Let's define the term: Prophetic Centrist – Courageous exploits, abundant fruit and sound cash flow instead of fringe doctrine, strained revelation and leaps of faith (when wisdom and revelation are balanced).
Let's contrast the old with the new. In the first century, Gnosticism or dualism was a false doctrine that taught, "everything spiritual is good and everything in the natural is bad." Material possessions, wealth, sex, culture, etc. were thought to be nothing more than carnal expressions of our sinful, fleshly nature.
Whether God allowed my trial or caused it makes no difference to my heart. I'm trusting Him to protect me from calamity… and he doesn't. What if God really doesn't control "all" of time and circumstances and He is not the one who authors or authorizes our tests? What if Kingdom warfare is real and I'm not a rat in a cosmic laboratory being tested for heaven? What if God is really on my side and grieves with me when things go wrong? What if sovereignty means God controls whatever he decides to and he makes room for us to manage the rest? God has given us great influence over shaping this world into His image because of the power and calling He's invested in His sons. That's why He's the King of kings. It's our portion to rule and reign with Him.
The prophetic is discerned when it's applied. Revelation from God is truly understood when we respond to it and do something with it. Respecting or fearing God enough to put our revelation to work is simply wisdom. Revelation is the idea, wisdom is the resulting initiative – how we interpret the application it in our vocation and mountain.
When we coach people with the Heart Plan, the whole goal is to help them get in touch with their hearts. "Heart" is our emotions, but it's also something more. God writes His desires on our hearts in a way that they show up in our desires. As we mature, it becomes obvious when His desires and our desires overlap in a Kingdom sweet spot. That's where "life" happens. Whether it's abundance or persecution doesn't matter as much as being sons and daughters who get to do what our Father is doing. It's really fun…even if it's hard! We never connect in the first place. Many believers grow up and never learn to hear God's voice. They conclude that His will and His word are borne out of the principles of scripture and doctrine and they just set about "living by principle."
The precept of "faith" is that when we are spiritually mature, doubt and uncertainty will no longer be with us and we'll know exactly what to do… and it will work. This is a partial truth (lie) that's embedded deeply in our hearts as new believers, and it usually stays with us for decades. The teaching sounds something like this, "If you obey the word of God and follow the leading of His Spirit, you'll be blessed." That's faith… right? Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 NKJV
Much is shifting in the Kingdom right now, with many practical ramifications in every mountain of our cultures. It is spring in America, a season for new beginnings. At a personal level, servants who have emphasized discipline and obedience are being invited to become friends and transition into God's Kingdom with passion and participation. We are no longer imitations of Jesus,we are His incarnations.
We never outgrow the need for encouragement and we all long for fathers. Our hearts are designed to cherish a father and to be one. It is pastoral, but once we feel the call to our own destiny, that relationship is better described as apostolic. Apostolic ministries are not confined to the local church or even the church mountain. These fathers are commissioned by Jesus and are functioning in every mountain…we just don't refer to them as apostles when they are outside the church (probably wisdom). The strict meaning of apostle is someone set apart or sent out in the sense of being commissioned by Jesus. They typically carry a message and/or a mandate to spearhead something in the Kingdom. In the church mountain, that usually translates to planting or overseeing churches. In other mountains apostle carries the same definition and weight, just a different application.
One issue we all face is knowing when to press into initiatives without getting ahead of God. It is wounding to invest our energy and faith to contend for something that never happens, or find out later that it was never supposed to happen. In our hearts, we retreat back to a vow that says, "Lord, unless you tell me, I won't commit the sin of presumption again." Now that sounds spiritual and it fits a theological tradition that God is sovereign. However, God's sovereignty really means that He can control whatever he wants to, but He usually makes room for His Kingdom kids to exercise initiative and power to work with Him. God is the only one with the keys to the car…but in the Kingdom, He's letting His sons and daughters learn to drive.
We've had a great spiritual victory in America. It's a reversal of the enemy's design on our nation and the door is open to honor God again. At the same time, we just lost Kim Clement. There is a weariness and disappointment among the saints. Many are experiencing delays and little fruit after much planting. We have longed to find our voice, experience our release and possess our land. Our hearts wonder if we can survive. We wonder, where is the favor of God? Where is the protection and provision of God? We can't help but question the significance of our own life and purpose… and dial it back a bit. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 NIV
The biggest "motivator" for every Christian is experiencing God's presence and power (in the church) and then getting the invitation to walk with the Father to do even greater works (in the Kingdom). The church is an incubator for new believers and it has a motherly feel. From that nurturing environment we learn to receive… forgiveness, love, healing, and eventually our identity (who we are in Christ). It's exciting to exercise spiritual gifts and have the sense of learning to obey or cooperating with the moving of the Holy Spirit. The experience of Jesus' personal redemption in our lives is amazing and motivating. We naturally want to sign up for more and give our lives back to Him.
One of my experiences in doing great exploits in confidence, feeling the sense of God's presence, and being so excited, grateful, zealous… is that if something goes wrong, the air suddenly goes out of the balloon and intimidation of the atmosphere or the fear of men takes center stage. Being bold enough to say "yes" to our mountain has an unexpected implication. We become much larger targets for spiritual warfare. For the first time the accusations of giants are pointed directly at us! When Goliath taunted Israel and David, it naturally sparked fear.
Follow Up
