Prophetic Ministry

The most urgent need of the modern church is for the restoration of the prophetic ministry. In recent years the gift of prophecy has been rediscovered, but there is still a desperate shortage of prophets. The church will not come to true maturity until God has raised up prophets among his people.

For nearly two millenniums the public prophetic voice has been silent. Now in our time it is being restored (Tom Marshall - The Coming of the Prophets).

Unfortunately, the purpose of the prophetic ministry has caused a great deal of disagreement in the church. Some writers have suggested that the role of the OT prophets ended with the cross. They suggest that the New Testament prophets are limited to encouragement and exhortation. This view turns prophets into Good News Guys.

Many church leaders fear the prophetic. They are happy for prophetic people to give personal words to people during church services, but want the leadership of the church to be immune from any prophetic challenge. This has truncated an important ministry and weakened the church. The quality of the prophets is critical for building the church on a solid foundation (Eph 2:20), so we need to understand how the ministry of Jesus changed the role of the prophets.

See Prophetic Voice for more.