Shalom my brothers and sisters, first I want to say how blessed I am to have a place where the truth can be told and embrassed by those who read it. I am very interested in this subject. I agree the Word says, " My people perish for lack of knowledge". I am a little confused by VW's comment. I am not sure if you are saying there are no Prophets today or if you are saying there are. In Ephesians 4:11 Paul writes, And He Himself (Jesus) gave some to be Apostles, some Prophets, some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect (mature in Christ) man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Chrst; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ-from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, accourding to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
To me this means Jesus made these offices for the body of Christ to grow and not stay children. Every office is referred as a part of the body to which each has it's job and is supplied by the Holy Spirit. There are counterfiets out there, but they defile every office God has set up. To confuse and make you blind to the real office when it comes your way. For me the only way I know if it's God is to test the spirit that is before me and line it up with the Word of God.