More NAR in the news: Trump's 'bizzare' pick to lead the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom

The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) has made international news multiple times in recent weeks. Last week I linked to a BBC report on NAR. Now see this Daily Beast article about President Trump's pick to lead the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, Kansas governor Sam Brownback. The article reports on Brownback's "bizarre" ties with NAR leaders, especially the NAR prophet Lou Engle.My co-authored book, A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement, also documents Brownback's connection with NAR, including his key role in a NAR "identificational repentance" ceremony that took place at one of Engle's Call events, in Nashville in 2007. For those who don't know, identificational repentance is a NAR spiritual warfare practice which aims to cast out powerful demons that are believed to rule over specific geographical regions, such as the United States. NAR leaders teach that those powerful demons gained their control through specific sins committed on the soil of those regions, such as atrocities committed by Americans of European descent against Native Americans. So the only way to break a demon's influence in a specific region is to hold an identificational repentance ceremony. During such a ceremony, a member of the offending party presents an apology to a member of the offended party, which is supposed to result in a spiritual cleansing of the land.In this case, Brownback, representing the people of the United States, presented an apology to the NAR apostle Jay Swallow, a Cheyenne Indian. But Brownback went even further, following up the ceremony with a legislative act. He worked with Engle to craft a resolution in the U.S. Congress apologizing to Native Americans. The Native American Apology Resolution was signed on December 19, 2009, by President Barack Obama. NAR leaders saw the resolution--a formal apology on behalf of the United States government--as a big step toward their goal to take dominion and transform the nation.Now, under the Trump administration, NAR leaders have gained unprecedented access to the White House, due to their support of him before and since the election. See, for example, this Aug. 4 article from Religion Dispatches, titled "A President 'Anointed by God': POTUS Shield and Religious Right's Affair With Trump." If Gov. Brownback could get a NAR-originated resolution signed into law, one wonders what other agendas NAR leaders may be able to accomplish with a new president more disposed to cater to them.----------Holly Pivec is the co-author of A New Apostolic Reformation?: A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement and God's Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement. She has a master's degree in Christian apologetics from Biola University.