A few words on why this website will benefit you as a Christian seeking to minister in the prophetic ministry in the life of the local church.

Gaining a new perspective

There are a significant number of other websites available on the subject of prophets and prophecy in the church today, some of them more instructive or useful than others; some experience-focused and others with a more scripture-honoring approach, so do we need another one? Is there anything else that has been left unsaid? I think so, and perhaps that is evidenced by the fact you are here! It has been said that ‘change is here to stay’, and the role and function of prophecy over time has likewise been subject to similar dynamic twists and turns.

Stories of revival & visitation …

Things are always different today from the past, history can appear to be something of a school teacher that sits in the future with arms folded, waiting for you to arrive and say, “see, I told you!” When I started to put this website together, I realised that the past offers so many examples and lessons that it is difficult to know where to start. The stories of revival, healings and miracles are one thing, the testimonies of the prophetic ministry and words of knowledge are another. Can God do the same unbelievable things in our midst today, or do some things need to change before we can once again encounter the immensely valuable encouraging and equipping ministry of the Spirit in our midst?

In a post-modern world does the prophetic ministry need to change to survive, are there other factors at work beyond human perception that affect the way that we do things? Good question and I know the answer, and it’s not what you think.

There is room for this website in your bookmarks simply because it will raise some of the questions that you should have answered a long time ago and will probe you with more increasingly awkward questions. It is a website for the serious individual who wants to define what they say, do and think in a culture of radical thinking, lifestyle and with a renewed, honest and biblical vision. If anything, the context is about discipling and mentoring real prophetic ministry – or at least helping you to understand and appreciate the real thing when you encounter it or come across it in your local church.

Some of the things on this website will hopefully stir you to ‘go after God’, but we also need to know what such jargon means. We love to throw out phrases that tell people who we are, what we are about, and which also let those who are in our tribe be able to identify us; we are the intercessors, the fire-people, the drinkers of the Spirit and so on.

Making a start

These are expressions that mean something to us, but can be pitifully devoid of real meaning and life. So when I say pray about this website and its effect on your life do so for two reasons; your life is precious and important to you, and secondly because if it has something valuable to say that will benefit, challenge or reinvigorate you, then you need it.

Perceptive and prophetic

When it comes to prophetic ministry there is a difference between being perceptive and being prophetic.

This can be noted in church meetings where someone may share that they sense that people are going through a difficult time, or they are tired or lacking enthusiasm for the things of God.

At this point customarily, someone will share about how much God loves the people, how they should just trust Jesus and He will help them.

You know how it goes. That’s perception, and generally, it focuses on people, felt needs, emotional needs and anxieties. We must be careful not to read body language (or the body language – meaning the church) and convey that as prophetic insight. It is noticeable in a meeting that once you start focusing on these things that tangible presence for God begins to diminish, and there is a reason for that.

Perception is valuable and useful, but we have dressed it up and labelled it incorrectly as prophecy. Prophecy, on the other hand, may well be aware of what is going on in the hearts and minds of the congregation but advances an empowering message of hope, faith and conciliation.

The prophetic ministry is focused not on man as the object, but on God. God wants to establish his purposes, glory, honor, reputation by demonstrating or manifesting his divine purpose, providence and sovereignty in and through the life of the church. It is not about them or the individual. It is humbling to consider that if God used Balaam’s donkey to speak to a prophet who couldn’t see, that he can also use us, as and when he chooses fit. He does it by drawing men to see the sheer majesty of God, the supremacy of Christ in all things,

the glory of the risen Christ who ever draws us not to look at our circumstances and situations, but  at Him. Such work of the Spirit brings exhortation, encouragement and edification in the most heart-stirring way possible.

An agenda for change

The role of the modern prophet is a challenging one and this book has the intention of setting out an agenda of change and transformation to the way that prophets and prophecy has emerged in recent days and diverge towards a deliberate scripture-honoring approach to the prophetic ministry.

It means thinking about the language employed in prophecy, and asking the question of whether we have correctly and accurately conveyed the mind of the Spirit as we communicate what He has revealed, shown or spoken. This website is not a correction on bad practice in the prophetic movement, as enticing as that would be, but an encouragement to all, without exception to do what they do with a spirit of excellence that honors God, his Word and the church.

The ultimate aim is as Paul Cain used to say, to do things with humility, faith and obedience to the leading of the Spirit so as, “to make Jesus Christ, the magnificent obsession of the heart.”

Finally, the gifts of the Spirit are not more essential today than at any other period of history, neither do we need another Pentecost because of the insurmountable challenges that we face today.

That great conviction

The Church must regain its conviction that God has given us all things that we need for righteousness and godliness. The same Spirit that worked in the early church, in the dusty paths of Jerusalem, is still at work on the streets of London, Tokyo, Moscow, Abuja…
The church in the middle ages needed God’s Spirit as much as we do today. God has held the church in his hands all through church history. The enemy has never nearly overcome Him or His purposes. We are seated in heavenly places with Christ.

When some people discover that they suddenly want to start giving instructions and commands to angels, putting them to work. They miss the wonder of us being with Him, who has all things under his control, who knows the ends from the beginning. We don’t know it! We barely know what is going on unless we watch television news!

And now we’ve returned full circle to the relationship with God.

The Modern Prophet is nothing new, but a return to a genuine, authentic view of the ministry that is not culture-current, but has the Word of God as its strong, deep and unshakeable foundation. You might want to call it a prophetic reformation, and like ‘semper reformanda’, there is always room for more change and transformation as God leads us.