‘Apostles’ From Well-Known Ministries

I just finished reading C. Peter Wagner’s new book, Apostles Today (Regal Books), and plan to comment on it in upcoming posts. In this book, like Wagner’s past books, he argues that modern “apostles” have an extraordinary amount of authority that Christians must submit to — or else be outside of God’s will.Though I will address this teaching more in a future post, the reason I mention it now is because I recently saw a discussion board where people were praising the New Apostolic Reformation. Someone had posted a statement from my blog where I said that this movement promotes apostles with unquestioned authority and prophets who give new doctrinal revelation not found in Scripture. Someone responded and said my statement was untrue. Yet, my statement is true, and I will continue to show — from Wagner’s own writings and from other leaders in the movement — what they teach about modern “apostles” and “prophets.”In this post, I want to briefly point out leaders of some well-known ministries who are members of Wagner’s “International Coalition of Apostles.” Many Christians may be surprised to learn of these leaders' affiliation with Wagner’s New Apostolic Reformation. Their participation shows the movement’s growing influence in the church. Some notable members include:Notable ICA Members• Chris Hayward, president of “Cleansing Stream Ministries,” based in Van Nuys, Calif.• Jane Hansen, president of “Aglow International,” based in Edmonds, Wash.• Dick Eastman, international president of “Every Home for Christ,” based in Colorado Springs, Colo.• Hal H. Sacks, founder and president of “BridgeBuilders International Leadership Network” in Phoenix, Ariz.• Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine, and Stephen Strang, founder of Strang Communications (publisher of seven Christian magazines, including Charisma).See the full list of members of the International Coalition of Apostles here. [Note: Many of the above names have been removed from the membership list since this article was originally published.]Cleansing Stream MinistriesCleansing Stream Ministries has “deliverance ministry teams” in over 2,500 U.S. churches and over 500 churches in other countries. Many of these churches wouldn’t consider themselves part of the New Apostolic Reformation or even know about this movement. Upcoming retreats led by Cleansing Stream are scheduled at many churches, including “New Life Church” in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Ted Haggard’s former church) and “The Church on the Way” in Van Nuys, Calif. (the church Jack Hayford founded). See the full list of Cleansing Stream retreats here. [Note: this link is no longer available.]One of Cleansing Stream's books that they use with their teaching materials is written by "prophet" Chuck Pierce, and Cleansing Stream links to Wagner's Web site from theirs. When one understands that Cleansing Stream president, Chris Hayward, is a member of Wagner’s International Coalition of Apostles, the reason for the organization's promotion of New Apostolic leaders becomes clear. Apparently, Hayward has bought into Wagner’s movement. Unfortunately, through Cleansing Stream many people will be unwittingly introduced to New Apostolic teachings.'Aglow International' and OthersThe same goes with Aglow International. Its international advisors include prominent “apostles” and “prophets” like Che Ahn, Rick Joyner, Cindy Jacobs and Wagner. See the full list here. And Charisma magazine regularly features favorable articles on modern “apostles” and “prophets” (like Wagner and Pierce), which is no surprise given both the editor and publisher’s memberships in the International Coalition of Apostles. Many Christians also would probably be surprised to learn of the involvement in the movement by Dick Eastman (Every Home for Christ).Of course, many Christians have probably been saved or otherwise blessed through their involvement with these ministries and have no knowledge of the leaders' involvement with the New Apostolic Reformation. My point in mentioning their membership in the International Coalition of Apostles is not to pick on them or disparage their entire ministries. It's to show how this movement is expanding its reach — and to show the importance of informing more Christians about this movement so they won't be misled into its aberrant teachings.