Growing In The Apostolic

Growing in the Prophetic
Ambushed by God
A few months later, I encountered the first public prophetic word that was
aimed at me; of course, I didn’t believe it. This preacher called me out and
said, “Young man at the back of the room, God’s going to shift you from
where you are, and you will begin to regularly teach hundreds of young
adults—immediately.”
“Not me,” I thought to myself. I was not going to remain in America to
run a youth ministry. I had already made arrangements to join a missionary
organization in Mexico City. I set my heart on spending my life in Mexico
and South America. I rejected this prophetic word and said to myself, “This
cannot be.” Then the preacher continued to prophesy by saying, “Even
though you say in your heart this very moment, ‘This cannot be,’ God will
do it immediately.” People were clapping. I just wanted to get out of there.
The very next week I drove an hour to visit a friend in St. Louis and accidentally
met the pastor of the largest charismatic church in the region. It
has several thousand members. He looked at me and said, “I know we are
strangers, but I have an unusual request for you. The Lord just spoke to me
and said that you are supposed to teach our Saturday night service where
over one thousand young adults gather each week.” Before I could think
about it, I heard myself say yes. I was shocked that I had so quickly agreed
to teach in a charismatic church. It seemed like a compromise to accept this
invitation. I was embarrassed. What would my friends think? They were also
anti-charismatic.
I reluctantly went to the service, and after I finished teaching, the pastor
came to the platform to end the service and asked if the young people wanted
me to come back the next week. They applauded, so under the pressure of the
moment, I agreed to be the speaker the next week. The same thing happened
the following Saturday night. They were so receptive to me that I began to
conclude that I was being sent there by God to change their wrong theology.
I agreed to teach there for the next twelve Saturday nights in a row.
The next month, on my wedding day, the elders of my little country church
had a private meeting with the pastor of this large charismatic church during
the wedding reception. They agreed that I should be the next youth pastor
at this large church. Without ever consulting me, they simply made this