Job Vacancy: Prophet

‘Who did you go into the wilderness expecting to see? A reed blown about by the wind or a man in soft clothing?’ -Mt 11

John was an Elijah Man in many ways. Both men ate meat. Elijah’s meat flew to him courtesy of Raven Airways. John’s meat flew to him with its own wings: he ate locust (which doesn’t sound great but it’s supposed to be uber-high in protein―plus John dipped his in wild honey which could be used as a type of BBQ sauce; all very paleo).

Like Elijah, John also lived in the desert. Both men were preachers. Neither man was ‘balanced’. Both men had hungry young men following them. Both had a powerful woman trying to kill them. Both were followed by someone with considerably better people skills. Like Elijah, John had a life of fervent prayer and fasting―not just for his own contemplative purposes, but to do battle for the destiny of a nation. Half an hour before Elijah spoke before Ahab, no one anticipated his prophetic cry. Before John the Baptist opened his mouth, there was no one in Jerusalem who knew he was there. (Half an hour after he proclaimed that word, there was no one who didn’t.)

John stepped into a spiritually barren desert. Herod and his lascivious lady reigned with Roman power and paraded their sexual immorality. The Romans proudly portrayed their paganism up and down the land allotted to God’s people. The Pharisees retreated into a cavern of fundamentalist orthodoxy but failed to shed a tear for those on the outside. The progressive Sadducees tried to make room for both their inherited allegiance to Yahweh and the powers and cultural ideas of the new Roman learning.

It seemed like any type of God honouring ministry would be impossible in such a place. The blind were horsewhipping the blind. It was black midnight on the spiritual landscape. And then the heavens opened and the mega-word spoken by this strange desert child was downloaded onto the nation with a power and speed that our current internet bandwidths can only envy.

Wanted

The English-speaking church has a vacancy that needs filling. God’s Church in the UK has an opening and it is urgent that there are men who step into it. The role of prophet is wide open. With all our technology, money, and conferences, it is still (with occasional exception) getting darker. Baal and Asherah are worshipped in the Temple of God under deceptively worded but colourful banners. The fake teachings are old but they’re repackaged for a new generation. They are pedlars pimping out fake love, fake justice, and affirming people in their bondage instead of setting them free from it.

We have meetings aplenty but none of them seem to rock society at large or introduce the Fear of the Lord (a concept the Church has seemingly forgotten) into the world around us. Where is the spoken word which will cause people to say of us, as they did the early church, ‘these men have turned the world upside down’? With all our activity, we need one who can wield a word which will shake a nation. But who is fit to speak such a word?

Britain needs broken, godly men to break the hearts of wicked men. He who would reap with joy must first sow in tears. The lifespan of men in the Bible who carried the word of repentance was noticeably short. Those who would call sin, ‘sin’ better not value too much this present life with all its toys, accolades and comforts. Men who seek to fill this role will be familiar with much private prayer and fasting. It is these men who fast that feast at the tables of wholeheartedness.

I am thankful for our Bible colleges. God does not put a high value on ignorance. But though the Church has never had more men (and women) with such high levels of education than it does now, we are still losing ground with every decade. We have many people with great intellectual stature, but few of equal spiritual stature.

To qualify for the role of prophet, there is no requirement of formal education. There is, however, the requirement that you ‘have been with Jesus’ (Acts 4). Your life must be wholly his. All your treasure must be stored up with him. You cannot be one who is shaken by the tremors of time but you must tremble before Eternity’s throne. There is no pay. It will cost you everything. Your heart will break and you may not live to retirement. Great rewards will be in heaven. Please send your job application along with your sweat, blood, and tears to: The Altar of God. If selected, the world will know.

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