Greg Haslam - Moving in the Prophetic

Copyright 2009 by Greg Haslam
This edition copyright 2009 Lion Hudson

The right of Greg Haslam to be identified
as author of this work has been asserted by him in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any
information storage and retrieval system, without
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Published by Monarch Books
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Tel: +44 (0) 1865 302750 Fax: +44 (0) 1865 302757
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ISBN: 978-1-85424-836-7 (UK)
ISBN: 978-0-8254-6175-0 (USA)
e-ISBN: 978-0-85721-416-4

First edition 2009

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are
taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version,
1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Hodder and Stoughton Ltd.
All rights reserved.

British Library Cataloguing Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.

Cover image: Lucretius/Stockxchange
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/343423

Greg Haslam offers us sane, biblical wisdom about the prophetic in this vital, long overdue book. This is no inspirational snack, but a gourmet feast to be savoured. For those taking their first faltering steps into the prophetic, as well as the seasoned veterans who might be tempted to think theres nothing more to learn, there are delightful surprises in this warm, practical work. This book is a gift. Dont miss it.

Jeff Lucas, author, speaker and broadcaster

The best gift is prophecy. Greg Haslams long experience of the prophetic qualifies him as an excellent guide to this vital ministry.

Dr Michael Eaton, Chrisco Fellowship of Churches, Nairobi, Kenya

If people ask me, Why did you choose Greg Haslam to succeed you?, I reply: Read this book and you will see for yourself. Greg has dealt with a most needed and misunderstood subject in modern Christian thinking and done so with theological acumen, biblical knowledge and spiritual intelligence. He shows how preaching the Word prophetically keeps the Bible alive and relevant for the 21st century thinker. He takes the reader by the hand and leads them to grasp what many have never even thought about. The Bible was not given to replace the prophetic or supernatural; it was given to correct abuses. Greg will help you to recognize and avoid such abuses in the prophetic world. He will also help you to know the difference between what is peripheral and what is essential, and to stick with the latter. For those who are interested in understanding the prophetic and developing their gift in this area, this book is for you.

R. T. Kendall, Minister, Westminster Chapel (1977-2002)

Greg Haslam is pastor of Westminster Chapel, London. He was previously lead elder at Winchester Family Church. He has written a number of books and is a high-profile speaker at New Wine and other conferences.

DEDICATION

With respect and grateful thanks to God
for a dear friend whom I greatly admire,
Terry Virgo,
leader of the UK-based apostolic church-planting movement
Newfrontiers.

Throughout our long friendship and association, I have valued
enormously your passion for God, fatherly wisdom,
depth of biblical insight, prophetic vision, prayerfulness and
integrity.

I know of no other person who has done so much to foster
and encourage authentic prophetic ministry, especially among
the pastors and churches that you lead
a truly apostolic and prophetic movement that continues to bless
the nations.

Genesis 12:13

Foreword

One thing I have learned over many years in leadership is this: no church can fulfil its assignment properly without the gift of prophecy. It is simply impossible for us to work out our God-given mission without hearing clearly the Fathers voice expressed through dreams, visions, pictures, messages, impressions, Scripture passages and the like. Without the prophetic we will always be restricted to reacting to past crises, rather than proactively building towards future happenings. Much of church life is reactive. But we are also called to be proactive - to access and prepare for the Fathers dream for us. If we spend all our time in reactive mode, we end up managing decline. But if we give ourselves to cultivating the prophetic then we find ourselves living on the edge of mission, which is of course where the life of God is to be found. This is the place where we all of Gods children are called to live. We were called to be risk takers, not undertakers. The gift of prophecy keeps us planting our feet in the footsteps of the Great Risk Taker, Jesus of Nazareth.

My own life has been dominated by the prophetic. Every major transition I have ever embraced has been the result of receiving prophetic words. Every graduation has been the direct consequence of revelation. My calling to take up the senior leadership role of St Andrews Church Chorleywood was the result of nearly thirty prophetic words. My current move to lead the Fathers House has been the outworking of eighteen months of receiving and weighing prophetic revelation. Everything between these pivotal moments has been governed by prophecy. My life has been and continues to be prophecy-saturated. I simply cannot do without it. No Christian can.

It is for that reason that we are in the debt of my friend Greg Haslam, whose book Moving in the Prophetic is all set to become a seminal introduction to the spiritual gift of prophecy. Of course, many books have already been published on this subject. What is unique about Gregs book is the fact that it comes from a courageous leader in Gods church a man who has practiced and encouraged the prophetic for three decades. His personal experience, as well as his excellent understanding and exposition of the Scriptures, make him unusually qualified to speak with credibility on this subject, and he does so with humour, integrity, and great clarity. Greg is a man of the Word and the Spirit, leading a church committed to the marriage of the Word and the Spirit. His is a voice we can consequently welcome and trust. We would do well to listen to what he teaches and to apply it both individually and corporately.

In the days that lie ahead, we are going to need to see a full restoration of the gift and ministry of prophecy in the Body of Christ. These are critical times for the church, especially in the West. While some are speaking about revival, my own hunch is that there is a bigger dream on Abba Fathers heart, and this has more to do with Reformation than just revival. I believe that we are living in a season when the Holy Spirit is wooing and urging us to think outside the box and to establish brand new wineskins new structures and strategies that draw the people of God to break out of current restrictions and infiltrate neighbourhoods and market places with a pioneering and missional creativity. These are not days for same old, same old church. These are days for putting the adventure back into the Christian venture. For this to happen we are going to need to see what one Pentecostal Bible scholar (Roger Stronstrad) calls, The Prophet-hood of All Believers. We are going to need to see everyone in the church developing a God-given prophetic imagination.

If we are to see this Reformation, we must first see a restoration of the prophetic to the church. Conferences are great, and so are training courses and books. But in the final analysis there is no substitute for knowing and hearing the Fathers voice, both as we hear it in the timeless pages of Gods Written Word, as well as in the heart-to-heart whispers of prophetic revelation. As the Holy Spirit once impressed upon me, There isnt a Manual but there is Immanuel.