Recently I’ve been asked what I think is the significance of the recent passing of a number of leading names in the prophetic world. To name three, we have said goodbye to John Paul Jackson, Bob Jones and Kim Clement. Others, though still with us, suffer health problems that have all but sidelined them. My own father, a long time honored and respected pioneer in prophetic ministry, has been effectively benched, taken from the world stage by failing health and the ravages of advancing age. A distressing number have suffered devastating marriage failures and family breakups. In some cases, we have seen the influence of formerly prominent prophetic leaders diminishing – people whose words we once closely followed. While I’m speaking of developments in the prophetic movement, the same can be said of leadership in the body of Christ in general. What is the significance of all this and what ought we to draw from it?
In 2011 I wrote the following in “Visions of the Coming Days” (published 2012, Chosen Books): A new generation of leadership is emerging to lead a fresh generation of the body of Christ who will shine with His nature. Signs and wonders, power ministry, and healing will follow after those the Lord reveals as those who have come to look like Him, carrying the Father’s heart, but the focus of their lives will not fall on the supernatural. Real holiness and genuine supernatural power flow inside out from godly wholeness that results in the kind of intimacy with God that Jesus spoke of when He said that He and the Father were one. Inner change produces outward action and consistently good fruit.