Does the NAR Have a New Prophet?

NAR false prophets, David Herzog and Chuck Pierce, are two of the featured speakers in the upcoming conference called “The Awakening.” It will be held in mid-November in Phoenix, Arizona. The third man on the ticket might surprise Christians who attend popular Bible prophecy conferences hosted by teachers who stick to what the Bible teaches concerning end times. Paul McGuire, at first glance, seems out of his league to share the platform with men who major on gold dust and healing angels and speak from their own visions and imaginations while ignoring Scripture. But upon further investigation it becomes clear that he fits right in with the evil workers of the “New Apostolic Reformation.”*

The Elijah List (an umbrella group for todays false apostles, prophets and signs and wonders seekers) and the event’s promoters say the first fruits of the coming Great Awakening was experienced at their last event, and that “many prophets have prophesied that Arizona would be a starting place that launches the next move of God.” The implication from the title is that you will miss out on this advertised action of God if you don’t pay the price of admission.

The hook in the ad is power and miracles, as if anyone can promise in advance what God is going to do. They hype supposed manifestations of God’s glory as if it were the next greatest product on the market.

“Join us for this Power-packed weekend for our Clear Prophetic Direction, GLORY, HEALINGS/MIRACLES, conference as the Heavens open up and the Spirit comes down with clear prophetic direction and revelation. Learn how to access and flow with God during the greatest harvest, and greatest shakings, and not be caught by surprise as the Glory of God moves with healing, miracles, signs and wonders following! God promises to visit in historic ways as you experience your season of visitation and get empowered to move forward in these most important, sobering and exciting times.” [Emphasis in original.]

No solid Bible teacher in his right mind would come anywhere near such religious hype and con artistry. Sadly, this is not the first such event Paul McGuire has been involved in. As recently as September 2015, he joined with Herzog in a similar conference in Phoenix with the provocative title, “New Beginnings Glory Festival.” Another NAR false teacher, Robert Stearns, joined the lineup for a promised time of miracles as their promotion says:

• “Experience the Glory of God and impartation like never before

•   Tap into an open Heaven window as you show up to the feast

•   Receive healing and miracles, prophetic direction, and "reset" your life”

In January 2010, out of my concern for McGuire, I wrote him regarding his involvement with false prophetess Wendy Alec of GodTV. I emailed him and said, “Do you have a standard response to people when they ask you what your thinking is on joining together with Wendy & Rory Alec on GodTV considering they are a blight on the Body of Christ and are the number #1 promoters of the false prophet movement - including Todd Bentley? I'm referring to the prophecy special they've produced starring you and Chuck Missler, Gary Kah, Larry Bates and others…Going on their program without bringing correction gives the appearance to viewers that you are all in this together. Wendy Alec is a false prophet as is documented here:

http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain51.htm  Thank you for taking the time to read this and respond. I mean no disrespect - I'm very concerned for you and your ministry.”

 

“I don't usually give "standard" responses unless it is many people asking the exact same question,” he responded in part.  “As you know, Missler, LaHaye, HItchcock, Kah, Bates and a number of prophecy teachers go on the show… My appearance on any show secular or Christian is to represent my views or beliefs.  For example, Chuck Smith recently appeared on Praise the Lord on TBN.  It was to give his message.  Going on a secular of Christian network does not imply a blanket endorsement.”

Compromising Church Leaders

This is where I’ve had to beat this drum for decades now** – The Bible has one set of requirements when dealing with those outside the professing church, and another with those claiming to be Christians. The Apostle Paul is very clear on this:

“I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.” – 1 Cor. 5:9-13

I’ve observed church leaders who compromise for the sake of selling books or getting notice for their ministries by donors watching “Christian” television, that when they begin to overlook their hosts’ fleecing the flock of God, God gives them over to it and then they begin spouting the same things.

There are many, many examples of this, but one very disappointing case is that of David Jeremiah, who began showing up on TBN’s Praise the Lord program after buying airtime from them for his show. Though many of us lovingly warned him, he turned a deaf ear to us. Years later, he appears on their fundraising program, Praise-a-Thon, spouting the same give-to-get flock fleecing scams his newfound friends have used for decades to rip off the widows’ mites.

A common trait of today’s false prophets, as exemplified by the NAR and the Elijah List, is the pursuit of signs and wonders, and the sensationalistic guarantee of God’s power and glory showing up in their meetings. Another common denominator is the lack of a clear taught Gospel of Repentance unto Salvation. The draw they use for people to come down to the platform is not for prayers, but for getting an impartation of some sort of glory.

If it Quacks Like a Duck

From watching the ministry of Paul McGuire, it is evident that his message has taken on the glory-seeking tone, although he does seem to adapt his words to the venue. He even began introducing himself as a prophet in some media appearances.

A quick comparison of McGuire’s behavior in front of the camera on the Sid Roth show, “It’s Supernatural,” to Sid’s regulars, Herzog, Stearns, and NAR heir Chuck Pierce, reveals a similar emphasis on power grabs and the impersonal Force they seek after.

“I'm with my guest Paul McGuire,” said host Sid Roth on the June 10, 2013 episode of It’s Supernatural (available on YouTube). “You might have seen him on Fox News, O'Reilly, History Channel on one of the top viewing shows. But as a young man, he had quite a background. You were raised to hate Christians. You thought the answer was in science and the new age. So you go out to the University of Missouri (McGuire nods in agreement) where you're really debating Christians and you're going to put them in their place. Guess what his major was? You'll never guess. I shouldn't have said guess. His major was altered states of consciousness. That's a major? (McGuire gives a confirming nod.) And he's in class one day, and he hears a voice. What does the voice say to you?” "Surrender to the dark forces within," he responds.

There are four campuses of the University of Missouri and this reporter called all four, receiving the same response, there is not now and never has been a major called altered states of consciousness and there is no student past or present in the entire system by the name Paul McGuire. The Registrar’s offices could not even find a class by that name, let alone a major.

At the end of the program, as it is customary for Sid Roth’s guest to make an appeal to the viewers, McGuire stepped up to the plate.

“That supernatural leading of the Holy Spirit, before today's program is over,” McGuire addressed the viewers, “there is going to be a very strong move of the supernatural force. And if people will be open to it, and they don't have to be religious to be open to it, by the time today's program is over they are going to experience firsthand perhaps one of the most powerful experiences supernaturally that they ever had in their lives.”

This power for anyone who wants it would then come right through the airwaves from Sid Roth’s studio. Haven’t you all seen that before from the likes of con-men like Benny Hinn, Robert Tilton and Peter Popoff?

McGuire continued, “The Lord spoke to me, and He said that in the last days as these problems accelerate, that God was going to pour out this supernatural power in an unprecedented force and manner. And as I'm joining you now, I just want to share with you very briefly that, no matter what situation you're facing, whether you're religious or not, that right now as you're watching this TV program, the supernatural power of God is flowing through this studio into your bedroom or living room, or wherever you are, and you can feel it. It's like a tangible force. It's like electricity is filling your room and you can sense the overwhelming power of God. I just want to encourage you, that's going to give you the power you need to live triumphantly in the days to come. But no matter what you're facing, the Lord simply wants you to just receive His force as He extends it to you now. So whatever you're facing, whatever challenge or problem you have, at this moment the Lord delights in proving His reality, not with talk, but with power.”

“And we're not talking about words or hypnosis,” McGuire assures the audience. “We're talking about the power of God moving through the airwaves through this studio, and it's flooding your bedroom and your office. And all you have to do is respond to it and God is going to do something absolutely incredible for you.”

So they only need to respond to an “it” – some sort of power. Not one word of the Gospel that Jesus Christ died for their sins and gives the Holy Spirit to us to make us witnesses of Christ as His ambassadors to this fallen world.

That does not sound like the same Paul McGuire I’ve seen at prophecy conferences alongside David Hocking and Jack Hibbs.

This quest for power was also the bait for McGuire’s speaking partner, Robert Stearns, whose testimony of such power was sent out in an Elijah List mailing, the same ‘ministry’ that advertises the glory conferences these men engage in. In the Sept 12, 2013 letter to the E-list, Stearns of Eagle’s Wings, had this to say:

“I was caught up in the Spirit, and I was brought to a place with enormous Ancient Gates. The gates were covered over by debris and overrun by neglect. The gates were enormous and were guarding access to a place of great authority and power. The question rose in my heart, What can it be that these Gates guard and release? As I stood before the Gates, the wind of God began to blow upon them. Stronger and with increasing force, the breath of God began to blow away the debris that was covering the Gates. As the Wind increased with greater force, I saw the name of the Gates that were written at the top of them. IMAGINATION was the name of these Ancient Gates…Finally, the full word, IMAGINATION was pulsing with a living light.” [Emphasis in original.]

On Jun 6, 2014, Elijah List also published a so-called prophecy by Chuck Pierce, a co-speaker with McGuire coming up this month. They’re all hearing audible voices. Again more power and force being prophesied – no scripture:

"Fiery trials will make One New Man for the times ahead and the new things I will send you into. You will carry a new message of greater works into the nations. This takes the One New Man! You will come into agreements that generations before could not form. This is the time of the greater works. At creation My Spirit hovered, and when I spoke, all of the earth shifted. At Pentecost My Spirit hovered, and when I released My voice, the whole earth shifted. I am hovering again, and the earth will shift at the sound of My voice. There is a whirlwind coming to places in the earth. In this whirlwind is fire! …"I am beginning to give revelation over ley lines and power lines over nations and continents. I am releasing angels to war along with you and bring revelation over power sources and strong men. You will release decrees, and you will see giants coming down and My glory rising. The world is Mine, and today I am hovering and holding the earth and its nations in My hands. The Father has given them to Me and I am giving them to you as your inheritance. Call out and come into One New Man for the earth is Mine. My dancing hand is coming over the seven continents. My breath is upon the waters. I am gathering together what will pull the end time portion into place. Watch My breath on the waters. “ [Emphasis in original.]

This might be event too crazy for Paul McGuire to accept – yet he does not mind joining together with such a sorcerer or point out this false prophet’s lies – saying “God said,” when God has not spoken to any of them.

Strange Bedfellows

David Herzog – the kingpin of the conferences who brings all these like-minded men together in Arizona might be the craziest of the bunch. He was one of the false prophets who was up front at the time C. Peter Wagner and his host of false prophets were commissioning Todd Bentley into what they said would be the Great Awakening and that Bentley was the first of the New Breed, a god-man on earth prophesied decades ago by the late William Branham. Wendy Alec of GodTV was there. She prophesied that Jesus was going to show up in Todd’s meetings physically. Todd made a fool of the entire bunch of NAR apostles and prophets when it was revealed a couple of weeks later that Todd was cheating on his wife with a ministry associate he ended up marrying after abandoning his family. All this was going on in secret as Herzog and the rest of them were prophesying God’s approval of this man. Bentley claimed to have the assistance of a female angel, named Emma, that supposedly worked with Branham when he was alive. 

Herzog also claims to be a source of spirit impartation to others for power and holy fire. In a May 8, 2008 letter to his E-list he promoted the signs and wonders going on in the so-called Lakeland Revival starring Todd Bentley. He wrote in his “The Glory Zone News Alert,” that the Lakeland outpouring would be coming to his favorite portal, Sedona, Arizona.

“The incredible level of the Glory and Presence of God along with amazing miracles, healings, signs and wonders are hitting Lakeland, Florida but also are about to explode in Sedona during Pentecost. Most the speakers have all been to Lakeland, Florida and are full and ready to release it (including Jerame Nelson who works for, travels with and preaches with Todd Bentley and has been in the revival in Lakeland from day one.)… As we come together syncing heaven with earth something BIG is going to happen. There will be more impartation released to carry the fire of this revival in this conference than any other we have had so far… What we sense is that since the Lakeland outpouring began the plates have shifted in the Spirit across America.”

Unheeded Warnings

In February, 2009, the then Editor of Charisma magazine pointed out the false teachings and claims making the rounds back then. In his commentary, Strange Fire in the House of the Lord, he warned:

“During the Lakeland Revival last year in Florida, a man from Germany took the stage and claimed that an angel walked into a restaurant while he was eating a hamburger, took his intestines out and replaced them with a gold substance. Others have testified that angels took them to heaven and operated on them. And many are claiming that angels are dropping feathers, gold dust and precious gems on worshippers…If we promote a false miracle or a false angel in the Lord's house, we are participating in strange fire. I know of a case where a man was caught planting fake jewels on the floor of a church. He told his friends he was "seeding the room" to lift the people's faith. I know of others who have been caught putting gold glitter on themselves in a restroom and then running back in a church service, only to claim that God was blessing them with this special favor. Where is the fear of God when Christians would actually fabricate a miracle? This is a time for all true believers with backbones to draw clear lines between what is godly worship and what is pagan practice. We want the miracles of God, but we also want the fear and reverence of God. We cannot allow this strange fire to spread unchecked.”

The late Dave Hunt, in his classic book, The Seduction of Christianity, warned about these things creeping into the church back in 1985. Unfortunately, most of the professing church suppressed the warning, which truly was from the mercy of God.

“During the prophesied apostasy, even church leaders will be led astray, and those who follow their teachings will suffer the same tragedy. We must be certain that we are following the Lord and not men… To avoid the seduction that is at the heart of apostasy, we must be able to distinguish the voice of Christ through His Word from the confusing mixture of truth and error that is spoken in His name.” (pp. 8-9)

Today, the New Age influences Hunt warned about coming into the church has grown into a monster that can no longer be tamed or contained. It is out of control. The fault lies with the church leaders who looked the other way and would not take a stand – but rather compromised with the monster and joined alongside it, rather than exposing its wickedness. There are many such Bible teachers/speakers who will have the blood on their hands of the many whose faith has been shipwrecked by these wicked workers who have been allowed to spread their leaven.

For further information, listen to this reporter’s analysis –

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rapturereadyradio/2015/11/07/scattered-sheep-report-with-jackie-alnor#.Vj0zdEbACdI.facebook

            *The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is an umbrella group formed by C. Peter Wagner consisting of his associates who claim to be prophets and apostles, Wagner himself being the chief apostle. They have an annual gathering at the end of every year to get a consensus of what the Lord is saying to the people for the coming year. None of their proclamations are specific enough to test – always what God is doing behind the scenes that only they who have access to the third heaven can know. They are modern-day Gnostics.

            **See “All That Glitters is Not God’s Glory” by Jackie Alnor for further information - http://www.apostasyalert.org/REFLECTIONS/glitter.htm