The concept of revival is typically in the context of churches or church meetings. Everyone, including me, is very positive on the concept of revival because no one can resist falling in love with the presence of God that goes with it. Revival is real and genuine. We are now in a Kingdom season where another reformation is in the wings. Reformations are revivals that get outside the church and change a culture. I have enjoyed the history of revivals because people like Charles Finney didn’t wait for them; he just went to a city and started one. It took preparation, prayer, warfare and weeks of preaching, but the result was inevitably revival. The same is true for reformations. We have a mandate from heaven to change the world, and a responsibility to make it happen. PS: We also need an apostolic anointing to make it happen. Here’s how to get it.
He gave gifts to men – The Old Testament ministries were of prophets, priests and Kings. In the new covenant God has given the church 5-fold ministry gifts: pastors, teachers, evangelists, prophets and apostles.
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry… Eph 4:11-12 NKJV
The point is that these ministries are given to equip the saints (you and me) for the work of ministry. We’ve gotten stuck on titles and ministry in the church at the expense of equipping the saints. The whole point of Releasing Kings in all seven mountains is to release the Kingdom. So what does that look and feel like?
What it feels like – Pretty fun, actually! Here’s how: I spent years in church serving, sitting, learning, ministering and receiving from those 5-fold ministries. It was very positive. Where ever I go I can take those anointings or gifts with me because I was equipped to do ministry. I don’t have a title and don’t really want one, but I do have those same gifts. When we do business conferences, someone inevitably suggests that I’m still a pastor because I still love and shepherd people. I’m officially not a pastor by position, but I can pastor people whenever the need arises. I’m not an official prophet either, but I have a prophetic gift that is used often…. same with teaching and evangelism.
“Apostle” has been a term for pastors who oversee other pastors. They are “sent ones” who plant new churches, open new territories, and function with signs, wonders, healing… all kinds of miraculous stuff. That ministry began to function in the church a decade or two ago. We are just beginning to see the “apostolic anointing” function in the saints. I’m not an apostle and I have zero desire for the title. However, when the need arises I can be a father, do the signs and wonders, set things in order, open new territories and find the resources (people and money). Whatever apostles do in the church, I can function in the same anointing in the marketplace because I’ve been equipped, and that’s what’s happening in the Kingdom right now. Here’s the real point. It’s not about what’s happening with church ministries; it’s not about who’s got what title; It’s not about meetings and promises of revival and outpourings; it’s all about equipping people to use those five gifts in the marketplace to possess their land. In short, it’s all about you… your expression of the Kingdom within. What does that look like? The root meaning “apostle” is “sent with the authority of the sender.” The focus was not one the one sent but on the sender – Jesus.
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21
Releasing Kings – God is leading us toward a reformation that will disciple nations around the world. He’s moving his people from servants to Kings. He’s releasing dreams and finances and ministry. You’re invited.
Whenever I see business men and women, I feel the heart of God inviting them into those 5-fold giftings. I can feel His heart yearning to see all his people prophesy and teach and evangelize and pastor and become apostolic. Moses got it right, long ago.
But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” Num 11:29 NIV
Give yourself permission – I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is inviting us to pick up every one of these five anointings and use them whenever we need to… right in your business, right in your mountain. Sure, it’s wise to receive the anointing. It’s enlightening to be taught why and shown how. But the bottom line is that you and I have to give ourselves permission to be apostolic and step into the water. It’s not about “me.” It’s about the Kingdom and it’s about the freedom others will experience through us when we say “yes, Lord.” You and I are “sent ones.”
The “new” is fathering – pulling others into their own dream and destiny, teaching them that the day of salvation is today. The business opportunity is now. The wealth creation and authority and networking and results that go with being a Kingly “sent one” is for you too.
The “new” is prophetic – it’s helping people discern what God put in their hearts by way of a dream. It’s not signing them up to do our dream for a season. It’s prophetically pulling them into their own heart’s desire in a way that releases their own passions, gifts and anointing for a lifetime.
The “new” is evangelistic – the gospel of the Kingdom is that you were created in God’s image and He’s written His desire on your heart, and there really is a role for you to play in building the Kingdom. He came that you might have life and life more abundantly – starting now and spilling right over into eternity.
The “new” is shepherding and teaching – It’s going to the back row to get #99 and telling him or her prophetically what God is already saying to them so they can’t deny hearing Jesus’ voice and can’t deny the experience of His love. It’s identifying the heart boundaries that hold them back, and pulling them through the jail-break experience of setting the captives free and restoring sight (dreams) to the blind. It’s helping connect the dots between their calling and their cash flow.
Kingdom – You’re being invited to a party. It’s having fun, making money and loving people. That’s how the Kingdom is being built. Will there be some warfare? Sure, but the glory, the love, the presence of God… this whole Kingdom thing so far outweighs any schemes of the enemy… that nobody can wipe the smile off your face once you see it. It’s the pearl worth selling everything else to get – it’s you. It’s your destiny.
Practically – Poverty is being broken off of God’s people, even off of nations. It’s just part of the good news. The ministry tied to building the Kingdom and changing nations costs money, and one of the aspects of this apostolic anointing is wealth creation. That’s yours, too. We just have to contend for it from the realization that, like everything else, it’s been paid for. Thank you Jesus! That doesn’t mean it’s magic and falls out of heaven like manna. It means we’ve been given the power and the wisdom and the entrepreneurial anointing to go out and do it… through business or investing or new ideas or trading… The “whatever it takes” is faith to do the thing that creates wealth… faith that does mighty works.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. 2 Cor 8:9 NIV
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Cor 9:10-11 NIV
But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. Deut 8:18 NIV
Wealth as a tool for ministry – What defines who you are as a human being is how you treat people when you have nothing and how you treat people when you have everything! Money doesn’t define you, it amplifies you and enables your destiny in the Kingdom!
