received, and

wherein ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep

in memory what I preached unto you,

unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that

which I also received, how that Christ

died for our sins according to the

Scriptures;

4 And that he was buried and that he

rose again the third day according to the

Scriptures:

According to the apostle Paul, the

Gospel, or “the Good News” is the

Death, the Burial, and the Resurrection

of Jesus Christ. He indicates in this

passage in Corinthians that it is what we

stand in by faith; it is the very thing that

saves us…unless we have believed in

vain. But that begs the question then,

“How do I apply that Truth to my own

life?”

(Practical Application) Acts 2:38-39

Then Peter said unto them, Repent

(death to sin), and be baptized (buried)

every one of you in the name of Jesus

Christ for the remission of sins, and ye

shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost

(the resurrected life in Christ).

39 For the promise is unto you, and to

your children, and to all that are afar off,

even as many as the Lord our God shall

call.

I am identified with Christ, or as Paul

says in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified

with Christ…” retro-actively in the New

Birth experience when I Repent or die

out to my sins, then I am Water

Baptized (buried), then I receive His

Resurrection Power in my life with the

Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

And the understanding that ties those 2

powerful passages of scripture together

is what Paul wrote in Romans 8…

(Connection) Romans 8:1-4 There is

therefore now no condemnation to them

which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not

after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

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2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ

Jesus hath made me free from the law

of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it

was weak through the flesh, God

sending his own Son in the likeness of

sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin

in the flesh:

4 That the righteousness

of the law might be

fulfilled in us, who walk

not after the flesh, but

after the Spirit.

Romans 8:10-11 And if

Christ be in you, the body

is dead because of sin;

but the Spirit is life because of

righteousness.

11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up

Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he

that raised up Christ from the dead shall

also quicken your mortal bodies by his

Spirit that dwelleth in you.

MINISTRY: WHAT IS

RECONCILIATION?

Definition: Merriam-Webster

1a: to restore to friendship or harmony

b: SETTLE, RESOLVE

2: to make consistent or congruous

3a: to check (a financial account)

against another for accuracy b: to

account for

Strong’s Lexicon tells us:

1) Exchange

a. Of the business of money changers,

exchanging equivalent values 2)

Adjustment of a difference,

reconciliation, restoration to favor

a. In the NT, the restoration of the favor

of God to sinners that repent and put

their trust in the expiatory death of

Christ.

JESUS’ MINISTRY:

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 And

all things are of God, who

hath reconciled us to

himself by Jesus Christ, and

hath given to us the ministry

of reconciliation;

19 To wit, that God was in

Christ, reconciling the world

unto himself, not imputing

their trespasses unto them; and hath

committed unto us the word of

reconciliation.

Hebrews 2:17 Wherefore in all things it

behooved him to be made like unto his

brethren, that he might be a merciful

and faithful high priest in things

pertaining to God, TO MAKE

RECONCILIATION FOR THE SINS OF

THE PEOPLE.

LET ME SAY AGAIN…

THE ONLY MINISTRY FOUND WITHIN

THE NEW TESTAMENT IS…

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION!

And the two-pronged method of fulfilling

that ministry in our lives is…

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• Intercessory prayer for the

reconciliation of all men and women to

God…

• Sharing, or testifying of the Gospel of

the grace of God…

BASICALLY, YOU PRAY IT IN…AND

THEN YOU SPEAK IT OUT

Do you know what really SHOCKS

God?

It is NOT sin, or lukewarmness, or

backsliding; NO, IT REALLY IS NOT!

Isaiah 59:16 And he saw that there was

no man, and wondered that there was

no intercessor: therefore his arm

brought salvation unto him; and his

righteousness, it sustained him.

Isaiah 59:16 And he saw that there was

no man, and wondered [a prim. Hebrew

root word- shaw-mame'- meaning:

stunned, numbed, devastated,

stupefied, amazed, or astonished] that

there was no intercessor: therefore his

arm brought salvation unto him; and his

righteousness, it sustained him.

When God cannot find anyone, AFTER

ALL HE HAS DONE FOR US, to

intercede for His lost world in

PRAYER….or anyone that can be

bothered to testify of His grace and

power to bring healing and peace to a

troubled life…He is stunned, numbed,

devastated, stupefied, amazed and

astonished!!!

If I am not involved in the reconciliation

of lost people to Jesus Christ…And/or

the restoration of fallen brothers and

sister back to right standing with Jesus

Christ…Then I have no part in New

Testament ministry…and I really need to

take my sign down.

How can I call myself a Christian if I

don’t love His lost world enough to die

daily in prayer for it?

How can I call myself a Christian if I “just

can’t talk to people about Jesus”,

because I’m too embarrassed?

How can I call myself a Christian if I

cannot bother myself to be a part of

reconciling a fallen brother or sister back

to right relationship with God?

IT AIN’T ROCKET SCIENCE, MY

FRIEND!!

WE PRAY FOR PEOPLE AND TELL

THEM ABOUT JESUS.

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WE PRAY FOR PEOPLE AND TELL

THEM ABOUT JESUS.

WE MODEL HIM IN FRONT OF THEM.

WE GLORIFY HIM IN THEIR

HEARING. WE LIVE IT AND TELL IT.

They said in Acts 4:20 “We can only tell

what we have seen and heard” … AND

THEY TURNED THE WORLD UPSIDE

DOWN!

Acts 8:1-4 And Saul was consenting

unto his death. And at that time there

was a great persecution against the

church which was at Jerusalem; and

they were all scattered abroad

throughout the regions of Judea and

Samaria, except the apostles.

2 And devout men carried Stephen to

his burial, and made great lamentation

over him.

3 As for Saul, he made havoc of the

church, entering into every house, and

haling men and women committed them

to prison.

4 Therefore they that were scattered

abroad went everywhere preaching the

word.

It is NOT just the preacher’s job!

In Acts 8, everyone got scattered out

from Jerusalem, EXCEPT THE

APOSTLES! And verse 4 says, “they

that were scattered abroad went

everywhere preaching the word.”

Too many of us have allowed the devil

and our own laziness to rob us of our

VOICE!! In the prayer closet of

intercession for a hurting world…And on

the street; telling that lonely, hurting

world of a Savior who can bring them

healing and peace in a world that has

gone to the limits and beyond in

degradation and debauchery!

Let me say again…EVERY CHILD OF

GOD HAS A MINISTRY…every single

one of us…Ministry is merely the outflow

of a healthy spiritual life…

And we will account to God, for “the

power of Pentecost; and the profundity

of its gospel witness.”

….And what we’ve done with it.

Bishop J. Samuel Willoughby brings

a lifetime of ministry

experience to his role as

a Teacher in the Body of

Christ. He is a member

of the International

Circle of Faith Fivefold

Roundtable for North

America.

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LIFE CHURCH OF KENTUCKY MAKING DISCIPLES

502.410.4263

lifechurchky@live.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Life.Church.13/

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Dr. Marcus Benson From Dublin, Ireland

International Circle of Faith - Chairman of the European Fivefold Roundtable

LIFE CHURCH OF KENTUCKY

DECEMBER 15TH 2013

2 PM

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LIFE CHURCH of KENTUCKY

Dr. Robert Straube Assistant Presiding Bishop - International Circle of Faith

2 PM 8047 Sulphur-Bedford Road, Sulphur, KY 40070

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Fellow Laborers in the Gospel,

The International Circle of Faith (ICOF) has been given a vision and a mandate to herald the importance

of the Five-Fold Ministry Gifts (Ephesians 4: 11) to the church for the following objectives:

Equip the Saints for the Edifying of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12)

Unify the Church in faith (Ephesians 4:13)

Encourage the Saints to be grounded in truth and doctrine (Ephesians 4:14)

Bring the Saints into maturity in Christ (Ephesians 4:15)

Because these objectives have not been met, the Church – by-and-large – has been operating in a

diminished capacity, not fully manifesting the power of the risen Christ and demonstrating the Greater

Works (John 14:12) that Jesus told the Church it would do.

For this reason ICOF is looking for sons and daughters of God who long to see the power expressed in

the first-century church in the modern church. We call this initiative the Five-Fold Roundtable.

Participation is simple. There is a conference call held on the first Monday of every month at 8:00PM

EST (7:00PM CST, 6:00PM MST, 8:00PM PST). Here is the conference call information:

Phone Number: (712) 432-0373

Passcode: 680181*

If you’re inclined to be a part of this vision, you can start by forming your own local Five-Fold

Roundtable. This will require stepping outside your comfort zone to introduce yourself to, and

fellowship with, ministry and Christian business leaders in your area, sharing this vision with them. In

order to make the vision plain, we have broken it down into three areas:

Identify Five-Fold leaders locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally

Equip Five-Fold leaders to reproduce first in their local ministries then in their community

Deploy Five-Fold leaders to displace the powers of darkness with the Kingdom of God

If you desire assistance with this, you can email me directly, and ICOF will bring resources to bear to

help you with your effort.

We look forward to laboring with you!

Yours in Christ,

D.E. Day

Bishop Derrick Day, Chairman

ICOF Five-Fold Roundtable

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