New Apostolic Reformation

The Pine Tree Flag, a.k.a. the "Appeal to Heaven" flag. Conceived in the American Revolution, it was appropriated by Dominionists and the New Apostolic Reformation in the 2010s, and was a flag frequently seen at the 2021 U.S. coup attempt.[1]

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The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a group of dominionist Pentecostals whose goal is to turn America into a theocracy. Its leader and founder is often taken to be C. Peter Wagner, though it is really a continuation of older ideas and movements, and the movement is hardly a unified movement with a clear leadership. According to Wagner, “The second apostolic age began in the year 2001,” when, according to him, the lost offices of “Prophet” and “Apostle” were restored in this age.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Basic tenets
* 2 NAR as the American Taliban
* 2.1 Seven Mountains Mandate
* 2.2 Strategic level spiritual warfare
* 2.3 Anti-gay efforts
* 2.4 Donald Trump, God-Emperor
* 3 Central figures
* 4 Important allies
* 5 Relationship with the rest of Christianity
* 6 See also
* 7 External links
* 8 Notes
* 9 References

## Basic tenets[edit]

The NAR interprets the nature of the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit within each believer, as most Pentecostals, but also emphasizes the direct revelation of Christ to each believer, including prophecy and miracles such as healing. Forrest Wilder describes the NAR as having “taken Pentecostalism, with its emphasis on ecstatic worship and the supernatural, and given it an adrenaline shot,” and furthermore that the NAR “can tend toward the bizarre” and that it has “taken biblical literalism to an extreme.”[3]

Controversially for Christianity, this emphasis on direct revelation extends to the leadership level; NAR insists that the church must be ruled by independent, supernaturally gifted apostles and prophets.[4] The NAR model revolves around a restoration of what they call the "five-fold ministry", which involves an apostolic system of governance. (Like a lot of NAR's tenents, this concept is cherry-picked from a single Biblical verse: Ephesians 4:11) Essentially, this reverses the Protestant Reformation's center of the individual believer working out their own salvation, where authority lied in Scripture alone, and church governance structures were based on a democratic system of elders.[5][6]

C. Peter Wagner claims that “the majority of the new apostolic churches,” such as NAR, observe “active ministries of … spiritual warfare,” and claims that God has acted through him and other members and granted them supernatural abilities. For instance, he claims that God acted through him to end mad-cow disease in Germany.[7] Lou Engle, another central NAR member, has claimed that his organized prayer rallies, The Call, have prevented a multitude of natural disasters, for instance by saving Texas from deadly tornados.[8]

The NAR is also behind the prayer rally "The Summons 2012" to be arranged in Washington DC September, 2012. Speakers include Tony Perkins, Harry Jackson, Rep. Louie Gohmert, and Rep. Randy Forbes.[9]

The founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, plays a key role in NAR lore. However, rather than embrace Penn's anti-theocratic vision of religious liberty, the NAR warps the actual historical narrative into one where God gave Penn a vision for a theocratic state, cherry picking (once again) Penn's 1681 quote that the territory he'd been granted would be a "holy experiment" and the "seed of a nation".[10][11][12]

## NAR as the American Taliban[edit]

The NAR has been called “America’s Own Taliban”[13] for their plans to implement the End Times and install a theocracy in the US. Their means also resemble their more famous Afghan spiritual allies. NAR engages in “strategic level spiritual warfare”, which include destroying cultural artifacts that represent secularism, paganisms, or branches of Christianity. For instance, NAR leaders have bragged online about the destruction of Native American religious artifacts, perceiving the destruction as a liberating act, promoting “reconciliation” between estranged groups of people.

The ultimate goal is to take dominion over politics, business, and culture, to remove secular democracy, both in America and around the world, and replace it with Christian theocracy, an ideology known as dominionism. The purpose is apparently to “purify” the world for Christ’s imminent return.

Two ministries in the movement planned and orchestrated Texas Gov. Rick Perry's 2011 prayer rally, where an assortment apostles and prophets, including leaders of “prayer warrior” networks, appeared onstage.[14] The rally followed the pattern of Lou Engle’s The Call; in fact, Engle himself has served in the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders of the NAR.

Currently, the NAR works with a variety of politicians, and is present in all 50 states.

### Seven Mountains Mandate[edit]

As part of its effort to reclaim the US for Christ, the NAR has for several years run a campaign to reclaim what it calls the "seven mountains of culture" from demonic influence.[15] It defines the "mountains" as:

* arts and entertainment
* business
* family
* government
* media
* religion
* education

The NAR teaches that these "mountains" have, quite literally, fallen under the control of demons; sin and corruption and poverty exist on the Earth because the planet has come under the control of a hierarchy of demons under the authority of Satan. The apostles must therefore reclaim the high places for God in order to bring about the kingdom of God on Earth.

Their particular targets apparently include Oprah Winfrey; Mike Bickle (who led part of Perry's prayer rally) characterized her as a precursor of the Antichrist.

The sole cherry-picked Biblical justification for the mountain symbolism is Revelation 17:9. (Never mind that, in reality, this verse likely refers to the seven hills of Rome.) This symbolism is combined with another cherry-picked verse, Isaiah 2:2-3, to attempt to justify the NAR's theocratic desires. [16]

### Strategic level spiritual warfare[edit]

To accomplish their goals and combat Satan and his demons, the apostles must engage in strategic level spiritual warfare. This means that it is not just a matter of evangelizing souls one by one. Instead, the NAR will go into a geographic region or a people group and conduct spiritual-warfare activities, including destruction of artifacts associated with secularism or other religions, in order to remove the demons from the entire population.

For instance, in November 2011, Engle held a rally in Detroit, the purpose of which was to fight the demonic spirit of Islam (though several participants seem to have been unaware of Engle’s agenda). The rally was, in the NAR’s eyes, an effort of spiritual warfare targeted against the spiritual demons that are apparently holding Muslims in bondage and preventing them from converting.[17]

Another example of spiritual warfare is the March 2012 prayer rally in Sacramento to bring organized prayer back into public schools.[18]

### Anti-gay efforts[edit]

NAR has, somewhat predictably, claimed that gay people are controlled by “demonic spirits.” (Apparently one of Lou Engle’s sons has started an International House of Prayer in San Francisco where he is now expelling demons from homosexuals, thereby allegedly curing them of their homosexuality).

The apostles have had a long history in Uganda, and some of them have had close relationships with both political and religious leaders there.[19] In fact, an apostle in Uganda, Martin Ssempa, takes credit for promoting the infamous anti-homosexuality bill and was recognized by the parliament in Uganda when the bill was introduced.

### Donald Trump, God-Emperor[edit]

“”"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

—Matthew 24:24

While many in the NAR movement deified other Republican leaders in the past,[6] the mixing of Republican politics and Dominionism significantly accelerated during the presidency of Donald Trump. Many people in the NAR movement (inexplicably) believed that Trump is an actual divine prophet sent by God to deliver conservative Christians back from cultural exile.[4][20] Leaders of the movement endorsed Trump during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. After he won, several of its leaders advised him during his presidency and formed a "spiritual strike force" to protect him from Satan.[4] Trump himself flirted with propaganda promoting this deification — in early 2024, Trump posted a video called "God Made Trump" that depicted Trump as God's direct messenger.[21][note 1]

Under the influence of Trump, NAR leaders merged the politics of MAGA with the concept of "spiritual warfare", which took on the heretical guise of being about demonizing political adversaries.[5] For example, a prominent NAR leader named Lance Wallnau believes that the MAGA movement is guided by Jesus against the devilish Democrats. As a result, Wallnau transforms political issues into battles of good vs. evil. According to Wallnau, Joe Biden is an Antichrist; environmentalists against fossil fuels are under the control of demons; Black Lives Matter is "witchcraft"; and those who defend the rights of the LGBTQ community are the "trans Taliban".[22] Unsurprisingly, Wallnau adores the authoritarian Viktor Orbán.[22] Wallnau has also partnered with prominent Republican political activists such as Charlie Kirk.[23] In turn, multiple Republican politicians and judges have integrated with various NAR elements.[10]

A pastor named Dutch Sheets — a C. Peter Wagner protégé who is one of the more prominent theocratic pastors demanding an end to the separation of church and state and an end to pluralism[24] — perhaps epitomized this political and religious mixture best when he co-authored a document called the "Watchman Decree".[24] The decree freely mixes religion and governance: decreeing that "our judicial system will issue rulings that are biblical and constitutional", mixing decrees that "the blood of Jesus covers and protect our nation" with decrees for desiring America to be "energy independent", and declaring that they don't just stand against "the occult", but "wokeness" as well.[25]

As NAR is predominantly an American movement, NAR frequently integrates American political symbols (such as "1776" and the United States Constitution) with Christian religious symbols.[24]

Many NAR leaders "prophesied" that Trump would win the 2020 U.S. presidential election. When this prophecy failed to occur and Joe Biden won, instead of accepting the result, some members of the NAR blamed the supposed influence of Satan instead. For instance, Dutch Sheets' reaction to Biden's win was to embark on a tour entitled Operation Valkyrie in order to prevent Satan from "tak[ing] over the nation". Much of the rhetoric at Sheets' "prayer meetings" during this tour sounded less like prayers and more like a call to arms ("expose the neck, swing the sword, finish the job").[4] Sheets was far from the only NAR "apostle" that espoused this rhetoric; many other NAR preachers fully endorsed Trump's Big Lie and believed that nefarious forces, rather than the will of the people, had deprived Trump of a second term.[22][note 2]

Ultimately, the NAR played a critical role in encouraging the 2021 U.S. coup attempt. Eight days prior to the attack, 15 independent charismatic leaders held a meeting at Trump's White House to discuss a "spiritual war" strategy.[6] Prior to the coup attempt, many NAR leaders, or those closely associated, participated in what they called "Jericho marches" (which refers to the story in the Bible in which God called Joshua to go and circle the city of Jericho and kill everyone in the city).[27] Many NAR "apostles" were directly present at the coup attempt.[4] The coup attempt was adorned with many Christian nationalism symbols, such as shofars (despite being more associated with Jewish custom)[28] and the "Appeal to Heaven" flag;[4] participants in the coup attempt spoke in tongues and sang militant Christian music.[6] Post-coup attempt, NAR leaders were a significant part of the ReAwaken America Tour, which mixed dominionist theology with far-right political extremism, conspiracy theory culture, and open calls for violence.[28]

## Central figures[edit]

* Ché Ahn — Wagner protégé[29] and a significant advocate of committing violent acts at the January 6 2021 coup attempt.[6]
* Mike Bickle[30]
* Lou Engle
* Cindy Jacobs[31]
* Rick Joyner
* Thomas Muthee, the Kenyan pastor who anointed Sarah Palin at the Wasilla Assmbly of God Church in 2005, praying for Jesus to protect her from the spirit of witchcraft.
* Dutch Sheets — Wagner protégé and noted promoter of the "Appeal to Heaven" flag[24][32]
* C. Peter Wagner
* Lance Wallnau — played a key role in popularizing the "Seven Mountains Mandate" during Donald Trump's presidency.[22][32]

## Important allies[edit]

* Lauren Boebert[4][22]
* Michael Brown
* Kenneth Copeland — Copeland has endorsed Seven Mountains Dominionism, and held a convention featuring Wallnau and Sheets.[33][34]
* Randy Forbes
* Jim Garlow, who claims not to have heard about them, but has in fact worked with them on several occasions.[35]
* Newt Gingrich[36]
* Louie Gohmert
* Marjorie Taylor Greene[4][22]
* Harry R. Jackson Jr.
* Mike Johnson
* Doug Mastriano[32]
* Tom Parker — Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice; "Seven Mountains" theology endorser and participant in "prayer calls" with NAR apostle Clay Nash. Notable for the controversial decision on LePage v. Center for Reproductive Medicine where, citing the Bible, he declared that frozen embryos were people.[37][38]
* Tony Perkins
* Rick Perry. The NAR was behind his 2011 prayer rally.[39]
* Andrew Wommack

## Relationship with the rest of Christianity[edit]

The idea of current-day teachers with apostolic authority sounds just too Catholic to modern Protestant ears. As a result, other fundamentalists have condemned the New Apostolic Reformation because they do not accept their claim to authority. [40] Evangelical pastor Costi Hinn (the nephew of Benny Hinn), for instance, described the New Apostolic Reformation as a "destructive force" with "beliefs (that) trample the deity of Christ".[41]

Likewise, even many evangelicals were disgusted by the melding of politics and religion that portions of the NAR movement encouraged. Perhaps this was underscored in March 2024 when Trump endorsed the God Bless the U.S.A. Bible, an edition of the King James Bible that included several American government documents, like the Pledge of Allegiance and the Bill of Rights, as well as the lyrics to a mawkish patriotic country music song from Lee Greenwood (who came up with the concept). This infuriated many Christian leaders, who saw the move as "sacrilege", "heresy", and completely against Christian principles.[42] Notably, an evangelical pastor named Loran Livingston went viral for a sermon where he blasted the Greenwood/Trump Bible as "blasphemous" and "disgusting" and chastised those who mixed politics and the church.[43]

## See also[edit]

* Samuel Alito, who flew the Appeal to Heaven flag associated with this movement outside his beach house
* Joel's Army
* Dominionism
* Mike Johnson, speaker of House of Representatives since 2023

## External links[edit]

* Rachel Tabachnik at Talk2action, Resource Directory for the New Apostolic Reformation.
* Matthew D. Taylor, The Violent Take it by Force: The Christian movement that is threatening our democracy. Center for Islamic Christian Jewish Studies, 2024
* Video summarizing the beliefs of the New Apostolic Reformation

## Notes[edit]

1. ↑ Tellingly, the leader of the group that produced this video, Brenden Dilley, characterized himself as Christian and a man of faith, but also claimed that he had never read the Bible and never attended church.[21]
2. ↑ Not all "prophets" associated with this movement were thrilled with the politicized direction. In 2022, several apostolic leaders issued a statement aimed at establishing prophetic standards, rebuking what they saw as the worrisome "discussion regarding the prophetic proclamations given concerning Donald Trump being reelected to a second term", and chastising those who manipulate "the prophetic gift for the personal benefit of the prophet or of his or her ministry, whether to garner favor, power, or financial gain."[26]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ "The Pine Tree flag: How one symbol at the Capitol riot connects far-right extremism to Christianity" by Ishaan Jhaveri, Tow Center (Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism), Medium.com
2. ↑ C. Peter Wagner at the Arise Prophetic Conference, Gateway Church San Jose, CA, October 10, 2004.
3. ↑ Forrest Wilder, Rick Perry’s Army of God, Texas Observer, article from August 3, 2011.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "Many Trump supporters believe God has chosen him to rule", Economist, 2023 December 20, archived on 2023 December 20
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Meet the New Apostolic Reformation, cutting edge of the Christian right" by Paul Rosenberg, Salon, 2024 January 2
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 "The New Apostolic Reformation drove the January 6 riots, so why was it overlooked by the House Select Committee?" by Rick Pidcock, Baptist News Global, 2023 January 10
7. ↑ Forrest Wilder: “As Texas Gov. Rick Perry Enters GOP Race, New Exposé Reveals His Close Ties to Radical Evangelicals,” in Democracy Now, article from August 12, 2011.
8. ↑ Rightwingwatch, Article from April 9, 2012
9. ↑ Rightwingwatch, article from August 30, 2012.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "'Unfriending' America: The Christian right is coming for the enemies of God — like you and me" by Frederick Clarkson, Salon, 2023 June 17
11. ↑ "She’s a Prophet. She’s a Theocrat. She’s the Most Powerful Lobbyist You’ve Never Heard Of." by Emily Hofstaedter, Mother Jones, September October 2023
12. ↑ PennyPacker, Isaac A. (1906) "A Brief for Pennsylvania's Capitol And It's Builders". Harper's Weekly, Volume 50, Part 2, page 1890
13. ↑ Paul Rosenber, America’s Own Taliban, Al-Jazeera, July 28, 2011.
14. ↑ NPR, The Evangelicals Engaged in Spiritual Warfare, article from August 24, 2011.
15. ↑ Odette Yousef, Alabama justice's ties with far-right Christian movement raise concern. NPR, 27 February 2024.
16. ↑ "The ‘Seven Mountains’ conspiracy" by Jamie Seidel, The Advertiser, 2019 January 8
17. ↑ Rightwingwatch, Fact Sheet on The Call: Detroit.
18. ↑ Rightwingwatch, Article from February 15, 2012.
19. ↑ NY Times, Article from January 4, 2010
20. ↑ "The Trump Revival" by Chris Lehmann, Nation, 2024 April 15
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "The Deification of Donald Trump Poses Some Interesting Questions" by Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times, 2020 October 15
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 "He Has a 7-Point Plan for a Christian Takeover — and Wants Doug Mastriano to Lead the Charge" by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone, 2022 September 29
23. ↑ "What is Christian nationalism and why it raises concerns about threats to democracy" by Laura Barron Lopez and Sam Lane, PBS, 2024 February 1
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 "Meet the Apostle of Right-Wing Christian Nationalism" by Tim Dickinson, Rolling Stone, 2022 September 1, archived on 2023 November 3
25. ↑ "Watchman Decree", archived on 1 September 2022
26. ↑ "New Apostolic Reformation Faces Profound Rift due to Trump Prophecies and 'Spiritual Manipulation of the Prophetic Gift' by Frederick Clarkson and Andre Gagne, Religion Dispatches, 2022 August 9
27. ↑ "The Radical Evangelicals Who Helped Push Jan. 6 to Wage War on “Demonic Influence”" by Molly Olmstead, Slate, 2024 January 6
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "From Shofars to Hammers: The Spiritual Warriors of MAGA are 'Reawakening' to Political Violence' by Mark Clatterbuck, Religion Dispatches, 2022 November 14
29. ↑ "Evidence Strongly Suggests Trump was Collaborating with Christian Nationalist Leaders Before January 6th" by Matthew D. Taylor and Bradley Onishi, Religion Dispatches, 2023 January 6
30. ↑ Rightwingwatch’s file on Bickle.
31. ↑ Rightwingwatch’s file on Jacobs.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 "The Woman who Bought a Mountain for God" by Stephanie McCrummen, Atlantic, 2023 June 20, archived on 2023 November 3
33. ↑ "These Christians Think God Needs You Rich and to Rule the World" by Steven Monacelli, Texas Observer, 2023 August 17
34. ↑ "God's Army Gathers in Fort Worth" by Steven Monacelli, Texas Observer, 2023 August 4
35. ↑ Sarah Posner, Rick Perry’s Jesus Imperative: A Report from Saturday’s Mega-Rally, article in Religion Dispatches, posted August 7, 2011.
36. ↑ Rightwingwatch, article from February 3, 2012.
37. ↑ "The Alabama Embryo Opinion Is About More Than Christian Nationalism" by Stephanie McCrummen, Atlantic, 2024 March 5, archived on 2024 March 7
38. ↑ "Alabama justice's ties with far-right Christian movement raise concern" by Odette Yousef, NPR, 2024 February 27
39. ↑ Talk2Action, Why Have the Apostles Behind Rick Perry's Prayer Rally Been Invisible to Most Americans?, article from August 11, 2011.
40. ↑ https://www.gotquestions.org/New-Apostolic-Reformation.html
41. ↑ "New Apostolic Reformation Kryptonite" by Costi Hinn, For the Gospel, 2019 May 27
42. ↑ "The Christian reaction to Trump’s Bible endorsement goes deeper than you think" by AJ Willingham, CNN, 2024 March 28
43. ↑ "Trump's sale of Lee Greenwood's controversial Bible, draws pastor's backlash: 'It's blasphemous'" by Joyce Orlando, Tennessean / USA Today Network, 2024 April 30