I had the recent honour of being appointed Executive Editor of Prophecy Today, replacing Charles Gardner, who has moved on to fresh pastures. It’s an enormous privilege to someone like myself, who has avidly followed the ministry of Prophecy Today from its inception. It’s an enormous responsibility, too.
Love of Christian literature
As a young believer living in Orkney in the 1980s, there was no Christian bookshop anywhere on the island, and all my Christian literature had to be ordered via Royal Mail. Having a deep hunger for God in those days (I like to think I still do), and being an avid reader, it seemed like something landed on my doormat almost every single day!
One of the Christian periodicals I awaited with particular anticipation was Prophecy Today, the first issue of which was published in 1985. This magazine served as a lifeline to me, and on its arrival, I literally tore open the outer packaging and dived right in. There was something about this publication that made it stand apart from any other religious periodical I knew.
It covered such a wide range of topics of great relevance to believers like myself – personal spiritual growth, societal and political concerns, and worldwide matters such as moves of the Spirit in Africa or south-east Asia, the persecution of Christians, and matters related to Israel and the Middle East.
There was something about this publication that made it stand apart from any other religious periodical I knew.
Resonating with the message of PT
What struck me most was the way in which each month, Prophecy Today brought a ‘word from the Lord’ on various topical issues, usually contained in Clifford Hill’s opening editorial pages. Prophecy Today, true to its name, carried a unique and incisive prophetic edge. This struck a resonating chord with a fairly young believer like me, keen to discern what the Spirit of God was saying and doing in today’s world. PT’s teaching was a spiritual life-source, and I drank in every word.
Over time, I built up an impressive collection of this treasured magazine. But there were one or two gaps in my collection. I phoned the PT office one day, and asked for various specific back-issues which I had missed. Though she struggled to make out my then broad north-Scottish accent, the office administrator replied that most of these they could procure, but the very first issue of PT was now out of print. Clearly exasperated at my insistence that they surely must have a copy somewhere, I was told that there just might be a copy up in the ‘attic’; but since it was late afternoon, no one was available to go and search. Undaunted, and determined to complete my PT collection, I had the brazen neck to propose, ‘Can’t you go?’
Prophecy Today, true to its name, carried a unique and incisive prophetic edge.
I never found out who went (and I’ve ever since been too shy to ask). But the very next day – I kid you not – a substantial package landed on my doormat. This was my missing copies of PT – including issue No. 1! How that dusty magazine got from the attic of the Prophecy Today office in ends-of-the-earth Moggerhanger to my humble abode in rural centre-of-the planet Orkney remains an utter mystery. Miracles really do occur.
A personal prophecy
PT ceased as a printed publication in 2005, but, to my delight, resurfaced as a fresh weekly online resource in 2015. In August 2020, in the middle of a lengthy Covid lockdown, Kathryn Price and I were invited to join the ministry as co-Managing Editors. When Charles Gardner announced in March that he was stepping down as Editor-in-Chief, I wondered who Clifford and others would have in mind to take his place. I certainly didn’t, even in my wildest dreams, imagine it might be me.
Just prior to Charles’s resignation, and immediately following it, I received several prophetic words from different spiritually discerning individuals, none of whom knew me personally, nor anything about my circumstances. Both separately and collectively, I felt these words all pointed towards what has since transpired – my taking responsibility for the leading of PT. Considerable time spent in prayer seemed to support the sense that this was God’s calling (for details of the prophetic words, pls contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
Building on the prophetic heritage
Prophecy is real. It’s a realm that the unbeliever knows next to nothing about. Our God is a God who speaks. We shouldn’t be surprised when he does. He knows our names, our past, our present circumstances, and the futures he has planned for us. All this places a responsibility on each of us, to be listening out for his distinct voice at all times, submitting ourselves to his will. This is our duty as followers of Christ.
The ministry of Prophecy Today seeks to be watchmen and women on the wall; to be a prophetic voice to the Church and to the nation
And in a broader sense, this is what the ministry of Prophecy Today seeks to do. To be watchmen and women on the wall; to be a prophetic voice to the Church and to the nation. Some say our ministry has partly, or even largely, lost its prophetic edge. To the extent to which that is true, we want to restore that. To be a ministry that again cuts to the core of what God is saying by his Spirit to his people. I’m not Clifford Hill, and PT isn’t a one-man ministry; rather, linked with Issachar Ministries, we’re part of a wider team, and together we seek to hear from the Lord on important, even crucial issues affecting the Church and the state.
This is our aim and purpose. The Church needs to have that same discerning spirit. To that end, Prophecy Today invites constructive interaction from our readers. Let us distil his voice together. For difficult days are sure to come, and we need to be ready to build and strengthen the body of Christ in the unity and purpose that can only be found in him.