The Apostolic Office of Bishop - Razor Planet



Seven Benefits of Being Related to a BishopDr. A.R. Parrett? Dr. A.R. Parrett, August, 2013Dominion Christian Centre4221 Liberty RoadHouston, Texas 77026All rights reservedPrinted in the United States of AmericaThe Apostolic Office of BishopSeven Benefits of Being Related to a Bishop IntroductionThis outline of the benefits of relating to a bishop, a pastor of pastors, is intended to inform and inspire you to improve the quality of your ministry. God designs us to need help. He puts a gift in your brother, a word of wisdom, an understanding or an ability that you need. Pride may make you try to appear as though you’ve achieved your status on your own, but the truth is – we all receive help. Paul asked, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7) The fact that we have received from those who were before us and are around us is seen in the words of Jesus, “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (John 4:38) Building a significant work for God requires the help of the Holy Spirit and others. You must open yourself up to receive assistance. God will send men to hold up your hands (Exodus 17:10-12). You must welcome them, receive them; they are your fellow-workers. You must call the five-fold ministry gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to help you to effectively equip the saints in your house. (Ephesians 4:11-12) As you agree to work with the gifts God makes available to you, your ministry will mature and prosper. As a bishop, my calling is to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit to assist the local pastor in equipping his leaders. Connected to my apostolic office of bishop is Prevailing in Life Ministries (PILM), a fellowship of churches and ministries committed to establishing, with authority, God’s kingdom in the city. Notice these seven basic benefits one receives by being connected:The Overseer BenefitSubmission (Matthew 8) – The centurion defined himself as “one under authority” and described himself as one with authority. The principle is – to have authority you must be under authority. Synonymous with submission is: being under authority and being accountable. A pastor needs to be submitted to a bishop who exercises pastoral oversight in his personal and pastoral life. This cannot be coerced ecclesiastically. In order for submission to be effective, it must flow out of a love relationship grounded in honor and respect. There is benefit to being accountable to an overseer who lovingly and prayerfully speaks into your life. Pastors need to be pastored. His accountability to an overseer strengthens him to continue growing during times of difficulty in his personal and pastoral life. The challenge is to grow, not just survive. Ministry accountability and submission to authority work together in providing the balanced foundation needed for growth and development. A pastor who is not under authority will not have the kind of authority he needs to make a lasting impact in his area. The leaders he oversees need to see a demonstration of submission in him. This is no minor matter. Pastors without the covering of submission, actually minimize the authority they need to be most effective. And he who rebels against authority inadvertently releases a spirit of rebellion in his own house. Wisdom (Hebrews 13:17) – When you submit to an anointed leader, God ministers to you through him as he has the responsibility to “watch for your soul and one who must give an account.” God gives the leader stewardship over your life. Reason says that God cannot hold the leader accountable for your soul without equipping him with the resources to oversee your life profitably. It cannot be unprofitable to submit to a bishop that walks in the honesty and integrity of this overseer-calling.The Example Benefit Mentoring – The biblical examples of mentoring most often given are Elijah and Elisha, and Paul and Timothy. They illustrate the truth that mentoring is an effective method of developing a growing disciple. Mentoring involves learning by experience. The normal process is that a leader chooses a disciple who qualifies to be mentored (e.g. Jesus chose His disciples). They then establish the lines of authority and accountability as they build a relationship established upon qualities like transparency and trust. Mentoring can also take the form of a leader looking for a mentor. This involves finding someone who is doing what you want to do and submitting to his authority as he teaches and instructs you. In a sense, you get under that person and begin to relate to him or her. You become like an apprentice to a journeyman in a particular field of expertise as you seek to be equipped to grow forward.Paradigm adjustments – As you allow the Lord to show you truth through the life and ministry of another, your perspective or paradigm will change. Seeing what God is doing in another vineyard can alter your view of ministry. You should seek to take your leaders with you to conferences where their paradigms will be broadened. Are you going to be hundreds? …thousands? What is your vision saying? Expansion will come as you are open to the Lord speaking though innovative ministries.Training – Do not take swimming lessons from drowning men. If you are to be effective, you must be trained; submit to training. The beginning of this is organizing yourself to watch someone’s work who you respect (Philippians 4:9; 2 Timothy 2:2). Can you get there on your own? No. All of us have received help whether we admit it or not (1 Corinthians 4:7). Being trained is standard.The Support BenefitPrayer support – You cannot obtain God’s goal for you without the structured intercessory support. Warfare prayer assists in destroying the demonic strongholds in your life and ministry. This is real. Prayer for you, your companion, your children, your home, your health, your finances, your relationships, your vision, your leaders, and your church. Again, this is real. We are structured to support you in corporate warfare prayer. You will have an army of prayer warriors crying out to God on your behalf.Financial support – You may need the collective strength of an association of churches assisting you with ministry funds. This comes in the form of temporary salary assistance. These funds are limited so they will decrease each year. When at all possible, you should seek “tent making” ministry: working a secular job as the ministry begins.Ministerial support – We are providing a “net” with PILM to help you in any way we can. The Exhortation BenefitTithing – It is beneficial to have an outside authority lift the level of giving in your church during different times of ministry. Having your bishop come in to speak on the stewardship of your finances is like a shot in the arm. Though the pastor should not be afraid to talk about giving, he can and should be assisted in this area by the one to whom his congregation knows he is submitted.Touchy topics – The call to speak on subjects that the local pastorwould have difficulty addressing is one of the calls of a bishop. A bishop can bring correction under the oversight of the pastor working along with him to provide the teaching support needed to see the body come to maturity. Also a bishop can recommend areas of support for the pastor to his leaders; something that would be awkward for the pastor to do for himself.The Strategy Benefit – It is important for the pastor to have access to the wisdom of older warriors in the battle. A key strategy is having access to brethren who out of their apostolic call, prophetic insight, and practical ministry experience can advise you. Additionally, it is strategic to have a sounding board for the vision God has given you.The Apostolic Team Benefit (Ephesians 4:11-13)Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers – You must recognize the benefit of bringing the five-fold ministry gifts of men and women into your local setting to build up your people. They will be fully equipped to perform mature ministry only when they are brought under this level of anointing. Unfortunately, most pastors do not know men or women who have an apostolic, prophetic, or evangelistic anointing. So their times of extra meetings (revivals or conferences) are lead by other pastors or teachers. The problem being that if they already have a pastor-teacher in you, they will need the additional anointings of the other five-fold ministry gifts in order to be equipped fully. PILM is connected with anointed men and women, with five-fold ministry gifts, who are genuine men and women of God who walk in character and integrity.Exposure/experience – As a pastor, for you to travel with an apostolic team to different areas for ministry will broaden your ministry perspective. Membership has its privileges. Being connected to an association where there are men with various ministry gifts benefits you greatly. A bishop opens this door to you.Leadership Training – Also, for your people to go with you into other settings where the Spirit of God is moving powerfully will change their paradigms as they are impacted by five-fold ministry gifts that may even be used internationally.The Relationship BenefitPastor – The pastor and his wife will personally relate to the bishop and his wife. The functional goal is providing a prayer covering that supports encouragement, strength, and wise counsel where needed. Success in the church begins in the home. Desired is the unhindered growth of the church both in maturity and numbers.Leaders – As you relate to an overseer, your people, especially the leaders can be effectively ministered to by your bishop in a teaching setting. You are empowered as your people see you as one under authority. This biblical order releases an authority in the church that equips leaders under authority to more effectively exercise authority in their own spheres of ministry in the church.ConclusionFinally, you should not expect that relating to a bishop should come without cost. Though Jesus told His disciples in the beginning, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8), He was not proclaiming a prohibition against the financial support of ministry. No. His simple meaning is that the financial ability of those being ministered to must never be the criterion for ministry. The very practical Apostle Paul wrote about the truth of ministry remuneration.Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely He says this for us, doesn’t He? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? (1 Corinthians 8:7-12a)Understanding the truth of the above text, I tithe to the Bishop who oversees my life. He is a man who God has used to speak into my life and the life of my church. He labors with me in the building of this work. The truth is that he is worthy of double honor (1 Timothy 5:17). I am sure, given his character, that he would continue to give me pastoral care without receiving the tithe, but my understanding of this truth will not allow me to short change God’s servant. This, along with the understanding of sowing and reaping, leads me to sow my tithes into the life of the man that God uses to minister to me.The pastor of churches already organized that join this affiliation for the purpose of covering, accountability, and other benefits of apostolic oversight, should discuss with Bishop their individual financial responsibility.Prevailing in Life MinistriesApplication FormDate _________________1.Name _______________________________ D.O.B. _______________2.Address ____________________________________________________ Street City StateMarital Status (Circle One): S. M. W. Sep. Div.; Years married _________Children’s ages _________________________________________________________________________________________________________Health (Circle One): Poor Normal Above Average Very Good Excellent Education (Circle): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4+ High School College Grad. SchoolDiplomas? Degrees? __________________________________________Dates: Saved __________ Spirit Filled __________ Called ___________Under the Ministry of: _________________________________________in the city of ________________________________________________.Spiritual Gifts: _______________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________10.Ministry Experience: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ................
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