I'm Optimistic / Pessimistic About the Apostolic Movement because . . .

By the Readers of ninetyandnine.com

For our 2007 Readers Demographic Survey, we asked our readers two simple questions:

I'm optimistic about the Apostolic Movement because . . .

I'm pessimistic about the Apostolic Movement because …

The answers never really stopped. It looks to be a clear snapshot of where the Apostolic movement is today. We chose to pair the answers per each reader so you might glean some sense of their psychological makeup and outlook.

Kudos to Shirley McDonald for putting in the hard labor of organization and first-proofing. It's never as easy as it looks.

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Optimistic: “The spirit that I still feel in Apostolic churches.”

Pessimistic: “Infighting over relatively petty issues (TV).”

Optimistic: “We have the truth, and in the end, the Church of the living God will prevail!”

Pessimistic: “Trends toward worldliness to some extent, but I'm optimistic over all. Because Revelation says He's coming back for a Church, arrayed in white, washed in the blood of the Lamb, that hath made herself ready!”

Optimistic: “This generation gets the message of putting others ahead of self.”

Pessimistic: “Some, not many, are watering down the message and making the rest of us 'liberals' look bad!”

Optimistic: “We are starting to realize the importance of being relevant.”

Pessimistic: “Some people don't like being relevant.”

Optimistic: “We are slowly becoming more inclusive and rethinking our exclusivity.”

Pessimistic: “There are still many among us who make important life-changing choices based primarily on how they feel.”

Optimistic: “I think we are learning to apply Bible principles more than just man-made principles: loving people into the truth, not browbeating them and not associating with them.”

Optimistic: “I see God moving in amazing ways in my home church as well as all over the country/world.”

Pessimistic: “I see lots of hypocrisy and division among the people, and that makes me sad.”

Optimistic: “The Church is built on a Rock; organizations, philosophies, vain babblings, and traditions of men can't stop it!”

Pessimistic: “As a whole we are far too self-centered and self-righteous.”

Optimistic: “I'm starting to realize I'm not the only progressive, untraditional, un-homogenized Apostolic out there.”

Pessimistic: “We are still very patriarchal in our leadership, authority, and have a long way to go in our social and world views.”

Optimistic: “Greater use of people with special areas of knowledge and skill to help build the Kingdom.”

Pessimistic: “Lack of shared identity and vision.”

Optimistic: “Of positive changes, I see in the focus of applicable ministry and biblical outreach.”

Pessimistic: “Of the judgmental spirits and critical attitudes that I see.”

Optimistic: “Contributing to a ministry.”

Optimistic: “The truth will prevail.”

Pessimistic: “We are becoming more worldly. Jesus said that because iniquity abounds, the love of many would wax cold. Jesus, help us!”

Optimistic: “It's becoming more moderate and offering the social attractions that will bring people in.”

Pessimistic: “The divide between the progressive and the traditionalists is growing.”

Optimistic: “We are becoming more progressive and discovering new ways to reach the lost.”

Pessimistic: “Pessimistic talk is so easy to come by that it's easy to let it influence me.”

Optimistic: “Because the world needs God.”

Pessimistic: “We are too set in our ways and traditions. We have become so worried about appearance that we have forgotten that God works from the inside out!”

Optimistic: “People are getting more 'outside themselves' and concerned with issues that aren't just church related. Apostolics are better educated, therefore respected more in the world. I believe the world is ready to hear the Greatest Story Ever Told, and we are ready to tell it!”

Pessimistic: “So much squabbling and bickering over such petty issues. I worry some very good men are being swallowed up by something that is not what they think.”

Optimistic: “We are alive and having church and fellowship.”

Pessimistic: “Our leadership is shopping and taking vacation instead of doing their ministry work.”

Optimistic: “I'm starting to see a new group of young up-and-comers that aren't as concerned with the superficial things of the past and are more concerned with getting the gospel out there.”

Pessimistic: “It seems for every one innovative person, there is at least one other person shouting nonsense even louder.”

Optimistic: “It's the truth. That is the only reason I even attend church--the messages from God are the truth. All the other baloney that is spoken from the pulpit is just that, baloney.”

Pessimistic: “There is so much hypocrisy. 'Do this because this one scripture says to. No, it's not repeated anywhere else. But that one you're looking at, three verses down, that scripture was for the people back then before Jesus came so we don't have to follow that one.' Or 'Yes, that one's in the New Testament, but it's not really for us; it was more of a cultural thing for them and we aren't in the same culture now so we don't have to follow that one either.”

The cult-like influence. Isn't it funny that we are required to wear skirts and long hair, to not own TVs, to not participate in sports, or otherwise outside activities, that we are supposed to cut ourselves off from the outside world; the mantra: “Don't let the world find you, the devil will get you, if you have friends outside of church or if you let your children go to school, or if you get news from a source other than the pulpit” drilled into our heads?

That these ideas are based on the scripture 'being in the world, but not of it.' But doesn't that really mean that we should be a presence in the world? Shouldn't there be an Apostolic kid in every class; shouldn't there be an Apostolic parent on the PTA, at the soup kitchen, working at the bank, involved in the community? Instead of cloistering ourselves off, aren't we being asked to be active participants in our world, letting our light shine, instead of hiding our light in our tight little clusters of Apostolics? Showing the world we can participate, we can function, but we don't have to be like you while we do it. In the end showing through evidence that it's better to serve the Lord than the devil?”

Optimistic: “We have the truth.”

Pessimistic: “I think a lot of individuals have missed the point about a lot of issues. Would Jesus be sitting around debating TV or spending His time trying to get people to Heaven?”

Optimistic: “God has revealed to my husband and me what our ministry is and has continued to develop us through opportunities to prepare us. I doubt that God would reveal something so precious without an environment for it to thrive.”

Pessimistic: “The A/P movement, on a very general whole, is very judgmental toward both those within the church and those outside. Shouldn't our focus be about love for everyone?”

Optimistic: “God is in control. It's His church and it's not about the 'movement' per se, but about His church.”

Pessimistic: “Seems that many are turning to worldly means and getting away from the Bible and its fundamental truths.”

Optimistic: “I feel that some of the changes being made are to help bring in new souls. Also, we need to be able to change with the times so that we can relate, in some ways, to the people we are trying to reach out to. It is easier to reach people that you have things in common with.”

Pessimistic: “I also feel that new changes have caused many divisions within. It seems that we have not taken the time to work out our differences within correctly. It seems that we would rather complain about what is being done than to try and understand where the other side is coming from. I also feel that we have become so involved with only our own church that we do not take the time to fellowship with others.”

Optimistic: “God will never forsake His bride. People are searching for truth and will find it in the Word of God.”

Pessimistic: “People get in the way of God's plans. People get disillusioned about God because what some others may do or say.”

Optimistic: “I'm excited to the constant changes in our movement and all the opportunities the UPCI presents to the current generation.”

Pessimistic: “Some of the churches in our movement are falling away from the doctrine of the church.”

Optimistic: “I'm seeing many positive changes that give me hope. I see and hear of people finding their place outside of the box, and it gives me hope that I'll do the same one day.”

Pessimistic: “So many are still wasting time wrapped up in idiotic moot issues that it makes you want to slap your grandma.”

Optimistic: “I'm positive about God and His people because we win! With God, all things are possible.”

Pessimistic: “I wouldn't use the word 'pessimistic.' I would just say saddened to realize how many churches and people are asleep in these end times. Good, God-loving people who think they are following Him, but are truly just following tradition. If we were truly seeking and serving Him, signs and wonders would be following. So, where are they? My Bible reads that 'daily such as should be saved.' Are you seeing souls being saved daily? We need to wake up and realize how lost we truly are and starting walking after Him!”

Optimistic: “My trust is not in people, but in the Lord.”

Pessimistic: “It seems like we get held back by such little issues when there is a world to reach for the Lord.”

Optimistic: “We still have the only saving message to reach a lost world.”

Pessimistic: “Because of the loss of our identity, progress is good, but we can't forget who we are.”

Optimistic: “Maybe we're headed in the right direction?”

Pessimistic: “Still have a long way to go.”

Optimistic: “The power of God and the large number of brothers and sisters in Christ who can lay down pride and politics and find creative ways to do the work of God in the 21st century.”

Pessimistic: “Pride and politics.”

Optimistic: “Well, because this is God's Church, not the UPCI in particular, but all those who are born-again believers. Jesus said, 'I will build my church.' It's in His hands, and too often we try to independently control the church, when in reality it should be in the hands of God.”

Pessimistic: “I'm not at all. The Apostolic Movement will always be, and it will continue to move across our world. No matter who comes, no matter who goes, there will always be Apostolics who will hold onto this precious faith. I have too much faith in God to believe for one second that this movement could crumble. No one will always agree with everything their movement or organization does, but it is without a doubt the best vehicle by which we can propagate the gospel.”

Optimistic: “More often than not, when I meet someone who talks about the future of the Apostolic church, they're critically assessing the church (local body or governing organization) in a respectful way. I think the more attentive we as individual A/Ps are to the growth and development of our faith community, the stronger our church body will be. I see more people at local levels really taking ownership of a broadly defined concept of ministry (i.e. Mark 16:15), and I think that's what will position the church well for the coming cultural changes that must occur before the Lord returns.”

Pessimistic: “I'm not. There will be a true church on this Earth until the coming of the Lord, and 'the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.' God will reveal His truth to any and all who seek Him. Regardless of the name on the church sign, the true church will stand.”

Optimistic: “It is built on a foundation of truth.”

Pessimistic: “Political issues too often overshadow efforts to win souls.”

Optimistic: “I feel we have leaders who have their priorities in the right place. If we realize that God will always have a church, then we must continue in this vein to remain to be that church.”

Pessimistic: “The recent division (the WPF) and also those whose political/social positions are obviously opposite the Bible.”

Pessimistic: “It's locked up in the early 20th century”

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