One of the gifts of the Spirit is the gift of prophecy. The new testament is full of stories about prophecy. Paul foretold his own arrest, and he teaches the early church that they must test prophecy.
With the modern Pentecostal/charismatic renewal came the resurgence of the gifts, and in the past few decades a prophetic movement has developed. Men like Bishop Bill Hamon and the late Peter Wagner were well known for teaching on the prophetic and the importance in the life of the church.
In my new book Spirit-Led Living in an Upside-Down World I have an entire chapter about this and give examples of how modern-day prophets have made a huge difference. I also tell some stories of where I’ve been prophesied to or have seen prophecies come true, one of which was the prophecy by Kim Clement that someone like Donald Trump would be elected president for two terms. My book God and Donald Trump was my effort to document those prophecies that came true with Trump’s election in 2016.
However, mixed with the accurate prophecies are the false prophecies, or shall I say false prophets. These false prophets have always have always been with us. Jesus even warned of wolves in sheep’s clothing. Paul warned the early church against false prophets. But who warns Christians today?
In our day, and especially in the charismatic movement, few leaders are willing to speak up. They rationalize that the false prophecies are outside their own circles and outside their area of authority. Or they have a “live and let live” attitude, which is a very American way of seeing things, but it’s hardly biblical when it comes to false prophecies.
My long-time friend Mario Murillo is one of the few who have spoken up to say enough is enough. He’s lost friends and has been criticized for calling out prophets he says are false.
This is especially true about Trump and prophecies saying that he would be re-elected. I believe he won the election and that those like Kim Clement, who more than a decade ago said he’d win a second term, probably heard from the Lord. But the fact is our system put Joe Biden in the White House. Yet there are some sincere, but misguided, Trump zealots who will not face up to reality.
Then there is another type of prophecy that isn’t by a “false prophet,” but it’s wrong. It’s difficult to know if some prophecies come true because the prophecy is not specific or there is a timing issue. Other times it’s clear–for whatever reason, the prophet just missed it. One young prophet named Jeremiah Johnson rose to prominence because of his dreams and prophesies, some of them about Trump. Before the election he had a dream that three things would happen and two did. First the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series. Second, Amy Coney Barrett was named to the U.S. Supreme Court and finally, Donald Trump would be re-elected in 2020.
When Trump was not re-elected, Johnson felt the Lord told him to publicly apologize for his wrong prophecy. He shut down his Jeremiah Johnson Ministries and moved to another state and started over. I recently interviewed him on my Strang Report podcast and he told me about all the hate mail and attacks he got when he did it. Believe it or not, it wasn’t the secular people who don’t believe in Christian prophecy, nor was it the radical Left who were his harshest critics. It was mostly Christians who were rabid Trump supporters who desperately wanted those prophesies Trump would be re-elected to come true! Their attacks weren’t so much that his prophecies were wrong, but that Johnson had turned his back on Trump.
As I said in my podcast with Johnson, I admire the humility he showed by apologizing. He is now experiencing great blessing because of it.
For now, I’m calling on leaders to say enough is enough and to “police” our own by giving correction as the New Testament says Christian leaders should. Paul corrected Peter when Peter was preaching a double standard regarding Gentile believers needing to live up to the Jewish laws rather than being free in Christ.
It’s time for leaders to meet and discuss what to do, including confronting these false prophets according to Matthew 18. In this upside-world it’s more important than ever the body of Christ has our act together. We must stand against this attack by Satan of the church, trying to get us off track and also to bring reproach to the body of Christ. It actually causes Christians to be suspicious of all prophecies. Mario Murillo has spoken up. Now I’m speaking up. Other leaders must stand with us.
One of the most damaging things about false prophets is the lack of care coming from those in leadership simply because a specific false prophet isn’t within their own circle. We aren’t supposed only to call out immorality within our own group of friends or denomination. When something needs to be corrected, it is our job to stand up for what is right. We do not want the government, nor people who hate God, to be the ones calling these people out. False prophets cause reproach on the cause of Christ and they make people skeptical about prophecy.
I have known Mario Murillo for a long time now, and we’ve talked several times about the issue of false prophecy and what we should do in the body of Christ to stand against this monstrosity. I believe our most recent conversation on my Strang Report podcast may just be one of the most timely and important ones we’ve done.
Discerning spirits is critical for deciding if something is from God or not. In a time when more and more false prophets are gaining public voices, my greatest concern is that Christian leaders are not speaking up.
Murillo, a fantastic evangelist and servant of Christ, gave a very honest and candid reasoning for why he believes false prophets must be exposed right now, and why Christians cannot turn a blind eye to false prophecies infiltrating the church.
“I believe that people are being destroyed by false prophets, and I believe that the wave of this we’re seeing right now deserves our undivided attention,” Murillo says. “It’s not to cause division. We don’t need to hear anything about, ‘Well, did you go to them first?’ The answer is yes…we’re doing what the Bible says, what Jesus said and what Paul said: beware of false prophets.”
So, how can we know the difference between the real and the false? Mario says that the Word of God is the standard we must use for every word and prophet we encounter.
“Number one is the Word of God,” Murillo says. “We’re in a time of biblical illiteracy, and because of that, we could simply read the Bible and see how off this person or that person is.”
Murillo specifically called out Robin Bullock and Kat Kerr as false prophets.
“I believe Robin Bullock is a dangerous false prophet and also a cult leader,” Murillo said. “He has all the earmarks of it.”
Murillo believes this about Bullock because of Matthew 12:32 which says that “whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come.” Murillo says that Bullock holds himself to a higher standard than this verse.
“According to Robin Bullock, if you speak against him, you’re going to go insane,” Murillo said. “The problem is to place yourself above Christ, literally by saying ‘anything you say bad about Jesus can be forgiven, but anything bad you say about Robin Bullock could lead you to be insane.’ It’s not scriptural, it’s not right and it’s an obvious example of error.”
Mario and I also discussed Kat Kerr and her supposed visions of heaven that are far from biblical. What’s so concerning about her ministry in particular is that people who knew her, that I spoke with recently, admitted she is bringing in money from those supporting her ministry. The only way we can stop false prophets from speaking up is to stop supporting them financially.
“Kat is telling us everything she’s experienced in heaven, while Paul won’t even admit he was the person that was caught up to the third heaven and saw things that were inexpressible,” Murillo said, referring to 2 Corinthians 12:2.
We must stay vigilant to protect ourselves from false prophets who are sheep in wolves’ clothing. Just because we live in an upside-down world doesn’t mean we have to fall for its schemes. Instead, we can live empowered by the Holy Spirit and walk in the path of God’s truth and light.
To purchase Mario’s book, It’s Our Turn Now, visit MyCharismaShop.com. To purchase my latest book, Spirit-Led Living in an Upside-Down World or to sign up for my newsletter, go to SteveStrangBooks.com.
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
Stephen Strang is the bestselling author of God and Donald Trump. The founder and CEO of Charisma Media, Strang was voted by Time magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America. He has interviewed four U.S. presidents and has been featured on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBN, Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, theDailyCaller.com and in many Christian outlets.
