One of the reasons why we are publishing a lot of particular articles at the moment is to lay the groundwork in order to expose Dr. Michael Brown’s attempt to mainstream the New Apostolic Reformation’s teaching on the ‘new apostolic paradigm’ of restored offices of apostle and prophet. To do this, we need to acknowledge the top leaders of this movement and how they perceived the revivals of the 1990s – and how they read that in light of the developments of the New Apostolic Reformation.

In this article, we look at the work of Che Ahn, a leading NAR leader who openly talks about the New Apostolic Reformation and calls it the ‘Apostolic Reformation’ or the ‘apostolic movement’.

“The 1994 revival in Toronto restored the office of the apostle with the birth of many apostolic networks, including John and Carol Arnott’s Partners in Harvest, Rick Joyner’s MorningStar, Bill Johnson’s Global Legacy, Heidi and Rolland Baker’s Iris Ministries and or church’s own Harvest International Ministry.“

In 2009, Che Ahn wrote a book titled ‘When Heaven Comes Down’. (The foreword is written by Rolland & Heidi Baker.) In the book extract below, Che Ahn links the birthing of all the restorationist movements from the New Order of the Latter Rain (NOLR) of 1948 to now.

It is worth observing Che’s claim that God restored the office of Apostle in 1994 at the Toronto Blessing and who those apostles came to be:

“The 1994 revival in Toronto restored the office of the apostle with the birth of many apostolic networks, including John and Carol Arnott’s Partners in Harvest, Rick Joyner’s MorningStar, Bill Johnson’s Global Legacy, Heidi and Rolland Baker’s Iris Ministries and or church’s own Harvest International Ministry.”

Around this time, Mike Bickle and John Arnott’s movements were all under the leadership of John Wimber and C. Peter Wagner’s Vineyard movement, a movement that Wagner claimed was a prototype of the New Apostolic Reformation.

The irony is heavy. Although Michael Brown claims he is a long-term friend of Che Ahn, he also claims to have no idea what the NAR is while Che leads and promotes it. Brown claims that Pensacola was not a part of the NAR, however, John Kilpatrick acknowledged that Michael Brown was involved in a revival that started in the Toronto Blessing, Che Ahn also claiming that the Toronto Blessing restored the office of Apostle.

So if the spirit behind Toronto Blessing restored the office of God’s Apostles and if the spirit behind the Toronto Blessing was the catalyst for the Pensacola Outpouring, how was Michael Brown not part of the New Apostolic Reformation? The core belief of the ‘new apostolic paradigm’ is that God has restored the five fold ministry – which Brown publicly affirms and will adamantly defend.

In closing, we let Che Ahn describe his belief in end-times revival, the history of the NAR and those in it:

“God’s principle is for us to go from glory to glory, being transformed into the image of Christ. I believe this means He wants us to immerse ourselves in every single wave of revival until He comes back or until we go home to be with Him. Jesus tells us, “God gives the Spirit without limit” (John 3:34). This means God gives us His Spirit without holding back. In fact, His will is for the whole earth to be full of His glory. To this end, He promises that His glory will fill the earth, and that He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh: “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).

I have firsthand experience with the life-transforming power of God’s manifest glory in a revival context. I was saved through the Jesus People Movement.

The Restorative Power of Each Wave

As I look back through the history of revival, I see that every wave of God’s outpouring is important because, in each revival, He restores something.  In fact, over the past half-century, we see that in each movement God restored an office within the five-fold ministry, including apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

For example, in 1948 God brought forth evangelism in a new way, notably through Billy Graham but also through healing evangelists such as A. A. Allen, Jack Coe, Oral Roberts, William Branham, T. L. Osborn and others. In 1958, the Church saw the rise of pastors who boldly proclaimed and operated in a charismatic Gospel, such as Dennis Bennett (Charismatic Anglican), Larry Christianson (Charismatic Lutheran) and Gerald Derstine (Charismatic Mennonite) to mention a few. In 1967, in response to another move of God, the ministry of anointed teachers became predominant. This included teachers such as Chuck Smith, Kenneth Copeland, Jack Hayford, Derek Prince and many others. (Derek Prince was part of a group of leaders that became known as “The Teachers,” based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.)

In the “Third Wave” of the 1980s, God brought forth prophets, as John Wimber introduced the “Kansas City prophets” Paul Cain, Mike Bickle, Bob Jones, James Goll and Jill Austin. Other prophets also emerged during that period, including my friend and covenant brother Lou Engle, my sister in the Lord Cindy Jacobs, Jane Hamon and Chuck Pierce.  The 1994 revival in Toronto restored the office of the apostle with the birth of many apostolic networks, including John and Carol Arnott’s Partners in Harvest, Rick Joyner’s MorningStar, Bill Johnson’s Global Legacy, Heidi and Rolland Baker’s Iris Ministries and or church’s own Harvest International Ministry.

Now, in 2009, we see the convergence of all five of these restored offices coming together and being expressed through the Body of Christ in His followers the saints.”

Source: Che Ahn, When Heaven Comes Down: Experiencing God’s Glory in Your Life, Grand Rapids: Michigan, Chosen Books, 2009), pg. 120-121. [Read here.]

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