Emergent Monday: What Is The NAR?

24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. (Matthew 24:24-25)

I didn't want to write about the New Apostolic Reformation, I just wanted to expose the false prophesy of Rick Joyner who, had he actually received a prophesy from God about the Carolina Panthers it would have been "Broncos by 14". But lately I've been seeing the NAR almost everywhere in the blogosphere and in media. As many Christian bloggers can tell you, sometimes you just have to write something on a particular subject. While not wanting to wax Pentecostal, I believe that the Holy Spirit occasionally wants a subject to be broadcast and I've noticed that when I feel His push to write about a subject I often see that several other Bloggers will write about the same subject too.

For those that have never heard of the New Apostolic Reformation, you're in luck, I'm going to be writing a bit about them, for a while at least. The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a title invented by C. Peter Wagner to describe a group of people that seeks to establish their own form of Christendom. The conspiracy theorist would call their vision the "New World Order", and you know something? They would (for once) be right:

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

My wife likes Greg Laurie. I kind of like his message on occasion, but he's definitely no Tony Evans. For one thing, Tony Evans earned his doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary, while any degree held by Greg Laurie is merely honorary. In fact I'm unable to find any reference to Greg's education, theological or otherwise. The only theological "training" I can see in Greg's bio is leading a small Bible Study group for Chuck Smith.

I think the last time I listened to Greg Laurie was his farewell to Chuck Smith, but normally I avoid his shows because I can't stand the noise "worship music". But maybe there's something more that's whispering in my ear.

Did you know Greg Laurie has a TV Show? He sure does, right there on TBN at 8:30 PM (Eastern) on Monday and 1:00 AM on Thursday. You know TBN, the station that John MacArthur calls the "Unholy Trinity" dominated by "faith-healers, full-time fund-raisers, and self-proclaimed prophets spewing heresy", "brazen false teachers", and "religious quacks" spreading a "damnable lie".

I've written about my concerns for Greg Laurie in the past, mostly about the concerns I have about the crowd he's been running with (man, I'm starting to sound like my mom), especially when in the light of 1 Corinthians 15:33. Then last year we catch Greg fawning over prosperity pimp and scripture scrambler Steven Furtick's newest scam book. Then we find he's chumming around with Mormon priest Glenn Beck, But now Mr. Laurie has gone completely off the rails.

Spurgeon Thursday - Try What You Read

Try what you hear. Try what you profess. Try what you read. Goldsmiths keep bottles of acid by which they test everything that is offered them for sale, to see whether it is gold or merely tinsel. And the Christian should keep God’s Word near at hand and treasured in the soul, to test thereby all that he hears. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Many hearers believe all that is said because of the person who declares it to them. This is not according to Christ’s mind! 

We ought to receive nothing as vital religious truth except it is sent us from above! And however much we may respect the pastor or the teacher, we must not so give up our judgment to any man as to receive his teaching merely because he chooses to utter it. Bring every form of the truth of God that is delivered to you, though it may glitter with oratory and seem reasonable and proper, to the test of Scripture! 

It is very difficult, however, to get men to do this. They seem to fancy that you have sinister motives the moment you tell them so. There is a conservatism in the nature of us all with regard to our religious faith which is right enough if it were balanced by another principle. To hold fast what I know is right, but to be willing to receive or to do anything that God would teach me to receive or do is more right still. I must know what it is to which I hold fast, or else I may be injuring myself by the fixedness by which I stand to what I have learned. 

The woman of Samaria said, “Our fathers worshiped God in this mountain.” That is the argument of numbers of persons. “Our fathers did so-and-so.” This would be a capital argument supposing that our fathers were always right, but a very absurd argument supposing that they were wrong! I hope we are not like that early Saxon who asked where his father and all his ancestors had gone—and when he was told they were no doubt lost—he replied to the missionary that he would rather go where they were than become a Christian and be separated from them! 

The More I Learn The Truer This Gets

The NAR, The Emergent Church, The Prosperity Gospel, The Christian Left... the more I learn about them, the truer this gets

Is Dominionism What God Wants?

When warriors for the atheist faith sharpen their swords, their main targets are actually dominionists, not Christians. However being ignorant of the bible and Christians in general, atheists don't know the difference between dominionists and Christians. 

Atheist acolytes such as Mikey Weinstein and his cohorts are really up in arms about dominionists, claiming that dominionists want to take over the world. And the horrible thing is that they are right. Dominionists claim to be Christian, they claim to worship God, they claim to love Jesus, but in reality they fall short of all three claims.

So lets's play a quick round of Final Jeopardy. The Final Jeopardy answer is: This verse in the bible says that followers of Jesus are required to take over the earth. Please word your response in the form of a question (Jeopardy theme for 30 seconds) Times up. The correct Jeopardy question is: What is none?

That's right, no verse in the bible even remotely hints at Christians taking over the world. So who in their right mind would would even consider claiming to be a Christian and insisting that they are going to take over the world? The correct answer should be "no one"... but then there's the New Apostolic Reformation - the NAR.