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Healthy Prophetic Ministry by Dr. Malcolm Webber

God's work must be done in God's way and by God's power; not merely by the strength and wisdom of man.

To be effective, the church needs prophetic ministry and Jesus sent His Spirit to enable us to minister by the power of God. While we do not need prophetic ministry to establish new doctrines or to give us new books for the Bible, we do need prophetic revelation to help us wrestle with discerning God's purposes, to encourage us and strengthen us, to confirm clear direction and occasionally to expose our hearts and things in our lives that we have either missed or are deliberately ignoring. The New Testament church is a prophetic church!

Sadly, however, there is much imbalance and mixture in the prophetic today.

In this series of audio teachings, Dr. Malcolm Webber lays a comprehensive foundation for understanding and practicing healthy prophetic ministry. This series was taught at Living Faith Fellowship from September 2004 to March 2005.

To play the file: click the "Stream" link
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1. The Nature of Prophetic Ministry ( Stream | Download )
   The teaching of "Cessationism" promotes the idea that prophetic ministry was only valid for the time of the early church (and at certain times in the Old Testament) and since that time the gifts of the Spirit have "ceased" their operation. Is this Scriptural? Or, is the New Testament church to be a prophetic church throughout the church age?



2. The Prophetic in the Old & New Testaments ( Stream | Download )
   Prophetic ministry occurs in both testaments and there are many areas of similarity, but there are also some key areas of difference. Two of the biggest contrasts were: (1) in the Old Testament only a few were anointed by God, while in the New Testament all believers are priests, and all have access to Him and can hear His voice, and (2) in the Old Testament, the prophet is often standing outside the community, alone, independent ("just me and God"), and thundering against Israel in an adversarial relationship. In the church, however, the prophet is not independent and isolated, but is a genuine part of the healthy interdependence of the body of Christ, receiving nurture and support, and being accountable to the community. This is healthy prophetic ministry.



3. Kinds of Prophetic Ministry - The Revelatory Gifts ( Stream | Download )
   A systematic study of the three revelatory gifts of the Holy Spirit: the word of wisdom (a piece of God's wisdom regarding the future), the word of knowledge (a piece of God's knowledge regarding the present or past) and the discerning of spirits (a supernatural revelation from God concerning the activities of the spirit world).



4. Kinds of Prophetic Ministry - The Utterance Gifts ( Stream | Download )
   A systematic study of the three utterance gifts of the Holy Spirit: prophecy (the anointed speaking forth of words - supernaturally given from God - of comfort, edification and exhortation to the church), tongues (supernatural utterances given by the Holy Spirit in other languages) and the interpretation of tongues (the supernatural ability to interpret in a known language the message that was spoken in an unknown language).



5. The Nature and Purpose of Prophetic Ministry ( Stream | Download )
   A comprehensive study of the place and function of prophetic ministry in the church.



6. Love: The Better Way ( Stream | Download )
   Love is the "most excellent way" to build up the Body of Christ. Prophetic ministry without love is worthless. Love and not giftedness is the distinguishing mark of the mature believer and it is the mark of His true church.



7. The Prophetic Office ( Stream | Download )
   The New Testament church is a prophetic church; we can all hear from God, we can all prophesy. Nevertheless, some are called to the prophetic office. Prophets are characterized by a greater frequency and depth of prophetic ministry, experience and maturity in the prophetic gifts, a track record of fruitful ministry, and integrity of character.



8. Kinds of Prophetic Revelation ( Stream | Download )
   There are various kinds of prophetic revelation and various levels of prophetic authority. The level of authority of the ministry relates directly to its level of objectivity. As the objectivity of the revelation increases, its authority increases. An open-eyed vision, for example, carries a higher level of authority than an inward impression. This does not invalidate the simpler forms of prophetic impressions, but it does reveal the need for care and the central role of the community as we respond to prophetic ministry. The community, with its experience, wisdom and other giftings, such as pastoral and leadership giftings will help us apply what God gives us through the revelatory giftings, and will protect us from imbalance, error, false directions and life disasters.



9. Testing Prophetic Revelation #1 ( Stream | Download )
   In today's church there is a great deal of prophetic ministry going on, but not all of it is good; not all of it is from God. Many times there is a mixture of God, man and the devil. Consequently, God tells us to test the prophetic word. We need to not only know how to test prophetic words, but we need to be comfortable doing so without feeling threatened or intimidated.



10. Testing Prophetic Revelation #2 ( Stream | Download )
    A study of the six essential tests of prophetic ministry: (1) consistency with the Word of God, (2) does it come to pass? (3) does it lead people to God? (4) the fruit of the prophet's life and ministry, (5) does it build up or tear down? and (6) the test of confirmation.