On Aug. 6, as presidential candidate Rick Perry kicked off his campaign for the White House, he held a large rally organized by some religious groups that are not well-known to the general public - leaders from the New Apostolic Reformation and their associates with the International House of Prayer and The Call.
The NAR is an emerging and more radicalized version of Dominionism.
Dominionists believe that their form of Christianity must take control of all of the institutions of society and government. They have a vision for a Theocracy, with their apostles in charge. The NAR and their associates believe that they can control entire communities, ethnic groups, religions, people groups and even nations through spiritual warfare with demons.
Whereas our friends in our neighborhoodSouthern Baptist or mainline evangelical churches seek to convert souls through individual witness, Dominionists seek to reorganize all of the structures of society under the leadership of their apostles. The NAR is virulently anti-Catholic and anti-Mormon. They intend to reorganize Protestant Christianity into one body under the authority of their apostles.
Their Seven Mountains Campaign seeks to reclaim the seven mountains of culture and society: arts and entertainment, business, education, family, government, media, and religion. They teach that each of thesemountains is now under Satan, controlled by demonic influences, and must be reclaimed by the Dominionist movement.
The NAR produces a series of “Transformations” videos, touting activities to gain dominion over culture through spiritual warfare. The movement creates spiritual maps to isolate where the demons are located, and then they wage spiritual warfare.
They teach three levels of spiritual warfare:
• Ground level spiritual warfare, involving the expulsion of demons (exorcism) from individuals, including bornagain Christians.
• Occult level spiritual warfare, particularly against Freemasonry, Eastern religions and witchcraft.
• The highest form, “strategic level spiritual warfare,” intending to remove the most powerful demons, the principalities, which they say hold entire populations in spiritual bondage.
On Nov. 11, one of the Perry supporters, Apostle Lou Engle, is planning “The Call” in Detroit. In preparation for The Call, participants have held ceremonies targeting every Masonic Lodge in the state of Michigan, expelling the demons from them and putting a stake in the ground with a verse from Jeremiah at every Lodge. Apostle John Benefiel intends to conduct ceremonies like this, called “Divorcing Baal,” in all 50 states.
The event in Detroit intends to “fight the demonic spirit of Islam.” The Call participants will wage spiritual warfare against the demons that they say hold Muslims in bondage and keep them from converting to the NAR’s form of Christianity.
Mike Bickle of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City recruits large numbers of youth, telling them that the end time is likely to happen in their lifetime, and theymust be ready to fight and to be martyrs for the cause. He tells them they must not tolerate toleration.
He calls the church to repentance, which in his language means a repudiation of all forms of toleration.
Bickle, who helped organize the Rick Perry rally, gained some notoriety for his description of Oprah Winfrey: “She is winsome, kind, reasonable, she is utterly deceived, a classy woman, a cool woman, but she has as spirit of deception and is one of the forerunners to the harlot movement.”
Rachel Tabachnick is a leading interpreter of the Dominionists. She is a principle contributor to an informative website - talk2action.org - where there is more information about the connections between extreme religion and politics.
As a citizen and as a Christian, I think what the Dominionists promote is bad politics and worsereligion. The faith they practice bears little resemblance to Jesus.
Jesus was a person of love and compassion.
Jesus was generous toward his neighbors from other religions. He performed the same miracles of healing and feeding for outsiders as he did for those of his own faith.
But most of all, Jesus did not seek dominion: “A dispute also arose among the disciples as to which one of them was to be regarded as the greatest.
But Jesus said to them, ‘The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them ... But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one whoserves … I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:24f)
Bad religion makes for bad politics. Dominionism is very bad religion.
LOWELL GRISHAM IS AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST WHO LIVES IN FAYETTEVILLE.
Opinion, Pages 13 on 10/02/2011