Discerning False Prophecy: Part Three
Sounding out the ‘Google Prophet’
This is the third of three articles examining the very public ministry of Shawn Bolz, one of the biggest names in the global prophetic movement. View Parts 1 and 2 here and here).
Shawn’s response to critics
Aware of the increasing number of people exposing his dubious means of ministering spiritual gifts, Shawn has felt the need to address his critics, which he did in a chapter in his book, ‘God Secrets’ – ‘Identifying the Counterfeit’.
Here he notes the “many people who, out of deep insecurity and a hunger for significance, have faked their prophetic gifts, especially the gift of words of knowledge. Their ears and egos are tickled when people respond to this powerful gift. They love being the centre of people’s emotional responses to their ministry, and they get a boost from the financial gifts they receive. So, they manufacture a facsimile of the gift, trying to pass it off as authentic.
“…after years in ministry, the pressure to produce prophetic words and keep their ministries going creates a hamster wheel of performance. …. Instead of seeking pure revelation from God, these ministers, overcome with pride and insecurity, choose to fake revelation by searching the Internet. …. This makes me so sad, because hearing from God is supposed to take us out of performing in our strength, not into it!” (p.60).
they manufacture a facsimile of the gift, trying to pass it off as authentic
One might be excused for wondering if this is an uncannily self-description.
Shawn offers a somewhat inadequate response to those Christians who accuse him of “manipulating information to get my word to look good or powerful”. He states that using Facebook and other internet sites for information on targets “would be an exhausting thing to do – to try and figure out who’s going to be at meetings, research those people, and then give very emotional performances” (p.62).
In regard to the ‘research’ at least, this is simply not the case; just a few minutes’ search on the internet can reveal most of the details that Shawn shares with many of his targets, as numerous would-be researchers have discovered, including myself.
Jill’s story
Shawn offers a prominent example in attempt to prove the authenticity of his prophetic gifting. He shares an account of him prophesying over a woman at Bethel Church named Jill. He receives detailed words about Jill’s mother, who had recently passed away. Despite Shawn quoting Jill as later having said; “I am one of those perfect examples of someone you couldn’t have researched online”, nearly all the information Shawn shares – perhaps all of it – was already available online. Given that this was the one solitary life-example that Shawn chose to share in counter-evidence to claims he was using social media to inform his ‘words’, it doesn’t come out well for him.
just a few minutes’ search on the internet can reveal most of the details that Shawn shares with many of his targets, as numerous would-be researchers have discovered, including myself.
At one meeting, Shawn randomly called out the name ‘Bubba’, and, hey presto, a man in the audience responded. Shawn asked him, “Is that your nickname; your family nickname?”. The man said it was his ‘Facebook name’. This seemed to somewhat embarrass Shawn, who, after giving ‘Bubba’ a ‘prophetic word’, tried to explain how God sometimes does weird things like that!
Right address – wrong person
At another meeting, Shawn gets a ‘picture’ in which he sees his friend Kelly standing on a road. From this he quickly deduces that there is someone present with the name Kelly Rhoades. This, of course, is a rather odd inference, until we realise that by beginning with the name of the person, Shawn may well be working backwards here, (as he seems so often in the habit of doing). Indeed, there is a Kelly Rhoades present! Shawn tells her that her mother’s name is Doris and that her birthday is on January 27th (details available on Doris’s FB page, which is linked to Kelly’s FB page).
He then tells her that he “saw Psalm 105 over her family”, then asks if “105 Slaughterhouse” means anything to her. It doesn’t, so Shawn quickly moves on. This seemingly innocent mistake proves to be highly illuminating. By doing a quick search on one of several online directories (such as checkthem.com or beenverified.com), one can discover that Kelly’s mother, Doris Rhoades, lives in Oxford, Pennsylvania (the same town as Kelly).
A different Doris Rhoades lives in another town in that state. The address of that other Doris is – 105 Slaughterhouse! Shawn has confused two completely different people. (These, indeed, are the only two ‘Doris Rhoades’ that crop up on these directories as living in Pennsylvania.)
This single incident confirms beyond reasonable doubt what I and many other Bolz sceptics have strongly suspected for years – Shawn Bolz uses the internet to obtain the information for his ‘words of knowledge’.
It's a fatal mistake, because it reveals beyond reasonable doubt that Shawn did not receive his ‘word’ from the Holy Spirit, nor was it even the random musings of his mind. Rather, it is apparent that he engaged in an online search for ‘Doris Rhoades’, where he found the unusual street address. Is there any other reasonable explanation?
This single incident confirms beyond reasonable doubt what I and many other Bolz sceptics have strongly suspected for years – Shawn Bolz uses the internet to obtain the information for his ‘words of knowledge’.
Cold feet?
There are signs that some others in the prophetic movement are getting frustrated with Shawn’s slick yet highly dubious tactics – some may even be a little jealous of his success. A few years ago, Cindy Jacobs prophesied in somewhat frustrated manner that some ‘Google prophets’ were going to be exposed the following year. Did she specifically have Shawn Bolz in mind?
It’s very interesting that nearly all the YouTube clips of Shawn giving words of knowledge date to 2018 or earlier. Very few appear after that, and I can’t find any at all from the past couple of years – 2022 or 2023. If he’s still sharing words of knowledge at public events, they’re certainly not getting uploaded onto YouTube.
One wonders whether Shawn has at long last become aware that he’s been found out, with more and more people discovering the means by which he appears to be obtaining his ‘words’? Has he got cold feet, desperately hoping no big ‘prophetic’ name is going to expose him, given his voluminous back catalogue of prophetic words, available on YouTube, which can’t so easily be erased?
Is Shawn Bolz a false prophet?
Certainly, his family have shown signs of deep concern. Following criticism on social media for being a ‘Google prophet’, Shawn’s parents felt led to issue a statement, in which they stated: “our son … has been doing this since he was seven years old. He grew up in a household where the gifts were common place. His sisters are also gifted. We know his integrity and his true love for Jesus …”.
One wonders whether Shawn has at long last become aware that he’s been found out, with more and more people discovering the means by which he appears to be obtaining his ‘words’?
Who am I or anyone else to question that Shawn has long possessed a genuine prophetic gifting, and that this was what drew him into the prophetic as a ministry in the first place? Does he still possess that gifting? He may well do; yet, the pressures of public ministry may have made him feel the need to rely on internet sources to back him up and give him added credibility.
But at the very least I can say that in not one of the scores of video clips that I’ve watched where Shawn offers words of knowledge or of prophecy have I noticed anything that would convince me that he is operating in the gifts of the Spirit.
Shawn defines a false prophet as “someone who is intentionally prophesying with an agenda that is not God’s agenda”. Rather “they prophesy out of their own agenda, in their own instinct and what they want … A false prophet is someone who is misleading for the sake of their own benefit, or for the benefit of what they think needs to happen”. Do these words apply to the very man uttering them?
Jesus warned the disciples to: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them” (Matt 7:15-20).
Coming clean
Some prophets rely on divination for their information. There is no sense that Shawn is drawing on dark spiritual sources. He appears, rather, to use more natural means – viz. the internet. Either way, there is strong evidence that he is using deceptive means to hoodwink Christian audiences.
There is no sense that Shawn is drawing on dark spiritual sources. He appears, rather, to use more natural means – viz. the internet.
Surely it is time that Shawn came clean, admitting his deceptive past, and repenting of it – in the hope that God might use him afresh in his genuine God-given giftings.
What does all this say about those global apostles, prophets and church leaders that openly encourage and support Bolz, and who have worked alongside him over many years? Are they part of the scam? And if they are not aware of his methods, one has to question why not? They’ve had long enough to examine his fruit, to talk with him and challenge him.
What does their failure to expose him say about their own discernment? Apostles, prophets and church leaders who have authority over countless thousands of believers that cannot, or will not, distinguish right from wrong, truth from error, are leading the Church astray. In a very real sense, they are blind leaders leading the blind.
More than ever before there is a need for ordinary believers to show real wisdom and discernment. For there is exists much deception, not just within the world’s systems, but right in the midst of the charismatic Church.
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Author:
Tom Lennie