Five Fold Leadership
Larry Burden — The Book of Acts is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Not only does it document the history of the early church, but it also reveals the Father’s intent for the influence of His church in the earth. It is a training manual for the body of believers to demonstrate how we are to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to govern the earth as representatives of Jesus. Christ established the foundation of leadership in the early church as a model for us to follow today. He set in the five-
fold leadership team to provide a full expression of Himself through the ascension gifts described in Ephesians 4:11-12. Such leadership is essential today for maturing the body of Christ so that, as His followers, we might become enabled to assume our specific functions of command as His church. The command structure given to us as Christ’s followers (His church) is clearly demonstrated throughout the New Testament. Jesus first models it to the twelve, then the seventy, and ultimately to the one hundred and twenty on the Day of Pentecost. The purpose of the command structure is to facilitate the original Dominion Mandate of Genesis 1:28. As Commander-in-Chief, Jesus simply follows what the Father is commanding (John 12:49). As His commanders in the earth, we follow the same precedent by hearing what Jesus is saying to us through the voice of the Holy Spirit. We exercise His full authority by remaining under His authority. (Larry Burden will be speaking at Kingdom Congress March 6, 2020 at 11:00am.)
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