C.B. Peter Morgan, Contributor
The preservation of the prophetic movement in Jamaica is as important to the nation as it is to the church. Without a viable voice the church becomes a detached, self-serving irrelevant religious institution, without 'salt' and devoid of "light".
Without personal and corporate accountability the prophet stands to be one of the most dangerous threats to the political, social and cultural well-being of the nation. But there is prophetic hope for Jamaica.
At the recent national Prophetic Conference held in Kingston in April 2006 sponsored by Word of Life Ministries International, significant decisions were made to ensure the maturing of the prophetic movement and the ordered administration of its functions at every level.
Integrity and Accountability
A National Prophetic Council (NPC) comprising recognised senior apostolic and prophetic leaders. They would provide executive, administrative and supervisory oversight in the development of the movement. This is a challenge to the church. But it is also a comfort to the nation. As such the NPC would do the following:
Interface with the wider Body of Christ on behalf of the movement to ensure unity of purpose in the Spirit, representing the whole church in its prophetic call to the nation.
Make or confirm policy decisions affecting the direction of the prophetic movement.
Recommend or confirm decisions re appointments, ordinations and other major assigned responsibilities of prophetic leaders as requested by local churches or other ministries.
Provide for the accountability and if necessary the discipline of prophetic ministers in their personal lives or their ministries.
Investigate, protect and defend prophets in the event of unwarranted scrutiny and public criticism.
In addition, the NPC would encourage the ongoing prophetic movement in the following ways:
Provide consultation for the establishment of prophetic schools and workshops and conferences for the education and training of individuals and Churches in developing the office and the ministry of the prophet.
Challenge church leadership in recognising the function of prophets as part of the "five-fold ministry" for the maturing of the saints within the local church.
Encourage church planning initiatives to draw on the apostolic and prophetic authority of the church in laying the foundation of young developing churches.
Provide a context for prophetic consultation to ensure confirmation of prophetic discernment before public declarations are made.
Corporately seeking after the Lord for His specific Word especially when requested by leadership within the nation (public or private sector) or church.
Every believer - a prophet
Outside of the direct scrutiny of the NPC, every believer must become part of the prophetic response of the church to the nation. If truth is the essence of prophetic relevance, then the truth we discover we must declare it, proclaim it and practise it.
Every Christian has dual citizenship. First by natural birth he is a national (e.g. Jamai-can). By spiritual (second) birth, he is a citizen of Heaven. This gives him rights, duties, responsibilities and benefits in both countries." His prayer as taught by Christ is "Thy Kingdom come on Earth as it is in Heaven."
Firstly, each Christian must personally appropriate to himself the moral law of God without compromise. In this way he becomes a living testimony at home, at school, at the workplace and in the community. His life is a prophetic sign of the word of truth proclaimed by the word of God. He is an open book which all men may read.
Secondly, he must learn to recognise, acknowledge and articulate the truth of God in everyman's world beyond the pulpit, outside the sanctuary and between Sundays. Stephen K. McDowell in his book Building Godly Nations (pp.6-19) outlines the prophetic responsibility of the believer to:
Discover truth through science
Apply truth through technology
Interpret truth through humanities
Implement truth through commerce and social action
Transmit truth through education and arts
Preserve truth through government and law
Thirdly, the Christian believer has a prophetic responsibility to bring a message of restoration and hope to the nation. The Bible was not only written for the Church. In fact it was written for application within the nation. Hence, time-tested principles of the word of God must be effectively communicated in the fields of education, artistic culture, media, business, economics, politics and the judiciary. The message is as practical and relevant today in Jamaica as it was when spoken by Moses to Israel, and later presented by the prophets.
No one today envisions the prophet as that isolated, gaunt-looking, old, bearded man, staff in hand crying out in the streets breathing religious threats and damnation to a rebellious and adulterous people.
What we see emerging throughout the land is a youthful energetic generation that has already proven God. Happily, many of the churches caught up in the renewal movement of the past 30 years have produced a radical and revolutionary band of Christians, a generation of hope and optimism with a prophetic message of liberation and restoration.
For what it is worth, let me repeat excerpts of a prophecy brought by Evangelist Kenneth Copeland at a large Conference in the USA. It concerns the Caribbean.
"Those that live in the islands of the Caribbean GET READY, GET READY. An outpouring of the Holy Ghost has already begun and it will manifest before the end of year until people from around the world will be saying, If you can get anywhere in the Caribbean you can get healed."
It is here, Hallelujah. It'll happen in our households. It'll happen in our businesses. It'll happen in the state houses. It'll happen in the low places and the high places. It's time. It has come."
"Surely, the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secrets to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).
The prophets in the Kingston and Montego Bay churches are already declaring it.
Bishop C.B. Peter Morgan of Kingston City Church may be reached at bishoppm04@yahoo.co.uk.
