Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.
We have to set some things straight before we can ever get to full blown Revival. And there is no area that needs a shake up as much as the prophetic movement. The problem here is not one of cessation. I’m not here to convince you that prophets and apostles didn’t not die out in the early church. I really couldst be bothered with all those who sadly believe that.
The problem is authenticity. And if we are ever going to get to a Prophetic Renaissance – then we have to clean up the current landscape of the prophetic movement and plant the seeds of reformation! But let’s back up a bit and look at the prophetic movement and a little bit of how we’ve got to where we are today.
Martin Luther had the audacity, the courage or maybe the temerity to nail his 95 Theses to the door of the central church in Wittenberg sparking the Reformation. We need that boldness now.
How did we get where we are today?
From the very inception of the church, prophecy has been at the forefront of controversy. Peter needed to explain what was happening as the Spirit was poured out on Pentecost, and many spoke in new languages and seemed drunk (Acts 2:15). He recounted the promise given through the prophet Joel that sons and daughters would prophesy. The “apostles and prophets” are then definitively described as the foundation of the Church (Eph. 2:20), but there is tension as a warning is issued to be watchful for false apostles and prophets (Matt. 7:15-20). As the first generation of apostles and prophets ended, the prophetic Montanist movement began (in the mid-100s AD) but it quickly fell into disrepute due to errors in prophecy and conflict with Catholic bishops who claimed they were unorthodox and possessed.
The church reacted with a further suspicion of prophecy, pushing it more to the margins. During this time, the Catholic church viewed the Pope as a prophet, with great authority and revelation, able to write new Scripture! But prophets and the prophetic survived and Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, writes of “utter prophetic expressions” and seeing the “dead raised,” and Gregory the Great records the same in the sixth century.
During the Protestant Reformation, Luther in his revolution stripped the Pope of the power and ability to write Scripture, threw out indulgences, removed the “enthusiasts” subjective prophecy, and all miracles. Prophecy “was reinterpreted to mean simply preaching. This was the predominant Protestant view from 1517 until the birth of the Pentecostal movement in 1901.
The Contemporary Prophetic Church
At the turn of the twentieth century, many more Christians found themselves having Pentecostal experiences; tongues became a regular practice in these fellowships and spurred new denominations and Pentecostalism. Throughout the century, the tension continued, as there were controversial prophetic movements, for example, the Latter Rain movement. It was at this time that the ministries of Bill Hamon et al particularly began to flourish which gave birth to the modern day prophetic movement of which prophets like Kim Clement, John Paul Jackson and James Goll were substantiative and respected leaders.
In the early 2000’s more and more ministers suddenly began adopting a prophet title with 0.0% functionality. Suddenly everyone who ever had a prophetic word was now a fully fledged prophet or prophetess. Without accountability the authentic expression became a rarity. Coffee shop prophetesses were the order of the day and “thus saith the Lord” became the cultural nomenclature in charismatic church for anything even remotely futuristic or revelatory. And in most instances control and manipulation whether from pulpit or pew was the net result as complete and utter frauds and congregations enamoured by “personal prophecy” built their brands and raised their empires in the perverted pursuit of fame, fortune, and fantasy.
As more and more of these fly- by-night, charlatans invaded the pentecostal-charismatic church and began prophesying outlandish, inaccurate and scripturally erroneous mumbo-jumbo – the entire prophetic movement was blanketed in suspicion and received with reservation so much so that churches were very reluctant to invite prophetic ministries to their pulpits much less address them as per their functionality: Prophets. What ought to have been a glorious double portion of the spirit f prophecy was stillborn.
The Shocking Mess
Now I am the first to concede that the prophetic movement brought almost all of this upon itself simply because of zero point zero degrees of accountability and a lack of mentorship. But at the same time you would have to be blind as a bat not to recognise the demonic perversion and corruption of something so fundamental to the establishment of the agency of the Kingdom of Heaven – the Church. Satan is not a fool. If the foundation of the church is the Apostolic and Prophetic then all you need do is sweep one leg to destabilise, hinder and regress the overall advancement toward the fulfilment of the mandate to the Church: Occupy until I return.
So yes! It was a grand mess. Churches started labelling everything as “prophetic” with hardly any understanding of what the term referenced. Modern charismatic mega brands attempted to replicate Presence through slick production and promote tangential scriptural connections as revelatory insights and perceptions. A messy terrain indeed.
We need to clean it up! We need desperately to get back to the authentic expression of the ascension gifted prophets who can raise up a prophetic company and the corporate prophetic! But the big question is how?
There is no easy answer to this. Well ok – there is but I just don’t see God striking down errant, misguided (it sounds less judgemental than using the word ‘deceived’ although sometimes judgement is exactly what the situation requires) souls at the Sunday morning service. So with that one on the shelf (for now) let’s look at how we can fix this by the power of the Holy Spirit so that the authentic prophetic can flourish one more time and we can give birth to a truly double portion generation!
Reformation 3.0
Reformation - reformation
noun
UK /ˌref.əˈmeɪ.ʃən/ US /ˌref.ɚˈmeɪ.ʃən/
the act of making an improvement, especially by changing a person's behaviour or the structure of something: Reformation means making changes to something with the intention of setting it back on the right path.
Please understand that unlike most authors who write about Prophetic Reformation, I am not referring to an initiative to restore the church to its original power and faith, and to change society through faith-based action. I am calling for a radical overhaul of the prophetic movement itself if it is to survive and birth the remnant company of prophets.
Forget trying to reform the world through prophetic ministry when we need to reform the prophetic arena itself. There has to be a starting point and I strongly believe that we find it here:
1. Reformation begins in house!
For all those churches and ministries and minsters who are prophetically inclined or even calling themselves prophets (or prophetesses) – bring in ACCOUNTABILITY. You have to have people around you who can tell you when you’re dangerously close to going off the rails. As prophetic people we are always walking the razors edge between revelation & imagination! Whether you are prophetically preaching or whether you are prophesying – everything needs to align to the standard of scriptural truth. I hear some crazy, out of this world revelations that even my 16 year old daughter will call out simply because it doesn’t line up with scripture!
Hold yourself accountable as a Prophet. Recognise whether you are a mature, seasoned prophet or only just entering the realm being a yielded vessel. In all instances, allow your peers to hold you accountable. Find a mentoring prophet. Anchor yourself to a ministry. That means relate to someone so you can have input into your own life and ministry. Bounce things off seasoned ministers before shooting from the hip. Essentially – just kill the idea of the Lone Ranger.
Actually, I suspect that most persons commonly thought of as “prophets” are not really prophets. I am not saying they are false prophets. Rather, they are persons with a strong gift of prophecy, but not ascension gifted (I loathe this term “office”).
They become popular in christian culture as they operate within the boundaries of edification, exhortation and comfort and often their gift is accompanied and twined with some degree of the word of knowledge. All may prophesy – some are prophets. And God has kept His actual prophets hidden and unknown. He has put them through decades of trials and tough training—the dark night of the soul, Job-like losses, and various other struggles—to break down pride and instill the humility, strength, and balance they’ll need to face the hard tasks ahead. And you will probably recognise them – they’re the unpopular voices.
2. Stop being part of the problem!
People just love chasing after prophets and personal prophecy!
A true prophet or prophetic ministry is always going to desire that the people of God hear the voice of God for themselves. We must stop creating dependency on prophets for personal direction. That means prophecy on demand must decrease and enabling God’s people to discern His voice must increase. I have no problem with personal prophecy and have at times prophesied (as God moved) over almost every individual in a certain church – but that was during an unusual season when the spirit of prophecy was flowing mightily.
I love receiving prophecy too. Especially in my younger days so that I could receive guidance and edification and just the assurance that I was in the will f God. I love when God chooses to speak to me through a direct prophetic utterance from chosen vessels. It’s mind blowing and exhilirating. But lining up in long queues to “get a word” only creates a bigger problem in the prophetic arena. One of the biggest problems is again – accountability but now included in that mix is authenticity.
3. Put everything to the test!
…..but test everything; hold fast what is good.
1 Thes 5:20-21
Test how much? EVERYTHING! That does not mean you must adopt a skeptical heart or spirit (something I find myself increasingly needing to guard against) – but it certainly does mean that you need to cry out for the discernment of spirits in these last days. Also – you must develop your built-in GO FISH detector. You know when it just doesn’t feel right? When you can’t explain it but something feels off? When you get that recoil sensation or the “heebee-jeebees” ? Yeah – that’s your SQ talking to you to test the thing you are hearing or receiving. It has to line up with scriptural law for sure but it also needs to align with that inner witness. No contradiction can exist.
4. Signs are not the first measure!
I believe in signs and wonders. Love ‘em. Love when God does sovereign God-stuff. I’ve seen lights flash by. Wind howl through a closed room. People appear and disappear. God DOES confirm His Word with SIGNS & wonders following. I’m all for it. But the Scripture is always the first measure.
But I also have seen many signs that make me wonder and not in a good way. The problem with signs is the same one we encounter when Moses & Aaron performed signs in the name of the Lord in pharaoh’s court. What happened? Jannes & Jamboree counterfeited them. This continued until the dark magic could no longer imitate the authentic.
But if you are not careful then the imitation might be just enough to bring defilement, contamination, and ultimately – error! Not just to your personal life – but to your church and if your church is influential enough and your leader charismatic enough then that soon spreads like a cancer throughout the church catholic (the body of Christ). Stay alert!
5. Build stronger foundations
I’m sorry to say this but on the whole the modern church lacks depth. Scriptural depth. And without scriptural depth forget attempting to convince me how spiritual or supernatural your church is! I’m not sure if this problem is simply because we are living in a moment in time where everything is reduced to catchy sound bites and burns or because people now have the attention span of a goldfish. But gone are the days of depth in the Word God.
Yes sure there are churches that get into the meat of the word as Paul puts it. But generally the landscape is one of milk for babes rather than fillet mignon for the mature. As a result the body of Christ suffers. Everything seems to be catchy phrases and lyrical gimmicks and other peoples quotes.
We need to get back to the foundations of faith teachings and explosive revelatory preaching and teaching! The problem with that is that the general congregation would rather rush off for their dinner or lunch rather than spend a minute more listening to the Word of God being preached. Again – a generalisation. But a realistic one.
We need to lay a foundation (again). This is a sad state of affairs because Paul says he doesn’t have time nor the inclination to go back to the basics of elementary things and needs to move on to weightier matters. But alas this is the situation we find ourselves in and one we must fix!
It is going to take some courage and some change in church culture!
Be brave ministers. Stop pandering to the pew! Let the pulpit be the voice of God. The congregation must never ever control the pulpit. Church is not a democracy.
People of God – congregation of the Lord – CHANGE! Be hungry. Be humble. Be teachable. God will move!
6. Enough with the flakiness!
You know exactly what I mean! Weird nonsense labelled as prophetic because apparently it looks very spiritual. Listen it’s not a football match. We don’t need “prophetic” banner waving. Nor do we need a “Prophetic” dance team to come show off some routine they rehearsed in the week. Nor do we need “prophetic art” in the middle of the service. All of these are circus distractions.
Yes I do believe there is prophetic art (a visual expression of a message received from God). But what it is not is “painting a scripture”. That’s nonsense. A 5 year old can paint Noah’s ark – that does not make it “prophetic.” As to prophetic dance – I have been in meetings where the Spirit of God comes upon an individual and that person then begins to dance. But that dance is actually a prophetic message that people (and I mean the entire congregation) understood immediately by the Spirit. Not this rehearsed twirling around flaky nonsense that distracts everyone in the audience! That’s just flesh. Sorry if you don’t like that. But it is.
And then my personal irritation – “I had a vision!” Ugh! Firstly – you don’t have a vision – the Vision has you. Secondly, how do you know it’s not just your imagination? You know how it goes. Something like this, “Oh I just had a wonderful vision of the Throne Room. And Pappa was sitting on the Throne and there was a baby Throne next to it and JC was sitting on the Throne and the angels and elders were castrating (sic) themselves. And I just feel the Lord saying…. Blah blah blah.” Yes? And then? What nonsense is this?
We have dropped the standard of scrutiny and now allow everything and anyone to simply spout off their supposed Heavenly utterances and mystical visions. We need to set the standard.
All may prophesy, some are prophets; not everything is prophetic!
7. Authority
Yea – this is where the rubber meets the road! Ministers – we need to be strong in the authority that Christ gave to ascension gifted servants. If something is wrong – call it out. If something is in error – call it out. Now there is an appropriate way to handle situations and that is always correction in love. But we cannot tolerate nor indulge every voice, would-be prophetess and fledgling prophet.
I am the first to concede that everyone starts somewhere because I surely did! And I was often taken aside and schooled or sometimes even corrected openly. But this only matured me faster rather than stunt me spiritually. The problem is we are growing up in a world where everything is offensive and by bringing correction someone is going to be “triggered.” I don’t care if you are triggered! I care if the church is defiled by a false word! I care if you are defiled because of error!
Correction & rebuke are must be part of the prophetic landscape so that we can develop a mature corporate prophetic and mature trusted prophetic voices!
8. Live the Life
This is the last point and probably hold myself to accountability as much as possible more than anything else. You can label yourself a prophet. You need to exhibit the anointing of an ascension gifted minister in that arena. But a prophetic lifestyle is the true test of anyone who claims to stand in that function.
So three things:
- A true prophets life is saturated in prayer and the other spiritual disciplines. Proximity to the Throne and intimacy with the Holy Spirit is the only thing that matters.
- An authentic prophet is one who has regular insight into the word of God and a deep understanding of it.
- A real prophet is set apart from any form of contamination from the world. You cannot be shouting “Jeigerrrrrrrr” on Saturday night & then “thus saith the Lord” on Sunday morning.
Like I said – it’s a long hard road. And there is no easy solution. But if we don’t try, if we don’t take a stand then the prophetic is in bad shape. And we need it desperately.
We need functional not fictional, mature, ascension gifted prophets & prophetesses in the Church catholic. Ones that carry revelation. Ones that are dangerous to the enemy and a blessing to the Body. We need the ministry of the modern prophet to be celebrated rather than merely tolerated. What we need more than anything else is AUTHENTICITY. Everything else will follow.
In Hope & with humility,
