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Why Pain Comes before Promotion

In my 33+ years as a Christian leader, I noticed most of my emotional and spiritual growth have come during times of intense pain and challenges to my leadership. While most of us would love to grow merely from the accumulation of information, the truth is that we need to experience revelation in order for the knowledge to transform our inner being. That is why I often tell people: We cannot grow from only attending Bible studies and saying prayers; we must live these studies and prayers out in our lives so we can realize the growth!

12 Contrasts Between Apostolic Movements and Denominations

The following is an excerpt from my book entitled “An Anthology Of Essays On The Apostolic.” These generalizations may or may not be true for particular denominations and apostolic movements:

Why Your Faith is More Influenced by Culture than the Bible

It is my intention in this article, to show the relationship between theological formation in the church and its particular culture and contemporary movements. By culture we mean the language, arts, habits, values, currency, and aspirations of a people group, a community, city or nation.

14 Next Generation Challenges to the Apostolic Movement

The so-called “millennium generation” has seemed to develop certain presuppositions that are presently a huge challenge that can hinder the continuation of the present apostolic reformation in North America and beyond.

Contrasting the Secular from the Biblical Church Model

Many pastors are reading books on leadership and marketing written by corporate leaders or folks speaking from an American corporate ethos. Oftentimes the biblical ethos in regards to the local church model is missed. The following 10 points show the difference between the two models:

Contrasting American Christianity from Biblical Christianity

It has been evident to numerous biblical scholars that often (if not most of the time) believers (including preachers) interpret the Bible through the lens of their culture. This has resulted in many beliefs, doctrines and practices prevalent in the church that are not in accord with the clear teaching of Scripture. Sadly this is often the case with the Evangelical church in the United States. Since the U.S. is so influential, American Evangelicals have also exported a gospel replete with an American cultural paradigm that is not in line with the Hebraic paradigm of Scripture. Consequently, sometimes in the U.S. pulpit, preaching can sound more like the “American Dream” than sound, biblical teaching.

Contrasting an orphan spirit from a spirit of sonship

Ever since Adam and Eve were alienated from God the Father in the Garden of Eden, an orphan spirit has permeated the earth causing untold damage! (By “orphan” I am referring to a sense of abandonment, loneliness, alienation, and isolation.) Almost immediately after the fall in Eden, the fruit of this orphan spirit resulted in jealousy culminating in Cain murdering his brother Abel because God the Father didn’t receive his offering. To make matters worse in contemporary society with the breakup of the nuclear family large amounts of people are not only alienated from God but are brought up without the loving care and security of their biological fathers.

Abuses and Blessings of the Contemporary Apostolic Movement

As a person who has been part of the Apostolic Movement since 1989 I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. That being said, I believe all of the five-fold ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 have always been present throughout church history (leaders were functioning these ways, whether they used these titles or not). Consequently, I have known many leaders who legitimately functioned in apostolic leadership and I have known many who have used the title without apostolic fruit and legitimacy.

Ten Signs You Have A Religious Spirit

In this article I am using the term “religion” to refer to man-made effort that utilizes works to please God. It is very easy to mistake being religious for having a relationship with God. All religions in the world are based on religion which is a man-made attempt to reach God. However, Christianity is supposed to involve having a genuine relationship with God (2 Corinthians 13:14). Unfortunately, it is very easy to unwittingly replace this precious relationship with a religious spirit (meaning a lifestyle or attitude), which is the default position of sinful human nature. The purpose of this article is to help people become self-aware, not to condemn or judge them. Hence, if you use this to judge others you yourself are guilty of one of the following signs.

The consequences of living an unthankful life

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