The Heresy Hunter

Is Kim Clement a False Prophet?

On March 16, 2005 self-proclaimed "prophet" Kim Clement sent out an e-mail to his followers. Below are portions of this letter:

Recently a syndicated radio show, hosted by a man who takes pleasure in proving ministries to be false, brought my unfulfilled prophecies to the attention of the Christian audiences in the USA. Obviously somewhat successful in his attempt of seeking to persuade the public to believe that I am a false prophet, a member of my own audience demanded that I repent, and only then would he attend my meetings again. I simply replied: “No repentance – False prophets don't repent, remember?” Call me arrogant, proud, and sarcastic if you'd like, but my reply was simply out of sheer frustration. No-one knows the heart of man, but God. He is such a righteous judge and a gracious facilitator of our human attempts to do His will. Was I wrong in those prophetic words? Perhaps, but I cannot repent for these words, because under the same unction, I have prophesied the following:

1- The re-election of President Bush, with records being broken. (October 24, 2004- Humble, TX)
2- Saddam Hussein would be pulled out of the ground. I said this would take place around Thanksgiving. It didn’t; it took place three weeks later. (November 2, 2003- Dallas, TX )
3- The death of Saddam Hussein’s two sons, before the end of the summer. (June 28, 2003- Detroit, MI)
4- 21 Days to Baghdad- America would take Baghdad within 21 days. (February 27, 2003- Dallas, TX). Confirmed by Time Magazine
5- Abortion Laws would change in 7 months (February 26, 2003- Irving, TX)
6- The war in Iraq would not be a long war as expected, but that it would take a while to find "those hidden in their holes." (October 4, 2001- Dallas, TX)

While being interviewed recently, I shared that while having dinner with Larry King, he asked me if I am ever wrong, and without hesitation, I answered “yes”. He appreciated that, and then went on to find out about the fulfilled prophecies. I shared some with him, but when I attempted to share some of the “missed” words, he told me that he was interested in them, because of the “human factor” but he was more interested in the fulfilled prophecies. Perhaps Larry King is not a theologian, but he represents a large percentage of people who are sick and tired of religious legalism and the pettiness of leaders in the church who constantly kill their own, because of the few mistakes that they make. I made a statement on my show that “Larry King was looking for fulfilled prophecies to give credit; the church looks for unfulfilled prophecies to discredit.” So the attempt to focus on unfulfilled prophecies simply adds fuel to the fire, and causes division. They say they’re protecting the flock from deceivers and false prophets, but they never actually attempt to search for the truth of the matter and in the end become the judge, jury and slayers of men and women who are simply standing and proclaiming what they perceive as the voice of God.
Of course there will be incorrect prophecies, and for this I can only judge myself. God is never wrong. However, man will always be in the place where mistakes will be made. Does this mean that I should stop prophesying? God forbid, no. So many have been blessed by the words of life that God has given me, and to say that because of the few incorrect proclamations I should completely stop, would rob many of a blessing. No, I will not stop prophesying. However, I will remain accountable to my leadership and to those who cover me and love me.
After each prophetic utterance that I've given, my team begins by transcribing the prophetic word, and then the difficult task of putting the puzzle together. Many times a word will come forth on a certain weekend, and then two weeks later we have found that the prophecy actually continues, giving us another piece of the puzzle. When something is not fulfilled, we often sit together, pray and ask God to reveal to us where I went wrong. To call me a false prophet because of this, not only demands an unbiblical standard of perfection for prophets, but is judging without ever knowing my heart and my history with God as a Christian.

I will not stop prophesying. I will be obedient to the Heavenly vision. I will obey Him as best I can, and I will minister to humanity from a heart of love and compassion. I will always pray and search the heart of God before I make any utterance, and if I have perceived incorrectly, I will be honest enough to admit that I was wrong.

1. Note, first of all, that Kim Clement says that this radio show host - undoubtedly, Hank Hanegraaff - takes pleasure in proving ministries to be false. Clement then follows this by saying that only God knows the heart of a man. So Clement passes judgment on the radio host's motives while admitting only God knows his heart.
2. Secondly, the test of a prophet is accurate prophecy, and just because Clement admits to being wrong at least some of the time doesn't mean he's not a false prophet.
3. Thirdly, the church doesn't look for unfulfilled prophecies to discredit - in fact, the church as a whole tends to dismiss the idea of discernment entirely. The church IS to look for accurate teachings and is to compare all teachings in light of the Word of God. When people do that Clement gets upset!
4. In the Old Testament prophets had to be 100% accurate or be dismissed as prophets. Now Clement would have us believe that with the coming of Christ, God is unable to accurately communicate prophecy to His prophets and to make sure that they accurately communicate those words to God's people!
   

posted by Bob Hunter @ Thursday, March 24, 2005