Prophetic Fire

The difference between the Old and the New

  Growing up, our first wood heating system in Washington State we had was a fireplace. After several very cold winters, Dad removed the fireplace and bought a wood stove. I had a hard time understanding what took Dad so long to finally give up his fireplace. 

  But then I lived for a while in the South before returning west, I saw a lot of fireplaces everywhere. I think I finally understand that fireplaces were a part of his heritage in Arkansas. For myself, I can understand the draw of a fireplace, you see the fire and get the benefit of some of the warmth. However, I have also owned regular wood stoves and I have even owned a modern wood cookstove for a time. So because of this, I enjoy the look and feel of a fireplace, but I love the heat and efficiency of a quality wood stove. 

  Old-style fireplaces are only around 15 percent efficient. That means 85 percent of your heat goes up the chimney, wasted. The last quality stove I owned was built by a Christian company in Idaho called “Kuma” and it was 79 percent efficient, so that means only 21 percent was wasted. If your heating bill for the winter was a thousand dollars. Could you live with throwing away 850 dollars or 210 dollars? So…is the older heating system worth the ambiance? 

  We had many cold winters in Washington and Idaho before moving to the South; with several feet of snow and negative 25-degree air. Due to the efficiency of our stove, my wife was often forced to open the doors and a few windows to cool the house off during the winter. The house most often would be around 85 degrees and sometimes in the upper 90ʼs while the world was frozen outside.

Older Prophetic Fires 

  Within the Charismatic mindset, we the people of Christ often love to feel the warmth of the prophetic. Hear the crackling of it, as it touches and sometimes changes people’s lives. We often build it a nice place to heat the room but never allow it to blossom into the true intensity that the prophecy can provide. 

  Honestly in those early years when things were, “right,” you knew it because lives were being touched, changed, and blessed. But when things were wrong, filled with human desires to promote ministries. Or to manipulate people in a certain direction. People may not have been able to define what they were feeling, but most knew something was not quite right.

  Long before I knew anything about MorningStar my only real experiences were connected with the Vineyard. I remember the prophetic ministry times in small groups (and a few larger ones) that had dramatic effects on people's lives. I have seen ex-Catholics get free from bondage with just a couple of simple words. In one situation, a wife’ history of abuse blossomed into a real marriage with a few words of life from the Holy Spirit. It changed her, and her husband. In such situations, people walk past fear of health issues, addictions, freedom from hurtful parents to launch out into ministry, I’ve seen it.

The Pretenders

  But unfortunately, much of that now seems to be squelched under the blur of bigger ministries manipulating and inventing prophetic wordage. I never understood what happened, but after working for several years at MorningStar I started hearing “rumors” of how big ministries grow. These rumors are now supported with unending testimonies coming out of IHOP, with Mike using the prophetic to manipulate people for his own selfish desires.

Now for clarification am I saying the top leadership at my former employer did this? No, I am not as I have no direct evidence for this. But I can say I say that there were several people who ran various departments engage in this kind of behavior.

  Nowadays some word-of-knowledge speakers simply data mine social media platforms. One well-known one from California does his research when he knows where he will be speaking next. He finds it Facebook page and then starts reading the posts of the members. From this, he then has a list of “prophetic words” to impress the crowd with when he arrives. And as crazy as that sounds, this action is far more common than most Charismatic believers realize.

It has often seemed to me that God is in the process of a deep correction within the Charismatic right now. Could this be because we act more like children at a circus than the noble sons and daughters of the King we are called to be?

  True prophetic fire often brings freedom by burning away the things that entangle our lives. The chaff of this bondage is reduced to nothing and people often feel the freedom. The end result can be quickly noticeable in the person’s life. Especially by the spiritual warfare that often takes place right afterward, trying to build back what the Lord has taken away.

  Unholy human prophetic fire just warms the person up without any real freedom. I say “any real,” because I have watched people struggle, holding onto the illusion of freedom for years out of some desperate desire when no real freedom came. Nothing came for two reasons, God did not author it and the desperate are now unknowingly holding on to an idol.

  We create idols all the time in the Body of Christ, not just the Charismatic, but also Baptists, Methodists, and many others do it as well. Any time we transfer our Hope from the Lord’s hands to anything physical, then God is no longer responsible for making it come to pass. That is because it is now in our hands, are we are responsible for making it happen.

The New Prophetic Fire

  The new will be challenging as it will require a reset back to the foundation, a Deconstruction and Reconstruction of all that we know. To do this we can no longer hold up former movements as an example. I know what I just said flies in the face of the honor culture that places like Bill Johnson created. 

  But right now serious spiritual rot is being found in all the major ministries. Honoring things that are destined for destruction or reduction as spiritually attach yourself to the same outcome. Take this example, the Vietnam War was a long hard battle with many serious issues. When we lost the war and the warriors returned, how were they treated? 

  These men who did the job they were treated very badly by their own nation. Not just the Government, but family and friends. The shame that was put on the war, fell on EVERYONE who was under the headship of the leaders. So will be the same for these ministries. 

  Don’t get yourself connected to the wrong place. At this point, for you and your growth in the Prophetic. It would be far safer to take a step back, join a house church, and wait like the Apostle Paul did. A time will come, trained by the Holy Spirit, you will serve when the time is right. Ponder and learn this scripture, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Cor 11:1

  Holiness, Integrity, and Compassion will be a new foundation for the prophetic in the days ahead. This is something the old prophetic ministers only understand on a surface level, but the new will understand it deeply.

Final Thoughts

  I like a lot of the older prophetic that I remember. But, what is coming needs to be beyond that for the dark days ahead. In some ways, the older system was like a fireplace, it could heat the room, but I feel a lot of potential was wasted. The new needs to be more efficient, It needs to seriously heat and cook the food quickly.  In so doing the Prophetic will start transforming itself from a self-serving mindset to hopefully a mindset that builds the community.

  To me this means the prophetic will not just be about the ministry of the moment, changing lives. But also about bringing forth the very heart of the Father in words and teaching that give real life.