Wagner Admits NAR Presence At Perry Prayer Rally A Sign Of Its Growing Influence

During our coverage of the massive prayer rally organized by Gov. Rick Perry last month, one of the things we noticed was the large number of people associated with the New Apostolic Reformation who were involved in organizing, endorsing, or speaking at the event, including prominent NAR leader C. Peter Wagner.

Today, Voice of America posted a wide-ranging twenty minute interview with Wagner in which he discussed everything from Seven Mountains theology to spiritual warfare to the role of NAR in Perry's prayer rally.

Wagner insisted that they have no interest in gaining "control" over the Seven Mountains, nor in establishing any sort of theocracy.  As he explained it, they are simply seeking to see God's prophets and apostles "rise in terms of influence in all of the Seven Mountains and in society as a whole" in order to bring around the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Wagner was also asked about the prevalence of NAR associates on stage and in organizing Gov. Perry's prayer rally and admitted that it was a sign of the NAR's growing influence and asserted that  there is nothing wrong with being a part of the NAR or associating with it: 

VOA: You've had a lot of attention since The Response prayer rally that was headlined by Rick Perry last month. Do you think the attention you've gotten is warranted? There are a lot of people, especially on the left, who are very worried about this movement. Do you think that they're right that your influence is growing?

Wagner: I think they're right that the influence is growing and the influence was very strong in The Response meeting. But what I see in the media is that critics of conservative candidates like Rick Perry are accusing him of doing something bad by his friendship with people in the NAR. I don't know if Rick Perry would consider himself as a part of the NAR but he had some people on the platform and in the audience who were part of the NAR. But I don't think there is anything worse about being part of the NAR then being part of the Southern Baptists or being part of the Catholic Church or being part of any other segment of Christianity.

The entire interview is interesting and informative and well worth a listen.