Alt. Names:  NAR, Narzi’s, Joel’s Army, The Third Wave, Latter Rain Movement,
Kingdom Now, Manifest Sons of God, New Order of the Latter Rain, NOLR.

Recognised Sects: Shepherding Movement, Bethel Church, Healing Rooms, Kansas City Prophets, iHOP, YWAM, Campus Crusaders.

Recognised Leaders:  This movement consists of men and women in leadership.

Men: William Branham (deceased), Loren Cunningham (Founder of YWAM), Bill Bright (Founder of Campus Crusade), John Wimber, C. Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce, Michael Brown, Che Ahn, Bill Johnson, John Arnott,  Mike Bickle, John Kilpatrick, Randy Clark, Brian Houston, Lou Engle, Gilman Hill, Os Hillman, Rodney Howard-Browne, Johnny Enlow, Rick Joyner, John Crowder, Benjamin Dunn, T.L Osborne, Paul Crouch, Kenneth Copeland, Rodney Howard Brown, David Yonggi Cho, John Cameron, Paul de Jong, Kong Hee, Lawrence Khong, Joseph Prince, David Yonggi Cho, Oral Roberts, Steve Furtick, Phil Pringle, Peter Mortlock, Gordon Lindsay, Bill Hamon, Kenneth Hagin, Benny Hinn, Carlos Annacondia, Samuel Rodriguez.

Women: Doris Wagner, Wendy Alec, Jan Crouch, Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Cindy Jacobs, Heidi Baker, Jennifer LeClaire, Carol Arnott, Beni Johnson, Jen Johnson, Patricia King, Bobbie Houston, Chris Pringle, Gloria Copeland, Katherine Ruonala,

Key scriptures they misuse: Acts 2:17, Joel 2:23, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Ephesians 4:11-13, Matthew 6:9-11, Matthew 18:18, (MSG – Romans 8:19), …

Description: The NAR believe in a false gospel, a false Jesus, a false spirit and a false commission, stemming from a non-Christian faith.

False Gospel: The NAR cult preaches a false gospel that they call the “Gospel of the Kingdom” (aka Gospel of Power). This gospel stresses that God is “alive” and not “dead” by manifesting itself to people through signs and wonders or material blessing. In spite of the claims that these manifestations of “the gospel” are from God or the trinity, the overall emphasis on the origin of this “gospel power” is from “the Kingdom” or “Heaven” (thus why it is called “The Gospel of the Kingdom”. As a result, many bizarre doctrines and ministries have been invented so that Christians can tap into “heavenly resources”, “God’s storehouse”, etc.This different gospel is often considered more importance than the gospel of salvation and at worst, condemns the Christian gospel of being a gospel of just words.

False Jesus: While they confess to be orthodox and believe the creeds, this is not true. They deny Jesus is fully God and fully man. The NAR Jesus is an heretical Jesus known as the kenotic Jesus. Leaders of this movement will not be up front with their listeners on this truth unless you are familiar with passages they use to emphasize how we are to operate in the miraculous the same way Jesus did.

False Spirit: While they claim to follow the Holy Spirit, the spirit they operate from is akin to the New Age movement, emphasising metaphysical techniques to tap into the power of heaven. They specifically call this spirit the Spirit of Adoption/Sonship (SAS) and class themselves above the Christian faith and spirit. This spirit emphasises sonship and pragmatic divine blessing and success over and above the Holy Spirit who convicts the Christian of sin and makes them true disciples of Christ.

False Commission: The NAR has also invented a false commission known as the “Seven Mountain Mandate” (aka “Marketplace Ministry” or “Cultural Mandate”). Because their gospel is very pragmatic they attempt to bring this gospel to transform, restore or awaken cities, cultures, nations and finally the whole world. They do this by infiltrating by what they call the seven mountains (or pillars) of society.

While the term “mountains” or “pillars” are popular for this doctrine, they have also been called “channels”, “spheres”, or “mind-molders”.

The NAR has also invented a false ecclesia which can be recognised if it’s leaders came to be Apostles and Prophets. To manifest the ‘gospel of the kingdom’, NAR leaders teach that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) from the King James Version. This means heads of the NAR may manifest through spiritual experience (Heidi Baker), revelation knowledge Bill Johnson), supernatural signs and wonders (Josh Mills), healing (Benny Hinn, Todd Bentley), revival (Rodney Howard-Brown, Reinhard Bonnke) or kingdom growth (Rodney Howard, Yonggi Cho, Brian Houston).

People who operate strongly in one of these areas or in all these gifts are considered those who operate as approved by God as endtime governing Apostles and Prophets. These people are presented as paragons for Christians to follow as they are “advancing the Kingdom”. To question or not to submit to these governing Apostles or Prophets is to question God Himself. All leaders and teachers must be under the covering of the Apostolic and Prophetic networks otherwise they are operating outside of the will of God and open to satanic attack. This means that Christians and churches that are not NAR are considered dead, religious, rebellious, demonically possessed, apostate or not of God.

The NAR has also invented false practices. The NAR ‘gospel’ takes on a metaphysical cult-like element when it expresses itself through new revelation how God will provide new blueprints, vision, DNA, divine strategies or battle plans on how to advance the “Kingdom” on earth and to subject “principalities and powers”. This used to be called “Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare”. It is now called “Marketplace ministry” which teaches people how to be successful or revolutionary in the marketplace to advance the cause of the Kingdom.

Thus this gospel is called to rally it’s members to take dominion of the earth. This gospel presentation can take many soft or extreme forms. In meetings, this gospel often emphasises how to tap into ‘Kingdom Living’, ‘Kingdom influence’ or ‘Kingdom Potential’. As a result of such practices, the “succeful” individual is exalted to that of a “workplace Apostle” and thus progress up the chain within the NAR network. This leads to people worshiping the church. Because this is what the NAR has done,  they stress that a generations to come will usher in Christ’s return through an end-times revival, harvest or awakening. The NAR often teaches that one final generation will emerge as god-like persons (or even Jesus Christs) on earth who will purify the church and the world from darkness and usher in Christ’s return. These false teachings are often known as the ‘Manifest Sons of God’ doctrine, the  ‘Manchild’ or ‘Sons of Thunder’ heresy.

When this movement was widely criticised and condemned back in the 1940s, it played down it’s controversial doctrines and practices. However, these doctrines are alluded too in many popular megachurches and are continually renamed to hide the NAR agenda. The movement has renamed itself constantly whenever it’s Apostles, Prophets or leaders are exposed for spouting or practising bizarre things or caught in scandals.

Beginnings: Often recognised by the movement to be 1948.

NAR Bible: Like most cults, the NAR have extra-biblical revelations that add, surpass or mangle the bible. Brian Simmons’ ‘The Passion Translation’ (TPT) is the ‘bible’ that NAR leaders preach and teach from. In fact, if you are unsure if your church is part of the NAR or is being influenced by the NAR, if your leaders are using the TPT, that should be a warning sign.

Other NAR extrabiblical writings: Apostle and Prophet Rick Joyner is the author of a series of works that record his own dreams and visions called ‘The Final Quest’. These encapsulate the bedrock doctrines of the New Order of the Latter Rain and the NAR and provide the backbone of the NAR movement today.

Resources: The New Apostolic Reformation: Influence and Teachings, The Roots and Fruits of the New Apostolic Reformation.