There are other features or characteristics of apostolic ministry that must be noted. Whereas the presence of these factors does not make one an apostle, their absence may well call into question the authenticity of one's claim to that office. One would be hard-pressed to find an apostle in the NT whose life was not characterized by these features: 1. Success in ministry (1 Cor.9:2; cf. 2 Cor. 3:1-3; [Paul appealed to the reality of their conversion as evidence of the authenticity of his apostolic calling]; but non-apostles also have great evangelistic success; see Philip in Acts 8). 2. Signs and Wonders (Ac. 5:12; Rom. 15:19; 2 Cor. 12:12; but non-apostles also performed signs and wonders; see Stephen in Acts 6 and Philip in Acts 8). 3. Extreme suffering (Col. 1:24; 2 Cor. 4:7-15; 11:23-33; etc.; certainly countless others also suffer). 4. Christ-like life and humility (2 Cor. 1:12; 2:17; 3:4-6; 4:2; 5:11; 6:3-13; 7:2; 10:13-18; 11:6,23-28; but there is no reason why a non-apostolic believer might not live at this same level of maturity). 5. Special insight into divine mysteries (Eph. 3:1-6; 1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 11:25-32; 2 Cor. 12:1-4, 7). 6. Authority and the power to enforce it (Ac. 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 4:18-21; 5:5; 2 Cor. 10:8; 13:10; 1 Tim. 1:20). 7. God-orchestrated stigma (1 Cor. 4:9-13; 2 Cor. 6:3-10; 12:1-10). I often wonder if those who quickly accept the title of “Apostle” have bothered to read these texts, especially 1 Cor. 4:9-13.

Sam Storms

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Dairy		Poultry	6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

6	sm	Chicken breasts
1/4	c	Margarine (butter brown too fast)
		Salt, sprinkle
		Pepper, sprinkle
1	c	Heavy cream
1	ts	Paprika
10	oz	Sliced mushrooms, drained
2	ts	Chives
1/3	c	White wine (or apple juice)

INSTRUCTIONS

Brown chicken in margarine in frying pan.  Sprinkle with salt and
pepper during browning.
Add cream, paprika, mushrooms and chives.  Cover.  Simmer slowly for
about 20 minutes until tender.
Add wine.  Simmer 3 more minutes.  Serves 6  Typed in MMFormat by
cjhartlin@msn.com Source: Company's Coming Main Courses
Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V4 #9 by cjhartlin@email.msn.com on Mar
2, 1999

A Message from our Provider:

“How impersonal God seems is a measure of the distance you have put between yourself and God”

When Jesus commands us to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5:48), this simply shows that God’s own absolute moral purity is the standard toward which we are to aim and the standard for which God holds us accountable. The fact that we are unable to attain that standard does not mean that it will be lowered; rather, it means that we need God’s grace and forgiveness to overcome our remaining sin. Similarly, when Paul commands the Corinthians to make holiness perfect in the fear of the Lord (2 Cor. 7:1), or prays that God would sanctify the Thessalonians wholly (1 Thess. 5:23), he is pointing to the goal that he desires them to reach. He does not imply that any reach it, but only that this is the high moral standard toward which God wants all believers to aspire.

Wayne Grudem