A Message From Peter
Alignment!
Looking toward the Future
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July 11, 2008
Dear Friends:
The Bible says that the days of our lives are seventy years, with the caveat that by reason of strength they might reach eighty years. When we get to this place, we need to look to God and ask Him to teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. This is all in Psalm 90.
Doris and I have been doing this over the months, and we have been giving much thought and prayer to our future. I'll be 78 next month, and we definitely want to number our days properly.
Growing Old
Many people our age are in denial that they will ever "grow old." Doris and I try to be much more realistic than that and we feel very responsible for the well-being of our heirs. I think this reflects the high value of the intergenerational impartation that we and our friends have been preaching about. In our case, we want this impartation to be accomplished with excellence. Just as an example, we do not want to burden our children with unnecessary decision making when they are grieving over our deaths, so we have prepaid our funerals. Our mortician's fees are paid, our caskets are selected, we own our cemetery plot, our headstone is in place, and we have outlined the details of our memorial services. Furthermore, our wills and accompanying legal documents have all been prepared and updated with the advice and consent of our children and filed with our attorney. No surprises!
I think it is important to establish similar plans concerning the long-range future of our ministry, GHM. For years our Board (as well as our children) has known that our desire is that Chuck Pierce, our son in ministry, become the heir to GHM. However, the timing for this transition has been ambiguous. It has been "if we go down in an airplane" or "when we retire" or "when the time comes." What has actually come clear to us for the first time is that we should begin to plan for this transition now if we have our heirs' best interests in view. Of course the legal heir is the GHM Board, our personal choice for our ministry heir is Chuck.
Speaking of "when we retire," neither Doris nor I have any plans to spend our days in rocking chairs or being "put out to pasture" as we used to do with our dairy cows who stopped giving milk or our horses who could no longer pull plows. Our plan is to keep doing the ministry that God has given us until we die or until we suffer physical or mental disability. But none of that should serve as an excuse for neglecting our current responsibilities to prepare to finish well and strong.
Alignment and Alignments
A large part of the apostolic ministry to which God has called me is facilitating biblical alignment. When the Bible says that apostles (and others) are to "equip" the saints for the work of ministry, the literal meaning of "equip" is "align." I have established several structures designed for alignment such as ISDM, ICA , ACEA, ACPE, EVAT, ACKW, and others. So I need to consider all of these as I look toward the future. I don't foresee any changes in ICA or EVAT. I feel that my fresh assignment for this season is in the area of wealth transfer, so I plan on continuing to develop entities like the Zion Apostolic Council, The Hamilton Group (THG), and the Apostolic Council for Kingdom Wealth (ACKW).
Doris and I are the Founding Apostles of the International Society for Deliverance Ministers (ISDM). Since this is Doris ' professional field, she will be taking more of the leadership, assisted by Bill and Janet Sudduth, our ISDM Ambassadors, who have moved here from Florida and installed their offices in our GHM building.
The Apostolic Council for Educational Accountability (ACEA) brings together some 80 schools and serves as a creative alternative to traditional academic accreditation. I founded it back in 1998, and I am preparing to transfer the leadership to Leo Lawson within the next year.
In the late 1990s I agreed to help Cindy Jacobs start the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders (ACPE), providing the necessary apostolic leadership. ACPE has developed well, and I plan to turn the leadership over to Cindy next September.
Through the 1990s and up until recently, my major vehicle for providing alignment for the prayer movement was what ultimately became known as the U.S. Global Apostolic Prayer Network (USGAPN). I assigned Cindy Jacobs to lead this for a season, then transitioned to Chuck Pierce. At the beginning of 2008, Chuck stepped down and dissolved the USGAPN. This was a huge step forward because it opened the gates for the formation of a variety of new networks providing alignment for many aspects of kingdom ministry. Let me just mention several of the newer networks being led by apostles who are members of my inner circle, Eagles Vision Apostolic Team (EVAT). These developments show that the wineskins of the past must give way to wineskins of the future:
· John Kelly has founded the International Christian WealthBuilders Foundation (ICWBF).
· Cindy Jacobs has founded the Reformation Prayer Network (RPN) and the Deborah Company.
· Ché Ahn has formed the Revival Alliance.
· Dutch Sheets has launched the U.S. Apostolic Alliance (USAA).
· Tommi Femrite has started the Apostolic Intercessors Network (AIN).
· Barbara Wentroble has initiated the Breakthrough Business Network (BBN).
· Robert Henderson leads the Freedom Apostolic Alliance.
· Mel Mullen is introducing new thrusts and emphases to his Life Church Network.
· John Benefiel continues to build the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network.
Global Spheres, Inc.
And one more. Chuck Pierce, along with Doris and me, has initiated another vehicle for apostolic alignment, Global Spheres, Inc. (GSI). This is directly related to Doris ' and my future When we go, there will be no need for transition because it is Chuck's organization, incorporated in the State of Texas .
What is Global Spheres? Much of the answer to this question will become clear over the next few months as we work out the details. Meanwhile, GSI is focused on alignment. As the apostolic movement has mushroomed, an increasing number of leaders are recognizing that they lack formal apostolic alignment, and they are actively seeking it. Both Chuck and I receive frequent appeals from other apostles and prophets, as well as from evangelists, pastors, teachers, and workplace leaders for us to provide necessary alignment. How can this be provided? One very public example of this is the recent apostolic alignment of Evangelist Todd Bentley with the Revival Alliance. While we applaud that stream, we realize that if we are going to be looking to the future, we in our stream must also provide a comparable vehicle. One size does not fit all!
The kingdom of God furnishes the template for our stream. We believe that God's desire for this season can be discerned through "The Dominion Mandate" and "The 7-M Mandate." Chuck has laid groundwork through his books, The Future War of the Church and God's Unfolding Battle Plan. I have been doing the same through The Church in the Workplace and Dominion! We want to provide a viable opportunity for apostolic alignment for leaders who minister in all seven mountains. The International Coalition of Apostles (ICA) cannot do this because it is restricted to apostles only, not allowing prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers as members, whether in the religion mountain or in one of the other six, namely family, government, arts & entertainment, education, media, or business. EVAT has no more openings. We believe that Global Spheres, Inc., will fill a gap for many who believe in the direction that Chuck, Doris and I are taking into the future and who desire official alignment with us as their apostolic leaders.
When Doris, Chuck and I met recently to review who we are and to begin to anticipate what type of ministries or leaders would desire to align with us, we could not escape the international missions perspective that molds all three of us. As you know, Doris and I served for 16 years as field missionaries in Bolivia . Then I taught for 30 years in the Fuller Seminary School of World Mission. We coordinated the AD2000 United Prayer Track. Chuck reiterated that he surrendered to missions in a Baptist Student Union Convention, and he spent years working behind the Iron Curtain. I see why we are all driven with a passion to see nations change.
The Lord showed Chuck, while he was meditating on John 21, that there would be 153 sheep nations that would follow into the discipleship of Christ. He shared that he felt his predominant call was to find the apostolically developed leaders in these nations and get them fully aligned for the future. We feel that Global Spheres, Inc., will fill a gap for many who believe in the direction that Chuck, Doris and I are taking into the future, and who desire official alignment with us as their apostolic leaders. We do not want it to be a traditional, religious organization, but rather an aligned network of leaders from all seven spheres that make up societal structures. This is a way that we can do our part toward fulfilling the Dominion Mandate.
I'm excited! Are you excited as well? I'd love to hear what you are thinking!
Blessings,
C. Peter Wagner (along with Doris Wagner and Chuck Pierce)
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