[CS-FSLUG] More on the NAR

[Ed Hurst]

Any time folks get excited about living their faith, it gets me excited,  
too. How could things go wrong in His Name? Church History is loaded with  
examples of things about which we are now embarrassed, stuff over which  
people plastered God's name. Recently Fred posted a link to an article  
warning about the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). I've been watching it  
for a long time.

I have no beef with charismatics; I have no problem with trying to find  
ways to bring holiness to this earth. That's how we reveal the Savior who  
died for the sins of this world. As previously noted, I have a very big  
problem with the notion God intends to use politics to bring any sort of  
redemption. Christians are still fallen humans, and Jesus Himself avoided  
the politics of His own followers. Paul and the other Apostles warned long  
after the Ascension not to go down that path. That's why I've had  
reservations with Dominionism. But combine some of the excesses of both  
Dominionism and Neo-Pentecostalism and you get a very dangerous movement,  
indeed.

You can research the term "Joel's Army" and it should provide references  
which would be shocking to most of us on this list. For those who don't  
have time to research the whole sad saga of where it came from, here is  
one of the best summaries I've seen in a long time:

    http://www.correntewire.com/rick_warrens_connections_joels_army

It's long. It names names and connects people. Decide for yourself if the  
connections are significant or incidental, as the author does have an ax  
to grind. However, as I've been following this movement, I very much agree  
the idea much of it started with New Ager Rifkin, along with a handful of  
others who have offered a pagan influence which was absorbed by a few  
early leaders of some threads in the Charismatic renewal, and continued  
inroads along the way since then. All truth is God's truth, but I see  
direct conflicts with the Bible in some of this.

-- 
Ed Hurst
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