by Darren Ethier (@nerrad)
Some time ago I read this article by Seth Godin, “ The lesson from two lemonade stands“. Go read it, then come back here. For the church – what lemonade stand are we? Are we passing out tracts and telling people the “bridge” story or are we loving people and walking with them to the […]
The title of this post is taken from a question posed over at ChurchDrop a while ago (along with an iPhone giveaway – great way of generating comments on the subject!) and I left a comment there so good I thought I’d repost it here [tongue in cheek] and add to it. Actually, there’s a […]
Sorry for the delay in making these posts folks. Here’s my notes from the final session at the 2010 PAOC General Conference. Ed Stetzer was the speaker and I was really looking forward to hearing him speak because I’ve been a reader of his blog for quite a while. Sometime this week I’ll write the […]
A few weeks ago I read a really thought provoking post by my friend Geoff Heeg called -> Revival Please* So thought provoking that while I read it I could feel a blog post coming on. And here it is. Revival. That word is kind of loaded. In it’s neutral form it simply means someone […]
StreamingFaith.com conducted this interesting interview with Seth Godin discussing how the church isn’t doing a very good job of reaching people with their message in today’s new “marketing era”. I really like his observations on the usefulness of blogging – something that I think the church is way behind on…check out the interview at, Is […]
I must admit I never quite looked at pain the way that Paul Brand and Philip Yancey record in the article Putting Pain to Work which is posted on BuildingChurchLeaders.com. Illustrating from his experience working with people suffering from leprosy, Paul highlights the importance of pain in healthy bodies. This correlates directly with the healthiness […]
Author: David Cannistraci
Year: 1998
Category: Apostles, Leadership
Publisher: Regal Books
ISBN: 0830723382
David has written a book that is an attempt to elucidate and give shape to an understanding of the biblical office of apostle and make an argument for the validity of restoring this office today. I think he has done a good job pointing out the important need for apostles and their ministry as well as clearly outlining the characteristics, work, and authority of the apostles as written about in the New Testament. There wasn’t too much in this book I disagreed with and I would recommend it as a read for any leader in the church.
As I was reading it however I began thinking of my own fellowship (PAOC) and how to some degree while it may not be directly recognized as such (with the term “apostles”) there are men functioning in that role already. We have sectional presbyters (who “oversee” groupings of churches in a district) and regional directors (who oversee groupings of sections in a district) and district superintendents (who oversee a district) and then the General Superintendent (who oversees the districts). I think it might benefit our fellowship more to understand (and perhaps recognize) the role these leaders have as “apostles”.
I also realized as I read this book how little is actually taught in our churches about the office of apostle and yet how important it is to teach. One of the reasons why I picked up this book in the first place was because an experience I had within my own church with a person who was convinced God was calling them to be an apostle. I wasn’t convinced however that this individual correctly understood the purpose of that office. Another thing that stood out was the fact that the individual had never really been in any place of leadership in the church and as such had never been proven. I doubted this person’s motive for seeking that mantle even though he claimed it was to restore the church to it’s “God-given calling”. The thing is, I had no doubt this person really did love God – but unfortunately, their pursuit of this office was misguided. How I wish I had the resource of this book as a companion to my understanding of what the Bible said when counseling this individual – it would have been a good resource to pass on to him as well.
Anyway, in this book, David does a good job of providing some sound counsel for understanding the ministry of apostles and it will be a welcome reference on my bookshelf!
Tags: apostolic movement, apostle, leader, church, ministry, five-fold ministry, David Cannistraci,