The office and gift of prophet seems to have been a temporary office given by  Christ for the laying of the foundation of the church. Prophets were foundational to the church…Ephesians 2:20 - And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 

The prophet proclaimed a message from the Lord to the early believers. Sometimes a prophet’s message was revelatory (new revelation and truth from God) and sometimes a prophet’s message was predictive…Acts 11:28 - And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

So, the work of the prophet is twofold, as the pre-millennial Bible teacher of a century past, Clarence Larkin, said, both revelatory ("descriptive") and "predictive." The prophets were both "forth-tellers" and "fore-tellers." They had both "insight" and "foresight." Their prophetic statements were not the deductions of reason, but were imparted to them by the Holy Spirit…II Peter 1:21 - For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost

The sense in which a man could be considered a prophet today is in the descriptive sense; a man whom God has given often unique insight into the contemporary culture and spirit of the day, and of the consequences of that culture.