Campbell.. what your describing is much different than the "Prophecy" Im seeing used in todays Charismatic and 'Word-Faith' churches. I certainly do believe that God just might give his followers a glimpse of their future ..or perhaps a 'warning' or 'alert'. Somewhere in your 20 years God allowed this 'Alert' to your life. What Im questioning is this latest use of 'Prophecy' where allegedly gifted members of a congregation are 'speaking words of prophecy' to other members. I seem to be the only one noticing that many...most of these 'Prophecies' are either so vague that no accountability could be given - or - are simply not coming true. Everyone seems to instantly forget the ones that never came true. If one does 'hit the mark' - its heralded as proof they are on the right path with this 'prophecy' ministry. As i said earlier.. what really 'gets me' is how Prophecy (in some of these churches) has been assigned a new meaning. It refers to another member suddenly being given 'inside' knowledge about anothers personal life. (often a 'secret sin') Then the member is confronted and 'corrected' using this 'prophecy'. Lately, if it involves a single person - the 'prophet' seems to be getting a lot of information about masterbation habits. Not surprisingly the victim is 'shocked they knew' and confuses that with some 'conviction' by the Holy Spirit. To me - God most certainly uses other Christians to change, encourage, remind us of our mission in life. Yes. But when it comes to these special, personal moments where God has a specific supernatural revelation for us - He does so the 'Old Fashioned' way. His Holy Spirit talks directly to us.
The messages conveyed have never been personally directed to any one member of the church. It's subject has never been something revealing about habitual sin, or hidden agendas. I don't know if I would be able to hold in laughter if that happened, just because God would never say, "tell brother so and so to stop touching himself."
Epiphany,,, then you should count yourself lucky your church is not engaging in these 'Apostolic' and 'Prophetic' brand practices Im seeing. I put the words ''Apostolic' and 'Prophetic' in quotes because they are not being used in the traditional senses of the words. I laugh too.. to keep from crying. :O
