WAGNER’S LIE: “THE NAR…..HAS NO LEADER.”
The above quote from C. Peter Wagner was in an article he wrote titled ‘The New Apostolic Reformation Is Not a Cult‘. His attempt to distance himself as being the head of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) needs to be noted.
“The NAR is not an organization. No one can join or carry a card. It has no leader.
I have been called the “founder,” but this is not the case.“
This is a half truth, which means Wagner is lying. The truth is that he became the leader of the NAR because of what he observed developing over time through the New Order of the Latter Rain (NOLR) movement’s Charismatic Renewal Movement (CRM). He observed, and documented, the rise of this apostolic phenomena and even named it. His research and defense of Charismatic Apostles and Prophets eventually led him to rise up as its leader.
To prove that Wagner was indeed the head Apostle of the New Apostolic Reformation, we need to look back at Todd Bentley’s Lakeland Florida “revival” and see how all of the NAR Apostles came under his authority.
LOOKING AT THE APOSTOLIC STRUCTURE AT BENTLEY’S ALIGNMENT CEREMONY
According to Wagner, “seventeen apostles” were at Todd Bentley’s Apostolic Alignment Ceremony at Lakeland on the 23rd of June, 2008. Two of Wagner’s top Apostles, Chuck Pierce and Bill Hamon, could not make it:
“I then called to the platform a number of apostles whom I had chosen to stand behind us: Stephen Strader… Karl Strader… Jeff Beacham… Rick Joyner… Doris Wagner… Sharon Stone… Paco Garcia… Clarice Fluitt… Richard Maiden… Michael Maiden… Joshua Fowler… Barry Boucher… and Wesley Campbell… Unfortunately, Bishop Bill Hamon had to cancel because of a travel problem…
Che Ahn, Bill Johnson and John Arnott laid on hands and anointed Todd Bentley with a special new “Be Revived” oil that Chuck Pierce (who was in Africa) sent for the event…” [Source]
So in total, 20 Apostles were meant to be part of the Apostolic Alignment Ceremony (excluding Wagner).
In defending his Alignment Ceremony, Wagner said the following:
“Others wondered if this was an ICA event. It was not.” [Source]
Wagner also gave the impression that it was an event that united three apostolic streams:
“A total of 17 apostles participated representing three apostolic streams:
ICA, Revival Alliance, and Morning Star (Rick Joyner).” [Source]
(Note: We have tagged each individual who represented these streams on that night in below diagram.)
However, when you look at the diagram of all the self-appointed Apostles below, it becomes evident that 13 Apostles out of the 21 Apostles that were meant to have gathered, were i the ICA (International Coalition of Apostles) and were using ICA Apostle Chuck Pierce’s ‘special oil’ to anoint Bentley. Not only that, because Wagner tried to bring in ICA Apostle Bill Hamon and ICA Apostle Chuck Pierce, that means there was going to be 4 top representative Apostles of the ICA.
Not only did Wagner CHOOSE which apostles around the world would be at this ceremony, in the address at the opening of the ceremony Wagner compared Che Ahn, John Arnott and Bill Johnson to the New Testament Apostles “James, Cephas, and John” and applied the attribute of “pillar” to them as the Bible did to the 3 Apostles. All three men are in the Revival Alliance (RA). However, Che Ahn is also one of these top representative Apostles of ICA. This explains why Wagner stated that Ché Ahn was in charge of “the vows of alignment.” Ahn was not only the top Apostolic representative of ICA but also an Apostolic representative of RA.
Wagner stated,
“Ché felt that he should bring in Bill Johnson and John Arnott since all three of them
were close to Todd and they lead the newly-formed Revival Alliance.” [Source]
On that night Che Ahn summoned other Apostles he claimed were of RA: Stacey Campbell and Georgian Banov. Because he is a major face of the ICA, we can start to see how Che Ahn played such an important role in uniting various Apostles that night under Wagner’s authority.
WAGNER: GREATER THAN THE 3 APOSTOLIC PILLARS OF THE NAR?
Judging by the way Wagner worded these articles, he was being very careful how people perceived him. However, he exposed his authority over the 21 Apostles in his statement below when talking about his next divine assignment in fixing the Lakeland controversy:
“I felt that I needed a team of apostles who were willing to work with me in order to identify the concerns that had been brought up,
define them as carefully as possible, and come to an opinion that could be issued to the public.
Ten other apostles have agreed to work with me in this project:
Ché Ahn, Bill Johnson, John Arnott, Chuck Pierce, Stephen Strader,
Lee Grady, David Cannistraci, Steve Strang, Jeff Beacham, and Joe Askins.”
If the Pillars of the Church were Apostles, James, Cephas, and John, and if the Pillars of the New Apostolic Reformation were Apostles Ché, Bill, and John, why did they not initiate this team of Apostles? Why did these three pillars allow Wagner to do it?
Remember – apparently it was the Holy Spirit who initiated these two assignments through Wagner:
“I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me at that moment and said words to the effect, “Peter, you will need to answer that question.” […]
I believe that I was given a divine assignment that I hadn’t even desired, namely to attempt to bring some kind of apostolic order
to this widespread and potentially damaging confusion.
[…] While I was talking to Stephen, God kept bringing the word “alignment” to the front of my mind,
so I questioned him on Todd Bentley’s apostolic alignment. ” [Source] (Emphasis added.)
So it was Wagner’s divine assignment to bring “apostolic order” at Lakeland?
Clearly Wagner’s own words reveal all we need to know. He has expressed that he is above the authority of the three Apostolic Pillars and above their NAR governance. He ‘received’ two divine assignments from the Holy Spirit and rallied all the other Apostles (including the Pillars) to join under his authority to align Todd Bentley and bring apostolic order to Lakeland.
So if he has greater authority than these 3 NARpostolic pillars, what does that make Wagner?
So we can conclude: C. Peter Wagner WAS the leader of the New Apostolic Reformation.
Here is the diagram so you know the names, faces of the Apostles at Lakeland and what “Apostolic Stream” they belonged too:
We will be providing a transcript what was said at this Apostolic Alignment Ceremony in 2008 in another article.
Email all comments and questions to c3churchwatch@hotmail.com.
Categories: Fresh Fire Ministries, International Coalition of Apostles (ICAL), Morning Star Ministries, New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), Revival Alliance