In this Q&A, Bill and Eric Johnson discuss the value of prophetic ministry, and how to practically lead and make decisions in a prophetic culture.
when bob jones
was here for the prophetic conference he
made a declaration that the apostolic
and the prophetic
was mostly in its place and he also said
now it’s time for the anointed teachers
to emerge
what do you think this means how do you
understand that
um i don’t know
i can’t answer that certainly for bob
because he he would have a perspective
on this that
we would be different i i have
personally felt the apostle prophet is
largely
in place in some settings
in our case i feel the teachers in place
as well
but that that may or may not be true i
feel like
i feel like that teaching world i think
what he was was saying
is we are starting to get some structure
that we’ve lacked
in biblical government and it’s coming
into place
and the lord has in different seasons
has emphasized
like the pastor was emphasized so
strongly once sees the evangelist the
prophet the apostle
and he’s just saying that now we really
need the teacher
so that in this next phase there will be
an
accuracy in what we do because
the power is there the momentum is there
we need the teacher to help us to remain
real true to the word
real true to what god is saying and
doing and uh and i i think that’s what
he was addressing i can’t speak for him
but i can
i can feel that that need
no it’s good it’ll come all right what
is the process
the leadership team employs to
judge and employ a strategic prophecy
that requires major organizational and
behavioral shifts
well
we have a we have a team i don’t know
did it say procedures what was that yeah
what process do we go through
well it has it has to be
a pretty heavyweight word
to make it through the
through the channels to actually get to
where it brings about a dramatic change
in how we do life yeah most of what we
do doesn’t come at the direction of a
prophetic word
i do believe the lord confirms his word
and we we
thrive on the prophetic so i
big part of my life is energized by
prophetic decree and i
i believe very strong in that role i
believe
the role of the prophet in the prophetic
word can have tremendous effect
on the direction of a church but i i
don’t
i’m not real comfortable with with us
just changing everything because we’ve
got a prophetic word there’s going to
have to be a much
deeper realization of a truth involved
in a prophetic word
to restructure uh truth it seems like
most of the
heavy words we’ve gotten have brought
into a process
and we joke about it how slow that
process is
before there’s any change so i can’t i
can’t think of any
major shift on the spot most but
definitely initiated something
yes yeah yeah sometimes
some of the things um some of the things
are acted on fairly quickly but it’s
only when that word really brings an
answer to something we’ve been you know
the lord will sometimes bring away
you that’s it you know we needed to know
that but generally it’s not done we
don’t
get like 10 people or 12 people in a
room share a prophetic word and
everybody kind of vote on what it means
you know or try to judge the word
it usually goes through a much smaller
process yeah i’ll go into chris’s office
and say here’s this dream
here’s this prophetic word or he’ll come
into mind or two or three of us will get
together
that’s basically the way we yeah the way
we processes in much smaller teams
if it really seriously let’s say that
you me and chris are meeting over
a dream that you had or a prophetic word
that somebody gave to you
and we’re sitting down looking at it if
it has a real strong effect on the three
of us
and then from there we may bring it to
the larger team
and have them weigh in on it yup but uh
but we don’t we certainly don’t
carelessly
make major changes because of a word and
we’ve had them
we’ve had we’ve had them but there’s a
timing yeah
there’s a timing element you know
prophets
see sometimes in one word
they’ll talk about two different seasons
and not
know it you know the timing thing isn’t
always up to the prophet sometimes it’s
up to the team
yeah so anyway we we just try to process
to see all right we we feel right about
acting on this now
this we need to wait on yeah and that’s
just that makes sense
the underground church in china is
growing and growing and actually
beginning to come above ground
what impact do you see this having on
the nation of china and the surrounding
areas
surrounding nations the change the the
effect in china is dramatic
is huge yeah i’ve
i’ve had some inside discussions with
with people that are that are
some of it can’t be talked about but
there are there are individuals
in very high leadership roles
that are believers there and
uh and there is an emerging church that
has gone through fire
that’s coming out that’s pure yeah
and the you know even in their purity
and their
strength they’re asking for input which
is
just crazy because i feel like you know
you guys lay hands on me
you know but they’re they’re humble at
the same time
yeah and uh and the effect on the nation
china is growing growing in
wealth it’s growing in influence
dramatically
we need for the church to thrive there
right now or
their strength economically and
militarily can
shift things uh internationally in a way
that’s not healthy
and uh if it’s a real kingdom-oriented
group of believers it could really be a
powerful thing
there are a lot of folks that think that
the great great last
days army of believers many of them are
going to come out of china yeah
and that’s i know there’s this whole
movement
from the heavenly man his
the whole silk road thing this ministry
from china all the way to israel
is is quite powerful what’s what’s
happening
well in china is very we have friends
that work there that live there
that are just world changers and well
i’m so so impressed by what’s happening
well
yeah underground church and above ground
but it’s interesting because the
uh the official church at one time
there wasn’t that high of a regard for
the official church it was the
underground church that was pure
and powerful but anymore
i’ve met with with with the official
church leaders i’ve met with some
well and underground and they both have
the same passion they both kept
they’re just going forward that’s
awesome it’s really it’s really quite
scary
in a good way yeah that’s good this will
be our last question for this uh this
chap
um how do we know what is meant to be
sacred between jesus and i
and what is meant to be shared within
the church family
yeah i you know i wish i wish there was
i wish i could give you a description
you know draw a line and say this is you
know this
the only way i know to know that stuff
is
by monitoring the mood of the holy
spirit
upon me because there are times where
i’ll start to share something in a
corporate setting
and i feel that uneasiness that i can
tell
if i keep going i’m going to step over
the line i’ve been in conversations
where i realize at the end
now everything i said was true
everything i said was to the glory of
god
everything i said on paper was
absolutely right but i realized when i
left i overspoke
yeah and i and i i didn’t
stop where he stopped yeah i don’t know
any other way to learn that than
than in your lifestyle it’s just in life
you learn
you learn to monitor that presence and
the grieving quenching thing you learn
to
you know when you’re talking when he
puts his hand on a subject and you can
just
you can feel there’s an insight that you
have that’s not normal it’s beyond what
is yours
there seems to be that pleasure of the
lord on your conversation
uh and then something happens and
there’s a shift there that you can feel
like if i don’t respond to this
i want so bad to share this and i maybe
could yesterday in that setting but
today he doesn’t want me to
i don’t know any other way to do that
they’re just paying attention to the
holy spirit at that moment
yeah it’s his because he may he may have
you share
i i know of people who have i’ve had
this happen with the lord’s teaching me
something and i was ready to teach on it
there’s no liberty to teach i can’t
teach on it yeah i’ve sat on stuff for
a year not yet insight that i
felt i was ready for a year ago no
liberty to teach on it yeah
and uh and it’s up for grabs as to who
he was waiting for
probably for me to change yeah for me to
grow into the word so it’s not just
knowledge but it’s experience
yeah you know and so you monitor that he
knows he knows what’s best i
i may have the liberty to share in one
setting
you know a truth and the next day in
what seems to be the same kind of
setting
there’s no anointing for that yeah and
he’s just
he’s trustworthy he knows all that stuff
yeah it’s the only way i know to do that
and uh and that’s and that you don’t
learn overnight that’s a lifetime
thing it’s just you just say yes to it
god i only want to honor you with what i
say
yeah and so i’m i’m looking to you to
give me that i know witness what i can
speak
and that caution when i’m to be quiet
yeah
very good