C. Peter Wagner took the lead, in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), teaching on the ‘End-Times Wealth Transfer’ heresy. It’s worth familiarising yourself with this bizarre teaching as we reference this teaching in future articles.
Take note of this comment by C. Peter Wagner (emphasis added):
“To remind you, I brought up the fact that since 1992 we have been hearing from God, through respected prophets, that He desires to release great amounts of wealth to His people for the advance of His kingdom, namely through evangelism, church planting, caring for the poor, and transforming society. Why, then, hasn’t it happened as yet? My answer is that first God was probably waiting until the government of the church got into place on the foundation of apostles and prophets, which did occur beginning in 2001. Secondly, He is probably waiting until the proper strategy to handle these funds is functional. This is only beginning to happen.”
It’s also worth noting how Wagner used an example where someone was “actually experimenting with this for his ministry.” If it’s in the bible, then why is it only now we are learning about this new ‘experimenting’? Why was Wagner’s friend Joseph Thompson foolishly experimenting with this false teaching of Wagner (see below).
In 2004, C. Peter Wagner published the following on Elijah List,
The Great Transfer of Wealth: Are You Ready?
It has been a while since I have received as much thoughtful response to a Global Prayer News article as I did to “The Great Transfer of Wealth: Are You Ready?” This has turned out to be such a hot button in the Body of Christ that I decided to take the matter a bit farther.
To remind you, I brought up the fact that since 1992 we have been hearing from God, through respected prophets, that He desires to release great amounts of wealth to His people for the advance of His kingdom, namely through evangelism, church planting, caring for the poor, and transforming society. Why, then, hasn’t it happened as yet? My answer is that first God was probably waiting until the government of the church got into place on the foundation of apostles and prophets, which did occur beginning in 2001. Secondly, He is probably waiting until the proper strategy to handle these funds is functional. This is only beginning to happen.
I postulated that there are four essential links in the chain of wealth-transference:
The major holdup, in my analysis of the situation, is that second link of “managers.”
2 Ways “Providers” Will Be Used
The “providers” are there. There are two ways that the providers will be used to supply the money that God is releasing. Some of them, whether believers or unbelievers, already have the money in huge quantities. This will be delivered by what could be called “supernatural transference.”
A biblical example would be Israel in Egypt. God released huge amounts of wealth from the pagan Egyptians to His people. They did not earn this money from making bricks without straw. It was a supernatural transference. On the other hand, the second way that God will use some providers is to give them what could be called “power to get wealth.” This is like making bricks for a profit, but it would more likely take the form of a gold mine or a technological breakthrough or a patent on a lifesaving drug. The Bible says that “[God] gives you power to get wealth” (Deut. 8:18) and “The Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand” (Deut. 15:10). People who are now making money will go to new levels, through the power of God, that they have not even imagined!
“Distributors” and “Field Marshals”
The “field marshals” are also there. One of my apostle friends, for example, is currently planting between five and ten new churches per day! No one has to teach him how to use money to spread the gospel. Field marshals like this are now in place all over the world.
I believe that the “distributors” are in place, but they have not yet been recognized as such because they will only go into action once the funds are available. Undoubtedly, many apostles who are members of the International Coalition of Apostles will be among them. There will, of course, be some overlap between distributors and field marshals as there is between all the links on the chain.
The Missing Link
Which leaves us with “managers.” This is the missing link. Why would God release huge amounts of resources that could go down a black hole? Few distributors or field marshals, who for the most part would be nuclear church apostles, would have the business skills to receive the funds and handle them in such a way that they would not all be used at once, but that they would provide a constant stream of revenue for advancing the kingdom. Unquestionably these kinds of skillful managers do exist within the Body of Christ, but they are not yet part of the chain, strategically connected to distributors and field marshals.
Let me give you a concrete illustration. Not long ago, a friend of mine, Dan Carless, who is a successful Colorado Springs real estate developer, told me that he was a consultant for the board of directors for Every Home for Christ. He once posed a hypothetical question to its president, Dick Eastman. He said, “Dick, would you rather have me give you $1 million or $250,000 per year?” Dick, of course, replied that he wanted both, but that was not an option. Dick could have used $1 million very easily because he is one of the most qualified members of the “distributors” link that I know, in direct touch with numbers of effective field marshals. But the wise choice was $250,000 per year because in four years he would have the $1 million, and in four more he would have $2 million to help fulfill the Great Commission of making disciples of all nations.
If this were to become a reality, Dan Carless would be functioning as a classic “manager,” because he would use his $1 million to make 25% per year and give the proceeds to Every Home for Christ. If this became the rule, rather than the exception, it could open the door toward an entirely new way of funding ministries such as Every Home for Christ or Global Harvest Ministries.
Donor-Based to Revenue-Based
I think it will become the rule, once the chain is in place. Currently most ministries are financed by the providers donating directly to the distributors or field marshals without going through the managers. This “donor-based” system of financing requires the leaders of the ministries constantly to make appeals for new donations and limiting their activities to the responses to each appeal. Some will spend up to 25% of their income in generating new donations.
However, once the managers (who will be mostly workplace apostles rather than nuclear church apostles) have taken their God-assigned place, ministries will be able to move from “donor-based” financing to “revenue-based” financing. This, I think, is the wave of the future, a new wineskin for financing the Great Commission.
One of my friends, Joseph Thompson (who co-edited with me our exciting new book Out of Africa), is actually experimenting with this for his ministry, Light the Nations. I recently received an appeal letter from him, not for a donation to his ministry cash flow, but rather to the “Corban Fund” over which he has appointed a manager who will invest the capital and turn over only the proceeds for Light the Nations cash flow. This letter motivated me to donate, as over against a dozen or so other appeal letters I received from friends the same week asking for a traditional contribution.
My message? Managers, rise up, get connected, and let’s get God’s transfer of wealth moving!
Source: C. Peter Wagner, The Great Transfer of Wealth: Are You Ready?, The Elijah List, http://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word/2320, Published 16/07/2004. (Accessed 05/06/2017.) [Archive]
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Categories: Elijah List