Great post, and so very true.

I do hold that God still has prophets who proclaim His Word but believe anything a prophet of God says will line up with the Word everytime.

Another point to make that goes along these lines is people taking scripture out of context for their imagination. People will read one verse, take it out of context, and then use that ONE verse to back up their "prophetic word". It's the equivilent to getting a letter from a dear friend and only reading bits and pieces of the letter and then focusing on one sentence. No one does that with a letter they read the entirity and know the context of what they are reading. It is the same with the Word of God why would you only read bits and pieces and not care about the context of the letter when God has a clear cut message for you in the ENTIRE letter not just that one verse.

When I was in school we had a saying for bible interpretation and that is "Context is king" without it the meaning of the passage is lost. For example: A man cut open a woman's stomach and she died, should the man be punished?

Perhaps it would help you to know the man was a Doctor and he was trying to save the child in the womb and the mother didn't make it. See context changes things, and its the same with the Word of God.

i cant say i agree with the first parragraph of the first post

where does it say in the bible that its is unhealthy for god to speak to somones heart,,even men like dunken camble, and martin loyd jones , beleieve god can speak strait to your heart ,,

for instance ifeel god spoke to my heart ,and said he wants me to pray at least half an hour extra a most days ,and he wants me to fast two day a fornight

this word came to me after praying to god, for his spirit deeply in me ,it wasnt an audable voice ,but it was a clear impression , and so i will seek to do these things ,,,,and i beleieve any one who wants to tell me that i shoud not fast and pray more ,are not speaking by the holy spirit ,for even the bible would encourage us to do so ,,men like raven hill and tozer also believed god can speak ,,men like paul washer receieve burdens placed upon there heart ,and speak according to a god givern burden ,that they no they recieved from god , tho it allways lines up with the writtern word of god

I tend to wonder, this "GOD" has spoken so many things, he must be 'in' with everyone, with this one 'He' says that, with that one 'He' says this??? Clearly this is confusing.

Or maybe, the Lord haven't spoken at all. We trade His WORD for imaginations, esoteric revelatiosn, dreams, self-made religion.

Just as there is the Pantheist who believes that God is in everything, and the Atheist who believes that God is no where to be found, so also there are those who believe that God speaks to them every time they hear a voice, and there are those who believe that God is the silent partner who does not communicate with his people because it is just too subjective.

But the truth is that the Atheist is just as subjective as the Pantheist or the Polytheist because he thinks that if he can not see God, that must mean that God does not exist.
and so he imposes his personal experience or lack of it for that matter on reality and assumes it to be the truth.

When someone says that God does not speak it is usually because that person did not hear Him speak.

As for the argument that cessationists use that we have all the revelations we need in the Scriptures, therefore we have no need for God to personally speak to us I say to them: What need did Elijah, Elisha and others have for God to communicate with them as frequently as He did.? Did they not have the law of Moses. And what direct revelation did Elijah need to go to the Widow of Zarephath. Could he not just find that in the Bible.

What prophetic word did Paul need to warn him from going to Jerusalem. couldn't he use the Bible guide?

The truth is: God did, does and will continue to have personal guidance for his people that fit their unique circumstances. Just because this is being abused by many does not mean that it is illegitimate means of communication.

Good points, all. I think that this is why the Lord would have us be "slow to speak" (James 1:19-20).

Unfortunately, there have been so many false "words" attributed to the Lord that ultimately go unchallenged or false words that never get retracted when they fail come to pass.

It seems that there will always be Harold Campings in this world because there will always be some people who lack the fortitude to test everything that they are told.

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
- I Thessalonians 5:21

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
- Acts 17:11