Apostle's Perspective
 As disciples of the Lord we need to keep things simple. The early church in the Bible kept it simple. They majored on four things…
First they came together as we do for worship and teaching from the Bible. They did it daily - we do it a number of times each week mainly Sundays and one night a week with our small Growth Groups.
They enjoyed fellowship on a regular basis. This is when Christians come together and simply enjoy life together. We too do this with many events and activities each month such as this morning’s lunch following the service. And, there is a great deal of informal fellowship as we share coffee times with each other during the week.
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What Every Disciple Needs |
 Every disciple of the Lord needs to have two key people in their lives.
First, they need someone who is helping them to grow and mature as a believer and follower of the Lord. There are four stages of growth - discipling, training, equipping and mentoring. Every disciple, regardless of the stage, needs to find someone to help them grow. You need to find someone and enter into a covenant with them where you will meet with them and they can guide and direct you in your walk with Jesus. It is possible to have more than one “mentor” at a time - but everyone needs at least one.
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And the Lord Would Say... |
 “And the Lord would say” are very powerful words to speak. I say those words many times a day both when overseas and at home as I minister prophetically on a daily basis. I teach many people in numerous nations to prophesy as well. This is my main task as an apostle - to equip the saints of the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12) and raise up the next generation of young apostles. Anatoli is one excellent example of that as he made amazing progress flowing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit in just three short days.
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We are to Seek and Save the Lost |
 God has given to us some marvelous gifts. The most important and most precious is the gift of salvation as found only in Jesus. As well, we have the gifts of the Holy Spirit that allow us to minister supernaturally to those who do not know God and thus help them to come to know their heavenly Father.
God has also invited each of us to become personally involved in His work - the task He sent Jesus to begin and created the Church to continue and complete - seeking and saving the lost
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 Written while Ralph was in Russia...
It has been an awesome 7 days with God’s presence and His power very much on display for all to see. And there has been a sense of His peace in each and every place we have been honored to minister - airports, back seat of cars, homes, and during the services.
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THE message of the Church |
 God sent His Son to “seek and save the lost” and He died on the cross to do just that. His death and resurrection have made a way where there was no way. Only through the shed blood of Jesus can we find forgiveness and experience the love and acceptance of God. Only in Jesus can we have the assurance of a place reserved for us in Heaven so that when we die we will immediately be with Him forever.
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Discipleship, Discipleship, Discipleship! |
 Every believer needs to be discipled. Each one of us needs someone to encourage us, teach us, share our life with us, hold us accountable, lead us, and generally help us to grow and mature and become all that God wants us to be and then do all that He wants us to do for Him.
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 So, where is the power? That’s a question I am often asked. It’s a good question. Here is a better one: Why is it that many disciples seem to be missing power in their lives and yet others apparently walk in it every day? Why do some see miracles, signs and wonders and move in supernatural power and others don’t? Is God playing favorites or has He just generally turned the switch to “off” in some locations?
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 God is looking for a people who are hungry for more of Him; people who are not satisfied with what is and want more. He is looking for people who will pay the price to have more - whatever it might be.
He is not looking for people who have all the answers and are self-reliant and have it made, so-to-speak. He is looking for those who are humble, hungry and willing to do whatever it takes to know Him more and become more like Him. Recently in Russia at a rehab center where many are living with nothing but the clothes they are wearing and hope - I was amazed at the hunger of those involved in 3 days of Bible teaching and training. Coffee breaks, meals, before and after sessions … these young men and women were looking for more.
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Thankful for the Little Things |
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 This strange looking box with two barrels on top is a shower - actually two showers at a rehab center in Russia. Here in summer and winter men who have been set free from addictions by Jesus take their daily shower. Some times the water is warm and sometimes it is not as it is solar heated and only becomes warm when the sun is out and the weather is warm.
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Discipling, Training, Equipping, and Mentoring |
 We have a tremendous team of leaders here at The Sanctuary who work hard daily to make this local church one of the best in Canada. A good number of the leaders I work with have been through over a decade of intense weekly discipling, training, equipping and are now well into the mentoring process where they work one-on-one with me, meeting with me weekly as well as working directly with me in the ministry here at your church. Each is planning to be a part of an apostolic overseas trip as soon as possible as well - as they continue to grow and become involved in the wider Kingdom. When I am not here I know the work of the ministry will continue and be of the highest quality.
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Involved and Hectic Lives |
 We all live very involved and hectic lives. Most people today are busier than they really want to be and so find little quality time to be by themselves and reflect on what is happening in their life and in their own heart. Quiet and times of solitude are rare indeed and for many are a thing of the past.
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 I am writing this on Wednesday when we finalize and print the Sunday bulletin. I have just arrived home from Siberia late last night and I am on the first day of jet lag as I adjust to a 12 hour time difference and two full days of travel. It is good to be home.
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There's No Place Like Home |
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I have done a great deal of travelling in the past two weeks. I have travelled many miles by plane, train and car. I have spend days in transit moving from one country to another and from one city to another including my first 20 hour train ride on the famous Trans-Siberian Railroad.
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Here at The Sanctuary we recognize that every member is a minister and all disciples of the Lord have a call upon their lives to bring the power of the Gospel to others. We also recognize that in ministry there are three types of people… Those who watch it happen, those who make it happen and those who wonder what happened.
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 Disciples = Soul Winners
Jesus said that we, as His disciples, are to follow Him and He would make us into soul winners. Jesus said that His disciples, as soul winners, are to go into all the world and reproduce - make more disciples. In fact, His command is to go into every nation (really ethnic and language group) for the purpose of planting the Gospel of the Kingdom so that He can build His Church. This is not an option but is literally the only reason the Church as an community of faith exists. This is our mandate as the true Church that Jesus is building.
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 The way people communicate today is changing rapidly. I have personally seen major changes in my life. Recently I realized that I seldom talk on my cell phone and that it has become “text message central” in my life. As well, I don’t believe I have answered a land line in over a year. The way we connect with others has seriously changed .
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 We are called, as disciples of the Lord, to become FISHERS OF MEN. This is not an option open to us where we can accept or decline the offer. This is a fact of being a disciple. Jesus said, “Follow Me and I will make you a fisher of men.” If we are not fishing then we are not following. Plain and simple.
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 Listening intently to the teaching of God’s Word with hearts open and ready to obey - this couple heard the Lord speak to them and tell them that they were to move. Both have jobs in Almaty, Kazakhstan. They have just finished building a beautiful home and moving in. Thy have three young children. Thy speak little to no English. But, as seen here at a leadership school they are hungry to hear and obey. They have open and ready hearts. Open to hearing God and ready to obey.
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Stop Making Things Complicated |
 The Christian faith is fairly simple and straightforward. In my mind we often complicate things way too much and too often. Religion is complicated; the Christian faith is simple - profound, deep, often difficult, but simple.
Here is what I mean… for me, loving God means loving people, and loving people means making a difference for God.
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Your Attitude Makes a Difference |
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A long time ago I learned from one of my mentors that attitude makes a big difference in life. He taught me that my attitude towards life, although shaped by many different aspects in my past, my current situation in life, as well my hope for the future - really boiled down to a choice I needed to make on a daily basis.
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Power From the Holy Spirit |
 God has given us power - His power when the Holy Spirit came upon us and we were baptized in the Holy Spirit and received the gifts of private tongues and prophecy. Power to do as He calls us to do - reach out to those who are in need and touch them supernaturally and powerfully.
This power is also to enable us to seek and save the lost. God will heal and deliver those who are unbelievers and skeptics because He wants to demonstrate that Jesus is alive and that Jesus cares. He does this through each of us - if we will let Him.
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Are you in the Priesthood? |
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 The Bible talks about “the priesthood of all believers” and makes no division between clergy and laity. We are all ministers of the Gospel, ambassadors of the Lord Jesus, and empowered to walk supernaturally in the wonderful gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Everywhere I go I disciple, train and equip believers - young and old - to minister to one another. This is the work of an apostle. I focus on teaching them to speak the heart of God to others - both saved and unsaved - because prophecy changes people’s lives permanently. Even praying for the sick is done prophetically.
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 There is some tremendous new music being written by young people around the world. Music is always a driving force in the spirit realm which is why the devil owns so much of the music we hear. As well, new music always precedes a fresh move of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit has begun to bring major change to God’s people - the Church - you see a literal flood of new songs leading the way into the future.
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 Around the world the Holy Spirit is moving and healing those who come to the Great Physician for healing. Often these are non-believers whom God touches and heals so that they realize that Jesus is Lord and He is alive and still ministering today through His Church - through true believers who obey His command to “lay hands on the sick and watch them recover (Mark 16).
Jesus is healing not just physical diseases but also healing those who are in need of a healing touch in their minds, their emotions, their spiritual life, as well as relationally. He is healing and restoring people, getting their attention, and revealing Himself to them so that they will cross the line of faith in His Kingdom and follow Jesus as true disciples.
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 Young people are so important to God and He is moving in very special ways upon the youth of today around the world.
Here in our city I meet with young people every day. They are amazing, always interesting and filled with questions about Jesus and what is happening today in the world and how it all fits with what the Bible states. These are non-Christians. The same is true in Oxbow, Moose Jaw, Wolseley, Regina Beach and other towns and cities that I travel to. These young people and young couples are hungry for reality and an authentic faith that works in the world. A faith that helps them to face a real world and deal with complex issues that they face and feel every day.
In every case these young men and women are simply looking for someone to listen and to understand them - not always agree with them, but willing to listen to their heartbeat. They know when they are being judged and rejected; they know when people are sincere and really caring; they want us to look past the outward appearance and see their hearts. They want to know that we walk in grace and so can accept them for who they are even if we can’t agree with their values, beliefs or lifestyle.
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 Early Saturday morning and very cool out still for this time of the year. A busy day ahead - half in the office and the other part in various coffee shops around the city. Regular Saturday routine.
I plan to also take my dog for a few walks - again, a normal part of every day. There is a man with a cane I have been building a relationship with daily as he too walks his dog. Today I want to mention Jesus.
As well, I have neighbors who has just put their house up for sale who I want to speak to (I know them from dog walking as they too have one of man’s best friends). As well, three doors down from them there is a U-Haul on the front lawn and so finally my new neighbors are moving in as that house sold several months ago. Time to talk Jesus.
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