The prophet's handbook

should be based on observed or presumed spiritual exploits. It should include training, practice, and exposure to the rigors of the office. Approval criteria should be specifically tied to what the prophet’s office and mantle exist to do for God. These should be more than discernible. They should be measurable according to the position’s prescribed duties and functions. The official rank of the principal or commissioner (sometimes this authority is delegated) must legally and practically exceed that of the agent. Principals must have jurisdiction in the assigned territory for the acts and the dispensations of their commissioned ones, or agents, to be official. Officialdom is significant to an authentic commission. Those employed by an agency are its officials, as the words officers and agents too are synonymous. Being an official also makes the agent an intermediary who bridges negotiation and settlement gaps as an envoy or deputy stationed in the land to conduct business for the principal. In this stead, he or she forms diplomatic ties between the two in a distant location. This statement is significant as distance, remote government, and management are integral to most agencies’ purposes. In this way, some agents double as ambassadors on the principals’ behalf. One synonym for the word ambassador is minister. This word brings the subject of our discussion to the church and shows how the preceding explanations pertain to the prophetic. You see, prophets are second-ranking officers of the fivefold ministry unfolded by Paul in the book of Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Corinthians 12:28. As officers of the church, they are immediate ministers of Christ’s gospel and its legitimate governmental and power agents. Governmental agents uphold their states and their laws in the places they are assigned. They teach, train, encourage, and guide the citizenry’s obedience to those laws to preserve the state’s wholesome existence. While all fivefold have this responsibility, it is on whose direct behalf that they do so that makes the difference. Apostles and prophets, as high officials, would equate in rank as officers of the federal government. The evangelist and pastor would be seen as state and local authorities. The teacher, depending on the mantle type, could be seen as both. Role of Agent and Agency in the Church In the church, ministers are servants of God. As His servants, ministers fill one of two roles. They can be lay servants who serve the Lord not necessarily in