Rick Becker is a South African. In his latest blog post over at Famine In The Land, he reveals that the Dominionist movement, a dangerous cult, has infiltrated his country. Dominionist’s main focus is about “Jesus and building his Kingdom on earth.” This movement is now world-wide and it is spreading like a California wildfire. After reading Becker’s excellent exposé, we urge you to take a look at our White Paper on Dominionism – New Apostolic Reformation. We name names. And we link to articles and videos that offer proof that those who teach the NAR’s false gospel are no different from the “ravenous wolves” Jesus warned about in Matthew 7:15. Followers of Jesus Christ must know who the wolves are in order to avoid them. The Apostle Paul made it clear that believers should not take part in their “unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11)
Rick Becker is certainly doing his part to expose the “ravenous wolves.” Here’s his post:
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) has infiltrated churches in South Africa at an alarming rate. While not all churches have morphed into full blown NAR churches, many accept and teach some of the doctrines and practices found in the NAR. Ways to identify whether a church has fallen for the aberrant teachings of the NAR, is to examine their statements and associations, and to listen to their sermons. It does not take long before certain catch phrases will alert you to the fact that a church has fallen for the lies of the NAR. In this post we look at a family of churches, which include South African churches, and show without a doubt that this group has espoused certain teachings of the NAR.
To be clear – this is not judging the salvation of those currently caught up in the teachings of the NAR. There are saved individuals and individuals who are saved in NAR or NAR influenced churches. God knows those who are his, and like myself and thousands of other believers who have come out of the NAR or charismania, our prayer is that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes, and that the truth will set them free. Many who have bought into these false doctrines are passionate for God and may have good intentions, but have failed to exercise discernment. It’s not loving to watch brothers and sisters in Christ being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” and remain silent.
Church of the Nations (COTN) is an “international family of churches relating through love and commitment to see the Kingdom of God extended on earth.” They embrace values such as: “Apostolic alignment… Accountability (being under authority releases authority)…The principle of spiritual Fathers and Sons.”
An international Apostolic council protects and watches over the various churches. They are responsible for overseeing doctrine, as well as “casting corporate vision.”
COTN have churches in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, Oceana and South America. There are various church clusters within COTN, and “Apostolic cluster leaders personally relate into COTN directly through a member of the Apostolic Council. This Council has no direct government into any local church except through its cluster leadership.” Not every church within COTN might subscribe to the false doctrines of the NAR, but nevertheless remain under the authority of the Apostolic council, and their corporate vision.
COTN describe their relationship with the body of Christ in part as follows: “The leaders of COTN will continue to build relationships into the wider body of Christ. This will happen through the Apostolic Council relating to apostolic streams, gatherings and other ministries…” If you happen to be a NAR denialist like Dr Michael Brown, then simply ignore the term NAR and compare the statements from COTN in this article to what scripture teaches. Do the leaders of this movement believe and teach the false doctrines of dominion/kingdom now theology? For example, does scripture instruct us to change culture and transform nations by discipling literal nations? Has God clearly outlined a “seven mountain mandate” for the church? Does God speak directly to current day apostolic leaders and give them annual words regarding His latest strategy or supernatural moves? If apostolic leaders claim to have such important words from God, then surely scripture is insufficient in that it has left ordinary believers in the dark unless current day apostles hear correctly? Do COTN leaders associate with false prophets? These questions will be answered in this article.
What do COTN envision?
“We envision the world learning about, accepting and focusing on Jesus and His Kingdom on earth. We see authentic Christianity as coming under the loving Lordship of Jesus Christ and being joined to a community of believers who are learning to live a new life in a new way. We want each and every person given to us to live a self-governed life while fulfilling their God-given destiny within a community of believers.
The Great Commission was given by Jesus as an apostolic mandate to disciple nations. This was based on God’s original purpose stated in Genesis when He gave man a dominion and a domestic mandate. Jesus commanded us to preach the gospel of the Kingdom, not the gospel of the church.
So we see local churches reaching their destiny when aligned to an apostolic vision. This allows Jesus to fulfill His promise when He said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”
Those who are familiar with the aberrant teachings of the New Apostolic Reformation would have to read no further to know that catch phrases in bold indicate that we are dealing with a movement heavily influenced by the NAR.
The true apostolic vision from God is clear; it’s called scripture. When building a house, an architect is brought in to design the plans. This blueprint for the structure must be implemented by the builder. The builder does not use his imagination, vision, or feelings to decide how the structure should look. In similar fashion, God has given a blueprint to build his church – not only has he supplied the plans, but He is also the builder. The blueprint is called scripture, and the foundation is “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone” Eph 2:20. The prophets wrote most of the Old testament, and the apostles brought us the New Testament – inspired and infallible teachings they heard directly from Christ, as well as the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 16:12-14) This foundation has been laid, it is complete, and the blueprint does not need any corrections. This is why Jude wrote:
“I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” Jude 3.
We don’t need any new revelations or annual words from God to be build a local church: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Related:
Discernment – What exactly is discernment?