Writing about prophetic leadership raises a problem which must not be avoided.
Yes, it is true that when we look around our world today, a different kind of leadership is required.
What is the problem? Consider that remarkable scene when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, entered the city of Jerusalem on what is familiarly called Palm Sunday.
Riding into Jerusalem was prophetic.
When Jesus Christ rode down the Mount of Olives on a donkey, God was speaking, acting and moving, fulfilling the words of the prophets.
This happened around a week before men betrayed, arrested and crucified the Son of God.
Working out all that Jesus did following what following that triumphal entrance required more than three or four days.
Jesus rides on an animal which had never been broken in.
His very presence tames and controls the untamed.
As I write today there are so many situations around our world which needs His taming touch and His calming peace-giving word.
Kenya is in turmoil.
Pakistan has all kinds of difficulties.
The people of Afghanistan and Iraq continue to endure such suffering.
Darfur with all its devastation seldom reaches the news these days because of all the other headlines.
God can transform all kinds of situations, as can the very presence of an anointed servant of God.
Praise flows from ordinary people as He descends, but Jesus looks over Jerusalem and weeps.
He knows what is about to happen, not only to Him, but also to the city.
The magnificent multi-million pound Temple would soon be in total ruins.
Its time had come.
Its day was over.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, many assumed He would turn right to challenge the authority of Rome.
Instead He turned left, making His way towards the Temple, which was intended to be a house of prayer, where the only true God would be worshipped, but it resembled a market place.
Buying and selling predominated.
Jesus intervened, throwing out everything that ought never to have been there, displaying strong determined decisive action!Here is prophetic leadership.
He had not come to fight and liberate Israel from the occupying Roman force.
Jesus had come to confront sin and release man from its dominating grip and manipulative hold.
People thought the government was the problem.
That is very common misunderstanding today.
"If we change the government all will be well.
" Not so.
Jesus saw the situation differently.
Jesus Christ still comes alongside and challenges man to change.
Consider the difference Paul made to so many lives wherever he went.
He did not change governments.
He did not replace one set of politicians with another set of politicians.
He dealt with the problem at a much deeper level.
He brought people into the Kingdom of God where Jesus Christ is Saviour, Lord and King, and these individuals sought to transform the circumstances around them as they served with the authority and anointing of Almighty God.
If only those in The White House in Washington, in Downing Street London, and among the leadership of The United Nations in New York, could see the significance.
There are many people praying for those who serve and lead in these corridors of power and influence.
If the risen living Lord Jesus Christ places this prophetic burden upon your heart embrace it gladly and willingly and pray.
Our needy world needs men of God who know how to lead in accordance with the tenets and decrees and grace which He reveals.
The most serious trouble lies in the area of worship.
God moves to transform men's hearts, lives, and values, and that was not, and is not, popular.
Sandy Shaw