NAR dominionism continues to explode in growth. It is time to cast those seven mountains into the sea...

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For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1Corinthians 1:18 (ESV)

https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/renewing-america/75267-if-america-is-to-survive-pastors-must-do-this-one-thing-over-the-next-30-years

From a fleshly standpoint, what is there not to love about this country we live in? It is flush with money, resources and opportunity. It is also flush with sin and utter carnality the likes of which have not been seen in history. One of the branches of this secularism is the apostate church. The church fits well in this world because it has spent the past several decades cozying up to it under the guise of evangelism and relevance. The truth is far more Pharisaical. You see in the days of Jesus the Pharisees held all of the religious power. So when Jesus came along preaching the Good News it was not good news to them because it threatened their power structure. In Matthew 12 we see the story of Jesus healing a man with a withered hand and the verse following the miracle says the Pharisees started talking about how they might be able to kill Jesus! The Purpose Driven Industrial Complex is just as protective over their racket today. The NAR and the apostate church as a whole worship this country because of the power structure they enjoy. They idolize America and the excesses they enjoy from her. Where else can you live in a mansion, buy your wife a Lamborghini, travel the world in your own Learjet and claim to be a humble servant of Jesus Christ; laughing all the way to the bank. The problem is that this NAR led dominionism is being filtered down into the rank and file where even well intentioned believers think it is a Christian imperative to revive a nation that was never alive to begin with. The above linked article is just one of thousands that Christians have to deal with every year in this country and we must properly discern because the idolization of America, no matter how well intended, is still idolatry at heart and God will not stand for it. Let us reason once more.

"Dr. Bruce K. Waltke's 2008 Christian book of the year, An Old Testament theology, contains a chapter titled The Gift of Warlords. It tells that spiritual men and women are essential for the future as candidates and elected officials as well as political operatives and mechanics. If America is to survive, pastors will have to take their civic responsibility over the coming 30 years to a whole new level, when they move from meetinghouse to marketplace as the ekklesia, as formulated by Christ Jesus in Mark 16:18." -- David Lane

Beloved, I could care less what Bruce Waltke's book has to say and leading off with that instead of scripture is quite telling. The foundation Lane is laying here is rotten and unbiblical. There is ZERO call for the church to enter the marketplace. The civic responsibility for pastors is to preach the Gospel, have reason for their hope if asked, obey the laws of the land and be a shining city on a hill. If Lane would spend more time reading the bible and less rewriting American history he might learn that the Mark verse he referenced is a questioned portion of Scripture that does not even appear in many translations because it is widely believed to not be authentically a part of Mark's Gospel. While we do not toss it out, we certainly do not create doctrine around it without supporting texts. What we have here is very simple beloved. This is straight up New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) Seven Mountains Mandate heresy.

"Present-day Christianity has lost the mission and ministry of civil government, defined by the Founding Fathers, who pledged "to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth." While a recent Republican president may have heralded "democratic capitalism" as America's greatest export, to the early American Founders, the greatest export was Jesus Christ." -- David Lane

That's odd. My bible says the mission and ministry of the church is the Gospel. I wonder what he is reading? You cannot "lose" what you never had. I will admit the quote made me curious but Dr. Google revealed that it was not said by the "Founding Fathers" at all. It was in fact said by the Reverend Robert Hunt from the Virginia settlers in 1607. That is over 100 years before the first Founding Father was even born. The NAR dominionists always have to stoop to this because they know their representation of history is simply incorrect. So they scour hundreds of years from the settlers through the early American government to find any reference to "God" and then declare that the country was founded on what we believe. This is irresponsibly deceptive as most actual founding fathers were deists, meaning they believed in a god but many actually rejected Jesus Christ. Thomas Jefferson famously created his own bible with all of the references to Christ's deity removed.

"It will require a fateful turn of events to get the spiritual leaven of the Word back into the culture in order to cure secular America. That, and unconditional obedience by His children, as described in 2 Chronicles 7:14, is the only hope for a spiritual resurrection of the United States. Anything less or else will fail or have no effect." -- David Lane

Cure secular America? Is he serious? The issue is not curing the culture but saving the lost. The United States cannot be spiritually revived because it never was alive. It has always been a pagan nation beloved. The best pagan nation in secular terms this world has ever seen but pagan nonetheless. If the Crusades taught us anything it is that Christianity is not a forced concept. Just like you cannot bludgeon people into salvation you cannot legislate them into heaven either. People like David Lane and the NAR he promotes idolize Babylon. They like the sin and excess. The Chronicles verse however does not apply to the church. It was meant for Israel. If you insist on extrapolating it out of context to be for these times then realize it is the church that needs to repent. The land is healed when the church is properly serving in its role as the vehicle for the Gospel and not a mouthpiece for a political party.

"As Christians make a stand against both the religious and political crisis generated by secularists and the withdrawal of the church over the last century, America's youth are about to learn something that can be learned in no other way: 1) liberty and independence cannot exist apart from God, and 2) their spiritual inheritance can only be gained by committed engagement.

"It's warfare from end to end," A.W. Pink wrote in Gleanings From Joshua. The turn the American culture has taken over the last century can be attributed to unilateral evangelism, an eschatology espousing the turn of phrase that one "doesn't polish brass on a sinking ship." Unless the church gets out of the church and into the marketplace, things are not going to end well. The challenge for Christians is to find believers whose faith includes voluntary abandonment of things cherished by men, in order to counter and halt the ostensibly unassailable authority of secularism." -- David Lane

This is such an insidious scheme of the enemy. To convince Christians that the very people who need the Gospel are their enemies. Those wicked secularists! America's youth cannot learn the things of God because they are foolishness to them; just read the key verse for today. True liberty, from sin, is only found in Christ. Secular liberty however is entirely achievable through carnal means. The unsaved have no spiritual inheritance either. It is almost as if Lane thinks that the Gospel is optional. I assure you it is not. Next he is forced to turn to another man instead of scripture. With no apologies to AW Pink, I do not care if he shares these NAR heretical dreams. The absolutely hysterical part is that Lane has done nothing so far but rabidly pursue the things cherished by man and now calls for abandonment of such.

"A.W. Pink's incisive commentary speaks to the "pious heresy" of the "polish brass" turn of phrase above: It needs to be clearly insisted upon that the exercise of faith does not preclude the use of all legitimate means, though we are not to rest in the means alone, but rather count upon God's blessing the same. To decline the locking of my doors and the fastening of my windows when there is an epidemic of burglary in the neighborhood, or to retire for the night and leave a roaring fire in the grate, under the pretext of counting upon God's protecting my property, is not trusting but tempting Him. Faith in God does not preclude the discharge of my performance of duty, both in taking precautions against danger or using proper means for success." -- David Lane

Not entirely sure what his point is here but it seems as if he is saying that we cannot simply rely upon faith to accomplish his dreams of conquering the seven made up mountains he pursues. I agree but of course for different reasons. Having faith in something that is not of God will not result in God intervening against what He has said. Nowhere in scripture does it state we are to have anything to do with influencing culture. When Jesus walked the earth He was completely apathetic regarding Rome. Ironically, it was His disciples that wanted Him to be involved with the travails they faced in the world and He said no -- every time. He said my kingdom is NOT of this world. Do we understand that today? Every time we waste our energy on political campaigns, legislative woes, or recruit to unsaved to our cause we are fighting for a world that is not ours. We are now found in Christ and His kingdom is NOT of this world.

"Two distinct religions are vying for control of the public square in America: secularism versus Christianity. Unable to coexist, one will ultimately go under due to the rise of the other." -- David Lane

Lane is right that these two forces are vying for control of the public square but he misses the point that Christianity should not be vying for anything but souls and that is accomplished only through the preaching of the Gospel. These two forces could coexist if the apostate church would stop their obsession with the world. Make no mistake about it beloved, the war is being waged by the church against the world even though the bible says we are to live peaceably with everyone. Look at our language! Conquering the seven mountains? So much of the language of the modern church is militaristic.

"Pertinent countermeasures include the following: "First-century ekklesia introduced a radical and revolutionary social agenda that launched a process that literally changed the world," wrote Ed Silvoso in Ekklesia. "With the subsequent institutionalization of the Church, however, what was a lifestyle that implemented Jesus' agenda became programs of good deeds that fall short of transforming society. "Jesus did not state, 'I will build My temple' or 'I will build My synagogue,' the two most prominent Jewish religious institutions at the time. Instead, He chose a secular entity first developed by the Greeks when He said, 'I will build my ekklesia' [Gr. ekklesia, called-out ones] 'and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against [them]' (Matt. 16:17b)." -- David Lane

What? The first century church had no such radical social and revolutionary agenda beloved. They were in fact largely persecuted. The process that changed the world is known as the Gospel! Yes the term ekklesia means called out ones but specifically they are called out of the world David Lane is enamored with. There is no reason for Jesus to say Temple or Synagogue because those systems were of the law, which He nailed to the cross. The notion that He used ekklesia as a secular term is simply untrue and unsupported. He is saying those He calls out from this world who will place their faith in Him will prevail. This has absolutely nothing to do with the marketplace or the public square.

"The teachings of Jesus that the first-century ekklesia modeled, constitute what is now known as Christian ethics. No other philosophy has come close to matching it. In fact, [Western Civilization was] built on it because Christian values and ethics have no rival in either the secular or the religious arena. "Jesus' ekklesia was never meant to be so heavenly minded as to become earthly irrelevant." The essence of the battle facing 21st-century America for that reason lies in reestablishing the authority of Scripture in the (earthly) culture. Religious secularism, a pagan religion and Christianity's chief competitor, can only thrive in the absence of a biblically literate (or well-informed) populace. Thus, one will easily perceive the baneful effect of the secularized 1963 Warren Supreme Court's removal of the Bible from culture, public education and higher learning." -- David Lane

Lane has a habit that most dominionists have. They like to throw out trite sayings that might resonate but have no real biblical basis. They are forced to say things like Jesus' ekklesia was never meant to be so heavenly minded as to become earthly irrelevant; even though this is untrue. The search for secular relevance is a staple of purpose driven seeker friendly heresies. Rick Warren and the now disgraced Bill Hybels both canvassed the unbelievers of the community they were opening churches in to see what they disliked about church so they could cater to them. The results were carnal churches catering to goats while starving sheep. Western civilization was built on Christian ethics? So slavery and imperialism were tenets of Christ? It is hard to tell what David Lane has less of a grasp on; theology or American history. Look at his absurd goal beloved! Look at what the NAR is really pursuing! To reestablish scriptural authority in secular culture! Now read the key verse and wonder what could possibly go wrong? The very best the NAR can hope for is behavior modification. That if the unsaved would just behave better, than maybe God will stay the coming wrath and we can have a revival. Because they are so biblically illiterate however they forget that the unsaved person who behaves better is still going to hell! You can have a society that produces more "Christianese" movies, with more Christian claiming politicians, teachers and public square advocates and they are all still going to hell! The NAR Christian essentially wants to do the job of the Holy Spirit. We are supposed to present the Gospel and let God convict of sin.

"Regarding the power of the Word, Martin Luther translated the Bible from Greek to German in 1522, and next from Hebrew to German in 1534. Those efforts alone launched the Protestant Reformation, establishing the Bible as "the fixed point in order to judge," according to Blaise Pascal. That thereby transforms "traditional Western moral and legal philosophy by making not reason but the Bible, and more particularly the Ten Commandments, the basic source and summary of natural law," according to Harold J. Berman. Western civilization is at stake, unless secularism gets vanquished from America. It's time for Gideons and Rahabs to stand." -- David Lane

He opened with Bruce Waltke and closes with Blaise Pascal and Harold Berman. He does so because scripture simply does not support his seven mountains heresy. Jesus Christ does not need us to take over this world or this culture. We are not commanded to implement behavioral modification upon people who think the things of God are foolishness. We are called to bring the Gospel to the lost. In Genesis, after Abram and Lot split the bible says that Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom. The next time we see Lot he is living IN Sodom. The church pitched her tent decades ago towards this world and like Lot before us, we are now living in it. Beloved it is time to come out from among her and that start by ceasing to idolize anything but God Almighty.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- February 26, 2019

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.