“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.  - Mark 1:35 (NIV) 

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.” –  Psalm 63:1 (KJV)

“My soul yearns for you in the night;  in the morning my spirit longs for you.” – Isaiah 26:9 (KJV) 

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“…And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  - Genesis 12:3

God wants to bless each person individually with salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  In addition, the Bible teaches that God has special blessings he intends to give to families as a whole, not just to individuals in isolation.  

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Genesis 20:12-13 (KJV)

“And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.  And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said unto her, ‘This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.’”

Twice during his wanderings in Genesis, Abraham encounters situations where the local ruler takes Sarah into his harem (pagan kings back then had a large collection of wives, of course).  The first time was with Pharaoh in Genesis 12, and the second was with Abimelech in Genesis 20.  In each case, before any harm comes to Sarah at all, the Lord intervened and rebuked the ruler, so that Sarah came back to Abraham immediately.  Prophetically, this illustrates how we as believers are both Christ’s brothers, as well as the Bride of Christ collectively.   continue

Genesis 42:1-2 - When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?”  He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt.  Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.” 

While Joseph was in Egypt, a terrible famine spread over that part of the world – in fulfillment of revelation, as Joseph had explained to Pharaoh.  Joseph had stored plenty of food in Egypt ahead of time, but everyone else was starving.  God sent Joseph ahead of them to Egypt to make these preparations, so that God could save their lives when the moment of need came. 

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Genesis 50:24-25 – Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and will take you up out of this land, to the land he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”  And Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place…” 

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Ephesians 4:11-13 - ”It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers…”

We believe that God uses some men as apostles today, but that nobody needs to use this title for himself.  What matters is the spiritual reality or fruit of how God uses a person, not the designations people claim for themselves. We see God using some men as apostles today, even though they do not call themselves that.   continue

Ephesians 4:11-13 – “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

TEACHERS ARE PART OF THE FIVE FOLD MINISTRY: These are pastors who are used in a special way in teaching doctrine to the Body.  Sometimes they teach at the seminars, but even in their local churches, their preaching is characterized by a clear, strong presentation of the revealed doctrines in the Lord’s Work. continue

Ephesians 4:11-13 - It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

EVANGELISTS ARE PART OF THE FIVE FOLD MINISTRY: Evangelists are pastors whom the Lord uses a lot in bringing unbelievers to salvation. That is their primary function in the Body – to bring conversions and growth in numbers. Because of the need for this in every church, pastor-evangelists are often shared between many churches instead of being responsible for a local congregation. They usually exercise their ministry in conjunction with another (more pastoral or teaching-oriented) ministry so that the new believers receive adequate teaching and substance in their spiritual lives. continue

“…It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” - Ephesians 4:11-13

PROPHETS ARE PART OF THE FIVE FOLD MINSITRY: Prophets are also pastors, like apostles, except they are used extraordinarily often in spiritual gifts, particularly ones that point to the future – either warning of events about to take place, or directing the church about new things to do. continue

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.”  – 1 Corinthians 12:7-10   continue