Dear Members of the Prophetic-School List,

Think back to your experiences while you were in school. Remember the teachers, your peers, the classwork, the homework, the tests, the pressures, the failures, the successes, the fun and above all, the education and personal growth and preparation you gained from your time in school. Whatever your memories of the time you spent in school, gaining education for your future, now you see the benefits produced from the structure and training received during that time. Imagine how things might be if you had not had the benefit of the training you received in school. Imagine having to learn by the "school of hard knocks", or purely experience alone. Many of us would probably have more questions and less answers if this had been the case with us.

Consider that in 2 Timothy 2:15, the scripture tells us to "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (KJV). In addition, 1 Corinthians 14:40 says, "Let all things be done decently and in order" (KJV). If we apply these scriptures to our training in the prophetic, then it might seem appropriate that a "school of the prophets" (or more appropriately, a school for today's prophetic people) would be in order for us to become properly prepared to be able to hear the voice of the Lord, for ourselves and for others and to also know what the Lord expects in terms of character from those He would regularly use to speak on His behalf to others. With this in mind, the prophetic school core has felt it appropriate to begin "class" in earnest beginning in January of 1998 and to offer a practical and proven "how-to" course for those who want to deepen their ability and confidence in moving in the prophetic. This class was such a success that we try to offer it annually, in January of each year.

This course will start at a most basic level and progressively move to more involved levels of the prophetic. At the very least, the teaching material and practice sessions (called activations) will improve a persons devotional life by helping us know how to be quiet and listen to the Holy Spirit more effectively. In more gifted individuals, the activations have the potential to reveal a true prophetic gift and ability to "flow" in the prophetic. This course will not make prophets of those whom the Lord has not called as prophets and hence, should not be seen as the means of one's release in the local church to prophesy at will. We know that only some have been called to the governmental office of the prophet (Ephesians 4:11) and they must go through considerable training and preparation before they are commissioned by the Lord. We do know however, that all the members of the Body of Christ are called to be prophetic, to prophesy according to 1 Corinthians 14:1,5,12.

All of us are called by the Lord to be ministers to Him and for Him. We must all be willing to be properly and fully prepared by the Lord, to allow Him to set our timing for whatever level of prophetic release He may have in mind for each of us. This release is called the commission. The call simply begins the process of the preparation. Once the Lord sees that we have successfully finished the process of preparation, then and only then comes the commission. We do not want to commission ourselves - the Lord must be the one to send us - and it must be in His timing if we are to be fully prepared. Our desire is to provide some foundational tools that are proven and effective in allowing the Holy Spirit to begin the development of that spiritual "sense" within each of us to be able to recognize and properly discern the Lord's voice.

Since this is a prophetic school, most of us joined this list with a desire to learn and grow in our understanding and proficiency in the proper use of the prophetic gifting within each one of us. Now the time has come to schedule the students in the classes and get the material "under our belts". The Prophetic School Core would like to hear from each of you who would be interested in being part of this training. It will involve forming local "activation groups" - small practice groups where it is OK to practice, make mistakes, be encouraged by successes, and where open, honest, and loving feedback can be given to each for the sake of learning and growth. The teaching material and the activation exercises will be provided weekly by the core. The teaching will help establish the faith needed to be able to move in the activation exercise. The activation will offer hands-on practice in the use of teaching which progressively covers some aspect of the prophetic (which is really hearing the Voice of the Lord). The opportunity to get feedback and have specific questions answered will also be available from the core through the list. It is certain that questions will arise so it is important to have some pastoral oversight provided for these practice group sessions. This will also be addressed by the core in another letter to the pastors of all who choose to go through this training.

We offer this specifically structured lesson plan to help focus our efforts on maturing each of us in the prophetic. We look forward to hearing from each of you regarding your level of interest in this prophetic training course.

Blessings to all,