The Next Phase Of The Apostolic Restoration

Recently while Apostle Jim Becton was up visiting NJ for my Apostolic Commissioning, we were discussing where the Apostolic Restoration has been, and where it is going. Such great progress has been made since the Mid to Late 90’s to now in what many have called “The New Apostolic Reformation”. God has mightily used men like C. Peter Wagner, David Cannistraci, Jonas Clark, Bill Hamon, Hector Torres, John Eckhardt, Che Ahn and others.

The focus of this move of restoration was the restoration of the function, title and importance of the Office of the Apostle. The fact that it, like all of the other four Ascension Gift Ministries; were given UNTIL…Ephesians chapter 4. It focused largely on the fact that the Apostle was part of the Foundation of the Church (along with the Prophet) (Ephesians 2:20); and if the foundation be destroyed…what hope is there for the people of God (Psalm 11:3).

The final focus has been the understanding from 1 Corinthians 12:28 where the Greek uses the word PROTON for the English word First, where it says that God hath set in the church first Apostles. This word Proton carries several meanings including: First in time or place in any succession of things or people, and First in rank, influence or honor. Chief. Principal. This is where the Restoration of the Apostolic has been and where we have come to where most have a general understanding and acceptance.

It is important for us to understand that revelation and knowledge are progressive in nature…we don’t get it all at once. The Bible is clear line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little there a little. But where is it going now? That as they say is the $64,000.00 question! This is where I believe we are currently on the cutting edge of what God is doing next in this Apostolic Restoration.

We are now progressing beyond the Revelation of the Apostolic that really began in the 90’s and shifting or evolving naturally supernaturally (or organically) into the Father/Son order. We have begun to grasp and get an understanding that the Previous Restoration of the Gift/Office of the Apostle has been missing this extremely important and key component. Many all over the Body of Christ are beginning to have Malachi 4: 5 & 6 come alive within them knowing that the hearts of the Fathers MUST be turned towards the Sons…so in turn the hearts of the Sons can be turned in response back to the Fathers.

In the previous generation there has been a great emphasis on building and establishing “My Ministry” with little or no thought for the Next Generation that is up and coming. Thank God this is changing in our day. There is a two-fold thrust of this New Apostolic Paradigm that is currently being revealed.

The first thrust of this New Apostolic Paradigm of the Father/Son Order is Vertical. This is up and down. This is where Fathers speak into the lives of Sons. This is a multi-generational lineage that is meant to be perpetuated. All through the Old Testament we see: Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. In Stephen’s defense in the Book of Acts he states about the covenant of circumcision that God gave it to Abraham, who gave it to Isaac, who gave it to Jacob, who gave it to the 12 Patriarchs; which shows four generations. When Paul was writing to his Son Timothy he said, commit thou to faithful men, who in turn will be able to teach others also. So this is also four generations; Paul, Timothy, Those Timothy taught and those that they could teach also.

This is the vertical thrust of the Father/Son order. From Father to Son, From Father to Son, From Father to Son. In this there is always a middle generation like Isaac or Timothy who are the middle generation who are both Sons to their Fathers, and Fathers to those Sons that they are pouring into. The heartbeat now becomes: I must pour into the next generation! I must teach them what I have learned! I must help them avoid some of the blunders and mistakes I have made. The greatest expression of the heart of a Father that I have ever heard is: “Son, my ceiling is your floor!” In other words…you will start where I end because you have the benefit of my experience.

The second thrust of this New Apostolic Paradigm of the Father/Son Order is horizontal. This is across. There was some thought of this in the previous Restoration Move some were referred to as Horizontal Apostles…meaning they didn’t have a Network under them, but had the ability to gather folks together. They are equipped with a gathering anointing. This thought is carried to another level in this current move.

It is not just an anointing to gather folks together, but this is a gathering together of Spiritual Fathers whose heart it is to pour into the next generation. In this Horizontal Thrust of this Apostolic Restoration it is about gathering Fathers Nationally and Regionally. As Fathers become aligned, iron will sharpen iron and the thrust will get stronger. The end result of this Horizontal alignment will be many Sons coming to glory!