Quote:
Originally Posted by jediwill83
Have I prophesied? Yes.
Do I occupy an "office"? Not a clue.
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What you said earlier in the thread is the distinction that I would make. If you are just a 'regular old church saint' and you think God has spoken to you, but you turn out to be wrong, aside from likely losing some credibility, just try to do better next time. However, if one claims to be a prophet of God, they don't get to be wrong and get the same pass. Hopefully upon being wrong, they will come to their senses, repent of their ways, and move on. But if they continue to claim to be a prophet of God, yes, we should absolutely wash our hands of them.
I don't believe your reference to preachers and "Thus Sayeth the Lord" is quite on the same level. Preachers are almost always giving their understanding of what scripture says, not predicting the future or performing miracles. Having said that, if a preacher is wrong often enough, we should avoid them as well. I'm sure we will all have different tolerances and breaking points, but I'm sure we agree if a preacher never teaches the actual Word, we would be well-advised to avoid them. After that, it's just a matter of much bone you are willing to spit out.
Samuel had Eli to help direct him, but I don't recall Eli actually 'training' Samuel. (I very well could be wrong. Been a while since I have read that story.) Even so, my real issue with Zog isn't that he claims to be in training. My issue is that he readily admits to having failed often. If failing often means "speaking for God and being wrong," he simply is not a prophet.
I don't know that Brother Hometown will agree with all of that, but since I had agreed with his statement, I thought I might clarify my stance.