You Might Be A Five-Fold Ministry If…
It’s no secret around here that I strongly believe in having all of the gifts described in Ephesians 4:7-11 functioning in a body of believers. To that end, I’ve developed a little test to help you, yes YOU, determine what your “five-fold” or APEST gifting is. Are you ready?
If you are living on a mission from Jesus and fathering others…. you are a Christian.
If you hear God’s voice well enough to declare it to others…. you are a Christian.
If you love to tell lost people about Jesus and have success in making disciples…. you are a Christian.
If you love and care for God’s people on an intimate level…. you are a Christian.
If you know how to teach in a way that gives people understanding of Jesus and His purposes…. (Say it with me everyone!) you are a Christian.
But…
If you are equipping other believers to live on mission and father others….or if you are training other believers to hear God’s voice…or if you are equipping younger believers to reach their friends….or you are giving other believers the skills to care for hurting believers….or you are helping believers teach others….well….you get the idea.
But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Therefore it says,
‘When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men.’(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ… Ephesians 4:7-13
Food For Thought: More Media and Crowdsourcing Edition
Every week here at Pursuing Glory I try to bring together the best posts I’ve found that will equip the end-times church to operate in her God-ordained destiny. These are the best blogs, articles, books and other resources related to our purpose here at this site. Feel free to visit, comment, and make use of the resources found at each site.
Last week I talked about some of the other media out there that I’ve been thinking about including. I had some good response on some of the content that I added, so I will continue to add more as it becomes available. I also thought it would be a great idea to let you (the reader) suggest other material of similar content out there for us here at the blog to use. If you have suggestions, leave them in the comment section. And now to this week’s links:
Jackie Pullinger: The Sign of the Cross
How does the reality of Jesus’s death on the cross and His call to us to die to ourselves affect our idea of God’s mission on the planet? Kieth @ Subversive1 reposts this transcription of a fantastic message by Jackie.
Vision, Intention, and Means is the topic of this post on how human beings change. While spiritual growth is always a work of the Spirit, it’s amazing how many Christians ignore the human fundamentals of change that allow them to cultivate the working of the Spirit. Len takes snippets from a Dallas Willard article to look at the process.
Barney’s 10 Commandments for Reluctant Evangelists
Barney’s “commandments” are methods of human change applied to the subject of evangelism. If you really haven’t thought about what practical changes you need to make in becoming someone who reaches lost people, check out this post.
What is the Purpose of the Five-Fold Ministry
The five-fold ministry is designed by Jesus to reproduce an aspect of Jesus into His body. Felicity is right on in this article. Many of us cling to only one or two of these giftings which greatly hinders our transformation into a Kingdom people.
Encountering Heaven Part I by Shawn Bolz
This is an audio recording from 2005 where Shawn Bolz discusses the nature of heavenly encounters and their worth in transforming the body of Christ. If you’ve never had a lot of exposure to prophetic encounters, this will be a wild ride for you.
Photo Credit: Design Probes – Food for Thought by centralasian.
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 