80s: Coalition On Revival. In July, 1986, COR's Continental Congress on the Christian World View III held a solemn assembly at the Lincoln Memorial. Sixty of COR's Steering Committee members and 400 church leaders from a broad spectrum of theological viewpoints signed THE MANIFESTO OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. COR's Crosswinds magazine, Winter 1992, reported: "The Manifesto states where we [COR] believe the Church must stand to fulfill the Great Commission."
Thanks to COR and its Director Jay Grimstead, many members of the interdenominational Christian Right became involved in this unprecedented effort toward "unity" and the sharing of resources through networking. Small group meetings throughout the country continued to promote the signing of the Christian Manifesto by all churches. COR saw its 17 Worldview Documents as a "trumpet call to the Church, to awaken, unite, get holy and then re-establish our country on the Biblical law base on which it once stood." The documents were seen as "the philosophical and practical nuts and bolts of the coming reformation." Grimstead said that they provided the base for world-changing, as well as "the practical steps stating how in each sphere of life we can 'get God's will done on earth as it is in heaven.'" It was reported that "approximately 500 Christian leaders from various walks of life and from a wide spectrum of denominations had official input into these documents during that three year period. . . . Many believe these 17 Worldview Documents . . . will help set the Christian agenda for the 21st century."
Grimstead has indicated many times that COR is only one part of a huge network. The groundwork for world reformation is now in progress, waiting to blossom into the Kingdom of God in countries, cities, homes and churches.
80s: NEW LIFE 2000. Bill Bright, the Plenary Speaker at COR's 1988 ratification of the 42 Articles, appears to have gone on to implement the COR agenda. His plan for New Life 2000 includes segmenting the world into "Million Population Target Areas", taking the gospel to 5 billion people by the year 2000, introducing one billion people to Christ, launching at least one million New Life groups, and helping to plant one million new churches of various denominations. New Life 2000 would bring together leaders from all major Christian denominations, para-church ministries, lay ministries, pastors, businesses, the academic community and the legal world to accomplish its task.
80s: COOPERATIVE EVANGELISM. In 1988, Evangelicals and Catholics continued to work closely together. Catholic Joseph Cardinal Bernardin presided over the opening of the ecumenical "National Festival of Evangelism" conference, and Dr. Leighton Ford, chairman of the Laussane II meeting in Manila, gave the closing address. Publicity material on the conference stated,
"Evangelicals, mainline churches and Catholics consciously combined the themes of unity and evangelism."
The predictions of cooperative evangelism made by members of the Catholic hierarchy in the fifties and sixties were now on their way to fulfillment.
80s: GLOBAL CONSULTATION ON WORLD EVANGELISM. In 1986, Jay Gary raised the question of evangelizing the world by the year 2000, and on February 26, 1987, his cohort from Laussane, Thomas Wang, published an article entitled, "By the Year 2000: Is God Trying To Tell Us Something?" The article described eight of the best "gigantic plans for evangelizing the globe." By the end of 1987, the overwhelming response indicated a great interest from Christian leaders. They were literally saying, "We must forget our differences and all join together to evanglize the world for Christ by the year 2000."Gary helped coordinate the 1989 Singapore Global Consultation On World Evangelism by AD2000 & Beyond. In his book, he says this conference
"gathered an international Christian representation. . . . [and] was deliberately inclusive. Great Commission leaders came from Anglican, Ecumenical, Evangelical, Catholic, Charismatic, Third World indigenous, and Pentecostal networks."
The setting aside of "little points of doctrine" practiced in the early sixties had now grown into blatant compromise of the faith, but the only protest during the World Consultation would come from the Latin American contingent. The Latins stated emphatically that including the Catholic evangelistic efforts
"[went] beyond their historical and Biblical commitment, that Ibero-American Roman Catholicism is to the present day incompatible with our evangelistic vision: Mary more than ever holds the first place in the faith, tradition supercedes the Bible, salvation by works over the work of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, the supreme authority of the Pope, the religious syncretism and some other well known Roman Catholic expressions."
The Latins considered Catholics to be their mission field, not their brothers in Christ. It was decided to place a statement about the Catholic participation in the Steering Committee's "Review & Clarification" statement, and the Catholics remained in the scheme of global evanglism under their plan, "Evangelization 2000."
The results of these Consultation meetings of 315 leaders from 50 countries included the following:
1. First, the Consultation gave tremendous impetus to regional and national AD2000 consultations.
2. Second, the Consultation fostered an international identity for the AD2000 vision.
3. Third, the vision, data, and resources shared in Singapore SET THE AGENDA FOR THE CHURCH until the new century.
All Christians were now encouraged to participate in AD2000 by:
1. attending an international or national congress focusing on world evangelization,
2. networking with others in order to get rid of competition among groups and churches, and
3. communicating their own AD2000 programs to their churches or fellowships, and then registering with one of the major ministries serving as clearinghouses for reaching unevangelized cities.
The expected results by the year 2000 are "A Bible in every home, a church for every people."
The Steering Committee at the AD2000 Global Consultation decided that, as a follow-up, a Service Office should be formed to aid any group with AD2000 plans. In 1989, that office was opened, with Jay Gary and his wife, Olgy, being named as directors.
80s: EVANGELIZATION 2000. Another important group met in July, 1987. The North American Congress On The Holy Spirit was held in New Orleans, with 35,000 Charismatic and Evangelicals attending. A booklet was distributed there entitled, "New Evangelization 2000," the Catholic plan to evangelize the world by the year 2000. Father Tom Forrest, head of the plan's implementation, was one of the main speakers. "New Evangelization 2000" calls for a world-wide satellite telecast by the Pope on Christmas Day, 2000, with the hope of reaching 5 billion people.
80s: CHRISTIAN COALITION. In the late eighties we saw the founding of the Christian Coalition by Pat Robertson, linking pro-family Catholics and Evangelicals. This "working together" constantly points to the unifying in a common cause of Evangelicals, Catholics and pentecostals.
80s: MANIFEST SONS. Meanwhile, the Latter Rain doctrine began to flower again in the mid-eighties, and this time it took hold in the corporate Church because the charismatic experience was now widespread in the denominations.
The restoration of the prophets began. Bill Hamon, the father of the Manifest Sons of God prophets, said at the Florida National Prophets Conference that 10,000 Manifest Sons of God prophets were being raised up. In August of 1987, Charisma magazine reported,
"the 1980's was the decade of the restoration of the prophets to prepare the way of the Lord and to help equip the saints to MAKE READY A PEOPLE FOR GOD."
Prophet seminars, Prophet schools, Prophet conferences and Prophet gatherings dominated the 1980's. God would have His "Joel's Army" and it would be one that would cover the globe.
80s: MARCH FOR JESUS. Also in this decade, 15,000 participated in the first March for Jesus, held by Reconstructionists in the United Kingdom. The Marches would eventually become a powerful global force in the continuation of the breaking down of denominational walls and unifying Christians. The Marches became a catalyst in the increase of the consciousness of one global Church.
80s: REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY. During the late eighties, segments of the Church began to identify themselves as "The New Israel." In the February 1989 edition of the Bridges for Peace "Religion Watch" newsletter, a pro-Israeli organization, editor Clarence Wagner said how he
"has noticed signs of diminishing support for Israel among charismatics. The change in attitude is due to the influence of 'Kingdom Now or Reconstructionist theology among charismatics, which teaches that the church will eventually rule political, social, and economic systems and goes back to the Old Testament as a blueprint for such a society. This theology 'sees no significance' in national Israel today, and denies that Israel has a place in God's plan or His covenants. According to this view, the Old Testament covenants are for the church, the true Israel, and the curses are for Israel."
I mention this here because, according to the new theology, Israel must be removed from the end time scenario as presented in Biblical eschatology. Reconstructionism, Catholicism, the World Council of Churches and the Latter Rain Movement have no room for Israel in their end time plans, because their agendas are the same: to set up the Kingdom of God in every aspect of life.
80s: TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK. In the eighties, Paul Crouch's Trinity Broadcasting Network began to support Manifest Sons of God/Latter Rain teachers. Through TBN and its now approximately 500 TV stations, these doctrines are being further mixed with charismatic teaching on a global basis.
Note what has happened up to now:
1. In the fifties through the seventies, the denominations and their doctrines were torn down.
2. During the eighties, the rubble was put back together in huge ecumenical organizations bent on a united effort to evangelize the world by the year 2000.
3. The situation we now have as we look to the nineties is Protestants, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Roman Catholics, and Orthodox churches walking together, forgetting their differences and joining together to evanglize the world for Christ by the year 2000.
4.Rising up through all are the new revelations of the Manifest Sons of the Latter Rain.
90s: COALITION ON REVIVIAL. COR was now working at international levels. Grimstead attended the "Theological Track" of the AD2000 strategy to reach all people groups in the world with the gospel by the year 2000.
COR also formed the National Coordinating Council (NCC) in 1990. The NCC was defined as "an informal group of NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LEADERS who have agreed to a National Gameplan for rebuilding society on the Bible by applying COR's 17 Worldview Documents in a systematic, aggressive way to our major metropolitan areas over the following 20 years." This plan called for the establishment of 24 Ministry Networking Committees in each major city, which are to function in a coordinated way as a single Spiritual Army under the leadership of local Christian "Elders in the City Gate."
COR also sent nine Ministry Merge teams to begin this gameplan to gather pastors and to encourage the merger of ministries within their cities, in order to mobilize the local churches.
In May 1993, the COR Church Council Steering Committee "corrected" church doctrine. A letter to COR supporters and readers of Crosswinds Magazine called for a return to a worldview supposedly taught by the "mainstream church" before 1830, as described below:
CORRECTION #1: The Kingdom of God was inaugurated and the King was installed and seated in the First Century AD and we need not wait for the King's second coming to get the kingdom started here on earth.
CORRECTION #2: Satan was completely defeated by Christ at the Cross and through His resurrection and is therefore no longer the "ruler of this world". Satan can be stopped from doing anything at any time by Christ and by us Christians if we simply choose to employ the power and authority which was placed into our hands by the King Himself in the first century.
CORRECTION #3: At this moment in history, all humans on earth, whether Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever, private person or public official, are obligated to bow their knees to this King Jesus, confess Him as Lord of the universe with their tongues, and submit to His lordship over every aspect of their lives in thought, word and deed.
CORRECTION #4: Biblical evangelism according to the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 is not truly accomplished unless that message of Christ's lordship (from the last point above) is given to the person being evangelized. In that way, they know that any attempt at personal neutrality before King Jesus is sin and treason in this universe.
CORRECTION #5: The words in the Lord's Prayer stating "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" were meant to be prayed with the hope of its fulfillment on earth before Christ's second coming, when the Christians of any geography decided to band together to help make it happen.
CORRECTION #6: The Bible is the plumb line for all nations, Christian and non-Christian, by which nations are to measure the justice and wisdom of all their laws, governments, procedures and society in general.
The proposals in these corrections had devastating effects on the Church regarding the doctrine of Christ's second coming as our only hope.
90s: CATHOLICS/EVANGELICALS TOGETHER. On March 30, 1994, a major step in the striving for unity was formalized with the signing of "Catholics and Evangelicals Together". This new Catholic/Protestant unity was to set a standard for the world. In our newsletter at the time, we wrote,
"Catholics, pentecostals and evangelicals have been uniting in unprecedented ways lately, including joining of forces to evangelize the world by the year 2000. But this statement, called 'Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium,' is no less than a foundation for the apostate church long prophesied in Scripture. This end-time Church will, unlike the Philadelphians of old, refuse to hold fast to God's word, because it will have denied His name."The groups declared they affirm 'the central beliefs in the resurrection and divinity of Christ' and that 'all who accept Christ as Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters in Christ,' but their agreement is based on 'no longer hold[ing] each other at theological arms length.' Both communities agreed to 'stop . . . aggressive proselytization of each other's flocks because IT WAS NEITHER THEOLOGICALLY LEGITIMATE NOR A PRUDENT USE OF RESOURCES.' The end result of this united effort is that God's revealed truth will be laid aside for a socio-political agenda, nullifying the power of His word to save anybody. Only the Vatican has gained a victory here, and what a victory it is! To quote Pauline MacPhearson of the Bold Truth newsletter, 'The silly idea that Biblical Christians could minimize their differences for unity without betrayal of fundamental truths is a demon's illusion' (4/8/94). The literal interpretation of Scripture, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is the life-blood of the one true Church, yet the compromise of God's word continues. This union of political right-wing evangelicals and the Catholic Church for the purpose of societal problem-solving only weakens further that which Jesus said is spirit and life to us - His word."
90s: AD2000 and BEGIN. Meanwhile, Jay Gary advanced his efforts. His AD2000 Global Service Office formed BEGIN, the Bimillennial Global Interaction Network in connection with Celebration 2000. BEGIN was described as
"a group of concerned world citizens who circulate information and ideas ON CELEBRATING THE YEAR 2000 AS A PLANETARY HOPE. The question which BEGIN seeks to address is: 'How can thousands of bi-millennial celebrations of life and civilization truly leave a legacy for the entire human family that will endure the test of time?'"
BEGIN's Bimillennial Research Report published the latest news of celebrations around the world, and highlighted publications on the bimillennium. The celebrations reported by BEGIN included Christian, secular, New Age and political events on both national and international levels. In His newsletter, Gary wrote,
". . . We believe the year 2000 offers a historic opportunity for us to celebrate the gift of life together as we enter a new millennium. Therefore, we call for the year 2000 to be celebrated as a golden jubilee. All fields of life, whether business, education, technology, the arts, religion, civic organizations, and government should prepare for a better, more peaceful Third Millennium."
This is a VERY IMPORTANT statement to lay hold of because we will build on it in our third article. Pope John Paul II had said that the year 2000 "will be the year of a great jubilee", and now Jay Gary was calling the uniting, global Church to this same celebration.
90s: MANIFEST SONS. The Manifest Sons began to find much acceptance in the nineties. The Kansas City Fellowship, now a training center for the prophets, carried their message to thousands in attendance at an Anaheim, California conference entitled, "Holiness Unto The Lord." Through the syncristic move to "unity" within the corporate Church, the rejection of the Manifest Sons prophets from the 1940s-60s was overcome. The message: "God's got an Army."
90s: PAUL CROUCH/LATTER RAIN. Paul Crouch's promotion of the Latter Rain teaching is becoming one of the major influences in unifying the Church in this Army. In his MARCH 94 Praise The Lord newsletter, he wrote,
"Something BIG is in the air! 1994 is going to be a pivotal year. I can FEEL it - you can feel it - numerous Christian leaders and prophets of the Lord are declaring it!"...The Prophet Joel says that in the latter days there will be the most important sign of all - a mighty, worldwide shaking and outpouring of the Holy Spirit! He makes it very clear that this manifestation will be 'UPON ALL FLESH.' The beginning of that rain was at Pentecost when Peter stood up and preached to 3,000 converts. But Joel distinguishes the rain into two categories, the FORMER and the LATTER rain. Peter saw the former, and I believe we are in the latter rain. But Partners, GET READY - compared to what is coming, as the old saying goes, we haven't seen ANYTHING yet!
"Prophet Paul Cain has seen in the Spirit, a last days revival so powerful that hospitals will literally be emptied and people kneeling in public places to receive Christ will become commonplace! Many great Christian leaders, as I said, are feeling the same witness of the Holy Spirit that the wind, fire and rain of revival is on the way and, in a measure, has already begun! Praise the Lord - LET IT RAIN!"
90s: PK-MFJ. The denominational walls were down, and huge nets were cast to gather Christians into one unified body. Promise Keepers was started in 1990, and March for Jesus came to this country in 1994, a year after the spirit of joy, laughing and celebration hit the Church full force.
1940s WCC. So in the forties, the World Council of Churches
1. reached the conclusion that men have an obligation to recognize all churches alike and to recognize the brotherhood amongst denominations.
2. introduced the idea of worldwide unity,
3. to "claim for Christ the whole world and all aspects of life."
4. and to bring to light that the Kingdom of God was being established upon the earth.
1940-1990: LATTER RAIN.. In the forties and fifties, we saw the Latter Rain Movement try to rise through the denominations:
1. It would be declared heretical and therefore go underground.
2. But through the eighties and nineties, it would succeed in finding a place as it influenced the direction of the corporate Church by subtly introducing its doctrines.
1960s. In the sixties, the individual Christian was brought into situations where his denominational doctrine was compromised through prayer meetings and charismatic, non-denominational organizations.
1970s. In the seventies, we saw these individual Christians and their leaders brought into larger ecumenical conferences and gatherings to form in them the sense of unity.
1980s. In the eighties, these large gatherings took the form of planning a global effort to evangelize the world by the year 2000 in cooperation with the Catholic Church, through the compromise of doctrine.
1990s. In the nineties, we saw implementation and mobilization of the global evangelization effort.
Over the last five decades, the more the Church united, the more solid doctrine eroded.