The Harvest is Waiting

no responses

empty field

By Eric Rafferty

The harvest is waiting where no one else is laboring…

The key work of planting ministry is finding the places where it’s harvest time. Often the places of plentiful harvest are the places where no one else is going. This is what Jesus found in a Samaritan town in John 4:

35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

Sometimes the fields are just ripe for harvest time! Things grow easy. People are eager and ready to respond to Jesus. In the above passage Jesus spends a few minutes chatting with a promiscuous and poorly treated woman at a town well and within a couple days the entire city comes to faith in Jesus. That is harvest time! And Jesus had to point it out to his disciples because they couldn’t believe the spiritual landscape of Samaria would be one of harvest.

As we look back on eight years of campus ministry we recognize that the times we really experienced the reality of harvest was when we were reaching out to people that no one else was going for. Plentiful harvest is waiting in the fields where no one else is laboring.

Continue Reading

Top Posts of 2013

no responses

It was another great year at Release The APE with many contributions! I was given the idea to put up the top posts from the year, and here are the top 5 viewed from last year.

  1. Christian Women – Getting !*$& Done For Jesus
  2. What is the Difference Between an Evangelist & an Apostle?
  3. Do Women Have An Elevated Standing Within The Christian Community?
  4. How Do You Know If God Is Speaking?
  5. Six Marks of a Prophet

As we start the new year, feel free to leave suggestions in the comments about topics you want to read about, writers you want to hear from, and any other ideas. You can also email me if you want to be more private.

Apostolic Movements are Multi-Ethnic Movements

no responses
About 30 Area Directors got together this Fall to talk about apostolic movements.

About 30 Area Directors got together this Fall to talk about apostolic movements.

By Chris Nichols

“Lord, at this time are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel?”

It was sometime during the forty days after Jesus had risen from the dead.  Acts says Jesus was giving them convincing proofs he was alive, teaching his disciples about his kingdom, and the coming Holy Spirit.

It’s hard to imagine what the experience was like.  In the presence of the back from the dead Jesus, his kingdom was taking on new meaning on daily basis. Yet even in the midst of that life-altering experience, the disciples could not keep themselves from focusing on their own self-interest.  They felt compelled to interpret Jesus’ return as being about restoring the nation of Israel.  They must have thought, “Finally, our people will get our due.  We will take our place as God’s people, above all others in the world.”

Continue Reading

Ask “why” not “what”

no responses

IMG_7929

By Beau Crosetto

Not all things modeled should be copied.

My wife and I were laughing about this as we watched our daughter who is 20 months trying to pee standing up because our 3 year old is now doing that.

Great idea for Noah, bad idea for Sophie.

But this funny example got us thinking about the church today and many organizations for that matter.

Many of us tend to copy straight across the board what we see modeled.

We are asking “What” are you doing instead of “Why” are you doing that?

Continue Reading

Water Into Wine: Are You on Empty?

no responses

Water-Into-Wine-1030x577

I have started writing on another blog that my friend Noah runs. It is called Purpose City. He is a good friend from Grad school and I am glad he has invited me into this project with him. Here is a recent post I did aimed at helping a seeking person.

When was there a time you ran out of something you really needed? Was it money for rent? Perhaps gas while driving over a bridge? Maybe love for a spouse?

We have all run out of important things at the wrong time – right when we need them the most, they escape us.

It brings up feelings of shame, failure, despair and even frustration.

Read the full post

Is Evangelism Going Out of Style?

no responses

Untitled

I just read a great article by David Kinnaman talking about evangelism and if it is going out of style. Here is a great excerpt from the post

The Most Evangelistic Generation
They’ve been called “the social justice generation,” and for good reason—Millennials are actively taking up the cause of the poor, the oppressed, the orphan and the widow. Yet the most common critique leveled at this surge in social compassion is that it comes at a great expense. Sure, skeptics argue, they might feed the hungry and free the captives in this life, but what about the next? According to this view, Millennials are elevating physical needs over spiritual needs and forgoing evangelism altogether.

Yet the latest Barna research reveals this is not the case.

You can read the whole post here...it is great!

Are We On The Same Team?

no responses

FotoFlexer_Photo

cpac3This is a guest post by Bex Barton. Her day job is a rockin’ stay-at-home-mum (three crazy kiddos!) She is passionate about writing, tattoos, upcycling (Google it!) and all things artsy! She believes everyone has a role to play in this beautiful, messy life (yes, even *you*!) and seeks to help them find their way back to God.

“Apostle. Prophet. Evangelist. Shepherd. Teacher. Such power in those five simple words. Such passion. Such controversy, as well.

It never ceases to amaze me how the very thing Christ was using to create harmony among us, has been such a tool for dissension.

Continue Reading

Would We Admire Him Today?

no responses

Traditional Christmas Nativity Scene

[This post is part of a series called Rooted. Find the other posts here]

By Steve Stuckey

He Did Not Get on Beau’s Party Bus

You will not find his name on the APE mailing list. He would not have stormed out the door last week to be the first one on Beau’s party bus` to El Camino College. He founded no organizations or churches; never wrote a book or gave a speech (though those are excellent things). The mechanics of leadership, a topic that preoccupies many of us, did not exist as a subject in his mind.  He was not good with words, a prerequisite for all of us who write and read this blog. In fact, no words are ever attributed to him in the Scriptures. He was probably a humble, quiet man who worked with his hands and lived much of his life in the shadows of his world. When his mission in life was complete, he silently faded into the mist of history without fanfare or applause. He must have been a fellow easy to overlook, even by God. When his young fiancée was found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit, a highly unusual and suspicious story, he was left to find out her situation through second hand sources.

Continue Reading