Lent 2021, Day 18: Very, very, very wrong.

Well, this is something. From Religion News Service:

Jeremiah Johnson, the self-described prophet who faced backlash from fellow evangelical Christians after publicly apologizing for prophesying former President Donald Trump would be reelected president, is ending Jeremiah Johnson Ministries.

The announcement comes “after much prayer and the clear direction of the Lord,” Johnson said Monday (March 8) on his Facebook page.

It also comes after his abrupt two-week hiatus in the middle of a YouTube series he titled “I Was Wrong.”

While I applaud his owning up to his (huge) mistake, I am left wondering, if he is a prophet, why didn’t he get the “clear direction of the Lord” before he wrongly prophesied to hundreds of thousands that Trump would get a second term? Did he choose to boldly declare “Thus says the Lord” while knowing full well it really was, “So says I”?

Johnson said during the series, which he described as a money loser, that apologizing wasn’t enough.

“I believe that it is a tremendous mistake to take the next four years to argue and debate and cause division and grow more prideful talking about how we think the election was taken from Donald Drumpf. I actually believe we need to take the next four years and humble ourselves,” he said.

“We need to recognize that God is up to something far greater in the prophetic, charismatic movement that I believe is beyond what many even recognize. We need to stop, we need to take a breather and we need to come back to a place where we can begin to dialogue about these issues rather than be so triggered.”

I don’t even recognize the charismatic movement of today compared to the one in which I grew up. Don’t get me wrong, there’s always been a lot of messiness going on, but the way some people treat messages from Q like a missing chapter of the book of Daniel, feels extremely scary. Anyway, the end of Jeremiah Johnson Ministries will not be the end of Jeremiah Johnson:

His new website outlines plans for a ministry called The Altar Global.

Instead of offering what Johnson called “prophetic commentary” on current events, The Altar Global will “help prepare the Bride of Christ for the return of our glorious Bridegroom King Jesus,” according to the website.

That includes a one-year intensive program called The Altar School of Ministry, based in Concord, North Carolina, where Johnson and others will train students “on the lifestyle of an end-time messenger and the return of the Lord.” It also includes local and national conferences, monthly Zoom calls with supporters and books and other resources.

And just like that, it’s later-latter rain, and a brand new Upper Room, complete with monthly Zoom calls. Sigh. While the Old Testament had a pretty harsh prescription to remedy the illness of false prophets, people today don’t need to polish up any stones to stop the lies. Simply stop supporting them. When Johnson’s social media pages disappear, don’t like his new ones. Don’t listen to anymore sermons or “prophecies”. And definitely do not send him any money. He was wrong. He’s admitted it. He can have his time to “breathe” in “humility.” He can also have an unlimited amount of thoughts and prayers. Respectfully.

• Read Jesus’ words on false prophets in Matthew 7:15-20.
• Spend some time thinking about what type of fruits you’re growing.