Frequently Asked Questions
- What is an Apostolic People?
- Dynamic Qualities of an Apostolic People... the word dynamic is used here purposefully. Dynamic refers to a motive force, something that is potent, and energetic.
The following are the values and ethics which are foundational to the nature of the apostolic church. They are the true characteristics and of an apostolic people. These are energising principles, and are clearly part of God’s revelation for the life of His people. As we submit to Christ, and learn His way, the power of God flows through such a people.
One Heart and One Mind - Unity in the Apostolic Church: An apostolic people is marked by a great desire for unity, although unity is not just an end in itself. The purpose of unity is not only to establish love amongst the brethren, but also to obtain intimacy with God and to bring the world to faith in Christ. Even so, the love and acceptance of one another is real. Apostles will bring unity to the church, both within each local fellowship, and across the body. This is one of the great purposes of apostles, and no mature apostle is without this burden -- a burden for the whole body. The apostolic goal is the unity of the faith and the maturity of the church, spoken of in Ephesians 4:13, and which is to be built upon the unity of the Spirit for which we are meant to strive and maintain.
Humility, Teachableness, Submission: These values become our very life when we have the Spirit of Jesus. No one is able to change their own heart, but as we receive Jesus, we receive His Spirit, and we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to live and think and feel as Jesus would. There cannot be such a thing as an apostolic people who are not teachable and in submission to their leaders. Without these qualities there can be no unity, and there can be no visitation of the Spirit in power. Without teachableness there will be no growth in grace, and without submission there is no genuine authority in the believer. Without these graces in the heart, truth cannot be received. Humility precedes both of these qualities, and is essential for apostolic power.
Honouring Leaders: An apostolic people honours their leadership, not only because of the biblical command, but because this is a primary source of life and blessing which God has ordained. The ability to give honour is a mark of maturity, wisdom, and a pure heart. The impure always struggle to give honour, because it is against the nature of the flesh. In community, the mutual honouring of one another makes for a beautiful and peaceful experience of life. This is the wisdom that comes from heaven, mentioned in James 3:17-18, and is the opposite of the striving of envy and selfish ambition that disturbs many Christian fellowships and brings in every evil.
Heart Relationship: In traditional churches, relationship is often based on convenience. The relationship continues while it is convenient, but when it no longer suits, people walk away. Many Christians effectively live for themselves, and the result is that relationships are shallow. Apostolic Christianity calls us to discover meaningful relationships, based on faithfulness to one another. We are to become devoted to one another, as the apostle instructed. “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (Romans 12:10). We are to be brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers to one another in the faith. Effectively, this is a relationship of the heart -- we give our hearts to one another.
Accountability, Transparency, Openness, Honesty: Amongst an apostolic people, there is accountability through relationship. We are to live lives of transparency with one another. For this to be effective, we have to come to the place where we trust others. The Bible says that love always trusts, but of course this can only be the experience of those in community, where the issues that divide have been worked through, our hearts are at rest, and we accept one another. In community, and the apostolic faith, individuals do not pursue a private agenda. We live for the good of other people, and we are honest about ourselves, our purpose and our motives.
Love: The early apostolic church was recognised by the believers and their enemies alike as being a people of amazing love for one another. They were fulfilling the law of Christ. The church’s enemies were chagrined by the love the believers had for one another, and this was foundational to the power evident in the early church. There is no other way to turn the world upside-down, and the apostolic church succeeded in doing this in one generation. This is the call of God upon today's church, to be an apostolic people in our generation, marked by the amazing, selfless, sacrificial love which is Christ in us.
Laying Down Our Lives for the Brethren: Christ calls us to love one another, and to do so in the same way that He loved us. He loved us to the point of laying down His life for us, as He remarked to His disciples: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The apostle John later wrote this challenging appeal, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16). This describes the spirit of apostolic Christianity. Do not be surprised if God calls some of His people to supreme sacrifice. More to the point, understand that the love of our hearts toward one another should be such that we would count the lives of other people worthy of sacrifice. This at least will call forth obedience to John's next statement, which was, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18). This is the spirit of an apostolic people.
Not democracy, but community: Democracy may be fine for nations, but it has never been God's plan for the church. Even Churchill remarked that "Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Instead, the church is meant to rise above mere democracy, and find community. Democracy cannot produce community, as we discussed earlier. An apostolic company functions through relationship and by its people knowing and trusting each other deeply, not through the politics of who can get the votes. In community, it is not the opinion of the majority that counts -- it is the Spirit of God bringing peace to the heart that guides and speaks. The voice of just one member can be used by God to bring either direction, or correction, and the believers whose hearts are right with one another sense an inner witness to the truth. In the end, the anointed leadership of the community carries the responsibility for understanding the heart of the people and the mind of the Spirit, no matter through whom it is being expressed.
Rights, but no rights: To be an apostolic people, we must give up our 'rights'. If we are not prepared to do this, we are not following the way of Christ, and therefore can never know His power. Christ was honoured by the Father and exalted to the highest place, specifically because He gave up His rights and trusted the Father instead. This is the message of Philippians chapter 2, where we are called to be like-minded and one in spirit and purpose with the believers, because we are united with Christ. We are called to look after the interests of others, as well as our own, and instructed to have the same values that Christ did when He made Himself nothing. Jesus did not count His equality with God something to be held onto, but humbled Himself to become a servant to others. Likewise, the believers of an apostolic community do not demand their rights, but trust the covering of God, and seek to be servants to their people. An apostolic people must be content to be ‘nothing’, and it is Christ who will exalt them in His way and time. This is the people who will inherit the apostolic promise, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).
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- Is There an Apostolic and Prophetic network of people working in unison in Australia?
- There are apostles and prophets working together in unity in Australia. We have relationships with quite a number of ministries, but there is no formal 'network' as such. It is completely relational. There is no 'front door', 'head office' or 'membership'. So in a sense, by talking to us, you are already in contact with apostles and prophets working in unity in Australia.
The Lord is in the process of raising apostles and prophets across the nation. We don't know who all of them are yet.
There are some who endeavour to build official 'networks' but because it is institutional, goes the way of denominations and people only relate to those in their 'circle'.
One of our goals and prayer is to "Encourage the forming of a national gathering of apostles, prophets and teachers, so as to see established the Covering of Christ over the church of this nation."
It may take some time for this to be fulfilled, but will happen in God's time.
If you are a leader looking for relationship in the Body of Christ, it would be best to email David Hood. He is called as an apostle of Christ, is a spiritual son to John Alley and serves at Peace as Associate Senior Minister.
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- Can I Obtain a Security Network Password to Your Site
- Security access to the website is available to the developer and our team members who are contributing content. At this stage we do not have a private login area.
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- What is the Difference Between a Denomination and an Apostolic Network?
- This is a big question, and this is only part of the answer. In a denomination, the churches and pastors relate to an organization with a constantly changing personnel who come and go on the basis of elections or appointment. In an apostolic network, the church and the pastor relates to a person who is an anointed man of God for that purpose. Relationship is designed to be permanent and is in the nature of a father-son relationship. In families, children do not re-elect their parents every few years, nor parents adopt out their children to adopt another group every few years. In the apostolic nature of the church, structures are based on permanent relationships which can only be based on a father-son model where sons know their father, and a father knows his sons. The role of the father is to bring the sons to maturity, just as in a family, once the children grow up, they become mature adults, able to father others. Yet as adult fathers, relationship with their father remains. Thus, in apostolic ministry, one never keeps subordinates dependant on oneself, but seeks to bring them to maturity.
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- What Do Apostles Do?
- Apostles provide leadership and oversight for the Body of Christ. They provide leadership to all other ministries, including prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Apostles govern the church generally and provide oversight to elders and local congregations. They keep the body of Christ focussed on Jesus, and keep the church faithful to the doctrines of the Christian faith and to the Holy Scriptures. Whilst this leadership carries the authority of Christ, it is neither authoritarian nor legalistic. Apostles do not actually own the churches, nor do they own the property and structures of the church. Rather, they function on the basis of relationship. An anointed relationship in Christ is built between an apostle and those under him in the Lord, and on the basis of covenant relationship in the heart does the apostle effectively provide leadership and government to the body of Christ. Essentially, every ministry - local churches, evangelists, and the apostles themselves should be autonomous, but linked in relationship.
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- Are There Apostles Today?
- Yes, Of course. The theological position that there were no more apostles once the canon of Scripture was completed, and also the argument that there were only 12 apostles, is an unbiblical myth. There is no support for either of these arguments in Holy Scripture, and where Scripture has been quoted, it has been misapplied and is out of context. There were many more apostles named in the New Testament than just the twelve, and the biblical position on apostles and apostolic ministry is that this is an essential part of the structure, life and ministry of the church until Jesus comes.
Many things were lost to the church as a result of processes in history, resulting in the dark ages, which the Reformation began to restore. Since the reformation, much has been restored progressively over 500 years, and the Spirit of God is today, in every nation on the planet, restoring to the church apostles and an understanding of apostolic ministry and its place in the Body of Christ.
Ephesians chapter 4 is a significant passage, showing an ongoing appointment of apostles (along with other ministries) subsequent to the original twelve, and showing for how long this ministry is to remain on the earth. The passage states that the church is to maintain the unity of the Spirit, which is to be contended for as a foundation (v. 3), until the church comes to the unity of the faith (v. 13). It shows that the church is to come to a significant place, described as the unity of the faith, unity of the knowledge of the Son of God, become mature, and measure up to the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ. None of these things is yet true of the church.
"It was he who gave some to be apostles, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:11a,13).
The context of this passage is that Christ, in his ascension, i.e. beginning some years after He appointed the original apostles, proceeds to give ministry gifts to men for the specific purpose of bringing the church to this place of maturity and unity, and it states that these gifts are given until this maturity and unity is achieved. This level of unity and maturity is not something that will be achieved after Christ returns for His bride, but will be completed in time on earth, and is a pre-condition for Christ returning for the bride. This maturity of the Bride of Christ cannot be established without apostles and prophets working with evangelists, pastors and teachers. Note that this has nothing to do with the canon of Scripture being completed. The ministry of anointed men continues.
The apostle Paul, appointed subsequent to the ascension of Christ and not as one of the 12 apostles of the lamb, stated that "in the church Christ has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers," etc (1 Cor 12:28). This divine order for the church must be understood and honoured for the church to come to maturity, and to fulfill its mandate of the Great (apostolic) Commission, before the coming of Christ. These are pre-conditions for the coming of Christ.
Jesus said that in the last days there would be false apostles, false prophets, false teachers and false christs. You cannot have what is false or counterfeit unless you have the real. A counterfeit is irrelevant unless the context is such that the real exists. Thus, the last age of the church is an apostolic age and God?s people are an apostolic and prophetic people. In Revelation chapter 18:20, in the context of the final destruction of Babylon, an angel speaks to "saints and apostles and prophets." This is obviously a legitimate and functional way to address the martyrs and the state of the church in the last days.
The New Testament age is preceded by the closing words of the Old Testament canon of Scripture, found in Malachi chapter 4: "See, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children." etc. In the words of Christ, this was fulfilled in John the Baptist (Matt 17:12-13), but is yet to be fulfilled as well (Matt 17:11). The Malachi passage itself refers to the great and terrible day of the Lord, which obviously is yet to come. Both Elijah and John the Baptist were apostolic figures. The meaning and purpose of their lives and ministries went far beyond the prophetic ministry. Jesus said John was "more than a prophet" (Matt 11:9). Both had an anointing to re-order things, that is, to change the present order of things, to set things in order for the coming of Christ, and this is precisely an apostolic ministry. John described himself as a "friend" of "the bridegroom", and this is also a specific apostolic role, i.e., to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom for the bride. The role of apostles is to prepare the bride for that coming. Thus, in these years that we presently live, a great apostolic move is overtaking the church worldwide to prepare the bride by bringing her to maturity and the unity of the faith and to lead the church into the completion of the great commission in preparation for Christ's return. There will not be a return of Christ for the bride until the church is again an apostolic church. John was, in his day, the Elijah who was to come, appearing before the coming of Christ. The apostles are, corporately, the Elijah who is to come, preparing the way for Christ to return. Jesus said, " Elijah does come first, and restores all things" (Mark 9:12).
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