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Dominionism Taught By Forerunners of the New Apostolic Reformation Since the Late 1940s
Leaders of the Latter Rain fasting and faith-healing revivals in the 1940s and 1950s called for adherents to subdue the earth and take dominion over the planet. The movement resulted in thousands leaving the Pentecostal denominations that rejected the movement. Latter Rain lived on in sectors of neo-Pentecostalism and periodically the more extreme ideologies of the movement re-emerged in groups like the "Ft. Lauderdale Shepherds," the "Kansas City Prophets," and today's apostolic and prophetic movement or New Apostolic Reformation. The Latter Rain leaders and their theology were rejected by the Pentecostal denominations decades ago, but their legacy lives on today in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and its apostles and prophets. A 2000 Assemblies of God document rejecting the reemergence of the Latter Rain Movement's ideology includes a list of "deviant teachings" that are major tenets of the NAR. An abbreviated list from the document includes: --the teaching that modern day apostles and prophets should have authority over the church The last item above is a theology that I have written about previously in "The NAR Apostles and Manifest Sons of God Theology: Training the Army of the Lord." This is the belief that a generation of end times believers or "overcomers" will have supernatural powers in order to take dominion over the world and cleanse it of evil in preparation for Jesus' reign on earth. In the quotes below, Franklin Hall writes about these overcomers using the term "man-child." Franklin Hall
Franklin Hall begins with an introduction.
THIS VOLUME brings the saints, who are prepared for deeper meat, into a climate of faith for a present day apostolic ministry.Chapter I has the subtitle "It is absolutely God's will for his grown up fully developed saints to have authority over the elements" and describes the need to subdue the earth and have "control and authority over all that the earth is, and stands for." This includes control of gravity and teleportation. But Hall states that first, before the "all-born-of-God man" can subdue the planet earth, he has to become "in control of his own earth flesh." This is the reason for the extensive fasting. Hall also explains that the "Gospel of the Kingdom," which he describes as the "Gospel of signs, wonders, and miracles, has to be preached around the world before the nations can "come under the subjugation of the man child company." Hall continues, stating that the man-child company will at first be mocked by rulers, statesmen and politicians, but will prevail through the demonstration of signs and wonders.
"The man-child company will have dominion of this planet first. Those who possess a house may decide who shall occupy it. In the same manner, as a group from the church take up their authority and rulership of the planet that God gave them, they will likewise be able to choose who will occupy it. Of course, the wicked who will not accept Jesus must have a showdown. This great showdown is whether or not they will accept the Gospel of the kingdom. If not, it will be a witness against them, by even bringing bout their own destruction." The book continues with testimonials and letters about Hall's faith-healing and apostolic ministry and further instructions to the church of "bride" in preparation and perfection for the bridegroom. Like the current NAR apostles, Hall claimed that natural disasters were increasing as we approach the end times and also claims that the man-child company was gaining the ability to control the weather. Specific examples are given of Hall's claimed ability to change the weather.
"We ordered the temperatures to lower in Atlanta, Georgia, because it was unpleasantly warm during the meetings. Most of the time it became comfortable and cool according to our faith. On one such occasion, where the people in the auditorium witnessed it: on May 18, 1965, we commanded the temperature to lower and within ten minutes a very cool and strong breeze came forth and throughout the building the temperatures became pleasantly cool." Under a section titled "How Faith Can Change The Weather Pattern," a warning is posted stating, "THIS SECTION IS ONLY PRESENTED TO THE SINCERE BELIEVER." This is followed by claims of controlling the weather in Des Moines, Colorado Springs, Phoenix, and other locations.
Chapter Five continues with what follows after the man-child company can control weather. "The 'stone or man child' group will have complete authority and control of the earth and the elements at about this time. The man child will have discovered how much it is the will of the Lord for him to demonstrate miracles, signs, and wonders, and to manifest his son-ship. After this dire warning, Hall moves on to "Holy Ghost Teleportation" and the "Holy Ghost Beauty Treatment" and "Fountain of Youth." Although there may be a temptation to chuckle at the quotes I've pulled from the faded pages of these paperbacks, these ideas continue to be taught by the apostles and prophets of the NAR. Today the presentation is more sophisticated and versions of the above ideology are becoming much more widespread. George Warnock George Warnock also wrote about the overcomers in his 1951 book Feast of Tabernacles, considered to be the most important text of the Latter Rain Movement. He also used the term "man child" and also the "priesthood of Melchizedek." Warnock's book laid the foundations for the Christianized versions of Jewish holidays which are now being celebrated by millions of Charismatics around the world. In Warnock's timeline, the Jewish feasts represent the "church age" from the crucifixion of Jesus to the overcomers taking dominion over the earth in preparation for the Kingdom on earth. The Feast of Tabernacles (the Jewish holiday of Sukkot) is the focus of this timeline and represents the ushering in of the millennial kingdom. Much of the unique terminology and ideology common in the Charismatic Dominionism of the NAR can be found in this 1951 book, including the interpretation of verses from Joel 2 to mean the taking of dominion over the earth in preparation for the end times. This is the source of the term "Joel's Army." (Joel 2 includes, "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, sound the alarm on my holy mountain...") The book also provides: the explanation and foundation for the antagonism toward denominations, the current obsession with the Jewish calendar and holidays, the interpretation of the "one new man" theme that is driving aggressive proselytizing of Jews, and the current widespread use of shofars or ram's horns. Warnock describes the supernatural powers of an overcomer.
"They might fire a shot, and the bullet will glance off his brow, as it would from a heavy plate of steel. They shall poison his food, but it will be like adding vitamins to his diet. NAR Apostles and Manifest Sons of God Theology Leading NAR Apostle Bill Hamon refers to the man-child company as "the Army of the Lord Movement" and the "mankind race" in his writings. Bickle's teaching about raising up an "elected seed generation" of youth born after 1973 as an end times army was one of the complaints against the Kansas City Prophets by other Charismatic pastors including Ernie Gruen's 1990 report. The Kansas City Prophets were led by Mike Bickle, who now heads the International House of Prayer (IHOP). Another Kansas City Prophet, Rick Joyner, founded MorningStar Ministries and is the co-founder of the Oak Initiative. Joyner's version of Manifest Sons of God theology can be seen in his writings including The Harvest. Joyner describes the "restoration of apostolic ministry" as part of the preparation for the last days. He describes a world where this unified church will be increasing in power while governments and institutions fail. A "new breed" of spiritual elite will have supernatural powers.
"There will be no plague, disease of physical condition including lost limbs, AIDS, poison gas or radiation, which will resist the healing and miracle gifts working in the saints during this time." Both Warnock and Hall described the overcomers as having the ability to be moved from one place to another, or teleported, without human means of transportation. Joyner has claimed to have been teleported (along with his car) from one location to another, describing the experience in an interview with Sid Roth on "It's Supernatural." (Video) Note that this is the third segment of the show and includes a commercial about "One New Man." This is the same One New Man ideology promoted in Warnock's book. The belief that the joining together of charismatic evangelicals and Messianic Jews is advancing the return of Jesus has resulted in a massive international effort to support Messianics and proselytize Jews. (Sid Roth is a Messianic, a word that means a convert to Christianity who retains their Jewish identity.) Another Kansas City Prophet, Bob Jones, is also based at Rick Joyner's MorningStar Ministries. (This is not the Bob Jones family that founded Bob Jones University.) Jones is the person credited by Bickle as prophesying the development of IHOP and Bickle's role in raising up an end time army of youth from an "elected seed generation" to be the "Bride of Christ," also described as the "Melchizedek priesthood" and the "Manifested Sons of God." No Longer Marginalized Joyner and other apostles and prophets embracing these beliefs are not fringe characters. Apostle Don Finto vocalized the movement's obsession with proselytizing Jews at Rick Perry's Houston prayer event on August 6. According to Joyner, he has regular contact with a number of members of the U.S. Senate and Congress. Joyner founded the Oak Initiative with a number of leading apostles including Cindy Jacobs and Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. (Author's note: Rodriguez resigned from the Oak Initiative in August, but has not made any statements distancing himself from the organization or it's agenda. He continues to work closely with other apostles and prophets including participation in Cindy Jacob's Reformation Day event this past week.) Lou Engle's TheCall events held in locations in the U.S. and around the world over the last decade have included numerous religious and political leaders including James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Sam Brownback, and more. Hall is the author that Lou Engle credits with inspiring his promotion of fasting, including in Engle's book Digging the Wells of Revival and other writings. Engle goes so far as to claim that the fasting and faith-healing revivals beginning in 1946 may have been the impetus for God to establish the modern state of Israel. Lou Engle is based at Bickle's Kansas City IHOP, where they lead a youth ministry including a core group they describe as Nazirites. There are now IHOPs all over the world that use Mike Bickle's teaching materials and live stream video from the Kansas City base. A critical part of their ideology is the "Israel Mandate" or mandate for supporting Messianic ministries and proselytizing Jews in order to advance the end times. Lou Engle and Mike Bickle's ministries orchestrated Rick Perry's all-day prayer event and kick-off to his presidential campaign in Houston on August 6. Politicians have flocked to Engle for his blessing and participation in their events, including Newt Gingrich, Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee, Michele Bachmann, Jim DeMint, Randy Forbes, and others. The head of the Tallahasse IHOP, Pam Olsen, is part of Rick Perry's Florida campaign leadership team. Right Wing Watch has featured video of Olsen teaching about the "Seven Mountains" and raising the dead. IHOPs around the world distribute Mike Bickle's teachings and live stream from the Kansas City campus. Engle has encouraged a 40-day fast in preparation for TheCall Detroit, coming up on 11/11/11. Current publicity videos are emphasizing racial reconciliation, but for a full year and a half, leadership has been promoting the event as spiritual warfare against Islam and freemasonry. The preparations have included ritual ceremonies outside masonic lodges and mosques throughout the state of Michigan, according to the conference calls of Transformation Michigan and the Oak Initiative. What is New About the New Apostolic Reformation's Dominionism? Dominionism has been taught in certain Charismatic/Pentecostal sectors since at least the 1950s. Given that, what is new about the New Apostolic Reformation? There are numerous components of the NAR teachings that are indeed relatively new. This would include some of the "Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare" concepts developed and refined in the 1980s and 1990s. The NAR is constantly developing new campaigns and new approaches to activism. Wagner's ability to unify the international networks and market a streamlined doctrine and terminology is unprecedented. But perhaps more important is the ability of the leadership to mainstream ideology that was limited to the domain of marginalized groups just a few decades ago. The NAR has been surprisingly successful in gaining acceptance in the larger evangelical world. In The Charismatic Century, Jack Hayford applauds Oral Roberts as keeping the flame of the 1950s faith-healing revivals alive to fuel the groups that followed up to the NAR. While Hayford admits that there were excesses and mistakes along the way, he presents groups such as the Fort Lauderdale Shepherds and Kansas City Prophets as part of the natural development of a growing Charismatic movement that is reshaping global Christianity. Hayford credits the late John Wimber with advancing Pentecostalism in evangelicalism. This quote also provides insight into why today's NAR apostles and prophets are so anxious not to be labeled in the press.
"His [Wimber's] steadfast refusal to adopt a Pentecostal or Charismatic moniker, particularly in the 1980s, helped him to `Pentecostalize' many evangelicals by normalizing the practice of spiritual gifts without demanding the adoption of Pentecostal theology or nomenclature regarding baptism in the Holy Spirit." Wimber passed away in 1997 but worked for many years before his death with Mike Bickle and the Kansas City Prophets and later with C. Peter Wagner, both of whom have proved to be adept at mainstreaming their ideology.
Author's Notes:
Dominionism Taught By Forerunners of the New Apostolic Reformation Since the Late 1940s | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
Dominionism Taught By Forerunners of the New Apostolic Reformation Since the Late 1940s | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 hidden)
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Franklin Hall's revivals began in San Diego in 1946 and encouraged participants to fast for weeks at a time, a practice that has become popular again today. Lou Engle's TheCall events are preceded by calls for 40-day fasts of some type. Franklin Hall wrote Atomic Power With God Through Prayer and Fasting in 1946 and influenced leaders of the Latter Rain revivals of the late 1940s and 1950s including Gordon Lindsay, A.A. Allen, William Branham, Oral Roberts. [Photo: Left to right is Jack Moore, William Branham, Oral Roberts, and Gordon Lindsay in Kansas City in 1948.] Branham and Roberts have been described as the "giants" of the faith-healing revival movement of the era. In The Charismatic Century, Pentecostal leader Jack Hayford credits Oral Roberts with keeping the flame alive until the Charismatic Renewal of the 1960s and 1970s and the development of the "Third Wave," as it was named by C. Peter Wagner and John Wimber. 
Following are quotes from Franklin Hall's 1966 book Subdue the Earth, Rule the Nations. The inside cover of the book has the full title Subduing the Earth, Controlling the Elements, and Ruling the Nations With Jesus Christ. Much of the book is about the ability to control the weather through prayer, something that is now a common claim of New Apostolics, including claims of being able to end droughts through strategic level spiritual warfare.