PART 2
Just like other New Apostolic Reformation Apostles, Michael Brown is clearly a liar and this series will demonstrate just how deceptive Brown has been about his involvement with the NAR for a few decades:
Back in 2016, we called Michael Brown out for not being just part of the NAR but also as being an NARpostle. He engaged with us on Twitter while protesting our accusations on his program – the program itself denying the existence of the NAR:
“I’ve also challenged those who hide behind a cloak of anonymity online, and post blatant falsehoods, blatant falsehoods. I mean one website, I’m not even going to mention it on the radio, I don’t even want to draw any attention to it, but it blasts me as a ‘New Apostolic Reformation Apostle’.
Please explain? When have I claimed to be an apostle? When have I worked with Dr Peter Wagner- side by side and part of his organisation? I don’t even know what people are talking about. And they will post things that are just blatantly false, just false information.
… one website brands me an, ‘NAR Apostle’, actually ‘NARpostle’. That’s cute. What’s it supposed to mean? I’m not an apostle. I’ve never claimed to be an apostle. And I’m not part of the “New Apostolic Reformation”.
[…] Dr Peter Wagner, probably the founder of what critics or friends call the ‘New Apostolic Reformation’, recently went to be with the Lord, and probably some of his greatest critics would say he’s not with the Lord at all, and some of his greatest friends say he’s the greatest man of God they’ve ever known…
[…] Please give me a call if you have questions, concerns, issues with the so called New Apostolic Reformation. What is it? Is it of God or man or the devil? Please give me a call, I would love to hear from you [phone number]….
[…] Again, I’ve not read a lot of Peter Wagner over the years. He writes a lot and I haven’t read a lot. I’ve been in meetings with him. We knew each other. I think we spoke on the phone one time, one or two times. And otherwise we were, we served on a board with Lou Engle for ‘The Call’ events. ” [Source]
Recently, Chris Rosebrough from Fighting For the Faith, played audio of Michael Brown once again denying the existence of the NAR and his involvement with it on the Naked Bible podcast. We covered Brown’s lies on the subject here: Michael Brown capitalizing on people’s ignorance to lie about the New Apostolic Reformation.
However. Rosebrough played a bit of audio from the Naked Bible podcast with Brown denying the existence of the NAR in contrast to audio of Michael Brown back in 2010, talking openly about how he was involved in it through the Wagner Leadership Institute. Chris Rosebrough provided the date of this Line of Fire episode – which we managed to track down here (see link here and archived link here):
Listen to the segment here: The Apostle of Obfuscation
PROGRAM SEGMENTS:
00:09:37 Michael Brown The Apostle of Obfuscation
00:38:59 Levi Lusko Ride the Lightning
01:15:25 Sermon Review: Noel by Bert Crabbe
For further research:The Dr. Michael Brown Checklist of Manipulation
Source: Chris Rosebrough, The Apostle of Obfuscation, PirateChristian.Com, http://www.piratechristian.com/fightingforthefaith/2017/11/the-apostle-of-obfuscation, Published Nov 29, 2017. (Accessed Dec 27, 2017.)
We managed to track down and obtain the audio. The transcript is below.
TRANSCRIPT
“Alright questions, this is from Debbie. ‘Hi, I have been hearing a lot about a movement called The New Apostolic Reformation which is headed by Peter Wagner. I’ve heard quite a bit of controversy over it, and I was wondering if you had some thoughts about it. Is it a false movement, is it legitimate and biblical? Please let me know if you could shed some light on this. Thanks so much.’
Ah, Debbie there’s certainly a lot of controversy concerning what is called The New Apostolic Reformation. I have taught in the past at Peter Wagner’s Leadership Institute, taught a class there on revival years ago. Have had some fellowship with Peter Wagner, and discussed different doctrinal issues, bounced things off one another. And without question, what is called the New Apostolic Reformation is one of the most controversial things associated with Dr Peter Wagner, who for years was a missionary. And then a Professor in church growth at Fuller Theological Seminary, continues to travel the world and teach and preach.
Let me tell you what I think is positive, let me tell you where I have concerns. What is positive is that Peter Wagner and others have reminded us that in the New Testament there is not just one leadership office called Pastor. The New Testament recognises Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, teacher. These different ministries, these different gifts, these different callings and anointing’s put within the body, for the edification of the Saints, and they make an excellent argument that Apostles and Prophets were just not for New Testament times, but continue beyond. That there were the twelve Apostles, the twelve, period, the big ‘A’ Apostles as we would say. But then there were small apostles, if you just research the word ‘apostle’ in the New Testament, you’ll find a good number of other people called ‘apostles’ that were not of the twelve.
Remember the word ‘apostle’ literally means an emissary, a sent one. And there were those that had a foundational role that no one else has had, the first twelve, you may include Paul in that number otherwise Matthias in the first twelve. To the point that the book of Revelation, it tells us that the foundations, the twelve foundations of the new city of Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem will have the names of the twelve Apostles. So their role, their calling, their function in the body is never to be repeated.
But there is what we call small ‘a’ apostles, people who are emissaries, who were planters, builders, people who may have overseen numbers of works in different locations, pioneers in different ways. That there were others aside from the twelve, the New Testament makes reference to prophets and speaks of them as something ongoing until we come to the complete maturity in the faith, and complete unity in the faith.
So today we have a notion, especially in the West that there’s one official office, and that’s Pastor, and only Pastor, and the Pastor has to do everything and be everything. The Pastor’s the Evangelist, the Pastor is the teacher, the Pastor has to bring the prophetic insights. And that’s why a lot of Pastors burn out, because there’s so much expectation put on them, as opposed to saying, hey there’s a senior leader on our team, but there are others involved who are gifted and called and anointed as well.
So, in that sense Debbie, there’s a lot of good that’s been done to draw attention to contemporary Apostolic Ministry, and to recognise that some people really do have this pioneer, building, apostolic kind of call. Maybe we haven’t recognised it, maybe we’ve put other names on it, maybe we’ve said so and so is a church planter, or so and so has planted thirty churches overseas and oversees those churches overseas. And we haven’t recognised a certain apostolic anointing on that person’s life, I think that’s been positive.
The negative, is that everybody becomes an apostle now. And apostle now becomes part of your title, I would therefore, I’d give you a card saying ‘Apostle Mike Brown’, or something like that. And I think that has really diminished and demeaned what the calling of Apostle is. I know some people think that Apostolic Ministry is almost like a business proposition, and I’m not accusing Peter Wagner of this, but that you acquire ministries and they come under you, and now you become the big Apostle. I find that to be very erroneous, and I find that many times we get away from the scriptural emphasis that it seems where Paul wrote, ‘that we Apostles’, he said, ‘are at the end, we’re treated like the scum of the earth, we are suffering more than anybody’s suffering.’
So to be truly Apostolic, without having a real measure of suffering, I don’t mean cancer or car wrecks, but I mean suffering persecution, opposition for Jesus. I don’t believe you can be Apostolic in a New Testament sense without that.
There’s an emphasis today, people speak of ‘Marketplace Apostles’, and Apostles of this, and this, and this, meaning there are people who have this type of calling or anointing who are in the business world, I understand the concept, I appreciate it, but I don’t see that as a primary New Testament use of the word. So I think there are some aspects that are legitimate and biblical, and I think that there are other aspects which are cause for concern. Especially when everybody somehow becomes an Apostle, and this one just get appointed a chief Apostle, I see no edifying, helpful, fruitful endeavours coming out of that aspect of things.”
2004 March 29 – https://web.archive.org/web/20040329222527/http://www.wagnerleadership.org:80/
Published in July 19, 2013- these Apostles and WLI Chancellors acknowledge that Michael Brown is still on the apostolic faculty:
2013 July 19 – https://commonwealthchurch.com/our-faculty/
[Editor’s Note: You can find Part 1 here. This post was originally done and published at Church Watch Central here]
