Doug Van Pelt

A Prophecy

Doug,
That is your name, right?
Doug, God is going to pour out His blessings upon you. I see something that everyone is reading... Are you a publisher? Yes! People are reading your magazine around the world and they're falling on their knees and worshiping God. He wants you to know that He sees your hard work and He's about to open floodgates that no one else can shut. He's is going to increase your circulation tenfold. He says, "Because of your faithfulness... blah, blah blah, I am going to multiply your finances. I will open new doors and this magazine..."
What is it called?
I see two letters...
Is it called HM?
Yes! It's His magazine and He is going to bless it beyond what you can even imagine.

There is a meeting in Austin tonight with a ministry that is called "prophetic ministry." I read a daily email from this ministry. I don't know how I got signed up to start receiving it and I realize that not each or perhaps not any will apply directly to me, I check it out anyway. Ocassionally they come to the Austin area for a meeting. I've been wanting to go for awhile now, for reasons I'll share later, but for some reason or another the timing is always bad. I thought this meeting would be perfect, because it was the day after my March/April deadline was to be over. Because I am behind in my deadline right now, I can't see myself taking the time to attend. These meetings usually involve (I think) someone coming, getting introduced, maybe some worship music, and then a message is shared. We're probably talking a good one hour with just that -- perhaps 90 minutes. Then the night's "prophetic ministry" will take place, where people will either line up to receive prophetic utterances, or the ministers will walk around, asking people to stand up while they prophesy over them.

I consider myself a charismatic -- in that I believe that God still does miracles today and the spiritual gifts (healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, discernment of spirits, etc) can still happen today and that the power of God is available to His people. Yet, I have not ever received a public prophecy in this way. I've never been "slain in the Spirit," either. And, to be honest, I'm jones'n' to experience those things. Since I can't get my personal prophecy tonight, I figured I'd just make one up. That's what that was in the italicized paragraph above. That's what I wanted to hear tonight. I know that there are ministries that travel around and share God's Word and what they feel God has been speaking to their heart; and they depend on offerings to keep doing this sort of thing. But I wasn't going in expectation of supporting their ministry. I was going to get my little prophetic word and then come back home. How consumeristic of an attitude is that? How bad of an attitude is that? Well, since I don't really have the proper mindset for this thing; I figured I'd just be honest and share / make up what I'd want to hear at such a thing. If I had gone and, say, sat there and never got called upon or didn't get "a word," I'd be disappointed.

I would have enjoyed hearing the "blah blah blah" part, too; where someone spoke flattery to me in front of a room full of people I didn't know, and possibly with some I did know. I like to have my ego caressed, and I guess in some ways I look at God like a giant gumball machine in the sky, putting my token prayers in and hoping to get a nice treat. How lame is that?

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at January 19, 2008 12:56 PM