The Next Great Awakening. . .

. . . or Great Deadening?

Part 1: Rallying Around the Seven Mountains

Day 6, we toured Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, and the many sites associated with our nation’s founding. In the mean time, David [Barton] and I flew back to New York City to be on the Glenn Beck Show with a group of about 7-8 pastors / Christian Leaders. Lance Wallnau flew in from Dallas to speak to the group in Philadelphia. Lance Wallnau was, as usual, exceptional in his laying out of how to see the culture transformed. After the show, David and I flew back to Philadelphia to catch up with the group once again.

- Jim Garlow [1]

The quotation above came in the midst of this summer's Next Great Awakening Tour, which was hosted by Pastor Jim Garlow and David Barton, to visit the tourist sights of the First and Second Great Awakenings in America. This quote was from a "quick report" by Garlow, who announced the tour "is going awesome!"[2] The tour included Speaker Newt Gingrich, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rick Santorum, Rep. Bob McEwen, Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, along with other notables.[3] Most significantly, the tour featured Lance Wallnau, chief promoter of the controversial New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) doctrine, the 7 Mountain strategy of taking Dominion.

This fact gains considerable significance with the news this week, as both Jim Garlow and David Barton are undergoing controversy after partnering in a political/spiritual rally with conservative radio host, Glenn Beck, a Mormon.

This event with Beck, and this tour over the summer, are indicative of a new way that the evangelical Right is conducting itself. Why were these high-profile evangelical and political leaders openly fraternizing with Lance Wallnau?! Do they agree with his mandate to "possess and occupy," take "territory," "take the high places," and "conquer"?[4] And how can they possibly call this agenda of aggressive Dominion-mongering a "Great Awakening"? That is the question that we will be addressing in a series of posts in the days to come.

The open association of David Barton and Jim Garlow with the New Apostolic Reformation leaders goes back several years at least. Cindy Jacobs, one of the leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation and her organization, Generals International, featured a "Raise Up An Army Convergence '09" conference[5] in which Barton and Garlow were keynote speakers along with Chuck Pierce and Dutch Sheets, key "apostles" under C. Peter Wagner in the NAR. This conference was promoted on The Elijah List,[6] which is the chief media organ for the leaders, doctrines and events of the NAR. The event's purpose was described by Cindy Jacobs: "to raise up a prayer army to both awaken and reform this nation," and used all of the strident military rhetoric of the NAR's prayer warfare agenda.[7] The Convergence '09 appeared to have the full trapping of the extreme "worship" style that characterizes the leaders of the NAR.[8]

At the May Day event at the Lincoln Memorial several months ago, which also advocated the "Seven Mountains of Culture" strategy, both David Barton and Jim Garlow again publicly associated with the leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation. Their names were listed on the committee along with NAR leaders Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets and Chuck Pierce. Other high profile evangelical political leaders included Dr. James Dobson, who promoted the event, and Tim Wildman.[9]

Garlow and Barton are no small potatoes when it comes to widespread influence and name recognition. Jim Garlow heads up Newt Gingrich's Renewing American Leadership (ReAL)[10] group and is a well-known activist opposing California's Proposition 8. And Barton of WallBuilders was ranked by TIME magazine as one of "25 Most Influential EVANGELICALS in America" in 2005.[11] So what are these men doing hanging out with the likes of Lance Wallnau?

They aren't the only ones, however. The very reputable and mainstream National Day of Prayer this year included prayers for the 7 Mountains, a sobering fact which illustrates how far and wide the leaven of this Dominion mandate has spread. One observer described it as a "National Day of Dominion":

The official Task Force for the National Day of Prayer was chaired by Shirley (Mrs. James) Dobson. A who's who of American evangelicals, from Billy and Franklin Graham to Rick Warren, served on the leadership committee. But the Mission Statement of the Task Force is nearly identical to the Dominionists' 7-M Mandate:

The National Day of Prayer Task Force’s mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.

The seven centers of power are exactly the same as the 7 Mountains of Influence invented by Loren Cunningham and Bill Bright (whose widow, Vonette, is the Task Force co-chair), except that "Military" has been swapped in for "Arts & Entertainment".

Given the Dominionist fervor to create Joel's Army, the demonic horde described in Joel chapter 2, that's kind of creepy.

Farther down the list of leaders on the National Day of Prayer Task Force one finds C. Peter Wagner. He coined the term New Apostolic Reformation to describe his teaching that a second age of capital-A Apostles began in 2001. Wagner is also the leading proponent of the 7-M Mandate, the heretical belief that Christians are on a mission from God to reclaim the planet and set up His kingdom on Earth....

While the NDOP Task Force's mission statement stresses the need for personal repentance and prayer, which is scriptural, the Seven Mountains Mandate is pure Wagner, and pure Dominionism. The fact that the seven mountains of Wagner, Cunningham, and Bright have been grafted into the mission statement for the National Day of Prayer, an event chaired and directed by some of the most well-known and respected evangelicals in America, indicates that the influence of the Dominionists is spreading, being mainstreamed by its tacit approval from prominent, respected Christian leaders.[12]


David Barton's associations with the Latter Rain cult, which gave birth to the New Apostolic Reformation, go back a few more years. One notable example is on November 29, 2003, David Barton and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback showed up at a TheCall event in Dallas at The Cotton Bowl to participate in a "cleansing, 30 years after Roe V. Wade (originated in Dallas) and 40 years after the death of JFK," which included "breaking curses off the nation for abuses to Native Americans." It was reported that this event utilized one of the New Apostolic Reformation's newly concocted doctrines, Identificational Repentance, which repents for the sins of one's ancestors or other people:

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, representing the US Government repented for broken treaties and abused people. He announced that a bill has been introduced in Congress asking official forgiveness for these sins. President Bush says he will sign it. Negeil Bigpond spoke prophetically. He said on the day this bill is signed, look to the eastern sky for a sign for God. It would indicate that the curse of abortion was broken....[13]

The list of attendees was a veritable "who's who" in leadership of the New Apostolic Reformation and Latter Rain:

Some of those who spoke: Mike Bickle, Negeil Bigpond, Jay Swallow, John Benefiel, Billy Joe & Sharon Daugherty, Bishop Harry Jackson, James Robison, Senator Sam Brownback, Dutch Sheets, Cindy Jacobs, Jim Goll, Chuck Pierce, Mike Hays, David Barton, Shawn Boltz, Paul Cain, Rocket Ishmael, Todd Bentley, Jill Austin, Michael Brown, Ron Luce, David Shibley, Lou Engle and Che Ahn.[14]

Lou Engle, along with the apostle appointed to oversee his TheCall operation, Che' Ahn,[15] reportedly invoked the Latter Rain concept of a New Breed, a Joel's Army of youthful warriors to build the kingdom of God on earth:

Finally, out of the dissipating darkness came a vital commissioning for the youth. Everyone born since 1973 is part of a “chosen generation,” whose parents had the choice to legally kill them before they were born. They will be an army of warriors fighting to bring this nation back to its original calling as a place of unity in diversity. All streams flowing together to advance the Kingdom of God.[16]


The open schmoozing between the Tea Party and the New Apostolic Reformation "apostles" and "prophets" has continued unabated throughout the summer. But things have escalated with the entry of Glenn Beck, an influential Mormon, into the eclectic Tea Party/NAR mixture, especially with his "Divine Destiny" event tonight and his "Restore Honor" event tomorrow at the Lincoln Memorial. Everything suddenly seemed to switch gears from a purely Tea Party political event to a NAR-styled spiritual event. Note Beck's description:

I think this is an opportunity to gather God's people together and wake people up. And I just have this feeling that this is the beginning of something gigantic in this country, that it is spiritual awakening....

This is Divine Providence. This is the Lord's hand at work. This is a miracle.[17]

David Barton, who was interviewing Beck on his radio show during this conversation, responded by agreeing that it is "an intervention of God."[18] Beck then replied with a curious statement that he believed that his rally would be held on a "sacred space" and that he felt that "the Spirit of the Lord" would be "unleashed":

You can feel the presence of the Lord. I mean, the Spirit is so strong. When you two hundred, three hundred, five hundred thousand people on the Mall in that space right there between Washington and Lincoln with the Reflecting Poll - a spiritual space in our nation - the Spirit of the Lord is going to be unleashed like I think you've never felt it before.[19]

This idea about sacred spaces comes out of the occult world, and these weird remarks may pertain to the distinctive Masonic grid of Washington, D.C. streets.[20] But take note that the "sacred space" heresy is also promoted by leaders of the NAR.[21]

All of this complicates matters for David Barton, who has been working very closely with Glenn Beck recently.[22] Critics from all sides of the spectrum have begun to raise serious questions in the past few weeks.[23] Barton's fervor for saving America has seemed to blind him to the questionable doctrines of those with whom he associates.[24] Sadly, many sincere patriotic Americans who are Christian believers have followed him like a pied piper, straight into these strange associations. Barton, by exhibiting such a profound lack of discernment, has tragically given great credibility to these many false apostles and prophets.[25]

Jim Garlow, David Barton, and the other evangelical leaders who are lending their high-profile names to the New Apostolic Reformation Dominionists, are leading many astray. Today's post is just one illustration of the rapidly developing crisis.[26]

Their fervor is increasing. Jim Garlow wrote a letter to a broader group of people on August 24, 2010, calling them to "become part of the massive prayer army" that engages in a "40-day prayer and fast period -- from September 20 to October 30," and to watch "four webcasts." He also called upon everyone to sign The Manhattan Declaration,[27] which appears to be gaining in significance as a key "covenant" document for Dominionism.


The Truth:

In defending his recent activities with Glenn Beck, David Barton wrote "By Their Fruits," in which he explained his belief that "no one has yet been to point to any instance where Glenn has attacked or undermined Christ or Christianity on any of his programs." He then suggests that Beck is a Christian, by asking "Is God using Glenn to help recover our national strength and health, both politically and spiritually? If so, why would God be using him?" Apparently Barton doesn't consider Glenn's denial of Jesus Christ as the ONLY way to heaven (salvation) as bad fruit.

If this is Barton's attitude about working with Glenn Beck, then it is no wonder that he has no moral, ethical or spiritual cognitive dissonance when working with Lance Wallnau, who is also openly promoting another gospel.

These leaders of Dominionism who are fervidly patriotic seem to have gone into as much error as those Emergent leaders who are embracing the contemplatives. Each group is going back to the faulty foundations of historical traditions and human wisdom to build their new doctrinal structures. Like the Emergent/Contemplatives who direct us back to the Desert Fathers instead of the original Apostles, these patriotic Dominionists point back to the Founding Fathers rather than honoring the Creator, God Almighty, through repentance, and by delivering the true Gospel.

For example, David Barton wrote the other day that according to Thomas Jefferson,

the only “firm basis” of our national liberties is a “conviction in the minds of the people” that our liberties are from God and that government cannot intrude into those liberties without incurring God's wrath.[28]

We beg to differ with Barton. Scripture tells us our individual liberty is in Christ, and states it very clearly and concisely: "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty" (Galatians 5:13a). No man, and no nation under God -- or not -- can take this away from us. This is a liberty from the covenant of the law and the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13s, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law"); and from sin (Romans 6:7, "For he that is dead is freed from sin").[29] Scripture also tells us that we are individually free in Christ, no matter our circumstances, no matter what country we live in: "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed" (John 8:36). There is nothing that can take that liberty away from us that we have in Christ Jesus:

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Endnotes:
1. http://www.skylinechurch.org/skyline/?p=2201
2. Ibid.
3. "The Next Great Awakening Tour: An Historical Tour of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, including Harvard, Yale & Princeton featuring Leaders of ReAL (Renewing American Leadership)," June 25-July 4, 2010conference brochure posted here: http://www.skylinechurch.org/images/NGAtourWebReAL.pdf
4. "Patricia King and Lance Wallnau," video by Bruce Wilson, posted here: http://vimeo.com/1786357?pg=embed&sec=1786357
5. "Raise Up An Army Convergence '09," April 16-18, Dallas, TX sponsored by Generals International, conference promotional brochure posted http://www.generals.org/events/upcoming-events/convergence-09/speaker-bios/
6. See http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word/7404
7. Generals International e-newsletter promoting Convergenge '09, cached here: http://www.generals.org/newsletters/e-newsletters/urgent-gathering-for-the-believers-of-america/ emphasis in original.
8. Photos of this event, illustrating Cindy Jacobs engaged in some sort of fervor, and documenting the attendance of David Barton, have been posted on this webpage (scroll down): http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/beck-barton-six-degrees-and-seven-mountains. Note at the top of the webpage you can see a photo of Barton, Garlow, Glenn Beck, Robert George and John Hagee, among others, on Beck's TV show of July 2, 1020, transcript here: http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,595806,00.html.
9. See these Herescope posts where this entire situation was documented in detail:
April 8: The Coalescing of the Christian Right with Apostolic Dominionism
April 22: R&R Revival and Revolt: The Tea Party's Strange Bedfellows and What They Believe
April 27: May Day Prayers: What Repentance?
May 18: Mainstreaming Dominionism
10. See press release here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/newt-gingrich-names-dr-jim-garlow-to-chair-renewing-american-leadership-87906477.html. David Barton is also very connected with Gingrich, and is listed under Who We Are at the ReAL website: http://www.torenewamerica.com/who-we-are
11. "TIME Names the 25 Most Influential EVANGELICALS in America," Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005, http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,1022576,00.html
12. "National Day of Dominion," by Derek Gilbert, May 10, 2010, http://hearkenthewatchmen.com/article.asp?id=188. In this article, he cites several webpages, http://nationaldayofprayer.org/about/our-mission/, which he quotes directly from. And the other webpage http://nationaldayofprayer.org/about/leadership/ is a list of leaders that includes such evangelical mainstream leaders as Dr. James Dobson, David Barton, Franklin Graham, Billy Graham, Rick Warren, Ravi Zacharias, Chuck Swindoll, Chuck Stanley, Kay Arthur, David Barton, Max Lucado, Chuck Colson, Tony Dungy, Joni Eareckson Tada, and many others.
13. NewsPage for Monday, December 1, 2003,"The Last Call," cached at http://www.talktosteve.com/email/2003_12_01/ For an explanation of these heresies and how they came about, see the book Idolatry in Their Hearts by Sandy Simpson and Mike Oppenheimer, available here: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/idolatrybook.html
14. Ibid. To find out more about who many of these folks are, use the handy search feature to look through this website: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/
15. C. Peter Wagner has written that Che Ahn is the apostle appointed to oversee Lou Engle's The Call. Che Ahn has a long history as a key leader of the New Apostolic Reformation. In his book Spheres of Authority: Apostles in Today's Church (Wagner Publications, 2002), where he lays out his doctrine that apostles are in charge of "spheres" (later called "mountains" by Lance Wallnau), Wagner uses Che Ahn as an illustration of a "Functional Apostle" (a concocted term) who presides over an organization, writing: "...of Che' Ahn over TheCall, arguably the most dynamic youth movement of our day..." (p. 91). Interestingly, Jim Garlow is connected with Che' Ahn as leaders of the Pastors' Rapid Response Team: http://www.saltandlightcouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=133&Itemid=215
16. "The Last Call," Ibid.
17. This conversation between Glenn Beck and David Barton can be heard, and it is transcribed, at: "Glenn Beck Is On A Mission From God," by Kyle Mantyla, 8/16/10, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/glenn-beck-mission-god"
18. Ibid.
19. Ibid.
20. See map posted at Cutting Edge, "MASONIC SYMBOLS OF POWER IN THEIR SEAT OF POWER -- WASHINGTON, D.C.," http://www.cuttingedge.org/n1040.html
21. See these two Herescope posts: "Geographical Heresies of the New Apostolic Reformation, February 17, 2006, http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/02/geographical-heresies-of-new-apostolic.html and "George Otis's Geographical Heresies," February 20, 2006, http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/02/george-otiss-geographical-heresies.html
22. See for example, "American Revival Tomorrow on the Insider Extreme," July 15, 2010, where Barton was on tour with Beck in Salt Lake City as part of Beck's "American Revival Tour": http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/42960/
23. Critics include articles such as these: "Glenn Beck Is On A Mission From God," by Kyle Mantyla, 8/16/10, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/glenn-beck-mission-god"; "Barton: Beck May Be Mormon, But He's More Christian Than Wallis, Clinton, and Pelosi," by Kyle Mantyla, 8/19/10, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/barton-beck-may-be-mormon-hes-more-christian-wallis-clinton-and-pelosi; "Beck's Mormon Faith Raising Alarms Among The Religious Right," by Kyle Mantyla, August 23, 2010, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/individuals/david-barton ;"Glenn Beck's Religious Activism Comes Full Circle," by Kyle Mantyla, 8/24/10, http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/glenn-becks-religious-activism-comes-full-circle; "Following Glenn Beck's Divine Destiny or God's Word," by Brannon S. Howse, 8/22/10, http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=6439; "APPRISING MINISTRIES TO GLENN BECK," by Ken Silva, 8/19/10, http://apprising.org/2010/08/19/apprising-ministries-to-glenn-beck-2/; "WHY GLENN BECK WANTS TO SAVE AMERICA," by Ken Silva, 8/23/10, http://apprising.org/2010/08/23/why-glenn-beck-wants-to-save-america/. Note that this last article delves into some of the Dominionist beliefs inherent in Mormonism.
24. See, for example, this 6-part video of David Barton with Kenneth Hagin posted on You Tube. It begins here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uMHe5KxSWs&feature=player_embedded The errors of Kenneth Hagin's doctrines can be found here: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/geneology.html#Hagin and here: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/quotes.html#Hagin
25. David Barton's history of America is not without its critics, both from the political Right and political Left. Chris Pinto has begun to publicly name David Barton as a traditional Christian historian who ignores quotes which conflict with the American history he seeks to portray. Pinto wrote a chapter in Tom Horn's book How to Overcome the Most frightening Issues You will face this Century and has done some interviews on the FutureQuake.com show in which you can hear his criticism of Barton. And from the Left, People for the American Way, have published a report, "David Barton: Propaganda Masquerading as History," http://www.pfaw.org/print/10847 , and also written "A Devastating Exposé On How David Barton Perpetuates His Pseudo-History," http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/devastating-exposé-how-david-barton-perpetuates-his-pseudo-history and http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/individuals/david-barton
26. This blog has written about this developing crisis since mid-April when we began chronicling the increasing political and religious mainstreaming of the extreme fringes of the evangelical world:
April 8: The Coalescing of the Christian Right with Apostolic Dominionism
April 22: R&R Revival and Revolt: The Tea Party's Strange Bedfellows and What They Believe
April 27: May Day Prayers: What Repentance?
May 18: Mainstreaming Dominionism
June 1: The Other Side of Emergent: The New Apostolic Reformation
June 5: The Great Confluence: The Emergent New Apostolic Reformation Flowing into the New Age
June 24: Seven Mountains: Set To Go VIRAL
July 19: CHUCK NORRIS: HIS BELIEFS, HIS ASSOCIATIONS, HIS MISSION
July 23: Destiny-Driven Dominionism
August 10: The Great Outpouring of Wealth: PROSPERITY plus POWER
27. See the Herescope post "The Manhattan Declaration: Another Dominionist Covenant," http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/009/discernment/12-manhattan-declaration.htm, and for background see "A Covenant for Civility: A New Order of the Third Way http://herescope.blogspot.com/2010/03/covenant-for-civility.html
28. "David Barton: One Nation, Under God," August 25, 2010, http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/44685/?ck=1
29. Believers who have difficulty grasping this point are referred to old Bibles and Bible commentaries. Today's exhortation was inspired by the commentary on the books of Romans and Galatians done by Matthew Poole in his 1600s Commentary on the Holy Bible (Hendrickson).

The Money God

Part 3: The Political Kingdom

By Pastor Anton Bosch

Food and material blessings are some of the felt needs, as I discussed in Part 2, and political empowerment is another. The people living in Israel in Jesus’ time had two priorities. The first was for material provision, and the second was for political reform and to be liberated from the Roman overlords. Economics and politics are very closely related and they both impact each other.

Jesus did meet people’s needs, and on several occasions fed large crowds miraculously. But in John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand, John mentions men, who as a result of the feeding of the multitude, wanted to take Jesus by force to anoint Him as their king (John 6:14-15). This was a natural response to Jesus meeting their need and shows the danger of appealing to people’s felt needs. Today, many argue that it is good and right for people to want to make Jesus king because He meets their felt needs. But let’s examine this a little closer.

There were two problems with the people's desire to crown Jesus. Both remain problems today. The first is that it was not God’s timing. The second was their intention: they did not want Jesus to be their King in order to come under His authority but, rather, that they may use Him as a source of free food or to gain political power. Jesus will one day be crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but God has determined a very specific time when that is to happen. We cannot impose our agenda on God. God is sovereign and has predetermined a method and a time when Jesus’ kingship will become a physical reality. It is vain for people to think they can manipulate God into doing what they desire.

Some have suggested that the reason Judas betrayed Jesus was in an effort to force Jesus’ hand to establish a material Kingdom. Any attempt to rush God’s plan is rebellion against His sovereign rule. At the heart of the prosperity message is the notion that God is there for us to use when we need Him or need something from Him. This is diametrically opposed to the truth. He is not there for us, we are here for Him. Almighty God is not our servant, He is the King and we are His servants. “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” (Romans 11:36).

Throughout the 3-year ministry of Jesus, his disciples and the multitudes who followed Him, expected Him to establish a material, political Kingdom. It is likely that a number of the Twelve followed Jesus because of this expectation. Several of them were of the party called the “Zealots.” Simon is specifically named a Zealot (Luke 6:15). And in addition there is evidence that Simon Peter, John, James and Judas (Iscariot) were all Zealots. According to the first-century Jewish historian Josephus, the Zealots were one of the political parties of the day. (The others were the Pharisees, Sadducees and the Essenes – the Zealots had broken away from the Pharisees.) The Zealots were on the extreme right of the political spectrum, and they were called Zealots because of their zeal for national Israel and their hatred of Roman domination.

Throughout the ministry of Jesus there is evidence that the Twelve expected Him to establish a material Kingdom immediately: “they thought the Kingdom of God would appear immediately” (Luke 19:11). In response, Jesus tells the parable about a nobleman who went away to receive a Kingdom, thus indicating that He had to go away, receive His kingdom, and then return (Luke 19:12-27). The request by James and John, through their mother, for the second and third positions of political power in the Kingdom (Matthew 20:21) was also based on the anticipation of an immediate, literal Kingdom.

Jesus frequently tried to discourage the Twelve, and others, from thinking about the Kingdom as a literal and material Kingdom. Sometimes He did so by inference, teaching that the Kingdom was made up of the meek and that the greatest in the Kingdom were little children. But He also demonstrated unequivocally that he had not come to remove the Romans. This He did by paying taxes and teaching obedience to the Romans (Matthew 5:41), even allowing them to crucify Him. But Jesus also taught very specifically that the Kingdom would be taken from the Jews and given to others (Matthew 21:43), thus removing all doubt about a revival of the state of Israel.

In response to questions by the Pharisees as to when the Kingdom would come Jesus replied: “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, `See here!' or `See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you'” (Luke 17:20-21). In other words, the Kingdom is not visible or material, but is spiritual and in the hearts of its citizens; and it is not immediate.

When Pilate questioned Jesus about His Kingdom, Jesus very explicitly stated that His Kingdom was not physical: “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here” (John 18:36). There cannot be a clearer statement that the Kingdom is not political or earthly. Those who teach a material Kingdom outside of the Millennium do so in direct contradiction of the Scriptures.

After the cross and the resurrection, the most important question on the minds of the disciples was still “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). In fact, this is the last question they asked Him before His ascension. Jesus did not seem to bother to answer the question but simply told them that they would receive power to be witnesses to Him (Acts 1:8).

So, in spite of Jesus’ very clear teaching that the Kingdom was not now and was not material, the expectation of His followers did not change. It is against this background that He rode into Jerusalem four days before His crucifixion.

A huge crowd had assembled and they began to remove their outer garments and cut palm branches in order to lay them on the dusty street so Jesus could ride into Jerusalem in royal style. This was the equivalent of the modern custom of laying out a red carpet to welcome a dignitary. Everyone knew that this was the King and that they were welcoming Him as their King. The problem however was that they were looking for the wrong kind of king at the wrong time.

This was evident as they shouted the words of the messianic Psalm: “Hosanna to the Son of David! `Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9; Psalm 118:24-26).

The word “Hosanna” is a composite of two words meaning “save” and “now.” They were literally saying “save (us) now.” If you look at the reference in Psalm 118:24-26, you will notice that the Psalmist said: “Save now, I pray, O Lord.” In the light of the political climate of the time, it becomes clear that they saw Jesus as the King who would save them from the Romans, and that they saw salvation as material and political. This is identical to Liberation Theology and Dominionism of today, that sees salvation in political and material terms.

Jesus had indeed come to save His people. His name – “Jesus” means “Jehovah is salvation” or “God saves.” But when the angel announced to Joseph that His name would be Jesus, he was very specific that “you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Yes, Jesus had come to save His people (and us), but not from the Romans or poverty, but from their SINS. Salvation is spiritual and not political.

Because Jesus refused to be their political savior the crowd turned against Him. A few days later the same people who wanted to make Him King cried “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15). It is amazing how quickly people turned against Him when He did not do what they wanted.


Nothing has changed

Nothing has changed. God’s plan for man is still the same and sinful man’s agenda for God is still the same.

God’s plan is to save the lost (Luke 19:10) and to conform the saved into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). Everything else is subject to these two purposes of God. He will bless or withhold blessing in order to achieve these purposes in the lives of people. Our material and political situation is of little or no consequence in the light of God’s higher purposes – saving us and perfecting us. He does not deviate from that.

God’s plan for the world has been spelled out: At the predetermined time Jesus will come and set up his Millennial Kingdom. For the first time the Kingdom of God will be literal, material and political. He will rule the world from the throne of David in Jerusalem. Until then His kingdom will be spiritual and in the hearts of His people. We cannot bring this about through political action, and we cannot manipulate God to change His timing.

Sinful man has not changed. Man still wants to use God for his own selfish purposes. Man still thinks he can force, manipulate and blackmail God to do his will and to pander to his greed and lust. And just like the Zealots, man still thinks he can bring about a material Kingdom of God through political action.

It is time for the church to line up with God’s purposes and to stop trying to force God in line with man.

“And he said, 'Who are You, Lord?' Then the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So he, trembling and astonished, said, 'Lord, what do You want me to do?' Then the Lord said to him, 'Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do'” (Acts 9:5-6).

This series will be continuing in the weeks to come, Lord willing. Pastor Anton Bosch is the author of Contentiously Contending, a booklet about how to avoid being contentious while contending for the faith. He is also the author of Building Blocks of the Church: Re-examining the Basics. Both books are available HERE.

The Money God

Part 2: The Material Kingdom

by Pastor Anton Bosch

Before Jesus even began His ministry He was tempted by the Devil (Matthew 4). The first of these temptations was for Him to turn stones into bread. The shallow interpretation of this temptation is to say that Jesus was hungry (He had been fasting for forty days) and that the temptation was for him to gratify His fleshly hunger.

While that interpretation is certainly not wrong, there is a deeper issue at stake here, as there is with the other two temptations. Satan knew that it would be very difficult to tempt Jesus on the purely carnal level and so he tried to find an area where Jesus was potentially vulnerable. Satan also knew how committed Jesus was to establish the Kingdom of God and he tried to tempt Jesus in areas that lined up with His purpose. Thus the temptations centered on Jesus’ mission and purpose. Each temptation would create the appearance that it would help Jesus to fulfill His purpose.

Let’s look at the second and third temptations before we return to the first. The second temptation was a temptation to do something spectacular and jump from the pinnacle of the Temple. Satan’s purpose behind this was to entice Jesus to build His Kingdom on miracles and the spectacular. If Jesus had jumped and landed safely, the whole nation would have instantly crowned Him as their king. Sadly, there are many preachers today who have chosen to build their kingdoms on the spectacular. This would seem to be quite legitimate because Jesus (and the Apostles) did perform many miracles. But Jesus knew how superficial a kingdom based on miracles would be and later He declared “A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign” (Matthew 16:4). People need to follow Him for deeper reasons than just entertainment.

Jesus had come to redeem the world by dying on the cross, and while popularity and fame may have given Him a following and a nation, the lost would still not be redeemed. It was for this reason that Jesus frequently told people not to speak about the miracles they had received. Satan is very happy for people to follow Jesus, as long as they follow Him for the wrong reason and are not saved. The history of the church is filled with examples of times when churches were popular, and when thousands joined the churches without being born-again. Today there is a whole generation of people who follow signs, wonders, miracles and Christian entertainment, but who have never been transformed by the power of the Gospel.

The third temptation was a blatant temptation for Jesus to bypass the Cross. He had indeed come to redeem the world, and Satan offered Him exactly what He had come for, but without the Cross. The Devil would probably have ensured that the world, its kingdoms and its people followed Jesus, if Jesus had just bowed to him. Obviously, Jesus would be second to Satan in the kingdom since He would have bowed to Satan. But more importantly, Satan would not be defeated at the cross and the human race would still be condemned. Satan’s offer was a political kingdom without redemption for the lost human race. Once again, Satan is not afraid of people becoming religious, or even “Christian,” as long as they are not born again, and as long as they remain under his control.

Now, as we return to the first temptation, we will see that this one was based on the same premise as the other two – allowing Jesus to feel He was accomplishing God’s plan, but by a means that God had not prescribed and in a way that did not deal with the heart of the issue. Satan also knew how ripe the people of Israel were for a messiah who would fulfill their material aspirations. Satan knew that if Jesus would just meet the "felt needs" of the people, they would follow, no, they would mob Jesus. This mob would follow Jesus because He fed them and met their material needs, not because they loved Him, believed in Him or were true disciples.

More seriously, if they followed Him for the things He could provide, their real needs such as sin, self-centeredness, and rebellion towards God would not be dealt with.

People throughout history, will follow a messiah who meets their material needs. This is especially true in areas of the world where materialism is god, but also where people are poor. If tomorrow a man rose up in a Third-World country who could start turning stones into bread, he would immediately be made the president of that country and the savior of the world. Jesus did feed the multitudes because He had compassion on them, but later He clearly told them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life” (John 6:26-27).

Since that time Satan has tempted and seduced many preachers to build their following and congregations on meeting people’s "felt needs" and not on the message of the Gospel. A search of the Internet for the term “felt needs” will produce a myriad of sites that justify using "felt needs" as a means to get through to people. The problem with this is that the sinful human nature thinks that it needs material things when its real need is for spiritual things. We humans are not very good at understanding what the difference is between our felt needs and our real needs. We think we need entertainment when we need a relationship with the Lord. We think we need money when we really need forgiveness. We think we need physical healing when our deeper need is for spiritual healing.

There are fundamental differences between felt and real needs. Our felt needs are material and physical, while our real needs are spiritual. Our felt needs revolve around ourselves, when our real need is to be God-centered. Material things are temporal, while spiritual things are eternal. But man is short-sighted and only sees the here-and-now, while God sees things from an eternal perspective.

The prosperity message meets (or at least promises to meet) people’s "felt needs." Thus many follow Jesus today not because He can save them or died for them, but because they think He will bless them in material ways. This is building the Kingdom on materialism and not on the work of redemption accomplished at the cross of Calvary. But what makes it even worse is that nowadays the prosperity message has gone way beyond needs and has focused on greed. It is no longer about bread but expensive motor cars, big houses and lavish lifestyles.

The Devil could not entice Jesus to exchange His Gospel that deals with the real needs of people for a message that revolves around their felt needs. Sadly, the Devil never gave up on his scheme, and has succeeded in seducing many preachers to fall into the same trap Jesus showed us to avoid.

To be continued. . . .


The Truth:

"Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?" (James 2:5)



Pastor Anton Bosch is the author of Contentiously Contending, a booklet about how to avoid being contentious while contending for the faith. He is also the author of Building Blocks of the Church: Re-examining the Basics. Both books are available HERE.

The Money God

Part 1: The ATM God

By Pastor Anton Bosch

“God wants you to be rich, healthy and happy. If you have financial problems just become a Christian and all your problems will go away. Believers can get anything they wish from God by planting seeds in the form of cash. Every dollar you give God, He repays ten or a hundred fold.”

As a result of this message, millions of people have converted to Christianity and swelled the coffers of the TV stations, preachers and churches that preach this. But we must ask a few questions: Are they following the God of the Bible, and are those who teach and believe this message really Christians? How dare we ask such questions? Well, how dare we not!

It all hinges on one question: Is the god of the prosperity message the God of the Bible? That should not be hard to answer. All we need to do is compare the god of the prosperity gospel with the God of the Bible and it becomes clear that they are not the same. The god of the health and wealth message can best be described as the “money god” or the “ATM god.”

One day a rich young man wanted to follow Jesus. The money preacher would have told this young man to give his money to God (meaning the preacher) so that God will give back to him multiplied many more times. But what did Jesus say? “Go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:21). Jesus did not promise the young man more money, but spiritual riches in heaven. Neither did Jesus tell him to give the money to God, or the Temple, but to just get rid of it because money had become his god. This Jesus of the Bible is different than the one preached today.

After this, turning to His disciples, Jesus said: “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” To which the disciples responded, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:23-25). If it is hard, in fact impossible, for a rich man to enter the Kingdom, then surely God would be contradicting Himself by making people rich. This is because God also said He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2Peter 3:9). So, if the Lord wants people to be saved, and riches are going to keep them from getting saved, why then will He make them rich?

Jesus also said “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24). Mammon means money. Clearly serving God and money, greed and materialism, are mutually exclusive: You cannot serve money and God at the same time. Therefore the money god and the God of the Bible are two different gods. Jesus Himself places the two at opposites.

Paul confirms this: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1Timothy 6:9). At the risk of oversimplification: “Everybody who wants to be rich will go to hell!” Is that too strong? No, it is exactly what it says. What else does it mean to drown in destruction and perdition? Clearly, the greed for money sends people to Hell. Who do you think is the master of the preachers who incite people to greed? God does not want any to go to hell, but the Devil does.

Paul continues: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness” (1Timothy 6:10). Yes, I know. it is the love of money and not the money. But what exactly is it that the money preachers are appealing to when they promise people that God will make them rich? It is the love of money. It is not the love of God. If that were the basis of their appeal they would encourage people to just give their money to God and not expect anything back. But they are expressly appealing to, and encouraging, the love of money. So who promotes the love of money? God or the Devil? God’s messengers, or the messengers of Satan?

Just think about it a moment before you reach for the mouse to delete this message. Wait before you sit at the keyboard to fire off a message telling me I am a heretic. Yes, I agree that God blesses His children, meets their needs and teaches them to look to Him for their daily bread. But there is a huge difference between loving God and loving money.

Millions of people have become “Christians” because of the promises of health, wealth and happiness. But I wonder if they would have become Christians if God rather promised persecution, hardship and problems. But wait! What does the Bible promise?: “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2Timothy 3:12). “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33 NIV). And “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

Not only do we have promises of hardship as Christians, but the record of Scripture confirms that to be the case. Jesus was never rich and had to be buried in a borrowed tomb. Paul had a few seasons of abundance but mostly his life was pretty miserable: “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2Corinthians 11:24-27). Does that sound like the kind of life preachers are offering today?

Look at the wonderful “prosperous” life the heroes of faith lived: “Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented-- of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth” (Hebrews 11:35-38).

There are glaring differences between the promises of the Bible and those of the prosperity preachers. In fact, they are direct opposites.

It is very obvious that the god of the prosperity message is not the God of the Bible, and that those who preach that message are not messengers of God but of Satan. We must then ask whether their followers are really Christians.

If you have been following Jesus for what He can give you, then you need to repent and turn to the real Lord Jesus Christ who died for you on the cross. Ask Him right now to forgive you for following Him for things, when He already gave Himself as a sacrifice for your sins. God loved you so much that He gave His only begotten Son; but you want stuff?


Pastor Anton Bosch is the author of Contentiously Contending, a booklet about how to contend for the faith. He is also the author of Building Blocks of the Church: Re-examining the Basics. Both books are available HERE.

The Great Outpouring of Wealth

PROSPERITY plus POWER

I see God setting hidden men and women of the Spirit into strategic, mostly hidden positions for the distribution of billions of dollars. These people have the ears and hearts of kings and will be responsible for the re-direction of wealth and favor (very much like Daniel/Joseph/Esther). These people are already in place. The next six months will be crucial for wealth distribution.

-- Stacey Campbell[1]

God wants to rend the heavens, speak blessings over us and release Kingdom wealth. However, if we cannot hear Him and properly respond, we will not be positioned for our inheritance.
-- Sandie Freed[2]


All nine of the components of GAN [Global Apostolic Network, ed.] are on my heart, but especially those related to wealth and wealth transfer. I am in touch with 17 potential wealth transfer brokers, some of them expecting release momentarily. It is hard to comprehend, but some of them go to multiple millions, billions, and more. My task is to prepare a high integrity infrastructure for distributing these funds when they begin to flow. Zion Apostolic Network and The Hamilton Group are in place as agencies to carry this out. Our motto is “Sophisticated Philanthropy for Apostolic Distribution.”
--C. Peter Wagner[3]

The Dominionists are hitching a ride on the prosperity gospel train. And by combining the two grandiose ideas they are getting more mileage. They claim there is going to be a great outpouring of wealth (prosperity) with which to build their global kingdom (power).

This is the latest aberration of the oldtime prosperity heresy - also known as "name it and claim it," "seed faith," or "health and wealth" gospels. This get-rich teaching was popularized by the Word-Faith movement:

The Word-Faith Teachers. This is the group that would seek to convince us that Jesus and His disciples were rich, that to be poor is a sin, to be sick is a sin, and that faith is a creative force that we can use to shape our world just like God supposedly created this world and universe that we live in through His "faith"!

Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Paul Crouch, John Avanzini, Robert Tilton, Fred Price, and Benny Hinn... are just a few that spew out this theological vomit.[4]

These men gained prominence as televangelists, thus enabling their false doctrines to become household items.

The new generation of prosperity preachers, Creflo Dollar, Paula White, Joel Osteen, and a host of other ‘luminaries’ took the humble health and wealth gospel to another level. Rather than focus on audience healings and testimonies, the leaders themselves became advertisements for the movement, highlighting their expensive cars, airplanes, homes, and perfectly-toned bodies as a way to show their parishioners and followers across the world that prosperity was the way.[5]


This "seed faith" doctrine teaches that if one gives money they will get rewards. Plus, there are promises of financial miracles and windfalls if one applies certain, supposedly biblical, economic "principles" or "laws." This false gospel also teaches that one can invoke things in heaven on earth, including especially wealth. Prosperity is seen as an entitlement and an inheritance which one should name and claim as rightfully theirs. Closely connected with this heresy are the warfare prayer ideas taught by C. Peter Wagner. Even during his Third Wave era (1990s) he was already linking Dominionism (power) to prosperity.

"As I have mentioned several times, the ultimate focus is world evangelization. Warfare prayer is not an end in itself, but a means of opening the way for the Kingdom of God to come, not only in evangelism, but also in social justice and material sufficiency."[6]


When C. Peter Wagner formed his New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) in the late 1990s, he reinvigorated the Latter Rain/Manifest Sons of God false prophecies about a great endtime revival accompanied by signs and wonders. A great influx of money was promised to facilitate this revival, and as the years went by, the NAR "prophecies" about a great outpouring of wealth began to increase in intensity and frequency.

In 2000 NAR leader Jim Goll wrote about a World Congress of Intercession he attended in Colorado Springs held by the newly formed Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders (Goll attended the meeting, and included in the list of attendees such notables as C. Peter Wagner, Mike and Cindy Jacobs, Chuck Pierce, Dutch Sheets, Bart Pierce, Tommy Tenny, Kingsley Fletcher, Mike Bickle, Paul Cain, John and Paula Sanford, Bill Hammond, James Ryle, Beth Alves, Barbara Wentrouble). This group issued 12 points for the next decade, "prophecies" about a much-antiticpated outpouring of wealth, such as:

• as we learn God’s kingdom principles for economics. It is important to invest in Kingdom structures rather than in the world’s economic systems in this hour.
• We will see tremendous transfers of wealth into the Kingdom of God through the ministry of "market apostles" (those with apostolic anointing for business and other areas of society).

But by now these leaders were also aggressively prophesying Dominion, and the two ideas were becoming intertwined in a volatile new combination of both power and prosperity:

• Government shakings: God is going to shake Government. Rulers will bow their knee to the Lord of Glory and dedicate their nations to the Lord Jesus Christ.
• The Government of God’ kingdom will be established through the apostolic and prophetic authorities in cities and nations.[7]

That was just the beginning. The latest postings this past year on The Elijah List, chief organ of the NAR, reveal that the call for Dominionism (power) is now consistently being linked to wealth (prosperity), obvious incentives for those who are deluded by these lusts of the flesh. But the military rhetoric has now also been added to the mix, teaching that one must not only claim their inheritance ("name-it-and-claim-it"), but also war for their supposed inheritance! The Elijah List has been promoting events like "The Transference of Wealth 2010 Conference with Pat Francis, Hank Kunneman, Judy Jacobs, John Benefiel, Trent Cory and more! September 9-12, 2010 in Oklahoma City, OK," described as "a strategic gathering geared towards preparing YOU for the transfer of wealth that God is depositing into the Body of Christ this season!" The conference promo promises that this is

the year where God would strategically shift members of the Body of Christ, moving them into their places of inheritance and prosperity, divinely orchestrating circumstances so that the wealth that we are destined to possess would be transferred into our lives! The Lord showed me that in 2010, He would release several different income streams, and that it would be likened unto Genesis 2:10. There will be a release of wealth through creativity in 2010 that will cause people to think a thing that will produce Kingdom ideas that have the potential to produce billions of dollars in revenue.

The Transference of Wealth 2010 Conference will prepare you to:

• Understand the war over the transfer of wealth being transferred into the hands of the Kingdom of God from the grip of the enemy!
• Receive keys to break the power of poverty and lack!
• Receive the anointing for wealth!
• Receive new strength to war, prophesy, and break through!
• Understand how to position yourself to receive the transfer of wealth!
• Become strong and do great exploits for the Kingdom!
• Dethrone the spirit of Mammon that tries to rule over finances
• Receive the spoils of war!
• Understand how Kingdom Wealth is vital to establishing God's covenant!
• Take the keys of the Kingdom and war through prayer and intercession for release of wealth and inheritance![8]

Along with this, the conference also promotes the heresy that "Heaven and earth are aligning!... It is time for God's army to ARISE and SHINE with glory and new strength!"

The Elijah List also advertised the "Kingdom Economic Yearly Summit" Austin, TX held on April 22-25, 2009, which claimed that "God is preparing His Bride, the Body of Christ, for unprecedented wealth transfer," and urged "marketplace leaders to become more united, connected, networked, intentional and strategic in order to infiltrate the seven societal mountains/cultural spheres, and to exercise authority and influence over their respective gates and gatekeepers." Positioning itself as an economic summit, this group expressed its Dominionist wealth goals ominously as:

The Holy Spirit is calling the valley of dry bones together (Ezek. 37) in the marketplace to rise up and come to life, to connect and knit together, to align into unity of purpose and order, to prosper and multiply, and to deploy strategically to conquer and occupy territory (spheres of influence and authority) as a vast endtime army of the Lord. It is a set and appointed time in 2009 for the Church to hold its second Kingdom Economic Yearly Summit, just as the nations of the earth hold the World Economic Forum each year. Summits are governmental gatherings where apostolic leaders declare, decree, legislate, negotiate, set policy, plan the future, discuss issues, enter into agreements and treaties, and form alliances and coalitions, so this is not a conference, seminar or workshop. Instead, it is an intentional, strategic assembly of warriors, leaders and generals who are supernaturally taking the Kingdom of God by force and advancing it in the marketplace on earth as it is in Heaven.[9]

Chuck Pierce, C. Peter Wagner's heir apparent, issued one of his "decrees" in a "prophetic" letter published on The Elijah List on February 10, 2010. In this anti-poverty message he decreed that "you succeed... have success and bring forth His covenant plan.... To succeed means to follow after, dispossess the enemy and possess or occupy his territory." He assured his readers, in classic "prosperity gospel" style that they need to abandon a poverty mentality because it won't achieve dominion.[10]


The Great Transference of Wealth

In the old Latter Rain cult heresies about a great endtime "harvest," there was an aberrant teaching about the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles which has since become very popular in some segments of the evangelical world. According to Pastor Bill Randles in his book critiquing the Toronto Blessing (laughing movement) Weighed and Found Wanting . . . Putting the Toronto Blessing in Context,

In 1951, [George Warnock] wrote his book, The Feast of Tabernacles, in which he laid out a specific doctrine for the Latter Rain Movement. He taught that the Church was about to usher in the completion of God's feasts through perfection of the saints and their dominion over the earth. Essentially, this Latter Rain teaching implies that the three great annual feasts of the Lord in Israel's worship (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) typify the whole Church Age, beginning with the death of Jesus on the cross, and consummating in 'the manifestations of the Sons of God' - the 'overcomers' who will become perfected and step into immortality in order to establish the Kingdom of God on earth. According to Warnock, this will be accomplished through the restoration of the Church in unity.... (p. 57)

This quotation was cited by Ed Tarkowski, a noted discernment researcher, in his 2000 paper titled "Prophecies Announcing The Birthing Of The Corporate Child: Part Four." He described the new doctrines that arose during the "Toronto Blessing" of the mid-1990s, a manic group phenomenon of uncontrollable laughing and other wild behaviors which quickly spread to Pensacola, Florida. These "revivals" were supported by the leaders of the present-day NAR. One particularly bizarre feature of the Toronto "blessing" was women writhing on the floor, acting out a mystical portrayal of the prophesied birth of a corporate "manchild" that would fulfill old Latter Rain prophecies. Why was it so necessary to do this? The answer may shed some light on the current prophecies about a great outpouring of wealth.

In his article, Tarkowski noticed that Constance Cumbey, renowned attorney and researcher of the New Age movement, had written that the Feast of Tabernacles had specific New Age significance, and was connected to a coming Year of Jubilee, in which the wealth of the world would be redistributed. He wrote:

POINT 5: THE TRUTH IS THAT THE LATTER RAIN FEAST OF TABERNACLES PARALLELS THE NEW AGE AGE OF AQUARIUS
In her 1985 book, A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age 'Messiah', Christian writer Constance Cumbey writes about Rev. Ernest Ramsey, an enthusiastic follower of the Alice Bailey and Benjamin Creme teachings. She says that his major report was entitled "An Evolutionary Basis For The Reappearance of the Christ and his Executives, the Masters of Wisdom." Cumbey writes,

"In his Research Report #2, he tells of something he was led to by a spirit guide - what he terms 'Neo-Pentecostalism.' An aberrant branch of Pentecostalism, this is more commonly known as the 'Manifest Sons of God.' . . . Ramsey concludes . . . that this is part of the New Age Movement."

Cumbey continues,

"The most interesting section of Ramsey's report dealt with 'Neo-pentecostalism.' Ramsey spent a semester at one of the Neo-Pentecostal or Manifest Sons of God seminaries . . . . Already familiar with the Alice Bailey writings, he was amazed to see that there was a branch of Pentecostalism that embraced the same teachings - albeit using sometimes different terminology.

"Like those seeking the 'Age of Aquarius' these people too were seeking a 'New Age.' Like the other New Agers, these people taught that 'The Christ' was an anointing - not necessarily one man. They taught that Jesus was a pattern son who was to be a sign of something even greater to come - the 'Manifestation of the Sons of God.' They too believed the earth was to be cleansed of evil. And chillingly, like the other New Agers, they believed they were to be 'God's' instruments to do such cleansing. The New Agers believed they were gods. The Manifest Sons of God likewise taught that if one accepted their 'new revelation' that they themselves would actually become Christ at the time of the unveiling or manifestation of the Sons of God."

Cumbey continues her eye-opener with this revelation:

"Ernest Ramsey excitedly pointed out in his report that [the Manifest Sons] had a teaching which indeed did parallel the Aquarian teaching of the Age of Aquarius - the Old Testament 'Year of Jubilee' as well as the 'Feast of Tabernacles.' The Year of Jubilee paralleled the redistribution of the world's wealth. The Feast of Tabernacles was the equivalent of the coming together of the world's peoples and varied religions under one tent or tabernacle - the equivalent of the New Agers' long-awaited 'New World Religion.' . . . ."

We must not miss this point: the Replacement Theology of the Manifest Sons of the Latter Rain has brought the Age of Aquarius into the Church under the guise of the Feast of Tabernacles and the Year of Jubilee.[11]

Constance Cumbey's book A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age 'Messiah', which Tarkowski was quoting from, examined the concept of a Year of Jubilee from the writings of New Ager Jeremy Rifkin, who in the early 1980s had been promoted by Pat Robertson on his 700 Club. She wrote that "Robertson praised Rifkin's Entropy unpublished manuscript," which was part of the Bantam New Age book series."( p. 157) She quoted from Rifkin's book, which called for a "fundamental redistribution of wealth," observing, "One way Rifkin says we will have the moral courage to make this changeover or voluntary redistribution of wealth is through a new metaphysical orientation - a new world view."(p. 159)

Rifkin's metaphysical worldview, however, unlike that promoted by the modern NAR Dominionists, called for voluntary poverty, simplicity, communal sharing, a reduction in the world's population, etc. Clearly this austere worldview didn't appeal to the CBN or TBN crowd, which were by then gorging on a daily banquet of "name it and claim it" health, wealth and prosperity delicacies. Rifkin's less popular voluntary poverty message remained submerged in the evangelical world until the rise of the recent mystical contemplative and emergent movements, where this teaching is now gaining a new life.

There is much more that could be said on the linkages between the New Age dominionists and the leaders of the NAR, but the simple fact is that they share a common goal of changing the world's economic system to facilitate their coming "kingdom."


The Source of Wealth

What does all of this mean? Where is this money going to come from? What is the source of this much ballyhooed great outpouring of wealth? Oral Roberts in his books on "seed faith" called God "the Source," like a bank. He claimed that "GOD BUILDS A PERSONAL STOREHOUSE FOR THE GIVER IN WHICH HE STORES UP THE MIRACLES WE WILL NEED IN EACH OF OUR DUE SEASONS . . . THAT IS THE CUMULATIVE EFFECT!"[12] He describes the prayer of faith as one in which we claim on earth the riches he has stored for us in heaven. This mystical type of easy-believism appeals to those who are not well-grounded in Scripture, stirring up carnal lusts and covetousness, and wreaks havoc in the lives of believers who become entangled in the incessant desire for more riches.

But clearly the NAR Dominionists have much more in mind. The quotations earlier in this post indicate that these leaders actually believe that there will be a real, tangible wealth that is due them which will help them build their own kingdom on earth. Are these folks simply out in la-la-land? Or, worse, is it even remotely possible that these false apostles and prophets have come by a an actual effective method to gain wealth and power? Obviously, their cellular downline networking model is conducive to rapid wealth accumulation, as is the case with all multilevel marketing entities. But is there more to this than meets the eye? Just who might their partners be in a rapid global expansion?

What if the NAR leaders are set to go mainstream in the philanthropic world? After all, C. Peter Wagner concocted "philanthropic apostles" a few years ago. In a Herescope post at the time we quoted from his announcement, in which he said:

Along with all of these mega-changes is the impending fulfillment of God's promises through His prophets for the great transfer of wealth. My sense is that we are looking at unbelievable quantities of wealth moving from the control of the kingdom of darkness to the control of the kingdom of God.[13]

The philanthropic world is rapidly restructuring itself, by the way. Just last week, a press release announced that

Forty U.S. Families Take Giving Pledge
Billionaires Pledge Majority of Wealth to Philanthropy
SEATTLE – Aug. 4, 2010 – Forty of the wealthiest families and individuals in the United States have committed to returning the majority of their wealth to charitable causes by taking the Giving Pledge. The announcement of this first group was made by Warren Buffett approximately six weeks after kicking off the long-term charitable project with Bill and Melinda Gates.

“We’ve really just started, but already we’ve had a terrific response,” said Warren Buffett, pledge co-founder and chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. “At its core, the Giving Pledge is about asking wealthy families to have important conversations about their wealth and how it will be used. We’re delighted that so many people are doing just that – and that so many have decided to not only take this pledge but also to commit to sums far greater than the 50%minimum level.”

Wealthy supporters from throughout the country have come forward to join the pledge, including the following 40 families and individuals. A full list of those taking the pledge and personal pledge letters by many of these supporters outlining their commitment to give is available online at www.givingpledge.org.[14]

This was not news to those who follow Bob Buford's e-newsletters. Buford of Leadership Network has been writing about it for the past several months, first referring to it as "The Social Activism of the Super Rich."[15] Buford applauded Bill Gates, whom he heard at the Aspen Ideas Festival this year, for "driving relentlessly toward action solutions with measurable results."[16] This, of course, is the mantra of Leadership Network, which was trained by Peter Drucker in his controlled accountability system of "measurable results" for the private sector of society, which included churches, charities, and philanthropic organizations. Charities would no longer simply give their money freely to those in need, but rather use the Druckerian operating system of achieving specified measurable "results" as a gauge for delivering funds and directing intentional change. Systemically, this means that large philanthropies can control the agendas of organizations, and even nations, which is very evident in Bill Gates funding of education reform in America.

This is just a little blip on the radar screen, and it may seem way off base to even bring it up. But is it even remotely possible that some of the wealth of these large donors will make its way into the hands of these false apostles and prophets? And if so, for what possible reason? Are we off our rockers for even bringing this up? There are some connections. . . .

Recall the many Herescope blog posts that talked about Bob Buford and Leadership Network, and Peter Drucker's 3-legged stool vision for restructuring a society that would be performance-driven and outcome-based, under a continuous quality improvement assessment system that is both onerous and devitalizing. And consider that Leadership Network spawned 1) Rick Warren and the mega-church movement, 2) the Emergent church movement, and 3) Dominionism Lite, the milder-sounding "cultural renewal." Don't forget Rick Warren's connections to the NAR. And then consider that Bill Gates has already been funding Rick Warren and his secretive global mission databanking operation that boldly proclaims to be turning entire nations into "purpose-driven" countries. . . . [17]

So just where is this much touted great outpouring of wealth coming from?


The Truth:

The actual biblical truth about poverty and riches is better described by the attitude found in the following verses:

"Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18)

"I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." (Philippians 4:12)


Endnotes:
1. Stacey Campbell, “'The Calm Before the Storm' - Prophetic Insight for 2010 Stacey Campbell,” emphasis added, http://www.revivalnow.com/eyesandwings/stac/calm_before_the_storm.html
2. Sandie Freed, "God Will Rend the Heavens and Make His Name Known to His Enemies!" The Elijah List, August 9, 2010, emphasis added, http://www.elijahlist.com/words/html/textonly-080910-Freed.html
3. C. Peter Wagner, letter from Global Harvest Ministries dated August 20, 2007, introducing Lance Wallnau and Wagner's book Dominion! emphasis added.
4. Richard Vincent, "AN EXAMINATION OF THE WORD-FAITH MOVEMENT," 1991 paper posted on http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/WRDFAITH.TXT For additional historical and informative documentation on the problems inherent in the Word-Faith movement, see the compilation on this webpage: http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/word-faith.html
5. Anthea Butler, "Prosperity, Spiritual Warfare, and the 'On-Demand' God," Religion Dispatches, July 15, 2009, http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/religionandtheology/1678/
6. Subheading "Dominionism & Word/Faith Doctrines," C. Peter Wagner, Warfare Prayer excerpt posted at http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/wagnerquotes.html (bold and italics added), and scroll down to subheading "Considered Himself To Be An Evangelical, But Coined The Term 'Third Wave'." Original at "City Taking - Peter Wagner," http://www.christian-faith.com/html/page/city_taking
7. "False Prophesies Endorsed By Wagner," http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/wagnerquotes.html, emphasis added. This page cites the original source as "Prophetic Gathering Share In Ministry Together Concerning 2000, by Jim W. Goll, http://www.theremnant.com/news.html."
8. E-mail sent July 26, 2010, http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=8984, emphasis added. Prospering in an Economic Crisis, Denver, CO - Feb 3-6, 2010, featuring 7 Mountain Mandate promoter Lance Wallnau, Rick Joyner, Cindy Jacobs, Os Hillman, C. Peter Wagner, and others. http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=8412.
9. The Elijah List promo sent out March 6, 2009, emphasis added, http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=7422
10. Chuck Pierce, "The South Pacific Boils! PLUS Day 1-7 Prayer Focus to Release You to See Your Future," The Elijah List, February 10, 2010, emphasis added. http://www.elijahlist.com/words/html/textonly-021010-Pierce.html
11. Ed Tarkowski, "Part Four: Prophecies Announcing The Birthing Of The Corporate Child," http://users.stargate.net/~ejt/corpchr1.htm citing Constance Cumbey's book A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age 'Messiah (1985), pp. 171-175.
12. Oral Roberts is credited with being one of the first to teach the great outpouring of wealth concept. See his Miracle of Seed-Faith (1970) and Seed-Faith Commentary on the Bible (Pinoak, 1975). Caps in original.
13. "Announcing -- Philanthropic Apostles!" Herescope, June 13, 2006, emphasis added. http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/06/announcing-philanthropic-apostles.html
14. The Giving Pledge press release, August 4, 2010, http://givingpledge.org/Content/media/PressRelease_8_4.pdf. For more webpages and articles about this organization and its agenda, see the following:
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2010/06/16/gates-buffett-600-billion-dollar-philanthropy-challenge/
http://philanthropy.com/article/A-Plea-for-Greater-Giving/66195/
http://givingpledge.org/Content/media/GivingPledge_FAQ.pdf
http://givingpledge.org/#enter
15. Bob Buford, "my next book, musings for friends," e-newsletter, June 21, 2010, http://activeenergy.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/the-perfect-storm/
16. Bob Buford, "my next book, musings for friends," e-newsletter, July 27, 2010, http://activeenergy.wordpress.com/2010/07/25/aspen-institute-part-ii/
17. In addition to the many links in this section, here are just a few samples of Herescope posts and other articles on the topics mentioned:
http://www.discernment-ministries.org/Purpose_Driven.pdf
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/08/pseudo-mission-rick-warrens-3-legged.html
http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/08/discernment/12-rwanda.htm
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2010/05/mainstreaming-dominionism.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/06/tyranny-of-3-legged-branding.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/10/rick-warren-is-he-scary.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2010/07/destiny-driven-dominionism.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2005/11/peter-druckers-mega-church-legacy.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2005/11/bob-bufords-tributes-to-peter-drucker.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2005/11/peter-druckers-influence.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2005/11/how-leadership-network-created.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2008/01/rick-warren-brian-mclaren-at-davos.html
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2006/12/cfr-and-social-gospel-part-1.html