If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting. Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath. This is only to say that we need to have the gifts of the Spirit restored again to the Church. And it is my belief that the one gift we need most now is the gift of prophecy.

I am not speaking of the dime a dozen prophets of today, but holy men preaching the Word! Today’s prophets want to tell the future, the future is written in the Bible. Prophetic preaching is of two kinds, foretelling (predictive) or forthtelling (declaring the Word.

• Proclamation over Prediction: addresses the immediate situation
• Exposition from God’s prospective
• Strengthen, encourage and comfort
• Brings a vibrant and holy church, rooted and grounded in the Word of God

I pray God raise up holy men and women of God to proclaim God’s Word in a world of confusion and deception. Standing for righteousness with a holy boldness. If God says it, I believe it and declare it. Amen Rh