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Barack Obama's presidency, a bad omen for prophecy?
Published: Thursday | January 22, 2009
Devon Dick
On Tuesday, January 20, Barack Obama was inducted as the 44th president of the United States America (USA). This means that Dr Phillip Phinn's claim at the 25th annual International Conference held at the Hilton Kingston hotel, that the Lord revealed it to him that Hillary Clinton would be the president of the USA and that Portia Simpson Miller would win the 2007 general elections and rule for at least seven years, missed the point altogether (Gleaner April 10, 2007). (Devon Dick, why are you bothering Dr. Rev. Phinn
)
In attendance were Bishops Peter Morgan and Anthony Hatcher and Dr David Mangar. Phinn and other like-minded prophets need to clarify what went wrong, otherwise some people will lose faith in prophecy. Phinn received much publicity because of political prophecies, but there were other prophecies and other persons hearing from God.
According to The Gleaner of January 3, 2008, Bishop Delford Davis of Power of Faith Ministries requested audience with Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller, to reveal a plan, given to him by God, which he said would put Jamaica on a path of sustained success. He was speaking at the 'Heal the Family, Heal the Nation' convention at the National Arena. He told The Gleaner: "God has spoken to me like I said; it is something I need to discuss with them which is very sensitive."
Peaceful society
Bishop Davis also said the suffering experienced through crime and violence last year (2007) would be abated in 2008. He said, "Oh, I'm certainly saying there is going to be a tremendous easing of a lot of the things that have affected us, including crime and violence. We are going to see a more peaceful society ..." We need to know what God revealed to him, and also, did his prophecy that crime and violence would abate come true in 2008?
Recently, The Gleaner published over 100 prophecies. One would have thought that the election of Barack Obama on November 4, 2008 it would have been the death knell for these types of prophecies.
Are prophecies just someone watching trends and making a prediction, rather than hearing from God? Has prophecy anything in common with political promises? In a November 7, 2007 Gleaner report, Derrick Smith, the then minister of national security said there would be a marked reduction in murders in 2008 and a 40 per cent reduction in murders during the term of office of the Jamaica Labour Party.
The prophets and politicians are making similar predictions about crime and violence. Are political prophecies just mere political posturing? There were the famous promises from Philip Paulwell that 40,000 jobs would be created and Robert Pickersgill did boast that Jamaica would be pothole free by a certain date.
No biblical precedent
If servants of God are not careful, we will become as discredited as politicians and our pronouncements will be seen as mere wishes lacking any backing from God.
John Stott, revered English Bible scholar, believes that the office of prophecy and apostles died with the foundational work done by the Early Church. It seems clear that the claim of hearing God telling us in detail what will happen, is not of God. What purpose would it serve for us to know in detail what will happen? If that were so then God would be treating us like robots and we would not be responsible for our actions. This new rise of prophets making all these predictions has no biblical precedent and is not of God.
It seems that Barack Obama's presidency is the beginning of what will be a watershed omen for prophecy in Jamaica.
Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the church in nation building'. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.
Published: Thursday | January 22, 2009
Devon Dick
On Tuesday, January 20, Barack Obama was inducted as the 44th president of the United States America (USA). This means that Dr Phillip Phinn's claim at the 25th annual International Conference held at the Hilton Kingston hotel, that the Lord revealed it to him that Hillary Clinton would be the president of the USA and that Portia Simpson Miller would win the 2007 general elections and rule for at least seven years, missed the point altogether (Gleaner April 10, 2007). (Devon Dick, why are you bothering Dr. Rev. Phinn
)In attendance were Bishops Peter Morgan and Anthony Hatcher and Dr David Mangar. Phinn and other like-minded prophets need to clarify what went wrong, otherwise some people will lose faith in prophecy. Phinn received much publicity because of political prophecies, but there were other prophecies and other persons hearing from God.
According to The Gleaner of January 3, 2008, Bishop Delford Davis of Power of Faith Ministries requested audience with Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition leader Portia Simpson Miller, to reveal a plan, given to him by God, which he said would put Jamaica on a path of sustained success. He was speaking at the 'Heal the Family, Heal the Nation' convention at the National Arena. He told The Gleaner: "God has spoken to me like I said; it is something I need to discuss with them which is very sensitive."
Peaceful society
Bishop Davis also said the suffering experienced through crime and violence last year (2007) would be abated in 2008. He said, "Oh, I'm certainly saying there is going to be a tremendous easing of a lot of the things that have affected us, including crime and violence. We are going to see a more peaceful society ..." We need to know what God revealed to him, and also, did his prophecy that crime and violence would abate come true in 2008?
Recently, The Gleaner published over 100 prophecies. One would have thought that the election of Barack Obama on November 4, 2008 it would have been the death knell for these types of prophecies.
Are prophecies just someone watching trends and making a prediction, rather than hearing from God? Has prophecy anything in common with political promises? In a November 7, 2007 Gleaner report, Derrick Smith, the then minister of national security said there would be a marked reduction in murders in 2008 and a 40 per cent reduction in murders during the term of office of the Jamaica Labour Party.
The prophets and politicians are making similar predictions about crime and violence. Are political prophecies just mere political posturing? There were the famous promises from Philip Paulwell that 40,000 jobs would be created and Robert Pickersgill did boast that Jamaica would be pothole free by a certain date.
No biblical precedent
If servants of God are not careful, we will become as discredited as politicians and our pronouncements will be seen as mere wishes lacking any backing from God.
John Stott, revered English Bible scholar, believes that the office of prophecy and apostles died with the foundational work done by the Early Church. It seems clear that the claim of hearing God telling us in detail what will happen, is not of God. What purpose would it serve for us to know in detail what will happen? If that were so then God would be treating us like robots and we would not be responsible for our actions. This new rise of prophets making all these predictions has no biblical precedent and is not of God.
It seems that Barack Obama's presidency is the beginning of what will be a watershed omen for prophecy in Jamaica.
Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the church in nation building'. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.
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