Prophecy
In our Life Group last night we were discussing prophecy. You see, over the weekend our church had a Prophetic Assembly, or, as it used to be known, a Prophetic Presbytery. You may go here to learn more about the event itself, including what happens during the event.
Anyway, last night we were discussing our culture's love-hate relationship with prophecy. On the one hand, there's a desire by many people to know the future, leading to the financial windfall of psychics and such. On the other hand, more logically thinking people tend to put all prophecy in the camp of those types of things, or the sensationalized headlines of doomsday prophets and the like.
So we discussed what prophecy really is. What does the Bible have to say about it. We talked about bad experiences people have had in the church from leaders - or just the guy in the next pew - speaking in the name of God - and there were, unfortunately, many. (I think almost every woman who's grown up in the church seems to have had one Christian man tell her God's said she's the one, especially at Christian colleges.) While there weren't as many positive experiences, there were those, too - including this past weekend. What made them positive? What made them Biblical.
Here are a few thoughts we came up with from the Bible, or from our own experiences. These certainly won't convince people who don't want to be convinced or enter into an honest dialogue, but I hope they cause the honest reader to stop and think about whether God can still speak through His people. 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 encourages us not to despise prophecy, but to test them. I think that's a clear call to not throw the baby (prophecy) out with the bath water (bad experiences and those seeking to profit in some way off of God's gifts). If He can speak to us today, what are the implications of that? If prophecy is real, are there other Biblical miracles that could still be real and true today?
1 Corinthians 14:3 says that prophesy is supposed to be used for three things: to build each other up, encouragement, and consolation. The whole of 1 Cor. 12-14 says and implies that prophesy - because of it's supernatural nature - is a tool God uses to draw those who are outside the church into relationship with Him and His church. I asked the question what this had to do with Old Testament prophecies, which were generally calls to repentance, or there would be destruction. The general consensus seemed to be that, because the primary focus was repentance instead of destruction, that would fall under the idea of building others up - the desire by God to bring them back to where they are experiencing life rather than death. So, we know prophecy is Biblical, and would therefore be a good experience (though not always a pleasant one if we're being corrected and called to repentance) if one of these three or four things are being done... or all of them.
I've got more to discuss, especially considering Shari and I and our boys were prophesied over last Saturday, and it was a very good experience. However, in light of all there is to do, and the two days I'm losing (or gaining) due to Thanksgiving, I need to get cookin' on my day's work. I'll type more later.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Anyway, last night we were discussing our culture's love-hate relationship with prophecy. On the one hand, there's a desire by many people to know the future, leading to the financial windfall of psychics and such. On the other hand, more logically thinking people tend to put all prophecy in the camp of those types of things, or the sensationalized headlines of doomsday prophets and the like.
So we discussed what prophecy really is. What does the Bible have to say about it. We talked about bad experiences people have had in the church from leaders - or just the guy in the next pew - speaking in the name of God - and there were, unfortunately, many. (I think almost every woman who's grown up in the church seems to have had one Christian man tell her God's said she's the one, especially at Christian colleges.) While there weren't as many positive experiences, there were those, too - including this past weekend. What made them positive? What made them Biblical.
Here are a few thoughts we came up with from the Bible, or from our own experiences. These certainly won't convince people who don't want to be convinced or enter into an honest dialogue, but I hope they cause the honest reader to stop and think about whether God can still speak through His people. 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 encourages us not to despise prophecy, but to test them. I think that's a clear call to not throw the baby (prophecy) out with the bath water (bad experiences and those seeking to profit in some way off of God's gifts). If He can speak to us today, what are the implications of that? If prophecy is real, are there other Biblical miracles that could still be real and true today?
1 Corinthians 14:3 says that prophesy is supposed to be used for three things: to build each other up, encouragement, and consolation. The whole of 1 Cor. 12-14 says and implies that prophesy - because of it's supernatural nature - is a tool God uses to draw those who are outside the church into relationship with Him and His church. I asked the question what this had to do with Old Testament prophecies, which were generally calls to repentance, or there would be destruction. The general consensus seemed to be that, because the primary focus was repentance instead of destruction, that would fall under the idea of building others up - the desire by God to bring them back to where they are experiencing life rather than death. So, we know prophecy is Biblical, and would therefore be a good experience (though not always a pleasant one if we're being corrected and called to repentance) if one of these three or four things are being done... or all of them.
I've got more to discuss, especially considering Shari and I and our boys were prophesied over last Saturday, and it was a very good experience. However, in light of all there is to do, and the two days I'm losing (or gaining) due to Thanksgiving, I need to get cookin' on my day's work. I'll type more later.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
posted by Pastor Paul at
9:02 AM
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