To be (a prophet) or not to be...that is the question.

To be a prophet or not to be a prophet, 

That is the question…

Living in America, I am in the minority of those who do not watch the Super Bowl, yet one of the title waves of influence that came from this year’s 2025 Super Bowl was the fact that Jesus’s name was mentioned.  Not only was Jesus’s name mentioned, but it was mentioned twice.  

I must say, I was quite surprised to hear that the most controversial name in history, Jesus,  made it on to the worldwide airwaves, social media cues, and headlines everywhere.  My heart echoes Paul’s heart in his letter to the Philippians but what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened will turn out for my deliverance.  (Phillippians 1:18. NLT)

I agree with Paul that it is better to have Jesus’s name preached, even if it’s under false pretenses, than not preached at all.  My point is that just the mention of Jesus’s name does something to us.  HIs name alone spurs emotions for many people and I am not trying to isolate the “He Gets Us’ ministry, but this is a prime-time example (pun intended) of an area where I’m asking us to consider a gap in our biblical understanding.  

I don’t want to focus on what’s wrong when there is so much that is right in our lives and even in our churches in America, but even statistics are indicating the lack of fervency to follow Jesus.  See the link below to see the latest Gallop pole on church attendance in America.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/642548/church-attendance-declined-religious-groups.aspx

There is clearly something bigger at hand contributing to this drastic decline not just in church attendance or participation, but the overall state of the behaviors of society on every side of the fence. I'm an not believing I have solved the worlds problems, but I do believe God's message in the scriptures that declares the identity of mankind is to bear the image of God and we have been given an opportunity to bring God's Kingdom to Earth by how we live, speak, create, work, and love. Clearly, we are missing the mark somewhere. This has led me to question where the disconnect may be. I have experienced some teachings that have cover our Bibles with a lens that communicates a completely different story than what God has been over centuries of time.  I know that these false beliefs, or possibly even incomplete teachings, don’t exist just in America, but the way our land was established here in America has forged much of the way we read our Bibles.  

As I stated earlier, I think it is amazing that Jesus was mentioned during the Super Bowl this year and I don’t want this to seem as an attack on the “He get’s us” ministry.  God bless you for your efforts.  The 75 seconds worth of airtime cost $17.5 million and whether you agree with spending that kind of money on a commercial about Jesus rather than helping the widows and orphans according to our charge in the New Testament, well that is something we each must wrestle with. I can humbly say I can also do better in that department myself.  I don’t have much room to criticize.  However, I will use even the ministry title as somewhat of an example to possibly expose us to part of the reason we may even be doing damage as Christians rather than influincing the world to their savior and the life they were designed to live. I believe the red flag in the message is right in the title.  The Bible is a living document of God revealing himself to us.  Only when we begin to “get him” and take the focus off of God “getting us” will we walk together in a New Testament definition of the church.  

The first step we must take is to rearrange our thinking that God is simply for us, rather that us being for God. In a recent message I used the example of two magnets with the same polarity. No matter how much we try to force them together, they will never connect. In the message that was preached, I used the magnets to describe us trying to live a life that is outside of God's good order and his decrease.  The magnets will simply never line up or connect. In the same way, creating a gospel that puts the focus on us is contrary to God's story in the Bible that focus's on him and his Kingdom.

Without realizing it, the message is given or tied in to many messages each week, at least specifically in evangelical/protestant churches, although there may be parts of the same message given across denominational boundaries.

The message that is often preached in our churches comes from the four spiritual laws

and may sound similar to this...

1.    God’s love and plan for humanity.  

Jerimiah 29:11. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

2.    Humanity’s separation from God due to sin.  

Romans 3:23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

3.    Jesus Christ as God’s only provision for reconciliation.  

Romans 10:9-10. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

4.    The personal response required to receive this gift of salvation.  

Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.  

This way of thinking was introduced as recent as 1950 from an evangelist named Bill Bright.

This preaching was designed to produce a response and although not entirely Biblically inaccurate, it is incomplete according to God’s relationship to mankind and it focuses on getting us in to heaven rather than heaven getting in to us.  We miss the incredibly aspect of the covenant relationship God is desiring and has designed us for. There is a symphony that exists between the Creator and his creation and our response to his covenant faithfulness makes a sound. When the relationship becomes reciprocal, the melody is other wordly in beauty and melody.

To learn more about the how America may have driven preachers to focus on salvific messages, click here.

What is the entire message?

So if the message of salvation is only a partial message, what is the complete gospel then?

To find that answer, we have to be able to see that the entire Bible is about Jesus, about his ruling as King, and about the establishment of his kingdom.

Much of the Old Testament is a story of what will come or what could be called a foretelling or foreshadowing or what we often know of as prophecy.  The Old Testament is comprised of the major prophets containing the 5 books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel, while there are another 12 books called the minor prophets.  

I will say this, I do not believe that there has been a prophet that has been excited about what God has asked them to communicate.  

A prophetic message serves to bring an awareness to the waywardness of one's own heart and to bring us back in to alignment to the ultimate king.

If there wasn’t something off with the people’s hearts or the ways they were living, these prophetic messages wouldn’t have been necessary.  Unfortunately, our hearts have been so accustomed to living life on our own terms for millennials, that the same message still exists that says “you are missing the mark of your intended design with your life.  Turn from your pride, turn from your selfishness, turn from your ignorance and walk as I have designed you to walk.  I’ve created you to represent me and to expand the goodness of my Kingdom throughout all the land.”  

Genesis 1:27-28 (ESV) states:

 "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  

 And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"

It’s important to understand that Jesus IS fulfillment.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  Matthew 5:17

All signs have pointed to him.  The torah expresses God’s character as the faithful one, the exodus, the redeemer, the provider, and the one who brings us into the promised land that began in Eden.  The one who is compassionate and slow to anger.  He brought forth life, he redeems what he created, and he still has an open hand for us to help repeat the process.  It’s his plan though.  It’s his way of doing things that are good.  

The message that got Jesus killed was that he was establishes a rival Kingdom to Ceasar.  

Today, pick your Ceasar, (today, mine is Trump. 3 Months ago it was Biden) but no matter what, the message of Jesus will be rival and far more effective than any kingdom of this world and it will never makes sense if we try to understand the Kingdom of God through our worldly understandings.

Leviticus 26:3-5

“‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.  Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

Yes, this statement was through a prophet, Moses, and yes it was stated to Israel, but the New Testament version of the followers of Jesus is the new Israel.  

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

1 Peter 2:9

Interestingly, Peters declaration sounds a lot like that of Deuteronomy 7:6

“For you [Israel] are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:6).

If you are picking up on it, the theme of foreshadowing was mainly about Jesus in the Old Testament, but there also has always existed God’s hopeful plan for his relationship with humanity and our role in our relationship with him.  There is written a prophetic message for us, too.

Here we are, still in the cross hairs of an incredibly loving God, unmatched in patience and mercy, still given an opportunity to represent him, to bring forth life, to multiply, and to teach others to do the same.  We must first flee from the land of slavery of our waywardness and the death we’ve created, but this new life, this regenerated life is now empowered by the only source of life itself.  

This always has been and always will be about Jesus, even as we find our own purpose.

My existence, your existence, and our purpose will only be found in knowing Jesus. 

The Old Testament pointed towards him through prophecy and direct encounters with him.

His life lived here on Earth fulfilled all those prophecies only leaving out his second coming and the establishment of the second Eden.  Historically, there has never been anyone who has proven himself to be more true, more powerful, and more real. Even today both science and math are proven true through a revelation of Jesus Christ.  

Our lives will only begin to change once we are truly open to knowing him and allowing him to give us a revelation of who he is.

This is modern day prophecy.

The Old Testament prophets told of a coming messiah, but for us today we stand as the one’s who have read of the messiah that came and is coming again.  Some of us even know him intimately.  He has revealed himself to us in a way that has marked us, he has changed us and we know the power of that kind of revelation.  

The Modern Day Church

Whether you call in the first century church or the church of Acts, the calling and the invitation for us is to rule and reign over creation and to be fruitful and multiply in all we do. To be TOV. This is our invitation individually and collectively as followers of Jesus.

This type of living comes directly from loving God with all our heart, our minds, and our strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves.  The blueprint was never wrong and God has never gone back to his own drawing board.  

Loving the Lord with all our heart is a disciplined dedication.  

It is what it looks like to be in a covenant relationship with him and the more we know him, the more we become like him.  

"When we receive a revelation of Jesus, our lives become a prophecy of Jesus."

Check out what Paul says about prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14

Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy.  For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit,  but it will all be mysterious.  But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.  A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.

I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened.

Dear brothers and sisters if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language, how would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful.  Even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harp must play the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the melody.  And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?

It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.

There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me.  And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen. 1 Corinthians 14:1-12

Paul spent a lot of time on this subject of prophecy and it makes sense why.  

Paul understood that prophecy has the power and breath of the living God in it.  

Prophecy is where a harvest can happen.

Prophecy is where new life can be born.

Prophecy is where the divine intersects with the sacredness of our lives.

Prophecy is what happens in Eden.

When we believe that God is for us and that the gospel is simply about salvation, we lose the opportunity to be prophetic.  A word of knowledge, a vision, and prophetic message comes from time spent in the garden with the gardener.

Of course, the Lord desires the salvation of our souls, but moreover he still wants to partner with us to restore the land to an Edenic state.  The truth is, our best fleshly efforts have made such a mess.

Restoration of such brokenness can only come from a revelation of Jesus Christ himself.  

I believe this is the purpose of the church.  To reveal Jesus himself to the world and even beyond.

His intent was that now through the church God’s manifold wisdom would be made known to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly realms…Ephesians 3:10

We can be quite powerful individually, but God loves diversity.  He loves all his people and equipped each of us quite uniquely, but you can see why Paul would exhort us to desire prophecy above all else.  

In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word God.  Jesus is the one whom through the Father spoke forth all of creation and he spoke that same breath of life in to each one of us.  

A prophetic word has the power to burst life into what’s dead, a revelation of Jesus to a body of believers has the power to motivate change and passion thus impacting the lives of all those around them because it came from the author of life himself.  

Just as any new life is always birthed from the inside out, so is with the spirit of God in us and through us.  A word of prophecy bursts forth new life found in the man Jesus Christ alone.  

In some translations Paul exhorts us to “eagerly pursue” the gift of prophecy and it make sense why.  His us of the Greek word diókó is of no accident.  

Sure, it means to pursue or to chase, but the Hebrew equivalent of diókó or to “eagerly pursue” as we read it in English is found in Psalm 23:6.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."

If you notice, it is David here who is speaking a prophetic message, and as a result he is reveling who the Lord is.

It is about the Lord’s goodness, it is about the Lord’s mercy, but it is David faithful to his own belief in who God is. 

In conclusion...

The church is empowered when we live out the prophetic message of who Jesus is.  But David’s statements about who God is, is far more impactful than our modern day message of “God has a plan for your life and you’re a sinner in need of a savior.”  David’s knowledge of who God was and is changed him.  It was through his revelation of the Lord that even today many of us still read those words and are greatly impacted because of what’s prophesized.

Any movement of the spirit in our lives has the potential to do far more than we realize, but our biggest hangup has for ages been wanting to know how long we must suffer and exactly when God is going to answer a prayer.  We will not hear the prophetic messages Paul is commissioning us to pursue until we learn how to suffer well, to get uncomfortable, to be squeezed or to be ok to not have all the answers. We shouldn't be so quick to attempt to wish or to pray away a season of testing or equipping.

A prophetic message is about Jesus.

A prophetic message from the Lord will be uncomfortable to speak about.

A prophetic message will have power and be clear.

A prophetic message will never be about us or any of our own efforts, it will only be truly delivered through total consecration.  

This may sound like a lot, but if we slow down andn realize the underlying message is still the same- "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

To love him means to walk in the sacred space of the garden of our hearts with him.  To be found in completeness knowing who he is.  It is from these spaces we can come forth and declare “Surely your goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life”.  David stood confident knowing God had never once changed who he was no matter how many times David did.  

Covenant faithfulness is realizing what God has done and how to offer the same back to him.

The more we as the church move in this direction together, the more our lives will be a revelation of Jesus.  The representation of the Law and the Prophets to a world in need of the one true prophet.

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.  There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.  Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus. Matthew 17

Jesus revealed himself for who he truly was to Peter, James, and John and there stood with Jesus the two that represented the Law and the Prophets.

In Exodus 34

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.

Moses was returning from time that he has set apart from the rest of the world to be with God and receive a revelation.  God gave Moses a declaration and pathway to instill his life-giving good order to all of humanity.  When Moses returned from this sacred moment, his face shown with the glory of the Lord.  Moses life was a revelation from the Lord to the people.  His life was a revelation of the Lord to the people.  There was something so different about him that we still talk about it today.  

Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the gift of prophecy.

This is how we as the church are to be fruitful and multiply.  We bring forth life by serving and discipling.  We speak the truth and live with integrity.  We shepherd and receive shepherding, which produces strength, it produces resilience, it produces a building of relationships set forth to Glorify God as we live out his kingdom attributes.

I don’t believe Bill Bright and many others of the mid-century evangelical movement intentionally set forth to create a false gospel.  What they are saying isn’t necessarily wrong, but I believe it’s simply incomplete.  When the message is still about me, it’s not the message of the Bible.  If you were to ever meet someone who begins their intro with apostle or prophet before their name, this is a wolf in sheep’s clothing who already made it about themselves.  They somehow believe God needs their help.  

We live very selfishly as the church.  We still want the church to serve us.  To cater to us.  To listen to us and unfortunately the church wants to cater to the people rather than simply revealing the character of Jesus.  The church and it’s people have entered into their own relationship often without God.  

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, not us.

The church is designed to be a culmination of the character traits of Jesus set forth as a prophetic message to the world both physically and spiritually as it lives out its collective revelations of Jesus within its people.  

This is a far cry from a foretelling or a word of knowledge, this is a front row seat into the world of the divine.  These are eyewitness accounts of the one who holds the stars.  It makes total sense that Paul would exhort the church to eagerly desire prophecy. 

Nothing changes a person more than a first-hand revelation of Jesus Christ.  Paul’s theology was spot on because of how Jesus revealed himself to Paul.  He met Jesus. Simple as that.

Was Paul faithful to Jesus when Jesus revealed himself?  No, but Paul’s response was complete and utter devotion once he got a revelation.  Paul’s prophetic life was and still is monumentally impactful. 

It is the power of prophecy set on display.

Today, I echo Paul over you and myself that we eagerly desire, that we fervently pursue a revelation of the goodness and faithfulness of God in our lives in a way that points those around us to the one true prophet. I believe the revolution our country so desperately desires will take it's focus off of political efforts, finger pointing, and blaming. One revelation of Jesus Christ changes us like nothing or no one person ever could. It cannot be forced or bullied, but simply received.

My prayer today is that you eagerly desire, that you throw aside everything this world has to offer, and you pursue a revelation of Jesus the Christ and to accept the invitation to live as a prophetic witness.

I'm confident of the life changing results that follow those divine moments.

God bless you and keep you on your journey…