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          LATTER RAIN TEACHINGS

          We are again hearing quite a bit about the "Feast of
          Tabernacles". Many spiritualize the Tabernacle and use
          it for the spiritual tome of their "identification" with
          the most Holy Place.

          According to Latter Rain thought, The Feast Of
          Tabernacles shows the pattern for the progress of the
          church through time. Starting at Passover (which is
          Calvary) the church supposedly had been passing through
          the different feasts, over the years, to Pentecost.
          Warnock writes that we, the church, still have yet to go
          through the day of Atonement, the Feast of Trumpets and
          then come into the Feast of Tabernacles, which to him
          represented Godﾕs consummate purposes for us, the Last
          Days Church. When we come into Tabernacles, (which was a
          tremendous time of celebration for Israel), God will
          finally dwell within His people. (pp. 58-59).

          (The New Age movement wasnﾕt really heard of in 1951 -
          however, Warnockﾕs evolutionary model is remarkably
          similar to todayﾕs New Age futurists who also believe
          that the human race as a whole is birthing the next
          stage of manﾕs evolution toward Godhood.)

          Warnock taught that the Church was about to usher in the
          completion of Godﾕs feasts through perfection of the
          saints and their dominion over the earth - or - the
          church must progress in maturity to reach a point where
          Christ can incarnate His body in order to establish His
          Kingdom on earth before His physical return.

          It is evident from the nature of what we see being
          practiced within the churches today that the Latter Rain
          beliefs did not assuage because of their opposition by
          the established Pentecostal denominations. The
          following, commonly seen, progressive teachings can be
          heard to some degree, resonating from pulpits today:

          We are going from level to level in spirituality. Some
          call it the "Outer Court", "Inner Court" and the "Most
          Holy Place" experience. There are others who even dare
          to intimate that God Himself had to reach a level of
          perfection and that is why He is called "The Most High".

          This leads to different levels of Christians. Those who
          have been "perfected" can truly then manifest Christ.
          These will be under the "New Anointing". They will be
          able to perform many supernatural wonders.

          They finally reach immortality. Death is actually
          overcome. . . then they are indeed Manifested Sons. They
          obtain immortality by incarnating Christ before Christ
          returns. Signs and wonders will be wrought by the
          Manifest Sons - leading up to a glorious worldwide
          end-time harvest.

          The celebration of The Feast of Tabernacles fulfills
          Unity. (This is a unity based on the joining of all like
          minded believers into a cohesive unit, in preparation
          for the Incarnate Christ, i.e. the entrance of Christ
          into the church. It is not a unity based on orthodox
          doctrine, but rather Latter Rain teaching).

          The feast means that "latter rain" revival is the
          harvest This harvest is the fruition of what has been
          sown, the first fruits of their labors. It is the
          emergence of the New Man, the church incarnate with
          Christ, the ﾔmanifestation of the Sons of Godﾕ. It is a
          replacement for the historical Jesus who will personally
          return to this earth.

          The so called "enemies" of the Church (who are quite
          evident at this point because of their unwillingness or
          refusal to participate in either the "unity" or the
          "harvest") are then defeated and the Kingdom is
          established. Tabernacles is also understood
          "spiritually" as the Harvest Festival of joy and
          gladness (the ﾔlaughing phenomenonﾕ was ascribed as the
          beginning of this feast). It is also considered to be
          the invisible and spiritual coming of Christ to indwell
          His corporate Body - as opposed to Pentecost when He
          indwelt individuals. This coming of Christ to indwell
          His corporate body is now expressed through "New
          Truths". (These new truths are seen today with the
          recent explosion of signs, wonders, personal prophecy,
          and the ﾔrevelation knowledgeﾕ so hard sought after by
          so many.) Because of itﾕs attainment of this high level
          of anointing, the Church supposedly then will inherit
          the earth and rule over the nations with a rod of iron.

          The New Breed Teaching

          It was taught by the Manifest Sons that the "New Breed"
          is going to be raised up especially for the "end-time"
          church. Approaching A. D. 2000 has caused a momentum
          that has reached feverish proportions. Visions and
          revelations are being given equal standing with the
          Scriptures. Attaining this "higher and deeper" knowledge
          of God plays such a critical role in the outworking of
          this plan that spiritual significance can and often is
          attached to almost any issue. An increasing level of
          spirituality will inherently cause the recognition of
          these ﾔanointed onesﾕ who are even now anxiously
          assembling together, when possible, in expectation of
          their debut - as the elite corps of Christians called
          "Joelﾕs Army" (notwithstanding the Scriptural account of
          this group as a renowned army of locusts!)

          Joelﾕs Army is thought to be unconquerable. Those who do
          not buy into the new teachings are of the "old
          generation". They can not enter in and possess the land.
          In fact, they believed then and still teach that this
          newly anointed Joelﾕs Army will have the power to judge
          Godﾕs enemies and cleanse His church by destroying all
          who refuse to "repent" - or to be part of the "new
          thing".

          A shift has taken place. When honest questions are
          raised, there is often a hostile, militant reaction.
          People will draw conclusions without even looking at
          differing viewpoints. The mindset is preset. Those that
          raise objections are marginalized and even compared to
          the horrible disease, cancer.

          We have already seen some striking similarities between
          Latter Rain thought from the 1940ﾕs and 50ﾕs and the
          (then little known) New Age beliefs. Here we see a more
          striking and sobering likeness...the removal or
          cleansing of the earth from those who refuse to go along
          with the prescribed mandates This is also called, "The
          Cleansing Action". In the writing of Charles Simpson,
          (formerly one of the ﾔFort Lauderdale Fiveﾕ of the
          Shepherding/Discipleship era) likens this "cleansing" to
          the removal of cancer cells:

          We must work toward wholeness in creation by discovering
          and recognizing those structures which God has
          ordained... [T]he material, social, and spiritual
          universes are created in a modular fashion, and are
          mutually interdependent.

          Structures which are internally sound and secure will
          naturally seek to harmonize and interrelate with larger
          structures. . . If a structure is internally sound. . .
          it will naturally seek to find its fulfillment in larger
          structures. . This motivation is intuitive. . in all
          healthy substructures. It is written into our genetic
          code. Healthy individuals will naturally seek to relate
          to families.....; healthy families to churches; healthy
          churches to communities; and healthy communities to
          states or nations. Each church will seek to relate to
          the larger expressions of the Church or the kingdom of
          God. Healthy nations will form healthy, mutually
          beneficial international relationships. I firmly believe
          that this principle is a law of nature, a divine law. A
          healthy structure seeks expressions and fulfillment
          outside itself. All material life, all spiritual life,
          all sociological life, when functioning properly, seeks
          fulfillment in larger structures.

          Failure to integrate

          Failure to integrate into larger structures indicates a
          tendency towards isolation, and therefore reveals an
          unhealthy condition or a malfunction . . .The condition
          expresses itself in many ways; sectarianism, fear,
          doubt, guilt, selfishness. If a cell turns and rejects
          the physiological structure of which it is a part; if a
          person turns and rejects the family of which he is a
          part; or if a family turns and rejects the community of
          which it is a part; the rejection indicates an unhealthy
          condition or some sort of malfunction . . .

          Cancer is a biological example of what I am talking
          about. Cancerous cells want to live, but they refuse to
          integrate with other cells; they will not function with
          the whole. They draw life from the body, they multiply,
          but they will not integrate with others. . . .

          (Taken from "Integrity: Where Unity Begins" NEW WINE
          JUNE 1983: 5-9 (Charles Simpson) reprinted in NEW AGE
          MONITOR, Vol. 2, Nos. 8-12 July, 1988)

          New Age "prophets" also contend that mankind is at an
          important time in history. It is a time where all kinds
          of "wonders" will seem commonplace. They hold that these
          wonders will only truly be manifested when there is an
          "elimination" of "unhealthy" elements:

          The fetus of the New Humanity is already stirring in the
          Womb of Time and, like the human mother, humanity must
          learn to eliminate its waste materials and poisons and
          give the fetus proper nourishment or the life of both
          the child and the mother will be endangered. . . This is
          the work of the present transitory conditions. (F. Homer
          Curtiss and Harriette Curtiss, Coming World Changes, p.
          xi)

          The Djwhal Khul (the entity that New Ager, Alice Bailey
          channeled) also sees Christians as a dangerously
          unhealthy blot on humanity:

          A violent streptococci germ and infection . . . makes
          its presence felt in infected areas in the body of
          humanity. Another surgical operation may be necessary .
          . to dissipate the infection and get rid of the fever. .
          . let us never forget. . . that when a (life) form
          proves inadequate, or too diseased, or too crippled. .
          it is - from the point of view of the Hierarchy - no
          disaster when that form has to go. (Alice Bailey,
          Education in the New Age (New York: Lucis Publishing
          Company, 1954), p. 111,112).

          The New Age calls for a period of bloodshed prior to the
          emergence of Universal Consciousness. The need for this
          to occur is for the (merciful) removal of those that are
          incapable of working with the whole of creation toward
          the Universal Consciousness. This event is the doorway
          to the next level of the evolution of our species and
          the progression of the earth. This is called merciful
          because of the ultimate good that will come from it -
          those that are not fit to make the quantum leap into the
          coming Age, who would only hold back other, more highly
          evolved humans, must needs be eliminated for the good of
          all others.

          Jeremy Rifkin, a New Age writer gives the same call:

          . . . Only the entrophy paradigm provides a scythe that
          is both sharp enough to cut through the tangled debris
          of this death-bound culture and broad enough to clear a
          path for the dawn of a new age. . . The specifics of
          what is to be done can only come after a thorough
          cleansing away of the last remaining vestiges of the
          mechanical world view. Our own conversion is the first
          order of business. Only when we have cast aside forever
          the old way of thinking and behaving and take onto
          ourselves the new entropic world view will we be ready
          to go forth and remake our culture. The new order of the
          ages must begin with a revolution in science, education
          and religion. . . " (Entrophy: A New World View, Bantam
          Books Edition, New York, 1981. Quoted in A PLANNED
          DECEPTION The Staging of a New Age "Messiah" by
          Constance E. Cumbey)

          Paralleled within Latter Rain teaching is this already
          mentioned end-time army that has the power to judge, and
          cleanse the church from, those that will not be a part
          of their rendezvous with divinity. There are so called
          prophetic voices being heard today that declare that
          there will be, there must be bloodshed, literally,
          because of those that refuse to acquiesce those divisive
          ideas (i.e. their doctrines). The old order must go so
          the new order can fulfill itﾕs divine mandate.

          Restoration Teaching

          The Restoration teachings focus on the belief that the
          Church has not functioned as God planned since the first
          century. Therefore it must be "restored" to its original
          intent and purpose of achieving dominion. This involves
          the restoration of the offices of Apostle and Prophets.
          Restoration of the Tabernacle of David (signified by the
          "restoration" of worship and praise), and the
          restoration of the power (signs and wonders).

          A brief summary of Restoration teaching:

        * The Church Restored - God is restoring the Tabernacle of
          David so that His Church might be restored in preparation for
          the coming Revival.
        * The Church Revived - God is restoring the Tabernacle to
          revive His Church in its preparation for the Great Harvest of
          souls He has promised in these Last Days.
        * The Church Reaping - God is restoring the Tabernacle of David
          to bring about the Great Harvest for the Second Coming of
          Christ.

               (e-mail from Paul L. Ward 8/16/98)

          A teaching that also summarizes Restoration is :

     But it is impossible for God to dwell with us in all His fullness
     until the dwelling place is ready. As we have seen, David prepared
     a dwelling place, and he prepared the people . . .then he brought
     up the Ark of the Covenant, the Power of the Presence of God, to
     Zion. In like manner, we must seek God for the Restoration first,
     then will come the revival. There must be a Restoration before the
     revival in all its entirety comes to the Church." (The Power of
     His Presence, Graham Truscott).

          Another emphasis is on purifying the Church through
          repentance and holy living. In itself, repentance and
          holy living are good and desirable in the life of a
          believer. In the view, however, of a Latter Rain
          Restorationist, this is all critical in order to see God
          move more quickly in establishing the Church in dominion
          over the nations. Rather than the light of the humble
          believer shining more brightly in this sin-ridden,
          perverse world, the Latter Rain adherent must ﾔforceﾕ
          righteousness, within himself and within his sphere of
          influence.

          Throughout this framework of aberrant teachings, there
          have always been undercurrents of other, (often valid)
          teachings that weave in and out. However, once one
          allows false teaching of any kind to enter, there is no
          telling where the path will take you.

          The "Dominion/Kingdom Now" Mandate Teaching

          Manifest Sons of God teaching came under great attack
          and no one wanted to be associated with it. Prophets had
          drawn elitist circles around themselves and became very
          controlling of other peopleﾕs lives. However, the
          influences of the late 40ﾕs and the 50ﾕs are still felt
          today. The common thread has been the Kingdom
          Now/Dominion message. The idea is that the "church has
          to make herself ready" and the last day church has to be
          ﾔbirthedﾕ. Deep intercession must be entered into - with
          fasting for the coming of the Bride into her own. This
          preoccupation with the state of the Bride and the need
          for her preparation/revelation is essential Manifest
          Sons teaching with nothing more than a different name.

          Adherents of this Kingdom Now teaching believe that the
          church is to experience a worldwide revival that will
          impact entire nations to the point that they will be
          Christianized. Kingdom Now/Dominion thinking has been
          gradually bringing the church into a "new worldview". A
          paradigm shift has taken place. It is often said that if
          pastors are not willing to go along with this new thing,
          they will be removed, as we have discussed. Also many
          believe implicitly that denominations will cease to
          exist in view of the New Move. Instead of denominations,
          there will be Apostles and prophets raised up to usurp
          ﾔunprofitableﾕ leadership in the church. There is a
          strong networking here with those that are still an
          integral part of the Shepherding/Discipleship movement.

          Kingdom Now Teaching - The Basic Premise.

          When Adam sinned, God lost control of the earth to
          Satan. God has been searching for a "covenant" people
          who will be His "extension" on earth to take Dominion
          back from Satan. This is the Latter Rainﾕs understanding
          of the Great Commission.

          Those who hold to Kingdom Now/Dominion teaching believe
          that the KINGDOM of God should be in every area -
          education, science, medicine, arts - but most
          importantly - politics or "government". The "prophets"
          that came to the fore in the 1980ﾕs were proclaiming
          that the "apostles" who would be coming in the 1990ﾕs
          would "have the government upon their shoulders". This
          is a twisting of that scripture referring to the
          millennial government being on the shoulders of Jesus
          Christ.

          The Dominionist interpretation of being a witness means
          to take dominion, bringing all things (individuals and
          governments) into obedience to Christ. In order to
          demonstrate the Kingdom of God, the Church must not only
          be united under "anointed" men and women, they must also
          be prosperous, having taken control of a significant
          portion of the worldﾕs wealth. They seriously believe
          they must be in a position, structurally and
          substantially, to administrate Godﾕs authority
          throughout the earth.

          The Latter Rain movement fell into this group. Their
          teaching on the restoration of the five-fold offices led
          to the claim that the Apostolic Office means the
          government. The Dominion train has many stations at
          which it stops. Some of these groups are more extreme
          than others - not all Charismatics are Dominionists.
          However; through networking, we have seen that there are
          many streams that have been flowing together steadily to
          form a mighty river.

          Enter - Another Jesus.

          A departure from the Word of God always brings confusion
          in its wake. The tragedy today is that so many pastors
          and leaders are unaware of the "global" forces within
          the church that are anxiously attempting an alliance
          that will undermine the faith that was once delivered to
          the saints.

          The focus of the church has subtly shifted. There is no
          longer an awareness of the soon return of Jesus Christ.
          Christians no longer believe that they can be deceived.
          The focus is now on a triumphant church and a victorious
          and purified Bride having worldwide dominion...subduing
          the enemies of Christ so that she might present herself
          to Him, a bride without spot or wrinkle. The order
          prescribed by Scripture has been reversed. Rather than
          the efficacy of the work done by Jesus Christ, the
          burden lies on the church. The fulfillment of scripture
          becomes the responsibility of the church, adding a sense
          of urgency to the fulfillment of the Latter Rain
          prophecies.

          The need to be watchful and prayerful always is removed,
          as a harlot Church busily builds her own tower toward
          heaven. The guard is let down. The Word of God warns us
          about being ready lest THAT DAY come upon you unaware.
          Kingdom Now teaching makes us careless about the signs
          we see around us as if they do not matter. Jesus never
          said, "You will know that I am coming because the Church
          will be in a Golden Age of Triumph and you will have
          Christianized the world." He warned instead that we
          should be on guard lest we be deceived. He spoke of
          decepti