Newsletter by Jewel van der Merwe - Volume 1, Number 2 June 1990

The thought of something “new” is always scintillating to the senses. In a society that from childhood is looking for a new fad, it is not surprising that a preposterous new doctrine would be sweeping the church. The most disconcerting aspect is that this time we can not question this doctrine. It must be accepted blindly as a “new revelation” coming from the “anointed” Last Day “prophets.” If we question, we are: (1) divisive, (2) have a “Jezebel spirit” and even, (3) called witches.

The latter rain movement as it has come to be called actually began in 1948 from a Pentecostal Assemblies of God revival in a ministry school in Saskatchewan Canada. The terms “New Order” and “Latter Rain” were coined from this movement. One of the main tenants of this new Latter Rain theology was the belief in the restoration of the ministry of the Apostle and Prophet to the modern day church. From that time on the idea that God was restoring these offices began to be disseminated first in the mainline Pentecostal churches and then in evangelical spirit filled churches as a whole.

 The following ideas and beliefs are characteristic of Latter Rain movement also known as Manifest Sons of God, The Melchizedek Order, New Apostles, The Third Wave, Manchild Company, and other names. These ideas and beliefs are steeped in new age philosophies, mysticism, gnosticism, and outright occultism and are being propagated in the church as a whole.