The Apostolic Ministry - The Apostolic Shift - Part 2 By Mike McClung

(This article is a continuation of the previous article on “The Apostolic Shift – Part 1”)

Becoming a “Nail Scar” in His Hand

Paul, Timothy’s spiritual father, tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12: don’t let anybody look down on your youth but be an example. The first place in the New Testament the word for “example” (Gr. – tupos) is used is in John 20:25:

The other disciples therefore said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ So he said to them, ‘Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.’

Thomas was absent in the first encounter with the Lord Jesus after the resurrection. The others tell Him of seeing and communing with the resurrected Lord, and he says, “I will not believe unless I see the nail scar (tupos).” This is what the lost, hurting, sin-loving, hell-bound masses are crying out for – a nail print! This is the beginning of true ministry. This is where the veil of unbelief is lifted off the hearts and understanding of the lost, blind and skeptical (Eph. 1:17-20), and where the Spirit begins the work of transformation in lives. This happens when people encounter the “nail scar” – the physical imprint of His life in us!

The Apostolic Ministry - The Apostolic Shift – Part 1 By Mike McClung

Several times, I’ve had ministers give me business cards that stated, “Apostle (their name)”. I’ve also been asked to speak at churches where the senior leader is titled “Apostle (their name). The title someone carries should FOLLOW the fruit of their life and ministry/work. I’ve known too many friends who served in the military, especially in theaters of war, who have been on the field of battle with recently commissioned, but green and untested officers, given charge of their platoons or squads. Their horror stories of theirs, and everyone else lives put in grave jeopardy because of these untested, though titled officers were all too often a correlation to what we’ve seen emerge in the body of Christ over the last two decades.

Dismantled to be Remantled By Mike McClung

On February 26, 2015, when I sat down to read and meditate in the scriptures, the Lord told me that we're beginning to enter into the second half of Jeremiah 1:10 - for the remnant that is coming out of Babylonian, church system captivity. He said, "It's time to begin to build and plant." It’s time to plant the MATURE word (meat) of restoration and build the body of Christ into partnership with Him, exhibiting His nature and kingdom (authority), and preparing our communities and nations for harvest and His return. Since the mid-1990s, the ministry of "tearing down and plucking up" has been released, with only a small remnant of the organized church willing to let Him "dismantle" them, and the man-made system we've been a part of for centuries.

The Judge of the Earth – The Remedial Judge By Mike McClung

The word “judgment” has received bad press, and that bad press has mostly come from the church….

In one extreme, parts of the church are now saying that God does NOT judge; He’s too nice and loving to do such a thing. This has been carried to heresy in those that deny the existence of hell and of a final judgment after death. Those who hold to such a view do not know the Lord in His awe-inspiring beauty and justice. If there is no judgment of sin, action and lawlessness, then God cannot be a just God. If He is not just, then He is not holy, without mixture. In denying this aspect of His holy nature, man thus has successfully remade God in our fallen image (at least what we would LIKE Him to be).

The Beginning of a New Kingdom Season Part 1– January 2013 By Mike McClung

The following is part of a larger article on what the Lord has been intimating to me for the coming season/years. The whole article will be posted on our website, lionheartministries.org, but we will be releasing each section as a smaller article each week for the next six weeks. May these articles, bless, challenge and encourage all. Mike McClung

At the end of October 2012 the Lord began to speak to me about certain aspects of this new and final season of restoration (Acts 3:21) that we are entering that will lead up to the return of the Lord Jesus. The following are “intimations” of what I believe the Lord is ordering to bring about the fullness of His purposes that will engage great conflict, but at the same time, bring great harvest in every dimension of our lives. One of my personal consternations at present is that there seems to be no clear, definitive “word of the Lord.” We all see through a glass darkly, but what is needed right now is a clear, powerful, authoritative word that will shake the body of Christ awake, bring true repentance and it’s spiritual fruit, and empower the body of Messiah to fully manifest His grace and glory that will be needed to overcome the powers of darkness.

The Fullness of Time By Mike McClung

The last few years have been the most volatile, unstable and stressful in memory. From a natural standpoint, fear and failing faith seem to be “standard operating procedure” – IF we have failed to understand Who is allowing all of the shaking for His own purposes.

Transition is all around us, and very prominent within the individual and corporate life of the body of Christ. We are moving into a new season that has been prophesied about by not only different prophetic voices, but also in the scripture itself. To move into this new season means we must leave that past season and the things of the past season.

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times (kairos) of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times (chronos – season) of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)