Things the Prophets Told Me
Encountering the Cross-Carrying Prophet in My Neighborhood
Last week on my drive home, I noticed a man standing still, posing with a large wooden cross. He was standing outside of the local carwash and laundry mat. He had shoulder length brown hair, wore plain work clothes, and had a light skin tone. He looked like a lot of the folks in my small rural town.
I was puzzled, but I knew carrying a cross had been used as an evangelism tool in the past. I figured the guy was emulating Arthur Blessitt.
A day or two later, I was on a walk with my husband, Jeff, and our dog. Jeff was wearing a bright T-shirt with the Word YHWH printed on the front.
A passerby complimented Jeff on his shirt & asked if he was a pastor. I looked up (Oregonians don’t look at passersby, we just smile a little while not making eye contact & quickly walk past). It was the guy with the cross. He wasn’t caring it now, but I was fairly certain it was him.
He soon confirmed it, when he and Jeff got into a brief conversation. He said that he had given up everything for his current ministry, which was to carry the cross across the width and breadth of the United States.
When he asked Jeff if he was a pastor, Jeff told him that although he had gone to Bible college, he was not a pastor. The vagabond minister began to get a serious look to his face & his cadence changed from that of a friendly passerby to that of a proclaimer of prophetic insight. He told us that he believed Jeff would be put into ministry.
Jeff politely said thank you. The man then doubled down, saying that it was certain & it was a prophetic word he was giving- that Jeff would be uprooted & put into ministry.
He then shared that he had left everything, including a farm, to follow his calling.
His large, worn looking motorhome stood a block down the street, parked in an otherwise empty parking lot. The large cross was set up behind it, just out of view.
The traveling prophet went on to tell Jeff that he should take heed of Ephesians 4:8, quickly giving a sermonette about Christ giving gifts to men- naming the five fold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. He apparently felt he was calling my husband into his ministry with this prophetic word.
Jeff said thank you again, while I stood aside looking at text messages on my phone & tried not to look entirely unimpressed or rude. It’s not easy.
It’s not easy because I’ve been in this guys’ shoes before to a certain degree. I remember thinking God was telling me to do things, go places, tell people things. I remember the fear before following through & the high of walking away having obeyed.
I look back on that time in my life & see myself as foolish, full of zeal without wisdom. I know now that what I thought was God whispering to me was actually intuition, good intentions, and my own desire to see the miraculous manifest in my life.
Watching this all take place, I was secondhand embarrassed for the guy, because I’m embarrassed of my past self.
As we walked away from this encounter, the wandering prophet began singing loudly, obviously feeling charged up in zeal for the Lord. He sang the chorus lines of the popular worship ballad “Good Good Father,” leaving it stuck in my head for the duration of my walk with the family.
Conversation ensued when the stranger was out of earshot.
My husband shared how well meaning Christian people consistently ask him about when he is going to get into Ministry, and it’s a frustration.
Jeff has felt for a long time that his line of work (he has worked with high risk/ troubled youth for many years) is a ministry & that he is needed more in the work force than in a pulpit somewhere.
We talked about how vocation is Ministry, even though it doesn’t fit into the mold given by people like our temporary troubadour neighbor.
Most of us will minister to those within our circle of home and work, without ever addressing a church crowd. This is normal & noble for the Christian. We ought to learn to walk uprightly in our everyday lives & find moments to minister the truth to those who are receptive as we fulfill our vocational calling.
It’s interesting how the prophet didn’t know the truth of my husband’s heart on the matter. It’s interesting how predictable a prophecy it was, to tell someone who has graduated from Bible school that they’re destined to be a pastor.
It’s just interesting.
The question remains- Are the prophets of today prophesying out of revelation from God or their own presumption?
