Your Sons & Daughters Shall Prophesy - Prophetic Gifts Today In The New Testament Church
Definition of Christian Prophecy
tion to your own gifting, you can also prophesy (Acts 2:17-18; 1 Cor inthians 14:1, 5)-and this is not true of any other gift except tongues. Some exercise specialized gifts of prophecy, but everyone has the poten tial (as we see in the next chapter) to participate in prophecy. Recently in our home church, during the time after worship when the microphone is open to the congregation, Big Jim came sauntering up to the front. The elder monitoring the mike raised it to accommodate Jim's six-four, 250-pound frame. Big Jim does not look like your typical church attender. Tattoos decorate his big, stovepipe arms and he was wearing sunglasses. God has done some remarkable things for Jim and he has become a real prayer warrior and witness for Christ. Usually I close my eyes for prophecy, but the huge figure fascinated me. This was his first time up at the mike. What would he do? Obviously he was being moved on by the Holy Spirit. He began a singsong chant in his deep, gravelly voice that brought a smile to every face:
I thank the Lord, He set me free. I thank the Lord, I now can see.
My fascination turned into astonishment and thanksgiving. Jim kept going, tears flowing down his face. He was on a spiritual roll. On and on he went, rhyming away the praise of God:
I thank the Lord,
He saved my soul.
I thank the Lord,
He made me whole.
After he finished about a dozen of these dynamite sentences, he returned to his seat as the congregation began clapping and praising the Lord. Jim had made a simple yet significant prophetic contribution to the church. Most used by the Spirit. In the typical New Testament worship serv ice, prophecy was the most common manifestation of the Spirit. We, too, are urged to desire the workings of the Spirit, but our particular focus should be on prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:1-5). Other gifts, such as mir acles, healing and a word of wisdom, are comparatively infrequent and sporadic in their manifestations, but prophecy is available to all when ever the church convenes. 171 ■
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