By Robert I Holmes

This article is also available as a power point file and an MP3 audio recording.

Flying to Port Macquarie from Sydney one day I sat next to a charming lady called Michelle. We immediately started chatting and very shortly she had started to disclose all sorts of information about her life. She kept saying, "I don't know why I am telling you this but...' and we had something of a life coaching session. At the flight's midpoint, I felt the Holy Spirit promoting me to really press in on the issue of forgiveness - even though she had an abusive church background and many broken relationships. It was a risk, to push but I felt like that was important.

My journey with Michelle, and the issue of whether to challenge, confront or make someone else feel uncomfortable is apropos the stirring I feel about the prophetic in churches today. I am challenged by the lack of challenge in churches nowadays - by just how "life coachy" and motivational it can be. The silence from heaven is deafening. There is little by way of challenge or heavenly vision anymore.

I wonder if we have settled for complacency, comfort and ease in this modern day Babylon? I wonder if we have become more like the world? Being a Christian in the first Century meant standing for something... it meant following a crucified saviour and within thirty years it meant certain death. It also meant standing against ancient Jewish traditions such as circumcision and worship in a particular temple in one city. Do we stand for anything? Do we stand against anything?

"Where, O where is the prophet? Where are the incandescent ones fresh from the holy place? Where is Moses to plead in fasting before the holiness of the Lord?...  the one with a terrible earnestness, the one totally otherworldly."
Leonard Ravenhill

Ravenhill's words are reminiscent of a podcast I was listening to on my way to Sydney that day I met Michelle. It was a communication from the Banff Leadership Centre in Toronto Canada titled "Iconoclasts" outlining the role of men and women in organisations who shake things up. They gave this definition of iconoclast: The breaker or destroyer of images or idols set up for veneration. A person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditions, institutions and error. You might be familiar with its synonym: Curmudgeon.

This idea, this concept of shaking the house, shattering the idols, attacking cherished beliefs is very much the life blood of Christianity, of early Christians and indeed, draws from their long heritage as recipients of faith from Israel. Peter, in describing his fellow believers said they were "sons of the prophets" (Acts 3:25) - for Peter faith meant being like the prophets of old.

Enter Moses

There are many iconoclasts in church history, some as far back as Moses in the Old Testament. He, looking forward as far as Peter was looking back, said he wished "that all God's people were prophets and that the Lord would pour his spirit upon them!" (Numbers 11:29). Remember that Scripture defines Moses himself as a prophet (Deut. 34:10, Luke 24:27), and Moses prophesied of a time when one "likened unto Moses" would arise - Jesus himself (Acts 7:37).

So who is this man - this prophet after whom we are sons? Moses was the man:
- who confronted Pharaoh
- who split the Red Sea
- whose enemies were swallowed by the sand
- who saw God and lived
- of whom God said, "Moses is my friend"!

This is the iconoclast. This is the prophet. This is Jesus all the way through his ministry. And where is the spirit of Moses in the church today? Where is the nature and character of Christ amongst Christian today? There are a number of facets to the prophetic that should be reflected in our lives including: being a forerunner; dealing with isolation; holding God's opinion above men's; going against the flow; dealing with rejection; being a recoverer and; driving for balance by being out of balance.

1. Forerunning

Prophetic people are forerunners. They come into things first. God deals with the church before he deals with the world (ref) and he deals with natural things before spiritual things (ref). Prophetic people in the church are even further ahead and as a result are quite out of step with the mainstream. They are often in the opposite phase. Happy when everyone else is sad, sad when everyone else is happy.

2. Dealing with isolation

Bring prophetic very often means having an unpopular message, and results in fierce isolation. You have to have a thick skin to say the unpopular thing. You might be a solitary figure rebuking a corrupt king. The one who rats out sin in the camp. The one who cares about what God cares about. However just because we are isolated does not mean we isolate ourselves. We seek out the brethren, we want companions. We resist being a loose canon or a law unto ourselves.

3. Holding God's opinion above men's

If we face heaven, and we care about heaven's opinion and perspective on things we will care more about God's opinion that peoples. We will seek to experience heaven's favour and not curry the favour of men. We will desire heaven's stamp of approval even at the expense of men's favouritism.

4. Going against the flow

Have you noticed that God has a very different set of priorities to us? He values integrity whilst the world pushes for sensuality; he desires honesty when the world wants duplicity; he aims for longevity when the world demands expediency.

Prophetic people even find themselves going against the flow in church - and sadly sometimes even going against the prophetic flow! I recall them time John Howard was going for re-election and much of the church was caught up in favouring the Liberal party (similar to the GOP Conservatives in America). I clearly felt the Lord say Rudd was going to get in, and said so - which drew much antagonism from other leaders I knew. Then after Rudd got in, I put out a word that Australia was about to have "it's own Margaret Thatcher" - the iron lady of UK politics in the '80's. Once again this drew howls of derision. But then Julia Gillard got elected.

It was a cliff hanger election - similar to the US elections between George W Bush Jr and Al Gore. Nobody knew the outcome until weeks into the counting! But I had to stand by the word, and stand by the decision to back it.

5. Dealing with rejection

Being out of step, being isolated, being a lone voice comes with rejection too. People do not just take kindly to your obstinate passion for truth and purpose, they buck against it. The donkey kicks against the goad, the horse bolts when spurred. So too people rebuke and rail against those who are prophetic. As John Paul Jackson encouraged tyro prophets, "You need to make rejection your friend".

However, we do not imbue the spirit of rejection. We do not walk around with a sour face, expectant of rejection - wishing it upon ourselves and provoking it from others. Rather we understand it is part of the call, a necessary companion on the journey. After all we are followers of Jesus: a man despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3).

Instead, Jesus came into situations expectant of finding the Kingdom at work, and his Father at work, with work for him to do there (John 5:17).

6. Being a recoverer

"The function of the prophet has almost always been that of recovery."  
T Austin Sparks

The prophetic person is not a maintainer, they come in to repair what is broken. Recovery is required after an accident or injury - people need rescue and decisive action is needed for triage.  Recovery is needed after a loss or fall - lost things need to be found, people adrift at sea need to be rescued. Recovery is needed after a mop up campaign. The troops have gone through and the land needs to be restored. As a result, when all is well, prophetic people are quiet.

7. Driving for balance

"Prophets were not made for the status quo, they were made
to bring things back to the middle. This means they stand for the extreme,
to bring the church back to where she should be."
Brian Medway

If the church gets imbalanced, or has forgotten a truth the prophet pushes back to recover it. They take an extreme view of stance, to bring the church back to centre. Which is why it seems that their message is unbalanced, because of necessity it is. But this contains a dilemma for us.

Once an issue has been championed, and accepted the church must move on, lest she camp in that imbalanced position. Nothing gets done when things stay the same. Movement is required - things grow by getting out of balance - but nothing remains if is stays unstable.

We quickly become false if we camp at and insist on an extreme.

Conclusion

This is the church, as sons of the prophets. This is the Christian following Jesus the prophet. They are...

An iconoclast: standing for truth; standing against tradition.
A forerunner: out of step and out of season.
Solitary: but not a loner or a loose canon.
Rejected: but without a spirit of rejection.
A recoverer: to bring things back to wholeness.
Unbalanced: extreme but not staying out there.

Comments (6)

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Robert Winkler Burke said:

Guilty as Charged... Michael, "God's men are in hiding until the day of their showing forth," wrote Leonard Ravenhill in the 1970's. I call it "In That Day" and I have teachings on it, which Ravenhill wrote. He said such called, will "not likely" be voted 'Man of the year' when (true profits) refer to them [churchianity] as habituates of the synagogue of Satan!" Andrew did not like my posts and asked me to not post any more "interesting views." Ravenhill wrote, "Let him, under God, unstop the ears of the millions who are deaf through the clatter of shekels milked from this hour of material mesmerism... Let him cry with a voice this century has not heard because he has seen a vision no man in this century has seen." My vision is that revival would be discernment against demagoguery, instead of acquiescence to it! My vision is that the priesthood sees the shenanigans it employs to dupe sheep and make everybody, including themselves, rubes of witchcraft hypnotism, showmanship, misdirection and suggestion. Look up Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) on youtube! The only problem is that you cannot get a church leader, even a church seer, to see something when his or her paycheck depends on them not seeing it. (Upton Sinclair) So Michael, In That Day Teachings wait until people want to really see the vacuity of churchianity, its plethora of witchcraft and what it has missed by choosing the low road. It has missed Christ-in-You, as evidenced by eyes to see and ears to hear. It's the heist of the century, perhaps even two thousand years! It's so easy to slip into empty-head, shrunken-brain church! (Notice, its vocabulary will be elementary.) But it's hard to expand vocabulary, sight, soul and humility unto Christ-in-You-ness. But that is what we are supposed to be doing, not abrogating all duties to be God-bearers.

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15 January, 2012 | url
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Michael Ullmann said:

	... Robert Winkler Burke....this name rings a bell. Are you the same bloke who was writing a lot of comments on Andrew Storm's Blog? Had some 'interesting' views.
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02 January, 2012
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Robert Winkler Burke said:

Try Russian Martial Art, Systema Rob, True prophetic comes with the calling of Man of War (Exodus 15:3). For a prophet to survive, and thrive, they need to be a pretty good man-of-war. (and motorcyclist?) King David had a living/fighting/breathing style. It may well be Systema, Russian Martial Art... that kept this knowledge learned from the Jewish Culture, 1,000 years ago. See... http://www.russianmartialart.c...es&loc=int I am a Systema Instructor-in-Training. The practice helps Christian understanding. www.battlebornsystema.com www.russianmartialart.com

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09 December, 2011 | url
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Robert Winkler Burke said:

25 Lines and Precepts of In That Day Teachings... 25 Lines and Precepts of In That Day Teachings By Robert Winkler Burke Book #9 of In That Day Teachings Copyright 10/04/11 www.inthatdayteachings.com 1) There are no fixed rules only guidelines. Thou shalt have no other gods… Especially, thou shalt have no fixed-tithe-rigid-righteous rules of entrapment and hidden self-interest of deceived and deceiving rulers. Have faith in God! 2) A grape matures in the presence of a mature grape, so too high discipleship. 3) We worship God in Spirit and Truth, God confirms when both are, or not. 4) Modern church wayward doctrines make fear, greed and slouch – not faith! 5) Rapture makes fear, blinds folk to Christ-in-You and is extremely wrong. 6) Prosperity Give-to-Get makes greed, increases pride and is evil and wrong. 7) Eternal Security makes slouch and uselessness to God. It is also wrong. Truth rings like a bell. Lies make a cracked-bell sound. Most can hear both. 9) Correct doctrine, which is love, redounds unto Christ-in-You, not: not. Christ-in-You maturity gives proper accord and discord with good and evil, a great two-way-radio with God and profound Trinity witness from within. 10) Unless you bless Christ-in-You in others, your spiritual abode stays void. 11) Pride and rigid righteousness are milk that blinds, the opposite gives sight. 12) God is the Word. Words must not be used in antipode! (Not guys: men!) 13) Milk things repeat unto vanity. Steak lines & precepts give God-bearing. 14) Milkers have low to no assignments. Steakers get God’s great assignments. 15) Rigid righteous Milkers persecute and crucify God’s holy flexible Steakers. 16) Milkers need one-way hypocrisy preaching. Steakers: holy reciprocity. 17) God put freedom in man’s breast. This freedom has hard-won protocols advanced via Greek-Roman-Jewish-Gothic Christian heritage: Western Enlightenment. It is to be taught, defended and advanced by the church. 1 Wayward church is profoundly anti-freedom, anti-Western Enlightenment, anti-intellectual and anti-critical thought. Hidden enslavement is madness. 19) Self-defense and the means to do so are just, proper and of God’s love. 20) Immature doctrines create baby brains, blind eyes, deaf ears and hatred. Mature doctrines enable high thought, eyes to see, ears to hear and love. 21) Steakers at best serve God and man, Milkers at worst serve self and evil. 22) Steakers seem alone but work in peace. Milkers seem united but aren’t. 23) Ancient Paths of Correction, Paul’s High Ways and Christ-in-You are it. 24) If orthodoxy is too rigid and modern Protestantism is too loose, the answer may be the structured holy flexibility of In That Day Teachings. Have faith! 25) Thus, now is the time we let God make His Goldilocks choice: Neither too doctrinally loose and COLD, nor too doctrinally rigid and HOT, but In That Day: Structured Holy Flexible: JUST RIGHT for God’s un-conflicted inhabitation in POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND, which is Behold, I come quickly: CHRIST-IN-YOU. Now! And forever. Even so, come Lord Jesus!

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09 December, 2011 | url
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Robert Winkler Burke said:

Would Anybody CARE if.. such a prophetic iconoclast existed and had hard truths? Robert Holmes, What if the Bible's 400 to one ratio was how it really is NOW in the prophetic? What if about 200 out of the 400 accepted a God-sent deceiving spirit to prophesy "rainbow stew" for me & you, and other NAR-whacky-emotional mojo jive? What if about 200 out of the 400 accepted a God-sent deceiving spirit to prophesy "rapture" end-times-ink-blot-insanity, all vapid and containing no true God-Spirit? Then, what if that was the norm: Either mojo-emotion (I prophesy first good, then bad... no, no... it's first bad, then good!)... Or rapture blindedness? (i.e. Fear SELLS!) I can't blame the prophetic, they just have two really bad schools! Emotion or Rapture. What would be the exceptional prophetic schooling experience?.... uhm, In That Day, as it were. In That Day, meaning a hard and dark day of revealing how wrong churchianity is? Well, folks raised on prophetic emotionalism or rapture aren't going to like hard truth, but here it is... www.inthatdayteachings.com Check it out. Hard truth is hard truth. But it's good truth. Like a superbike... something to respect.

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09 December, 2011 | url
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Adrian Watts said:

... Thanks Rob. I really appreciate this call for prophetic people to take a stand without compromise. We continue to have discussions in the church world of NZ about whether prophets should suddenly arise of nowhere and say things that awaken and provoke whole groups of people. A number of pastors come close to quoting the spirit of the verses from isaiah 30:10-11 It does require encouragement to keep going in the prophetic call. Thank you for bringing this. Blessings Adrian

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30 November, 2011 | url
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