I do not believe it is and would like to go into a few of the many substantial reasons why.

Does the Bible teach that the church is supposed to rule the world?

Jesus certainly didn't teach this. He said ''My kingdom is not of this world.'' (Jn 8:36). The epistles teach that we are ''aliens and strangers'' in this world (1Pet 2:11), that we are to set our minds ''on the things above, not on the things that are on earth'' (Col 3:2).

Reflect on the following passage. When did God change His mind and begin doing the opposite of this?

The Bible teaches that, rather than a great end-time revival and the salvation of the entire world, there will be a great end-time apostasy -a falling away from the faith by even those who profess to be Christians (There are many references to this, such as: Matt 24:24; 2Tim 3:1-5, 13; Luke 18:8; 2 Tim 4:3-4; 2Th 2:1-12; 2 Pet 2:1-19; 1Tim 4:1; 2Pet 3:3-4).

Jesus never even implied He would return to a glorious, triumphant church and world-wide Christianity- in fact, He asked ''when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?'' (Luke 18:8). We have between this movement and the Bible two visions for the church which are complete opposites. Which one is the truth?

Let's remember that political rule by a global 'church' organization has been done, and it did not bring about an authentically Christian world or the Kingdom of God on earth. Instead, it illustrated that ''absolute power corrupts absolutely'' just as surely in the church as in the secular world. Religious rule brought religious abuse, persecution, and oppression -

Do we really want to go there again?

Please don't make the mistake of thinking the human race has ''evolved'' beyond such behavior! This is a false New Age hope. Human nature today remains just exactly what it has been since the fall and very predictable.

Superiority Complex The movement carries an attitude of superiority over the church of the past which brings to mind the church of Laodicea, which is believed to be representive of the final end-time church (the word ''Laodicea'' interestingly denotes the idea of the rule of the people, as opposed to God):

No human being is ever going to be equal to Jesus Christ- He is God. This is nothing but the age-old sin- ''I will be as the Most High,'' - ''in the day you eat from it... you will be like God,'' (Isa 14:4, Gen 3:5) restated and repackaged for modern consumption. Contrary to this gospel,

Newspeak

The movement has redefined biblical words to fit their theology. They speak of ''Christ's return'' or ''the rapture'' while really meaning the concept of the church becoming Christ. They speak of ''the Kingdom'' meaning the earthly dominion they are trying to achieve. ''Revival'' is another word whose meaning has been severely altered (more on that later).

People are being misled because they assume the familiar words mean what they've always meant. They don't.

Reinterpreting the Scriptures

The movement splinters the Bible to make it support this theology, taking scriptures obviously referring to Israel or even Christ out of context, and applying them to the church, haphazardly pulling prophetic scriptures out of their context and applying them- even ones that have already been fulfilled.

An Earth-Centered Gospel of Power

Ambition for earthly power, and prestige and glory for the church in the here and now, drives the movement and has replaced the ''blessed hope'' of Christ's return (Titus 2:13). There is a hunger, a craving for power constantly vocalized in all of their teachings and testimonies. The doctrine of the Rapture or Christ's imminent physical return are ridiculed as ''escapist.''

There have been a lot of different names given to this basic theology by those with one bent or another. It is sometimes called the ''Third Wave'' or ''postdenominationalism.'' Other theologies which follow the same basic theme with some minor variations are ''Kingdom,'' ''Dominion,'' and ''reconstructionism.'' They don't always carry the idea of achieving the level of godhood to such an extreme, but still emphasize the necessity of the church becoming unified and global, taking dominion of and ''Christianizing'' the earth, and the benefits this will supposedly provide to society; and put trust in man's ability to achieve for God.

Variation within the Movement

There is a lot of variation of belief among followers of the movement - people and churches have become involved from many doctrinal backgrounds and are all at different stages of assimilating the new teachings. Though the core of the movement itself is built upon and driven by ''Latter Rain'' theology, it is important not to judge anyone involved too quickly. Many genuine, sincere believers involved at a superficial level are unaware and are sincerely serving God with honest hearts. (''To the pure, all things are pure,'' Titus 1:15.)

The average person is completely unaware of the theology that underlies the movement when they first begin to get involved. Teachings at public events and church services are superficial. As people become more involved, they are gradually exposed to the deeper parts of the theology. It is spread by covert seduction more than open instruction. The deeper someone gets into the movement, the more their old theology gets displaced by the new. You often hear a speaker mixing parts of this theology with traditional theology - they have not yet absorbed it all and don't even realize they are mixing two contradictory worldviews.

Pastor Joseph Chambers writes,

My earnest prayer is that those involved will return to the Bible when they become aware of the deeper teachings involved.

A New Age Mirror?

In spite of the biblical words, the movement's core theology is not biblical, it is, in fact, practically identical to the New Age (and Mormon) theology that man will attain to godhood and establish a ''New World Order'' of harmony and peace.  (11) 

Listen to some teachings of New Age authors (note that they often use biblical terms for New Age teachings):

Do you see the similarity between this and the movement's teaching? Now, compare those quotes to this movement's leaders - -

Do you see the likeness, sometimes word-for-word?

It appears that New Age doctrine is the ''New Thing'' the movement would like to see ''redefine'' the Christian church.

Tricia Tillin sums it up well:

I believe her last comment is especially important. Many are trying to rationalize bringing at least fragments of these new teachings into the church, trying hard to believe they can be complimentary to the Bible's teachings. Tricia is correct, however. The teachings, even when not carried to the extreme, are not biblical and should be rejected outright.

While we are trying to bend the Bible and the church to fit the Latter Rain worldview, we are neglecting and being distracted from that which the Bible does teach and the purposes God has given us.