The second accepted definition for a word of knowledge is within charismatic circles and that is information supernaturally revealed to you about someone else, which is then used to provide divine proof of God. For example, when Jesus tells the woman at the well that she has had five husbands and the one she was currently with is not her husband that is a word of knowledge in this paradigm. The woman immediately accepts that Jesus is a prophet because He contained information He could not have possibly known about her except to have been given it by God. That is the paradigm Shawn Bolz operates under and that is neither surprising as he is charismatic, nor troubling as the Bible is simply not clear on this matter entirely. For the purposes of this discussion we do not need to wade into this debate, as we will be dealing with the charismatic definition. The issue here is not what a word of knowledge is but can man teach it. The answer is no but not according to Shawn Bolz and Bethel Church who continue to erode what credibility might be left for Dr. Michael Brown.
http://courses.bolzministries.com/p/god-secrets
This link is to a new E-Course offered by Shawn for a measly fifty dollars. When the Bible speaks about making merchandise of the sheep of the Lord this is what it is referring to. Bolz is offering 23 video teachings that apparently must be less than 5 minutes each in length. Let us reason together in this brief description:
"Join Shawn Bolz, as he takes us through 5+ hours (23+ videos) of teaching and activations. Throughout the ecourse you will gain a deeper understanding of Words of Knowledge and their application in your life today!" -- Shawn Bolz
I did a quick bible search and cannot quite find the term "activation" when it hit me that this entire concept is unbiblical. Shawn makes up the word activation to sound super-spiritual. The real problem Bolz has here is the notion that he is going to teach you a deeper understanding of words of knowledge and their application in your life today. Why is this troubling? Here is what the Bible has to say about words of knowledge:
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. -- 1Corinthians 12: 7-11 (ESV)
That is it beloved. In the entire canon of Scripture the term word of knowledge appears in one verse. It is not even listed in the other sections of Scripture dealing with the gifts of the Spirit. From this we can faithfully conclude very little. We can be assured that it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. We can conclude that different gifts are given to different people, so we know that not everyone can have the gift of knowledge. We can conclude the gift must somehow serve the common good. We can conclude that the Spirit alone determines in whom and when these gifts manifest. That is it. There is no "deeper understanding" unless you leave the confines of Scripture. Secondly, words of knowledge in this charismatic paradigm are not for application in your life. It is meant for application in the life of another. Why let a little thing like obvious coherency get in the way of making a buck by exploiting the people of God?
"One of the most comprehensive courses ever made on the subject of Words of Knowledge! Shawn Bolz shares from the most immersive platform with videos, quizzes, blogs, and audio clips. Do you desire to learn and grow in Words of Knowledge? All of the content will be dropped one week at a time. Each lesson contains: teaching, testimonies, a scriptural study, impartation, and prayer." -- Shawn Bolz
