Apostolic | Release the A.P.E.

Are We On The Same Team?

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December 8, 2013

FotoFlexer_Photo

This is a guest post by Bex Barton. Her day job is a rockin’ stay-at-home-mum (three crazy kiddos!) She is passionate about writing, tattoos, upcycling (Google it!) and all things artsy! She believes everyone has a role to play in this beautiful, messy life (yes, even *you*!) and seeks to help them find their way back to God.

“Apostle. Prophet. Evangelist. Shepherd. Teacher. Such power in those five simple words. Such passion. Such controversy, as well.

It never ceases to amaze me how the very thing Christ was using to create harmony among us, has been such a tool for dissension.

Would We Admire Him Today?

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December 3, 2013

[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]

By Steve Stuckey

He Did Not Get on Beau’s Party Bus

You will not find his name on the APE mailing list. He would not have stormed out the door last week to be the first one on Beau’s party bus` to El Camino College. He founded no organizations or churches; never wrote a book or gave a speech (though those are excellent things). The mechanics of leadership, a topic that preoccupies many of us, did not exist as a subject in his mind. He was not good with words, a prerequisite for all of us who write and read this blog. In fact, no words are ever attributed to him in the Scriptures. He was probably a humble, quiet man who worked with his hands and lived much of his life in the shadows of his world. When his mission in life was complete, he silently faded into the mist of history without fanfare or applause. He must have been a fellow easy to overlook, even by God. When his young fiancée was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit, a highly unusual and suspicious story, he was left to find out her situation through second hand sources.

Party Bus, Planting, & Praying…Reaching Unreached Campuses

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November 15, 2013

Jon Wong, an intern at USC working with fraternity students, is sharing on the bus ride down about why he chose to go start something new for God.

Jon Wong, an intern at USC working with fraternity students, is sharing on the bus ride about why he chose to start something new for God.

Last night as a response to my talk on Acts 8 and the story of Philip and the Ethiopian, I a gave a surprising and spontaneous response to the students. I asked them if God was to invite them to “Go South” now, who would be down?

I then told them that I had a bus parked outside and I had 20 tickets for the most eager people that wanted to go to an unreached campus right now and pray.

It was 10pm and we would be back at 1am.

20 students quickly ran down and we were off.

The goals of the night were these:

To see which students were the most open and spontaneous…who had the planting spirit
To encourage students to care about not only their own campus but the 70 in Los Angeles. 50 of which have very little to know witness.
To learn about planting and hear stories and preaching to encourage them to go “where God is wanting to work next”
To pray for an unreached place and call down the Kingdom of God there.
To Have fun! Planting should be fun and the most fun…I think 🙂

Check out the video and see how the driver responded! Incredible

[tentblogger-youtube pgJiX0D92Pc]

Three Things Effective Leaders Must Do

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November 12, 2013

Businessman playing chess

By Chris Nichols

Life in ministry can be frantically full, especially in a ministry setting where apostolic and evangelistic gifts are being effectively demonstrated. Pushing forward into new territory, calling skeptics and seekers to belief, and gathering them into Jesus centered community are foundational elements of ministry culture and is invigorating for everyone involved. Whether you are planting or building, these are essential qualities that need to be valued and encouraged.

But the leaders of apostolic movements must do more than churn up evangelistic and expansion activity. They need always be aware when ministry activity is edging into chaotic, gospel activity rather than strategic kingdom advancement.

In order to avoid developing that kind of frenetic ministry culture, effective leaders of apostolic movements must be ready and willing to do three things in order to lead effectively.

The Importance of Language: Are Apostles For Today?

4 responses
November 11, 2013

The term apostle can provoke all kinds of reactions. What exactly does this word mean? Are there really present day apostles? If so, what do they do? And why does it matter? These are all really important questions. This blog post series is an attempt to look at these questions and point to biblical answers. I have asked Tim Catchim, a great thinker and writer on the apostolic, to write a blog series for us. Here is post one in the series “Are Apostles For Today?”

In Organization at the Limit, a book dedicated to looking at organizational dynamics that contributed to the Columbia space shuttle disaster, William Ocasio discusses the unique connection between language and our ability to “see” what is going on around us. Language has the subtle, yet powerful ability to focus our attention. It can point us toward existing problems and solutions, or it can blind us from those very things. In other words, the language we commonly use can greatly influence what gets noticed and what gets ignored. He says it like this, “It’s not that language determines what can be thought, but that language influences what routinely does get thought.”[1]

Sentralized West Coast

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November 5, 2013

Speaker-Group Join us for the Sentralized West Coast 2014 gathering in Costa Mesa January 23rd-25th, 2014. We will be hosting some of the best missional thinkers and practitioners in the world.

Come spend time with and learn from Alan and Deb Hirsch, Michael Frost, Ori Brafman, Neil Cole, Hugh Halter, Jen Hatmaker, Dan Kimball, Noel Castellanos, Lance Ford, Kathy Escobar, Kim Hammond, Lisa Sharon Harper, Caesar Kalinowski, Matt Smay, Leroy Barber, Efrem Smith, Jon Huckins, Sean Gladding, Beau Crosetto, Brad Brisco and others.

We will be offering 14 main sessions, 27 breakout sessions, and significant “living room” times to network and connect with all the presenters. So get registered, mark your calendar and plan on joining us in Costa Mesa in January!

Lost & Found

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November 3, 2013

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[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]

Delinquent Donkeys

Maybe someone left the gate unlatched. Or maybe one of the animals leaned hard against the wooden rails of the coral. Regardless, the herd of donkeys escaped their quarters and wandered off to who knows where. When the loss was discovered, Kish longed to get his valuable pack animals back. In the 10th century B.C economy, donkeys were the fuel efficient cargo trucks of the day. So Kish recruited his handsome son Saul and a trusted servant and sent them on a search. They looked far and wide. No donkeys. Finally the servant said, “There is a man of God in the next village. Let’s ask him.” So their loss, longing, and search led them, as a last resort, to seek God for help.

But what they found was not what they expected. Their seemingly haphazard search for delinquent donkeys led them into the middle of an epic search conducted by none other that Yahweh himself. The Lord was looking for a man with a heart for God who would serve his people with him. He is still looking.

Planting is Like Learning To Swim

7 responses
October 14, 2013

I have been having a great time watching my son Noah become a swimmer. When we took him to his first lesson in June he was scared of the water and wouldn’t put his face in if his life depended on it. He was really scared.

Just last week as he was kicking up and down the pool with flippers on, turning onto his back, and then onto his face every three seconds. A mom turned to me and said, “how old is your son? He is really good!” I told her he was three and she gasped in disappointment and said, “Gosh, I don’t know if my son can ever be that good.”

I assured her it is possible, just keep coming. A few months ago my boy was kicking and screaming, and now…he is kicking his way through the pool.

The Genius of The “And”: Plant & Build

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October 11, 2013

How we see our plot of ground makes all the difference

Tracey Gee is going to start blogging with us every month and I am really excited about that. She is becoming an expert at building chapters and training. She is part of the National Chapter Building Initiative with InterVarsity and helps train and lead staff and students into more growth and reach of students on campus. But she is also leading a planting effort in Los Angeles as well now. She is a great example of both a planter and builder!

In John 4, Jesus tells his disciples to lift up their eyes to see a field ripe for harvest. For years, I have preached that word to students and encouraged them to see their friends and their whole campus as ripe for harvest. I want them to believe that God is bigger than their limits and to widen their perspective. “Don’t miss the bigger picture of what God wants to do” is what I have said. Little did I know that I was more like the disciples than I thought and Jesus wanted to speak to me about that.

Who Am I?

2 responses
October 10, 2013

who-am-i-today

Who am I?

Mom. Dad. Sister. Friend.

I could go on and on, but, I’m sure if you are old enough to be reading this, you’ve asked the question, “Who am I?” at some point in your life.

I think one of the biggest issues facing the American church today is that our church attendees do not have an understanding of who they are, and if they do, they have not been given full freedom to truly live it out. If that is you, let me tell you, as a child of God, you are a missionary, meaning “sent one.”