Recently, I posted this on my facebook:
"Sadly, some Christians desperately thirst and cry for "power". Some even sing, "God I want more, more, more of your power..", seemingly treating such power as something to serve them in making "magical wonders" or turning them into "superhumans".
This is false theology (especially amongst NAR). We should go back to what the Scripture says. The Apostle Paul even taught what the true power of God is in Romans 1:16.
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
May we find satisfaction in God and His work on the Cross alone. That way, He is most glorified.
Let our worship be Biblical and not emotional, God-centered and not self-centered."
The reason why I thought out loud that way is my sentiment against the disaster brought by cults sweeping off their way into the mainstream Christianity. They have brought serious damage in many churches today and it saddens me so much.
With all that I will be writing on this post, I meant love for all my brothers and sisters who have been under the influence of the damaging teachings, ideologies, and theology of some false "Christian leaders" as it happened to me too. Let us ask for God's wisdom to easily see false churches and leaders especially those who call themselves "apostles" and "prophets" but in reality having their self-centered motives. I appeal to you my brothers and sisters to open your mind about the truth, pray and always submit to the authority of the Word of God. I myself is not perfect nor holy, for without Christ I am nothing. And so I ask that you do not take it personally since these are not about me but about God and His truth.
THE NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION
The
New Apostolic Reformation is not new, not Apostolic, and not Reformation. The
true reformation happened in about 500 years ago when Martin Luther and other
reformers stood up to go against the false teachings of the church leaders
then, with the objective of redirecting the Church back to the Word. For the
reformers, the Scripture is the only authority in the Kingdom of God and not
the pope nor anyone or anything else.
Today, the movement called NAR seems to be bringing in the same problem. It has been sweeping off the mainstream with their dominionism, revivalism, and other false theologies, putting many churches in danger. It is becoming a high time for a wake-up call again to remind the Church to go back to the Scriptures and let it become the only authority alone, not the Apostles or Prophets of the NAR movement. History definitely repeats itself and each one should check their own church again and again because the last thing you know, you have already been trapped in a false church.
NAR leaders teach a bunch of false
theologies especially their position on the essentials and some eschatological
concepts. Their presentation of the “secret rapture” doctrine is a bit
disturbing. For them, instead of escaping the earth prior to tribulation, all
the believers will defeat evil by taking dominion, or control, over all sectors
of society and government that will pave way for the mass conversions. This
way, God’s kingdom on earth will be set and built. This is called Dominionism[1] and is popularly known as
the seven-mountain mandate. NAR promotes a different concept of theocracy as
raising up kingdom-minded people who will take over all the seven areas in the
society namely: Business, Family, Education, Media, Government, Education,
Arts-Entertainment, and Religion. [2] NAR leaders teach that the
taking over of these mountains should happen in preparation for the coming of
Jesus Christ.[3]
This is very dangerous since the church is being taught with the theology that
Jesus Himself was against. The Lord Jesus is the one who inaugurated the
Kingdom and will come back to become the Judge and King. The church's role
is not to reign or to promote self-centered concept of dominion over the earth
but to serve as an instrument of Jesus' teachings, love, and salvation.
Which are the NAR
churches?
If I mention names, it will probably hurt a lot of my brothers and sisters as it hurt me too. We sing their songs and looked up to the success of the ministries that they have been working with but sadly, most of them have fallen into the lies of the enemy along the way. Some popular names are Bill Johnson, Kris Valloton, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Kenneth Copeland, Peter Wagner and so forth. Sadly, we also need to stop singing the songs of their ministries such as Bethel, Hillsong, Jesus Culture, Elevation Church, and many more.
What do they teach?
Dominion theology is very evident in many Pentecostal and
Charismatic denominations, which both represent a broad spectrum of theological
perspectives. However, it would be inaccurate to assume that all of them
embrace dominion theology or the NAR movement. Many Pentecostal and Charismatic
Christians adhere to sound biblical doctrine, focusing on personal faith,
prayer, worship, and service to others, without necessarily adopting
dominionist views. Hence, we should not label all of them being in the NAR
movement or any other related movements.
The main problem in dominion theology is the way NAR
churches view the Scripture. The modern day apostles has become the source of
new revelation from God and so their words are treated with more authority over
plain text of the Bible. Hence, instead of what the Scripture says, NAR
churches pay more attention on the experiential components such as passionate
preaching, touching music, out-of-this-world signs and wonders, and over-rated
relationships. This way, people in the NAR churches have become more and more
desperate for healing, financial breakthrough, love, and other superficial
desires that deceives them and keeps them away from the true and Biblical
Jesus.
Other
Popular Names
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)
movement has connections to several notable figures in the religious sphere.
Among them are Lou Engle, founder of The Call; Guillermo Maldonado, co-founder
and senior pastor of El Rey Jesús; Rick Joyner, founder of Morning Star
Ministries; John P. Kelly, founder of John P. Kelly Ministries and Convening
Apostle; Ché Ahn, leader of Harvest International Ministries; Todd White,
founder of Lifestyle Christianity; Randy Clark, founder of Global Awakening;
Kenneth Copeland, founder of Kenneth Copeland Ministries; Rodney Howard-Browne,
founder of Revival Ministries International; and Faytene Grasseschi, founder of
V-Kol Media Ministries. These individuals share various aspects of the NAR
movement's beliefs and practices, contributing to its widespread influence
within the Christian community and causing wildfires everywhere.
In
addition to the previously mentioned figures, there are several other popular
names within the religious sphere that warrant caution for various reasons that
include destruction in the contemporary churches. These include Martha West,
Steven Furtick, Samuel Rodriguez, Ed Silvoso, Jim Ammerman, Cindy Jacobs, Os
Hillman, Julius Oyet, Pat Francis, Bill Haman, Harry Jackson, Lance Wallnau,
and John Benefiel. Furthermore, there is Todd Bentley, who also warrants
attention due to their involvement in churches or religious organizations. It
is essential for individuals to be discerning when engaging with these figures
and their teachings, ensuring alignment with their personal beliefs and values.
Organizations Related to NAR
The Perspective Digest enumerates
some of the popular organizations that are associated with NAR:[4]
1. The International
Coalition of Apostles (ICA) is a network of several hundred apostles in the United
States and about 40 other nations formed by the convening apostle, C. Peter
Wagner. Each of these apostles has ministries under him or her.
2. The Apostolic Council
of Prophetic Elders (ACPE) is an inner circle of about two to three dozen
apostles.
3. The International
Association of Healing Ministries (IAHR) is part of the Kingdom Health Care
System, an international network of healing centers headed by Carl Pierce, an
apostle of C. Peter Wagner, a faith healer, and demon exorcist. According to
Pierce, “Healing is the undergarment that God’s army will wear to support the
armor for bakle.”
4. The International
Society of Deliverance Ministries (ISDM), headed by Bill and Janet Sadduth,
exists to expel demons that cause physical and emotional pain.
5. The Apostolic Council
for Educational Accountability (ACEA) is an accreditation system, under the
apostolic authority of Leo Lawson, which ensures that all the various organizations
and ministries adhere to the ideology and goals of the NAR.
6. The Eagle Vision
Apostolic Team (EVAT) is a secretive inner-circle group whose membership list
is not publicized.
7. The Wagner Leadership
Institute (WLI), led by Apostle Carl Pierce, is an international network of
faith-healing centers.
8. The Heartland
Apostolic Network (HAN), under the directorship of Apostle John Benefiel and
based in Oklahoma, is a coordinating center for prayer networks in the United
States.
9. The Global Harvest
Ministries, the personal para-church ministry of C. Peter and Doris Wagner, is
also the legal parent entity of many of the other NAR organizations listed
above, including ACEA, ACKW, EVAT, ICA, ISPM, and WLI. [5]
NAR Practices
Tarot
Card Reading
The use of cards and aligning it to Biblical tradition has been becoming more popular these days as part of the NAR practices. Christalignment[6] is among the active practitioners of this claiming that the prophetic artists and photographers are being "used" by God to provide information about the destiny of Christians and they call this "destiny readings"[7]. They do this by using the art pieces of the said artists and photographers.[8] Christalignment.org says that they believe that the art pieces are more accurate and higher than all other forms of reading, carrying a special presence. Their card readings are always followed by the reader who takes the client into a beautiful, deep encounter through a much “higher realm”, which is the main part of any reading. Holly Pivec says that Bethel uses destiny cards “in an attempt to discover hidden knowledge outside of God’s ordained means”[9]. Using these cards is plain blasphemy as “card readers” attempt to use this tool of divination to represent the Holy Spirit.
Astral
Projection, Telepathy, Necromancy [10]
Many NAR churches deny that astral projection, telepathy, necromancy are parts of their teachings but some have been doing otherwise. While many of them claim that they primarily focus on spiritual warfare, dominion theology, and the restoration of apostolic and prophetic gifts in the church, some individuals within the movement may have personal beliefs or experiences related to astral projection, telepathy, and necromancy. These individuals are led by some NAR leaders who promote the belief that the children of God can talk to the dead and can travel from one place in the world to another or to heaven or to hell in just a snap and can even do time traveling either to the past or to the future.[11]
Cold
Reading and Hot Reading
Both cold reading and hot reading are so very common in
the NAR movement and Pivec call these as fraudulent prophecies[12] Cold reading is “a
technique used by phony psychics or mentalists who pretend to know things about
a person in the audience that they couldn’t know by ordinary means.”[13] Hot reading, on the other
hand is when the “psychic or prophet obtains information about the person
before the live event”[14]. Along with these two
fraudulent prophecies of the NAR movement are others like “broad fishing net
prophecies”[15],
“archetype prophecies”[16], “fortune cookie
prophecy”[17],
and “loophole prophecies”[18]
Pivec
and Geivett say that all these prophecies become false as they fail “three
negative tests: the Orthodoxy test (do
their prophecies line up with Scripture?), the Lifestyle test (are they greedy
and lustful?), the Fulfillment test (did they get it right?)”[19]. These authors of the
book, Counterfeit Kingdom, call these the negative tests because once a
“prophet” fails any of the three, the prophecy and the prophet himself become
unacceptable and automatically disqualified.
[1] Dominion
theology also refers to Christian reconstructionism and theonomy. It reasons
that society will be reconstructed by the Law of God as per the gospel and the
Great Commission. Theonomy, on the other hand, is a post-millennial view asserting
that moral laws contained in the Old Testament are yet binding today. These two
are often used interchangeably.
[2] Perspective
Digest 19, 2014. no. 1–4.
[3] Ibid.
[4] This list is from the Perspective Digest 19, 2014. no. 1–4.
[5] This list is from the Perspective Digest 19, 2014. no. 1–4.
[6] https://www.christalignment.org/destinyreadingcards
[7] Pivec and Geivett, Counterfeit Kingdom, pp. 43-45.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Astral projection is a spiritual practice that aims to separate one's consciousness from the physical body, allowing the individual to explore other realms or dimensions. Telepathy, on the other hand, refers to the ability to communicate thoughts or ideas without using conventional language. Necromancy is the practice of communicating with or summoning the spirits of the dead for the purpose of divination or gaining knowledge. This practice is generally considered to be a form of occultism or witchcraft, and it is explicitly forbidden in the Bible.
These practices are more commonly associated with esoteric or New Age beliefs, rather than mainstream Christian theology. It is crucial for Christians to base their beliefs and practices on sound biblical teachings and avoid engaging in activities that are not grounded in scripture. While some may argue that certain spiritual practices can be beneficial or enlightening, it is essential to ensure that they align with biblical principles and do not lead to spiritual deception or harm.
[11] Pivec and Geivett, Counterfeit Kingdom, pp.40-48.
[12] Ibid, p.68.
[13] Ibid, p.69.
[14] Ibid, 70.
[15] Ibid, p.64.
[16] Ibid, p.63.
[17] Ibid, p.61.
[18] Ibid, p.59.
[19] Ibid, p.50.
