Lance Wallnau is an American preacher associated with the New Apostolic Reformation and the Seven Mountain Mandate. He has been referred to as the "father of American Dominionism".[1]
Biography
editBefore turning to religion Wallnau was involved in oil marketing in Texas.[2]
During a meeting between Loren Cunningham and Lance Wallnau in 2000, Cunningham told Wallnau about a message from God delivered to Cunningham, Bill Bright, and Francis Schaeffer in 1975 ordering them to invade the "seven spheres" of society identified as family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government.[3] The Seven Mountain Mandate movement came to prominence after the 2013 publication of Wallnau's and Bill Johnson's book Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate.[4]
In 2016 Wallnau released a book called God's Chaos Candidate in which he prophesied that Donald Trump would win the election.[5]
Wallnau is a member of the Eagles' Vision Apostolic Team, a group of leaders associated with the New Apostolic Reformation.[2] Within the movement Wallnau is considered a prophet.[6]
He is an advisor to and a force behind the nonprofit Christian dominionist organization Ziklag.[7]
In 2024, Wallnau headlined the Courage Tour, featuring prophets and Charismatic preachers promoting the Trump campaign and MAGA ideas.[8]
Views
editWallnau is known for creating and popularizing the concept of Donald Trump as a modern-day biblical King Cyrus, from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 45. Cyrus—seen as anointed by God—freed the Jewish people from Babylonian captivity while not himself a believer in their faith.[9][10] Wallnau holds that Cyrus is an archetype of a secular political leader chosen by God, initially believing Trump was the only such Cyrus figure. He later came to the belief that there have been many previous iterations worldwide, including "George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan", with Trump as the current American Cyrus figure, and others such as Viktor Orbán, Andrzej Duda, and Jair Bolsonaro in other countries. The concept soon became part of NAR belief. Additionally, Wallnau contends that Trump will help reconstruct the United States and prevent cultural collapse, thereby bringing the apostolic reformation, rechristianization, and stability to other countries with the help of "anointed" Christians.[11] Other Christian leaders such as Beth Moore have publicly taken issue with Wallnau's characterization, stating "[w]e can't sanctify idolatry by labeling a leader our Cyrus. We need no Cyrus. We have a king. His name is Jesus."[12]
Common to the NAR is a belief in waging spiritual warfare against perceived demonic spirits; Wallnau has referred to Trump's presidency as a "spiritual warfare presidency".[13][7]
Regarding the ekklesia or Christian Church, Wallnau states:
The word for 'church' in the New Testament is the word ecclesia. The world of Jesus' day knew this word as it was used throughout the Roman empire to refer to the method of civil governing by political bodies. The word was used as far back as the time of Alexander the Great to describe the governing bodies of Greek city states. The ecclesia is a governing word describing a governing body of believers called out as citizens of the kingdom to take their seats at the gates! What gates? The gates of influence that shape the cities and nations of the earth.[14]
Wallnau told followers in 2011:
If you're talking to a secular audience you don't talk about having dominion over them. This whole idea of taking over and that language of takeover, it doesn't actually help. It's good for preaching to the choir and it's shorthand if we interpret it right, but it's very bad for media."[15]
A joint report from the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty and the Freedom From Religion Foundation on the role of Christian nationalism in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack argued that Wallnau's "warfare rhetoric" was linked to stochastic terrorism.[1] Scholar Arne Helgen Teigen noted "nationalist", "anti-democratic", and "fascist" traits in Wallnau's prophethood.[11]
Wallnau prophesied in 2010 regarding Norwegian apostolic leader Jan-Aage Torp's divine calling and influence.[16]
Works
edit- The 7 Mountain Mandate: Impacting Culture, Discipling Nations. Fort Mill, South Carolina: MorningStar Ministries. DVD. 2009.
- Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate. With Bill Johnson. Shippensburg, Pennsylvania: Destiny Image Publishers. 2013.
- God's Chaos Candidate: Donald J. Trump and the American Unraveling. Keller, Texas: Killer Sheep Media. 2016.
- God's Chaos Code: The Shocking Blueprint that Reveals 5 Keys to the Destiny of Nations. Keller, Texas: Killer Sheep Media. 2020.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Seidel, Andrew L. (February 9, 2022). Christian Nationalism and the January 6, 2021 Insurrection (PDF) (Report). Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Freedom From Religion Foundation. pp. 14–15. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ a b Lehmann, Chris (April 15, 2024). "The Trump Revival". The Nation. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
- ^ Silliman, Daniel (October 9, 2023). "Died: Loren Cunningham, Who Launched Millions on Short-Term Missions". Christianity Today. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ Hardy, Elle (March 19, 2020). "The 'modern apostles' who want to reshape America ahead of the end times". The Outline.
- ^ Haffner, Josh (November 10, 2016). "Meet the evangelicals who prophesied a Trump win". USA Today. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
- ^ Monacelli, Steven (August 4, 2023). "God's Army Gathers in Fort Worth". The Texas Observer. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
- ^ a b Kroll, Andy; Surgey, Nick (July 13, 2024). "Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country". ProPublica. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
- ^ Herman, Alice (August 2, 2024). "'We have to be voting biblically': the Courage Tour rallies Christians to get Trump in office". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
- ^ Clarkson, Frederick; Gagné, André (November 30, 2022). "Call it 'Christian Globalism': A Reporter's Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation, Part III". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
- ^ Pidcock, Rick (January 10, 2023). "The New Apostolic Reformation drove the January 6 riots, so why was it overlooked by the House Select Committee?". Baptist News Global. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
- ^ a b Teigen, Arne Helge (2020). "Profetiene om Donald Trump, USA og NAR-bevegelsen: En kritisk undersøkelse av profetier om Donald Trump, USA og Guds rike innen New Apostolic Reformation-bevegelsen" [Prophecies about Donald Trump, the USA and the NAR movement: A critical examination of prophecies about Donald Trump, the United States, and the Kingdom of God within the New Apostolic Reformation movement] (PDF). Theofilos (in Norwegian). 12 (2–3): 301–305.
- ^ Blair, Leonardo (December 15, 2020). "Beth Moore draws flak and praise after warning Christians against 'dangerous' Trumpism". Christian Post. Archived from the original on December 15, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2024.
- ^ Boorstein, Michelle (November 5, 2022). "In existential midterm races, Christian prophets become GOP surrogates". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 8, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2024.
- ^ Wallnau, Lance (2016). God's Chaos Candidate: Donald J. Trump and the American Unraveling. Keller, Texas: Killer Sheep Media. p. 143.
- ^ Rosenberg, Paul (January 2, 2024). "Meet the New Apostolic Reformation, cutting edge of the Christian right". Salon.com.
- ^ Clarkson, Frederick; Gagné, André (November 30, 2022). "Call it 'Christian Globalism': A Reporter's Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation, Part III". Religion Dispatches. Retrieved May 1, 2024.