"Live like the Disciples, but don't expect to live like the Apostles. The Disciples were a model for all of us, but the Apostles were for a unique time."

But, weren't the Disciples and the Apostles the same people?

If this sounds confusing to you, that's because it is. Yet, it's a common message among many churches. We celebrate "discipleship" but are wary of "apostleship." We claim that one group lives on through the church, but that the other group died out in the first century. It's as inconsistent as it is popular.

If you remove the supernatural events from the lives of the Disciples/Apostles (effective preaching, healing, casting out demons, miracles, etc.) you've removed most of the Gospels and Acts and huge chunks of the Epistles. At that point, Discipleship is reduced to being a "nice person" who is just waiting for Jesus to return.

An Apostolic church doesn't just believe what the Apostles believed, it also does what the Apostles did.

"If we do not have the Holy Spirit, if He's not here in power, we are not an apostolic church. We are creedal descendants of the apostles, but in creed only. We are not the children of the apostles." - AW Tozer, "Last Message to the Alliance" pg. 15