False Prophets Among Us

Kent Philpott, former charismatic/Pentecostal pastor, presents a compelling evaluation of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Those aligned with the NAR hold that God is doing a “new thing” in these last days just prior to the Kingdom of God being established in the world. This viewpoint was earlier known as post-millennialism and more recently as dominionism.

            The NAR is not an organization but a relational alignment of churches and groups that voluntarily connect with recognized apostles and prophets. Philpott critiques many NAR leaders and their own books, although he was an acquaintance during the late 1980s of the apparent founder of the movement, C. Peter Wagner, former professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, now deceased, who began using the title in 2000 or 2001. A partial listing of leaders typically associated with the NAR is Che Ahn, John and Carol Arnott, Heidi (and Roland) Baker, Mike Bickle of IHOP in Kansas City, Stacey Campbell, Randy Clark, James Goll, Cindy Jacobs, Rick Joyner of Morningstar in South Carolina, Bill Johnson and Kris Vallotton of the Bethel Church in Redding, California, Patricia King, Chuck D. Pierce, Dutch and Tim Sheets, and Brian Simmons (the Passion Translation).

            A major aspect of this so-called reformation is the establishment of the “Five fold ministry” as we find it in Ephesians 4:11—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. However, the NAR emphasizes apostles and prophets, the prophets declaring what God is doing and the apostles making it work out in real time.

            Perhaps the most alarming aspect to the NAR is the development of a “we-they,” almost cultic mindset. Some prophets have announced a "Christian civil war" now being waged, spiritual in nature but potentially physical.

            Philpott also unhappily has to warn about the dangers of these prophets’ and apostles’ methods for obtaining revelations, supposedly directly from God: the trance state, which is fraught with potential for demonic invasion.