Radio Interview on Stand to Reason—New Apostles and Prophets

February 24, 2015 Leave a comment


Today I’m doing a radio interview with Greg Koukl on his show Stand to Reason. We’ll be discussing the topic of my two new books about the New Apostolic Reformation. The show airs live at 4 pm Pacific Standard Time on KKLA 99.5. It’s also streamed live at the show website: str.org. After today, the interview will continue to be available online.

NAR Book Cover-101 final (6-6-14)Our books, God’s Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement and A New Apostolic Reformation? A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement, were first released in December and are now in their second printing. A third printing is planned in the next few weeks. Both books can be purchased in paperback or in Kindle format at Amazon.

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God’s Super-Apostles Reviewed in Thailand

February 16, 2015 1 Comment


Tim Challies’s review of our book God’s Super-Apostles: Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement has been translated into Thai for those who follow the work of Karl and Sun Dahlfred in Bankok. It can be found here.

Here is a portion of the review in Thai:

 

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The original review by Tim Challies can be read here.

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Fellow at the Biola Center for Christian Thought

February 2, 2015 5 Comments


I’ve recently returned from Saint Louis University where I was Visiting Faculty of Philosophy for the fall 2014 semester. I was there on a generous grant from the Templeton Foundation doing research on The Philosophy and Theology of Intellectual Humility. I’ve received an additional grant for the current spring 2015 semester as Research Fellow in the Center for Christian Thought at Biola University. The theme is Intellectual Virtue and Civil Discourse. With this grant I’m able to continue my research on the general topic of intellectual humility. There are many good online materials and in-residence opportunities at CCT. Click here for details.

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Two Interviews with the Pilgrim Radio Network

February 1, 2015 Leave a comment


Those following the New Apostolic Reformation may want to tune into my interview with the Pilgrim Radio Network (pilgrimradio.com) in a two-part discussion of the subject of the New Apostolic Reformation. Part 1 airs Monday, February 1 at 2:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 9:30 pm. The second portion airs Tuesday, February 2, on the same schedule.

We’ll be talking about two books I’ve co-authored with Holly Pivec: A New Apostolic Reformation? and God’s Super-Apostles.

NAR Book Cover-Final-201 Both books are available

• in paperback

• on KindleNAR Book Cover-101 final (6-6-14)

If you wish to schedule an interview with one of us about the New Apostolic Reformation, or review a copy of one of our books, please contact our agent Emily Varner at AcademicPS.

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Chinese Version of Four Views Book

February 1, 2015 Leave a comment


Imagine my surprise when I received in the mail yesterday a book published in Chinese. Often I do get complementary copies of new books. But in Chinese? This does not happen every day. On close inspection it turned out to be a Chinese translation of the book Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World, a Zondervan publication. Years ago I co-authored one of the four views for the original English edition of this book, never expecting that it would one day reach a nation with over 1 billion people! How strange to see my name written in Chinese characters. I didn’t know that was possible.

 

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Chinese Edition of Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World—Published by CCLM

If you’re more proficient in Chinese than in English, I commend this edition book to you!

 

Book Cover-Four Views on Salvation

 

A useful summary and review of the book by Michael J. Vlach can be found here.

 

 

 

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Reviews of “God’s Super-Apostles” and “A New Apostolic Reformation?”

January 22, 2015 Leave a comment


For more information about our books on the New Apostolic Reformation, you may want to read these reviews:

• Tim Challies

• Brian T. Dempsey

• George Paul WoodNAR Book Cover-Final-201 NAR Book Cover-101 final (6-6-14)

• “Young, Restless, and Reformed, here and here

• Amazon, here and here.

If you learn of reviews that should be included in this list, please say so in the comments box below.

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Both books, God’s Super-Apostles and A New Apostolic Reformation? can be ordered at Amazon here and here, or direct from the publisher here.

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Does Islam Have a Monopoly on Violent Religous Intolerance?

January 21, 2015 Leave a comment


The western world is still trying to make sense of the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris on January 7, 2015. Four days later, in his Forbes column, Doug Bandow offered a unique analysis. He makes an interesting and persuasive argument that there is much more at stake than free speech. What lies at the root of this incident, reflected time and again in one atrocity after another, is religious persecution meted out against dissenters.

Here is one especially thought-worthy paragraph:

The thugs who cut down a dozen [people at] Charlie Hebdo are the international cousins of those who murder alleged blasphemers and apostates in Muslim nations. Laws against blasphemy once were common in the West, and persist in a few nations—some, ironically, represented by government leaders who marched in Paris—and even a couple of American states, but are rarely used. However, blasphemy laws are actively enforced throughout the Muslim world. The irony is that where Islam is strongest, with belief by overwhelming popular majorities and support from authoritarian state authorities, the slightest perceived criticism of the dominant faith can result in prison or death. That suggests lack of confidence in the truth of Islam and fear of free inquiry by free minds.

The last two sentences draw attention to a neglected point. Would a religious group that is secure in its beliefs be as hypersensitive as those who murder alleged blasphemers?

I would add that such horrific actions—which are a daily occurrence somewhere in the world—are rooted in a worldview, a set of controlling beliefs that are either true or false. Our public discussion needs to acknowledge this point. There has been plenty of talk about whether Islam is a “peaceful religion” that has been hijacked by militant apostates (notice, they aren’t generally called “apostates” even by moderate Muslim leaders). But this distracts from three more fundamental questions:

  1. Peaceful or not, is Islam true?
  2. Are there are good reasons to believe that Islam is true?
  3. What are the best reasons to believe that Islam offers the most plausible worldview?

The atrocities we’re witnessing should prompt us to give more attention to this question.

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Assemblies of God Ministers Newsletter Reviews God’s Super-Apostles

January 21, 2015 Leave a comment


In the January 2015 issue of the Assemblies of God Ministers Newsletter, George Paul Wood urges his Pentecostal friends and co-workers to read our books God’s Super-ApostlesNAR Book Cover-101 final (6-6-14)  and A New Apostolic Reformation? A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement. HisNAR Book Cover-Final-201 review begins on page 6. In addition to summarizing the message of the books and explaining his view of their importance for Pentecostalism worldwide, Wood presents his own summary of the central tenets of the New Apostolic Reformation.

What, then, is the New Apostolic Reformation? Its most distinctive teaching is that the end-times church must be led by apostles and prophets. In addition . . ., NAR promotes strategic-level spiritual warfare, apostolic unity, and the ability of all Christians to work miracles.

Wood notes that the Assemblies of God position paper “Apostles and Prophets” expresses concern about NAR emphases. To be sure, leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation very clearly have moved beyond classic Pentecostalism. Wood aptly refers to NAR leaders as “hypercharismatics.” As a Pentecostal leader himself, he implores fellow Pentecostals to resist  the excesses of the NAR movement, and to recognize how distant this movement is from the core commitments of classic Pentecostalism.

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*The Assemblies of God Ministers Newsletter is circulated to some 36,000 credentialed ministers of the AG church.

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Tim Challies Reviews “God’s Super-Apostles”

January 20, 2015 Leave a comment


Tim Challies, pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario, reviews God’s Super-Apostles, our recent book assessing the New Apostolic Reformation.

His review article begins . . .NAR Book Cover-101 final (6-6-14)

I didn’t actually intend to review this book. It showed up at my door and a brief glance turned into a quick skim turned into a full read turned into a review. As a committed reader always looking for something new and interesting, I just love it when that happens.

Tim, we just love when that happens!

Thank you for helping to expose the excesses of the New Apostolic Reformation. It’s clear from the comments your review has already gleaned that many of your readers have encountered the NAR movement and its extraordinary claims.

Update:

The Tim Challies review has been translated into Thai. Read here.

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Both books, God’s Super-Apostles and A New Apostolic Reformation? can be ordered at Amazon here and here, or direct from the publisher here.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

January 7, 2015 Leave a comment


Geivett Post-Christmas Tree-Jan. 2015

Geivett Post-Christmas Tree

 

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My Interview with Janet Mefferd about the New Apostolic Reformation

January 6, 2015 4 Comments


Today I’ll be on the Janet Mefferd Show to be interviewed about my new book, co-authored with Holly Pivec, A New Apostolic Reformation? A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement. The Show airs live at 3 pm Central. Go to janetmefferd.com for the live broadcast, or listen to the interview at your leisure in the audio archives.

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Fx’s “The Bridge,” Bill O’Reilly, and Me—Another Odd Coincidence

July 9, 2014 1 Comment


This afternoon I heard a radio announcement that the season premiere of Fx’s “The Bridge” airs tonight. I thought I might tune in. So I settled into my easy chair and flipped on the TV. Bill O’Reilly was waxing eloquent and I was reaching for my TimeWarner Cable guide to find the Fx channel. I paused, however, to listen to O-Reilly’s customary interview with Dennis Miller, often the only worthwhile segment on “The Factor.”

Dennis signed off and I recalled my task—to find where I can get Fx on my TV. I scanned the column of station numbers. And just as my eye landed on “Fx,” I heard Bill O’Reilly actually say “Fx.” I’m not making this up. O’Reilly then went on to remind his audience—that would be me (in a manner of speaking)—that “The Bridge” airs tonight.

Bill O’Reilly is a talented man. But his ability to read my mind, and his inclination to say something about it on national TV, is uncanny.

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Footnote: Speaking of coincidences, the timing of tonight’s premiere of “The Bridge” could not be better. This is a series about border crossings between Mexico and the U.S. Today there’s as much coverage of our urgent border dilemma as there is of the imminent threat of an Israeli ground invasion into Gaza. Border crossings are making news in more ways than one. And that’s a memo.

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The New Apostolic Reformation—Announcing Two New Books

July 9, 2014 13 Comments


Maybe you’ve heard of it—the New Apostolic Reformation. Or maybe you haven’t. Either way, you probably know someone involved in the movement. It’s even possible that you attend a church that is part of a vast network of churches and ministries promoting the cause of modern-day apostles and prophets. You may be supporting missionaries and Christian organizations that have joined this cause.

Whether you’re sympathetic, concerned, or just curious, I urge you to take a close look and consider how you will respond. This movement is worldwide. Its mission is ambitious. It seeks to control the key sectors of society, including government, education, and the media. And it claims to act with unique authority from God, who has re-instated the New Testament offices of apostle and prophet to usher in the kingdom of God.

Scores of people are drawn to NAR claims that God is now revealing himself through an army of prophets and that they are producing miracles on a scale never seen before in Church history. The signs and wonders performed by the new apostles and prophets, they say, are greater even than the miracles wrought by Jesus.

Scores of people have been injured by this movement. It has divided families. It has left people in financial difficulties they never imagined. It has fostered disappointment with God, who failed to deliver on his alleged promises. It has even left some with a bitter taste about Christianity of any kind.

The major media have been talking about it. But there hasn’t been a serious and detailed investigation of NAR claims until now.

I’ve just completed two books, co-authored with Holly Pivec, about the New Apostolic Reformation, a movement ignited by C. Peter Wagner and now spreading like wildfire beyond the limits of his own influence. We offer a full exposition of the major teachings of movement leaders, and we examine them in detail, testing them against the teaching of the Bible. We conclude that their claims are false and misleading. Some are dangerous.

If you’re looking for an overview of the movement and you want a concise biblical evaluation of the movement, then you might begin with our book God’s Super-Apostles—Encountering the Worldwide Prophets and Apostles Movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want a fuller exposition of NAR teachings and a more complete examination of the movement, then you’ll want to read A New Apostolic Reformation? A Biblical Response to a Worldwide Movement. In this second book we offer detailed documentation for our description of the New Apostolic Reformation. And we carry our examination further, with fuller arguments to support our assessment.

I want to thank Holly for enjoining me to research this movement with her and for collaborating on two books that we believe will be of real service to others, including Christians and non-Christians. Both books are in production now and will be out in October or November. Already people have been placing advance orders with the publisher, Weaver Books.

In the days ahead I’ll be sharing more about the NAR. Meanwhile, you may want to visit Holly’s blog spiritoferror.org.

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Writing with Hedges

July 8, 2014 Leave a comment


Good authors hedge their bets. That’s what English professors Booth, Colomb, and Williams claim. But is this always the case? See if you can identify any hedges in this selection from their book The Craft of Research.

“Some researchers think their claims are most credible when they are stated most forcefully. But nothing damages your ethos more than arrogant certainty. As paradoxical as it seems, you make your argument stronger and more credible by modestly acknowledging its limits. You gain readers’ trust when you acknowledge and respond to their views, showing that you have not only understood but considered their position. But you can lose that trust if you then make claims that overreach their support. Limit your claims to what your argument can actually support by qualifying their scope and certainty. . . .

“Consider mentioning important limiting conditions even if you feel readers would not think of them. . . .

“Only rarely can we state in good conscience that we are 100 percent certain that our claims are unqualifiedly true. Careful writers qualify their certainty with words and phrases called hedges. For example, if anyone was entitled to be assertive, it was Crick and Watson, the discoverers of the helical structure of DNA. But when they announced their discovery, they hedged the certainty of their claims (hedges are boldfaced; the introduction is condensed):

‘We wish to suggest a [note: not state the] structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). . . . A structure for nucleic acid has already been proposed by Pauling and Corey. . . . In our opinion, this structure is unsatisfactory for two reasons: (1) We believe that the material which gives the X-ray diagrams is the salt, not the free acid. . . . (2) Some of the van der Waals distances appear to be too small. (J. D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick, “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids.”)

“Without hedges, Crick and Watson would be more concise but more aggressive. . . .

“Of course, if you hedge too much, you will seem timid or uncertain. But in most fields, readers distrust flatfooted certainty expressed in words like all, no one, every, always, never, and so on. Some teachers say they object to all hedging, but what most of them really reject are hedges that qualify every trivial claim. And some fields do tend to use fewer hedges than others. It takes a deft touch. Hedge too much and you seem mealy-mouthed; too little and you seem smug. Unfortunately, the line between them is thin. So watch how those in your field manage uncertainty, then do likewise.”

The Craft of Research, 3rd ed.
Authors: Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams
Publisher: Chicago University Press
Copyright 2008
Pages: 127-129

Questions to Consider:

1. What do the authors mean by a “hedge”?

2. Why must authors hedge when making arguments, even when they are experts in their field?

3. Do the authors do any hedging of their own in this selection?

4. Can you give an example of something you’ve read that came across too smug? How about too timid?

5. It can be tough to tell whether a blog post is trustworthy, knowledgeable, or well-argued. Often, a blogger neglects to hedge responsibly. How would you apply the “hedge test” to the blogs you read?

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The Unexamined Life and the Fate of Serious Reading

July 7, 2014 Leave a comment


A serious book about serious reading. By “serious” I mean a book that takes comparatively serious effort. But Bound to Please is also a pleasing book, for those who make the effort. You’ll know what I mean by “serious” and “pleasing” when you read the following selection. Author Michael Dirda comments on a report issued by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)—called “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America.” The preface to that report is by Dana Gioia, a distinguished poet and critic.

“’Reading at Risk’ is right to lament the decline of what I will forthrightly call bookishness. As the report implies, the Internet seems to have delivered a possibly knockout punch. Our children now can scarcely use a library and instead look to the Web when they need to learn just about anything. We all just click away with the mouse and remote control, speeding through a blur of links, messages, images, data of all sorts. Is this reading? As Gioia reminds us, ‘print culture affords irreplaceable forms of focused attention and contemplation that make complex communications and insights possible. To lose such intellectual capability—and the many sorts of human continuity it allows—would constitute a vast cultural impoverishment.’

 

“Yes, the Internet has allowed fans of Finnegans Wake and Dorothy Sayers and the English ghost story to gather and share their knowledge. Web sites and chat rooms do encourage people from around the world to form digital communities. But the computer must seem a far more ambiguous gift to anyone who has ever faced screenfuls of spam, or discovered that hours are eaten up just answering email, or found their colleagues drooling over pixellated lovelies, or noticed that their children had stopped going outside because they were unable to tear themselves away from bloody, digitized battles, or simply realized that they themselves felt incomplete when not online every minute of the day—and half the night. In other words, virtually all of us recognize that that flat-screen monitor before our eyes casts an insidious spell, and all too often it seems that the best minds of the next generation—and more than a few of our own—are being lost to its insidious, relentless ensorcellments. Who now among the young aspires to be cultivated and learned, which takes discipline, rather than breezily provocative, wise-crackingly edgy’?

 

“Americans can still be smart and creative, but the pressure of the times is oriented toward quickness—we want instant messaging, live news breaks, fast food, mobile phoning, and snap judgments. As a result, we are growing into a shallow people, happy enough with the easy gratifications of mere speed and spectacle in all aspects of life. Real books are simply too serious for us. Too slow. Too hard. Too long. Now and again, we may feel that just maybe we’ve shortchanged our better selves, that we might have listened to great music, contemplated profoundly moving works of art, read books that mattered, but instead we turned away from them because it was time to tune into Law and Order reruns, or jack into a WarCraft game on our home computer, or get back to the latest made-for-TV best seller. Sometimes nonetheless, late at night or when faced with one of life’s true crises, we will surprise in ourselves what poet Philip Larkin called the hunger to be more serious.”

MDirda-Book Cover-Bound to Please

Bound to Please: An Extraordinary One-Volume Literary Education—Essays on Great Writers and Their Books
Author: Michael Dirda
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Copyright 2005 by Michael Dirda
Pages xxv-xxvi

Questions to Consider:
1. Dirda compares serious reading with the Internet, to draw attention to the special value of reading real books. What values are compromised when the print-culture gives way to the Web-culture?
2. What is Dirda’s basic thesis? What do you find most convincing about his thesis?
3. How do these few paragraphs make you feel about your own reading practices?
4. What does the word ensorcellment mean? Why would Dirda use an unfamiliar word like this here?

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