Relevant prophetic ministry

Prophetic ministry

The prophetic ministry feels relevant and important again. It is a bold statement and requires a little clarification, but I am feeling hopeful about what lies ahead; God is doing something amazing, and as always, he moves in unexpected ways and at unexpected times.

Over the years, there have been abuses of the prophetic gift. But things (people) have changed since then, and new approaches have been adopted in the wake of personal accountability and biblical teaching. We have not lost our ability to hear God, nor has God’s ability to communicate diminished, rather we have gained a new appreciation for the importance of God’s Word and how it plays into everything we do.

The apostle Paul told Christians to eagerly desire the gift of prophecy because it has enormous value, especially for encouraging, comforting and encouraging God’s radical people. In these times where we face the threat of spreading war in Europe, the church is especially in need of this ministry functioning at full capacity. It is not so much a matter of speaking God’s word to government officials or presenting ultimatums to Putin, but rather calming the anxiety of believers and encouraging strategic, targeted, meaningful prayer.

Prayer is the greatest force on earth; but whilst being mindful of the power of prayer, the saints need to be reminded of the solid, unwavering promises of the omnipotent God, his unwavering commitment to them, and his unending love for them as they pray for God’s intervention. Above and beyond sharing words about births, marriages and deaths, authentic, scripture-honoring, Christ-exalting prophets strive to inspire the church to trust their God, believe His word, and step out in faith.

The prophetic ministry serves the Church by equipping them to do the things that God calls them to do, and to be the radical community are worshippers of God and reach out to the lost.

I mentioned that prophetic ministry felt relevant and important again. Although prophets have not lost their importance, there can be an overabundance of familiarity at times; some clarification is required here. While prophecy has been emphasised a great deal over recent years, especially in the charismatic church, there is a distinct difference between the ministry of the prophet and the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit speak life into the church, but the ministry of prophets bring undeniable unity, vision, and purpose to the church.

Unquestionably, the church in the 1990s was overwhelmed by the extreme gifts of what was referred to as “The Kansas City Prophets”, even though they never truly existed as such. Hundreds of churches were stirred with the precise insights, highly accurate words of knowledge, and ministry style of Paul Cain, Bob Jones, and Jon Paul Jackson. The challenge they bought, and the style of ministry opened new vistas of potential and opportunity; people were aware of the importance of the prophetic ministry and the immense encouragement they bought. One element however, that was not modeled (or displayed publicly) was the importance of ministries rooted in and accountable to the local church.

The prophets are back, the gift of prophecy has resurged, and God is at work throughout and in his church.

There was an awkward tendency towards being parachurch rather than local church. My propheticreformation website addressed this issue; there was an overemphasis on book and video sales promoting ministries, conferences while at the same time new cliches appeared, such as ‘alignments’, ‘portals’, and ‘shifts’.

While it was well received in some quarters, especially in the USA, it lacked relevance and was unnecessary because the prophetic ministry serves the Church by equipping them to do the things that God calls them to do, and to be the radical community are worshippers of God and reach out to the lost. Well, things have changed and to cut the story short, the prophets are back, the gift of prophecy has resurged, and God is at work throughout and in his church.

And, as John Wimber said, “everyone gets to play.”  Joel 2 speaks of the last days where the entire church enjoy the rich experience of the supernatural work of the Spirit – those days are here and we are invited to  that scripture-honoring approach to the prophetic ministry with people of all ages encountering God in many ways, including through scripture, dreams and visions as determined by him.

This more than likely includes you – so be available!

Return of the sons of Issachar

The return of the sons of Issachar

When God said that he would shake everything that could be shaken so that our confidence would rest in Christ alone, he clearly meant it.

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And for those with wisdom, such shaking, be it on a personal, national or international scale, is for our good. God is with the Church in a way that she does not understand or perceive – and is at work deep in the heart of the Church.

Looking at the world, and the shaking that is going on in every sphere of life, including the Church – it is not surprising that some raise the tentative question as to ‘where the Sons of Issachar are – those who understand the times and know what to do’. ( 1 Chr 12:32)  It is a good question and one that deserves answering.

What is behind the story of the sons of Issachar? Issachar was one of the 12 tribes of Israel whose name meant ‘He will bring a reward’. Some may find it amusing that Jacob refers to Issachar as ‘a strong ass crouching down between two burdens’! (Gen 49:14)

The tribe of Issachar were not the largest in Israel, and at the time of this incident in the life of King David, were considered to be around 87,000 warriors (1 Chr 7:5), but of all these, it is the 200 chiefs alone that had the reputation of  ‘understanding of the times and what to do’.

Not all the tribe of Issachar were so gifted, 86,800 people remained, but they did have a degree of courage, bravery and to some extent, the wisdom to follow those who were leading them. And they were being led with wisdom, but the difficulty as always with mankind, is that even the 200 with their ability of understanding the times they faced and what to do,  had shortcomings – and that is seen in 2 Chr 30:18 where Hezekiah had to pray for them because they approached the Passover feast with presumption, not observing the call for purity before participating in the feast.

Such short sightedness is prevalent throughout the Bible, the encouragement that we are to take care if we think we stand, less we stumble and fall, is a timely one for every generation of those whose hearts reach out for God.

Prophets or civil servants? The bible introduces or refers to the prophets when they are mentioned using the titles, messenger, man of God, seer  or Navi (prophet). The sons of Issachar are not mentioned in that way, and no predictive word, direction, correction or revelation is given by them to show otherwise. This was a time of political tension for David and Saul. The tribes were in a tremendous conflict and transition. The government was changing. And the prophets who do appear at this time are named, particularly Nathan and Gad.

They were moving from the government of the house of Saul to the government of the house of David. David was of Judah. Issachar could give great insight on how to make this shift. The Jewish teachings point to Issachar being a tribe having  religious scholarship and intelligent men, well versed in political affairs, and knew what was proper to be done in all the exigencies of human life; and who now perceived that it was both the duty and political interest of Israel to advance David to the throne.

Do we need the a return of the sons of Issachar today? We are careful to not go beyond what is written (1 Cor 4:6), but it is very clear as we look into scripture that something greater is with us today.

Instead of a minute number of people being able to clearly see what is going on, we are confronted by the majestic truth that Jesus has called us all into a place of privilege.  Jesus has made things very clear to the entire Church on planet earth today, whether they choose to listen, read, hear or obey, how to know the times that we live in, and what to do (Matthew 24). Jesus points to all the things that are happening and says, that when all these things occur, ‘look up, for your redemption draws near’.  We are truly living in the end times.

So much has happened in 2011, rapidly and swiftly. We are truly seeing signs of the end times, but for the elect’s sake, those days will be shortened. It’s a call to be facing heaven, putting away sin – living resolutely and passionately for God.

Many of the prophetic ministries have referred often for the need for us to be like the Sons of Issachar in these days – and what they mean is obvious and needful, but there is something more that we need to grasp. We are not merely a people looking at a world shaking and quaking under all that is happening, and we are certainly not just seeing the obvious, but we are above all else, a prophetic people – hearing from God.

In these last days (and you cannot get any later than the day that you freshly read this!) God is pouring out His Spirit on all people, resulting in signs and wonders, dreams, visions and prophetic revelation. Why? Because God is looking at the times that we face and is revealing Himself, His will and His purpose to the Body of Christ so that we know what HE wants us to do! And not only that, but because He has adopted us (the Church) as sons we are called to work alongside Him as co-workers with Christ. The great commission is our ‘awesome co-mission’ with Him!

And every day, thousands more people on every continent of the planet join in this marvelous adventure – so much better than being just a ‘son of Issachar’!

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