The New Apostolic Reformation is an apostate Christian movement built upon a hyper-authorarian pyramid scheme structure. Each of these ministries has their own guru-like apostle that sits at the top of their ministry. But the whole movement, because of it's affiliations, really reflects a much larger global pyramid structure much like the Catholic Church which is built upon a world-wide spread of archdiocese ministries. In other words, the larger structure, because of their affiliations and lines of authority, reflects many pyramids building up into a larger pyramid.
While the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR for short) disguises itself as a mainline evangelical movement, it is actually under-girded by many extreme doctrines and practices that defy typical fundamental Christian beliefs.
For one thing, it believes that God has recently restored the office of apostle and prophet in the last 30 years. They believe these apostle and prophet leaders have the same authority as 1st century apostles and prophets whom God used to establish the church and write the New Testament. That means these men believe they are able to bring forth new doctrines and practices built upon "revelatory" experiences such as dreams, visions, and things they hear in their head presuming the Holy Spirit is instructing them.
This, of course, is very dangerous as it veers from the supremacy of scripture and places greater authority in the hands of wicked, sinful men.
Second, it has magnified the Spiritual gifts taught in the New Testament in such an unbalanced manner that it disturbs sound doctrine for the sake of any opportunity to display spiritual power. Basically, its desire for spiritual power is insatiable, and the people within the movement cast aside all Biblical warnings against occult practices to achieve such power.
Moreover, it's bent on spreading it's reach and control over the churched or unchurched across the globe. One of the most successful attempts to infiltrate non-NAR churches is through music ministries such as Jesus Culture and Hillsong. Both of those ministries are headed up by NAR apostles and because the music is easy on the ears and people want to sing along, they inevitably begin to look into those ministries further and wind up going deeper into the movement until they end up trapped in a local church affiliated with the movement.
Additionally, they believe God wants them to take over the earth and prepare it so that Jesus may return. This drive has brought forth a doctrinal mandate to overtake 7 spheres of the world's cultures. This demented doctrine is known as the 7 mountain mandate. The mountains being: religion, education, business, family, government/military, arts and entertainment, and media.
And while that sounds like a wildly unachievable goal, the movement is actually making great inroads in these realms of culture across the globe.
Rather than spreading the gospel of Christ to expand, it works feverishly to construct organizations built upon deep, cultist relationships of submission and authority that ensnare and entrap its followers. One of the ways it expands itself is to train disciples through ministry schools.
Having attended Dr. Brown's Fire School of Ministry, I can give some insight into the cultist practices. Firstly, every semester starts with a mandatory weekend retreat which was nothing more than a tactic to soften people up to prepare them for their aberrant doctrines the students would soon encounter in their classrooms. The school program had a mandatory "deliverance" course where students had to confess every sin they've ever committed in their entire lives on a hard-copy document which was then submitted to the teacher leading the class. Students were continually pumped for information through weekly "accountability" questionnaires which delve into personal information about our daily lives. Students were not allowed to attend other church services without permission from the leadership. If a student questioned what was going on, they would be targeted and have a mid-level leader assigned to check on them frequently in order to exert a stronger arm of control over the student. Many of the leaders had no qualms about bullying you to your face if you questioned things or noted un-Biblical practices. I experienced all of these things directly myself when I attended Fire School of Ministry (a video testimony to my experience at Fire School of Ministry can be found below).
The movement even has its own media propaganda arm known as Charisma magazine online which pushes "articles" which exalt the leaders of the movement their demented doctrines. Moreover, they regularly feature articles that subtly berate and goad the movement's followers not to question the leaders and to submit to the greater good of the movement. All of this is dressed up in the guise of giving all to Jesus. Meanwhile, it is the earthly kingdoms of these men and women at the top of the pyramid schemes which benefit from such deep, blind allegiance.
The biggest offenders leading this movement all have ministry schools to train underlings and expand their pyramid scheme as those students rise up in their own positions and draw their own followers. Since tithing (giving one tenth of one's income to the church) is one of the fundamental doctrines, this means money gets funneled upward along the lines of authority the pyramid structures maintain. This is a clear money-making scheme not unlike Amway.
The following names are the most well-known leaders and apologists for the movement:
Bill Johnson of Bethel Redding church in California
Cindy Jacobs
Lou Engle
John Bevere
James Goll
Mike Bickle of IHOP International House of Prayer Kansas City
Dr. Brown of Line of Fire Radio, Askdrbrown.com, Brownsville Revival, and Fire School of Ministry. Dr. Michael Brown Dr. Michael L. Brown Michael Brown
Rick Joyner of Morningstar Ministries
C. Peter Wagner (deceased, but was one of the leading teachers and proponents of the movement)
Che Ahn
Jon Arnott
Randy Clark
Banning Liebscher of Jesus Culture music ministry
Benny Hinn
Steve Hill (deceased)
John Kilpatrick
Stacy Campbell
Carl Lentz
Steven Furtick (just held an "apostle/prophet" conference at his church)
Brian Houston of Hillsong United music ministry
Heidi Baker
Bill Hamon
John Wimber (deceased)
Jennifer Leclair
Rodney Howard Brown
Reinhard Bonnke
Chuck Pierce
Because of this movement's affiliation with the false revivals of the 1990's such as the Toronto Blessing and the Brownsville Revival aka the Pensacola Outpouring, two bombastic, chaotic, riotous events known for outrageous and weird manifestations such as the following:
uncontrollable fits of laughter
being knocked out cold
people being pinned to the floor by an unseen force
being drunk in the spirit
thrashing uncontrollably
rolling around on the floor
writhing around on the floor
shouting and screaming uncontrollably
shaking uncontrollably
making animal noises such as barking like a dog, roaring like a lion, rooster noises
In general, these so-called revivals were marked by uncontrolled mayhem, all attributed to the Holy Spirit moving upon the people in attendance.
Since there is no Biblical standard for how to judge whether a physical manifestation is from the Holy Spirit or a demon, accepting such behaviors blindly as a move of God is completely out of bounds of sound doctrine.
Additionally, the weird manifestations which these movements are known for are actually widely seen in demonic religions such as Hinduism and new age and occult movements.
A final hallmark of the movement is its desire to "lay hands" on everyone and anyone. Bethel Redding has spread the practice of "fire tunnels" where people line up across from each other and others walk through between them and allow dozens of people randomly place their hands all over them in an attempt to "impart" something spiritual from one person to another.
These impartations are a lot like how Hindu gurus lay hands on their followers to stimulate them into wild, fleshly manifestations which are clearly demonic in nature.
There are countless testimonies of people who have come out from the New Apostolic Reformation on the internet. You will find some of them below:
[israeliteindeed.wordpress.com]
[mkayla.wordpress.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[kimolsen.net]
[www.becarefulhowyouhear.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
While the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR for short) disguises itself as a mainline evangelical movement, it is actually under-girded by many extreme doctrines and practices that defy typical fundamental Christian beliefs.
For one thing, it believes that God has recently restored the office of apostle and prophet in the last 30 years. They believe these apostle and prophet leaders have the same authority as 1st century apostles and prophets whom God used to establish the church and write the New Testament. That means these men believe they are able to bring forth new doctrines and practices built upon "revelatory" experiences such as dreams, visions, and things they hear in their head presuming the Holy Spirit is instructing them.
This, of course, is very dangerous as it veers from the supremacy of scripture and places greater authority in the hands of wicked, sinful men.
Second, it has magnified the Spiritual gifts taught in the New Testament in such an unbalanced manner that it disturbs sound doctrine for the sake of any opportunity to display spiritual power. Basically, its desire for spiritual power is insatiable, and the people within the movement cast aside all Biblical warnings against occult practices to achieve such power.
Moreover, it's bent on spreading it's reach and control over the churched or unchurched across the globe. One of the most successful attempts to infiltrate non-NAR churches is through music ministries such as Jesus Culture and Hillsong. Both of those ministries are headed up by NAR apostles and because the music is easy on the ears and people want to sing along, they inevitably begin to look into those ministries further and wind up going deeper into the movement until they end up trapped in a local church affiliated with the movement.
Additionally, they believe God wants them to take over the earth and prepare it so that Jesus may return. This drive has brought forth a doctrinal mandate to overtake 7 spheres of the world's cultures. This demented doctrine is known as the 7 mountain mandate. The mountains being: religion, education, business, family, government/military, arts and entertainment, and media.
And while that sounds like a wildly unachievable goal, the movement is actually making great inroads in these realms of culture across the globe.
Rather than spreading the gospel of Christ to expand, it works feverishly to construct organizations built upon deep, cultist relationships of submission and authority that ensnare and entrap its followers. One of the ways it expands itself is to train disciples through ministry schools.
Having attended Dr. Brown's Fire School of Ministry, I can give some insight into the cultist practices. Firstly, every semester starts with a mandatory weekend retreat which was nothing more than a tactic to soften people up to prepare them for their aberrant doctrines the students would soon encounter in their classrooms. The school program had a mandatory "deliverance" course where students had to confess every sin they've ever committed in their entire lives on a hard-copy document which was then submitted to the teacher leading the class. Students were continually pumped for information through weekly "accountability" questionnaires which delve into personal information about our daily lives. Students were not allowed to attend other church services without permission from the leadership. If a student questioned what was going on, they would be targeted and have a mid-level leader assigned to check on them frequently in order to exert a stronger arm of control over the student. Many of the leaders had no qualms about bullying you to your face if you questioned things or noted un-Biblical practices. I experienced all of these things directly myself when I attended Fire School of Ministry (a video testimony to my experience at Fire School of Ministry can be found below).
The movement even has its own media propaganda arm known as Charisma magazine online which pushes "articles" which exalt the leaders of the movement their demented doctrines. Moreover, they regularly feature articles that subtly berate and goad the movement's followers not to question the leaders and to submit to the greater good of the movement. All of this is dressed up in the guise of giving all to Jesus. Meanwhile, it is the earthly kingdoms of these men and women at the top of the pyramid schemes which benefit from such deep, blind allegiance.
The biggest offenders leading this movement all have ministry schools to train underlings and expand their pyramid scheme as those students rise up in their own positions and draw their own followers. Since tithing (giving one tenth of one's income to the church) is one of the fundamental doctrines, this means money gets funneled upward along the lines of authority the pyramid structures maintain. This is a clear money-making scheme not unlike Amway.
The following names are the most well-known leaders and apologists for the movement:
Bill Johnson of Bethel Redding church in California
Cindy Jacobs
Lou Engle
John Bevere
James Goll
Mike Bickle of IHOP International House of Prayer Kansas City
Dr. Brown of Line of Fire Radio, Askdrbrown.com, Brownsville Revival, and Fire School of Ministry. Dr. Michael Brown Dr. Michael L. Brown Michael Brown
Rick Joyner of Morningstar Ministries
C. Peter Wagner (deceased, but was one of the leading teachers and proponents of the movement)
Che Ahn
Jon Arnott
Randy Clark
Banning Liebscher of Jesus Culture music ministry
Benny Hinn
Steve Hill (deceased)
John Kilpatrick
Stacy Campbell
Carl Lentz
Steven Furtick (just held an "apostle/prophet" conference at his church)
Brian Houston of Hillsong United music ministry
Heidi Baker
Bill Hamon
John Wimber (deceased)
Jennifer Leclair
Rodney Howard Brown
Reinhard Bonnke
Chuck Pierce
Because of this movement's affiliation with the false revivals of the 1990's such as the Toronto Blessing and the Brownsville Revival aka the Pensacola Outpouring, two bombastic, chaotic, riotous events known for outrageous and weird manifestations such as the following:
uncontrollable fits of laughter
being knocked out cold
people being pinned to the floor by an unseen force
being drunk in the spirit
thrashing uncontrollably
rolling around on the floor
writhing around on the floor
shouting and screaming uncontrollably
shaking uncontrollably
making animal noises such as barking like a dog, roaring like a lion, rooster noises
In general, these so-called revivals were marked by uncontrolled mayhem, all attributed to the Holy Spirit moving upon the people in attendance.
Since there is no Biblical standard for how to judge whether a physical manifestation is from the Holy Spirit or a demon, accepting such behaviors blindly as a move of God is completely out of bounds of sound doctrine.
Additionally, the weird manifestations which these movements are known for are actually widely seen in demonic religions such as Hinduism and new age and occult movements.
A final hallmark of the movement is its desire to "lay hands" on everyone and anyone. Bethel Redding has spread the practice of "fire tunnels" where people line up across from each other and others walk through between them and allow dozens of people randomly place their hands all over them in an attempt to "impart" something spiritual from one person to another.
These impartations are a lot like how Hindu gurus lay hands on their followers to stimulate them into wild, fleshly manifestations which are clearly demonic in nature.
There are countless testimonies of people who have come out from the New Apostolic Reformation on the internet. You will find some of them below:
[israeliteindeed.wordpress.com]
[mkayla.wordpress.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[kimolsen.net]
[www.becarefulhowyouhear.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]