A recent article published by Charisma News asks an interesting question, "Did 2013's prophetic words ring true?"This question stems from a practice of many prophets in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement who--at the start of each new year--release revelations they claim God has given them about the upcoming year.The question posed by Charisma is important because these prophets--whose revelations are often published in Charisma--claim to be speaking the very words of God. Indeed, they intend for their words to be taken very seriously as can be seen from the way the article describes their words as prophetic "mandates, directives, and warnings."So, because these prophets claim to speak for God and claim to be giving important messages from Him, it is important for their followers to heed the warnings of Scripture and test the veracity of their revelations. If they make predictions--as these prophets have--then one should ask whether those predictions came to pass.Thus, it is commendable that Charisma is asking this question. It is step in the right direction since many organizations that publish predictions made by prophets never follow up to see if they were actually fulfilled.But, unfortunately, Charisma didn't go far enough in its evaluation of the prophetic words given in 2013. Why do I say this? Two reasons.It Rang True For Me, But Not For YouFirst, notice the wording of the question posed by the writer of the article, Charisma news editor Jennifer LeClaire. LeClaire doesn't ask the direct and penetrating question, "Did the prophecies come to pass?" Her actual words--did the prophetic words "ring true"--are indirect and non-revealing.And the concluding words of her article continue with this type of vague language, urging readers--in response to the 2013 prophetic words--to "Grab what rings with your spirit even as you prepare your heart to receive what God has for you in the new year."The idea of "grabbing what rings true with your spirit" seems to allow for a lot of wiggle room in determining the veracity of prophetic words. It suggests the possibility that a prophetic word might ring true for one person, but might not ring true for another.And, unfortunately, LeClaire takes this subjectivity even further when she evaluates a prophetic word about the United States given by Eileen Fisher, author of the book Embracing the Prophetic. Fisher's prophetic word includes predictions that God's hand "is moving across your nation in a miraculous way" and that "All shall be well because the well of salvation is going to be poured out fresh over your nation."Fisher's prophetic word seems to predict some type of large-scale, national revival--something impressive, concrete, and publicly verifiable. Yet, LeClaire doesn't ask the hard question of whether a revival of this magnitude actually occurred. Instead, she asks a non-specific and non-publicly verifiable question: "Did you experience this in your life, family or church?"By lobbing a softball question, LeClaire suggests--perhaps unintentionally--that there is no concrete or publicly verifiable criteria for testing the veracity of Fisher's prophetic word. Yet, this notion contrasts sharply with the prophetic words given in Scripture--by prophets such as Elisha--which could be evaluated using concrete and publicly verifiable criteria. See a post I wrote about these specific and concrete prophetic words.Is It A Prophecy for 2013 ... or 2014 ... or 2015?Second, the Charisma article allows for the possibility that the prophetic words given at the start of 2013 won't actually be fulfilled in 2013 or even for years to come. The article states:

After all, you can’t always limit God’s words to a 12-month timeline. Indeed, it’s possible that some 2013 prophecies won’t be relevant for years and others will remain relevant for years to come.

It is true that God's works don't necessarily fit into tidy, yearlong time frames. But the NAR practice of delivering predictions at the start of each new year certainly lends to the impression that those predictions pertain to the year ahead. The Charisma article, itself, lends to this impression by referring to the prophetic words in ways that make them seem like they are intended to be fulfilled in a given year.  This can been seen in the way LeClaire refers to the prophetic words as being mandates, directives and warnings "for" 2014 and as prophetic words declared "over" 2013.Yet, by saying that a prophetic word is "for" a specific year--while allowing for the possibility it won't actually be fulfilled in that year--Charisma seems to be wanting to have its cake and eat it , too. In other words, if a prophetic word is fulfilled in a specified year, then the prophet can take credit for giving a true prophecy. But if it isn't fulfilled in the specified year, then they can't be accused of giving a false prophecy. They can simply claim that the prophetic word will be fulfilled one day, perhaps in the far-off future.So, did 2013's prophetic words ring true?I can't answer that question for you. But they certainly didn't seem to be fulfilled in any publicly verifiable and concrete way.-- By Holly Pivec