Restorative Movements are Messy.

Febraury 21st, 2026

By: David Hoskins

I keep hearing and seeing people jumping on the bandwagon to tear down and throw stones at the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement.   

As in every restorative movement throughout history, God uses people and leaders to bring about restoration of truth to His body.  Leaders like Calvin and Luther.   The reformers of old were not perfect in character or theology, they were called to bring a restorative truth to the body of Christ.   God is very intentional about bringing restoration to His church.  God accomplishes this by reforming us season to season until the fullness of restoration comes.

Acts 3:20-21 (NIV)

20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.

God used a man like Martin Luther who was not perfect to bring reformation to His church.  Luther was antisemitic and believed that passing gas was the way to expel demons from his life.  He was not a perfect man nor was all his theology perfect, but the truth God gave him was spot on.   By that I mean the truth of justification by grace through faith.    

So many people are getting lost in the rhetoric these days.   As these truths are being restored to the body of Christ, it creates friction and it creates challenges because change is never easy.  People think that where all that smoke is, there must be fire.   There is fire, it is the fire of the Holy Spirit bringing reformation to the church.  Its very nature is to burn away that which hinders.  

It’s not the time to run away, and it is certainly not the time to throw stones at those who are innovatively trying to bring reformation to the body of Christ

My suggestion is for everybody to relax and to allow the Holy Spirit to do what He does. Do not throw away the cake before it is fully baked.   

God is bringing good things to His church and though it is a messy process, some are beginning to mature and see the fullness of these truths expressed in a very healthy way.

Teams of leaders are emerging and hell is on notice.  A new day is dawning.  The body of Christ is becoming more awake and mobilized than ever before.  Good things are on the horizon.  

Restoration is described as looking through a glass dimly. We don’t see the fullness until time rolls it out. God has intended it to be that way. The Father desires that we know things, but not so much that the enemy knows the end from the beginning. That is reserved exclusively for God. We must learn to walk with Holy Spirit in this war against evil. We do so with truth unfolding as we learn to walk with and abide in Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 4:18 (NIV)

18 The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.

I believe there are some good players and some bad players in this movement.   It is the nature of restorative movements to be messy.   The bad players in every movement end up being exposed.   This is the plight of those whose character lacks the strength to sustain their gifting and revelation.  

It is for this reason that this particular restorative movement is essential.   It is a governmental restoration that is taking place where leaders are having to learn what it means to walk in teams in a new way.   Eventually, this will bring a lot of checks and balances to the body of Christ so that we don’t lose our way in subsequent restorative movements.   

I believe that most of the leaders who find themselves in this reformative movement come from a diversity of theological and ideological backgrounds.  It is a very broad sweeping movement.  Because of this reality, there is a lot of shifting and sifting going on as theologies merge and converge, and for this new wineskin to develop.  

One of the errors that is associated with most movements is connected to the dynamic personalities that lead the movements.  Many times people get so infatuated with the personalities that they don’t understand that it’s the truth that God is releasing, that is being restored to the body.  The real challenge begins when those truths start to be implemented.   Not everyone who plants a seed is good at watering seeds.  Bringing an implementation to the new thing that God is releasing is a work of artistry and requires great patience, for it is the unknown.  

1 Corinthians 3:8 (NIV)

8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

Things tend to get messy when leaders attempt to bring truth to bear within the existing structures in the Body of Christ.  Some of those structures can’t just be reformed. Some of them end up having to break before they can truly position themselves for the new wine that God desires to pour out.

As the Bible instructs us, very clearly, do not pour new wine into old wineskins.  

Matthew 9:17 (NIV)

17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

What we’re seeing in the body of Christ today is a lot of the old wineskins bursting. Don’t be distracted by that. God is on the move and he will bring us into the fullness of His intention.   He desires to pour out the new wine of His Spirit.

We need to walk things out humbly, honestly, and with integrity.  We need to be intentional about seeing His truths restored in such a way that it moves us collectively forward into our best day yet.

The reformers of old enjoyed using a phrase from the Latin which says  “Post Tenebras Lux”  

The phrase is translated after darkness light.   

Through each restorative movement, God is bringing new light to bear so that we may move forward with greater clarity and sight. We must be patient with the process and we must be mature. God is on the move.