Glossary on some NAR terms

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a third-wave charismatic movement, might be new, but is neither apostolic nor a reformation. Earlier in my Christian walk, being ignorant, I skirted around its edges, to the detriment of my spiritual health. Hungry for more of God and without direction or a firm foundation, I nearly wrecked my spiritual life as I was drawn into parts of the movement.

Thankfully, God in due time delivered me from that nest of vipers and heretics. Yet, I know that the Singapore churches continue to be awash in NAR nonsense, as a look at what's on offer in many a "Christian bookstore" would show. Books by heretics Bill Johnson, Kris Valloton, Dutch Sheets and Cindy Jacobs clutter the shelves, sharing space with books by Word-faith heretics like Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn and Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. To say that Singapore Christianity is sick is an understatement; terminal illness might fit the situation better. Or you could try "dead."

I have recently just read a book on the NAR, entitled God's Super Apostles by R. Douglas Geivett and Holy Pivec. While brief, this book does deal with some of the nonsense in the NAR. At the end of book on pages 143-7, they wrote a glossary for common NAR terms, and some of these I would like to share here with you all.

Activation: A NAR teaching that miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, such a healing and prophesying, can be activated (or released) in individuals who embrace new truths that have been revealed by NAR apostles and prophets

Dominionism: A NAR teaching that the church must yield to the authority of modern-day apostles and prophets to whom God has given new strategies to advance his kingdom

Manifest Sons of God: A NAR teaching that those who follow the end-times apostles and prophets will become manifest (or revealed) as sons of God, patterned after the original Son of God, Jesus Christ. They will work the same miracles—and even greater miracles— than Jesus did. Those who embrace extreme expressions of this teaching believe they’ll continue to grow in miraculous power until they execute God’s judgments on earth and overcome sickness and death

Many-membered man-child: A NAR teaching that the church, under the leadership of end-time apostles and prophets, will become a type of corporate Christ—a literal extension of the incarnation of Christ on earth

Workplace apostles: NAR apostles who govern what they call the church in the workplace—that is, they govern the Christians who work in various sectors of society, like business, media, and government

The problem of identificational repentance

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. (Dan. 9:3-6)

The teaching of identificational repentance (not to be confused with corporate repentance during Lord's Day service) states that one identifies with the group one is part of, take upon oneself the corporate sins of that group, and repent on the group's behalf for these corporate sins. One of the proof texts for this teaching is found in the narrative of Daniel 9, where the prophet Daniel repented of Israel's sins, which he himself as a righteous person did not commit.

Now, I have no idea where this teaching come from, except that I was introduced to it through the Third Wave Charismatic movement (part of their prayer and intercessory warfare model, e.g. Cindy Jacobs). From the Daniel 9 passage, the context seems to be repentance of sins committed against God (vertical) on behalf of the covenant community (ecclesial, not an ethnicity), so it seems to me suspect to use it for horizontal (human-to-human) sins.

What is really strange about this identificational repentance model is what happens when one is a member of both "camps." For example, who exactly should a black PCA minister ask forgiveness from if we are talking about racism? Which group is he in? While certainly in some sense identificational repentance seems reasonable, e.g. the German churches asking forgiveness for the Holocaust, most times this whole teaching sounds really suspect. I get it that if you are part of a group that has sinned, one might repent on behalf of the group. But beyond the immediate sins, how far should we go in "identifying" with groups to confess their sins?

Articles like these on Ref21 therefore really irritate me. Such smacks to me of assuaging white guilt rather than solving racism. Speaking of which, how often must a group of people apologize before everyone can move on? As for dealing with racism explicit or implicit, why the continual dichotomy as if only whites and African-Americans are present? What about the various Asian groups? Or is Sean Lucas only interested in affirmative action just to *prove* he is not racist (and so practice reverse racism in the process)?

Because of the Third Wave context in which this doctrine was introduced to me, I am rather antipathic to it. I will certainly look more into it as the need arises, yet it already seems from a cursory look at Daniel 9 that it does not seem to teach this doctrine of identificational repentance. The ways this teaching has been utilized so far does not endear me to it, and all the more examples of such repentance are given and seen.

The 1949 denunciation of the New Order of the Latter Rain (NOLR) by the Assemblies of God

The New Order of the Latter Rain (NOLR) is a restorationist movement from within Pentecostalism which veered sharply away from orthodoxy. It is the forerunner and ancestor of today's New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). In its 23rd General Council, the Assemblies of God rejected the entire movement as being unbiblical with an overwhelming majority of delegates voting to sustain the findings of the committee producing the report. The minutes of that General Council would thus be illustrative especially if one were to compare what it condemns to the current craziness in the NAR.

“The New Order of the Latter Rain”

Resolution No. 7 was read by the Chairman of the Resolutions Committee as follows:

WHEREAS, We are grateful for the visitation of God in the past and the evidences of His blessings upon us today, and

WHEREAS, We recognize a hunger on the part of God’s people for a spiritual refreshing and manifestation of His Holy Spirit, be it therefore

RESOLVED, That we recommend to the ministers of the Assemblies of God and to churches affiliated and associated with us, that we set our hearts to seek for a continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit founded upon the clear teaching of the Word of God, and be it further

RESOLVED, That we disapprove of those extreme teachings and practices which, being unfounded Scripturally, serve only to break fellowship of like precious faith and tend to confusion and division among the members of the Body of Christ, and be it hereby known that this 23rd General Council disapproves of the so-called “New Order of the Latter Rain,” to wit:

1. The overemphasis relative to imparting, identifying, bestowing or confirming of gifts by the laying on of hands and prophecy
2. The erroneous teaching that the Church is built on the foundation of present-day apostles and prophets
3. The extreme teaching as advocated by the “New Order” regarding the confession of sin to man and deliverance as practiced, which claims prerogatives to human agency which belongs to Christ
4. The erroneous teaching concerning the impartation of the gift of languages as special equipment for missionary service
5. The extreme and unscriptural practice of imparting or imposing personal leadings by the means of the gifts of utterance
6. Such other wrestings and distortions of Scripture interpretations which are in opposition to teachings and practices generally accepted among us

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we recommend following those things which make for peace among us, and those doctrines and practices whereby we may edify one another, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit until we all come into the unity of the faith.

The motion was made and seconded that this resolution be adopted. After brief debate it was adopted with an overwhelming majority.

— Assemblies of God, Minutes and Constitution with Bylaws, Revised: The Twenty-Third General Counci (Seattle, WA: Assemblies of God, 1949), 26-7

Charismatic excitements?

A hostile witness is always a great witness. NAR apostle Mike Bickle [of the IHOP (non pancake) movement] had shared his view on charismatic experiences, as follows:

It is certainly revealing that Bickle admits that most charismatic experiences are faked and that there are "auto-manifesters" and others like them. So is all the hype about the "move" of the Holy Spirit a real work of the Spirit? I doubt so, not when these people are getting experiences for the purpose of confirming them in false teachings.

[HT: MennoKnight]

Jesus Culture?

Bill Johnson and Bethel Church, while on my radar, have never been my focus. But seeing this post by fellow CRN contributor Erin Benzinger on her blog, especially this video, disturbs me greatly. Anyone with the Spirit of Christ in them should feel a gut reaction to the demonic presence in that video clip.

The problem with Bethel Church and Jesus Culture is obvious when we see that nothing in there has any basis whatsoever from Scripture, and yet these false prophets lie and blaspheme God and especially the Holy Spirit in putting words into His mouth, claiming divine revelation where none is given. The Holy Spirit speaks (present tense) in Scripture and through Scripture, not apart from it. To claim divine revelation from God where none is given is the height of hubris, and anyone who knows their Bible knows what false prophets deserve from God.

There are many watchbloggers I am sure who are busy exposing the errors of Bill Johnson and the "New Apostolic Reformation." But we can discount all their heresies at its root: the charismatic claim of new revelation. God has revealed to us how He has and how He will reveal Himself to us (Heb. 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:19-21; 2 Tim. 3:16-17). God will never contradict Himself. Since God has already told us how He has and will reveal Himself to us, to claim knowledge of God and His Will from any other source is to call God a liar. God will NEVER give us any more new revelation, because God does not contradict Himself. God has NOT given those visions to Kim Walker-Smith, for He will never promise us one thing in His Word and do another thing altogether just for her. Therefore Kim Walker-Smith is being deceived and not telling the truth. The entire Bethel and Jesus Culture movement is built upon something other than God, and we know there are essentially only 2 sources of supernatural power and visions in this world.

There is nothing much we Christians can do except to pray and evangelize. We should not treat these people as Christians, as they are even more deceived than the Roman Church is. At least the Roman communion strive for biblical accuracy, although they will never achieve it since they interpret Scripture through their (false) traditions. Those who belong to the NAR and the Bethel/ Jesus Culture movement are to be treated as objects for evangelism, and treated as worshipers of another God, for that is what they are in truth.

Theonomy, Reconstructionism and Dominionism

What is the relation between Reconstructionism, Theonomy and Dominionism? It depends on who you ask. According to Marcus Pittman, Reconstructionism is not the same as what he calls "Seven Mountain Dominionism," which is basically the Dominionist position of the NAR.

I have not much interest in the entire Reconstructionist issue, except to say that one must accurately represent the other position and not conflate the two. The two positions are not the same although they are very similar in form.

Two articles

I have just finished formatting two articles for my website, which were previously blog posts here. They can be accessed now as follows:

Scripturalism and the Canon of Scripture

Why the Global Day of Prayer does not conform to Scripture

Why the GDOP does not conform to Scripture

Tomorrow (May 23rd 2010) would be the Global Day of Prayer 2010. Tomorrow, millions of professing Christians from many denominations and sects (including apostate Roman Catholicism) would come together supposedly to create a spiritual wave of prayer. Tomorrow, the forces of hell would be laughing at the mass delusion of these millions of Christians who are unwittingly acting out in preparation of the growing darkness of the New Apostolic Reformation. On Pentecost Sunday the darkness of hell grows as a spiritual tsunami that had begun almost 10 years ago picks up force.

Started by South African businessman Graham Powers in 2001, the Global Day of Prayer (GDOP) event has spread to all corners of the globe. Based as it is on the heretical doctrines of the Latter-rain cult (being denounced by the Assemblies of God in 1949 as heresy), the event is part of the idea of "transformation", in which the supposed Dominion Mandate [1] would come to pass as the new apostles exercise their supposed apostleship over the seven mountains or spheres of society. Though the supposed power of prayer, the GDOP event hopes to "pray down" the kingdom of God and bring heaven down to earth through the power of intercession, thus bringing about societal transformation for the better. [2]

The terrible reality however is that the entire GDOP event is not of God and is in fact an abomination before Him. The New Order of the Latter Rain (NOLR) and the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) are heretical groups that are way off from any semblance of biblical Christianity, as Pastor Bob DeWaay has shown [3]. The roots of the GDOP are therefore rotten. Such doctrines as the Manifest Sons of God heresy (based upon the phrasing of Rom. 8:19 in the KJV), and the idea of the "Joshua generation", the "Elijah Company" and "Joel's Army" are concepts utterly foreign to Scripture and so repugnant that to believe them would almost destroy one's spiritual life, as this present author can testify to.

As it has been implemented, the travesty of ecumenism and compromise pervades the entire event. According to Dr. Robert O. Bakke, executive director of GDOP North America in the year 2006, Roman Catholics and Protestants in Ghana came together to "pray for the first time" [4]. The blood of the martyrs against the antichristian system of Rome cries out against such compromise of the Gospel. While there may be true believers in the Romish system, the system itself is antichristian, with Rome anathemizing the Gospel in the Council of Trent. and as such preaches a false gospel of faith plus works righteousness (Gal. 1:9-10).

As if that wasn't bad enough, the 2005 event held at Dallas, Texas saw the Sabellian Modalist T.D. Jakes, who denies the Trinity and as such is not a Christian, participating as one of the event speakers. So not only is the Gospel considered optional, even belief in the true Triune God is considered optional for the GDOP!

Some believers may hold out the idea that they join the event for the idea of prayer only, not endorsing the event even in part. However, even that itself is compromise. Prayer is not a magic bullet that works ex opere operato [5] — that is to say, it works by sheer fact of its being acted out. God is sovereign and we are not. In Ezekiel 14:12-23, we can see this principle at work. For even IF the three righteous men highlighted by God — Noah, Daniel and Job — were in a wicked city which God destined for destruction in judgment, God would still not spare the city on account of these three righteous men, but only they themselves would be saved. From this passage therefore, we can see that in prayer, although we have the privilege and are in fact commanded to humbly submit our requests to God, ultimately God is sovereign and He does not always have to answer 'yes' to our requests made to Him.

Prayer is furthermore not inherently virtuous. As it is written:

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him (Prov. 15:8)

The parallelism makes it plain that whatever the wicked offer up to God even their sacrifices or prayers are abominations to God. Therefore, even "Christian" prayer in and of itself has no virtue before God, unless it is done in Christ, through Christ and according to Christ's commands in His Word.

Therefore, going for the GDOP event for the prayer, being a violation of God's command to be separate (2 Cor. 6:14-18), is displeasing to God. God is not pleased by the mere "fact" of prayer, but treat such prayers as the abomination that they actually are; a stench in His nostrils.

The GDOP therefore is manifestly not of God and is to be avoided like the plague. May God have mercy upon the deluded masses going for the event and save them from it. Amen.

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References:

[1] C. Peter Wagner, Dominion How Kingdom Action can Change the World (Grand Rapids, MI, USA: Chosen Books, a division of Baker publishing Group, 2008). A review of this book can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/ddd_chc82/articles/Dominion_Review.html

[2] Sarah Leslie, The Global Day of Prayer (http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/05/sarah-leslie/global-prayer.htm)

[3] Bob DeWaay, The Roots and Fruits of the New Apostolic Reformation, Critical Issue Commentary Issue 103 - Nov/Dec 2007. Available at http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue103.htm

[4] Personal email correspondence received between the author and Rev. Alfred Yeo, email dated May 2nd 2006.

[5] Daniel H. Chew, On the Efficaciousness of Prayer — Does Prayer operates Ex Opere Operato?. Accessed at http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/ddd_chc82/theology/Prayer1.html

Crosstalk on the 'New Apostolic Reformaton'

About 1-2 days ago, Ingrid Schlueter in her Crosstalk show did a radio interview with Sarah Leslie regarding the New Apostolic Reformation, or rather deformation. The excellent radio talk show can be accessed here.

The issue of the NAR is rather close to my heart because of its (and the Shepherding/G12 movement) pervasive influence in the churches in Singapore. Many professing Evangelical Christians are deluded by the false teachings heavily promoted in "Christian" bookstores here, with Cindy Jacobs, George Otis, Ed Silvoso, C. Peter Wagner, Rick Joyner etc being almost household names here.

It wasn't very long ago since God delivered me from that mess through Reformed theology, a mess brought about my naive embrace of the Third Wave theology then brought in by my former church (which I why I tend to distrust spiritual leaders nowadays). While grateful to God for His liberating grace, I continue to have a burden to reach those who remain in darkness within the clutches of the NAR and its satellite bodies. It definitely wasn't a nice experience facing the cold-hard silence from God due to my sin (sin in ignorance is still sin) while I was part of the NAR, and I am convinced that true believers in these movements would be tortured day and night in their souls as they face the cold silence from heaven for their continued participation in such heretical movements.

It is my hope that this interview can be used by God to bring believers out of the bondage to these movements. The taste of true freedom and the communion of the Holy Spirit is so much sweeter than any power and influence these movements can offer. For me personally, I wouldn't go back to such darkness for anything in the world; Christ is more than enough for me. What exactly is so enticing about having "spiritual authority" over others to the extent of near total control? Can the goal of spiritual power — of being able to raise the dead — compare with the reality of knowing Christ and to be known by Him? What is the possibility of worldly power in the "church" and the power to "prophecy" and give "words of knowledge", as compared with the joy of serving my King?

May God have mercy and save many from the darkness that is the NAR and its sister movements. Amen.

Misquoted verses: Compiled article

I have just created and uploaded the compiled article containing all the exegesis of the misquoted verses onto my website. It can be found here.

Misquoted verse: Hab. 2:14

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Hab. 2:14)

It seems that this verse is used in Dominionist propaganda, as can be seen in the Domininist GDOP (Global Day of Prayer) vision statement. Through concerted efforts via prayer movements and other such gimmicks, the New Apostolic Reformation through the promotion of prayer enlists unsuspecting pastors and churches to bring about the kingdom of God here in this world, having as their vision their interpretation of Hab. 2:14 — which is to bring about the coming of God's Kingdom on earth such that justice would be done, people turn to Christ, crime would decrease etc. This would be achieved through concerted unified intercessory prayer (which is what the Global Day of Prayer is about), in order to bring about synergy which "somehow" works for the advancement of God's kingdom here on earth.

It must of course be stated that the goal of making society a better place is indeed laudable, and prayer is a good thing. I have addressed the problems with the GDOP in a previous blog post, and as such would not be talking about it here, rather focusing on one of the prooftext used to promote its Dominionism, Hab. 2:14.

Hab. 2:14 is situated in the prophetic books, and the verse comes in the middle of a prophesied judgment on the Chaldeans/Babylonians. Judgment is prophesied and will fall on the enemies of God. It is in this context that Hab. 2:14 can be found.

In context, the glory of God is indeed manifested in God's judgment on the Babylonians. This act of God manifest God's glory by making known His act of judgment of the wicked Chaldeans throughout the world. Through knowledge of this mighty act of God, the knowledge of God and His glory would thus fill the earth everywhere — as the waters cover the sea.

Hab 2:14 therefore teaches the mighty acts of God bearing witness to the knowledge of God's glory everywhere. In context, it applies only to the judgment of the wicked Chaldeans. In its application, it can only be used to tell us that the knowledge of God's glory will be seen in the mighty acts of God, and therefore to promote God's glory we are to proclaim the greatest act of God in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Nowhere do we see or can find any context whereby Hab. 2:14 is said to teach that we are to bring God's glory down in this place. The Dominionist interpretation therefore fails on three counts: 1) It makes the fulfilment of this verse dependent on Man instead of God, 2) It fails to see that the glory of God is manifested in the proclamation of God's mighty acts, and not "social transformation" done by us, 3) It makes the eschatological fulfilment of this verse happen in the heaven-on-earth kingdom which they are attempting to bring down now, instead of at the final judgment.

In conclusion, Hab. 2:14 is a verse misquoted by the New Apostolic Dominionists to promote their Dominionist agenda. Instead of proclaiming the mighty acts of God as they should be doing, such people embrace the lie that they can build heaven on earth and subtly change the form of the Gospel into a message of "salvation unto social transformation (and eternal life as an add-on)" instead of salvation unto eternal life in Christ.

P.S. I have nothing against working for social improvement, but that is neither the Gospel nor a work of the Gospel! That should be rather placed under the Creation Mandate which all men Christians or not participate in, not the Great Commission.

The biblical answer to Dominionism cum Book Review

What is Scripture's answer to the challenge of Dominionism? In my analysis of Dominionism, the answer has been split into 4 main headings:

• The Concept of the Church and Apostles
• The Concept of the Church in distinction from the State
• The Cultural Mandate?
• Being a pilgrim and a citizen
• The Bible's teaching on wealth

The book review of C. Peter Wagner's book has been completed, and the answers can be found there. Also included are responses to Wagner's other errors, which can be seen in his [typical] teaching of the "new wine and new wineskins", and his shocking endorsement of the heresy of Open Theism.

What is Dominionism?

What is Dominionism? "Apostle" C. Peter Wagner has came out with a book on the topic last year on that topic. With this book, all of us can now know what exactly does the New Apostolic Reformation teaches in her understanding of the Cultural Mandate, which we shall examine below.

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So what is Dominionism? Dominionism can be defined thus:

The application of the Cultural Mandate in working towards Social Transformation by the strategy of having workplace apostles taking control of the various spheres of society, facilitating the Great transfer of Wealth and so bringing God's Kingdom here on the earth.

Every phrase here reveals something about the theory of Dominionism, which we shall look at below.

Application of the Cultural Mandate ...

Wagner states his belief in the Cultural (or Creation) Mandate early in his book (p. 41), quoting personal correspondence with John D. Hunter that it is a "mandate to change the world" (p. 41). Wagner uses this term and sees his theory as the proper application of the Cultural Mandate. Of course, whether Wagner has correctly understood the cultural mandate or applied it properly may be of dispute, but what cannot be disputed is that Wagner himself sees his theory as an application of the Cultural Mandate, which in his view has to do with "tak[ing] dominion and transform[ing] society" (p. 46).

... in working towards Social Transformation ...

Wagner sincerely believes that the application of the Cultural Mandate is to work towards Social Transformation, which is defined as the transformation of society to one based upon God's original design for human life (p. 11). In promoting this theory, Wagner claims that the exclusive focus of churches on the Great Commission is based upon the "Greek mindset", which "tells us Christians should be concerned with saving souls and going to heaven rather than paying much attention to material things like transforming our societies." (p. 41). Instead of embracing this "dualistic" Greek mindset, we should embrace the holistic "Hebrew mindset" which posits that "God and accompanying spiritual principles permeate all of life on earth" (p. 40). Therefore, the Cultural Mandate of transforming society is to be kept central alongside the Great Commission. This transformation of society must refer to "sociologically verifiable transformation" (p. 55), in which "an independent, outside, qualified observer using standard tools of social science or investigative reporting concludes that the social unit is now as different from what it used to be as a butterfly is from a caterpillar" (p. 55).

... by the strategy of having workplace apostles ...

Wagner creates the category of workplace apostles by first creating the idea of the Nuclear and Extended Church. The "Nuclear Church", analogous to the nuclear family, refers to the people of God "meeting in their congregation". Playing on the word translated church in Greek ekklesia (εκκλησια), Wagner defines the meaning of church to refer to "the people of God scattered out wherever they might be" (p. 140). The "Extended Church", analogous to the extended family, thus refers to "the people of God in the workplace" (p. 141). From there, Wagner states that apostles and prophets "should be found not only in the nuclear Church, but in the extended Church as well" (p. 141). In Wagner's words,

... there must be such a thing as workplace (extended church) apostles. God has given them the spiritual gift of apostle, and He has called them to a ministry or activity in the extended Church of the workplace, over against ministry in the nuclear Church. (p. 141)

... taking control of the various spheres of society ...

Society according to Wagner consists of seven spheres or seven segments of society — the molders of culture. These seven spheres/ mountains are in random order "religion, family, government, arts and entertainment, media, business, and education" (p. 144). Wagner quotes Wallnau approvingly, who says "If the world is to be won, these are the mountains that mold the culture and the minds of men. Whoever controls these mountains controls the direction of the world and the harvest therein." (p. 144). Each of these seven mountains have their own distinct cultures, in which there exists significant difference in "crucial nuances" such that it would be difficult "for anyone attempting to go to the top and take dominion of one particular sphere" (p. 147). Even worse in Wagner's opinion, most "nuclear church" leaders are ignorant of the culture of the "extended church". In order to exercise dominion therefore, workplace apostles are needed. These workplace apostles would "have the God-given authority to influence and take charge of a certain segment of society on behalf of the Kingdom of God" (p. 148), thus taking control of it.

... facilitating the Great transfer of Wealth and so bringing God's Kingdom here on the earth

In the beginning of this book, C. Peter Wagner states that "without vast amounts of wealth in the hands of righteous people who line up with the principles of the Kingdom of God, we will not see the social transformation that we desire" (p. 19), further stating that "we must cast out the spirit of poverty and replace it with the godly spirit of prosperity if we expect to act as effective agents of social transformation" (p. 19). After outlining his strategy of workplace apostles and control of the various spheres of society, Wagner says that "an essential part of the process should be to transfer the control of wealth" (p 182), such that the Extended Church and the Workplace Apostles have the money to implement their plans for dominion.

Wagner has decided to attack what he calls the "spirit of poverty". In Wagner's own words:

One of the most effective tactics of the evil spirit of poverty has been to persuade Christian leaders that poverty is somehow noble. This mindset entered the Church when Greek philosophy gradually replaced the biblical Hebrew worldview among church leaders around the time when Constantine was the Roman empire. ... Issues of wealth were associated with the material world, and truly spiritual people were to avoid wealth as much as possible. That is why, in the monastic movement that began around that time, the monks were required to display their spirituality with vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. While chastity and obedience are not as prevalent today, poverty unfortunately persists as a spiritual ideal. (p. 185)

While espousing a type of prosperity preaching, Wagner comes down hard on the love of money. He does this by interpreting Mammon as a demon (p. 189) who causes people to love money through his subordinate spirits of greed, covetousness, parsimony (stingyness), and self-reliance (p. 190), and therefore states that believers should therefore not love money because that is to worship the demon Mammon.

Wagner continues on to describe the chain of wealth transfer to channel funds for Kingdom use, from providers to managers to distributors and field marshals. Providers provide the huge amount of funds required for "Kingdom work", managers manage the money, multiply it and channel it to the appropriate distributors, who will in turn pass it to the field marshals who do the actual work "making things happen for the extension of the Kingdom of God" (pp. 192-196)

So how does Dominionism fare in light of Scripture?

[to be continued]

Misquoted verses: 2 Chron. 7:14

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chron. 7:14)

In teachings on the topic of prayer and intercession, the verse 2 Chron. 7:14 is often quoted as a proof text. From the text, it has been taught that if we as Christians (i) humble ourselves, (ii) pray, (iii), seek God's face, and (iv) turn from our wicked ways, then God will (1) hear us, (2) forgive our sins, and (3) "heal our land". Coming from a Third-wave charismatic background, I was taught to do these 4 steps especially during major prayer and fasting events, with the unspoken assumption that doing so would ensure that our prayers would somehow be more effectual and pleasing to God. The third promise of the healing of the land is furthermore claimed over our nation especially in the 40 days of prayer event leading up to National Day, in which we were to pray for revival to come upon our country, with some fanciful prophecies being prophesied during that time period even.

Nearly a decade later, I have the opportunity to revisit this verse. Does this verse actually teaches such principles of prayer?

As a Covenantal Theologian, it is my belief that the principles taught in the Old Testament are in some manner applicable to us today, since Israel is the Church in the Old Testament. 2 Chron. 7:14 is situated in God's promise to Solomon after his prayer to God in his dedication of the temple, and it is in this context that we must interpret this verse. Being God's promise to King Solomon under the Old Testament era, the conditions and promises are to be interpreted in a different manner in this Gospel age, which imply that their application is spiritual, for the Church rather than for some nation or territory. The conditions and promises are centered on the church and Christians in the church, not even Christianized nations per se. Therefore, to use 2 Chron. 7:14 as a proof-text to pray for the nation is not in line with the teaching of God's Word in this regard. The only way it could be "literally" physically applied in such manner is if one were to believe in some form of Israelism or one is a Old Covenant restoring Judaizer.

What then does 2 Chron. 7:14 actually teach? 2 Chron. 7:14 is a promise to the Church that lays down the general principles that God requires in prayer: that we should (i) humble ourselves, (ii) pray, (iii), seek God's face, and (iv) turn from our wicked ways, following which God has promised that He would (1) hear us, (2) forgive our sins, and (3) "heal our land". God will most definitely hear us, but hearing does not necessarily mean saying yes to us. After all, God is sovereign and His sovereign will will be done. The idea that having longer and more fervent prayers would make the prayer more efficacious and pleasing to God is an act of sorcery — ex opere operato. We must remember that God in Ez. 14:12-20 has said that he will not answer yes to the prayers and intercession of even the three most righteous persons in history when he has decided to punish Judah for her heinous sins, so to think that our prayers can manipulate God is unbiblical. God does sometimes ordain that certain prayers be answered after perseverance in prayer (Lk. 18:1-8), but such prayers is a time of pleading before God, not attempts to "blackmail" God because of the amount of time we have spent in prayer.

The promise of forgiveness of sin in this Gospel age (and even in the Old Testament era) was never to be taken to mean sins being forgiven through the instrumentality of prayer. Rather, it must be interpreted in the same way as the principle of forgiveness of sins in 1 Jn. 1:9, which is to say an experience of an established reality proving the genuineness of that same reality. In simpler terms, what this means is that true born-again Christians who have their sins forgiven will by nature confess their sins and pray to God in so doing. Such activities confirm that the ones practicing them have their sins forgiven, and the Holy Spirit uses such activities to bring peace and the sense of forgiveness within their hearts.

The third promise of the "healing of the land" is to be taken spiritually in the sense of spiritual healing of the individual and of the church. Prayer and fasting in this verse therefore profits the individual believer and the Body of Christ. As the Body of Christ comes together to pray, she is the one being edified first and foremost.

This brings us to the question: Does that mean that we shouldn't intercede for the nations and for all who are outside the Church? By no means! Such however cannot claim 2 Chron. 7:14 as a proof-text, but rather texts such as Gen. 18:23-33 and 1 Tim. 2:1-4. Prayers for nations etc if they are to be biblical must be for God's mercy and withholding of deserved judgment, for God to save people (not nations, but individual persons) in the nations out of darkness into His glorious light, and for God to grant peace so that the Gospel ministry may not be hindered. In other words, these should be the focus of our prayers if they are to be biblical; Gospel-centered prayers. If we pray for other issues such as the material prosperity of our nation and other such stuff not instructed in the Scriptures, then we are not praying according to Scripture. God may very well choose to answer them with a yes answer, but he is certainly not obliged to and such is not praying even according to God's decretal will and are therefore unbiblical.

In conclusion, let us learn the proper interpretation and application of 2 Chron. 7:14. May we not use it therefore for so-called "national intercession", much less invoking the verse to ask for material prosperity of a nation at the expense of asking God to grant repentance and faith to people in the nation. Amen.

The New Apostolic 'reformation' of Todd Bentley

Wow, I'm speechless. Talk about naming black white and white black.

A "Fresh Fire" for the Assemblies of God churches in Singapore?

I wonder what the Assemblies of God denomination in Singapore is doing.

Come November 2008, the AOGS will be organizing a Fresh Fire Conference to mark the 80th anniversary of the AOGS to “catch the fresh fire of the Lord – one that is greater than what we have experienced before.” The speakers include female apostle Naomi Dowdy (formerly from Trinity Christian Centre), Kong Hee (City Harvest Church), two other female reverends, and a healer/prophet. The conference organizers “believe that the Lord will release a fresh prophetic word over the AOG churches as well as other churches in Singapore and release His anointing in a brand new way.”

So the AoG in Singapore are now embracing the New Apostolic Deformation 'Reformation' and the Word-Faith cult? What exactly does AoG Singapore wants to accomplish through this? Imitate Todd Bentley whose ministries is called Fresh Fire Ministries?

[HT: All of Grace, Word and Verse]

Interesting quotes that are a sad indictment on "evangelical" Christianity

David Servant has posted the article Three Lessons from Lakeland in which he has extracted three lessons to learn from that fiasco. Going off on a tangent however, here are two quotes which are a sad indictment of the contemporary "Evangelical" scene (not just limited to the Charismatics by the way)

One lesson we can all learn from Lakeland is that you can toss out the gospel found in the Bible, kick and punch people who are seeking healing, regularly chat with angels with names like “Winds of Change” and “Emma,” act like a drunken fool, transfer your anointing so that others can spread these blessings around the globe, repeatedly exaggerate and lie, gain riches in the process, and be a successful minister in the U.S. But whatever you do, don’t divorce your wife. That could ruin you (at least temporarily).

It is very very sad that Christians behave exactly like the world in this regard. Heresies of all kinds are allowed to be taught, but anytime you commit one of the "big" moral sins (in this case divorce), you are done for. This is not to say that divorce is a small thing; the moral outrage at Bentley's unfaithfulness is justifiable But why, oh why, is it that we have our pet sins, the new "sins against the Holy Spirit", which when committed ruin a minister, but the much more pernicious and damnable sins of heresy are allowed to be committed with impunity from the pulpit, and God's people are not outraged!!??! Not even a fraction of outrage will you get from promoting heresy as compared to any type of moral failing?

And

What is the motive of those whom God has not called to be apostles or prophets yet who claim to be apostles and prophets? It can only be pride and self-exaltation. For this reason, thousands of ministers in North America and elsewhere are seeking titles and joining organizations like the International Coalition of Apostles (where membership dues are $650 per year). They want recognition, and so they play a more subtle version of the child's game King of the Hill. It wasn't too long ago that these self-promoters were vying only for the title of "bishop."

Nothing much to add here, except to note the latest advertisement from "apostle" Chuck Pierce for a product which was used in Bentley's "anointing" service.

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Be Revived Anointing Oil and Candle Set

Revival is in the Earth’s atmosphere! Because the anointing breaks the yoke, we have sought the Lord on the ingredients needed for a revival fire anointing oil and candle. The first aspect of Be Revived is “awakening”. We use costmary, an original herb used by the colonists to stay alert and awake. The second ingredient we incorporate is pomegranate, representing healing, overcoming and prosperity. The third ingredient is “harvest”. This is a mixture of botanicals which represent the fullness of unlocking the harvest fields. There is a boldness that God is bringing on His people to pray over others. We must come alive and be bold witnesses in this hour. Be revived and use these resources to “break the yoke” as you minister to others.Candle with 1 oz. Anointing Oil Roll-on is $20 (regularly $22)

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I guess such blasphemy speaks for itself. Sometimes I guess it hurts so much to see such blasphemy that the only sane response left is satire.

[HT: End Times Prophetic]

Paper: Biblical Reasons to reject the Lakeland 'Revival'

Douglas over at Contemplations of a Young Calvinist has (finally) released his short, informal and non-academic paper refuting the erroneous and fallacious reasoning behind Dr. Gary Greig's article which attempted to defend the now-discredited Lakeland 'revival'. Although the 'revival' is over, at least it is over as far as Todd Bentley is concerned, the Third Wave Neo-Gnostic and Neo-Apostolic principles behind it still remain. This paper interacts with some of the underlying principles of the Third Wave movement, and bring the Scriptures to bear in a critique written in an informal and interactive style.

Lakeland fiasco discrediting the New Apostolic 'Reformtion'?

With the Lakeland revivalist Todd Bentley having being discredited as he as "an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level, with a female member of his staff", it seems as God as usual as used this event for the greater good of the Church. For years, the Church has been plagued by the heresies of the New Apostolic 'Reformation' spawned by people like "Chief Apostle" C. Peter Wagner and company, and I at one time have been personally sucked into the movement, to the detriment of my spiritual walk with God. The false apostles and prophets of the NAR have had a commissioning service for Bentley previously. Now just months after the commissioning, this fiasco has happened so soon that it has landed them with egg on their faces, and now they are attempting to back-peddle and spin the "prophetic words" they have uttered during that commissioning ceremony itself. As Marsha West points out:

Such notables as C. Peter Wagner, leader of the International Coalition of Apostles, his wife, Doris, Ché Ahn, John Arnott, Bill Johnson, Rick Joyner and several others came to the 10,000-seat tent to support what Todd Bentley and Fresh Fire were doing and to commission him as an evangelist. There was only one problem. The leaders failed to put Bentley through a proper vetting process to find out if he was deserving of their high honor. Turns out he wasn’t. Now they have egg on their collective faces and everyone knows it.

As a result, many in the Charismatic church are furious with them -- but it’s too late. The damage is already done and cannot be undone. What’s worse, thousands of people believed there was a “revival” going on and traveled from all over the globe to be a part of it. Some went hoping to be healed. They weren’t. Now they realize they were duped and have fallen into despair. People are wondering if they are even saved! (For those who doubt their salvation, remember that anyone who comes to faith in the real Jesus Christ is saved.)

And West concludes:

Some good has come out of the “Lakeland Outpouring.” It brought to light the highly unorthodox beliefs of the NAR. Those who are a part of this movement should commit 2 Timothy to memory. Another good thing that came out of it is that the Charismatic church leaders who participated in Todd Bentley’s coronation ceremony have been exposed as false prophets and fools.

The chickens have come home to roost.

Amen to that. God in His sovereign timing has delivered the heretic revivalist Tod Bentley to the devil, and now that he has committed an undeniable moral sin, the "apostles" and "prophets" of the New Apostolic 'Reformation' have came out discredited for endorsing and commissioning such an individual. May it be that this would signal the beginning of the end of this heretical movement. Maranatha!

On the efficaciousness of prayer — Does prayer operates ex opere operato?

Some time ago, I posted a quote I have gotten from Pastor Justin Neale's blog on the topic of prayer by A.W. Tozer. I have posted this above the post warning of the heretic and blasphemer revivalist Todd Bentley, which led my friend Rick Ianniello to mistook that this quote was meant for Todd Bentley, while actually I was posting that so as to 'bookmark' the quote for later use. And this use is now!

The Global Day of Apostasy Prayer had came and gone for the year 2008. I was rather busy at that time so I just managed to prepare a very brief summary of my objections to that event and mass-mail my friends about the event. What happened precipitated this entire post and the article that I will link to later.

A friend of mine read it and passed it over to his AoG pastor in Singapore who took part in the event, who replied to my brief email. In characteristic fashion, I treated the whole issue as an opportunity to correct the errors present in what the pastor says in love. The reply however did not see the light of day as my friend wasn't that keen to continue the exchange, and I decided not to pursue the issue out of respect for my friend, though I was not too happy with the way it is handled. I do not wish to lose a friend though, so I would just let it pass since this is not a doctrinal issue. [Contrary to what some people may believe, I DO have feelings]

That however does not mean that error can be allowed to stand. There is in particular one error which I find very pernicious and persistent within the Charismatic/ Neo-Apostolic movement which I think should be addressed. It is the error of treating prayer as being effective in and of itself, and that prayer is "the key to change the world". In other words, keeping in mind the context and decoding the phrase, what they are saying is that prayer changes the world because of the prayer of the saints. As it can be seen, this looks eerily similar to the Word-faith occultic assertion of faith as a force but unless proven otherwise it would not be stated as such. Rather, I would use the very appropriate Latin phrase Ex opere operato to describe such a view.

It is in answer to this view that I have prepared an article to answer this question. What does the Scriptures teaches about efficaciousness of prayer? Does prayer operates Ex Opere Operato?

Just some definitions:

Efficaciousness (n) is best defined here as the state/ power of being able to bring about a desired amount of an effect.

Efficacy (n): ability to bring about desired amount of an effect

Efficacious (adj): able to bring about desired amount of an effect)