We need the prophets. Some prophesy. Some are prophets.

There is a distinct difference between a person who operates in the gift of prophecy and one who functions in the office of the prophet. The prophet is the second office mentioned in the five ascension gifts that Jesus gave the church to mature us for the work of the ministry. The prophet is of paramount importance.

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12, KJV).

When a prophet in the Bible, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, prophesied, he stayed within God’s plan of redemption. No matter what the subject, whether he spoke about the Israelites’ sin or redemption, the prophetic word he spoke dealt with God’s plan of redemption. After the prophets decreed that judgment would come upon the Israelites as a result of their sin, even when the prophets spoke of Babylon or other nations that God used to judge His people Israel, every word the prophets spoke was still within God’s redemptive plan for Israel.

There are Scriptures that declare God raised up nations, such as the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Medes, and the Persians. They were raised to fulfill God’s purpose: to fulfill God’s redemptive plan for Israel.

God did the same thing with the Babylonians. He raised up King Nebuchadnezzar to judge Judah and to purify them. He later used the Medes and Persians to restore the people of Israel to their own land. All this was part of God’s redemptive plan.

God also raised up Cyrus for His purpose in His redemptive plan. In Isaiah 45, it was Cyrus that was mentioned in this prophetic Word, hundreds of years before he was on the throne. God prophesied through Isaiah that Cyrus would be the one who would restore Israel to their homeland and to help them rebuild the temple. The common thread we see here is God’s redemptive plan for His people. The prophetic always stays within the border of God’s redemptive plan.

We find another example of God’s redemptive plan in Isaac’s life. In Genesis 26:1–16, we see the story of Isaac and Abimelech, king of the Philistines. Abimelech made a covenant with Isaac to protect him. Once again, God used an ungodly king so that His redemptive plan might be established through him.

God allowed the Philistines and their mighty champion Goliath to exist so that there could be a David—the same David we all know and love. The Philistines were used by God to promote David from shepherd to warrior to king; He used the enemy army and their champion to fulfill His redemptive plan. Read through the Bible with redemption in mind, and you will see that over and over again, God used men who were ungodly to stand in a position where they would fulfill God’s redemptive plan. {eoa}

The preceding is an excerpt from Benny Hinn’s book, Mysteries of the Anointing (Charisma House, 2022). For more information or to order the book, please visit .

Pastor Benny Hinn is known around the globe as a noted evangelist, teacher and the author of best-selling books, including Good Morning, Holy Spirit; Prayer That Gets Results; Blood in the Sand; and Lamb of God. His television program, This Is Your Day, is among the world’s most-watched Christian programs, seen daily in 200 countries. His popular website and ministry app reach millions of people every single day in areas of the world that may not otherwise hear about the gospel. Through his ongoing multimedia outreach, Pastor Benny continues to take the message of God’s life-saving and miracle-working power around the globe, and to go “into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

Read articles like this one and other Spirit-led content in our new platform, CHARISMA PLUS.

Practicing the presence of the Lord deepens your intimacy with Him. Spending time with God is fuel for the engine of your soul that drives you to know Him (hunger), to walk with Him (faith), and to worship Him (love).

As you give the Lord your time, the Holy Spirit captures you with His Word. You find that when you read the Word, it comes right off the pages and takes hold of your heart. You are drawn into it like never before. Your hunger and faith explode to new levels, and this explosion creates new levels of spiritual growth.

Because you give your time, the Holy Spirit uses His Word to draw you in. When that happens, it’s like an ignition that revs up your soul with combustible power. You are taken into a world you didn’t know existed. When you open your heart and open your Bible, you unlock the exciting new universe of God’s Word.

You can now go into deeper levels of the Word of God, as the Word of God begins to saturate you. His Word begins to cleanse your mind and purify your heart.

“…as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word …” (Eph. 5:25–26, NKJV).

When hunger, faith, and love begin to manifest in your life, they trigger the Word in you at a deeper level than before. That’s what Paul meant by “the power that worketh in us” (Eph. 3:20, KJV). It triggers the Word. The Word ignites communion and fellowship. In turn, communion ignites worship. The three ignitions of the Christian life are the Word, communion, and worship. Once they are activated, they intensify, being ignited by each other. This combustion begins a kind of chain reaction in your spirit, reigniting again and again as you remain in the presence of the Lord.

Amazing things happen when you move deeper in the Word. First, there is a quietness that invades and permeates you. It is a solemn, sacred experience. The abiding anointing stills the soul, while the empowering anointing stirs the soul. Second, moving deeper in the Word creates depth in your communion with the Lord. Third, worship erupts on a level you’ve never known before. Deep communion ignites dynamic, explosive worship!

When worship erupts, God’s presence manifests and becomes tangible to us. His dunamis power begins to work in us, bringing us to that place Paul talked about in Ephesians 3:20 when he said, “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” That tangible presence of the Lord begins to transform you into His image.

As you practice the presence, three things happen:

– God increases your hunger, faith, and love for Him.

– Power explodes in you, bringing you into the depths of the Word where the Lord reveals Himself to you.

– Dynamic worship in the Spirit ignites and brings the transformation of the Lord into your life. Now you are transformed from glory to glory. The transformation from your image into the Lord’s image begins at this point and will be complete when we see His precious face on that glorious day!

Developing deep fellowship with God is imperative, yet it seems so basic that many Christians overlook it. Please learn this: You cannot afford to neglect spending time with God. This is where you develop a deep fellowship with Him. It is essential because it builds a mighty foundation under you. When God begins to use you in your call to Christian ministry, that foundation of fellowship is your anchor. You are built upon the rock, Christ Jesus. You’re not built upon sinking sand. That daily time of deep fellowship is building your life on the Lord and His Word.

Eventually the Lord will begin to trust you with the empowering anointing for ministry. Because you’ve given Him your time and grown through divine Word revelations and intense worship, God’s presence is tangible in your life. That’s when God says, “I can trust you,” and He anoints you with the empowering anointing of Acts 1:8. Then the gifts of the Spirit come alive because of the empowering anointing upon your life.

Worship is so intense, it ignites the Word; then the Word ignites revelation and worship, and it just keeps going back and forth in a spiritual chain reaction. This chain reaction is what brings you into a place of total transformation where God begins to re-create your image into His.

The preceding was excerpted from chapter 5 of Benny Hinn’s book Mysteries of the Anointing (Charisma House, 2022). For more information or to order the book, please visit .

Pastor Benny Hinn is known around the globe as a noted evangelist, teacher and the author of best-selling books, including Good Morning, Holy Spirit; Prayer That Gets Results; Blood in the Sand; and Lamb of God. His television program, This Is Your Day, is among the world’s most-watched Christian programs, seen daily in 200 countries. His popular website and ministry app reach millions of people every single day in areas of the world that may not otherwise hear about the gospel. Through his ongoing multimedia outreach, Pastor Benny continues to take the message of God’s life-saving and miracle-working power around the globe, and to go “into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

Read articles like this one and other Spirit-led content in our new platform, CHARISMA PLUS.

In 2 Kings 4:16–29, the Shunammite woman found Elisha and told him her son had died. So Elisha said to his servant Gehazi, “Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child” (v. 29, KJV).

Nothing happened when Gehazi laid the staff on the boy, because he had been distracted. Elisha had warned him not to talk to anyone because distraction kills the anointing; it shuts down the flow and takes it away from you. Nevertheless, that does not change the fact shown here that the empowering anointing can be transferred to an inanimate object such as this staff.

Another Scripture shows the empowering anointing being transferred to a dead body. How else could Elisha’s bones raise the Amalekite man in 2 Kings 13? The empowering anointing that remained on the bones of Elisha after he had been buried came in contact with the body of the recently deceased Amalekite man; and that empowering anointing was transferred from Elisha’s bones into the second man’s dead body, reviving him and bringing him back to life, and the man stood to his feet.

The empowering anointing can be transferred through somebody’s hands. Acts 19 says that Paul’s hands transferred the Holy Spirit’s power. His hands became the channel of power. Through that channel, the empowering anointing was released into pieces of cloth that had been brought, and once the empowering anointing was stored in these remnants, it remained there until it was connected to its purpose.

“And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them” (Acts 19:11-12).

We Can Impart This Anointing

The empowering anointing is the only anointing we can impart. I cannot lay hands on anyone and say, “Be saved.” Neither can I impart the abiding anointing of 1 John 2:27 that comes at salvation because that is the Lord. I cannot impart the Lord.

I cannot put my hands on someone and say, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” That’s not even scriptural. But I can impart the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Only the Lord Jesus gives the Holy Spirit. (See John 20:22.)

Yet we, the church, can impart the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. This is the empowering anointing of Acts 1:8. This is the anointing God rubs on you. God applies the empowering anointing on Spirit-filled individuals whom He has entrusted to fill a specific position.

This Anointing Affects Our Weakness

As I write this, I know that each of us has at least one weakness. When the empowering anointing comes on individuals, it magnifies everything. If your weakness is not under control, the empowering anointing will stir it up because the anointing on you stirs up everything—good and bad. The empowering anointing on you affects your body and soul. It doesn’t affect your spirit.

The abiding anointing, the anointing in you, affects your spirit and your spiritual life. But the empowering anointing, which is on you for ministry, affects your body and soul. It affects your emotions and your physical strength. That’s why under the anointing, people get loud. They get bold, aggressive. It’s the result of the empowering anointing stirring everything up. It’s a good thing because it makes them strong. But it also stirs up the bad stuff— including any weakness in a person’s life.

The only way you can control your flaws is in the presence of the Lord. When you practice the presence of Jesus, that weakness has nowhere to go. It shrivels up. It’s under control. It’s still there but it has no sound, no place. It’s as though it’s paralyzed, unresponsive. When you minister under the empowering anointing of God, that weakness doesn’t show up because the presence of God under the abiding anointing took care of it earlier.

For example, imagine someone who lies a lot. He’s always lying about something. He grew up lying because he lived in fear of his dad, mom or teacher, and he learned to lie his way out of trouble. (All lies begin with fear. If a person is not delivered, the lie becomes a demonic stronghold.) So now he’s always lying and can’t stop.

But in the presence of God, that lying stronghold loses its power and becomes shriveled. That man always tells the truth when the Lord Jesus is there. He can control the lying because he spends time living in the presence of God, which is the price he must pay to gain this control. The price, I repeat, is spending time with Him. Time with the Lord Jesus is the price that must be paid to gain this control over our weaknesses.

Remember, the empowering anointing magnifies everything in a person—good and bad. People are at their best when God anoints them. However, not only does the best come out, but so does the worst.

This is why the greatest failures happen after the greatest moments of being used by God—regardless of what your ministry is. Your greatest moment is your most dangerous moment because when God uses you, everything is magnified. The majority of ministry leaders who fall into sin do so after their greatest moments.

After a great spiritual victory and a mighty flow of the empowering anointing, our weaknesses can surface and try to overtake us. We must be aware of this sabotage and strengthen ourselves through personal time with the Lord.

The empowering anointing in your life will flow through whatever God has called you to do as a Christian. You might be called to a full-time position in a church or large ministry. Perhaps God will use you as an entrepreneur, a business professional, a schoolteacher, a craftsman, an artist, a musician or a writer. God can use you in your role as a spouse, parent or grandparent.

Whatever your calling, it is the empowering anointing that enables you to fulfill it. {eoa}

The preceding is an excerpt from chapter 10 of Benny Hinn’s book, Mysteries of the Anointing (Charisma House, 2022). For more information or to order the book, please visit .

Pastor Benny Hinn is known around the globe as a noted evangelist, teacher and the author of best-selling books, including Good Morning, Holy Spirit; Prayer That Gets Results; Blood in the Sand; and Lamb of God. His television program, This Is Your Day, is among the world’s most-watched Christian programs, seen daily in 200 countries. His popular website and ministry app reach millions of people every single day in areas of the world that may not otherwise hear about the gospel. Through his ongoing multimedia outreach, Pastor Benny continues to take the message of God’s life-saving and miracle-working power around the globe, and to go “into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

Read articles like this one and other Spirit-led content in our new platform, CHARISMA PLUS.

The times in which we are now living are unlike any the world has ever known. There is an escalation in the intensity of spiritual battle in the heavenlies. Every nation on the planet is caught up in the prophetic unfolding of the end times before our very eyes. In these daunting days, in this prophetic climate, there has been an overabundance of people claiming to have a prophetic word to share, a warning or a decree that they say comes from God.

There’s so much today that is called prophetic that is not prophetic. So many voices in the world today claim to be prophetic voices, so many people claim to be prophets, but most of these do not even understand the office of the prophet, let alone have the anointing of God to hold such an office. Many are believers who have simply been misled about the anointing of the prophet, the gift of prophecy, and the office of the prophet, if they have been taught about such things at all.

The second chapter of Joel is often quoted in reference to the gift of prophecy, and rightly so. But there are three things this passage tells us about prophecy that most people miss. Let us take a deeper look at what this familiar Scripture is telling us.

First, Joel 2 declares that prophesying will take place “afterward.” After what? To answer this, you have to look at what Joel said earlier. Joel 1:14 (KJV) says, “Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD, your God.” God is asking His people to seek Him, call on Him, and cry out to Him. In Joel 1, God calls His people to intercession, and in Joel 2, He tells them what will come afterward. Intercession gives birth to the prophetic.

Second, in Joel 2:28, God says, “I will pour out my spirit.” He didn’t say pour down. If it was to be poured down, that would mean that He would be pouring it from heaven onto the earth. No, what Joel tells us here reveals that is not the case. Pour out means it’s in your heart already. At salvation, the Lord already filled you with His Spirit. If you are saved, His Spirit is in you. Because the Holy Spirit is in each of us, the prophetic is already in every believer. It is already in you.

Third, God clearly states in verse 30, “I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke,” which is judgment. To understand more about the prophetic releasing judgment, let’s look at the book of Acts. Peter quotes a passage in Joel 2 when he tells the crowd what happened on the day of Pentecost.

We’re living in exhilarating days for the church. There’s no doubt that the Lord is restoring the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In order to prepare for these exciting days, we are in great need of a better understanding of the realms in which the prophetic anointing operates.

The preceding is an excerpt from chapter 20 of Benny Hinn’s The Mystery of the Prophetic Anointing (Charisma House, 2022). For more information or to order the book, please visit .

Pastor Benny Hinn is known around the globe as a noted evangelist, teacher and the author of best-selling books, including Good Morning, Holy Spirit; Prayer That Gets Results; Blood in the Sand; and Lamb of God. His television program, This Is Your Day, is among the world’s most-watched Christian programs, seen daily in 200 countries. His popular website and ministry app reach millions of people every single day in areas of the world that may not otherwise hear about the gospel. Through his ongoing multimedia outreach, Pastor Benny continues to take the message of God’s life-saving and miracle-working power around the globe, and to go “into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

Read articles like this one and other Spirit-led content in our new platform, CHARISMA PLUS.

Pastor John Alarid recalled vision casting for his church plant. He is a recovered heroin addict and intended to welcome addicts and ex-cons to church. Over five years later, his faith blossomed into a growing ministry. He used his church’s marquee to announce, ‘Welcome Junkies, Felons and Saints.’ He was steadfast believing for God’s promises while standing firm on Luke 15 and Matthew 25.

Ongoing challenges from the pandemic found Freedom City Church facing a crisis by late 2021, unable to meet mortgage obligations. After reaching out to local congregations, Alarid, founder and lead pastor, spoke with Pastor John Lindell of James River Church. JRC took up collections shortly after, raising enough to satisfy the loan balance along with a prophetic word, “More than enough is coming in today for this work,” Alarid wrote on Facebook.

Lindell later invited Alarid and his wife and co-pastor, Hannah-Rose, to visit the James River family. Upon taking the stage at JRC, Lindell greeted them with the words, “We have a Christmas gift for you,” presenting a check large enough to pay the balance in full, over $630,000.

God spoke to Marcus Lamb while he was on a trip to Israel telling him to found a Christian television station in Alabama. In 1985, he built WMCF-TV, the first Christian station there. In 1990, Marcus and wife, Joni, moved to Dallas and built KMPX-TV 29.

“Through a series of miracles and divine favor, TV 29 went on the air in September of 1993,” the Daystar website says. “Daystar Television Network officially launched in 1997 with a live broadcast of T.D. Jakes’ New Year’s Eve service at the Potter’s House Church in Dallas.” The network is the fastest-growing faith-based television network in the world. The Lambs’ popular Marcus and Joni program, broadcast live, supplemented their regular ministry at churches around the nation to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lamb began preaching as an evangelist at 15, skipping his senior year of high school to enroll in Lee University of Cleveland, Tennessee. He founded Word of God Fellowship in Macon, Georgia, in 1981. Lamb became known as the “walking Bible” because he quoted so many Scriptures in his messages.

Marcus Lamb died of COVID-19 complications at the age of 64. He was hospitalized at Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Dallas, where he was improving prior to a sudden downturn. He is survived by his wife and their children and grandchildren.

Sean Feucht, worship leader and recording artist, was joined by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at Feucht’s Let Us Worship New Year’s Eve celebration in Miami. Feucht performed and also prayed over DeSantis and his wife, Casey, who is undergoing cancer treatment.

As reported by Fox News, Feucht prayed, “I thank You Lord that in the midst of a pandemic and tyrannical governors and leaders, Lord You raised up godly men and women to stand up for our rights, the church and to stand up for the constitution.”

Feucht has been active in recent years starting several global movements including “Burn 24-7,” on prayer and worship, “Light A Candle,” on missions and compassion and “Hold the Line,” a political effort to lead the church back to its civic duty. His “Let Us Worship” events began in 2020 during the depths of the pandemic lockdowns. In an interview later that year on The Strang Report podcast, Feucht said, “It’s the height of hypocrisy that people would really target the church … because we didn’t see that with thousands of protestors.”

The Let Us Worship movement has several events scheduled for 2022 beginning in March in Louisiana.

Generation Z has unlimited potential to become the greatest generation ever. So says Oral Roberts University president Dr. Billy Wilson in his new book, Generation Z: Born for the Storm. Children and young adults born between 1997 and 2012 are now the largest generation alive, bigger even than their Baby Boomer grandparents. ORU’s Wilson believes Gen Z’ers natural comfort with digital technology and the various conflicts into which they were born fortifies them for future accomplishments. Already Gen Z is outpacing their Generation-X parents as the most entrepreneurial generation in American history. Wilson sees a breathtaking future for Gen Z in outpourings of the Holy Spirit and widespread revival.

Born into a prominent Assemblies of God family, Doug Wead rose from traveling evangelist to insider at the highest levels in Washington. His fundraiser in the Carter White House grew into Mercy Corps, a humanitarian aid agency that has distributed over $2 billion in food and medicine since 1979. Wead later won support among evangelicals while serving on President George H. W. Bush’s White House staff.

Wead was a historian and New York Times best-selling author of over two dozen books, including 2019’s Inside Trump’s White House: The Real Story of His Presidency. He was a political advisor to President George H. W. Bush and President George W. Bush, providing successful inroads to the charismatic and evangelical Christian communities for both presidents.

Wead is credited with coining the phrase “compassionate conservative,” a rallying point for young conservatives during Texas governor Bush’s presidential campaign. Wead was memorialized by friends and family as a man who loved Jesus and gave God his best.

George O. Wood, the former general superintendent of the Assemblies of God, died at the age of 80 after a brief bout with cancer. He held the office with the AG for 10 years, retiring in 2017. In his final months, Wood kept friends, family and social media followers apprised of his ongoing condition through his naturally upbeat Facebook posts. He maintained his well-known cheerful presence with his care team during his treatments. In an interview with his AG successor, Doug Clay, Wood said he was as spiritually strong as ever, even as he was physically weak.

Wood distinguished himself during his season leading the Assemblies of God. The denomination grew in both church and member population. He also advanced the demographic diversity within the AG, including the number of women ministers. Among many other activities Wood also remained co-chairman of Empowered21, the global ministry movement to bring Holy Spirit encounters to the nations.