INFLUENCES: RICK WARREN AND C. PETER WAGNER OF NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION

Apprising Ministries points you now to something Christian apologist and missionary Sandy Simpson of the fine online apologetics and discernment ministry Deception in the Church was covering back in 2004. As I have said before, Simpson was one of the first to assist me when I first came on the Net in late August of 2005, when he helped draw attention to my early writings.

In an addendum to The New Apostolic Reformation – What is it and where it is going? Simpson tells us about facts “that [were] obtained after the NAR video series was completed”; he then explains that, “This information is available in the book version of the NAR series.” [1] 

First Simpson further documents C. Peter Wagner Involvement In The Latter Rain:

Latter Rain heresy is likened to pioneers making “mistakes”.  Latter Rain heretics were only pioneers in the sense of pioneering age old heresies in the 20th century.  Heresy is not a mistake, it is a sin, and one we are to reject … Wagner claims God began speaking these Latter Rain things again.  Does God speak heresy? 

What was the reason these things were not taught in the Congregational Church and other places, though they had been taught at Fuller back in the 1970s on forward?  Because the Church generally recognized the tenets of the Latter Rain to be heresy!  The stark reality is that C. Peter Wagner knew about the Latter Rain at least as long ago as 1989 when Paul Cain came out to visit John Wimber, C. Peter Wagner’s employee at Fuller. (Online source)

Then in Rick Warren/C. Peter Wagner Connections Simpson reminds us that Warren “wrote his doctoral dissertation at Fuller Seminary on his church growth ideas.” And after informing us that he has Warren’s “full dissertation in my possession” Simpson then tells us:

His mentor was C. Peter Wagner!  Here is a copy of the FirstSearch Dissertations Abstracts listing:

Title: NEW CHURCHES FOR A NEW GENERATION: CHURCH PLANTING TO REACH BABY BOOMERS. A CASE STUDY: THE SADDLEBACK VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH (CALIFORNIA)
Author(s): WARREN, RICHARD DUANE
Degree: D.MIN.
Year: 1993
Pages: 00413
Institution: FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, DOCTOR OF MINISTRY PROGRAM; 0790
Advisor: Mentor: C. PETER WAGNER
Source: DAI, 54, no. 03A, (1993): 0967… (Online source)

You can see this information compiled by Sandy Simpson right here. As far as I’m concerned the ill-advised decision by Dr. John Piper to bring Purpose Driven Pope Rick Warren into the Desiring God Conference 2010 as the keynote speaker begins to look even more peculiar.

And Warrengate continues to simmer…

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Endnotes:  

[1] http://tinyurl.com/27yf4bw, accessed 5/23/10.

HT: Herescope

See also:

MAY DAY AND THE NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION

THE COALESCING OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT WITH APOSTOLIC DOMINIONISM

FACISM IN EMERGING CHURCH AND THE DALAI LAMA IS A MARXIST

DR. MICHAEL HORTON ON THE CHAMELEON-LIKE RICK WARREN

RICK WARREN GOSPEL TROUBLE

RICK WARREN AND PURPOSE DRIVEN ROMAN CATHOLICS

THE INADEQUATE GOSPEL OF RICK WARREN