(OPINION) Pastors who refuse to preach about Bible prophecy are failing to “teach 20 to 40 percent of the Bible,” said Jack Hibbs, pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Southern California.
Hibbs’ remarks came as part of the Prophecy Q&A event held at Calvery Chapel where the pastor was joined by Jan Markell, the director of Olive Tree Ministries, Pastor Barry Stagner of Calvary Chapel Tustin in Costa Mesa, California, and Amir Tsarfati, the founder of the nonprofit organization Behold Israel.
Hibbs urged pastors not to forsake teaching prophecy, adding that “The book of Revelations, Chapter 19 tells us that ‘Jesus Himself is the Spirit of prophecy.’ Jesus said, ‘I give you these things in advance, so when they happen you will know that I Am … the self-existing eternal God.’”
He added that at some seminaries, Bible prophecy is no longer being taught, which he said is problematic because courses in eschatology teach about the prophetic Word given by God, about the Messiah, and about salvation.
“People are going to go pay $100,000 to go get their doctorate in theology and come out expected to become a pastor of a church and the world around them is being prophetic, whether they like it or not,” Hibbs said at the Oct. 19 event. “It’s happening and they don’t know what to do. They don’t know what to say, so they avoid it because they have never been taught in the seminaries.”
“That’s not a good start. Watch out where you’re going to seminary if you’re going. It’s sad,” Hibbs lamented. Even Jesus rebuked His disciples when they didn’t believe in prophets and prophecy, Tsarfati said, because they “missed” out on the plan of the God of salvation who is the Messiah.
“As far as I’m concerned, when they leave prophecy out … it’s the number one sign of the woke and progressive and that’s the progression of the world,” Tsarfati added. “The progression of the believer is when they realize it was Jesus. The progression of the church that is not into Jesus is [going] down to the road of shame, embarrassment, and sadness.”
While he stressed that pastors should be teaching prophecy, Tsarfati said people shouldn’t stop attending a particular church simply because it doesn’t teach about prophecy. Because, he added, “being around other Christians is important.” READ MORE
