Who Does the Ministry?

Praise the Lord, Oklahoma. You may be seated. That's my four favorite words in church. What a beautiful job the praise team has done to lead us into the presence of God. I enjoyed it, loved it, listened to everything, and I'm very proud of it. And so proud that you're here today. Thank you, Brother Hughes, for such a kind introduction.

Let me just get one thing straight: this is the book on discipleship — this one [the Bible]. And anything that you or I are able to write is only by the grace of God, right out of the text. And so, Brother Hughes said he spoke six weeks out of the book we wrote, "Follow to Lead," and he said the first week he gave me credit, and then I don't know what happened after that. But someone said, the evolution of plagiarism is: the first time you quote someone, you say, "Abraham Lincoln once said." The second time you quote him, you say, "Someone once said." The third time you quote him, you say, "You know, the other day I was thinking." So that's probably what happened.

We appreciate your good district secretary, Brother Hughes — what a kind, Christian gentleman. And of course, I love our Bishop, Matthew Martin. And we heard apostolic arithmetic, or something powerful like that, last night. And I want to come alongside the Bishop's vision today, and tomorrow the Lord will help me. But I'm so honored to be invited back to the great Oklahoma District. And I can't drive on this campground without thinking about Artie Whalen, and C. A. Nelson, and Brother Deal — and that's about as far as I go back. Some of you go back further than that. And to see so many friends here — pastors and saints that we esteem and we love. And we give you honor today for being here, because we've come to this camp to have fellowship. We've come here to have some good meals together, share stories, rub shoulders. We've come here to renew old acquaintances. We come here to be edified, to encourage one another, and exhort one another. And perhaps we can take something home with us that we did not have when we came on the campground.

And I feel like, by the help of the Lord, my assignment today is to call the church back to the Bible. Let's not let the Bible get in the way of our theology, right? Let's not let the Bible stop how we're living. So I feel like — I say this humbly — my job today and tomorrow is to call us back to the book of Acts, to the first century. And there's a lot more to being Apostolic than the Oneness, the new birth, and holiness. That's where it begins, but that's not where it ends. There are Apostolic procedures, principles, behaviors, attitudes, lifestyle, that God is calling us back to.

And by the way, as I look out over this congregation, I'm so glad that the folks way over there, and way over there, are still practicing COVID seating. I felt really safe sitting over there. I got tired of people telling me to be safe. I'm still tired of it. "When COVID came, be safe." Okay — I'm tired of being safe. I'm ready to be dangerous. Well, the Bible said, "These that have hazarded their lives for the gospel." Amen. God bless all of you. I love you, and I like you. I have to love you; I don't have to like you. But I do like you.

So I want to turn to First Peter chapter 2. And I know that I'm the daytime Bible teacher — well, speaker — and Brother Killmon will follow; he's really the teacher today. I am not a teacher. You'll figure that out pretty quickly. In the spiritual gifts of Romans 12, you know: exhorter, prophet, giver, teacher, administrator, server — I think there's one more. I'm the exhorter. Let me tell you how exhorters float: exhorters are always ready to preach, but then they've got to go get a verse to make it legal. "Yeah, I got a message. Oh, I got a verse. Okay, let's go." That would be me. Teachers hate that. I have two sons that are teachers. "Dad, unpack the text." I said, "That's what I trained you to do. Just let me be the exhorter." Exhorters are ready to charge hell with a squirt gun right now, and we'll figure it out on the way. What's holding up the delay? Let's go.

Is everybody all right? So I do have a verse. And what I do is, I read all the versions of the Bible till I find the one that says what I want it to say. That's sort of refreshing, isn't it? I'm reading the holy New King James Version. First Peter 2:9: "But you are a chosen generation" — everybody say, "Wow." That's a pretty good start: a chosen generation. This generation is chosen for something special. "A royal priesthood" — turn to somebody, say, "That's you." You are royalty. You are chosen. You are called. Hear this: you are called. All of you are called to be a priesthood, to live like priests. Am I in the Book? See, here's how this works: if I'm in the Book and you like it, say "Amen." If you like it and you're going to do it, say "Amen." You are a chosen generation. I'm going to stay at you until I get that lady over there to smile. I'm working on her. I'm going to get her. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. Wait, there's more: "a holy nation." And that's not all: "His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

God did not just call you out; He's called you in. He didn't just save you to sanctify you, and justify you, and petrify you. You haven't just been called out — you've been called into something. You're called into a lifestyle. You're called into a behavior. You're called into an attitude. Paul said, "Let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Verse 10: "Who once were not a people" — how many remember those days? — "but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."

Now I need to direct your attention to two more verses: Ephesians 4:11 and 12. Who knows, I might do some teaching yet today, if I slip out of my gift. I'll do some teaching. Ephesians 4:11: "And He Himself gave some to be apostles" — everybody say, "apostles" — "some prophets" — say, "some" — "some evangelists, some pastors, some teachers." This is the fivefold ministry. And we need all five of the five. All five. Not a three out of five, top two out of five. We need all five. We need all five. We need apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. We will not have the revival that Jesus Christ, the founder and the purchaser of the church, wants us to have, unless we have an ensconced, honored, celebrated — and we're following the leadership of — the fivefold ministry.

I would like for all the licensed ministers of the Oklahoma District UPCI to please stand right now. All of the licensed ministers of UPCI Oklahoma District. Are you thankful for these men and women of God? Please remain standing. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the fivefold ministry of the Oklahoma District. Let's celebrate them, and thank God the fivefold ministry is in the house today. Apostles are here. Prophets are here. Evangelists are here. Pastors are here. And teachers are here. And you may be seated. Amen.

Why do we need the fivefold ministry? Verse 12: "To equip the saints." I'm on my subject of making disciples, but we need the fivefold ministry to equip the saints. What if you went to the gym to work out — which I don't do, but what if you did? You went to the gym to work out, and you saw a guy, all he did was lift weights with his right arm. He's been doing this for 20 years. His right arm would be like a bazooka. But he just didn't work out his left arm. To be fully equipped, it takes the full fivefold ministry. No one gift of the fivefold ministry can equip the saints by him or herself. I'm just trying to unpack what the Bible's saying. It takes the fivefold ministry.

And in the New Testament — the King James Version — "apostles" are mentioned 79 times. The word "apostle." "Prophet" is 45. "Teacher" is mentioned 12. "Evangelist," three. And "pastor," one. In the New Testament, there was a fully-orbed fivefold ministry. Now, to be fair, when Paul said that he ordained elders in every city — every pastor was an elder. They used a little bit different terminology on occasion, and it depends which version you're using. But I said King James, just to make a point. And so, if we are Apostolic, we cannot be Apostolic in just doctrine and new birth and holiness. There's more to being Apostolic than the top three, and we thank God. But if we're going to be Apostolic, we've got to have apostles to reach the world. We've got to have apostles to open up cities. We've got to have apostles to open up nations. That's what they do. They have spiritual authority.

And I pray we get to the day where we can celebrate and honor someone as having been an apostle before they die. We're okay with celebrating them as apostles after they're dead, because they don't threaten anybody. "Well, Elenora Freeman, they were apostles." "Oh yeah, Billy Cole — he was an apostle." Everybody all right? Amen. God's raising up the next generation. And I want the next generation to do a better job than my generation. Because my generation came — and those who mentored me came through the Latter Rain — and they suffered at the hands of abusers and charlatans and false apostles and false prophets. And by the way, false pastors, and false evangelists, and false teachers. Let's not just draw circles around two of the five. But Paul said there were false apostles. And I've known a few false pastors. I've been a district superintendent for eight years. I've met a couple of — at least a couple of — false pastors. One pastor that was under my purview grew a church of about 75 down to two old ladies. Started with 75, grew it down to two old ladies. On the board, he sold the building, pocketed $360,000, and left town. That's a false pastor. But I haven't quit believing in pastors. Come on. You better have a pastor. You better have a pastor. I have a pastor. We better be under authority. And you wouldn't be here today if you didn't have a pastor. I already know that about Oklahoma. I know that about this district. I thank God there's not a more solid, fundamental Apostolic district than Oklahoma.

But I'm saying that I want the generation — my son's generation, Justin, 40, and Caleb's 25 — and I want my sons' generation — they're both, like, general license. Well, Justin was just ordained. But they're licensed in the UPCI. And I want them to do a better job than I ever did about the fivefold ministry. I'm trying to make some correction. I'm trying to make some adjustments in my life. And I'm here to tell you, as the Assistant General Superintendent of the western zone of the UPCI, that we will not have revival in this organization, and we will not reach the world, until we see an ensconced, celebrated, and giving honor to apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. We need them to equip the saints with the tools, the authority, the power, the anointing, the skills, so that we can reach the world. We can't do it without it. We have to have it. And God is raising them up among us, and we must make room for them. We must make room for them.

My — wow. Let's just lift our hands and worship the founder of the church right now, the purchaser. He's going to have it the way He wants it. He's going to have it. He has the right. It's His blood. You didn't die for the church. You didn't set up the church. He set up the church. It's got to be the way He wants it, whether it fits your paradigm or not. Hallelujah, Lord. It's Your way or no way, in the name of Jesus.

Oh, we need the fivefold ministry to equip the saints, to fully furnish the saints. That means equipping means teaching, preaching, challenging, instructing, informing. Wait, there's more: believing in. I said, believing in the saints. It's a wonderful thing when the saints believe in the pastor. You have to have that. Let me tell you what's even better than that: when the pastor believes in the saints. That's when it gets really good.

Equipping is not just, "Well, by God, you sit there and listen to me while I unpack the holy Word of God, and then we'll go to Hardee's." No. Equipping — fivefold ministry — do it like Jesus did it. Where did Jesus get the idea for the fivefold ministry? Himself. He was an apostle — Hebrews — "I think 11:3. I don't know. It's in Hebrews. I told you I'm not a teacher. Just Google it right now." Calls Him the apostle. The apostle. It's in Hebrews. I'll stake my life on that, but I don't know the verse exactly. He's the apostle. He initiated. That's what apostles do: they initiate. That spiritual authority. He came in — think about that: 400 years' silence, devils running rampant, get to do whatever they want to do. Suddenly Jesus, baptized, goes out in the wilderness, conquers the devil with the Word of God, starts His ministry, starts casting out devils right and left. Spiritual authority. And He was prophet. Was Jesus prophet? Just ask the woman at the well. "Woman, go call your husband." "I have no husband." "You're well said. For you've had five, and the one you're with now is not your husband." "Oh, I perceive indeed that You are a prophet." But He didn't use His prophetic gift to expose and humiliate people. How does He read this woman's mail, shows her all her junk that she already knew, and she leaves her water pot at the well, hightails it into town — "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did" — and she's got the biggest smile on her face, and she brings the whole town out to the well. Oh, that's a fivefold ministry operating: not cutting down people, not destroying people, not pushing people down, but celebrating people and believing in people. Jesus is saying, "Woman, you've got a revival in you. You are the key to the revival of this city. And I'm going to use My prophetic anointing right now to show you what God wants to do in this city."

He was a prophet. Jesus was evangelist. You know: prophets guide, apostles go, prophets guide, and evangelists gather. Evangelists have the gift of faith, where they can bring people to a decision — sinners to be saved, and saints to take the next step. And Jesus said, "Zacchaeus, come down." He's evangelist. "Come down from that tree." I would hate to have that on my résumé: "Where were you when Jesus found you?" "Up in a tree." Don't you love the Bible? "Come down. I'm going to your house today." What is Zacchaeus — what's the first thing he says? He starts demonstrating transformation. He says, "Lord, I've been stealing from people for a long time. I'm going to pay everybody back, and I'm going to restore them fourfold. And, Lord, I'm just going to get my money right." Huh. Better get your money right if you're saved. We need to baptize your wallet and your purse. I almost got her to smile right there. I think I'm operating in the gifts. I think that's the problem right there. I think I'm in it. I'm just teasing.

Evangelists gather. Pastors grow. Everything a pastor touched should spring up. It should go to a next level. It should enhance it. It should be blessed. Pastors grow people. They grow people. They invest in people. They help people to become what Christ wants them to be. And teachers ground them. Teachers really are the real heart of disciple-making. They really have a desire to see people mature, and take the next step, and go to the next level. And so we need the fivefold ministry to equip the saints, so they can do what? What does it say, verse 12? "The work of the ministry." I just now got to my subject. It's your fault, because you got anointed. Then I got anointed. I think you got anointed before I got anointed. Maybe it was all of us. Something has moved in this house today.

Fivefold ministry equips the saints. So who's doing the ministry? The saints. And why not? You're a chosen generation. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special people, who has called you out of darkness. But He didn't just call you out — He's called you in. Welcome to the ministry. Give yourself a hand. In the New Testament, the word "minister" was an action word. But we turned an action word into a title. But in the New Testament, all saints, all believers, were ministers. Not just the local, the general, and the ordained. Now, I've already established I believe in spiritual authority. I'm not undermining authority. Don't walk out of here — I was talking about some of this stuff a while back, somewhere else, and I had a preacher call me and take me to task. "Well, I think you demasculated the fivefold ministry." I said, "What? Didn't you listen to me anyway?" I cannot — anyway, I straightened him out, in Jesus' name, in a kind, Christian way. He's my friend, so I don't want to be misunderstood today. They cautioned me, so I have to be careful, because I'm very passionate about this. But I think I fully established spiritual authority in the church.

And by the way, the pastor is the gatekeeper in the local church of the fivefold ministry. No apostle, prophet, teacher, evangelist can walk in and usurp the authority of the pastor. It's the way it is. It's the way it was in the book of Acts chapter 15. "I got book on you" — that's what, oh, Brother Pilate used to say: "I got book on you." Amen. And the first council of the church in Jerusalem — Paul was there, Barnabas was there, Peter was there. Those are some pretty heavy hitters. But at the end of the discussion, who had the final say? Who summarized it? The pastor of the local church. James said, "Wherefore, brethren, my sentence is." Thank God for the pastor of the local church. Let's celebrate the pastor right now. Thank God.

So the fivefold ministry equips, empowers, informs, and believes in, and releases, the saints to do the work of the ministry. Did you know that the average-sized church in America is 75? And in UPCI we're doing a little better than that — the average church in UPCI is a hundred, and we thank God for that. And I realize that in Matthew 25 there are five-talented, two-talented, and one-talented people. And if a pastor has 30 people ready for the coming of the Lord, should he come today, I'm celebrating that, because he's doing what God has called him to do. God is not going to call me to do more than what I'm equipped to do. He's not going to call me to do more than what He will empower me to do. I must be faithful with my gifts. I must be faithful with my ability, my skills, whatever talent — to use the King James word in Matthew 25 — whatever that is, or whatever they are, I have to use them to give God honor and glory with my life.

How did that get up there? I'm going there in a minute. Everybody see that church? See the arrows pointing in? I'll be back there in a second. Let me call the shots, okay? They're ready to go. Let's thank God for the sound and media team right now.

I've got to tell you what happened last night. I was at the Arkansas camp last night, and the superintendent was introducing me. And right when he was talking, I'm telling you, something happened that was like this — that's what all of us did. The sound system backfired or something, and my sinuses instantly cleared. And about 30 seconds later, another boom. I'm like, "Oh, Lord, help me. If this is going on every five minutes while I'm preaching, this is not going to be fun." So I thought, I know what I'm going to do. So in my introductory remarks, I said, "How many heard the two sonic booms?" They all did. I said, "I'll tell you what that sounded like. That sounded like an angel punching a demon, and him hitting the ground." They started shouting. I said, "If that happens again, I want you to stand up and shout with the voice of triumph." And a few minutes later, it happened again, and everybody stood up. And so, thank God for timely sonic booms from the sound system.

I don't know about you, but I'm having a blast. I get to talk about what I want to talk about, and you have to listen to it. Well, I guess you could walk out. Please don't.

So they're equipping the saints, so that you do the work of the ministry. Now we're talking about the mission of the church today: to go make disciples. And I think this is called "advanced discipleship," but I'm saying we're advancing. I don't know if this is advanced or not. This is probably elementary. But we're advancing the mission: to go make disciples.

And Jesus got the idea of the fivefold ministry from Himself, because He was the embodiment of the fivefold ministry. He was all five. And here was Jesus' attitude, and I want you to get this. This is very important. This is John 14:12. Jesus said, "The works that I am doing, you are going to do them." Wait, there's more: "And greater works than these shall you do. And then I'm going to the Father." Can I Gleason-paraphrase that? Jesus was not saying, "Now, boys, you've seen My miracles, and we have trophies in the trophy case for every one of them, and I don't want your miracles to supersede My miracles. I do not want you to break My records. I am the founder of the church. Am I clear? Are you listening to Me now? You can have a few headaches healed, and, you know, some cool stuff like that, but don't you get into raising the dead, and don't you get into cleansing the lepers, and don't you get into casting out devils." Is that the way Jesus operated? Was He worried about somebody's star shining brighter than His star?

Let me tell you why we haven't reached the world yet. We haven't reached the world yet, because we don't believe in each other enough yet. We haven't reached the world yet, because we're worried about somebody's star shining brighter than our star. Have you ever heard about — have you ever watched people that go crabbing? No, I'm not talking about her. I've been to both coasts, and I've watched people go crabbing. All you need is a five-gallon bucket and two crabs, and you don't even need a lid on the crab bucket, because when one crab is trying to scale the wall and get out of there, the other crab will reach up and pull it down. And then he climbs on top of that crab, and he's scaling the wall, he's about ready to break out, and the other crab that just got pulled down, he said, "Well, if you're pulling me down, I'm pulling you down." And there's not enough celebrating in the church. There's not enough obeying the Scripture where Paul said, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice." I know we can weep with those that weep, but I want to know: can you rejoice with my revival, and can I rejoice with your revival? And we're not going to reach the world until we start believing in each other, and not worry about whose star is shining bright. Come on, let's get delivered from that.

I hired a young evangelist, Jamie — they'll know who I'm talking about; they were very vital to our church, and they've moved to Oklahoma now — but back in those days, I hired a young man who was a full-time evangelist. And he was having miracles. And I got recommendations. I did my reconnaissance. I checked him out. I talked to pastors. He's having miracles, wonders, signs. God's using him. So he came to be our youth pastor. And after about the second Sunday, he came to me and he said, "Pastor, can I pray for the sick?" And I'm like, duh. That was my first thought. It's sort of refreshing to know that the Assistant General Superintendent wants to "duh" once in a while. But the Holy Ghost checked me, and said, "He's asking you because he had miracles, and somebody tried to shut him down. He's asking you because God was using him, but his star was shining just a little bit brighter than the pastor's. He got demoted." I said, "Young man, let me tell you something right now. I brought you here with all of your anointing, all of your authority, all of your gifts, all of your skills. And if you pray for 50 people, and they come walking out of hospitals, and get up out of caskets, and pop up out of the cemetery, I'm going to celebrate your ministry. And if I pray for 50, and they all end up in the cemetery, I'm going to give God the glory."

That's the only way we're going to reach the world: if we start believing in one another, and we trust one another, and we equip one another. Listen: if I've equipped you, then I believe in you. If I've taught and trained you, then I believe in you. I don't have to be there to authenticate everything. Jesus said, "What I'm doing, you're going to do it. And you're going to break My records." That's Jesus. "You're going to take My trophies down, and you're going to put your own trophies in the trophy case, because I want you to do it better, and I want you to do it greater. And I'm not going to micromanage you. I'm not going to look over your shoulder. I'm out of here. I'm going to the Father." Come on — that's a Jesus I'm preaching here today. Whoa. I think I am doing some teaching. Amen.

Anybody want to take a stab at how many Oneness Apostolic Pentecostals there are in the world today? Are you ready? Thirty-four million. You can celebrate that. Thirty-four million. The only problem is, that's .03 percent of the population. Let that sink in. So how good a job are we doing? I think we can do better. I think we can do better. If the early church did better, then we can do better. We just need to start acting like they acted. We need to plan our calendars like they planned their calendars. We need to dedicate our pocketbooks like they dedicated theirs. We need to start living like they lived.

I'm looking at the finest saints in the United Pentecostal Church. But some of you are overqualified. You're way overqualified for the way you're living. You've got way more that we haven't seen yet, that we want to see, and we need to see it, because you've already been equipped. You know the gospel. You know who God is. You know how to live a life that honors and pleases God. You're just not on the mission. You say, "Well, wait a minute. I have a ministry." Great. "I have a ministry. I fold bulletins every Sunday morning." Thank God. We need that. "I bring donuts every Sunday morning." We need the donut ministry. It's holy. We need it. I was in the donut ministry this morning, as a matter of fact. "I open doors for people when they come to church." We need your ministry. "You clean the bathrooms." Thank God. I've done that. I'll do it again — hopefully not, but I'm willing. And we need all the ministry. Praise team, band. Brother Martin, I'm a drummer, froze in the '70s. I'm an old bass player, froze in the '70s. If you want Doobie Brothers, put me on the drums and on the bass. By the way, when I walked up here, it's been a long time since I seen a baritone on a platform. Who's the baritone player? Oh, he's out serving somewhere. I played a baritone from fourth grade all the way through high school. That's holy and sanctified property over there. That blessed me. We need your ministry.

But are you on the mission? Are you doing the work of the ministry? And the ministry — and we thank God, we're glad you're at church three times a week, and you're paying your tithes, and you're singing in the choir, and you're playing in the band, and you're opening doors, and you're ushering. And we need you to do the best of your ability. If you're an usher, we thank God for that. And we're not taking anything away from anybody's ministry. But I'm telling you that ministry comes and goes. It changes. It was seasons in your life: you'd be doing this today, and that's six months from now. But let me tell you something that never changes, that's never altered. And that is the mission of the church. And that is to go make disciples. And I've come to challenge this campground today. And I'm asking you: are you on the mission? I know you're on the ministry, but are you on the mission? And are you, every day, trying to plant seeds in the hearts of sinners, and building relationship with lost people, so that you can win them to yourself, and they believe that you're a credible Christian, and then you can disciple them? Are you on the mission? Praise God. I know you're on the ministry, but are you on the mission? Jesus said, "Go make disciples, and baptize." So I've come to ask the question. I've got just a few minutes, but I've come to ask the question: who does the ministry? Turn to somebody, ask them that question: who does the ministry?

I know what most of you are thinking, because this is tradition. But it's not Acts. It's not Bible. You're thinking, everybody up here does the ministry. You're thinking all the power in the church is on the platform. When you're at work, somebody says, "I have a migraine headache," you want to pick up your phone and call your pastor. Wrong answer. Sound like a game show buzzer? Yeah. You want to call the pastor — she — read your Bible. Mark 16: Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe." Does that mean just the fivefold ministry? We haven't reached the world yet, because you're not operating in all your gifts yet. You're not impacting lost people yet. You've got a bad case of churchology.

Now's the time for that picture that you had up there — when it was not the time, but now — beautiful. This is you. You have this churchology. We tell you the definition of churchology is: everything spiritual in your town has to happen at an address where you go to church. This is why we haven't reached the world yet, because everything is happening behind four beautiful walls. Now, on the count of three, I want you to tell me the address of your church. And if you don't know what — shame on you. How are you going to tell somebody where your church is? Okay, ready? Address of your church, on the count of three: one, two, three. Yeah. I knew you had churchology. You got it. Churchology. Yeah: "Somebody's sick — bring them to church. Somebody wants to hear the Word of God — bring them to church." That's churchology. Since when did Jesus say, "Invite people to church"? He told the church to go. It's the wrong direction.

If you walked up to a first-century believer in Jerusalem and said, "Where do you go to church?" they'd have looked at you like, huh? Maybe you didn't understand. "Where do you go to church? You know, people don't understand us — we slow down and yell." And they'd be like, "What are you talking about?" You know what? "Where's the address of your church?" Well, the first Christian dedicated church building wasn't built for 200 years — in about 260 A.D. Were they going to church? They're not going to church. That's our problem: why we haven't reached the world, and why they reached their world, and we haven't reached our world. Because we have these things. And we have a beautiful one — 50,000 square feet in Kansas City, and 83 acres. And I'm not taking anything away from that beautiful building where you go and worship, and you should be proud of it, and thank God for it. But I'm going to tell you something: if that's the only place where the ministry is happening, then you're never going to reach the world.

And while I'm on it: on the count of three, I want you to tell me what this apparatus right here is called. Everybody knows what this is called. Ready? On the count of three, what is this? One, two, three. "It's a pulpit." Apostolic. Well, bless God — Peter stood behind one on the day of Pentecost. "I'm reading today from Acts chapter 2, verse 38." He didn't have a pulpit. Pulpit was an invention of the 10th century, when they started building those. And people come and sit in rows and listen to the clergy. Oh, Lord. Now I opened a can. "Clergy" means wholly educated. "Laity" means unholy, uneducated. One derivative of the word "laity" means a crippled limb. There's preachers — I know preachers — that's the way they like it. "I'm the clergy. You're the laity. Leave this to the professionals. Don't try this at home."

That's why we haven't reached the world: because some preachers — sorry — want all the power on the platform. And there's a big gap, because they're only interested in attracting followers, and they're not interested in developing leaders, and people that are going to change the world. Clergy and laity are not Apostolic. It's an invention of the historic church that was in apostasy, that had absolute power. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. They took the Bible out of people's hands. They became the de facto interpreters of the Scripture. They said, "I'll tell you what the Bible says, and I'll tell you what to think about what the Bible says. And don't you blow back on me, because I'm the clergy. I'm the educated and the holy. You're the laity. You're the crippled limbs on the body of Christ."

Well, I'm telling you, you're looking at one preacher right now: I have a very high view of the saints of God. I have a very high perspective of the people that I lead, of the people that I've invested in. They've got the same Holy Ghost I've got. They've got the same anointing I've got, because they're under my anointing. And if you're under anointing, you'll have anointing. And if you're under authority, you'll have authority. And the hand of God that's on your pastor, if you're walking in obedience, amen, and under authority — the God that is with your pastor will be with you. We've not reached the world because we've got churchology. "Come to church, come to church, come to church, come to church." Why don't we take the church to them? You may be seated.

So I take a guy to lunch. He had a red dot in his forehead. He was an Eastern Indian, Asian Indian. His name is Anoop. We go to lunch. He knows I'm a pastor. And I paid for lunch. I bought lunch. He's a very successful businessman, but I bought lunch, because I can't stand cheap preachers. Just look straight ahead. So after lunch, he says, "That's how — you come to my house. I want you to bless my house." "You, a guru?" I thought, you know what, I sort of am a guru. I said, "Oh, yes. I'm a Jesus guru. I'm a Jesus guru." This means a holy man. So I go to his house. He shows me around. He's got an office, and does all the business of his company, downstairs. And so I'm ready to leave. I've got my hand on the front door, and I'm ready to turn around and say, "Well, Anoop, I enjoyed lunch, and thank you for your time." And I turned, and he's like this. I said, "Anoop, what's going on?" "Is it best you prayed for my business? If God blessed my business, pay off your whole church." All of a sudden, I'm — that's exactly the way I thought. Here's a Hindu. He's not obeyed the gospel. He's not filled with the Holy Ghost. He's not baptized in Jesus' name. But he's feeling something. We're not there. I'm in his house. He's not in my house. I'm in his house. But what happens in church — a prayer meeting, an altar call, a worship service, a sermon — how many more church services do you have to be at before you absorb it and you get it in your DNA? And when you stop doing that, and you walk out of the building, you are not going to church anymore. But you are packing the church with you. Where anointing is there, and miracles are there, and conviction is there, and holiness is there. Because I am a prayer meeting. I am a sermon. I am a worship service. I am holiness. I am conviction. And I take it with me everywhere I go. And I'm looking for a move of God, no matter where I am.

Yeah. Don't sell yourself short. We will never reach the world until we change this to that. Come on, get it. The arrows have shifted. We're no longer driving everything to an address. That's the only way we're going to reach the world. We can't even get them all in our buildings anyway. We can't even get them all in the UPCI anyway. Can I tell you, there's an awakening right now? There is an awakening right now, across this nation and across this world. When you read the book of Acts, it was 99% religious people that were being saved. Not the down-and-outers. Not the broken. Not the celebrate recovery — and we've got that ministry. But it was religious people. And God is breaking in on religious people right now. People that love the Bible. People that love the Word of God. People that love God — they just don't know who He is. And they're waiting for Aquila and Priscilla. They're waiting for Ananias, a certain disciple. They're waiting for Peter to come, and Paul to come, and Ananias to come. What do you think the Asbury Revival is all about? God's breaking in on stained-glass, traditional religion. And it's a good time to be Pentecostal. It's a good time to be Apostolic. It's a good time to believe in the Holy Ghost, because it's all coming this way.

I want you to stand with me. The saints have been equipped. Some of you are so overqualified. I'm not saying that to make you feel bad. I'm saying you can do more. By the way — Anoop — I started teaching him the Bible study, taking the church to his house. Raise your hand if you ever have, or you are right now, teaching a Bible study at a coffee shop, somewhere other than the church. Come on, raise your hand. I want to see it. Look at this. Look at this. Turn to somebody, say, "They're on the mission." We're not going to reach the world until all of you can raise your hand next year. You need to be raising your hand. Say, "I don't just have a ministry. I'm on the mission. I'm on the mission. I'm taking the church. I'm taking it out of the building. I'm on the mission."

So, praise God. Wow, so many things I could say. I want to just tell you one last — amazing. It's simple. Anybody can do this. My daughter, Michaela — if I could have a keyboard person come — my daughter Michaela is 27. A man of God prophesied over her in 2016. He said, "Michaela, I see you standing on a large stage in front of hundreds of young people, sending them all over the world." And a year ago, she was hired to lead Apostolic Youth Corps under UPCI Youth Ministries. Only God can do that. I didn't have anything to do with it. And about a year before she left, she was a third-grade public school teacher. We met her at her favorite restaurant, for her birthday, a year ago last November. She came in. She walked right by the table. Her eyes were red with tears. She went right to the ladies' room. In a few minutes, my wife got up. She walked in there. "Honey, what's wrong?" "Mom, kids are so broken. These three — these third-graders are so broken. There's no parenting going on. I've got this — talked about this little boy. He's nine years old. His mother's 23. She's not living with his dad. So disruptive. I think he's full of the devil. There's no parenting going on." We had the best dinner we could. She said, "I'm going to have to go after his mother, and change the culture of his home." And my daughter makes disciples — because I've trained her to. All my kids do.

And so she meets his mother. She invites her to coffee. A few days later, they go to lunch. Michaela says — she has to be careful — "Can I teach you — can I teach you the Word of God in your home?" "Yes." The third lesson — show the picture of the woman at the table. Here's the third lesson. Look what happened. She'd never been to church. She's never been to church. She's never heard anybody speak in tongues. She's never seen anybody weep under the presence of God. But Michaela is taking the church to her. And the third lesson, the Holy Ghost — her lips are trembling. Michaela said, "You repented last week. It's time for you to receive the Holy Ghost." She didn't even lay hands on her. She said, "Just lift your hands." And she's speaking in tongues, right there in her house. In her house.

There used to be a day — I remember Brother Shadwell — very few people were receiving the Holy Ghost in our local churches when I was a kid. But if we could get them to the camp meeting, God would fill them with the Holy Ghost. Now what's happened: the Holy Ghost has moved from a centralized camp meeting out into our local churches, where people are receiving the Holy Ghost. But I'm telling you, the next move is to go beyond our local churches. And the Holy Ghost needs to start falling in homes, in our communities. That's how we're going to reach the world.

And because I trained and I equipped Michaela, and because she's an intelligent Apostolic young lady, I commissioned her. I gave her permission. Well, Jesus gave her permission, to go and make disciples, and baptize. Notice that I am not baptizing. Oh, some of you are not sure if you can celebrate that. You're not sure if Heaven wrote that one down, because that's not an ordained fivefold ministry. That's why we haven't reached the world: because everything has to run through you. Everything has to run through, and follow through, you. We need to unbottleneck the church. We need to let the people go. We're never going to reach the world at the pace we're doing it. Who gets to lay hands on the sick? Who gets to cast out devils? I want you to shout: the saints. Who gets to lay hands on the sick? Who gets to — who gets to trudge on scorpions and serpents? Who gets to baptize? Did Oklahoma just say, "Saints get to baptize"? We'll never reach the world [at this pace].

What's going to happen if COVID shuts us down? Or worse — what happens when the push comes on the church? I'm going to get to that tomorrow. I'm going to tell you what it's going to take to reach the world. And some of it, I don't like it. But I'm willing to do it, if God is with us. And He will be with us. We've got to empower, believe in, train, and release saints. They're overqualified to just sing in the choir, pay their tithes, and sit on a pew.

All right. Let's lift our hands. Let's worship the founder of the church. Let's make sure He has it the way He wants it. Come on, let's get rid of traditions that are not Apostolic. We're not going to have revival until there's more preaching that goes on in our city than just behind the pulpit at your address. I'll prove that to you tomorrow. Come on. Come on. Are you on the mission? I know you're on ministry. But are you on the mission? Are you ready to get on the mission? Are you going to be a one-and-done saint? Or are you going to get your fingerprints on somebody? Start with your own children. If we could just disciple our kids, start there. Oh, come on. I think we can do better. I'm not even going to call you to the altar. We can build an altar where you are right now. Come on. Build an altar. Let an anointing of mission come over you right now. Come on, Oklahoma. Have we come to camp just to hang out and eat good food and tell stories? Or are we going to leave here changed?

Thank you. I know it's time to go. But I wish I could get a pastor, maybe, to just walk slowly through the crowd right now, and bless some of your people that are here. Let them know you're behind them. Let them know you believe in them. Let them know, amen, that you've trained them, and you're releasing them for the work of the ministry. Come on, Pastor. Come on. Let's get the fivefold ministry — all the licensed ministers — just start walking through the crowd. Just walk through the aisles right now. Just lay hands on somebody. Say, "I believe in you, brother. I believe in you, sister. I've trained you. I've trained you. You've been under my teaching, my anointing, my authority. I'm sending you out. I'm sending you out." You're delivered from churchology right now. Go do it. Go do it. Go do it. That's it, Pastor. Go ahead. Lay hands on them. Believe in them. Send them out. About you — you got it. You got this power. You can do it. We believe in you. You need to change. Go do the work of the ministry. Go change the world. I love that, Pastor. Thank you, Pastor. Order — come here. Sit up. Send them. Thank you. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Mighty man of God. Raise up saints that are mighty. Saints of God — mighty saints of God. They have gifts. They're prayer lives. They're sold out. Thank you.