Thread by @ulyankee1

Here are some quotes from C. Peter Wagner's Apostles Today (2012), where Wagner credits the Latter Rain as being
"pioneers" to what would become the New Apostolic Reformation. Citations are to the Kindle edition.

https://twitter.com/4GWDOTDOTDOT/status/1356461032466710528

"In North America, God began to open doors for the emergence of the apostles of the Second Apostolic Age right after World War II. It was around that time when some churches began to recognize the office of apostle. However, the movement eventually sputtered. 2/

During those days, terms such as “Latter Rain,” Restorational Movement,” “Deliverance Evangelism” and “Shepherding Movement” were used, to name a few. The leaders of those movements had great expectations that what they had started would reform the entire Church... 3/

... in their generation. But it didn’t happen. The majority of those post-World War II movements of God no longer exist today; and those that do, have relatively little influence. 4/

However, the leaders of these movements were true pioneers. Their post-World War II apostolic movements were clearly initiated by God Himself. And they were glorious! Huge numbers were saved, healed, delivered, discipled, sent out as missionaries, and personally revived. 5/

But many of the pioneers who led the movements made their share of mistakes. We shouldn’t see that as strange. Making mistakes goes with the territory of being a pioneer. ... 6/

Think of the pioneers who opened up the western United States. They made their share of mistakes as well. They killed too many buffalo. They broke promises they had made to the Indians. They ruined good farmland... 7/

But with all their mistakes, our pioneers laid the groundwork for what the United States is today, and we take off our hats to them. But let’s also take off our hats to the Christian leaders of 50 years ago! 8/

They were true pioneers who began to shape the new wineskins that we are blessed with today in the Body of Christ. 9/

It has been acknowledged that one of the handicaps of the post-World War II apostolic movement was that the way for the apostles had not been adequately opened for them by the intercessors and prophets. 10/

Apostles without proper connections to gifted intercessors and prophets can never be all that God desires them to be. 11/

While their post-World War II efforts may have sputtered, they did not die. In the early 1990s, God began once again to speak to the Church about restoring the office of apostle. This time the process was different. 12/

It was a bit more gradual, involving first the office of intercessor and then the office of prophet, in order to pave the way for the apostles." (Apostles Today 12-14) 13/

"Looking back, I think that we can discern God’s logic in bringing intercessors and prophets on the scene before apostles. The role of intercessors is essentially to stand in the gap and open the communication highways between heaven and Earth." (Apostles Today 15) 14/

"Back in the pioneer post-World War II days, many highly respected Christian leaders took strong public positions against the fledgling apostolic movement. Whenever the apostolic leaders would make one of their higher profile mistakes—... 15/

...and some of them admittedly did not finish well—their opponents were more than ready to jump up and say, “I told you so!”!” I strongly suspect that the major reason why the post-World War II movements did not carry the day was that criticism,... 16/

... which was mostly based on empirical observations, was too strong to overcome. (Apostles Today 16) 17/

"The U.S. Assemblies of God, one of today’s most highly respected Christian bodies, is even stronger than [Vinson] Synan in their opposition to the New Apostolic Reformation. 18/

During the post-World War II phase, their General Council in 1949 decreed that “The teaching that the Church is built on the foundation of present-day apostles and prophets” is “erroneous.” 19/

This was reiterated in the General Council of 2000 when the denomination declared that the “teaching that present-day offices of apostles and prophets should govern church ministry” is a “departure from Scripture” and a “deviant teaching.”" (Apostles Today 17) 20/

"I mentioned that a pioneer movement of apostles sprang up after World War II, but some mistakes were made and many of those movements turned out to be relatively short-lived. One of the mistakes of some apostles was to allow themselves to become overly authoritarian. 21/

My friend Leo Lawson likes to contrast what he calls “World War II apostles” with the “Microsoft apostles"... 22/

who are more characteristic of today’s New Apostolic Reformation. Microsoft apostles strive to be much more relational than dictatorial." (Apostles Today 86-87) 23/

Finished quoting. I cited the Leo Lawson reference because Lawson was a former pastor within Maranatha Campus Ministries, a notorious Shepherding movement "cult" of the 70s and 80s. 24/

Lawson was the last straw in my leaving #MyOldCult. He was a pastor within the successor movement, Morning Star International, which was renamed Every Nation in 2004 (the year I left). The successor movement was just as authoritarian as MCM was. 25/

They were just slower about exerting their authority than MCM was, waiting until people were fully invested within the church. THAT was the lesson learned from the so-called "pioneers." 26/

Lawson came to my church and preached that we had all of Christ's authority and divinity to take over the world, if we would just submit properly to authority and claim victory. 27/

Pausing because Work. But will try to wrap this up later. 28/

To go back to the website that @4GWDOTDOTDOT originally cited, where Wagner was quoted in 2001 as not knowing anything about the Latter Rain even after asking Bill Hamon about it... 29/

Wagner wrote the preface to Hamon's 1997 book, Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Move of God. Wagner states that Hamon's Prophets and Personal Prophecy (1987) was "the only book I could find in the 1980's that... made... sense of the gift and office of prophet" (xxi). 30/

Wagner was already calling the apostolic/prophetic "third wave" movement the New Apostolic Reformation in 1997 (APCMG xxii)-2 years before his own 1999 book, Churchquake. 31/

And Hamon cited the Latter Rain within his restorationist timeline (APCMG 107). Wagner said Apostles, Prophets and the Coming Move of God was a "thrill to read" so I'm assuming he read it before writing his forward. (xxii) 32/

Wagner stated in his 2003 forward to Hamon's The Eternal Church (orig pub 1981) that he was first exposed to the apostolic/prophetic movement through Hamon in 1993 (Google Books edition). Hamon discusses the LR at length in this attempt at church hx. 33/

Hamon's The Eternal Church is a good example of a "church history" from a movement insider, contextualizing where the Latter Rain and other related 20th century movements fit into what would soon become the NAR. 34/

I could quote more, but I think I'm done for now. Hope these are enough receipts for now. :-) /end

PS - this Charisma News article cites Hamon as saying that his DNA was birthed in the Latter Rain movement (he credits a prophecy from a LR prophetic presbytery in 1953). charismanews.com/us/73013-retur…