In recent decades, certain strands of the modern Pentecostal/Charismatic movement have embraced teachings such as:

 

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The Latter Rain Movement

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The Latter Rain revival began in the late 1940s and taught that God was raising up a powerful end-times church unlike any before it. Some of its main teachings included:

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• The restoration of the offices of modern-day apostles and prophets with special authority.

• Impartation of spiritual gifts through the laying on of hands.​

• The idea of a perfected group of “manifest sons of God” who would rise in great power to bring about Christ’s return.
   

While these ideas may sound appealing, they drift away from Scripture. The Bible warns us that only Christ is the Head of the Church (Colossians 1:18). Spiritual gifts are given as the Spirit wills (1 Corinthians 12:11), not controlled or transferred by men.

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The Bible does show times when the laying on of hands accompanied the Spirit’s work (Acts 8:17; 1 Timothy 4:14). However, the Spirit is always sovereign in giving gifts, and the laying on of hands is never a mechanical guarantee.  God is the giver; our role is simply prayer and humble dependence on Him.

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Apostles and Prophets in Scripture

The New Testament speaks of apostles and prophets (Ephesians 4:11) as gifts given by Christ for the building up of the church.  In the early church, apostles were witnesses of the risen Christ and laid the foundation of Christian teaching (Ephesians 2:20).  Prophets encouraged, exhorted, and strengthened the body (1 Corinthians 14:3).

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But nowhere does scripture teach that modern apostles and prophets should exercise unchecked authority over the global church or deliver new revelation equal to scripture. Leadership in the church is always meant to serve, not to dominate (Mark 10:42-45).  And no prophecy or directive should ever be placed on par with, or above, the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

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The danger of the Latter Rain teaching was that it elevated individuals into positions of power, placing their revelations and directions alongside (or even above) scripture. This undermines the sufficiency of God’s Word and shifts the focus away from Christ to human leaders.

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So serious were the errors of the Latter Rain that in 1949 the Assemblies of God officially rejected its teachings as unscriptural. Their statement warned against the exaltation of apostles and prophets, the misuse of prophecy, and the idea of imparting spiritual gifts at will. This shows that, from the beginning, wise leaders recognized the dangers of drifting beyond the authority of scripture.

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Dominion Theology

A modern outgrowth of this same thinking is Dominion Theology (sometimes called the 7 Mountain Mandate). This teaching says Christians must take control of government, business, media, education, family, religion, and the arts in order to bring about God’s kingdom on earth.

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In simple terms, Dominion Theology says: “If Christians run the world, Jesus will return.” But the Bible teaches the opposite: it is Christ Himself who establishes His kingdom when He returns (Revelation 19–20). Until then, we are called to live as ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), faithfully representing His kingdom until He comes.

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Learn more here: Dominion Theology​

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The Word of Faith / Prosperity Gospel

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Another widespread movement teaches that faith is a force and that our words can create reality. According to this teaching, if you have enough faith or speak the right words, God is obligated to give you health, wealth, and success.

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This is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. While God is a generous Father who delights to provide for His children (Philippians 4:19), He never promised us a life free of trouble. In fact, Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). The prosperity gospel distorts prayer into a formula for personal gain, turning faith into a tool to control God rather than an act of trust in Him.

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Even more dangerously, some in this movement teach that believers are “little gods.” This is unbiblical and dishonors Christ.  We are not divine.  We are redeemed sinners adopted into God’s family by grace.  Our calling is not to exalt ourselves but to exalt Jesus and walk in obedience to Him.

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The Assemblies of God, along with many other evangelical and Pentecostal groups, have repeatedly rejected these prosperity teachings as unbiblical, because they replace the true riches of knowing Christ with a counterfeit gospel of materialism and self-exaltation.