Healing Revival History and the Lakeland Meetings with Todd Bentley
I've spent some time praying about what is going on in Lakeland, Florida, with the so-called "Healing Revival" (Also known as the "Lakeland Healing Outpouring"). What I'm about to share will probably burn some bridges that I've been forming recently with various ministers around Michigan; nevertheless, the truth must be shared. I know I have a lot of readers, and that puts me in a place where I am held even more accountable to God than otherwise. Therefore, I must be faithful in my commitment to the truth even if it may result in fewer ministry opportunities in the future.
Enough setup--let's get down to business. Thursday's blog post brought the most significant influx of new visitors this site has ever seen; and in that post I made a solemn promise to you:
Of particular interest to me was an angel Todd Bentley reported to have seen, which another minister, Bob Jones, said was named "Winds of Change." Here's what Charisma Magazine reported about this:
This particular movement is rarely talked about today, but it involved a handful of traveling ministers who brought significant demonstrations of God's power to their meetings--and William Branham was a key player. David Harrell, Jr., in his book All Things are Possible (1978) said of the leaders of this movement:
Many Christian historians seem to offer the same answer: things often went downhill when these men tried to operate outside their specific giftings.
Where Branham was concerned, people were known to fall asleep while he preached--he was that boring! So Branham had his associate, Baxter, do all the talking. Baxter would preach the gospel, and then Branham would come to the microphone and start pointing at people, calling them by name, identifying their ailment, and declaring them healed in Jesus' name (there were no "information cards" handed in beforehand or anything else that could explain this--it was genuine revelation). Many documented cases of healing came forth with medical records to prove their reality. God was certainly moving!
Unfortunately, a series of events that started in 1955 led Branham down a dark road. His ministry faced deficits, and in 1956, the IRS was taking action against him for tax evasion (which he was actually not guilty of--as it turned out, some ministry associates were taking advantage of him. Branham was living on $7,000 a year even though $80,000 was funneling through his ministry.). As William Branham struggled with the emotional impact of these financial issues and the betrayal of his collegues, and as opportunities for ministry became increasingly competitive with the onset of new "healing ministers" toward the end of his ministry, Branham started to drift off the deep end.
Before long, Branham's personal doctrine was skewed severely, and he began to teach some heretical things. He denied the existance of the Trinity, he taught that hell wasn't eternal, and that Eve had engaged Satan sexually while in the garden of Eden. The false teachings didn't stop there, but it goes without saying that Branham's ministry went steeply downhill.
Back when Branham stayed within his gift and only focused on healing, God used him mightily in ways that we haven't seen since. But as soon as he stepped outside his gift and started preaching and teaching, Branham actually developed a cult following who worshipped him as Jesus Christ and baptized people "in the name of William Branham!"
So as I was praying about the current "Lakeland Healing Revival" and Todd Bentley's role, I asked the Lord what to think of it all. Please weigh this for yourself and feel free to confront me publically if you believe I was deceived, but I felt the Lord say to me, "Todd Bentley's gift of healing is true; but his method of ministry is unnecessarily theatrical and many of his teachings are littered with falsehoods."
After sensing this from the Lord, I started digging through Internet articles written by Todd Bentley, and what I found disturbed me. He shared more about visions he had experienced than he did about the actual Word of God. And never once did I find a place where he added a disclaimer like I did in the previous paragraph, offering his "revelations" up for scrutiny by the Body of Christ. Instead, he just spouted strange teachings--like when he said that he met with the Apostle Paul at his little wooden shack in heaven, and Paul told him that the Book of Hebrews was written by him and Abraham together as he had supernatural heavenly visits with this patriarch of the faith. (see the original article here.)
What?
Now, I have to be honest with you, I have had heavenly encounters myself, but I only ever saw Jesus during those visits. For that matter, the experiences I had always led to action--souls were saved, people repented, and even animals were raised from the dead--but never once did I come out of those encounters with a new teaching or some erroneous claim about something no one else knows. Not to mention that each of those encounters was somehow confirmed to be true (by an outside source) within minutes of having the experience. Heavenly encounters, visions, trances, and the like are real, biblically-supported occurrances that can take place in the life of a believer; but they can also be counterfeited by demons, and I'm afraid Todd Bentley has fallen victim to some of these spiritual illusions.
If you or someone you know has been healed as a result of the Lakeland meetings, praise God! You have not been healed by evil spirits--I believe this was definitely of God. However, be very careful about how closely you follow the words and actions of Todd Bentley. He is a Christian who has been largely deceived by powers and principalities in the spiritual realm, which has caused him to step outside his gifting. We need to pray for Todd Bentley that God would rescue him from the same trap as William Branham.
In closing, I want to make a few contrasts between William Branham (while he was still ministering within his gifting and God was moving powerfully) and what we see happening right now with Todd Bentley.
According to John Crowder (who I'm afraid is falling into the same trap as Bentley) in his book The New Mystics, "Branham never raised his voice when he was speaking, nor did he use any showy tactics." Todd Bentley, on the other hand, parades about the stage slapping people in the forehead and yelling "BAM!" I watched some of it on GodTV and was actually a little repulsed by his showmanship. One elderly woman fell over, and Todd said, "She doesn't know why she fell over!" The ushers helped the old woman up, and she said, "Yes I do know why I fell over: you pushed me!"
Also from Crowder's book: "Often, if the anointing was not present, Branham would simply cut his meetings short and walk out, leaving thousands frustrated. Branham sometimes did this if he felt the congregation was looking too exclusively at him to effect the healings." Todd Bently, however, seems to overlook the absence of the Holy Spirit. One person who I found in an online forum observed, "...when a severely inflicted person comes up on the stage for healing and doesn't 'fall over' when he screams BAM in their face, [Todd] immediately changes the subject, either by calling out another 'word of knowledge', or telling everyone that the atmosphere is changing, either an angel has shown up or a new glory is filling the place."
Likewise, Branham was not a self-promoter during the healthy days of his ministry. But with Bentley, I see that he is strongy promoting his meetings and telling the young people to get the message out through their MySpace and FaceBook accounts. He said, "Young people, announce it to the world!"
The Todd Bentley that I'm seeing today looks more to me like the latter William Branham than the former. There is nothing--other than the healing miracles themselves--that I can compare to William Branham when his ministry was healthy; but there are plenty of correlations with the post-1956 Branham, who taught extra-biblical falsehoods, was a self-promoter, and operated outside his gifting (leading thousands astray).
I love Todd Bentley, and I am not here to slander his name. I believe that he could repent very quickly and be used mightily for the Kingdom of God. However, if he continues on this path, I fear what the result may be. Please, brothers and sisters, be careful with Todd's teachings and so-called "revelations." I believe Todd has a healing gift from God, but that does not automatically validate his teachings. Unfortunately, his healing gift seems to add weight to what he has to say, and people believe him all too quickly. The only reason Todd can heal people in the name of Jesus while simultaneously teaching such odd things is that "God's gifts and His call are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29).
Please be discerning, friends. Chew the meat and spit out the bones. If you want to attend the meetings in Lakeland to receive a healing touch from God, then I will certainly not stop you; but PLEASE be careful to test the spirits and weigh every word out of Todd's mouth.
As much as my life has been impacted in the past through Todd Bentley's ministry, I, for one, can no longer defend it.
Enough setup--let's get down to business. Thursday's blog post brought the most significant influx of new visitors this site has ever seen; and in that post I made a solemn promise to you:
Well, over the weekend, I believe I may have gotten some of that genuine revelation. Believe it or not, it didn't come while reading articles condemning the meetings in Lakeland--it came while reading things from the people who support it!If this current movement is truly from God, then no one will be able to stop it. And if Todd Bentley is a false prophet, then I can guarantee that God will expose him for what he is. But unless this happens, I have to say, "Amen! So be it! May this be the beginning of the revival we've been crying out for! May the healing power of God be poured forth from heaven on a global scale!" If God reveals differently to me, then I will certainly speak out against these meetings, but I will not do so apart from genuine revelation.
Of particular interest to me was an angel Todd Bentley reported to have seen, which another minister, Bob Jones, said was named "Winds of Change." Here's what Charisma Magazine reported about this:
I don't know how much you know about William Branham and his healing meetings, but I see some significant correlations between his ministry and Todd Bentley's. So I want to give you a short history lesson about William Branham and the "Voice of Healing" revival of the 1940s and '50s.Bentley, who looks more like a gang leader than the founder of a Christian ministry, came to Lakeland on April 2 and has shown no sign of leaving since an angel, he said, visited him the day after he arrived.
Prophetic minister Bob Jones told Bentley he believed the angel’s name was "Winds of Change"--the same angel, Jones said, that visited healing evangelist William Branham in the 1940s. (source: charismamag.com)
This particular movement is rarely talked about today, but it involved a handful of traveling ministers who brought significant demonstrations of God's power to their meetings--and William Branham was a key player. David Harrell, Jr., in his book All Things are Possible (1978) said of the leaders of this movement:
Why did these men suffer so much for the sake of ministry? People were genuinely being healed--there were even cases of the dead being raised to life. If this "Healing Revival" was from God, why did these men end up so mentally, emotionally, and physically wrecked?Most were dedicated to back-breaking work and spent long grueling hours in the centers of the platforms of the big tents praying, clapping, shouting, pleading with the crippled to walk, commanding the blind to see....It was an exhausting, grinding, draining way of life. William Branham was a broken man after little more than a year; Jack Coe was physically exhausted at the time of his death; A.A. Allan, an incredibly tough campaigner, tottered constantly on the brink of psychological collapse; the resilience of Oral Roberts became a legend among his peers.
Many Christian historians seem to offer the same answer: things often went downhill when these men tried to operate outside their specific giftings.
Where Branham was concerned, people were known to fall asleep while he preached--he was that boring! So Branham had his associate, Baxter, do all the talking. Baxter would preach the gospel, and then Branham would come to the microphone and start pointing at people, calling them by name, identifying their ailment, and declaring them healed in Jesus' name (there were no "information cards" handed in beforehand or anything else that could explain this--it was genuine revelation). Many documented cases of healing came forth with medical records to prove their reality. God was certainly moving!
Unfortunately, a series of events that started in 1955 led Branham down a dark road. His ministry faced deficits, and in 1956, the IRS was taking action against him for tax evasion (which he was actually not guilty of--as it turned out, some ministry associates were taking advantage of him. Branham was living on $7,000 a year even though $80,000 was funneling through his ministry.). As William Branham struggled with the emotional impact of these financial issues and the betrayal of his collegues, and as opportunities for ministry became increasingly competitive with the onset of new "healing ministers" toward the end of his ministry, Branham started to drift off the deep end.
Before long, Branham's personal doctrine was skewed severely, and he began to teach some heretical things. He denied the existance of the Trinity, he taught that hell wasn't eternal, and that Eve had engaged Satan sexually while in the garden of Eden. The false teachings didn't stop there, but it goes without saying that Branham's ministry went steeply downhill.
Back when Branham stayed within his gift and only focused on healing, God used him mightily in ways that we haven't seen since. But as soon as he stepped outside his gift and started preaching and teaching, Branham actually developed a cult following who worshipped him as Jesus Christ and baptized people "in the name of William Branham!"
So as I was praying about the current "Lakeland Healing Revival" and Todd Bentley's role, I asked the Lord what to think of it all. Please weigh this for yourself and feel free to confront me publically if you believe I was deceived, but I felt the Lord say to me, "Todd Bentley's gift of healing is true; but his method of ministry is unnecessarily theatrical and many of his teachings are littered with falsehoods."
After sensing this from the Lord, I started digging through Internet articles written by Todd Bentley, and what I found disturbed me. He shared more about visions he had experienced than he did about the actual Word of God. And never once did I find a place where he added a disclaimer like I did in the previous paragraph, offering his "revelations" up for scrutiny by the Body of Christ. Instead, he just spouted strange teachings--like when he said that he met with the Apostle Paul at his little wooden shack in heaven, and Paul told him that the Book of Hebrews was written by him and Abraham together as he had supernatural heavenly visits with this patriarch of the faith. (see the original article here.)
What?
Now, I have to be honest with you, I have had heavenly encounters myself, but I only ever saw Jesus during those visits. For that matter, the experiences I had always led to action--souls were saved, people repented, and even animals were raised from the dead--but never once did I come out of those encounters with a new teaching or some erroneous claim about something no one else knows. Not to mention that each of those encounters was somehow confirmed to be true (by an outside source) within minutes of having the experience. Heavenly encounters, visions, trances, and the like are real, biblically-supported occurrances that can take place in the life of a believer; but they can also be counterfeited by demons, and I'm afraid Todd Bentley has fallen victim to some of these spiritual illusions.
If you or someone you know has been healed as a result of the Lakeland meetings, praise God! You have not been healed by evil spirits--I believe this was definitely of God. However, be very careful about how closely you follow the words and actions of Todd Bentley. He is a Christian who has been largely deceived by powers and principalities in the spiritual realm, which has caused him to step outside his gifting. We need to pray for Todd Bentley that God would rescue him from the same trap as William Branham.
In closing, I want to make a few contrasts between William Branham (while he was still ministering within his gifting and God was moving powerfully) and what we see happening right now with Todd Bentley.
According to John Crowder (who I'm afraid is falling into the same trap as Bentley) in his book The New Mystics, "Branham never raised his voice when he was speaking, nor did he use any showy tactics." Todd Bentley, on the other hand, parades about the stage slapping people in the forehead and yelling "BAM!" I watched some of it on GodTV and was actually a little repulsed by his showmanship. One elderly woman fell over, and Todd said, "She doesn't know why she fell over!" The ushers helped the old woman up, and she said, "Yes I do know why I fell over: you pushed me!"
Also from Crowder's book: "Often, if the anointing was not present, Branham would simply cut his meetings short and walk out, leaving thousands frustrated. Branham sometimes did this if he felt the congregation was looking too exclusively at him to effect the healings." Todd Bently, however, seems to overlook the absence of the Holy Spirit. One person who I found in an online forum observed, "...when a severely inflicted person comes up on the stage for healing and doesn't 'fall over' when he screams BAM in their face, [Todd] immediately changes the subject, either by calling out another 'word of knowledge', or telling everyone that the atmosphere is changing, either an angel has shown up or a new glory is filling the place."
Likewise, Branham was not a self-promoter during the healthy days of his ministry. But with Bentley, I see that he is strongy promoting his meetings and telling the young people to get the message out through their MySpace and FaceBook accounts. He said, "Young people, announce it to the world!"
The Todd Bentley that I'm seeing today looks more to me like the latter William Branham than the former. There is nothing--other than the healing miracles themselves--that I can compare to William Branham when his ministry was healthy; but there are plenty of correlations with the post-1956 Branham, who taught extra-biblical falsehoods, was a self-promoter, and operated outside his gifting (leading thousands astray).
I love Todd Bentley, and I am not here to slander his name. I believe that he could repent very quickly and be used mightily for the Kingdom of God. However, if he continues on this path, I fear what the result may be. Please, brothers and sisters, be careful with Todd's teachings and so-called "revelations." I believe Todd has a healing gift from God, but that does not automatically validate his teachings. Unfortunately, his healing gift seems to add weight to what he has to say, and people believe him all too quickly. The only reason Todd can heal people in the name of Jesus while simultaneously teaching such odd things is that "God's gifts and His call are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29).
Please be discerning, friends. Chew the meat and spit out the bones. If you want to attend the meetings in Lakeland to receive a healing touch from God, then I will certainly not stop you; but PLEASE be careful to test the spirits and weigh every word out of Todd's mouth.
As much as my life has been impacted in the past through Todd Bentley's ministry, I, for one, can no longer defend it.
Labels: discernment, false teaching, gifts of the Spirit, healing, Lakeland Healing Revival, power, revival, supernatural, Todd Bentley, William Branham
posted by Art Thomas | Monday, April 28, 2008
22 Comments:
Colossians 2:18
Not sure who posted the previous comment, but for those who don't have a Bible accessible, Colossians 2:18 says, "Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions."
I find this interesting given what I was noticing just a few minutes ago. I've been watching the Todd Bentley meetings for about 45 minutes now, and not once has the name of Jesus Christ come up. And yet, Todd has talked about the angel in the room between 15 and 20 times. He even said the "healing power" in the meeting comes from that angel (where's Jesus?). He then went into detail about what the angel looked like and how he could tell where it was.
Scary.
Again, please be careful with what Bentley has to say.
Here in the UK i can see this becoming a major pastoral problem because of the God tv coverage.People are longing for a move of God but unfortunately because Bible study has been jettisoned for cosy house fellowship chats charismatics and pentecostal (to our shame)will be a push over to the latest revelation.Col.2:18 certainly a timely warning.
Todd believes the angel that is healing is called "Emma".
He said yesterday that people have to fall to the ground when he touches them or the angel won't be able to perform the necessary surgery/healing on them, that they need to be laying on the ground or the angel's work would be hindered - good way to ensure people fall on command, they wouldn't want not get healed now just because they didn't play along with the "fall over when I touch you" game.
Did you know that when Todd got saved, he didn't have tatoos or piercings? What kind of Spirit is he being led by when he goes out and subjects his body to such mutilations post his conversion?
Jamadan
P.S. I posted the original entry as well.
Regarding the previous two posts, There are a couple things I want to comment on.
The first person pointed out the problem with "Bible Study" being thrown out the window for "cosy house fellowship chats." With this, I mostly agree--however, it should be noted that there are some very healthy house fellowships that truly do dig into the Word of God, disect its meaning, and allow God to convict and bring transformation. I'm part of one such group. Nevertheless, it is good to remember that merely chatting and fellowshipping will only go so far. Discipleship must be an actively pursued reality.
Second, I was indeed aware that Todd's piercings and tatoos came after his salvation, but I'm not sure we should focus on something so superficial. Yes, it may be an indicator of a spirit influencing him, but then again it may not be. It might have all been done in his flesh apart from any spiritual influence. I would rather keep the focus on obvious matters of ministry rather than speculation about outward appearances.
Thanks for the great comments, everyone! Keep them coming!
--Art--
This post has been removed by the author.
I guess I don't see self-mutilation as superficial. It's not just wearing make-up and a toupee (that's superficial). And it's not just an ankle or arm tatoo. He has his entire body transformed in tatoos and piercings. That's just disturbing. Is it to be like the world? Actually, even the world views that much as trashy and rebellious - businesses won't hire people who look like that. Yet it's okay for Christian preachers to look that nasty? It's a reflection of his inner-self and the state it is in and many of us see it as very disturbing and unGodly.
Jamadan
Apart from not preaching "Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2) and not "boasting only in the cross" (Galatians 6:14) there is another real concern I have: with so much false teaching, what are the chances that these very real spiritual experiences people are having are of the wrong entity?
I know the power of God can cause anyone to come undone before Him, but some of these manifestations seem a bit odd to me. Like the anointing is some kind of force field in different parts of the stage "Come stand over here" (person flips out after following Bentley's orders) Or as one of his staff keep saying in the morning session after someone gets slain, "They just got the shekiboomba" (or some other unscriptural word).
Is this a legitimate concern?
Deut. 13:1-4
In reply to Bryan,
You bring up some great points, and I do believe that there are definitely some other spirits at work (like I said in one of my posts, Todd has been led astray by evil principalities and powers in the spiritual realm).
But the more I pray about the manifestations we're seeing on stage, the more I'm seeing that most of it is just human psychology. I've been "blasted" backward by the power of God a couple times in my lifetime, so I know it's real--but it's pretty easy to pick out which ones are falling under spiritual power and which ones are just giving "courtesy falls." As it turns out, Todd has said that the healing angel has to put you on the floor so he can work on you. What person hearing that would try to stay standing? There's a strong dynamic of group hypnosis simply because Todd has a lot of charisma and stage presence, so a lot of what's happening is just mental tricks--that doesn't rule out, however, the genuinely spiritual things that are happening. I've not been able to sort them all out, but I haven't seen many genuine acts of God where these are concerned.
And regarding "unscriptural words," the Bible does talk about "speaking in tongues," which are languages we don't know. Paul said, "when I pray in the spirit, my mind is unfruitful, but my spirit utters mysteries to God." These are not known words; they're inspired and born of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, I have indeed come accross people who speak in demonically-induced "tongues." You can definitely feel the difference with just a little discernment. I've cast demons out of people who were manifesting in this way and then prayed for the baptism in the Holy Spirit (like we saw in Acts 2). Then they started speaking in tongues again, but it sounded different and there was a distinctly different "feel" to it. Besides that, it was easier to interpret through revelation from the Holy Spirit.
But what I keep hearing from Todd are a lot of words that seem to be conjured up in his flesh. "Shicka-boom-bam" is not from the Holy Spirit--it's just fun to say. I have to be honest: I fear for Todd because he appears to be bordering on blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
These matters are tricky because they're not cut-and-dry. Rather, they take genuine discernment on our part as the Body of Christ. We should be careful not to give the devil credit for stuff that is merely originating in the flesh of man...but we should also be careful not to attribute to the Holy Spirit that which is not actually from Him.
Very good observations. There are quite a few things that are a form of hypnosis going on. Remember, many of the visitors there are pre-programmed revival groupies that flocked to Florida for Howard-Browne and Brownsville. These guys have it down pat, the twitches and shakes and sounds, they know what to do to make it look real. I'm not talking about deliberate acting, but a form of self-conditioning or self-hypnosis.
In reference to tongues, are you referring to Todd's babbling? I guess no one told him that tongues are languages and not the same syllables repeated endlessly.
I also agree that you can't discount everything 100% because most of those people are there to genuinely meet with God and have a high level of faith, so God may indeed be touching some despite the hype of the show.
But I would NOT allow anyone there to lay hands on me, that's for sure.
Sad thing is, I know folks with cancer who are heading down there now with high expectations. I pray God does something for them , but I fear they're just in for disappointment.
Jamadan
Hi Jamadan,
I started writing a response to you, and decided it would be better as a blog post. I've put a lot of information on discernment in my latest article, Discernment: The Toronto Blessing and the Lakeland Healing Meetings.
I do want to comment again, though, on speaking in tongues. I'm with you--most of what I'm hearing from Todd is not tongues but flesh and emotionalism. My point was that you should be careful calling them "unscriptural words" because I don't know anyone who's heavenly language can be found spelled out in Scripture.
By the way, I hope your friends with cancer do get healed there--I have no doubt that God can do it! I saw a lady get healed of cancer just last week (unrelated to Lakeland, by the way), so I know God can do it. We just need to makes sure that we give all the glory to God and magnify the name of Jesus Christ (rather than giving the credit to Todd Bentley or some "healing angel").
This is an awesome post and I love reading the replies. I'm in the healing ministry and am appalled at the works of the likes of Todd Bentley. I concur with the reply that stated that this is primarily hypnosis. Mass Hypnosis.
Thank you for lifting up this heresy. And thank you for your balanced perspective on how healing may take place even in light of this heresy. Great Post!
Thanks again.....
Brother Marty
Art,
Thanks for your response. I am aware that tongues are a heavenly language not found in scripture (and certainly for today), but my concern was in the form of tongues Todd and some of his followers use. Saying something like "sheki bam bam" over and over again is certainly not the biblical form of tongues.
Revival is when sinners meet their Savior Jesus Christ at bloody, beautiful cross and empty tomb. I have wathched the God TV coverage extensively from the beginning and have literally not heard Todd mention the cross or the resurecction of Jesus Christ one time. I agree with the previous poster. Most of these followers in the meeting are Brownsville/Toronto disciples who have been thirsty for the next big outpouring.
People are getting healed, but not many are getting converted to Christ through the full message of the gospel. Healing campaign? Yes. Revival? No.
By the way, were you aware that Bob Jones, one of Todd's mentors, had to be removed from ministry for several years back in the late 90's because he was making women strip naked in front of him in order for them to receive prophetic words from him? Another of the so-called Kansas City prophets who influenced Todd was Paul Cain who recently confessed to living a double life in which he was an active homosexual and alcoholic. Cain was considered the new Branham for years with the "most amzaingly accurate prophectic gift of all of them".
Several points there . . . (1) just because someone appears to have a gift of the Spirit working powerfully, doesn't mean he really is or that it's necessarily of God, (2) there's not a whole lot of positive, Godly fruit that came out of that Kansas City movement, and (3) I tracked that prophetic move for years hoping it was the real thing, but after countless prophecies that didn't come true (false) and seeing the fruits of destruction they left in their path and the personl moral failures of the leaders that were revealed over time, it shows how important time is in evaluating these phenomena. Fruit doesn't grow overnight and it's impossible to tell the fruit will be good just because everybody's dumping a bunch of fertilizer at the base of the tree touting how wonderful it will be.
Jamadan
The real REAL BIG problem with Todd Bentley is his so called angels!!! Which as far as I am concerned are angels of light-especially if it is the same angel that was at Branhams meetings! Branham denied the Trinity, the Incarnation of Christ and orignal sin by believing that Satan had sex with Eve and concieved Cain and from Cain a fallen race-which is another way of denying original sin! Like the Mormons!
Hey, I'm trying to suss whether or not this thing is of God or not.
I'm also blogging on it, please feel free to leave some comments on my posts as I'd sure value further thoughts on the issue.
God used a donkey once- I am being careful and praying for decernment- Like some one said people will get healed - they have great faith to take that trip to Fla. some are getting healed just purchacing their plane tickets. with a grain of faith you can move mountians- we have all been given a measure. So Glory to God- not to Todd. Keep your eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of your faith brothers- He is the only solid Rock in this realm. Love, Elena
The prophet Hosea was told by God to marry an adulterer. she had three children whose names meant "I will no longer show love" and "I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel" etc. What kind of prophet is that who would marry a prostitute and name his children these names. HE WAS AN OBEDIENT PROPHET. If there were blogs then this man would be criticized as UNFIT for God's service. You are so quick to judge - do you even understand God's use of signs. Also,
When Korah challenged Moses, God opened the ground up and Korah and His household were swallowed up for their attack on God's anointed one. When Moses' own sister challanged Moses she got leprosy. David dared not speak against God's anointed King Saul-regardless of Saul's shortcoming (which were many). If I were you I would beware of coming against God's anointed ones based on your 'feelings' or your shallow, unscriptural view of God's work in the world. Self righteousness and intelluctual pride are sins. People are people- we all fall short but God is God and He works in mysterious ways despite our shorcomings.
The Holy Spirit revealed to me that Todd's tattood body is a sign, like Hoseas wife was a sign to Israel of God's faithfullness regardless of our unfaithfullness: no matter how we have defaced ourselves and no matter how badly the body of Christ is scarred and marred by the filth of this world God WILL RESTORE THE BODY. He will use us for His purposes. That is the point of this revival- the healings are a sign of the restoration of The Body. We need unity in the body and you are not aiding that cause, are you? stop this criticism of Todd and the revival made to look like deep spiritual insight- it is slander which according to the bible is like murder in God's eyes.
Hi Susan,
I appreciate your heartfelt comment--I truly believe that you posted it with intentions of seeing me be set free from a trap, and I receive it in love.
However, I would like to request that you be more specific about your accusations. Unless you can specifically show me what I've said that is slander, I can't really identify it and repent. So far, you're the second or third visitor to this site to accuse me of slander, but I have yet to see any specifics. I have to wonder if such people have actually read my articles or if they have just rushed to judgment against me.
You mentioned Hosea and said, "You are so quick to judge - do you even understand God's use of signs?" Please show me where I have called Todd "unfit for service." The truth is, I have been a big voice for the fact that God can definitely use Todd--my only statement has been that we need to beware of false teachings and false angels. Sometimes Todd is right-on, but sometimes he's off in left field. Such things should not be overlooked because many have been led astray.
You seemed to show concern that I would be judged by God for coming against "His anointed" in this way; but in the past two months since I wrote the article in question, I have honestly been more blessed spiritually, emotionally, relationally, finacially, and physically than any other time in my life. I've been seeing miracles take place--people are being healed, demons are being cast out in Jesus' name, and I've led a handful of people to Christ. I don't flaunt these things, boast about them, or do it from a stage, but they are nevertheless happening.
Of course, this begs the question: what if I'm God's anointed and you're in danger for slandering me? Not being cocky--just asking. You said, "If I were you I would beware of coming against God's anointed ones based on your 'feelings' or your shallow, unscriptural view of God's work in the world. Self righteousness and intelluctual pride are sins."
Please pardon me while I ask a really direct question: Who here is being quick to judge? I've been following Bentley's ministry since 2000 and gave him the benefit of the doubt for several years until I saw some very clear unrepentant errors. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to have only read one or two of my articles. Again, am I really being quick to judge? Or are you?
The Apostle Paul wasn't judged by God for publicly rebuking Peter...and then writing to the entire Galatian church about it. That's just Christianity. In 1 Corinthians 5:12, Paul reminded us not to judge those outside the church, but made it clear that we are to judge those inside.
The truth is that if someone comes along claiming to be "God's Anointed" and is not open to questioning, then you have the makings of a cult. I don't see Todd doing this himself, but many like yourself seem to be elevating him to such a position. Please be careful.
Regarding Todd's tattoos, I've mostly avoided discussing these because I know perfectly legitimate Christians who have tattoos and love God with their whole hearts. I think it would be petty to pick on Todd for such a surface-level thing.
But when it comes to false teachings, there are many. Of particular concern to me is Todd's regular practice of "Guided Visualization," which leaves a person vulnerable to spiritual attack (I encountered this personally through one of Todd's teachings). I've written two articles about this:
-- Guided Visualization and
-- Heavenly Encounters: Astral Projection vs. Sovereign Acts of God
Lastly, you said, "We need unity in the body and you are not aiding that cause, are you? stop this criticism of Todd and the revival made to look like deep spiritual insight- it is slander which according to the bible is like murder in God's eyes."
I agree with you that we need unity, but let's ask ourselves what this means. Is unity "putting up with" each others' short-comings? Is unity brought by pretending nothing's wrong with someone's ministry? Is unity accomplished by avoiding the exposure of sin?
No, no, and no. Real unity comes as we all grow up into the fullness of Christ--looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Unity throughout the Body comes first by being in unity with the Head, which is Christ. The only way this can happen is if we regularly expose sin and deal with it. That's why I welcome comments like your's that question things I've said--I am eager to be made more like my Savior.
I would encourage you to look just a little deeper into what Todd teaches. It may not be obvious at the Lakeland meetings, but I personally own a handful of his teaching tapes that are lightly seasoned with a couple false teachings. Such things must be dealt with, and I am confident in my calling to do so.
Ephesians 5:11--Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Thank you for taking the time to comment--I welcome your response and more specific scrutiny.
God bless,
--Art--
hi.
last week i read your article about the Lakaland Healing Revival (& history). i must say it was very refreshing to see it from your perspective.
the 'funny' thing is: the two doctrines you take as an example of wrong doctrines taught by mr. Branham, are just two of the doctrines i recently had found myself to be true.
the idea of a never-ending burning hell, instead of a fire that consumes (like the eternal fire that destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah) has a Roman Catholic origen. there are good articles on it, that helped me make more sense of YHWH, especially after the death of a lady who suffered for years of breastcancer.
the idea that Eve simply ate a piece of fruit makes just as little sense. sexual sin has always been a big issue, YHWH talks about two bloodlines (seed); that of the serpent & that of the woman. anyway, it's a long & good study.
these two subjects did change my approach to the Holy Bible a lot, and i believe for the good. and that is the only reason i decided to share this with you.
i'll leave it at that.
Shalom & Blessings,
hans.
I'd take a closer look at what Branham said and what others say about him. There is quite a bit of misconceptions that float around about him and what he supposedly believed and said. The good thing is that a number of Branham's sermons were recorded. You'll even find some of his followers have strange ideas that you can't find Branham supporting. At any rate I'm really nervous at the way Bentley seems to claim so much that he is doing. Also the way Bentley pulls for money is also radically different to the way Branham did it.
I have to agree with the last poster too... about eternal hell and the sexual act between Eve and the serpent. Both of which if you study make a lot of sense. Answers a lot of questions. For example: why did Jesus need to be virgin born? Will people in a eternal hell be there eternally and have eternal life (in hell)? Forever and eternal are two different things. Forever is covering time. Eternal is beyond time limits. Food for thought.
I will say that God is the only one that can heal. So if healings are taking place in Lakeland that is God. But there are cases of witch doctors having healings take place. They didn't heal though. God heals.
Another interesting though is Branham had a vision about the churches of the world passing in review. He said that the church of America would be dancing to rock and roll music. It is interesting to note that Christian Rock wasn't popular at all in the 60s. But now it's common place and Branham condemned it from the start.
Anyway... interesting post and research you've done. :)
Hi Art:
you seems refer to Todd saying that he visited heaven and "met with the Apostle Paul at his little wooden shack in heaven, and Paul told him that the Book of Hebrews was written by him and Abraham together" as "strange teachings". I don't see how that is a "teaching". Its just seems to be more informational and no where near doctrinal. So, whats the big deal about his statement?
What if he met Paul or anyone else? The bible says there is a cloud of witness of people. John in Revelation was meeting up with angels. So what if Todd talked to a few saints who are in heaven as long as he is not adding to the doctrines of the gospel?
I read the article on Freshfire site that your referred to in your blog. There seems to be ample references to verses that support what he is saying, although he is explaining his experience. He states he is not presenting a new gospel. So whats the problem with what he is saying?
Todd sure does have a showmanship. But he is a biker dude and his personality is flamboyant. Is that a crime? Should there be a way a minister must behave and cloth himself?
You state "Todd has been led astray by evil principalities and powers in the spiritual realm". Is one to take your word for it? If so, then its you word against someone else's word.
Well if Todd asks the people to get the word out, and promotes heavily, is that a crime? On one of fox's interviews with him, they asked him about the money he receives. He said that he is on a fixed salary from his ministry. They asked about the offerings being taken at the meetings. He said that the average was some $10 per head (please don't quote me on that, but it was some small number)
It is wonderful that you have heavenly encounters and experiences. While i must agree with you that heavenly encounters must have some results in a person/on earth etc, but i don't see why every encounter must have direct results. For example, i don't see any results of John's experiences that he mentions in the book of Revelation.
Perhaps there was "flesh" in the revival meetings in Lakeland meetings but why do we need to throw the baby with the bath water. I don't think that is what you were suggesting in your blog.
You state "many of his teachings are littered with falsehoods." Perhaps, why not just state the teachings and what the falsehoods are so that the focus can be the false teachings and we can disreguard his flamboyant style, clothes etc.
Cheers!
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