A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

The Charismatic Movement
through divine revelation.” 309 One leader stated: 310
The Bible is God’s Word, but through prophets the
Holy Spirit also brings revelation to this generation
that is equally God’s Word. The prophet is not a
method that God uses; but in fact is the only method
He uses to speak to this generation. . . . The message
of a true prophet of God is not to be judged.
Some of the Positive Confession teachers speak of
rhema as a direct, personal revelation that God can give
to people. This concept has some validity when speaking
of direction that God gives individuals in daily life, which
always harmonizes with the Bible, but it become dangerous
when used as the basis for establishing authority,
teaching doctrine, or directing the lives of others.
Personal Prophecy
In a similar vein, some Charismatics try to exercise
the gift of prophecy at will, teach others how to prophesy,
and use personal prophecies to direct the lives of others.
These practices were introduced from the Latter Rain
movement. Here are examples from the report of a
prophecy conference: 311
The night was . . . highlighted by tremendous warfare
in the Spirit led by . . . Chief Musician, Prophet
Robert Gray. During the warfare, many prophecies
were given about the breaking of the enemies’ spiritual
strongholds and God’s restoring Atlanta for His
Glory. . . .
As a special treat this year Bishop [Bill] Hamon
309