Prophet

Q: My sister's husband says that he is a prophet. Is that possible? How can people just declare themselves to be prophets or apostles or whatever? (For what it's worth, nobody in the family thinks my brother-in-law is prophet.)

A: Yes, it is possible. A prophet, back in Old Testament times or even now is simply someone through whom God speaks. In Old Testament times when we didn't have Bibles and Jesus hadn't yet given us direct access to speak to God personally, most of the communication with God was done through prophets. So if people wanted to know God's view of something, they would ask a prophet - who would presumably ask God. Another role of the prophets was to identify sin and call people to repent. So the prophets spoke for God. They were His voice and communicated things that Jesus would say Himself.

The role of prophets today isn't much different. People can pray directly to God and read His word (the Bible) - so there isn't as much need for prophets as they had in Old Testament times. But even today, a true prophet of God would simply speak for God - identifying sin, calling people to repentance, and exhorting people to live life God's way.

Now, the thing about true Biblical prophets of God is nobody who knows them believes them. Jesus explained this in Mark 6. He specifically said that a prophet is honored everywhere except in his own home town, home church and even among his relatives and family. Moreover, Jesus said if the people won't welcome or listen to the prophet, he should abandon them to their own fate and not waste his breath trying to convince anyone (that he is a prophet or that he's speaking on behalf of God).

So the fact that you have doubts or that nobody in your family is willing to believe that your brother-in-law is a prophet actually suggests to me that he might be a prophet!