After the prophecies failed - ministering to the Christians who believed them

God’s word stands as prophecy fails

Michael L Brown is a rock solid conservative in the US, a nationally syndicated radio host on right wing radio, and a leader in a controversial charismatic revival called the Pensacola or Brownsville Revival in the mid 1990s.

He is embarking on a very special ministry – binding up the wounds of Christians hurt by the failed prophecies that Donald Trump would serve a second term as US President. Brown’s strong Pentecostal cred means that he can reach the disillusioned Christians who followed the prophets in a way more conventional Evangelicals or Pentecostals can’t.

Brown has an Australian following as the keynote speaker at the conservative “Church and State” conference in 2020 in Brisbane and smaller gatherings in other cities alongside local senator Eric Abetz and commentator Bill Muehlenberg.

“I had no doubt that Joe Biden would be inaugurated today,” he told his audience. “There was no possibility that Donald Trump was going to be inaugurated. I was interacting with a colleague from another country and he said you can’t be sure. I said it’s one hundred per cent sure… it’s a million per cent sure.”

Getreligion.org’s Julia Duin puts it like this: “Now that this prophetic Hail Mary pass has failed, the recriminations are going to start. One leader in the movement, Michael Brown of 1990s Brownsville revival fame, has been calling out his fellow prophets to stand down for several weeks now and has established a ministry for disappointed charismatics. More on that in a moment. That’s a news story.”

“People have been saying ‘wait till the twentieth. Give us time,'” says Brown. “So I have wanted to give folks as much time and space as possible. God never spoke to me about who’s going to win the election. In fact, God has never spoken to me about a presidential election.” He tells his audience that the US and Donald Trump are only a small insight of the Lord of the Universe. He holds up a Greek New Testament and a Hebrew Old Testament and declares, “This is God’s word. God’s word has not failed.”

“Human prophecies allegedly coming from God have failed.”

“But even the best prophecies since the closing of the canon, [are] not the word of God. This [holding his New Testament], the Bible, this is the word of God.”

“A human prophecy at best is ‘a word from the Lord’. God’s word has not failed. His word is forever settled in heaven. Jesus the Messiah – the word made flesh – is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

“Isaiah, the 40th chapter – what does it say? ‘The grass withers and the flower fades but the word of our God stands forever.’

“What does Jesus say in Matthew 24? ‘Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.’

“So God’s word is not challenged.”

Brown knows that many Christians are now confused because the word of self proclaimed prophets have proven false. He knows there is a risk people’s faith would be ship wrecked.

“But many people believing the words of various prophetic leaders have trusted tin those words and when that word has failed it makes them wonder about ‘is God real?’

“I remember once praying for a friend with a serious condition, a life threatening condition. And I remember really thinking we had a breakthrough praying for him and he seemed to be better. And then I got a word – a call from his wife – and she said, ‘he just had a seizure’.

“And at the moment – [although] I have never struggled with atheism – when I got that report, I remember where I was, and that I had prayed for him and really felt that God touched him. But he was not touched by God or that he was not healed the way [I thought]. That moment, the thought crossed my mind ‘there is no God.’

“A lot of dominoes fell in a hurry. If this thing that I really thought was real was not real, then how about the rest of my faith?

“So I want to say it again. This is the word of God [holding the Greek New Testament]. This is the Bible.”

Brown calls for a “clear distinction” between the Bible and any prophecy. He asks that”any one who has looked to the word of the prophets instead of looking at what is written in the word” to realise that “New Testament prophecy’s main function is to help believers turn away from sin to the Lord, to follow Jesus. Not primarily to predict the future like a glorified spiritual fortune teller.”

Pray

Some prayer points to help

Please pray for all christians who are damaged by failed prophecy.