I’ve had prophetically gifted women prophecy to me and they were very accurate. They picked up on issues that were going on in my spirit and in my relationship with God that no one but God could have known.

They confirmed to me certain things that God had already been speaking to my heart about but that I wasn’t totally sure about. They encouraged me to go forward in my walk with the Lord—worldly psychics don’t do that. They also accurately reflected the love of Jesus in the way they spoke.

One woman who operates the gift of prophecy on a pretty advanced level, Barbara Lanzdorf, said to me (among other things), “You’re about to explode!” About, as I recall, 5 or 6 months later she prophesied again to me, saying, “There’s a shift coming.”

Shortly after that I launched my website and started blogging in various places. I definitely felt in my heart something like an explosion or shift. Usually what I did on these blogs was defend the Christian nature of the Mormon Church, which is what I feel called to do.

What I love about it is that if she had known what she was talking about, she probably would not have said what she did. Most evangelicals, due to lack of knowledge, don’t recognize the work of God in the LDS. The neat thing about prophecy is that God is able to bypass our unrenewed minds!

I think you’re spot on with your comments. I think that in the Church people tend to think that a prophet has to be the person over the whole church, but in a general sense, we’re all prophets if we have a testimony of Jesus (according to LDS scripture).

Glenn

You bring up some good points to consider.

I think there is a difference in being a “prophet” and holding the office of “pastor” or in our church, bishop or president of the church. In my mind, a prophet is what I’ve outlined in the article. A pastor, bishop, etc. is a different calling and they can also have the gift of prophecy over the people they are responsible for as well.

What do you think?

The New Testament ties in the office of Pastor (0verseer, Bishop) as a continuance of the prophetic office. In his letters, the Apostle Paul was very firm on men taking this place of leadership. He cites the order of creation and the responsibility of man (even when it came to Eve’s transgression into sin), as key points that affirm the leadership of males. Woman was the helpmeet of Adam, not his equal in that regard. It is not a matter of being Chauvinistic, but a matter of being Biblical that we hold up man as a leader. This is true in the marriage, in the home, and in the church. It does not have to be that in the business world or in politics, unless we were in a theocracy, which we are not. That realm was specific to the Old Testament Israel.

The women you mentioned certainly were prophetesses in their own right, but not by their own proclamation or the proclamation of others. As you look at them in Scripture, you will note that they do not assume leadership over men, except in the most extreme situation. Deborah, for instance, seems to be dominant over Israel’s commander Barak; she tells him to go to war against Sisera. We see that her authority comes from God and is a godly command when we hear Barak insisting that he will only go to war if Deborah goes along into battle. Deborah is the prophetess simply because the men are shirking their duty. To underline that point, Deborah foretells that the glory for Sisera’s death will be given to a woman. This comes to fruition when Sisera, retreating into the hills, ends up at the tent of a woman who feeds him and shelters him and then drives a tent peg through his temple while he is asleep. It’s odd that the Book of Hebrews lists Barak as a judge (not Deborah), but it makes some sense when we consider that she was a prophetess that stood in only because the men were shamefully not assuming their appointed roles.

I also have seen women who could be described as prophetesses, as you mention. They are wise women, students of the Word, and therefore do not assert their dominance over men. If they are more qualified to lead, esp in a given instance, they will (and should), but only until a time when that role can be given back to a man. In Russia, the bloody pogroms against Christianity, Christian clergy and men were executed or driven into exile. Women who were left in the villages assumed the teaching and worship roles for their communities, with the continual threat of their own death if they were caught. Millions of Christians were martyred, but when the reign of terror was lifted and communism ebbed back, men were trained to take the place of leadership in the church. The women were honored for their service, for they truly maintained that office in a severe time, but stepped back to allow for men to assume that office, as Scripture maintains.

They are typically the liberal churches today that allow for the ordination of women–but notice that the very same are those that do not hold the Word of God to be inspired or holy.