History & Covenant | Jim Arnold

I had a dream on 2/22/08 that I want to share with you.

Peter Wagner

Aneta and I were in Colorado Springs. We were in a large room that had both a classroom and a bookstore area. Peter and Doris Wagner are teaching a class over in the classroom section. Aneta and I are off to the side looking at their products. I'm going through these packages that include teaching sets (CDs) with a corresponding manual of sorts to follow. I asked the worker if I could look at the list of all the courses they offered (she had a master list in her hands with all the teachings that they had), but she wouldn't permit me to do so. I could only see what they had in stock there at the store. I see a few by Chuck Pierce and Peter Wagner, but there was one that caught my attention: History & Covenant by Jim Arnold (end of dream).

Although it has been over three years since I had this dream, I've mulled upon it many times since. There are times when a particular dream will "stick" over time and seemingly resurfaces at pivotal points. The primary focus of this dream for me has been on the name Jim Arnold—and the teaching, “History & Covenant”. I've been unable to really discern the thrust what the Lord is trying to say through this dream. Yet, I've felt strongly that this person and the teaching, "History & Covenant" is quite significant for this hour.

Let me share a little of the insights I’ve gleaned from this journey of seeking the Lord.

Last summer on June 3, 2010 I got an email from the ministerial association in Culpeper. For sake of time, I usually don’t read the emails unless something in the subject heading captures my attention as it did on this day—“Death Notice: Jim Arnold”. Immediately my mind went back to the dream I had previously concerning a Jim Arnold.

I was greatly saddened to learn of the passing of this man due to a tragic accident. Yet I was encouraged to read that he was active in his church in Culpeper, New Beginnings Worship Center (the pastor, Paula Jones, was instrumental in leading two dear friends of mine in the baptism of the Holy Spirit). Also Jim Arnold was an educated man: he graduated from Georgia Tech with a BS in Electrical Engineering and from the renown MIT with a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

A week later I was with my family on vacation at the Outer Banks along with my parents. Out of the blue my dad mentioned that an old colleague of his had recently passed away tragically. Without missing a beat, I blurted, "Jim Arnold?" My dad was somewhat surprised. Indeed it was this person. They had known each other years before when their paths crossed. I was taken back that my dad knew this guy.

This whole ordeal inspired me to search more on Jim Arnold and I came across history books by an author of the same name written about the Civil War. These are books for children and early teens—and are quite well done. I ordered three copies (although there were more books).

Divided in Two: The Road to Civil War, 1861—This theme of division and union has captivated my thoughts in the past few years. Years ago the Lord sent me in August of ’08 on a prophetic assignment to anoint the headwaters of the Mississippi River and it entailed a whole learning process through the Scriptures concerning division and union.

On To Richmond: The Civil War in the East, 1864-1865—Richmond has been frequently mentioned in my dreams; plus this book focuses a lot on Virginia, including the Battle of Bull Run. My prophetic mandate is somehow intricately tied to this historic Battlefield, which is why I relocated my family back to this area in ’09. God is bringing together a white man and a black man to pioneer an apostolic equipping center in the very area that judgment manifested 150 years ago this summer (July 21) at the Battle of Bull Run!

Lost Cause: The End of the Civil War—As I write this I’m reminded of a previous dream with Lou Engle back in ’04 prior to his visit to preach at the first Awaken the Dawn conference. In the dream I told him I’d been praying about a book to get for him called “LOST CAUSES” by George Grant—we walked together into the book store to retrieve it; however, I couldn’t find it and Lou was fixated upon another book about the history of our nation with the subtitles, “DEFINING MOMENTS”. When I awoke from the dream I went to the store to buy that book to give to him at the conference.

Obviously the Lord has given me much to chew on. Yet I've felt led by the Lord to share this dream on my blog, which isn't the norm for me. I think perhaps it will bring greater clarity as I'm able to hear from others. Feel free to share in the comments any thoughts you want to communicate.

God bless you!

Getting the Weirdness Out of the Prophetic Movement | J. Lee Grady

Here's a great article by J. Lee Grady, contributing editor at Charisma and blogger at Fire In My Bones. Over the years I have come to appreciate the thoughts that he shares with the body of Christ, especially when addressing the charismatic stream (of which I identify with). Enjoy this much needed word today! Blessings.
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J. Lee Grady

Let’s reclaim the simple, profound purpose of prophecy—and reject all sensational substitutes.

When I was a college student, a visiting minister regularly came to preach at our campus meetings. At the end of his messages he would often point at someone in the room, smile and say something like, “You in the blue shirt, I believe the Lord has a word of encouragement for you.” Then he would prophesy.

This freaked me out! How could this man know what God was saying to someone else? What if he was wrong? I loved the gift of prophecy because I had benefitted from it myself. But I remember telling the Lord back in those days that I would never, ever stand in front of a group and prophesy to an individual like that. Way too scary!

Then, during a trip to China in 2000, an underground church leader asked me to come to a room in the hotel to meet with a group of ministers. When I arrived, the leader told my translator that she wanted me to prophesy over 14 ministers who were already seated around a table. I was cornered! I prayed a desperate prayer—“Help!”—and 90 minutes later I finished praying and prophesying over all those people. The Lord used a scared and insecure American guy to encourage those brave warriors—and I have prophesied to many people since then.

I believe prophecy is a powerful spiritual gift when it is used correctly. Paul told the Corinthians (who had been abusing charismatic gifts) that genuine prophecy has three important functions: (1) edification, (2) exhortation and (3) consolation (see 1 Cor. 14:3). When we give a word from God, it comforts the weary, encourages the fainthearted, propels them toward God’s purpose or breaks spiritual obstacles.

Genuine prophecy is one of the most potent weapons in God’s arsenal. But if we are not careful, the gift can be hijacked—either by devious spiritual con artists or by gullible Christians who don’t have proven character or a solid foundation in God’s Word. This is why the gift of discernment should operate alongside prophecy at all times.

Several people have recently asked my opinion about some of the “prophetic buzz” circulating in churches these days. I’m not the only one who is becoming increasingly concerned about the weirdness that is evident in some charismatic camps. My alarm bells often go off when I read some of the prophetic messages people are claiming to be from God. These messages usually have one or more of these characteristics:

1. Preoccupation with end-time predictions. No prominent prophet in the United States issued a clear warning about the recent earthquake in Japan. But in the aftermath of that disaster, many began to release dire predictions of subsequent quakes—stirring up doom and gloom among the saints. Now some are predicting explosions on the sun that will knock out all electrical power on earth. God never intended prophecy to cripple His church with fear. His word brings comfort, not foreboding.

2. Obsession with numbers. There is certainly a place for symbolic numbers in the Bible. But many prophets today seem to think that every number they see on a clock or a billboard is a message from God. God is not cryptic with His sons and daughters—He wants to speak to us plainly. His will is not a secret code to be deciphered.

3. Overemphasis on dreams. Of course we know God can speak through dreams. But the apostle Paul (whom we are called to imitate) received most of his guidance from the Holy Spirit while he was awake. Some ministers today are spending too much time in the pulpit describing their technicolor dreams—and this could actually lead people into error if the dream has more to do with pepperoni than biblical revelation. Stay focused on the Word!

4. Fascination with exotic visions and manifestations. Our movement has been invaded in recent years by many questionable influences—from New Age spirits to stigmata to a bizarre fixation on gold dust, gems, “angel” feathers and “manna.” In most cases those who claim the substances are real won’t have them verified. In Illinois, a church drew crowds because of reports that giant red and blue gems were falling from the ceiling. The people stopped coming after the guy in charge of the supposed supernatural display ran off with a woman who was not his wife. Please remember that everything that glitters is not gold.

5. Worship of elite prophets. It has become fashionable in parts of our movement today to drop the names of certain prophets in order to establish credibility. After all, if Prophet So-and-So said it, it must be true. Some of these prophets are quoted more often than Scripture—and such glorification of people borders on blasphemy. Groups that focus their attention on hyper-spiritual personalities and their prophecies can quickly drift into cultic behavior.

How do we avoid being deceived by false prophecy and unhealthy spiritual phenomena? The best way I know is to get our priorities in line with God’s Word.

The purpose of any genuine spiritual gift is to edify the church so we can fulfill the Great Commission. If our main goal is to win souls, plant healthy churches, make disciples and advance the gospel around the world, then prophecy can help us do those things. But if we focus on spiritual gifts as an end in themselves, our distraction will lead us into deception of the weirdest kind. Let’s get our eyes back on Jesus.

J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. His newest book is 10 Lies Men Believe (Charisma House).

Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-bones/30684-getting-the-weirdness-out-of-the-prophetic-movement#readmore#ixzz1JSYjNLJV