apostles

Jennifer Leclaire: Apostolic Women Arise

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Bold Prophecy: Apostolic Women Arise and Pick Up Mantles of Old

Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson (Wikimedia Commons )

There’s a rich root of revival in Los Angeles—and women were a key part of it.

Assemblies of God history tells us the Azusa Street Revival brought women’s ministries to the fore. Indeed, Jennie Evans Moore who married Daddy William Seymour in 1908, was a key figure. Her name is not as well known as Seymour’s but she was in the revival trenches with him, along with Lucy Farrow and Julia Hutchins. These virtually nameless and faceless, yet faithful, women helped keep the fire burning.

Maria Woodworth-Etter was a mother figure in early Pentecost—John G. Lake called her “Mother Etter.” Her trance-marked ministry helped pave the way for the Azusa Street outpouring and ultimately the birth of a movement that changed the world.

Bold women like Aimee Semple McPherson and Kathryn Kuhlman followed in Mother Etter’s footsteps. McPherson’s Angeles Temple is still standing in Los Angeles today. I stood behind her pulpit in her home, which the Foursquare denomination she started preserved for historical purposes.

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While in Los Angeles, I felt mantles being released; mantles for healing, mantles for miracles—and mantles for apostolic women. I began to prophesy these words:

The time is now, says the Lord. The time is now, says the Lord. The time is now, says the Lord, for apostolic women to arise and indeed they are arising even now. The time is now for apostolic women to arise and take their places in their church and take their places in the marketplace and take their places in their families, in their homes.

The time is now for apostolic women to release the revelation that I’ve shared with their hearts in the secret places. The time is now for apostolic women to arise and bring forth the revelation of days gone by. The time is now for apostolic women to build upon the revelation, to speak forth, to build, to build, to build and plant in the name of Jesus with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ backing them; with all of heaven standing with them; with the ministering angels building and working alongside of them.

The time is now for apostolic women to arise in this city and in this region and in the nation and in the nations of the world. For many years apostolic women have sat in the background waiting for permission to prophesy, waiting for permission to take their places and their God-given roles in the body of Christ. And the time is now for apostolic women to come to the fore, working alongside apostolic men and prophetic believers and evangelists, pastors and teachers who have a heart to build, who have a heart to see awakening, who have a heart to see revival impact this land and who have a heart to see the glory of My Spirit go forth in the nations and cover the earth as the water covers the sea.

The time is now. Apostolic women, the Lord says you have permission to rise up, even own and carry the mantle of Aime Semple McPherson, and carry the mantle of Kathryn Kuhlman, and carry the mantle of Maria Woodworth-Etter, and carry the mantle of those great women from generations past who were nameless and faceless.

The time is now. Rise up, says the Lord. 

Full article here

The City Gate

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John Alley has just published another excellent book in his reflections on the continuing  reformation of the church. He has long argued for a relational form of christianity with all of the ministry gifts of Ephesians 4:11 being recognised by congregations.

In this book, John tackles the difficult subject of city eldership. The New Testament description of the church is very different to what we see now. Rather than a dozen or more congregations each claiming to be “the church” in a town or region with each having very little contact with the others, the Bible talks about a single church in one place. That is not a single congregation, but a connection of congregations all seeing themselves as relating to each other and led by a number of elders who have authority over all congregations.

At the moment, most christians experience a hierarchy of connectedness which points away from the local context to a denominational office which may be in a distant city. Leaders are appointed or elected to offices regardless of the equipping of the Holy Spirit. A better way is to have true fellowship with christians across the denominational barriers with God-appointed elders offering guidance and direction to congregations.

This is a radical blueprint that calls the church back to its early roots. It will take time, perhaps several generations, to overcome our denominational history but this is the work of God, not mere men.

An Apostolic Dream May 30th 2016

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I dreamed that I was supervising the HSC examinations. It was the first day, English Paper 1.

I walked into the hall a little before the scheduled start time of 9:20. I was shocked to discover that instead of being set out in rows, the desks had been piled in a jumble in one corner.

There were a few students standing around, but neither they nor my staff seemed inclined to help set up the hall. I got them started on what seemed like a simple task and went off to find the rest of the students.

The students had dispersed through the school with some of them sitting in on classes even though their schooling was finished.

Finally I had everyone together, and the time was past 11:30, the scheduled finish time. But at least we were making progress- two rows of tables and chairs were completed to my right and the students were progressing rapidly on the third row.

Then I noticed that there was a row nearly completed all by itself to my left. That wasn’t where it should be. I was about to rebuke the students, but then I realised that they had in fact left exactly enough space to insert an additional row between it and the completed rows on my right.

At last we were nearly ready to get started.

When I described this dream to Margaret she said immediately “That’s about the apostolic order of the church!”

The Lord is restoring the church to an order that is different to what has been before. While all of our denominational structures seem good to human eyes, they are a jumbled mess to Him. Rather than bishops and priests, moderators and superintendents in denominational chaos, God’s order for the church is a united body (one church in a locality, which may worship in a variety of congregations) all overseen by apostles and city elders. (See “The City Gate” by John Alley for more information)

Much of the church is resistant to this although some see the vision of what is to come. Some will even try to go back to the old ways of what they have known.

It won’t happen according to human timetables or even in any kind of way that we might have expected.

The Lord is in this and He will bring it to pass, and we do not have to be anxious about making it happen.

Today’s Sermon

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Apostle-Peter

The sermon for April 17th 2016 is now available on the New Life web-site. In this sermon, which is based on Matthew 13:10-17, I talk about Apostolic Community.

Click here to listen in your browser or here to download the mp3

The sermon from Night Church on April 10th was also recorded. It was about Apostles and Prophets- The Sure Foundation.

Click here to listen in your browser or here to download the mp3