Giving Apostolic Feet to Prophetic Hope

One of the things I enjoy about this season of my life is seeing younger leaders rise up and step into new and previously unexplored places where our faith can find expression. When I use the word “younger”, I do not mean younger as in inexperienced. It simply refers to chronological age. A full and mature anointing is resting on these younger men and women. They are some of the most energizing voices speaking to the Church in this hour if we are willing to listen.

Each generation builds upon the ceiling of accomplishment of the previous generation. We are in one of those building moments in the Church. Assumptions and misunderstanding are giving way to a fresh understanding of the original context of Scripture and the ultimate assignment of the Church.

This week, Jan and I had the honor of being part of two gatherings that preceded the Heaven on Earth Conference hosted by Eagle Mountain in Bend, Oregon. Eagle Mountain’s Senior Leaders, Bobby and Becky Haaby have created a unique ministry vision, one that seeks to transform the city of Bend. I am familiar with this kind of vision because it is being developed in my home church, Living Waters, in Medford, Oregon under the leadership of Ryan and Kate Rhoden.

While in Bend, I was reading through Eagle Mountain’s literature and saw the phrase, “Putting Apostolic feet to Prophetic hope.”  I stopped reading and pondered the reality of that statement. We have had a very long season of hope-filled words coming from the prophets. Those words are welcomed and needed to help us move forward. But something else is beginning to take place. God is reminding us of a forgotten element of our calling. In order for the words of prophetic hope to become a reality, we need to provide a practical application to our hope. We need the insight of apostolic leadership to help us see where and how to gain traction in culture with the hope we carry and declare.

Continue to speak words of hope but remember this, the hope you carry has a place of practical application. A word of hope was never intended to produce only a warm feeling in a distressed heart. God wants our words of hope to find an apostolic foothold somewhere on the pathway of cultural transformation.  The voices proclaiming this fuller image of our calling are worth listening to because they are providing us with a glimpse into our future.