Apostolic Thinking In The 21st Century

come on let's give the Lord let's give the Lord the highest the highest of our praise hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah come on stretch your hand up to heaven this morning God we give you the highest of our praise this morning thank you Jesus father we stand in your presence on this morning we know that divine destiny has brought us to this place none of us are here by accident God you have so decreed it that this meeting should happen that we should be here the word of the Lord would go forth with great anointing and with great power for God we come not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit of God in a power that our faith would not stand in the wisdom of me and but in the power of God and so for every preacher this morning every preacher's wife I'm asking you God to reach down into a sovereign work in the name of the Lord Jesus we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus we pray and everybody said amen you may be seated I am convinced that Jesus Christ was so intentional as he always was when he spoke when he decreed that of all men born among women there was none greater than John the Baptist he said of all the men born among women he said there was indeed none greater than John the Baptist and then he goes on to say that the least in the kingdom would be greater than John everyone say the least it would have been something that if he had said the greatest and the kingdom would be better than John but he said beliefs in the kingdom would be greater than John and so I asked the question what was it about John the Baptist that caused Jesus to say but of all me and born among women there would be none greater than there was none greater than John the Baptist just what was it about the ministry of John the Baptist that caused Jesus to say that I submit you this morning and consider with me that when they asked John the Baptist at the beginning of the book of John when they said who are you they said mister China who are you dressed in that fancy suit eating locusts and wild honey while hairdo while afro who are you John the Baptist looked at them straight in the eye and he said let me tell you who I am he said I am not he one more time mister China who are you who are you dressed in those wild clothes while here eating that wild diet just who are you he said listen to me I am NOT here I am NOT the real deal I am NOT what it's all about I am NOT the star of the show I'm not the one Amen that people are to be looking at you one more time mr. China who are you didn't you hear me I told you one time I'm gonna tell you again I I am NOT he come on lift your hands and say that with me I am NOT he Oh lift your head one more time and say with me I am NOT he what do you think would happen next Sunday if you walked into your church and somebody said pastor I got this big old problem and you looked at them and say I am NOT he Richard can you do this for me I am a

nod he pastor can you give me an answer to my problem I am NOT he he said there's one coming after me who is mightier than I the Lateran of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose ax he he he he he when he comes he will baptize you I'm telling you even have this great conference he is still the Baptizer and if he doesn't do it it still does not happen he he he I hear him say if I be lifted up he said when he comes he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire and then John went on to say what I believe is probably one of the greatest things that a man of God can say John went on to say this hear me this morning it is the greatest thing that any one of us can say he said listen I want everybody to hear me clearly he said I told you before I'm not he I was serious about it he said here's the deal he must increase and ah mas mas mas it is a biblical imperative I must decrease he said ladies and gentlemen let me tell you something about me if I am to be successful I must have an ever-decreasing a ministry if I am to be the man that God wants me to be I must have an ever-decreasing a ministry as the years go by there must be less of Chester Mitchell and more of God there must be less of media and Bor Fiamma there must be less of you and more fear among you don't believe that this morning you don't really believe that do you that's not popular in our world that's not popular in a lot of places but John said it I want you to understand how I'm thinking there's gonna come a day when I'm gonna move out of the spotlight and everybody's going to know that John was not really the big deal it wasn't about me and wasn't about my words he must increase and I must decrease want to have a revival get out of the way come on want to have a move of God just get out of the way one God to speaker get out of the way get out of the way come on let your hands say he must increase oh you know I sense a little resistance in the Holy Ghost when when you start talking that way because there's something about Chester Mitchell he does not naturally want to decrease he seated him it is not natural for us to want to decrease but I'm speaking to you today and I'm telling you that God calls us to an ever-decreasing ministry well the church is called to be faithful to the gospel but it must be alert to the fact but it reads and it interprets the Scriptures through its cultural lenses it is a church with a long heritage that can eat either enriches or encapsulate us as the church faces new challenges and by setting new challenges come on new challenges come on new challenges at the church faces new challenges it needs to have learned well the lessons from past periods when it faced equally momentous although different challenges at the same time this missional Church must recognize its responsibility before

God to witness faithfully by demonstrating both the relevance and the power of the gospel within this contemporary setting there will always be a divine tension between the church as it existed back DNA and as it is existing now there is a tension in the atmosphere there is a tension in the church and there will always be a divine tension in the church why because it's a fragmented world that we're living in it's a global world it's a world now we're Hindus and Muslims someone said no longer live side-by-side but Hindus and Muslims sometimes live reside within the same person because people are so mixed up about what they believe a little bit of this and a little bit of that there's ambiguity that there's diversity there's paradox amen there's mess all around but let me tell you something there's always going to be a mess even there's just always going to be a mess in fact I mean you can't have a God ordained mission without a message they can't have a revival without a mess you can't have anything going on without there being some kind of a situation I submit to you that where there's no mess there are no miracles one more time where there's no mess there really are no miracles only when I have a situation about this situation only when I have a situation do I qualify for supernatural power you don't get supernatural power if you don't have a situation even that demands and requires supernatural power so often if we're not careful we are concerned about the wrong things we place the focus on the wrong things you know I love the church but I sometimes I get weary because I see people just jostling for positions and maneuvering themselves poking them is a quick maneuvering when are we going to stop playing that political game come on now where are we going to stop playing that political game when are we gonna stop acting like we're one thing when we're with one crowd amen and then we become another thing when we know the crowd and another thing when were you coming up with another crowd and then another thing amen that's a prescription amen but psychosis come on I'm not here ah I'm not here but there comes one after me and he is mightier than I I'm the latter boots shoes I am not worthy to unloose and he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire Andrew Grove who was the CEO of Intel Corporation I read after him recently he said you know he said whenever there is a problem I didn't tell he said whenever there's a need for new direction he said I find it necessary to step outside of the corporate culture with its institutional constraints and its tunnel vision he said insiders about the insiders insiders sometimes are the biggest problem insider sometimes are the biggest problems we struggle to get in and get in and get in and get and get in and then after we get in we don't want anybody else to get in on the same door that got us here now we start putting bars on that door and I want to let anybody else in and we start saying things just to keep us in and keep everybody else out you know what we need around here we need some old outsiders coming on here and messin up on the insider we do not need to be a bunch of insiders protecting the insider there's a danger of being an insider after why you two start talking the old company line and you don't even believe it anymore but I still want to believe acts 2:38 I still want to believe all of that shop with

all of my heart be seated Acts chapter 6 is a monumental paradigm shift in the church where the Bible tells us in those days when the number of us a number the number of disciples was multiplied there arose a murmuring of the Greeks can you believe that dr. Luka had the audacity but tell us about a church problem he said there was a murmuring there was an apostolic murmuring he said in the middle of the fire of the first century church he said there with him murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration if I say there was a divine that neglect somebody got neglected then the twelve called the multitude in the disciples unto them instead it is not reason it is not right that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables wherefore brethren look ye out among you up I say among you if I say among you oh man I wish I had time to go there he said look out among you look at among you seven men of honest report full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom look at among you but if you look at among you look at among you he said there are people among us a man pair of honest report that are full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom msan we're seven I'm 45 years old I apologise to be able to stand here before you today and tell you I've known some wonderful people full of the Holy Ghost but they had no wisdom they had no wisdom their spiritual gift was called goofy that we may appoint over this business but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the Ministry of the word and the same please the whole multitude and they chose stephen a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost and Philip and pre-chorus and Nikon Orrin timon and parmenas and nicolas a proselyte of Antiochus whom they set before the Apostles and when they had prayed they lay their hands on them and listen what dr. Luke said and the Word of God increased and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly and a great number of priests were obedient unto the faith and Stephen everybody and Steve Anna and Stephen full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people I'm speaking to you today and I'm telling you my subject is simply this we need a revival of apostolic thinking in the 21st century we need a revival of apostolic thinking in the 21st century in the Apostolic Church amen there was never an issue of who was bigger than who a minute and who had this and who didn't have this in the Apostolic Church it was understood God could work on a steep honor God could work here and God could work here come on let's broaden our thinking let's broaden our thinking my challenge to this great audience let's broaden our thinking here here we are because of the times can I be brutally honest with you since - Mitchell stand up here this is the lovely sister Mitchell with a Mangan we are still married after all these years you may be sweetened amen we've never talked about getting a divorce amen we have talked about murder a couple of times but we never really talked about getting a divorce amen we've been together and God's put

his hand on us but let me be brutally honest because I'm still even very much a missionary oh-ho missionary at heart seven and a half years ago we got to the suburbs of Washington DC amen we landed there and I'm telling you what even I was in for a rude awakening it didn't take me long to realize Jasper Mitchell couldn't grow weeds he couldn't grow squatter he couldn't get anything done he was a pitiful preacher thank God for my wiper that stood next to me preachers I'm telling you you gotta hang on to your wife in this 21st century you gotta hang on to your partner in this 21st century she'll help you build a church to help you build that church she'll help you build my church listen to me Joe helped you build that church we landed there and I realized that if God was going to do anything I was gonna have to think differently I was gonna have to think about a thinker come on Abbas a thinker put your hand right here and say thank thank you thank you think think think I don't care what the problem is but Bishop Kenny if we can get enough thinkers in the room and get an apostolic anointing on them we'll walk out with an Apostolic solution we need apostolic thinkers for a 21st century we need people that will say you know what we're apostolic about that we're apostolic we're apostolic well let's put our apostolic brains together and say God give us apostolic solutions for this day and for this hour I'm preaching about apostolic thinking about the Apostolic thinking Jesus set the stage for it he said you cannot put new wine in old wine skins don't even try to he said as he set the stage for what was the Karma he said give and it shall be given unto you he said open yourself up and turn yourself loser and literally give yourself away quit protecting yourself amen we're holding everything in open yourself up and give yourself away and it will come back to you he said lose your life and you will find it he said ladies and gentlemen we must lose ourselves we must forget about who we are we must forget about our hairdos and our clothes and our bank accounts and our CDs he said we must literally lose our lives I went to visit a wonderful preacher of another denomination in my area a year or so ago he had resigned his church and he was leaving he had been a wonderful friend to me he had done a marvelous work in that area and I wanted to talk to him he had befriended me and stood by me and prayed for me every step of the journey and now when I heard he was leaving I went to see him i sat in his office like I had several times before and I said my friend Jay I said you're getting ready to leave I said tell me this if you had to do it all over again if you had to do it all over again tell me what would you do differently and I had my notepad Bishop tinnie and I was ready to write down amen some profound thought that he had and he sat there and he said he fell on his knees and he started crying and big old tears coursed down its Cheeta and I just stood there and looked at him a man I thought I'd offended humor said something out of place and I said Jane all I want to know is if you had to do it all over again I mean what would you do differently any-any Sodom and wept for about five minutes and then he said Chester listen to me he said if I had to do it all over again he said I would have gotten out of God's way he said there would have been less of me and more of qiyama he said there would've been a lesson of me and more of him he said I worked I did this I did that he said I almost lost my health lost my family he lost everything he said in retrospect I needed more of qiyama and less of me you see that's a difficult message for we who are preachers I desert in the

Holy Ghost but in this audience this morning they're preachers you've come to this great conference and you're literally worn out you are burned out you don't know if you really made the right choice when you hung in there for the Mangan priests last night with such eloquence and with such passion and I thought God help us not to be so weary and so tired and sobered over though we hear one more passion message and weak heart can't hardly receive it because we're thinking I don't know if I can climb that Hill I can again I'm being painfully honest seven and a half years into my work I can tell you about sister Mitchell and me amen we are desperately weary and worn out with the work that we are doing I mean it has taken everything that I've had it's cost me more than I thought even it would cost and Here I am and God bless the church that I pastor and it's doing very well amen this Chapel Sundays ago even we started our second service amen it's doing well by all counts people are coming amen it's grown God's blessed it but you know I'm looking at it and I'm thinking god I don't know if I've got what it takes to take it to the next level I'm not sure God but I have what it takes let go another year another month I'm not sure God that means sister Mitchell and what we know that we had what it took to go dig it out but here it is 2004 and god I don't know if I've got what it takes to take it to the next 100 on the next hundred and then the first thousand and the next thousand but I hear a word from God you got to decrease I've got to increase out ladies and gentlemen it is not God's will when the United Pentecostal church to raise up a bunch of burnout preachers and burnout preachers wives and discourage preachers and discourage a preacher's wife God give us a new baptism of apostolic sinking action give us a new baptism of apostolic CJ come on God give me a new baptism of apostolic linking up what I need right about now there's not another program what I need right about now it's not another sermon I need God to baptize my mind I need them to baptize my mind come on preacher lift your hand he'll give you a new baptism in your mind he'll give you a new baptism in your heart we've got to have it because of the times because if we don't listen to me if we don't we will look around and we will say well that's Anthony Mangan and that's GW Orange that's Jesse Williams that's the eloquent Mike Williams I can't come up to that and there's a whole lot of us looking around at somebody else saying I won't ever be able to be that but I'm telling you that's not what you need come on come on the United Pentecostal church that's one Anthony man gonna you don't need another if it did God would give us another but what it needs is a baptized you it's a bad pass shoe with a mind of Christ it needs to do with a baptized heart listen to me this morning the devil may not have liked it but Chester Mitchell was the man to go to Northern Virginia and raise up that church he won matter but God ordained it to be Sola and the gates of hell cannot prevail against a man but has a mind but is thinking in apostolic ways and apostolic concepts you're looking at the last guy that was supposed to plan anything I don't even like flowers don't

work you're looking at a guy that can't grow weeds you're looking at somebody but never invention but God could ever do anything of great substance through him but I was thinking wrong I was thinking wrong God had to change my thinking God had to literally take me apart bring me down take me apart bring me down this man of my thinking this man on my thinking this man on my thinking come on Holy Ghost this man on my thinking if you're a preacher here today and you're wore out what you need is not another suture you need a dismantling a payment of your thinking and allowing God to put it back together if you're a preacher's wife and you're contemplating walking away from the ministry I'm telling you before you leave this conference find a place and say god this family again listen preacher we can get to a place where we don't even like the people we pasture we don't even like him this man am I thinking come on lift your hands say this now am I thinking God not me to saying god help me to think God the way that you want me to think send me back to my city God with a different thought God give me an apostolic thought help me God not to be restricted by what the fellow down the road is doing help me not to be intimidated by anybody else I'm gonna quit looking over ever pians but somebody else's ministry and Oh God give me an apostolic designer for the place that I pasture God give me an apostolic solution for the place where I pasture God open apostolic doors for me God help me to walk back into my city and expect it to happen because God you've affected my thinking you're looking at a fella that believes but the greatest churches are still out there waiting to be built I'm looking around at this one and it's a great church thank God for it but if you're here today and you're young man you're looking at a young man a man I believe that the greatest United Pentecostal churches are still yet waiting to be built up they're still out there for the manga they're still in the belly of some young man I didn't hear it because of the times the greenish United Pentecostal church is still sitting on the Pew out there and because of the time get up sir get up sir get up sir get up sir change your thinking he must increase and now I must decrease he must increase and I must decrease misha pay me next week i will be with you will dedicate the saint you are in stockton that's a great church but the greatest United Pentecostal churches are still waiting to be built they're still waiting for someone to have an apostolic start you know what I don't have a lot of time but when are we gonna ever quit putting the pressure on each other when are we ever going to take the pressure off of each other and say buddy you want to go try that you you want to try that you go try that and we're gonna pray for you and cover you you go and try that because if God ever gives you an apostolic part the devil will not be able to stop it the devil will not be able to stop it you may not be much but the devil will not be able to stop an Apostolic Potter oh my god pastor they're apostolic parts in this building that are waiting to be germinated let your hands say no pressure oh come on no pressure no pressure no pressure no pressure no pressure no pressure when I walked into this man's office eight years ago and said brother Haney I feel like God is sending me amen to Washington DC to raise up a church he just smiled at me lean forward he said Chester you want to go try he

said go try it he said go after it man I was in shock I thought he said no no no don't leave we got a release people in the 21st century we got a cup come on preacher do you want to have a revival really something really something let something go that's something go here's what I'm telling you most of us are much too much in a control we're trying to control everything we are to cover not control we are to give apostolic covering not control we are to release not restrain when I told him I was ready to go that God had called me he released me he prayed over me that church got behind me many of you got behind me I went with an apostolic covering the precious sister theta Steny who walked into the room just before I left she said brother Mitchell before you go I want you to know every day there will be people that will cover you through the world Network a prayer and they prayed daily daily daily daily until the church was conceived I'm talking about apostolic sinkings I went out there let me just say this God began raising up people God began sending people God began helping sister Mitchell and me to reach people we would go places and when we would literally run into people but when you are under an apostolic covering up God will do things for you listen preacher I'm telling you if you're not on an apostolic covering up get under wanna get under one get under an apostolic covering on this is no day training body to be thinking I need to be out there by myself get under an apostolic covering up get under an apostolic anointing we got under apostolic covering I've never gotten out from underneath it in my life there are people that cover me you say brother Mitchell what's Apostolic thinking apostolic thinking in the 21st century is that nobody needs to be out there by themselves no one needs to be out there by themselves everyone needs a spiritual hand laid upon them somebody need everybody needs somebody that they answer to everyone needs a prophet in their lives we were struggling at a particular point and I remember getting up one morning and telling sister Mitchell I don't know but I've got what I need to take this church any further that's prob about three years ago and I remember she said to me she said you need to call pastor Haney and talk to him and you know sometimes your wife tells you something and you don't listen I said no I don't want to bother him she said you better call him I said I don't want to bother him I won't be able to reach him she said you better call him and so I got on the phone real grudgingly and I dialed the number and and the secretary answered and I said I need to speak to pastor Haney and she said I'll put you right through I said brother Haiti I need something in the church and I don't happen who do I need everybody needs some body to help him listen preacher if you're struggling by yourself go find somebody and say help me help me don't die there by yourself help me help me help me everybody needs somebody to help him we will worshipping in an elementary school in a cafeteria some days I get there and I'd have to pull out the mapa a man and the bucket a man and mop that floor because it was filthy there were days there was garbage on the floor and we had to pick it up don't look at me that way so brother honey what do I need to do he said call Morten bustard he'll help you hood a prophet he's gonna spook my people

who needs a profit when you're having problems listen to me Apostolic preachers there must be a prophetic voice that speaks into our lives that gives us direction if you don't have a prophet in your life you're gonna run into trouble somewhere down the road I drop it will keep you on track I called him up I said brother bustard can you come coming and preach for me he said channa I'll be there he got on the plane and came walking on that Sunday morning there's a house full of visitors he may not all duded up but even nothing Apostolic looking about him he walked with that pulpit and he begins to speak the word of the Lord I watch every one of them get a big old smile on their face and I watch people coming to that altar that morning I got the baptism of the Holy Ghost one lady got healed up Haman on that Sunday morning I thank God I had enough sense to understand it's not about me it's not about me that's not about me that's not about me it's about you here mom come on there's something waiting us to be released in your ministry but you've got to get out of the way there's something waiting to be released in your ministry but you must get out of the way come on everybody stand with me we cannot operate in the dimension of fear we cannot operate in the dimension well if it's gonna be me done it's going to be me the widows are murmuring well we need to lapis all thinking around here there's a problem well let's let's put our Apostolic heads together and plan some new solutions I'm telling you but you pay me here the future of the Apostolic movement will be secure if we think with apostolic minds if we think God can do anything if we think you know what you put the right man in the right place at the right time with the right set of resources if that man will understand that great churches are not built around any one person but they are built around an apostolic concept and preachers are aiming that one all the glory for themselves are never gonna build anything amen in fact they will destroy what they have built up a mean because their last act will be to make themselves a little good but apostolic men and women if people say at some particular point a man I must decrease I must get out of the way and release something greater than myself I'm telling you a man there's something waiting to be birthed in your church but you've got to get an apostolic mindset it's not God's will for you and your wife to get a divorce that's not God's will for your ministry to be burned out that's God's will to give you a baptism a new baptismal apostolic saw our tongue remain standing Apostolic thinking caused me to go from managing problems to Casting vision it allowed me to get away from controlling followers to empowering leaders let me ask you who are you empowering who are you empowering who are you empowering who are you mentoring well I don't know if I can make it the tires are barely coming in who are you empowering who are you releasing apostolic thinking takes me from creating or protecting calm to creating chaos my job is not to calm things down it's to stir things up

certain things up the startup the shirt up shirt up shirt up stirred up wherever things are settled down it's my job to walk in there and say let's put this thing on its head and shake it a little bit Amen and stir it up why don't you go back to your church and change a few things unsure a few things happen I'll tell you what will happen yes the devil will get stirred up but God will give you an apostolic slaughter Apostolic thinking took me away from myself and caused me to understand but forever I must lead the people that I pastor III I just can't tell them about that soul-winning thing it's got to be me I'm closing this mission I began this year doing some work at our house and we hired a fella to come paint he's from the great country of Romania is name is Alex I walk down there one day and Alex I just started painting and I said Alex tell me about yourself and he laid the paintbrush down and he said my name is Alex I'm from Romania I said Alex are you married he said and his eyes kind of dropped he said no he said I've got a girlfriend her name's Michelle she's from Germany Michelle he said well we've got a little baby he said we're new to America I looked at him I said Alex get back to painting unless I want to said Alex have you had a baby dedicated he said you know he said I'm new to America brokenly English heavy accent he said I don't know nothing not much about churches he said do I need to pay to know Alex will dedicate the baby I said you and Michelle need to get married he said but we don't have a church I said won't I'll marry you we'll take you through the counseling won't woman hear you but the Mangan you should have seen him before he got there I told I told the first service I said Alex Rossum is coming to church today with Michelle he comes walking in the door man everybody was all over Alex hey Alex hey Alex hey Alex is I got a real bit exceeded him in a special spot I called him forward with him and Michelle to dedicate that a little baby I said ladies and gentlemen Alex and Michelle are dedicating their baby today the old church erupted in just a roar Oh Alex ebuy fell out I can tell you that little old Romanian Alex and that little German Michelle has brought me more joy this year than anything I've done any sermon I preached come on you want to have a revival Church there's an alux out there why don't you go find him why don't you go find him that's an apostolic Archer that's an apostolic part that's an apostolic parter God I'm not gonna get bogged down with problems and problems I will a bust down and find somebody to love come on let your hands come on God I'm gonna find somebody to minister to I'm gonna find somebody that I can pour myself into I'm gonna find somebody God that needs Who I am all of your hands come on preacher you don't have to be burned out of burned-over God can give you an apostolic sob today that will put new anointing in your ministry come on preacher you don't have to walk away from your ministry God can give you an apostolic call today that will make the difference come on sir it's not about you anyway it's all about him maybe your churches flat road but getting ready for an apostolic heart get ready for an apostolic Raja get ready for apostolic Raja come on lift your hands and say God give me an apostolic

in apostolic pot come on into this place right now there is coming apostolic thinking there are young men in this place God's giving you an apostolic idea don't let anybody take it away from your way over into protected now get it on the spiritual authority but go go go because this thing is all about apostolic ideas come on hold that hand up I speak to that man you had fear about whether or not you should go any further I speak an apostolic thought into your mind you are about ready to break into a new dimension of spiritual authority and Dominion I speak to someone today when you get back to that city there'll be doors open for you doors that you never could open by yourself doors that you never thought weren't even existed come on sir when you get back to that church that Cydia things will be getting happening why because God's giving you an apostolic idea come on let both hands and call out to God lap time my mind what happens dolly thinking yeah