In my opinion, there are three kinds of prophets -- the good, the bad and the ugly. The good prophets are the ones we find in the Bible. The bad ones are those who honestly think they are prophets because they've had some kind of spiritual encounter. And, the ugly prophets are those who are deceivers -- who are knowingly working with the enemy.

Now, I realize some may disagree with me. After all, there were prophets and prophetess in the New Testament. And, the Apostle Paul encourages us all to prophesy. Paul told the Corinthian believers:

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1 New American Standard Bible).

OK. Let me tell you my experience. I asked God for the gift of prophecy. And, for the following two years God game me dreams. I dreamed about many things. Once, to be sure the dreams where from the Lord, I asked Him to reveal something to me before it happened. That same night I dreamed about a helicopter crashing by hitting its blades against a tall object. I told my wife about the dream at the breakfast table. A few hours later, she phoned me at work to tell me it happened. The news reported a helicopter had struck a tower just like I had dreamed.

But, you know what? After two years, I didn't feel any closer to the Lord then I did before. Not only that, there didn't seem to be any real substance to my experiences. That's when the Lord spoke to me. No, He didn't speak in an audible voice. He spoke to me the way He always does. One morning I simply woke up knowing He had spoken. It had something to do with Israel and the burning bush.

I again read in Exodus chapter 3 where God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. You see, I had been wondering for some time why God appeared to Moses in this fashion -- in a bush that was on fire, but not being consumed. Now, that morning I had my answer. As I write in my book: 

The bush represented the children of Israel and the fire God’s anger.  In other words, although Israel may experience His anger, God would see to it that Israel would never be completely consumed (Isaiah 4:4, 5:25, 6:13, Zechariah 13: 8,9). 

When Moses asked God for His name, God answered, “I Am who I Am.”  This name that God gave to Moses was derived from the Hebrew verb, “to be.” By using this name, God was emphasizing His eternal existence. 

You see, not only was God planning to reveal His name and nature through the children of Israel, He was going to make their continuing existence a proof of His Own continuing existence.  This is why – in the last book of the Old Testament – God reaffirmed His commitment to preserve His chosen people by promising through the prophet Malachi, “For I, the Lord, do not change: therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). 

 Here's my point: After two years of chasing dreams and things I couldn't quite take hold of, the Lord turned my attention to see what He was really doing. He was fulfilling the words of His true prophets in the Bible about Israel -- in the real world, in real time.

Friends, I'm not saying there isn't a gift of prophecy. What I'm saying is, most who are claiming to have it today are like I once was. They are chasing after that which, in the end, will not satisfy. And, in so doing, they are missing what God is really saying and doing.

That's why the Apostle Paul instructed Timothy:

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:1-4). 

You see, there are three kinds of prophets -- the good, the bad and the ugly.

I'll stick with the good.