I truly do appreciate your candor. I think you may be voicing things that others have been thinking but not able to articulate.
Let me answer with the same honesty: I would never listen to all of them, or even "loads of them" as you said. As I was stating on another thread, I realized after all this went down that what the Word of Faith crowd calls "prophecy" is actually just an attempt to "confess" things into existence. That is why they get upset with their followings when things don't manifest into existence; those who listened to them supposedly didn't "believe" hard enough. But again, this was only after the election when I started noticing this stuff. I quite honestly had NO IDEA so many people prophesied Trump would win. No idea. I was shocked, but that is precisely because I don't keep track of many who "prophesy." You are right that I limit myself to listening only to a small handful of people that have witnessed to my spirit in the past as hearing from the Spirit of God. As for track records, I have no idea if the three men I honor have been perfect, but then I don't hold to such a criterion anyway. I think the "A prophet must be 100% accurate or he is a false prophet" argument is based on a false interpretation of scripture (too much to explain here). For that matter, I would never tell anyone, "I had it right. So listen to me from now on." For one thing, I'm not certain I am right yet. As per Post #5, my prediction that Trump would lose was based on what an open-ended dream suggested, but it was not stated outright. For another, even if I were correct on that, it is no guarantee that I would be right about something else tomorrow. Interpretation is a complex practice, and it is what makes some take the position that none of it is to be trusted. I simply take it as reason to seek the Lord all the more diligently, and it is a lesson I am coming more and more to the realization of before opening my mouth again in the future.
But that said, I do honor those who witness to me as operating in true prophetic authority, and there are (as you said) three of them, though others can be used of God at any time and in any given situation.
That being said, I can't tell you or anyone else who to honor. They have to witness to your spirit as well, or you wouldn't listen for long. So you are again in a situation where you will have to seek things out for yourself. I do think over time you will see people who emerge that you begin to regard as being on a different level, but even then I wouldn't bet the farm on something they said necessarily coming to pass with certainty. For one thing what they actually mean may be different than how others are perceiving it, as I have been pointing out in this thread.
Ummm... I would disagree with you on this one. I think Jesus was pretty much spelling out the times and seasons in Matthew 24. He did also give the teaching on the Kingdom of God being within us, but that was to correct the mindset that the Pharisees were walking in that the Messianic Kingdom would have to be at hand in order for Jesus to be the Messiah, and He knew it would be a very long time still before the millennial Kingdom would be established on earth.
I think everyone needs to ask this. For myself, I find it extremely intriguing, and can't wait to see how things actually play out prophetically. I was telling Forrest that November has been the slowest month on record for me, because it seems like things are dragging in slow motion almost. But yes, if it steals your peace then it is not being a blessing to you but a curse.
Things will play out how they will play out, and one way or another, all of us will still be in a place of needing to focus on the Lord and trust in Him regardless, especially more so in the future because I think things are going to get darker. But they will get brighter for those who trust in Him. :)
Thanks for the responses. I think others try to engage me on it, but expressing honest doubts in a good spirit is different than raising ridiculous arguments out of little more than closed-minded pessimism. So it's nice being able to bat things back and forth with someone like yourself.
God bless,
- H
You're like me--kind of "long-winded" in expressing yourself, but you have a lot to say. Thanks for that--no insult intended. It's all good, and some of it I really like.
I'm really in a "healing" mode, brother, after listening to these prophets and seeing what a disaster, and an embarrassment, it's been. It's a period of adjustment for me, and don't be surprised to hear a little frankness in my tone, with perhaps a little rudeness, or vindictiveness. I'm only human.
For what it's worthy, I listened to "loads of prophets," but that didn't mean I gullibly accepted all of them. Some go way back in my life to people who I long ago looked up to. For example, Neville Johnson was a an associate of Sundar Selvaraj, and Selvaraj, like Johnson, claimed elaborate visions, replete with OT biblical characters and very detailed messages. And Johnson goes way back in my Charismatic days to men of God I really looked up to--men of good reputation.
I agree with the distinction between "false prophet" and "prophetic presumption." Most Christians that give false prophecies are simply mistaken, and have sinned with the sin of presumption--they are not "false prophets." False Prophets are those who try to lead men away from Christ, away from salvation, and away from true spirituality.
So I don't use the standard "100% perfect" either. And over time, I think I may be able to accept prophecies, visions, and dreams again. It's just that right now, I've lost all of my trust in them. For now, I'm just listening to God in my own life--not in politics.
If you have 2 or 3 good witnesses, have at it! That's the biblical rule to go by. We are indeed supposed to be able to discern what is of Christ, and what is merely an "appearance" of Christianity. But it really isn't always easy.
I loved what you said about the Faith Teachers and the Confessors. I think you're hitting the nail on the head on that one! They are trying to "prophesy things into existence," when prophecy is actually supposed to be telling us what God is going to do--not what we're going to "claim!"
Wonderfully said, and I agree wholeheartedly. In fact, some prominent Faith Teachers were right there with Trump, urging him on, sadly.
If Trump made any major mistake, it was the thought that he could take on the entire Establishment in the U.S. I did think he should do right above all, but now realize that the entrenched powers cannot be so easily removed--sometimes we have to work with them. And Trump wouldn't do that.
Thanks for some good words! :) I might add this brother, just to show you how difficult things can be. K. Copeland is the most prominent Faith Teacher I know of, and carried on after Oral Roberts, a very prominent Faith Healer. When I was young, I used to give regularly, at least for a time, to Oral Roberts' ministry.
Copeland is spoken well of in the autobiography I'm reading now, by Reinhard Bonnke, an amazing--utterly amazing--Evangelist. Bonnke has literally brought millions in Africa and around the world to the Lord--most in the 3rd World.
How can I insult Copeland when he gave Bonnke millions of dollars and prophesied, early on, that Bonnke would one day reach a million souls at a single crusade? Copeland was right on that prophecy, but apparently wrong on the Trump prophecy!
It's a crazy world. If you can make sense of it, please help me out. You do have a good spirit.
