The Calling of An Apostle
Interview With Apostle Arnold Steward Pt 2 by Terrence Clark
He was introduced as Apostle. Some would say, “Another apostle” to go with the deluge of ministry titles being worn today. And I’m not one to dampen those callings. In fact, upon acknowledgment, I would probably be the first to address a minister in
his formality. Humor not the object, often titles are used within respective Christian circles as the if the title was the minister's first name. Incidentally, I was referring Apostle Steward to another colleague of mine who asked me what his first name was. I quickly punned, “Apostle”.
And it would be, Apostle Arnold Steward. In this interview, he clarifies the usage of the title and its connection with its five-fold equals---evangelist, pastor, teacher, and prophet. He and his wife’s ministry organization is called All Saints Evangelistic Movement. It sponsors an event called Camden and Philadelphia for Christ 2018. He shared with us his vision, mission, and ministry. Why they were doing what they were doing. |
Pastor Arnold:
I had actually pastored a local fellowship for about seven years. Prior to that, I had served as an assistant pastor for about four years. During that time God had been dealing with me about going into ministry in the “field”. Of course, I knew what that meant. He used a couple of scriptures to help me understand his desire for my life. Some of the verses He used came from Proverbs 24:27 and Proverbs 27:23-27 where He talks about going out into the fields.
I had actually pastored a local fellowship for about seven years. Prior to that, I had served as an assistant pastor for about four years. During that time God had been dealing with me about going into ministry in the “field”. Of course, I knew what that meant. He used a couple of scriptures to help me understand his desire for my life. Some of the verses He used came from Proverbs 24:27 and Proverbs 27:23-27 where He talks about going out into the fields.
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He started talking to me about the ministry of an apostle. It went on for a number of years, as I somewhat struggled with the idea for some time. First of all, I did not want to be seen as a title chaser. Secondly, I knew that taking on that type of endeavor would automatically bring about questions concerning the title
Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.
Proverbs 24:27 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. 24 For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? 25 The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered. 26 The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. 27 And thou shalt have goats' milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens. Proverbs 27:23-27 |
At that time, I began to learn about what it really meant to go out into the fields. I was in a church that I had been pastoring for quite some time. As a matter of fact, the church was doing very well and was growing. It was finally at the point where it was able to cover my family’s expenses. I had this full-time, growing, vibrant ministry and God was speaking to me about turning it over and eventually going into the field.
More specifically, He started talking to me about the ministry of an apostle. It went on for a number of years, as I somewhat struggled with the idea for some time. First of all, I did not want to be seen as a title chaser. Secondly, I knew that taking on that type of endeavor would automatically bring about questions concerning the title.
There are several doctrinal differences concerning the office “apostle”. Some teach that that office has passed away. Others say that the office has not; that it is still in use. But even more than the controversy over whether it is a thing of the past or not, I just did not want to have anyone think I think more of myself than I do or that my pride had gotten in the way. I didn’t want their thoughts about me to be based on some preconceived ideas of what my personal thoughts about myself might be.
So I was very careful not to just pass on it. I prayed about it. I prayed about it. I prayed about it. And then, after quite some time, I was contacted by Apostle Thelma Malone, who founded Crusaders for Christ International many years ago, who now have thirty-three churches in various parts of the world. Unfortunately, she has since gone to be with the Lord.
She called me one day, while they had a revival in her church in Florida going on. When she called me, I was on a highway. I’ll never forget it. She started talking to me about the office of an apostle. She asked me if I knew what the office of the apostle is and what it would consist of. At the time I thought she was interviewing me, because she wanted me to come and teach some classes on the fivefold ministry as I had already done a couple of classes on the gifts of the Spirit at her church.
As I was answering her question, she interrupted me. She said the Lord had shown her that He was preparing me for that office. This was a strong confirmation for me. Not only does the Word of God say, ‘out of the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established’, It was also confirming because of the type of woman Apostle Malone was. She was a very no-nonsense person. She didn't call you to try to impress you about anything. She was truly old school in her ministry tactics. It was very impactful to me when she called. One of her last words to me in that conversation was, “you know or don't know, don't you go out and print up new cards and stuff, publicizing yourself as an apostle.”
More specifically, He started talking to me about the ministry of an apostle. It went on for a number of years, as I somewhat struggled with the idea for some time. First of all, I did not want to be seen as a title chaser. Secondly, I knew that taking on that type of endeavor would automatically bring about questions concerning the title.
There are several doctrinal differences concerning the office “apostle”. Some teach that that office has passed away. Others say that the office has not; that it is still in use. But even more than the controversy over whether it is a thing of the past or not, I just did not want to have anyone think I think more of myself than I do or that my pride had gotten in the way. I didn’t want their thoughts about me to be based on some preconceived ideas of what my personal thoughts about myself might be.
So I was very careful not to just pass on it. I prayed about it. I prayed about it. I prayed about it. And then, after quite some time, I was contacted by Apostle Thelma Malone, who founded Crusaders for Christ International many years ago, who now have thirty-three churches in various parts of the world. Unfortunately, she has since gone to be with the Lord.
She called me one day, while they had a revival in her church in Florida going on. When she called me, I was on a highway. I’ll never forget it. She started talking to me about the office of an apostle. She asked me if I knew what the office of the apostle is and what it would consist of. At the time I thought she was interviewing me, because she wanted me to come and teach some classes on the fivefold ministry as I had already done a couple of classes on the gifts of the Spirit at her church.
As I was answering her question, she interrupted me. She said the Lord had shown her that He was preparing me for that office. This was a strong confirmation for me. Not only does the Word of God say, ‘out of the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established’, It was also confirming because of the type of woman Apostle Malone was. She was a very no-nonsense person. She didn't call you to try to impress you about anything. She was truly old school in her ministry tactics. It was very impactful to me when she called. One of her last words to me in that conversation was, “you know or don't know, don't you go out and print up new cards and stuff, publicizing yourself as an apostle.”
About a month later, she called me again. This time, she was in a revival at one of her churches in Maryland. She said God spoke to her and told her to hold a confirmation service confirming me to the Office of the apostle. It was the first time I had heard of that. I knew about ordination services, but she made it clear. She said, ‘no man can ordain you. God is the only one who ordains. Man can only confirm it.’ That made a lot of sense to me. She spoke to me about putting together a confirmation service, and then our conversation ended. Some time went by without hearing from her. I found out from one of the bishops, at the Philadelphia Church, that she had fallen ill.
She was in the hospital for a short time before she slipped into a coma. She was in a vegetative state. If it weren't for the machines, she would have passed away then. Her family decided, after many weeks of prayer and fasting, and of course seeing the Lord, to take her off of life support as there had been no change for so long. She passed, not long after she was taken off of the machines. It was a beautiful Home-going service. As a matter of fact, it took a whole weekend and two churches for everyone to celebrate your life and going home.
After the dust cleared and everything settled down, I started talking to the Lord about my last conversation with Apostle Malone. I told Him about how she had been planning on putting together this confirmation. I didn't know what was to become of that now.
I believe the Lord spoke to my heart. He told me to call her bishops---Bishop Ellis Davis (pastor of Bridgeton church) and Bishop David Hill (pastor of Philadelphia church). He said that they would already be informed about what to do, so I called them. Sure enough, their response was, ‘we have been waiting for you to get in touch with us. Apostle Malone had already instructed us on what to do. We were waiting for you’.
They pulled the two churches together from Bridgeton and Philadelphia and conducted a confirmation service on my behalf. It was then that I was confirmed to the office of the Apostle. But I still did not totally surrender to the assignment. I was still trying to hold things together the way I thought that it made sense. I always say that God is a stalker and you can't call 911. He's going to get what He wants.
She was in the hospital for a short time before she slipped into a coma. She was in a vegetative state. If it weren't for the machines, she would have passed away then. Her family decided, after many weeks of prayer and fasting, and of course seeing the Lord, to take her off of life support as there had been no change for so long. She passed, not long after she was taken off of the machines. It was a beautiful Home-going service. As a matter of fact, it took a whole weekend and two churches for everyone to celebrate your life and going home.
After the dust cleared and everything settled down, I started talking to the Lord about my last conversation with Apostle Malone. I told Him about how she had been planning on putting together this confirmation. I didn't know what was to become of that now.
I believe the Lord spoke to my heart. He told me to call her bishops---Bishop Ellis Davis (pastor of Bridgeton church) and Bishop David Hill (pastor of Philadelphia church). He said that they would already be informed about what to do, so I called them. Sure enough, their response was, ‘we have been waiting for you to get in touch with us. Apostle Malone had already instructed us on what to do. We were waiting for you’.
They pulled the two churches together from Bridgeton and Philadelphia and conducted a confirmation service on my behalf. It was then that I was confirmed to the office of the Apostle. But I still did not totally surrender to the assignment. I was still trying to hold things together the way I thought that it made sense. I always say that God is a stalker and you can't call 911. He's going to get what He wants.
A number of events took place in my life and I ended up walking away from my church. I left the church and passed the baton to another ministry, which is still going strong today.
This was about seven years ago now. During that time, my first wife of almost 31 years passed away from cancer. I went through a deep valley of depression that lasted almost four years. It was during this time that God showed me how to fight through that valley.
He sent a beautiful woman into my life, who is now Evangelist Iris Marsha Steward. For about two years, we sat down and went through the restoration process through God's Word at Pastor Malone's church in Philadelphia. We also received premarital counseling from Bishop David Hill. Eventually, we were married in April of 2015. Around that time, God began to stir me again concerning ministry and what He had called me to do.
We got a call from a friend of ours at a church, the Gospel Assembly, in Harlem, New York. They asked us to come up to an annual event, called Operation of Spirits of Thunder. We drove there with a vanload of friends. Spiritual Thunder is a group that sends out 100 evangelism teams to 100 different street corners; our group was one of those corners. The corner we took was just down the street from the Apollo.
This was about seven years ago now. During that time, my first wife of almost 31 years passed away from cancer. I went through a deep valley of depression that lasted almost four years. It was during this time that God showed me how to fight through that valley.
He sent a beautiful woman into my life, who is now Evangelist Iris Marsha Steward. For about two years, we sat down and went through the restoration process through God's Word at Pastor Malone's church in Philadelphia. We also received premarital counseling from Bishop David Hill. Eventually, we were married in April of 2015. Around that time, God began to stir me again concerning ministry and what He had called me to do.
We got a call from a friend of ours at a church, the Gospel Assembly, in Harlem, New York. They asked us to come up to an annual event, called Operation of Spirits of Thunder. We drove there with a vanload of friends. Spiritual Thunder is a group that sends out 100 evangelism teams to 100 different street corners; our group was one of those corners. The corner we took was just down the street from the Apollo.
I forget the name of the street we were on, but we preached there for a while. We had a great service. I knew my wife was special, but it became clear that she had truly been called to be an evangelist. While she was preaching that day, a lady walked by with her dog - a pit bull. The dog sat down in front of my wife. The lady pulled on the dog saying, ‘come on, they don't need you all up in their face’, but the dog wouldn't move. It was as if had said, ‘I know how you been living and you need to hear it.’
From that day on, I would tease my wife saying ‘ I know God called you to be an evangelist because anytime a dog comes over and sits down, he makes his owner sit down and listen as well.’
On the way back from Harlem, I felt the Lord speak to me. He challenged me by asking me, “can you get 100 churches on 100 corners throughout Camden?’
My response to the Lord was, ‘God, I'll be doing good if I could get five churches together.’ And, He said, ‘well, then get five.’
From that day on, I would tease my wife saying ‘ I know God called you to be an evangelist because anytime a dog comes over and sits down, he makes his owner sit down and listen as well.’
On the way back from Harlem, I felt the Lord speak to me. He challenged me by asking me, “can you get 100 churches on 100 corners throughout Camden?’
My response to the Lord was, ‘God, I'll be doing good if I could get five churches together.’ And, He said, ‘well, then get five.’
My response to the Lord was, ‘God, I'll be doing good if I could get five churches together.’
And, He said, ‘well, then get five.’
I knew that God had given me and my wife an assignment. Although there was a number of things I was working on right after my wife and I got married, the assignment required me connect and network with as many churches as possible quickly. One night, the Lord woke me up around two in the morning. He spoke to my heart. He said, “pray, teach and evangelize”. Later, He added ‘network’ onto that. We began to pray. We began to teach. We began to evangelize. We began to network with other churches and other pastors.
By November of 2015, God told me to share my vision with Bishop Barbara Ward Farmer of Faith Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, in Camden, New Jersey. I shared my vision with her. She opened not only the doors of her church, but her home, as well. We had our first meeting at her home with about thirty-three ministers and pastors.
Her husband, a trustee at their church, was a caterer. He prepared a fabulous lunch for the meeting. I was truly blessed by the way they went so far for me and our little vision. Our first planning meeting was very professional. We shared the vision, and we took up our first official offering into the ministry.
By November of 2015, God told me to share my vision with Bishop Barbara Ward Farmer of Faith Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, in Camden, New Jersey. I shared my vision with her. She opened not only the doors of her church, but her home, as well. We had our first meeting at her home with about thirty-three ministers and pastors.
Her husband, a trustee at their church, was a caterer. He prepared a fabulous lunch for the meeting. I was truly blessed by the way they went so far for me and our little vision. Our first planning meeting was very professional. We shared the vision, and we took up our first official offering into the ministry.
On June 11 of 2016, we had our first Operation Camden for Christ on the grounds of City Hall, Camden, New Jersey. We had close to a thousand people in attendance and fed more than 700 people. It was an awesome, full day of praise & Worship, testimonies and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM. Afterward, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, ‘now take it to Philly.’ So I thought, okay, we’ll work on it for next year. He said, ‘no, this year of 2016.’ |
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On September 24, 2016, we combined efforts with the ministry in Philadelphia. We had our first Operation Philadelphia for Christ on the grounds of City Hall.
The Lord showed me again in a dream that we were to conduct two events simultaneously. In the dream, I was actually driving back and forth between both events, in order to attend both. My wife and I talked and prayed about it. We felt God had lead us to conduct a simultaneous event on the grounds of City Hall in Camden and the City Hall in Philadelphia. On September 23rd of 2017, the Lord blessed us to do just that.
I literally drove back and forth. My wife oversaw the Camden event and I was oversaw the Philadelphia event. I picked her up from the Camden event, and we went back over to Philly. It was quite an impressive experience that God had allowed and blessed us to be a part of.
One of the things I learned was: You don't always ask God what it is He wants you to do, but what is He doing that He wants you to be a part of. It helped us remember who is at the helm.
If He showed you what He's doing, and blessed you to be a part of it, then the responsibility is on Him to complete it. Too often, we take on things and we ask God to bless it. It doesn’t always work out and the struggle is real. But when you're part of what God is already doing, you know you're just walking with Him and He's making it happen.
The Lord showed me again in a dream that we were to conduct two events simultaneously. In the dream, I was actually driving back and forth between both events, in order to attend both. My wife and I talked and prayed about it. We felt God had lead us to conduct a simultaneous event on the grounds of City Hall in Camden and the City Hall in Philadelphia. On September 23rd of 2017, the Lord blessed us to do just that.
I literally drove back and forth. My wife oversaw the Camden event and I was oversaw the Philadelphia event. I picked her up from the Camden event, and we went back over to Philly. It was quite an impressive experience that God had allowed and blessed us to be a part of.
One of the things I learned was: You don't always ask God what it is He wants you to do, but what is He doing that He wants you to be a part of. It helped us remember who is at the helm.
If He showed you what He's doing, and blessed you to be a part of it, then the responsibility is on Him to complete it. Too often, we take on things and we ask God to bless it. It doesn’t always work out and the struggle is real. But when you're part of what God is already doing, you know you're just walking with Him and He's making it happen.
One of the things I learned was: You don't always ask God what it is He wants you to do, but what is He doing that He wants you to be a part of. It helped us remember
who is at the helm.
who is at the helm.
Success & struggles sharing the vision & mission.
Apostle Steward answered the next question before I asked it. What he shared was such a huge undertaking. I reflected. Since 2000, I have set with a lot of pastors, visionaries and leaders, not just in the Camden, Philadelphia area, but multiple places in the body of Christ. Many have had great vision, particularly concerning unification in the church. Hearing their stories and then the follow-up. It seems sometimes, it’s the sharing of the missions of unity that discloses the division. Some leaders’ great passion for the unified church have transformed into struggles. The outcome, another vision or dream filed away. The visions are great, but the response to those vision, a lot of times, you hear, was with struggle. I asked him to talk about the successes he had as he has shared the vision with other leaders and pastors?
Apostle Steward: Let me talk about the struggles. God showed me that whatever we do for Christ, there will be a struggle. Paul said in First Corinthians 16:9, “there is a great and effectual open door, but there are many adversaries”. Opportunities from God do not come without opposition and adversity, but let me show you the difference.
One time the Lord wanted me to preach a sermon titled “Why The Troubled Waters?”. I preached about storms; the storm Jonah was in was because of his rebellion, and the storm that Jesus and the disciples were in, because of their obedience. Storms will always come. We need to ask ourselves why the storm has come. We need to ask what the purpose of the storm is. Is this storm the result of my disobedience, or is this storm the result of my obedience? There’s a difference.
Usually, when we go through storms due to disobedience or doing our own thing and going our own way, the struggle is more intense. You really feel it, because God is not alleviating the pressure. He wants to draw your attention to it. In this case, we can pray and fast all we want, but it's not until we repent that we get the release we're looking for. We’re going the opposite of what God told us to do. That’s what I was going through when I walked away from the church after my wife passed causing me to fall into a depression. Iwas going through a storm, but a lot of it was due to my disobedience; my unwillingness to yield and surrender myself to God’s perfect plan.
Now, having surrendered to the will of God, the storms still come, but the intensity is different and there's a greater good that carries you. There's strength in knowing that this too will pass and you will get through this, because God is going to bring you to the other side.
Apostle Steward answered the next question before I asked it. What he shared was such a huge undertaking. I reflected. Since 2000, I have set with a lot of pastors, visionaries and leaders, not just in the Camden, Philadelphia area, but multiple places in the body of Christ. Many have had great vision, particularly concerning unification in the church. Hearing their stories and then the follow-up. It seems sometimes, it’s the sharing of the missions of unity that discloses the division. Some leaders’ great passion for the unified church have transformed into struggles. The outcome, another vision or dream filed away. The visions are great, but the response to those vision, a lot of times, you hear, was with struggle. I asked him to talk about the successes he had as he has shared the vision with other leaders and pastors?
Apostle Steward: Let me talk about the struggles. God showed me that whatever we do for Christ, there will be a struggle. Paul said in First Corinthians 16:9, “there is a great and effectual open door, but there are many adversaries”. Opportunities from God do not come without opposition and adversity, but let me show you the difference.
One time the Lord wanted me to preach a sermon titled “Why The Troubled Waters?”. I preached about storms; the storm Jonah was in was because of his rebellion, and the storm that Jesus and the disciples were in, because of their obedience. Storms will always come. We need to ask ourselves why the storm has come. We need to ask what the purpose of the storm is. Is this storm the result of my disobedience, or is this storm the result of my obedience? There’s a difference.
Usually, when we go through storms due to disobedience or doing our own thing and going our own way, the struggle is more intense. You really feel it, because God is not alleviating the pressure. He wants to draw your attention to it. In this case, we can pray and fast all we want, but it's not until we repent that we get the release we're looking for. We’re going the opposite of what God told us to do. That’s what I was going through when I walked away from the church after my wife passed causing me to fall into a depression. Iwas going through a storm, but a lot of it was due to my disobedience; my unwillingness to yield and surrender myself to God’s perfect plan.
Now, having surrendered to the will of God, the storms still come, but the intensity is different and there's a greater good that carries you. There's strength in knowing that this too will pass and you will get through this, because God is going to bring you to the other side.
The storm Jonah was in was because of his rebellion, and the storm that Jesus and the disciples were in, because of their obedience. Storms will always come. We need to ask ourselves why the storm has come. We need to ask what the purpose of the storm is. Is this storm the result of my disobedience, or is this storm the result of my obedience?
There’s a difference.
There’s a difference.
Jesus said to his disciples, go to the other side. The disciples were obedient yet a storm came. They became very fearful. They lost sight of the fact that Jesus said, “let's go to the other side”. Jesus was at peace. So much so, that he was sleeping in the back of the boat. There is a peace in the storms of obedience as opposed to the storms that come from disobedience.
Maybe some of the readers are in a storm. Is it because of disobedience? Your storm actually may be a sign that you're going in the right direction, but a checkup on the inside is needed. See what's going on in the spirit. Do you have peace in the direction that you're going? Don’t judge it on the storm judge it on what’s in your heart.
Grieving the Holy Spirit
Apostle Steward: We reached out to different pastors. We got some “yeahs” and some “nays”. In this process, I've come to see some of the things that we've taken for granted in the Word of God. We assume that we know what God is saying. For instance, God says ‘grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby we've been sealed until the day of redemption.” The Holy Spirit is an emotional entity that can feel Joy and Pain or Grief.
One of the things that grieves the Holy Spirit is not the level of division that exists amongst the church. It is not division based on denomination, as he doesn’t grieve over trivial things. He grieves because of our insensitivity to one another or insensitivity to unity and oneness regardless of our denominational background.
I remember being on the phone with Bishop Farmer one afternoon. I was essentially sobbing because of the lack of ministries I saw coming outside of their walls to be a part of something larger than their own world. It was not crying because it was me doing it, but because this was about building the kingdom. As I was sobbing, the Lord gave me strength to continue to discuss my vision.
We've had people and pastors come and go but not a one of them has been perfect. The people of God need to learn to be more tolerant and more patient with one another because we're all on this learning curve. We are all on a journey made perfectly for us as individuals according to His plan.
In fact, the Lord showed me how I was a part of it. I was a part of the same problem. I began to see that most of us are really concerned about building our own organizations and our own kingdoms, instead of the Kingdom of God. When you're in the Kingdom of God, it doesn't mean that it has to take away from what you're doing. Instead, let God’s plan and your own vision work hand-in-hand. If it is part of God’s plan, it will always work out for the best.
If it's God's “assignment” for you, you will be able to say, like Paul, “I'm not the eye. I'm not the body.” Well, I'm not a nose. I’m not of the body. What the nose does is different than what the eye does, but both of them are important for the overall function of the body.”
That's why Paul and Jesus always said, the key to our success is pushing somebody else ahead of your success, to push somebody else out in front.
In the body of Christ, we preach such things, but we haven't really begun to walk in it; not the way he wants us to and not to the place of discernment. I did a series of teachings on identifying the anointing and how important that is. It is important that I identify your anointing and identify the things that I need to do to connect with that.
There's so much jealousy and envy in the body. We say I see your anointing. You’re getting a lot of attention but I'm over here doing this. We allow that. The enemy uses that to separate us rather than embrace one another and support one another. That's why Paul and Jesus always said, the key to our success is pushing somebody else ahead of your success, to push somebody else out in front. My wife teases me. She always called me a pusher man. I am a pusher man.
If I had somebody, when I started out, pushing me in the right direction, and not trying to manipulate me, but discern the anointing in my life, and take me under their wing. Now, you're stretching me, that's what a mentor does. They stretch you. They push you. They get you out of your comfort zone. I think I wouldn't have made a lot of the mistakes that I did.
Still, no regrets, in that full sense, because through that it's given me a greater sensitivity to those that I now come in contact with. I want to know what you're doing and how we can help. I want to know what we can do to help you do what God has called you to do. So back to the question, we have had good responses, as well as nonchalant responses, and not interested responses. God didn't tell me to go by responses. We just keep it moving.
.
Foundation Verse
Is there not a cause?
In 1 Samuel 17:29 David asked this question when his brothers were attacking him for disobeying his father and entering the battle in an attempt to slay Goliath. They were accusing him of many, untrue things. That is still relevant to the church today. David was essentially saying to put behind such trivial things. Is it not a cause to you that we should be focused on? So we asked that question. Is there not a cause? And we coupled that with Luke chapter 19: 19, the scripture where Jesus said, I, the Son of Man have come to seek and save that which was lost.
There's so much jealousy and envy in the body. We say I see your anointing. You’re getting a lot of attention but I'm over here doing this. We allow that. The enemy uses that to separate us rather than embrace one another and support one another. That's why Paul and Jesus always said, the key to our success is pushing somebody else ahead of your success, to push somebody else out in front. My wife teases me. She always called me a pusher man. I am a pusher man.
If I had somebody, when I started out, pushing me in the right direction, and not trying to manipulate me, but discern the anointing in my life, and take me under their wing. Now, you're stretching me, that's what a mentor does. They stretch you. They push you. They get you out of your comfort zone. I think I wouldn't have made a lot of the mistakes that I did.
Still, no regrets, in that full sense, because through that it's given me a greater sensitivity to those that I now come in contact with. I want to know what you're doing and how we can help. I want to know what we can do to help you do what God has called you to do. So back to the question, we have had good responses, as well as nonchalant responses, and not interested responses. God didn't tell me to go by responses. We just keep it moving.
.
Foundation Verse
Is there not a cause?
In 1 Samuel 17:29 David asked this question when his brothers were attacking him for disobeying his father and entering the battle in an attempt to slay Goliath. They were accusing him of many, untrue things. That is still relevant to the church today. David was essentially saying to put behind such trivial things. Is it not a cause to you that we should be focused on? So we asked that question. Is there not a cause? And we coupled that with Luke chapter 19: 19, the scripture where Jesus said, I, the Son of Man have come to seek and save that which was lost.