Paul writes a facinating comment in his letter to the Philippians. As a Master Builder (apostle) he writes of himself: “[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death…” (Amplified Bible)

To some, I am sure, Paul would appear to be very narrow-minded. To me it is apparent that he was single-focused. He knew what he was called to do and the role he was to play in the early Church. He dropped everything else that was just excess baggage; he removed anything that was contrary to God’s will; he released the good so he could focus on the best. Jesus said that anyone who placed his hand to the plow and then looked back was not fit for service in the Kingdom. (Luke 9:62) He placed his hand to the plow and did not look back. Ever!

But his focus was not specifically the ministry or the calling that he had received supernaturally from the Lord on the road to Damacus. That would, in most cases, be our focus. However, Paul writes and says that his focus – his determined purpose – was to intimately know the Lord whom he followed, served, and worshipped. That should be the true and only focus of all who follow the Lord.

Long ago I learned a truth – so long ago that I don’t remember if the Lord showed it to me directly or if I read it somewhere. It is based on Mark 3:13-14. It states that He called the 12 to Him who were to be called apostles and then “they were to be with Him that He might send them out to preach…” They were to BE first and then DO afterwards. They were to develop an intimate relationship with the Lord first – and then, out of that intimacy – they were to go out and minister in His power. The truth I learned early on was that “ALL MINISTRY ARISES OUT OF RELATIONSHIP”.

So, my determined purpose, single-focused approach in my Christian walk is the become intimate with the Lord – intimately acquainted – so that I know His Word, His voice (“My sheep hear My voice”), His will, His plans and purposes, His still, small voice… Then, from this relationship I can go out under His direction and minister according to His will.

This is not just for those called to one of the five-fold ministry positions (Ephesians 4:11). It is a calling on all believers. When a believer acknowledges their sin, repents with godly sorrow, recognizes and trusts in the fact that Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for that sin, and receives forgiveness so is born again – they are given a gift. Romans 6:23 states that “the gift of God is eternal life”. John 17:3 defines this gift that we receive: “This is eternal life, that they may truly know God the Father and Jesus Christ whom He sent.” The gift is an intimate relationship with God the Father and with Jesus.

The word “know” in the Greek is the word for intimatcy or intercourse. So, we can have an intimate and close relationship with God (it’s a gift but you have to unwrap it) just as a husband and wife have a gift of intimacy in the marriage bed.

So, the first calling on all Christians is to to become intimate with the Lord. To ‘be with Him’. Then, as we hear His voice and know His will we can go forth and be faithful workers in His Kingdom doing His will as He leads us.

Then, on Judgment Day, we will hear: “Well done good and faithful servant”. We will not hear: “away from you you perverse and evil generation, I never knew you…”

Listen to the full three verses…
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

NOTE: “I never KNEW you” refering to an intimate relationship and the gift of eternal life.

Paul was not narrow-minded; he was simply single-focused and had a determined purpose. Not to build a ministry or the Church but to know Him who died for us while we were yet sinners.

That should be our focus and ‘determined purpose’ as well.

Just about supper time last night and this guy phones me. I knew who he was as he is in a class I teach on evangelism in another city. After the normal polite necessities he tells me he has just been visiting my web page for the first time and reading the first prophetic article on the Church in North America that I wrote 5 months ago when we launched this site. I thought, that’s good – someone actually reads what I have invested my time in writing.

He states that he agreed with everything I wrote and then, near the end, came upon the phrase “so the Lord would say” and then a paragraph that sounded like I was speaking for God. I was. It’s called prophecy. He admitted that this was not within his paradigm and wondered if I could help him understand.

This is neat – I mean this just floats my boat. I love it when a believer is so hungry for God that he is willing to take time to ask questions and think outside his normal parameters. I was taken a bit by surprize because this type of believer is rare and I had not met one in a long time.

The conversation wove in and out covering a number of topics – prophets, apostles, misuse of ‘thus says the Lord’, abuses in the Church, concern about what is being taught in the Name of the Lord. We touched on a lot of great topics in a short – too short – 15 minutes. He said he was being very cautious as he wanted to be sure it was scriptural – actually in the Bible.

I was thrilled. I mean – a thinking Christian who wants to question what he is being taught and check things out to both his set of basic Christian beliefs and biblical standards. As well, he is open to new things as long as they are biblical and don’t contradict the basic tenants of the faith. Exciting.

I assured him that he had the obligation and responsibility to check everything I was saying to the Bible and to test everything he hears to the Word of God which is, afterall, our only authority and the inspired Word of God.

I wonder if this is the joy that Paul felt when he found a group of people who listened intently to his teachings – revolutionary by any standard – and then went home and checked it out comparing it to the scriptures. He mentions the Bereans and holds them up as an example of what one should do when listenings to teachings and teachers of the Word. The Bible states in Acts 17:11 “…they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

A preacher / teacher’s dream come true. Someone seriously searching for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Someone hungry for more of God and all of God. Someone willing and eager to learn. Someone who asks questions and checks out the answers.

I’m having supper with Kevin and his wife Mary on Wednesday to chat further. An apostle’s greatest joy – a hungry and teachable disciple of the Lord Jesus.

An apostle is a strange duck. They think differently than the average believer. They function differently than prophets. They lack the patience of the pastors. They certainly teach as well as five-fold teachers and often it is hard to distinguish between an apostle and an evangelist as apostles love to talk to others about Jesus and the need to be saved from judgment and Hell.

An apostle is a strange duck. Apostles look past outward appearances (buildings, bodies and budgets) and look to foundational issues such as character, honesty, integrity, and purity. They look past the outward veneer and peer into the hearts of people (especially leadership) and see such issues as offences, bitterness, unforgiveness, and resentment that need to be dealt with. They are deeply concerned about the lack of fruit in the lives of Christians and whether Christians are really rooted and grounded in love.

An apostle is a strange duck. They are concerned with the doctrines of the Christian faith. What it is we are to believe – the basic beliefs of the faith “once deliverd to the saints (Jude 1:3). Heresies and apostacy are deep, daily concerns for them. They weep over the Bible illiteracy of today’s Church. They spot and confront false teachers and prophets and bring incorrect teachings into the light, exposing them for what they are. They often appear to be really picky and somewhat negative.

An apostle is a strange duck. They examine the DNA of local churches. They need to know the historic roots of a local assembly – who birthed the church, when and why? Then they want to know why the DNA has changed since the foundations were poured and who it was that brought the change – either good or bad. They are interested in the roots and the foundations – because they can see what God wants to do in and through the local church and yet it is not happening. So, they want to know why the church is stuck where it is at and what is preventing the sheep from being healthy. Because if the sheep are healthy the church will grow – healthy sheep begat more sheep.

An apostle is a strange duck. They tend to tear down so that they can then build up. They see that what currently exists will not be able to hold what the Holy Spirit is about to do. So, they are used by God to tear down what is (even when it is still good and has been built according to God’s plans for the past)so they can build what needs to be. They go right under the ground dealing with foundational issues – pushing out walls, tearing out cement, erecting new and bigger foundations. Afterall, you can’t build a skyscraper on a chicken coop foundation. So the foundation must change.

Yup! Apostles are strange ducks. However, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck – accept it, you probably have an apostle in your midst attempting to do what the Lord has begun to call them to do – as Jesus reestablishes this office and ministry in His Church.