I believe Dr. Michael Brown believes in a seven-fold ministry, and not a five-fold ministry like he claims. On 4-30-2018 Brown said the below on The Line of Fire.
For decades I have believed that there are apostles and prophets today, along with evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Not with the authority of a new testament apostle like Paul or John. Not like an old testament prophet like Isaiah or Jeremiah. But new testament apostles and prophets, I saw scriptural evidence for that and really saw it working through history even if the people didn’t have those titles.
Brown says the modern day apostles aren’t like Paul or John. The word apostle in Ephesians 4:11 is defined by the full example we see from apostles like Paul and John.
If your definition of apostle is different than how Ephesians 4:11 defines apostle, then you can’t claim to truly believe in the existence of modern day apostles as seen in Ephesians 4:11. The same goes for prophet.
Instead of a five-fold ministry, Brown really believe in a seven-fold ministry, where two of the folds are something created by man, and not scripture.
Dr. Michael Brown and people like him have created two folds, and are now calling on the church to submit to something created by man and not scripture. They use the weight of a biblical word to lend credibility to something man has created.
Matthew 15:9 “But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.”
Below are the goals and agenda of Joseph Mattera for the New Apostolic Reformation.
1. The church should establish God’s government on the earth.
2.It is the destiny and point of the church/Christians to be the leaders of politics, economics, education, law, art, and music.
3.Christians should be in control of government as presidents/governors/etc.
4.Christians should be in control of business.
5.Converge apostolic networks with evangelical bible believing churches.
6.Replace pastoral leadership in the church with apostolic leadership.
Explained (Evidence supporting the assertions above.)
1.Joseph Mattera uses the term NAR, and is calling for the ushering in of a new apostolic reformation. (Source)
3. Recognizing the apostolic can also help usher in a new apostolic reformation
Some proponents of the apostolic say it is evident the old way of doing things through hierarchical denominationalism is dead or dying (with the exception of Pentecostal denominations, like the Assemblies of God, most denominations are on the decline). By recognizing apostolic ministry we could further accelerate the apostolic reformation that is based on the galvanization of covenantal, voluntary associations of pastors and leaders in regions irrespective of denominational affiliations for the sake of reaching cities and nations.
Also of note, when Mattera uses the term apostolic leadership, he means apostle as described in Ephesians 4. (Source)
By “apostolic leadership”, I mean a leader who functions in the ministry gift of apostle as found in Ephesians 4:11.
2.The church should establish God’s government on the earth. (Source)
19-Dominion implies the focus of believers should be on the kingdom and not religion
The dominion covenant is a call to culture, not merely to be religious on a Sunday morning. Jesus told us to pray for His Kingdom to come not for His church to come. The church is not the kingdom but the main agent of the Kingdom to establish God’s government upon the earth.
3.It is the destiny and point of the church/Christians to be the leaders of politics, economics, education, law, art, and music. (Source)
20-Dominion implies that every culture should reflect the values of the Kingdom
Finally, the word culture comes from a Latin word “cultus” which means religion or cult; hence, the very word culture connotes religion. All culture should reflect the values of the throne of God. The theme of the New Testament is not the church but the Kingdom. Since every kingdom has politics, economics, education, law, art and music and systems that support their citizens, the church should be focusing on training their members with a biblical worldview so that they can once again become the greatest cultural leaders the world has ever seen! This is our destiny and this is the point of the Dominion Covenant.
4.Christians should be in control of government as presidents/governors/etc. (Source) OWN THE POND!
18-Generational Dominion implies that our children should be the next presidents, Governors, and CEO’s of multi-national corporations
Deuteronomy 28:10-13 says that we are the head not the tail. Once Christian parents understand this, they will train their kids not only how to fish but to own the pond!
5.Christians should be in control of business.
(Same source and quote as four above.)
6.Converge apostolic networks with evangelical bible believing churches. (Source) (Source)
I believe that the present embrace of the five-fold ministry of the evangelical pastors in the USA is going to bring a convergence between the charismatic, independent apostolic networks, evangelical networks, and ultimately even evangelical bible confessing denominations.
7.Replace pastoral leadership in the church with apostolic leadership. (Source) (Source)
1. The church will go from being pastorally led to apostolically led and prophetically inspired.
Another reminder, Dr. Michael Brown is a council member of USCAL. (Source) (Source)
*Remember, Dr. Michael Brown is considered an apostle, ambassador, and recruiter, for NAR by USCAL. (Source)
Summary
Dr. Michael Brown most likely doesn’t believe in modern day apostles, prophets, and the five-fold ministry as seen in Ephesians 4:11, because he doesn’t define apostle and prophet based on how scripture defines and exemplifies apostle and prophet.
Explained
Does Dr. Michael Brown really believe in modern day apostles, prophets, and the five-fold ministry? I think that’s a question worth looking at.
Brown has been adamant that his belief in modern day apostles, prophets, and the five-fold ministry hasn’t been a secret. Ephesians 4:11 is a foundational verse used to support the idea of modern day apostles, prophets and the five-fold ministry.
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
How do we define the parameters of the words within the verse Brown and people like him use to support the belief in modern day apostles and prophets? We go to other scripture of course, and see how it’s used.
We can go look at Paul, John, Peter, you get the point. They were apostles, and their example helps us define the parameters of the word apostle in Ephesians 4:11.
At this point, I think it’s important to start asking if Dr. Michael Brown really believes in modern day apostles, prophets, and the five-fold ministry. April 30, 2018 on The Line of Fire, Dr Michael Brown said the below.
For decades I have believed that there are apostles and prophets today, along with evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Not with the authority of a new testament apostle like Paul or John. Not like an old testament prophet like Isaiah or Jeremiah. But new testament apostles and prophets, I saw scriptural evidence for that and really saw it working through history even if the people didn’t have those titles.
He says modern day apostles aren’t like Paul or John. Paul and John are the biblical examples we have of apostles, and they help define the word apostle found in Ephesians 4:11.
If Brown doesn’t define modern day apostles the way scripture defines apostle, then how can Brown claim he believes in modern day apostles? Brown wants to use a biblical term to support what he believes without using the substance of how scripture defines that term.
He seems to want to use the term apostle for any major Christian leader who may have pioneered a movement or planted churches. That may have been part of what the apostles in scripture did, but it’s not the total substance of what the apostles did.
You can’t claim you believe in modern day apostles if your definition doesn’t align fully with the biblical example and definition of apostles.
Since Brown clearly says modern day apostles aren’t like who we see in scripture like Paul and John, it’s reasonable to conclude that Dr. Michael Brown doesn’t believe in modern day apostles.
He does the same thing with prophets. He says he believes in modern day prophets, but they’re not like the prophets we see in the old testament.
If Brown is using biblical terms but isn’t defining those terms with how the bible defines them, then Brown is guilty of creating a doctrine and tradition of man.
Brown is more than free to teach that God raises up people to pioneer movements and plant churches. He can’t thrust the apostle label upon that just because there is some overlap in what the apostles did, and what the modern pioneers are doing.
If Brown is going to use the label of apostle then he must believe these modern pioneers are doing the full substance of apostle as defined by the example and definitions we see in scripture when the term apostle is used.
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