Whom Do WE Listen To? Part 12

Whom Do WE Listen To? Part 12
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Apologetics / Apostasy / Contemporary issues / Scripture discussion / Spiritual deception / Spiritual warfare / The church / Thought for Today / Truth telling

As a new Christian, how does one learn about one’s identity and gifting? Using one’s mind to reflect is a key part of the process.

One learns through studying Scripture, prayer, through learning to recognize God’s leading, godly advice, pastoral wisdom, biblical teaching and sermons, trying various career options, and so forth. Reflecting over and thinking about what one has learned is one key. Over time, as a person explores and grows, they learn about how God has gifted them.

Biblically, the laying on of hands (praying over a person while touching them, typically on a shoulder) takes place during a time of ministry commissioning. Scripture commands that sort of commissioning takes place only after a person’s walk in Christ has been proven. It is not to be done prematurely (see 1 Timothy 5:22).

In contrast, within at least parts of the NAR, one’s future is determined primarily by what an NAR prophet declares about one’s life. One also thinks of Bethel, Redding’s “fire tunnels,” where participants walk between two lines of leaders and receive all sorts of “prophetic words.” Where does one find that in Scripture? One doesn’t. As just mentioned, laying on of hands? Yes. Gifts given through laying on of hands? Yes. That sort of intimidating fire tunnel line and process? No. Absolutely not.

Is a prophetic word necessarily bad or wrong? No. But one must weigh those types of words carefully, compare any “word” to what others may have previously said, and of greatest importance, what Scripture states. Unfortunately, the NAR often reverses the biblical requirement: as noted in a previous post, a new prophetic word by an NAR apostle or prophet has priority.

The active use of one’s mind may be discouraged. Using one’s mind may be equated with the old nature, of unredeemed non-Christian thinking. One does have the mind of Christ, but that can be redefined to mean listening to, and obeying, whatever the “spirit” is saying. The problem is, what “spirit” is speaking? Whom is one following and listening to?

The Bereans were considered more noble, since they searched the Scriptures to see if what they were being told—by the apostle Paul no less—was true. Should we not do the same with the words of NAR apostles and prophets? Scripture warns us to test “prophetic words,” that many false prophets have gone forth. If we don’t test their words against Scripture, we will not recognize a false apostle as being false, nor will we verify true prophetic words.

One of the biggest marks of a cult is the cult teaching a person not to think for themselves. A person is to accept whatever the cult leaders say. The NAR process opens the door to all sorts of potential abuse. As of the time of this writing, we’ve seen confirmed abuses: from sexual grooming and abuse to the use of sleight-of-hand techniques for uttering “genuine” personal prophecies. One wonders, why didn’t NAR prophetic leaders discern these abuses when they were first occurring via their prophetic gifts? Why did those abuses go on for so long?

The flip side, however is also true: abuse does not negate right use. The misuse of spiritual gifts does not negate the gifts themselves. There is also the spiritual reality that Satan counterfeits God’s gifts.

Unfortunately, it gets worse. In the next post we will start to look at “confirmed” NAR prophecies about the end times, the last days, and what they call the final generation of the mortal church.

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