Things the Prophets Told Me
The Time My Hair Inspired A Prophet
One thing about me is that I have long hair. I have always had the kind of hair that people commented on- long, natural, effortlessly flowy and well kept. That is an important detail for the story I’m about to recount because allegedly, God used my hair to spark the message of a prophet one day…
All May Prophesy (Especially if they’re a guest speaker)
My husband and I arrived at Supernatural Ministry School class one evening at our church and noticed a new face in the back of the room. He watched as all of us students filed into the room and took our seats at long tables facing the front.
The visiting speaker was a pastor from another church. He was introduced to the class as being a man who had an extraordinary prophetic gift. He taught on the topic of “All May Prophesy,” which was also the title of one of the required reading books for the class.
The guest prophet broke down how he prophecies. He described imagining something similar to a classroom marker board in his mind. He would focus on the Lord’s presence, wipe away all of his own thoughts from the marker board, and then trust God to write a message or an image on the board. He would then relay this message to the person before him as a word from the Lord specifically for them.
This man finished his time with us by systematically prophesying to every single person in the room.
I happen to have a recording from that day, so I will put the entire prophecy below.
“You know what? When you walked in, I was in the back and the Lord began to speak to me about you.
[At this point, there is a pause and I hear myself on the recording say “Cool”]
And he said that you have this amazing covering that -um- I saw like a shall over you. In fact, I was standing back there, because the Lord was speaking to me, so I was watching you and you reached back and pulled your hair out from the back of your vest or jacket or whatever, and -um- I saw that your hair was really long and -um- the Lord said “That’s your glory.”
[Now, the speaker begins to choke up a bit, as if he is going to cry, and you can hear a couple of people in class let out sounds of awe and wonder]
And that you carry this glory that -um- people can see it on you. And that sometimes the reason that you have to wear that covering is that it’s too much for the people around you, kinda like when Moses comes down off the mountain. And I really feel like the Lord wants to release his glory through you and -um- I see you -um- you know what? When the Lord was asked to show his glory, he said “I’ll show you my goodness.” I feel like goodness seeps out of you, like you just really love doing good things and it’s- most of the time- it’s behind the scenes; nobody knows about it. You’re just doing a little thing here and a little thing there- Blessing this kid, blessing that lady, you know, whatever. But, you just have like- it’s the weirdest thing- I see you like being sneaky with his goodness.
[impersonating me for a moment:] “I’m gonna sneak over here and be good to somebody and release his glory and nobody’s gonna know!” [he also adds in a whoohoo! As if I’m laughing about this scenario]
You know? You’re just like getting into it! It’s like this little thing that the Lord is like, “Oh, that was a good one!” And he’s just so blessed watching you and I see him- Like, you’re walking, like: “Man, I got away with that one” and the Lord’s like: “Yeah! Good one! High five!” But I see you just releasing his goodness and glory and you carry it soooo well. And I want to encourage you in that because you’re carrying his glory and releasing his goodness and he is so pleased. He is so pleased. I am not kidding you- I can see his reaching down and giving you a high five, and it’s not one time. Most people would love that just once in their life. But you’re getting it like about every five minutes! And it’s like: “What’s up?! More!” Ya know? -Um- And I just really feel like you’re just walking out what exact- you’re right in the spot where he wants you to be and releasing his goodness. Okay? So, I just bless you in that. Does that make sense to you?”
The guest speaker then said that he wanted me to know that God had me exactly where I was supposed to be.
At the time, I felt that this prophetic word was really quite accurate. And in many ways I still see details of the message that do well in describing how I carry myself.
I think that it’s entirely possible for God to give someone an impression about the kind of person that they’re meeting for the first time. It’s also entirely possible for someone to have an extraordinarily keen skill of observation which causes them to be able to read a person who they’ve only known for a short amount of time, or to be given information about a room ahead of time.
Interestingly, though, the one point that I remember going home and discussing with my husband was the idea of covering.
Spiritual Covering & the Culture of Honor
For some time, we had been discussing our plans for a future home purchase and where we might go to put down roots as a newlywed couple. My husband had lived in the Midwest for a couple of years and he was excited about potentially going back. I was open to the idea, but I wasn’t ready to make that kind of a move. A big part of my struggle with the thought was the idea of leaving what I perceived to be our spiritual covering.
Our church at the time was pretty obviously preparing us to take leadership roles. We were both helping with the service team, handling tech during service and then splitting up, my husband to help with security and myself assisting with counting tithes & offerings. Not to mention, we had been given scholarships for years 1 & 2 of the Supernatural Ministry school, which was a prerequisite for anyone being in leadership.
All of that being said, I felt like we were in a place where God was promoting us. I also felt that leaving would be removing ourselves from the covering of the Lord. That was a scary prospect, because spiritual covering meant spiritual protection and leaving spiritual protection meant opening ourselves up to attacks of the enemy.
Within New Apostolic Reformation circles, this is serious.
One of the books on the recommended reading list for the Supernatural Ministry school we were attending was Danny Silk’s Culture of Honor. This book is one that has a significant impact on the culture of Bethel Church in Redding, California (where Silk was on staff at the time of the book’s publication). In turn, it has had a great impact on the greater NAR Movement and the churches that fit its mold.
In the book, Silk teaches extensively on the idea of honoring leadership and coming under the spiritual covering of your leaders. It is reminiscent of the Shepherding Movement of the 1970s, in which some Charismatics encouraged hyper-spiritualized mentorships within the church. Spiritual mothers and fathers were set over spiritual sons and daughters who were encouraged to go to their mentors for counsel on every major life decision.
Within the Shepherding Movement, emphasis was placed on community and accountability, in order to combat what many saw as a problem of shallow, noncommittal Christianity. Ultimately, though, this movement has been remembered mostly as problematic.
The kinship between the Shepherding Movement and the current New Apostolic Reformation comes in when looking at church authority and structure. Pastors and Deacons/ Elders are sort of ignored, or at least demoted, in lieu of spiritual fathers and mothers. Apostles are often affectionately called “Dad” or “Mama” by those under their authority in NAR circles.
Within the NAR, believers are encouraged to come under the spiritual authority and blessing of an Apostle, or a Pastor who is submitted to an Apostle, and remain in service and submission under them indefinitely.
Despite flaws, despite faulty theology, despite shortcomings, despite sins and scandals, you remain under their covering. To leave requires getting their express blessing in doing so, or else you are seen as a rebellious child. Outside of the covering. Outside of the blessing. And, often, outside of the assembly- there is no official standard for “shunning” someone who leaves the group, but it seems to happen organically.
Below I have linked a video from the Remnant Radio YouTube channel that goes into reviewing the Culture of Honor book by Danny Silk, and the teachings in it. If you want to take a deep dive into the book without having to read it yourself, this is a helpful resource.
All of this being said, it was a big deal to hear someone who was being propped up as a Prophet saying to me: You have a covering, and it’s the glory and goodness of God.
He didn’t specify that it was contingent on the leadership structure over me. He didn’t stop to remind me that I need to submit to an Apostle or a spiritual father or mother in order to be covered.
That released a burden from my shoulders that I’m not sure I was completely aware of. I had been questioning even the notion of moving to another region, because I didn’t want to come out from under the cover of our church leadership. I was concerned about leaving the blessing and having disaster or destitution meet us wherever we moved.
Once I had this burden removed, and I no longer correlated my leaders with the source of blessing or protection, I think I finally felt okay questioning things. I allowed myself to explore ideas and options that seemed off limits to me previously. And, soon, I found myself moving away from the NAR completely.
We didn’t move to the Midwest, but we did move outside of the covering of our pastor and the Bethel Leadership Network.
Nothing horrible happened. In fact, my husband and I feel that we are quite blessed. We count our blessings all the time.
I pray that anyone who is under the burden of the Culture of Honor, or some variation of this ideology, can come to the realization that their covering is the Lord. His glory, His goodness, His mercy, His grace is your covering.
Men and women are flawed vessels. We can be used by God, but none of us are the voice of God to anyone else.
Thank you for joining me on this journey of reflection. I hope you know, if you are on your own spiritual journey toward fidelity to Christ and His teachings, that you are not alone.
“Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.”
Hebrews 3:1–6, ESV
