By Rick Becker 1 May 2019
South Africans were asked to “connect the dots” in order to understand and expose state capture. If you connect the dots I provide in this article, you can only come to one conclusion – the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) has captured a massive portion of the visible church in South Africa – a nation with a painful past, a turbulent present, and an uncertain future. With the election looming in May, it’s understandable that Christian initiatives have blossomed in order to pray for our nation in the hope that crime, corruption, racism and other evils will diminish. But when these initiatives are tainted with the false doctrines and strategies of the NAR, they become clouds without water that create false hope in the minds of those desperate for good news. The good news is this – the gospel of Jesus Christ, not a “kingdom nation” where all prosper and live in peace.
The first event we will examine is the recent prayer meeting attended by political and church leaders.The meeting was led by Dr Arno van Niekerk, founder of the Christian Consensus in SA. Gateway News published a report under this heading: “Shift took place’ as praying leaders put nation before parties.” The meeting was described as “a historic prayer gathering at Victory Sandton Church, Johannesburg last Saturday evening.” It’s obvious that this event was tainted with NAR methodologies and strategies. The report is by Janet Brann Hollis, who was present at the event, and gave a prophetic word. Brann Hollis is a prophetess in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) and started the initiative called SA back to God. Her desire is to see the transformation of South Africa, and naturally that involves NAR strategies: “we will begin to witness every sector of society within the seven mountains being returned back to God, and the presence of God and kingdom rule being released”
The vision statement of SA Back to God is crystal clear regarding the dominionist agenda of the NAR: “We envision a praying nation that puts God first, where kingdom culture thrives in all seven spheres of society, and a South Africa that is a model for godly governance and an apostolic hub for Africa.”
Part of it’s mission statement is “To align the nation to its kingdom mandate by prayerfully propelling the Ekklesia into position in all seven spheres of society.”
Their website has a section containing “prophetic words” over South Africa. The prophetic words are from some of the major false prophets in the New Apostolic Reformation: Chuck Pierce, Cindy Jacobs, Charlie Shamp, Shawn Bolz, and Jonathan David (more about him later)
When you hear the term “seven mountain mandate” or “seven spheres of society” be assured you’re not dealing with a principle in the New Testament, but with the heresy of dominion theology as espoused by those caught up in the NAR. The seven mountains, or spheres of society that the NAR hope to conquer and take dominion over, in no particular order are:
1) Religion
2) Education
3) Family
4) Business
5) Government
6) Arts/Entertainment
7) Media
Was the seven mountain mandate mentioned during this event – the answer is an unequivocal yes!
During the meeting, Dr Mpho Phalatse committed all the “mountains of society” to God that his reign may be established on each mountain, she addressed all the seven mountains:
“we speak to the mountain of media, that you may be alive with the plans and purposed of God and the the kingdom of God will be established of this mountain..”
“We speak to the mountain of education..”
“We commit to you the mountain of government…we declare that your kingdom is established on that mountain..Father we declare your deployment onto that mountain..
“We now commit to you the mountain of business..we speak growth to the economy..”
“Father we speak to the mountain of arts oh God..we speak to a rise of the arts in the church..”
“Thank you for the mountain of religion oh father, father we repent on behalf of the church for all the wrongs we are doing..”
“Thank you Lord for the mountain of family..”
During her time to speak, Dr Pearl Kube said “the power of life and death is here and we are going to speak to the gates of South Africa, and command the gates of South Africa…we release peace and we release life through the Ruach presence of God.” The Lord apparently instructed Dr Kupe to read Isaiah 43:19. The Lord told her they should read it three times, and the third time it needed to be a “shout that we release a sound over this nation”
I would agree that a “shift took place” at this event. A shift away from scripture and into the false teachings of the NAR such as Dominionism and Word of Faith heresy. This event led by Dr Arno Van Niekerk was unashamedly promoting NAR teachings.
The second event which also took place in April was the signing of the “Kingdom Nation Declaration.” This declaration is the brainchild of the initiative called “Kingdom Nation.” It’s a “Christian Unity” movement and their kingdom declaration has been signed by “over 400 leaders with a national footprint.” The signing of this declaration took place in April at Doxa Deo church in Brooklyn, Pretoria.
A Kingdom Nations press release describes this event as follows:
“This national shift in history was reinforced by several influential leaders, such as Dr Pearl Kube, Dr Arno Van Niekerk, Dr Arthur Frost, and many more”
“According to the founders, Kingdom Nation members are people who want to change South Africa through godly transformation. Areas of restoration include Education, Government and Justice, Economic growth, Science and Technology, Family and Community, Arts, Entertainment and Sport.“
Joy News reported on the same event, under the title “Christian ‘Great Awakening’ Shifts Into ‘Kingdom Nation’ Gear.”
Excerpt: “Uniting South Africa in Christ – Can a nation be born in a day? Statistics show that around 80% of South Africans identify as Christian, but one could then ask, where is the real change?…The aim of the initiative is to bring about real change in the country by uniting Christians under a cause, formulating a strategy, and then executing it, to drive transformation in various sectors of the country, the gathering heard.”
80% of South Africans may consider themselves Christian, God alone knows the real figure, but it’s probably closer to a single digit. The strategy that has been formulated, is dominated by the spiritual warfare techniques and declarations of the NAR. What exactly they mean by a “nation being born in a day” has never been explained, we may have to ask Angus Buchan the meaning. The past two years have seen numerous Buchan meetings, during which spirits were bound, generational sins repented of, but as you are about to find out, these actions were apparently all in vain.
Quotes from the leaders of “Kingdom Nation:
Dr Pearl Kupe: “We believe that the time to redeem the country is now! We all need to get involved and participate in the transformation and betterment of our country. We stand up boldly and believe it true that a nation can be born in a day and we believe God has a plan,”
Dr Arno Van Niekerk: “By signing this declaration, the great awakening of the Church has now officially begun. Nationwide there is a move of God’s Spirit to use us to bring righteous change.”
Who gets to decide when a great awakening of the church has officially begun – God or man? A real “great awakening” would mean the gospel is being taught, not NAR doctrines.
The article in Joy News ends with this sentence: “Dr Arthur Frost, a Bible teacher who coordinates a prayer movement linked to the Kingdom Nation initiative, has meanwhile embarked on a tour to all nine provinces over the next two weeks to activate and equip a “prayer army” of intercessors around the nation.”
Who is Dr Arthur Frost?
According to this article “Frost runs Father’s Heart Online Ministry with his wife, Janine. He started the Word of Faith Bible College in PE, where he taught for 20 years before starting Die Lewende Woord Bible College in Pretoria. He then took 5 years off to write a curriculum for his online teaching which currently reaches 500 to 600 people daily throughout SA and Africa.”
Frosts roots are in the word of faith movement (WOF), and WOF teachings are part and parcel of NAR teachings.
According to Dr Frost, there was a “national curse” placed over our nation from 2012. Most of our towns and cities have been affected by it, Frost says “something was loosed across our nation.” The effects of this curse according to Dr Frost are the increase in violent crime, economical downgrade, increased corruption. Dr Frost says the curse has now been bound, but we need to release the blessings so that the curse cannot return to our towns. Dr Frost and a group of about 200 intercessors have “broken this thing” and “spiritually it has been handled.”
(That means Angus Buchan & co failed to identify and break this horrible curse that has wreaked havoc in South Africa, that’s a major fail to say the least! )
According to Dr Frost, we should now deal with the other half of the solution – replace a curse with a blessing. Dr Frost has therefore called on every Christian, to go and bless their town or city: “This is the time where you can sit down, and declare over your town and as you do that, you can enforce a blessing to start operating in our country”
Dr Frost gives step by step instructions, as this could be the “single biggest shift and transformation in our nation.” Christians need to declare over their towns, and enforce a blessing. Dr Frost insists that every single town must be blessed. This will ensure that when election time comes, “God’s anointing is saturating our nation.” The consequences of failing to obey Dr Frost’s revelation are serious: “If we don’t do this, we will have a curse operating on our nation that will destroy it.”
Dr Frost’s 3 step action:
1.Repent of the things that could have allowed the curse to operate in the town
2. Bless the land or town and speak life over it.
3. Blow a Shofar over the town – blowing a Shofar declares a new beginning, or new season.
Dr Frost: “We are going to reverse everything that the devil had intended for South Africa, it comes to an end today in the name of Jesus.”
What are we going to repent for – the 4 main things that according to Dr Frost allow a curse to stay in an area:
1.Iniquity – any sin that the people are doing that allows, or brings on a curse from the ancestors or something else.
2.Sexual iniquity
3 Blood sacrifice
4 Broken covenants or promises – if you promise God to do something and you don’t do it, God does not hold that very lightly (The proof text Dr Frost uses is Acts 5 – the story of Ananias and Sapphira. But in that story, God judged Ananias and Sapphira, not the land or city. So why does Dr Frost use this as an example that broken promises allow a curse to stay in an area?)
Dr Frost’s 3 step action debunked in one sentence:
Scripture does not teach that we can repent on behalf of the sins of others, bless of speak life over cities, or that the blowing of a Shofar impacts anything apart from our eardrums.
Excerpts from Dr Frost’s instructive prayer:
Dr Frost: “Lord we repent on behalf of this town, village, city, farm, land..we repent on behalf of every single person here, Lord we repent of any form of iniquity that has taken place, anything that is done that has activated a curse on this land...we ask you to forgive every single person on this land right now – we speak life over the land, we speak directly to the land right now and we say land you be a safe place for any person who is living on you, we ask you to accept us who are living here, we speak to you and we command you to produce and be fruitful in the name of Jesus, we command you to be a city, village, town, and farm of blessing, we speak life over you, we call you into your God given destiny and purpose”...
Have you ever spoken to your land before? Have you ever asked your land to accept you? Have you ever commanded your land to produce? Frost has a video which will help you dedicate your property. You will be “speaking to the demonic that is trying to curse your land.” The process includes anointing the four corners of your property, sprinkling salt, binding the strongman, repenting of iniquities, and then once you have dedicated your property you can “instruct the land what you need from it”
You can even “call rain” over you land. Don’t let gravity stop your words of faith from leaving the earths atmosphere, according to Frost the full moon plays a significant role in the lives of Christians. In one of his notes, Frost instructs his followers to“speak life into life and blessing into the new moon and at full moon break any curses that might have been put on the moon.”
Dr Frost: “we speak the blessing and the covenant that you have given to Abraham, where you have promised that if we have accepted you, we are entitled to that same blessing as believers..”
Dr Frost then goes on to read Deuteronomy 28:3-12, but fails to mention that we are blessed through Abraham in a spiritual sense – not geographical or material:
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” – so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” Galatians 3:13-14
This passage in Galatians also reveals that Christ has dealt with the curse of the law, yet Dr Frost wants to go back under the law and deal with curses over South Africa.
Dr Frost prays for the “spirit of deception to come off our cities and leaders” – if that prayer was answered Dr Frost would repent of what he has been teaching.
Prior to blowing a Shofar, Dr Frost instructs listeners to look over their land or city, and get a picture of a new day dawning, a new day coming where you will see “prosperity and blessing.” After the Shofar sounds, Dr Frost declares a new day for our nation, cities and land, and then thanks those who participated.
Dr Frost: “Saints, I want to thank you for participating with us as We sit and shift the atmosphere over our nation in the name of Jesus.”
Dr Frosts prayer is heresy, it’s is nonsense, it’s not biblical, but it’s been swallowed hook line and sinker by a gullible and biblically illiterate people who really have no excuse following this tripe. The lure to be a little god and give orders to creation will lead many into apostasy, and Dr Frost is an instrument for the very forces he is attempting to bind.
Another event
Dr Frost coordinated the “Jesus March” this past Saturday, according to this article, Dr Frost said: “We are going to pray heaven down onto this earth. We are going to call this nation into order. This nation can be born in a day as the Christians start taking control of the spiritual environment.”
Another Christian initiative called H.O.P.E – Heaven On Planet Earth, reported on the March: “A BIG THANK YOU to the New Nation Movement, the Kingdom Movement and everyone across all denominational and political parties who were involved with today’s march. May this be the first of many regular marches and picnics in our communities, towns and cities to motivate all citizens to:
1. Be involved in the restoration God’s H.O.P.E. Vision – ‘Heaven On Planet Earth’.
2. Be part of the answer of the Lord’s Prayer – ‘Let Your Will be done here on earth AS IT IS in heaven!”
God never promised us that earth is going to be transformed into the image of heaven in this dispensation. That is the vain hope of dominionists and the New Apostolic Reformers, who are attempting to transform the world because they have neglected to transform their minds and are unable to discern.
Now lets turn our attention to Dr Arno Van Niekerk. He was after all the man who led the prayer gathering at Victory church that spoke to the seven mountains. This is how he described the event:
“A MAJOR SHIFT TOOK PLACE! People, something happened last night (20 April 2019) that I can’t even begin to explain. At the prayer meeting with the political leaders at Victory Sandton Church an outbreak of God’s Spirit took place that I haven’t seen before. The Lord’s presence was so tangible as we all surrendered ourselves to Him and His purposes for our nation. The prayers by the spiritual, marketplace and political leaders were astonishingly powerful and sincere, and tears flowed freely. The heavens were rend, as it says in Isaiah 64:1, and God came down!
A SHIFT took place where God’s Kingdom purposes for South Africa became the main theme of what we prayed for, and political agendas bowed the knee to that. A unity in the Spirit came forth that can only be brought about by God. People, the Lord Jesus is setting us up for His Kingdom reign in our nation! Leaders bowed before the King of kings as history was made. Never ever, before an SA Election, this has happened. Something NEW is being birthed in our country beyond our imagination! All the glory to God!!”
His comments are revealing, compare them to some of the signs that are hallmarks of a NAR church listed in this article.
Dr Van Niekerk has succumbed to the lies propagated by the NAR – there will be no “Kingdom reign” in South Africa. The only history being made here is that leaders in the visible church in South Africa are part of a delusion that is spreading like wildfire. It is consuming those who have chosen a comfortable narrative with a seemingly godly intention above what scripture teaches and foretells will take place in these last days.
Dr Van Niekerk’s own initiative is called Christian Consensus – The Great Awakening in South Africa. The Great Awakening is “a movement of Christians storming the 2019 elections peacefully, to usher in a righteous government. After that, we will take hands to establish South Africa as a righteous nation.” The website has a link to Dr Frost’s 3 point action and prayer to bless your city. There’s no escaping the fact that Van Niekerk and Frost are working in tandem, and share the same false theology!
It seems as if Dr Van Niekerk will grasp at any smooth word regarding South Africa. He shared this message from one of the leading “apostles” in the New Apostolic Reformation – Bill Johnson. The clip was played during last years Kingdom Come conference at Breakthru Life Church.
Last week he shared a message from another false prophet in the NAR – Dr Jonathan David.
It’s the usual NAR generic kind of prophetic word – an increase in angelic visitations, defeating the enemy, kingdom rule etc, so lets rather examine Dr Jonathan David’s prophetic word for 2019 to get the big picture.
David is the “Presiding Apostle of the International Strategic Alliance of Apostolic Churches (ISAAC), a network of governing churches and ministers across the nations.” His website describes him as “one of the pioneers of the Prophetic Movement in the earth. His accurate prophetic ministry with a unique teaching mantle provides the cutting edge to reach the nations of the world.”
The title of his prophetic word for 2019 is “The Double Decade of the Open Heavens. Prophetic Precision, Strategic Position and Spirit Demonstration.” It’s your typical NAR balderdash, here’s a taste:
• It is the beginning of the Age of Righteousness and the beginning of the end of the Sin Age.
• There will be an increase of Kingdom governance not only in churches but also in nations. This will bring the end of lawlessness of oppression and terror
• The Church built on the Pillars of Zion will end the territorial dominion of satanic forces. The Governing Church will patrol and police the heavens and shut the gates of hell.
•The inevitable manifestation of the true sons of God reveals maturity and explicit obedience. They will live by the law of the Spirit of Life
• The Apostolic Church will emerge with a position of stature for dominance and governance for all the domains of the kingdoms of this world. We will be trained to exercise dominion in every domain.
• The Church will move from reformation leading to restoration that will empower it to lead city transformation
• The invasion of faith for the miraculous, signs and wonders will be a daily phenomena.
• True apostles will receive grace and apostleship for nation building. This strategic man will be sent to strategic places so that they create significant moves of the Spirit
• The full manifestation of the Kingdom of God will express Zion under the Order of Melchizedek. Nations will be in revival and the increase of His governance there will be no end.
• Living the overcoming life by breaking the law of sin and death will result in living the indestructible life. The coming generation will overcome death and immortality will be reachable.
I’m not even going to attempt to make sense of this heretical nonsense. This new breed of a false church is apparently going to put the angels out of work, they are ready to “police the heavens?” Jonathan David has answered the question – who wants to live forever? Dominionists and the new breed in the NAR want to live forever, once they have brought heaven to earth there will be peace, no disease, and wealth will abound. Jesus becomes irrelevant as little gods will rule the world. Not so with a real servant of God and true apostle “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” Philippians 1:23.
This idea of immortality goes back to the Latter Rain movement and manifest sons of God teaching. The New Apostolic Reformation has been heavily influenced by the Latter Rain movement, and this “word for 2019” is one example.
Dr Van Niekerk has also been busy placing cornerstones around South Africa. What’s the point of that you ask? This article gives clarity: “At the recent Mighty Families Conference outside Bloemfontein the seventh cornerstone of a series of stones being planted around South Africa was laid — and importantly, a new foundation, Jesus Christ, was put in place for the nation, said Dr Arno van Nierkerk chairman of the organising committee.”
On his Facebook page, Van Niekerk wrote: ” The Cornerstones have been laid. Jesus Christ is the new foundation on which South Africa is build. RISE UP, people of God! We are lifting up the Name of Jesus on Saturday all across South Africa!”
What Dr Van Niekerk should know, is that Jesus is the cornerstone of the church, not South Africa : “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”
Ephesians 2:19-22
Dr Van Niekerk is leading believers astray by promoting the false teachings of the NAR, and endorsing teachers like Arthur Frost, Bill Johnson, and Jonathan David.
Conclusion
On the one hand it’s encouraging to see believers praying for South Africa. On the other hand it’s discouraging to see the false doctrines and methodologies that accompany most of these initiatives. If you “connect the dots” you will realise that the initiatives and leaders mentioned n this article have been captured by the New Apostolic Reformation. In the book of Ezekiel, God confronted the false prophets who saw false visions and spoke lying divinations. These smooth talkers spoke of peace, and whitewashed flimsy walls that were being built (Ezekiel 13) South Africa has it’s contemporary version of smooth “prophets” who are declaring blessing, announcing shifts, and proclaiming peace. South Africa may well be headed for darker days, it may well be a time of judgement upon this nation instead of transformation into a godly society. The church has always thrived under persecution, not an elevated status in this world.
In a nutshell, these are some of the basic errors that can be found in the Christian initiatives mentioned in this article:
• Scripture does not instruct us to release or declare things, shift the atmospheres, speak to or command things to take place. Instead we let our “requests be made known to God” Philippians 4:6-7
• These initiatives make the same mistake as the Jews and disciples – they believed Jesus was coming to set up his kingdom on earth and transform their nation. Jesus said that his kingdom “is not of this world.” John 18:36. Jesus is building his church, not South Africa.
• While we should pray for godly leaders and a just society, scripture warns us that things will get worse instead of better in the last days – in the world and the visible church. (Matthew 24; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Thessalonians 2;)
• The effects of the gospel will save a few, but the majority will have hardened hearts and will certainly not look on in admiration of believers or desire the application of biblical principles. Instead we should expect persecution and division – even among our own families. (Matthew 10:34-39)
• Many of the scriptures these initiatives are “claiming” are promises God gave to the nation of Israel under the law – not South Africa. It’s actually incredulous that influential leaders cannot even make the distinction between the gospel and the law, or a prescriptive and descriptive text.
• Many of the rituals and practices encouraged by these initiatives are a mixture of old testament law and New Apostolic Reformation teachings – word of faith heresy, prosperity gospel, spiritual warfare movement etc.
Read this article for some suggestions on how to identify the false teachings that many South Africans are falling for, as well as a biblical response to the current situation in South Africa.