Where Did This Wave Come From?
The apostolic wave that is about to come crashing on the scene has been building for the last twenty plus years. One man’s voice comes to mind when I think about apostles, Bill Hamon. While I was not what you could call a Bill Hamon follower, my mother was. Mom was like a high frequency receiver. Her antennas were always up seeking any signal she could detect. If it was out there somewhere mom seemed to pick up on it. It was one of the amazing ways the Holy Spirit’s gift operated in mom. She had an innate and uncanny way of stumbling on things.
Prior to the information super highway that most of us travel daily finding things wasn’t nearly as easy. The internet and smart phones have put a plethora of information in the palm of our hand. Life wasn’t quite so easy in the 1970’s. The only way to find out about anything took an enormous amount of effort. So when I say mom stumbled on things you need to understand that she wasn’t on Google®, she was led by the Spirit. There were no blogs and no Amazon® and no cell phones. You heard about things through someone who had heard about it from someone they heard about it. It took persistence and determination to find things. You had to schlep from one meeting to another in hopes that you would land on a treasure. Dr. Hamon was one of those treasures.
He was one of a few leaders in the body of Christ who had the gumption to push the limits of the day. In 1979, he started a school to served as a classroom ministry to teach, train, and activate individuals in the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In 1983, Bill Hamon received a revelation that God was going to raise up a great end-time company of prophets to restore the ministries of the prophet and the apostle. He wrote three books on prophets and prophetic ministry. In 1997, Hamon wrote, Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Moves of God. Nobody was talking about apostles in the 90’s. Prophets were still on tender hooks as far as the American church was concerned. Multiple denominations still hadn’t gotten over the whole speaking in tongues thing. Prophecy wasn’t accepted as viable ministry even in many so-called spirit-filled churches. And a number of denominations which claim spirit-filled, Charismatic, or Pentecostal ties still deny that there are modern day apostles.
God doesn’t seem to have a problem with trampling under foot doctrine which denies either His existence and and His intentions. Jesus came on the scene despite the fact that organized religion denied His claim. The Holy Spirit descended on has been operating through believers since the day of Pentecost, despite the outcry of the religious leadership. Not much has changed in that respect. The religious still shout heresy at the top of their lungs and God just keeps plowing through.
Despite the doctrinal beliefs of organized Christianity God has been preparing a company of people. This company of people are getting ready to come on the scene. They have been in a season of preparation which has had them in hiding. But the day of emergence is upon us. There is a company of apostles, newly fashioned and prepared for this such a time as this.
I believe there are many newly appointed and commissioned apostles who make up this coming wave. Bill Hamon was one of the few currently in ministry who saw the wave when it was only beginning to form. I believe he was not only seeing prophetically into this coming wave of apostolic ministry but preparing for its arrival. That is faith in action. To see it and proclaim it is one thing. But to actually prepare for it is like Noah building an ark for a downpour that has never happened before and no else believes is coming.
There is a wave coming. This company of people are going to come bursting on the scene in the days ahead. My question is, are we going to accept them and embrace the wave when it comes or will we be like generations which have preceded us and reject the work of God? I hope that the body of Christ has matured enough to accept the ministry of the apostle. But what we really need to do is embrace it, move over and let them take the lead.
When this apostolic contingent arrives the church will begin to come into its proper order, not religious order but apostolic order. It will come into its divinely ordained order so that it can return to its apostolic power. When the church is put back in order it will once again move forward as the powerful force it was intended to be. We will see the New Testament Ekklesia functioning and fulfilling its mandate in the earth. We will see disciples instead of converts. We will see ministry instead of platforms. And we will see the bride making herself ready.
As we await the emergence of this apostolic troop I suggest that we prepare as much as possible. Here are my suggestions.
- Ask God to show you your assignment and your gift. We need to see how our spiritual gifting (as defined in scripture) functions in connection with others and their gifting. Ask God for fresh revelation and new instructions for going forward.
- We need to recognize and understand how each member of the body works interdependently with all the others. To discover this we need to practice. Small groups need to gather in homes where they can practice ministering the gifts of the Spirit. We all need a place to learn and grow. It doesn’t have to be a formal group sanctioned by the church. A couple of close friends in a private and safe, nurturing environment is a great place to start. If you don’t have one, ask the Lord to place you with people who can nurture the gift of the Spirit in your life.
- What we don’t know will harm us. We need to gain whatever information we can on what apostles are supposed to look like. The two authors I suggest are Dr. C. Peter Wagner and Dr. Bill Hamon. Both of these men bring balanced and revelatory information about apostles. Both authors have books available on Amazon®.
- We need eyes to see. Ask God to open your spiritual eyes and give you eyes to see and ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. The days of blindly following the crowd are over. We need to open our eyes and be sober minded. We need to see in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit of God.
- We need feet to move forward. Ask God for the strategy and plan He has for you and your group. Once God gives you the strategy implement what instructions God has given you. If you seek Him He will answer you. Trust that God will lead you and guide you in the way that you should go.
A wave is coming. It is a wave of the Spirit. Within the wave are a new fresh company of apostles. These humble ministers will come with great authority to put the church in order. But it won’t end there. This is just the beginning. More waves will come. One after another wave upon wave upon wave as God washes over the church and brings her to life once again. This is a wave of restoration. It is a wave of power and a wave of healing. Let’s position ourselves so we can ride the wave together.
Here comes the wave.
You must be logged in to post a comment.