EP03 | How to Spot NAR  ## Metadata - Author: [[YouTube]] - Full Title: EP03 | How to Spot NAR - Category: #articles - Document Note: --- tags: [new-apostolic-reformation, religious-movements, spiritual-discernment] author: Holly Pivec source: YouTube reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI date created: 2024-12-28 14:30 --- # 🏷️ Title: EP03 | How to Spot NAR ## 🧰 Action Inbox - [H1] Research church's statement of faith for five-fold ministry doctrine — 05:23 #discernment - [H2] Listen for terminology shifts from "offices" to "functions" or "gifts" — 08:45 #awareness - [H3] Evaluate emphasis on apostolic networks and submission structures — 12:30 #governance ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Counterfeit Kingdom Book](https://www.holli-pivec.com) - [Holly Pivec Research](https://www.holli-pivec.com) ## 📝 Summary - Holly Pivec explains how to identify New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) teachings in churches and organizations - NAR is a global movement following self-proclaimed apostles and prophets who claim authority over churches - Key warning signs include five-fold ministry doctrine, emphasis on apostolic networks, and dominionist theology - The movement aims for church takeover of cities and nations under apostolic leadership - Part one of a two-part series focusing on NAR teachings (part two covers practices and buzzwords) ## 📖 Main Content The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a large global movement led by individuals claiming to be authoritative apostles and prophets. Unlike traditional Christian understanding, these leaders claim even greater authority than biblical apostles and prophets. The movement's core belief is that apostles and prophets should govern churches, with all others including pastors submitting to their authority. NAR leaders teach that they receive new revelation providing "strategies" Christians allegedly need to develop miraculous powers, wage spiritual warfare, and establish God's kingdom on Earth. The ultimate goal is church dominion over cities and nations under apostolic leadership. Notable NAR leaders include Bill Johnson, Chris Vallotton (Bethel Church), Randy Clark, Heidi Baker, Mike Bickle, and the late C. Peter Wagner who coined the term. The movement has produced popular worship music through groups like Bethel Music, giving it broader church influence. ## 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=0) — [H1] Introduction: Identifying NAR - Key idea: Most common question is how to recognize NAR in churches, books, or teachings - Evidence: "How do I know if something is NAR... part of the New Apostolic Reformation movement" #### ⏱️ [01:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=90) — [H2] Author credentials and research background - Key idea: 20+ years researching NAR, co-authored four books on the movement - Evidence: "I've been researching this movement for over 20 years now" #### ⏱️ [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=135) — [H1] Defining NAR movement - Key idea: Global movement following leaders claiming apostolic and prophetic authority - Evidence: "People in this movement are following leaders who claim to be authoritative Apostles and Prophets" #### ⏱️ [03:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=200) — [H1] Core NAR governance structure - Key idea: Apostles and prophets should govern churches with others submitting to them - Evidence: "Apostles and Prophets are supposed to govern the church much like pastors and Elders" #### ⏱️ [04:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=285) — [H2] Notable NAR leaders and influence - Key idea: Well-known leaders include Bill Johnson, Randy Clark, and Bethel Music's influence - Evidence: "Most popular music being produced... is coming out of churches that are part of this New Apostolic Reformation movement" #### ⏱️ [05:23](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=323) — [H1] Five-fold ministry doctrine - Key idea: Teaching that five offices should govern the church at all times - Evidence: "According to this Doctrine Christ gave the church five governing offices... Apostle Prophet Pastor evangelist and teacher" #### ⏱️ [06:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=390) — [H3] Distinction from Pentecostal teachings - Key idea: NAR teachings are extreme and rejected by many Pentecostals/charismatics - Evidence: "These are not standard Pentecostal historic charismatic teachings... many Pentecostals and charismatics reject" #### ⏱️ [08:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=525) — [H2] Terminology shifts and word games - Key idea: NAR leaders change terminology from "offices" to "functions" or "gifts" to avoid detection - Evidence: "They've shifted their terminology so that it will be harder to detect that they're NAR" #### ⏱️ [10:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=630) — [H1] Submission to apostolic authority - Key idea: All Christians must submit to apostles/prophets or be outside God's will - Evidence: "All Christians are supposed to submit to these Apostles and Prophets" #### ⏱️ [12:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=750) — [H2] Apostolic networks structure - Key idea: Churches should join apostolic networks to come under apostolic authority - Evidence: "Every church... should join an Apostolic Network such as the Bethel leaders Network" #### ⏱️ [13:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=825) — [H1] End-time army teaching - Key idea: Church will become miracle-working army under apostolic leadership - Evidence: "The end-time church is going to be raised up... as this miracle working Army... sometimes referred to... as Joel's Army" #### ⏱️ [15:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=900) — [H2] Billion Soul Harvest prophecy - Key idea: Great end-time revival will bring over billion souls through televised miracles - Evidence: "This revival as the billion Soul Harvest... Stadium events... will be televised" #### ⏱️ [16:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=990) — [H1] Universal miracle mandate - Key idea: Every Christian must learn to prophesy, heal, and raise the dead - Evidence: "Every Christian can not only can every Christian must prophesy heal the sick raise the dead" #### ⏱️ [17:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=1065) — [H1] Dominionism and bringing heaven to earth - Key idea: Church must take dominion of earth under apostolic authority - Evidence: "Dominionism is the idea that the church is supposed to take Dominion of the earth" #### ⏱️ [19:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI&t=1140) — [H3] Media concerns about theocracy - Key idea: Secular media fears NAR's dominionist goals could lead to theocracy - Evidence: "Real fear among the secular media that their goals to Institute theocracy" ## 📚 References - [Counterfeit Kingdom: The Dangers of New Revelation](https://www.holli-pivec.com) - [Holly Pivec Official Website](https://www.holli-pivec.com) - [Biola University](https://www.biola.edu) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - NAR is a movement of churches and leaders who believe modern apostles and prophets should govern Christianity, claiming these leaders receive new revelations needed for spiritual warfare and miracles - The movement teaches all Christians must submit to apostolic authority and develop supernatural powers to become an end-time army that will take control of earthly governments - Warning signs include five-fold ministry doctrine, emphasis on apostolic networks, teachings about Joel's Army, billion soul harvest prophecies, and dominionist theology about bringing heaven to earth ## 📰 Newsletter Holly Pivec's latest research provides crucial discernment tools for identifying New Apostolic Reformation influences in churches and Christian organizations. With NAR teachings infiltrating mainstream Christianity through popular worship music and conference speakers, understanding these warning signs protects church communities from authoritarian structures disguised as spiritual renewal. Key identifiers include five-fold ministry doctrine, emphasis on apostolic networks requiring submission, and dominionist theology about taking earthly control. Pivec's 20+ years of research, documented in four books including "Counterfeit Kingdom," offers essential resources for church leaders navigating these challenging waters. Resources: [Holly Pivec Research](https://www.holli-pivec.com), [Counterfeit Kingdom](https://www.holli-pivec.com), [Biola University](https://www.biola.edu) ## ✅ Action Items #### Community - Maintainers: Develop NAR identification checklist for church leadership training - Contributors: Create resource library of discernment materials and scholarly research - Sponsors: Fund theological education on healthy church governance structures - Ecosystem: Coordinate with denominational leaders on NAR awareness initiatives #### WordPress - Community: Develop content guidelines for religious conference and event listings - Training: Create lesson plans on identifying manipulative religious content online - Support: Establish protocols for handling NAR-related content disputes - Documentation: Maintain resources on religious movement identification ## 🧪 Hypotheses - Churches adopting five-fold ministry doctrine show increased authoritarian leadership patterns within 2-3 years - NAR terminology shifts correlate with decreased transparency in church governance structures - Communities with high NAR influence experience increased family division and spiritual abuse reports - Social media amplifies NAR teaching spread through worship music and conference content ### 📊 Methodology - Longitudinal study tracking churches before/after adopting NAR teachings - Content analysis of church websites and statements of faith for NAR indicators - Survey research on family impact and spiritual abuse in NAR-influenced communities ### ❓ Questions - How can churches maintain charismatic practices while avoiding NAR authoritarianism? - What role does popular worship music play in normalizing NAR theology? - How do NAR networks maintain control across geographically dispersed churches? ### 🔮 Future Research - Comparative analysis of spiritual abuse rates across different Christian movements - Economic analysis of apostolic network financial structures and accountability - Media literacy education effectiveness for religious content evaluation ### 💡 Implications - Practice: Churches need robust governance structures preventing authoritarian takeover - Policy: Religious organizations require transparency standards for leadership claims - Security: Spiritual abuse reporting systems need development and implementation - Education: Seminary curricula should include contemporary religious movement analysis - Funding: Research into high-control religious groups requires increased support ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment Reading level estimate: 12th grade (Flesch-Kincaid) #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: None identified in audio content - Improve: Create organizational charts of NAR networks, timeline graphics of terminology shifts #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: Full audio podcast format with clear narration - Improve: Add background music, sound effects for emphasis #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: Clear definitions, terminology explanations, concrete examples - Improve: Add more analogies comparing NAR to historical religious movements #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: None identified - Improve: Create assessment worksheets, church evaluation checklists #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: Clear categorization of teachings, systematic identification process - Improve: Decision trees for NAR identification, comparison charts #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: References to co-authored research, community concerns - Improve: Discussion guides for church leadership teams, group study materials #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: Individual listening format, self-assessment implications - Improve: Personal reflection questions, individual study guides #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: None identified - Improve: Analogies to ecosystem health, community impact patterns ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: Audio-first format accessible to visually impaired - Improve: Provide detailed transcript with heading structure #### Keyboard navigation - Present: Standard YouTube player controls - Improve: Chapter markers for easier navigation #### Contrast and readability - Present: Audio content bypasses visual contrast issues - Improve: Ensure any supplementary materials meet WCAG standards #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: Not applicable to audio content - Improve: Responsive transcript design for various screen sizes #### Media and captions - Present: Full audio content available - Improve: Add professional captions, downloadable transcript #### Forms and interactions - Present: Simple YouTube interface - Improve: Accessible contact forms for follow-up resources ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: Focuses on American Christian context primarily - Improve: Include global NAR movement examples, international case studies #### Inclusive language - Present: Professional, academic tone avoiding inflammatory language - Improve: Define theological terms for non-Christian audiences #### Neurodiversity support - Present: Clear, structured presentation with logical progression - Improve: Provide content warnings for spiritual abuse topics #### Representation - Present: Female researcher/author perspective in male-dominated theology field - Improve: Include diverse voices from different cultural backgrounds #### Psychological safety - Present: Respectful treatment of religious topics, academic approach - Improve: Add resources for those recovering from spiritual abuse ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Deductive strength: Clear movement definition leading to specific identification criteria - Inductive strength: Pattern recognition across multiple NAR organizations and leaders - Causal reasoning: Links NAR teachings to spiritual abuse and church division outcomes - Analogical strength: Compares NAR authority claims to biblical apostolic roles #### Fallacies - Guilt by association: Assumes all churches using Bethel music embrace full NAR theology - Hasty generalization: May overstate uniformity within diverse movement - Appeal to authority: Relies heavily on academic credentials and research years #### Tone of voice - Overall tone: Academic, concerned, authoritative but respectful toward religious differences ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: Content focuses on identifying movement rather than defending against accusations - Attack: No attacks on accusers identified; maintains scholarly approach - Reverse victim/offender: None observed; acknowledges real harm to church communities - Emotional cues and rhetoric: Uses concerned but measured language about spiritual abuse ## 🎯 Conclusion - NAR identification requires understanding core teachings about apostolic governance, five-fold ministry, and dominionist theology - Churches and individuals need discernment tools to recognize terminology shifts and word games use - Document Tags: [[awareness]] [[governance]] [[discernment]] - Summary: EP03 | How to Spot NAR - URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIjbVpZ_tLI the most common question that I hear from people who've read our books or watched our interviews is how do I know if something is Nar how do I know if something is part of the New Apostolic Reformation movement they may be wondering about a book that their church has decided to use or a curriculum that their church has adopted or a speaker that someone's bringing into their Church church or they might wonder about some teachings that their friend is getting caught up in or or a church their friend has started attending so in this two-part series I'll reveal the key Nar teachings practices and terminology to watch out for in today's episode that's part one I'll start off by giving you a brief overview of what Nar is and then I'll explain the teachings and in the next episode that's part two I will reveal the Nar practices and buzzwords so be sure to listen to both parts to get clued into this movement that's distorted the gospel damaged the church's witness and divided the church for those who don't know I've co-authored four books about the New Apostolic Reformation movement with my co-author Dr Doug Doug git who is a professor Meritus of philosophy at tbet School of Theology at Bola University in Southern California and I've been researching this movement for over 20 years now and Nar uh or n uh which is short for New Apostolic Reformation is a very large Global movement and the people in this movement are following leaders who claim to be authoritative Apostles and Prophets much like the apostles and prophets in scripture except the apostles and prophets in this movement actually claim even greater Authority than the apostles and prophets in Scripture and there's a lot of spiritual abuse that's been coming from this movement a lot of churches that have been dividing families that have had a lot of division in families uh from different family members getting caught up in this movement and other family members are concerned and when they confront the family members on those teachings the family members there's a lot of tension and it's this the basic idea of this movement is that Apostles and Prophets are supposed to govern the church much like pastors and Elders except Apostles and Prophets are supposed to hold the highest offices in the church and all others including pastors are supposed to submit to them because these Apostles and Prophets claim that they're giving new revelation that Christians require in order to develop miraculous powers to wage spiritual warfare and to bring God's kingdom to Earth which is the ultimate goal of this movement is to for the church to take Dominion of cities and Nations and bring God Kingdom to Earth under the authority and Leadership of these present day Apostles and Prophets and the teachings of this movement may sound very extreme to you but these teachings uh have been making inroads into many many churches in fact the most popular music being produced and used by in churches today is coming out of churches that are part of this New Apostolic Reformation movement such as Bethel Music which comes out of bethl church in Reading California the most well-known Church in this movement so people need to know that Nar is not a single organizational entity it's not like like you can join the Nar but Nar is a movement and it's made up of many organizations many churches many leaders many people who accept the core teachings of this movement who hold these teachings these beliefs in common these beliefs that Apostles and Prophets supposed to govern the church and that the church under their leadership is supposed to develop miraculous powers and take Dominion of the earth so well-known leaders in this movement would include Bill Johnson uh and Chris Batton the Apostle and profet uh at Bethel Church in Reading California Randy Clark is another well-known leader Heidi Baker uh Mike ble Rick Joiner um Cindy Jacobs L Engel that cheets um C Peter Wagner who's who's passed away but he's he's the one who actually coined the term New Apostolic Reformation which which caught on as a label for this movement but in addition to these well-known influential Nar leaders and there's many others as well every city every town has churches and leaders and organizations who are part of this movement and so the question becomes how do you know um if a church or an organization or a book or something is associated with this new Apostolic Reformation movement before I get into the clues that you should look for to know if something is gar I want to remind you uh that Doug and I have written four books about this movement they go into much more detail uh so you should be sure to take a look at those especially I would recommend our book counterfeit Kingdom the dangers of new revelation new prophets and New Age practices in the church that is just a really good introduction to this movement and and really goes into a lot of the clues and and signs that you can look for to know whether something is Nar it's a very accessible book so a quick read too the first set of Clues I want to talk about that you can look for are the teachings that you should look for um so you might see these teachings on a Church website or mentioned in the statement of faith of a church or you might hear them from the Pulpit at a church or or you hear your you know you you see it in books your friends reading or something like that but the the teachings to look for are teachings that Apostles and Prophets are supposed to govern the church or hold governing offices I it's really important for me to clarify that that the idea that Apostles and Prophets are supposed to hold governing offices in the church these are not standard Pentecostal historic charismatic teachings these are very extreme teachings that many Pentecostals and charismatics reject and they're very concerned about these teachings of the New Apostolic Reformation movement because these teachings have been coming into the Pentecostal charismatic churches and causing a lot of confusion and division so that's something to be aware of is is I'm not critiquing Pentecostal charismatic teachings right now I'm I'm very specifically and narrowly focusing in on the teachings that make this Nar movement distinct from all other what all other Christians believe including Pentecostals and charismatics so the idea that Apostles and Prophets are supposed to hold these governing offices in the church and that all others are supposed to submit to them this is a distinctive Nar teaching and very closely related to it is a Doctrine known as five-fold ministry that's something to look for maybe in a statement of belief of in our church now I want I want to be clear that not all all churches will always include this Doctrine in their statement of belief even if they hold to it so it's not enough just to look at their a Church's statement of belief but but listen for the term five-fold Ministry or reference to the five-fold ministry offices because according to this Doctrine Christ gave the church five governing offices that are supposed to govern the church at all time through all of history at all times and these are the offices of Apostle Prophet Pastor evangelist and teacher they get that from Ephesians 4:11 I'm not going to go into that right now but that's the the the verse that they'll proof text uh from scripture to support that Doctrine and they take it out of context and they say what they claim is that this verse teaches that that there's supposed to be five offices governing the church and they people in Nar would actually say the apostles and Prophets which are listed first are are the um most authoritative offices and so that's something to listen for it's important to be aware that leaders in this movement often play word games and so like for example as as Nar has been getting more criticized and and and critics such as Doug and myself and and many others have been drawing attention to this movement and the dangers of this movement they've shifted the the leaders in this movement have shifted their terminology so that it will be harder to detect that they're Nar and so they used to talk a lot about govern offices and about how Apostles and Prophets hold these offices in the church they've actually shifted away from using the term offices because they know it's controversial and it scares people so now leaders in this movement will say that they Apostles and Prophets whole that these are functions in the church or or that they're um they'll refer to them as Ascension gifts because Christ gave um these gifts when he ascended so these are different things to look for just realize often they'll just refer to Apostles and Prophets as gifts to the church and it's important to be aware of this and one reason this is so sneaky is because leaders in the Nar movement know that that Pentecostals and charismatics have often viewed Apostles and Prophets as functions or as gifts and that they've made this distinction between functions and offices and so but when Nar leaders use the term functions to refer to their Apostles and Prophets or if they say that the are functions in the church or these are gifts they are actually they really mean that they're offices that they're formal governing offices hierarchical offices in the church and so they're equivocating on and playing word games and in order to um kind of get their their teachings to fly under the radar and and get churches that normally wouldn't accept these teachings to begin to embrace them so that's something to be aware of a teaching I've kind of already mentioned is that all Christians are supposed to submit to these Apostles and Prophets and if they don't submit to them then they're really outside of God's Will and the reason for that is the apostles and Prophets claim to be giving New Revelations they they'll refer to these Revelations often as strategies that Christians require they would say in order for Christians every Christian to learn how to heal the sick and raise the dead and wage spiritual warfare against these powerful demons that they believe are ruling over cities and Nations and and all of this that's why Christians need to submit so that they can can receive the strategies that the apostles and Prophets are giving so they'll say that really every church if it doesn't have an apostle leading the church should join an Apostolic Network such as the bethl leaders Network and and there's a lot of Randy Clark's uh is an apostle uh his organization Global Awakening has its own network so so n organizations will have their own networks with an apostle at the top and the idea is that churches that don't have Apostles in their midst can join these Networks and they'll still be coming under the authority of an apostle and they'll be rightly aligned with the Apostle that's a teaching in this movement that everyone's supposed to be aligned or or under the Authority or submitted to an apostle and so another teaching in this movement is that the intime church is going to be raised up under the apostles and Prophets as this miracle working Army it will work signs and wonders like the church has never seen before uh it's sometimes referred to this Army is referred to as Joel's Army so these are are teachings to look for another teaching is that there will be this great end time Revival leaders in this movement will often refer to this revival as as uh the billion Soul Harvest because they believe more than a billion Souls will come into the kingdom of God under under these Apostles and Prophets who are allegedly working these amazing Miracles people will be so wowed by these the Miracles that they're working and these Miracles will be broadcast on television and and you know they'll be Stadium events where the apostles and Prophets are working miracles in the stadiums and the they'll be televised and this will cause like this massive in time Revival which will lead to the church being able to take Dominion of the earth and so that's something to be aware of these teachings teachings about Revival are really big and Nar so that's not to say that every church that talks about Revival is part of Nar that's definitely not the case I mean you have Baptist churches and all kinds of traditional churches and and other churches that will hold tent revivals or or talk about wanting to see Revival and that kind of thing but in Nar there's a really heavy emphasis on Revival Revival because they do believe that there will be this great end time Revival billion Soul Harvest um and that's that's really uh that's been prophesied by a lot of the prophets in this in the Nar movement so also the teaching again closely related is that every Christian can not only can every Christian must prophesy heal the sick raise the dead learn to work miracles and the reason is so that they can become of this part of this great in time Army this Joel's Army that will help bring about this great in time Revival and and will be able to bring God's take take dominion and bring God's kingdom to Earth there's a big teaching in this movement about bringing Heaven to Earth that that's one way they'll refer to the idea that the church is supposed to um take Dominion of the earth is they'll they'll refer to it as bringing Heaven to Earth and and dominionism the teaching of dominionism is a big part of this movement dominionism is the idea that the church is supposed to take Dominion of the earth and it will do so under the authority of present day Apostles and Prophets and so any of you who've who've run run across articles in the mainstream media that the secular media are writing about this new apost Reformation movement and they've been writing a lot of articles in in recent years and and in the runup to the recent election you may have noticed there's a lot of media concerns about this New Apostolic Reformation movement and and their concerns are really driven by a fear that you know the apostles and prophets in this movement are talking about wanting to take Dominion of the earth of cities and Nations and so there's a real fear among the the secular media that their their goals to Institute theocracy and so that's something to be aware of is is teachings about dominionism and and and um how those are are Central to this movement and and those teachings in particular really have the media um spooked that's it for part one thanks for listening be sure to subscribe to the Holly pivic podcast so you can listen to part two of the series spotting Nar a, EP03 | How to Spot NAR, YouTube, 01ka79fcyehmryz0a5kbn3aw7m.