A few weeks ago I traveled to John Paul Jackson's Convergence in Dallas, Texas along with my father John, my brother Loren, my sister Andrea Bareither, Robert Fetveit, and local pastors John and Ruth Filler. There we joined 30 or 40 other leaders to discuss the plethora of false prophecies and flaky teachings in the prophetic movement, as well as the lack of ethical standards. John Paul questioned whether we are a stabilizing or destabilizing influence on the Body, and warned that the five-fold ministry is in danger of coming to an end in the not-too-distant future.
Just two examples of the harm being done by false prophecies: a number of well-known prophetic voices have given prophecies to leading politicians—both here and abroad—that have not come true. Now these leaders will have nothing to do with prophecies or prophetic people. Because of false or insensitively given prophecies, many churches are turning away from the prophetic gift.
We discussed false teachings, such as the idea that you don't have to repent (even of adultery!) because it's all "under the blood," and the idea that anything written before the time of the cross (including the Lord's prayer!) no longer applies to us. And we discussed wrongful practices, such as charging for prophecies—affixing prices depending upon the time taken to prophecy (yes, some people are actually doing this!).
Before the conference, John Paul and a committee composed a code of ethics for prophetic people. We hope it will be published in Charisma Magazine. He invited us all to help perfect it. For the last few years I have asked God to prompt someone to spearhead something like this; I even suggested John Paul in my prayers. Thank you, Lord, for coming through! Please pray that this code of ethics is well made, and that God uses it to bring help to a movement that is very much in need of reform.
4 comments:
I agree that there are too many false prophecies floating around. God's Word is being treated like a commodity and the Gift of Prophecy is misused, or fabricated altogether, for profit. The sad thing about it all is that many Christians utilize prophets and prophecy like new agers use psychics. Can you give an example of at least one false, prophecy?
Mark,
where are your updates? - TOV
(We met at Convergence)
People need to wait on God and draw closer to Him now more than ever before. If we have not been taking the time to be alone with God and know His still small voice, then we need to pull away from most of what is happening around us, and for the most part, turn it off, tune it out and relearn to hear the still small voice of God for ourselves. How else will we be able to discern what is coming out of the mouths of others? The amount of effort that Satan is putting into distractions is as good an indicator as any that we need to go in the opposite direction and seek that place at God's feet, to get still before the Lord. The value of that place has been forgotten by many, traded in for seeking the gift (and the gifted) instead of the giver. Do you see what gets lost as a consequence? We lose our discernment! This leaves room for an imposter to come in who is sounding as much like the Lord as he can. He has already drawn many after him who have no discernment.
Matt 24:24 says "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." If the very elect can be deceived, then did you ever consider that maybe these false prophets started out right but got deceived themselves?
I have seen prophets of God, as well as other ministers, get deceived by a counterfeit spirit. Those in need of inner healing are especially susceptible. I stayed in a counterfeit revival for 18 months before I finally woke up and left it, because I needed inner healing from some recent wounds. It almost destroyed me spiritually. After 18 months I decided to drive to a church that I knew was right with God so I could compare the spirits. I came under such a strong demonic attack the first sunday that I was driving to this church, that by the time I got there I was so full of fear that I almost couldn't go in. But I did go in, and stayed because of the presence and healing of God's Holy Spirit.
I will never stop discerning for myself the spiritual source of prophecies and words again, no matter who they come from. Psalm 118:8-9 say "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." There are 1188 verses in the Bible and the middle verse in the Bible is Psalm 118:8. I believe God is showing us how central this verse is to our spiritual health.
1 John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
1 John 4:1 is not a suggestion. It is a command.
Here are two articles written by a man and a woman of God that have helped me alot:
This first is by Hollie L Moody and is called Demarcations
http://www.firstloveministry.com/demarcations.htm
This second is called Words of a Concerned Prophet by an anonymous prophet, especially part 6 "The True Prophet".
http://www.888c.com/yCP199n.htm
Post a Comment