I
have reservations about this book. It is aimed at people with a
prophetic calling, encouraging them to take responsibility for it. My concern is that
almost all of Stevenson's teaching on the prophetic comes from the Old
Testament, a time when people could, in general, only hear from God
through prophets. The New Testament believer's access to God through
Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are truths pretty much
ignored in this book. Stevenson seems to think Christians cannot
understand the will of God, do not have the opportunity to hear the
voice of God and people will not be saved without the active ministry
of those with prophetic calling (quotes below).
Because
this is a theological book, my critical review is lengthy. I address
many areas in the book with which I take issue.
The
first issue is how important Stevenson thinks the prophetic voice is.
“The prophetic even set up the moral code of the whole human race,
as it was the prophetic, through Moses, that gave us the Ten
Commandments.” (26) I am pretty sure the finger of God wrote the
Ten Commandments on the tablets. (Exod. 31:18; Deut. 9:10) Here is
another: “Through prophecy we discover His truth and His will.”
(32) My goodness! Then what good is the written Word, the Bible?
Along with Paul, I thought Scripture was good for knowing His truth
and will. (Rom. 12:2; 2 Tim. 3:16) And this: “Wherever there is
human crisis, human indifference, or human indecision, the only thing
that solves those issues are people who move in prophetic
responsibility.” (33)
Stevenson
makes it sound like the prophetic voice is the only hope for ministry
and evangelism. “If we don't have the prophetic, we have no real
way to pull people out of death, danger, disaster, and deception.”
(38) In a prophetic drought, Stevenson says there would be “no
opportunity for God to speak.” (41) There would be “no redemptive
power.” (42) The Lord would “not be accessible.” (47) I thought
God's word was alive and active, speaking to us constantly. (Heb.
4:12) I thought we could enter God's presence with boldness and
confidence and come boldly to the throne of God – talk about
access! (Eph. 3:12; Heb. 4:16)
“The
prophetic is the way God has chosen to speak.” (133) Remember the
writer of Hebrews tells us God spoke through prophets in the past but
has now spoken to us through His Son. (Heb. 1:1-2) The prophetic may
be one way God speaks today but is by no means the only way. I also
think we need to remember that God gave four (or five) giftings to
the church to build it up. (Eph. 4:11) Prophets are just one
of those offices.
Interestingly
enough, I just read another book from this same publisher on a
balance of Word & Spirit. The author, R T Kendall, distinguished
the prophetic word in the Bible from that of today. I feel much more
comfortable with Kendall's book than I do with Stevenson's.
If
you want to be an Old Testament prophet, this is the book for you. If
you understand the Spirit indwells believers and that believers can
be “led by the Spirit” (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:18) without the need
for a prophetic voice, this book may be less than satisfying, as it
was for me.
My
rating: 3/5 stars.
Matthew
L Stevenson III is the founder and senior pastor of All Nations
Worship Assembly in Chicago, home to over fifteen thousand people
through ten locations. He has authored seven books and has traveled
internationally. He oversees the All Nations Network, a conglomerate
of autonomous ministries that look to Stevenson for spiritual
covering. He and his wife have three children.
Charisma
House, 208 pages.
I
received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the
publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.
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