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Posts Tagged ‘False Prophets’

Is This The Time To Be Taking Money?

Posted in Church in Crisis, False Prophets, Prophetic Mixture, tagged , , on October 23, 2011| 1 Comment »

It is an interesting story, the story of Elisha and Naaman the leper. Naaman reluctantly went and dipped seven times in the Jordan River and was healed because there was a prophet in Israel. He also realized that there was only one God, the God of Israel.

When Naaman offered Elisha a gift, Elisha told him “As sure as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing”. After Naaman had left, Elisha’s servant Gehazi went after Naaman and lied to him in order to get a gift of silver and clothes. When Gehazi returned, Elisha confronted him because in his spirit he knew what Gehazi had done. It did not fare well for Gehazi when Elisha asked him in 2 Kings 5:26-27 “Is it a time to take money and to receive clothes and olive groves and vineyards and sheep and oxen and male and female servants? Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence, a leper as white as snow”.

The story speaks for it self, Carl Keil, a German theologian in the 1800’s says this in his commentary on II Kings-

“Was this the time, when so many hypocrites pretend to be prophets from selfishness and avarice, and bring the prophetic office into contempt with unbelievers, for a servant of the Lord to take money and goods …that he might acquire luxury and goods for himself.

What a rebuke! A rebuke our so-called modern prophets should heed with all their marketing strategies, their endless books, DVD’s, expensive conferences and material. Well did Micah tell of their error! Micah 3:11 “Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe, her priests instruct for a price. And her prophets divine for money. Yet they lean on the LORD saying, is not the LORD in our midst? Calamity will not come upon us.” It is a stark realization that today’s so-called prophets have many followers, and there is pride in the fact that they claim that the Lord is in their meetings and in their “words”. Micah clearly rebukes them and exposes their error. In like manner, our modern prophetic movement needs rebuking!

The world is in dire times, economic collapses, rising unemployment and homelessness, more and more people are hurting. We live in a world where people need Jesus, the need the true Gospel. Where will they hear it? Will we bring them into a church that is wrought with error and mixture? Where are the true prophets of God? Is this the time to for making money? There are several instances in the Bible where some of the greatest prophets rejected money. Where are they now? These days it’s almost always all about the money.

My encouragement is this, hold those accountable who claim to speak for God.  If their “words” do not come to pass, confront them! If they do not line up with scripture, confront them. Speak to your leaders about this. We only do a disservice to God and the body of Christ if we do not do so! Discernment is a gift of the Spirit; and we are encouraged to seek greater gifts. If you only speak in tongues, seek interpretation that all may benefit, if you have interpretation, seek discernment, if you have discernment, use that gift; if you have discernment, continue to desire the greater gifts.

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The Peril of Prophetic Mixture

Posted in Church in Crisis, False Prophets, Prophetic Mixture, tagged , , , on March 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

A look at 1 Kings 13 gives us very disturbing look at the way prophetic mixture can function. It is interesting to note, that it is those who listen to and take heed to prophetic people who function this way, are the ones who will suffer the most harm. The young prophet certainly erred in listening to the old prophet and sinned by not obeying what God had told him to do, it cost him his life. But what was it about the old prophet that convinced the younger to err?

 

Well, it says that the old prophet lied to the young prophet. He was also empathetic to the younger because he recognized the prophetic calling, since he too was a prophet. Not only that, but we see from the story that the old prophet did hear from God as well, pronouncing God’s judgment on the younger for his disobedience. This is a classic example of “mixture”. Mixture is functioning by your own spirit, soul or desires, and being able at times to also function by the Holy Spirit. Prophets who function this way have a divided heart towards the Lord. There is usually a mixture of motives as well, a pure motive toward God and His word would not allow for this “mixture”.

We now live in a day where prophetic mixture is heartily embraced, where the making of money is now the central part of most prophetic ministries. We see men forsaking their wives and children for other women, and then with their new wives, continuing on in the ministry like nothing happened. Some of these ministers have even been caught in sexual and  even in homosexual sin. Most of these men are still in the ministry, and are widely accepted.

The most disturbing thing of all is that many people still heartily continue to embrace them. Why? Well there are many reasons, to name a few; there is a lack of discernment and a lack of common sense. In many circles there is a lack of leadership, a lack of Biblical instruction. There is new emphasis being put on the prophetic, and on signs and wonders. There is a new emphasis on having a “desperation” for God; and a “desperation” for God is a good thing, as long as we are also “desperate” for truth, purity, virtue and holiness. Unfortunately, “desperation” can cause us to give up on discernment and common sense, and lead us to error.

There are many today, who would gladly follow the old prophet from our story, claiming all the way that “He heard from God”, not caring that he was a liar.  We can be so “desperate” for God that we don’t care about a person’s character or personal life, as long as he gives us a word. A recent case is the minister who had an affair with a staff member. He divorced his wife and abandoned his responsibility to his children. He has supposedly repented, and been restored to the ministry, with his new wife at his side, all because everyone thinks that he has some special anointing from God. If you choose to follow such a man, you will open yourself up to the same lack of character. One day, when life is hard, as you try to be a good husband and father, some pretty little girl will come along and temp you, and you also will be able to justify leaving your wife and family too. Because you will have learned that from someone operating in prophetic mixture.

Maybe God’s slaying of the young prophet was a mercy. If God did nothing, the younger prophet would have learned that character didn’t really matter, that obedience didn’t matter. That is was OK to lie occasionally like the old prophet. That it was OK to function apart from the Spirit, to function out of one’s soul or desire.

There has been much grace given to the prophetic movement over the years, all in the name of allowing men and women to learn to function in the gift. But because of the lack of discernment, we have embraced mediocrity. We have embraced prophetic mixture!

to be continued…

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