Discerning False Prophecy: Intro & Part One

 06 Oct 2023  Editorial

 

In pursuit of the prophet

In November 2022, Prophecy Today published an article entitled Discerning False Prophecy. It was to be the first of three articles examining the ministry of Shawn Bolz, one of the biggest names in the global prophetic movement.

It was only after publishing the first article in the series, which served as an introduction to Bolz’s ministry, that we felt it was only right and proper to put our concerns and queries to Shawn directly, thus delaying the rest of the series. I contacted his ministry, requesting the possibility of a zoom interview with him amidst his busy schedule. His PA replied to my email, stating that while Shawn was too busy to be able to offer a zoom interview, he would be more than happy to respond to a few questions via email.

It was difficult determining which questions to ask. I wanted to be as gracious as possible, yet at the same time, was aware this was probably our one and only chance to connect with him. I felt no choice but to present some of our deepest held and most honest concerns, all in one.

The questions, therefore, included genuinely curious ones, such as “Do you find yourself getting ‘words’ for people involuntarily, almost everywhere you go, 24/7?” and “Do you get fed up with friends and family continually asking, ‘Have you got a word for me?’”.

But also, I asked ones relating to deeper concerns, such as “How do you respond to those who continue to insist that there is strong evidence that you get much of your detailed information from online sources?” and his opinion on the modern prophetic movement (e.g., many big-name prophets declared that Trump would win a second consecutive presidential term).

We waited some weeks for a reply, but none was forthcoming. Eventually, we emailed Shawn’s PA, who told us that Mr Bolz had decided against answering our questions. No further explanation was given. We were genuinely disappointed at this, especially given his initial welcoming gesture. Which of our questions had he taken especial dislike to?, we pondered.

In the absence of cooperation from Mr Bolz, we felt it right to go ahead with our short series investigating his prophetic ministry. We will publish Parts 2 and 3 in coming weeks.

Meantime, we present again Part 1 in the series, subtitled, Insights from the ‘Prophetic Movement’.
  When the Kansas City Prophets came to prominence in the late 1980s, being paraded across the Western world by Vineyard leader John Wimber, they were welcomed with open arms by vast swathes of the charismatic Church. Clifford Hill and his ministry colleagues at Prophecy Today were among the very few from within the charismatic movement who bravely exposed some of their false prophecies, occultic connections and extra biblical experiences. “It did enormous harm to the Charismatic movement in the USA, Britain and other nations”, Dr Hill said. “It brought confusion and division to churches of all denominations that had opened up to the charismatic”.

 

A new generation emerges

The most prominent of the Kansas City Prophets have passed away in the last decade, notably Bob Jones, Paul Cain and John Paul Jackson. In their place, a whole new generation of prophets has emerged, many of whom regarded these KCP forbears as true friends; mentors whom they continue to look up to with the deepest of respect.

Many of these current prophets have themselves been in ministry for several decades, and form part of the global prophetic movement, a loosely connected body of self-proclaimed prophets, most of whom are based in America. Prominent names within the movement are Cindy Jacobs, Chuck Pierce, Jim Goll, Bobby Conner and Stacey Campbell.
 

A whole new generation of prophets has emerged, many of whom regarded these KCP forbears as true friends; mentors whom they continue to look up to with the deepest of respect.

In this three-part series we will draw focus on one of the biggest names on the prophetic 'scene' - Shawn Bolz - and, perhaps more significantly, consider the implications of our findings for the wider movement.

I should state at the outset that despite deep concerns over aspects of his ministry, I personally believe Bolz to be a warm-hearted man who truly loves the Lord and genuinely wants to encourage other believers and help them in developing their spiritual giftings.
 

A prophet of high acclaim

Shawn Bolz is a world renown author, public speaker and spiritual coach based in Los Angeles. Born in 1974, he worked as a video games designer before devoting himself to full-time Christian ministry in the late ‘90s, where he was mentored by the likes of Peter Wagner and Mike Bickle. He is recognised as possessing the gift of personal prophecy with almost unparalleled accuracy. His regular stream of books sell in their tens of thousands, and believers flock from great distances to hear him speak at conferences and other events.

Renowned ‘prophets’, ‘apostles’ and church leaders such as Kris Vallotton, Randy Clark, James Goll, Heidi Baker, Sid Roth, Lou Engle and Patricia King queue up to offer enthusiastic endorsements for each new publication, almost certain to be a next inspirational best-seller. There are few bigger names in the entire prophetic movement than Shawn Bolz.
 

First impressions

Ironically, Bolz’s real fame is not as a prophet at all, nor as a writer, preacher or inspirational teacher. His true acclaim is as one who gives extraordinarily specific and accurate words of knowledge.

Shawn is quite open in declaring some of his major influences to be Bob Jones and Paul Cain. He dedicated his book, ‘Translating God’ to Jones, with whom he spent much time and who he considered his “favourite prophetic mentor”. He also had strong personal connections with Cain, who he described as having a gift of prophecy on a level that was ‘down to earth and authentic’ and which ‘just seemed unattainable’.
 

I found it hard to believe he could be underhand or fraudulent. At the same time, something struck me as being not quite right about his ministry.

I first heard of Shawn Bolz over a decade ago, when a friend raved of his ministry. I started looking up his name on the internet, where I found scores of YouTube clips of him ‘in action’ at public events. I confess I was quickly won over by his down to earth, friendly and seemingly transparent style. I found it hard to believe he could be underhand or fraudulent. At the same time, something struck me as being not quite right about his ministry.

 

Unorthodox methodology

Bolz follows a similar basic routine in nearly all his ‘prophetic’ performances. He begins by declaring the name of an individual or a married couple that God has revealed to him – e.g., “Is there a Nathan and Cynthia here tonight?”. Invariably, two arms wave enthusiastically from somewhere in the auditorium. Shawn goes on to provide further specific details about these people; names of other family members, birthdays, anniversaries, business names, etc. On clear confirmation that the prophet has a hot line to God, Shawn then goes on to offer words of prophecy to these individuals.

This practise is clearly at odds with how those with prophetic gifting have traditionally operated. Prophets generally identify the person they wish to connect with, then proceed to speak into their lives as the Spirit directs. Shawn gets his ‘words’ first, apparently having no idea who they’re for; the ‘targets’ must identify themselves.
 

Bolz often reads his information directly from his smartphone – prophetic words that he has ‘prepared’ earlier.

A number of matters increasingly concerned me. Shawn has the uncanny knack of almost always getting his words right – down to the tiniest of details. Further, most psychics and clairvoyants, when giving ‘readings’, make every attempt to convince the public that their gifting is genuine. Bolz, on the other hand, often reads his information directly from his smartphone – prophetic words that he has ‘prepared’ earlier.

 

An ‘untypical’ prophet

Bolz hardly fits the bill for what many might view as a 'typical' sort of prophet: piercing eyes, reserved personality, slightly odd appearance and behaviour. On the contrary, he comes over as the sort of chap you’d like to hang out with and have as a personal friend.

He also has a fine stage presence – relaxed and chilled, and interacting easily with his audience. He’s got a good sense of humour, forever issuing quirky lines, which his audience adores, and which clearly endears him to them. He comes over with a sense of modesty; people warm to him within minutes of his appearing on stage.
 

He comes over with a sense of modesty; people warm to him within minutes of his appearing on stage.

On occasions, however, his modesty appears over-stretched. He regularly seems to feign a little unsurety of his gifting, prefacing words of knowledge with expressions like “I’m really not sure about his, but hey – I’m gonna risk it…”. Most telling of all is his show of feigned surprise when he shares a ‘risky’ word and someone acknowledges it. His expressions of shock and surprise are strikingly unconvincing – suggesting that he’s participating in some form of ‘performance’.
 

Social media psychics

Every now and then, maverick preachers have found novel means of presenting impressive ‘words of knowledge’. US healing evangelist, Peter Popoff was exposed in 1986 for using a concealed earpiece to receive radio messages from his wife, who was seated backstage and who had obtained the information from attendees’ registration cards, or by chatting with them prior to the service. She readily reeled off the names, addresses, and ailments of audience members to him by radio-link, Popoff using this information to impress and disarm his audience, before pretending to ‘cure’ them through faith healing. (Disturbingly, Popoff is still in operation today).

These days, new methods are available. It is well known that an astonishing amount of personal information can be gleaned through online searches – especially for those with social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It is estimated that over 70% of Americans have Facebook accounts (the percentage is far higher for those under 50). A great many of these have their Facebook accounts set to ‘public’, meaning that anyone (not just FB ‘friends’) can view their accounts – often stretching back many years.



Jack Vale is an American comedian and YouTube ‘psychic’ who searches what people in the same geographic location as him are posting on social media. He identifies some of these people on the street, sharing with them personal details about their lives, invariably to the unsuspecting individuals’ amazement. Those targeted generally assume that Jack has genuine psychic powers, until he confesses he is merely conducting a ‘social media experiment’.
 

It is estimated that over 70% of Americans have Facebook accounts (the percentage is far higher for those under 50).

Interestingly, because Jack picks out his targets from the crowd rather than getting them to identify themselves, and because he pretends to receive his words spontaneously rather than by reading from a smartphone, he comes over with more authenticity than anything Bolz achieves. Yet Shawn is conducting no ‘experiment’ – his ministry is supposedly for real.

 

Comparison: Paul Cain

In his book 'The Holy Spirit is NOT for Sale’, Lee Grady, former editor of Charisma magazine, refers to a large charismatic meeting in San Antonio, Texas in 1989. Paul Cain delivered a sermon, after which he offered prophecies to about ten individuals or couples.


To one pastor and his wife, personal friends of Grady’s, Cain mentioned the number '4001' (their church office was located at 4001 Newberry Road) and predicted they would experience great revival in their Florida city. He then asked if ‘Mark and Debbie’ from Washington DC were in the audience, mentioning ‘139 C’ to them (their ministry office was located at 139 C Street, near the US Capitol). Cain told them revival would someday impact Capitol Hill.

Most people left the meeting astounded at Cain’s prophetic accuracy. But Grady was disturbed that many who received words were part of the full-time staff of the ministry sponsoring the conference. Further, most of the information Cain relayed to attendees was printed in a staff address directory that was easily available to conference speakers.
 

Most of the information Cain relayed to attendees was printed in a staff address directory that was easily available to conference speakers.

A year later, Grady did some research, only to discover that most of the prophetic words conveyed by Cain in San Antonio had failed to come to pass. The church on 4001 Newberry Road had closed, most members having left the city, including the pastor and his wife (who later divorced). ‘Mark and Debbie’ resigned their pastoral positions, and the 139 C Street office was rented to another group while the church moved to the suburbs. Another young man – who had been told by Cain he would orchestrate a fruitful ministry in southern California – told Grady he had moved to Texas. A missionary who received a word from Can that night later left the mission field disillusioned.
 

Is he for real?

Of course, just because there is evidence Cain used other than supernatural means to obtain his ‘words of knowledge’ on one occasion, doesn’t of itself imply he didn’t have a genuine prophetic gifting; nor does it imply he always used deceptive means to minister to people.

The same, of course, applies to Cain’s protegee, Shawn Bolz. This notwithstanding, I am aware of considerable evidence to suggest that all may not be as it seems in Bolz’s ministry. We will take a look at that evidence in Part Two of this series.
 

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