Especially for readers, new and old

Older readers will have fond memories of the magazine that fearlessly challenged the establishment in both church and state. Prophecy Today always sailed close to the wind; never fearing to name and challenge Archbishops, Prime Ministers and Princes of the realm when their words or deeds were contrary to the word of God.

New readers will like to know that this magazine was established “to bring the unchanging word of God to a changing world”. The editorial group saw their task as watching, studying, teaching and declaring. We watched what was happening around us in the contemporary world, we studied the word of God and taught its relevance for today, and we also declared the truth of what the Holy Spirit revealed to us.

Our history

Preparations for the 1985 publishing of Prophecy Today had begun some years earlier. A small group of Christians had begun sharing their concerns about the increasing secularisation of the nation and the decline in church attendance.

Christian publications at that time did not cover these issues and there was a strong desire in the group to start a publication specifically dedicated to focus biblical truth upon current events.

A whole year was spent talking with journalists, editors and writers, exploring possibilities. Gradually the vision for a magazine with a prophetic edge was born.

But although this small group had the vision, none of them had the financial backing to launch a publication especially in the time of recession of the early 1980s.

Then, one day in 1984, one of the group had lunch with the chairman of Marshalls the book publishers, who said that Marshalls’ directors had had a strong desire to publish a magazine for the past year. They had set aside the necessary finance but they did not have the right vision. We were in exactly the opposite situation and so it did not take long to come together and reach agreement. Marshalls would take full financial and legal responsibility for the first year in the life of the magazine.

Seeking God for insight: Mount Carmel, 1986

Besides having a vision for a magazine, the editorial group had also been taking steps to call a conference in Israel. We wanted to bring together Christians with prophetic insights from around the world to share what they believed God was saying to them, about the situation in their own nations and about the contemporary world situation.

"We wanted to explore how God was working out his purposes today and what he was saying to his people."

In 1983 a group of seven Ministry leaders began conferring about bringing together a gathering of Christian leaders in Israel. The seven were Lance Lambert, Johannes Facius, Kjell Sjoberg, Gustav Scheller, Cecil Kerr, Steve Lightle, and Clifford Hill. We planned to meet for a week of prayer and seeking the Lord at a retreat centre on Mount Carmel and then speak to an international gathering in Jerusalem the following week. The timing of this was going to be at Easter/Passover 1986, a year after the first publication of Prophecy Today.

The magazine had just one year to prepare the way and draw people from around the world to Jerusalem for the great international gathering. Amazingly, the magazine immediately caught the imagination of Christians from widely different backgrounds and church denominations, not only in Britain but in many other parts of the world.

This not only promoted the call to come together in Jerusalem for the international assembly but it also brought us into touch with many leaders of prophetic ministries. Without the influence of the fledgling magazine, the 1986 gathering in Israel could not have taken place.

"The magazine immediately caught the imagination of Christians from widely different backgrounds and church denominations, not only in Britain but in many other parts of the world."

The conference theme was “The Word of God for Our Times”. Its publicity in the first issue of Prophecy Today stated:

“Christians from all nations are invited to come to Jerusalem, Easter 1986, to hear the word of God for our times proclaimed in the city where the message was first heard ‘He is risen! Jesus is Lord!’”

The word of the Lord received at Carmel and declared in Jerusalem was that God was about to begin a great shaking of the nations based upon the prophecies of Haggai 2 and Hebrews 12 (for a fuller report and review, see here). The rest is history! – And more than history: it is daily news!