Why the prophetic movement has become hit-and-miss—and what we can do about it
When I came to Christ in 1970, America was already prewired with end-of-the-world forebodings. Nuclear war seemed inevitable, as Barry McGuire’s dire hit “Eve of Destruction” warned. Revolution and lawlessness were spreading everywhere. Yes, the “times” were certainly “a-changin,’” as Bob Dylan sang, and indeed so were we. From the rapture-ready hippie revival of the Jesus Movement to Hal Lindsey’s culture-shaping book The Late Great Planet Earth, the charismatic movement emerged upon the world scene overstocked with prophetic anticipations.
Thus, our preoccupation with all things prophetic has been a kind of spiritual birthmark. It is a prominent characteristic of who we are as charismatic Christians. Indeed, the ’70s produced at least eight major end-of-the-world warnings from prominent authors and various church groups. Other warnings came in the 1980s, punctuated by the book 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. In the 1990s, especially with the approach of the year 2000 and the widespread computer failures expected from the Y2K “Millennium Bug,” still more warnings came.
I do not doubt the sincerity of anyone who sounded the alarm prematurely. To me there is a difference between a false prophet and a wrong prophet. Yet when will we honestly look at this issue? False alarms have repeatedly misrepresented the Lord’s coming over the last 40 years.
