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"And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel." Ezek 14:9
"Our sovereign God permits and sustains these movements in His over all purpose. Lord willing, I will add to this blog a few thoughts this evening as to maybe a deeper view of such as we see with the Todd Bentleys and their healing crusades. No doubt some will be healed. As to the end results I just don't know. I have a couple testimonies to add about a couple friends that were miraculously healed in a such meetings. Their later demise saddens me to this day and I still scratch my head as to the why."
I left the preceding paragraph at the bottom of our last blog. Instead of adding to the last post I thought to include my thoughts and the comments of Eliyah and Moredkai on a new one and continue an address of the phenomena of these amazing healing revivals many of us have read about or even attended in the past.
The first account I care to share is from a period of great excitement in the early seventies which was and is still coined the "Jesus movement." This was a period when God gathered multitudes like myself that had just a few years earlier been enveloped and eventually wasted in the wave of "sex drugs and rock and roll."
This is a story of John, a strikingly good looking young man and a likable fellow. He had a beautiful wife and a four year old daughter. John was going through the breakup of his marriage as drugs had played havoc in his and his wife's lives. God had just recently saved this young man, rid him of his desire for drugs and was in the act of restoring his broken marriage when we both found ourselves sitting together at a Revival. John Wesley Fletcher, the great evangelist and healer was was in town for a series of meetings. Fletcher was also the sordid character that would a few years later set up the dalliance between Jim Baker and Jessica Hahn. This sexual liaison eventually became publicized and caused the eventual downfall of the 700 club with it's millions of dollars of investment and millions of followers.
So I was sitting in there in the pew as John squeezed into line to get John Wesley to pray for his fused wrist which had hampered his work, as a carpenter, for a number of years. John was not one to exaggerate, but if anything would understate things and when he came back to his seat and told me his wrist had been healed, I believed him. He had the most amazed look of joy and amazement on his face as he continually circled his hand in a full 360 degree arc. He was stunned and I could see it. This was real. A bonafide physical healing. What happened later is where it gets sad, very sad and to this day I scratch my head as to the why.
God would also heal John's marriage during this time and even restore his broken relationship with his adoptive parents who were believers. After a year or so John and his family would move sixty miles to the north of our city and I would lose contact with him. A couple years later I would be called on to assist in carrying John's casket after he was killed in a gun battle with drug enforcement agents. His wife would years later commit suicide after a long battle with drugs and alcohol. Lord knows what ever happened to their beautiful little girl.
It so hurts in the recalling of John's story that I haven't the heart now to tell the next account of the demise of my other friend who was healed at the hands of this same John Wesley Fletcher. It is equally as sad and it also involved a wife and child left behind. Who get's healed by these flashy men that usurp Christ? I scratch my head as to the who?
Is Todd Bentley of the same ilk as John Wesley Fletcher? No, he is worse as the times of increasing darkness require it!
Interesting to note, I overheard Joian sharing with a friend of mine when she came to visit me in Jackson Hole. Joian was speaking of this Lakeland Revival with this woman who is still in the system. I just gathered bits and pieces of this conversation but at the end of their visit this woman told Joian that she knew of some people that had their cavities in their teeth restored to new by one of these flashy healers. This woman closed the conversation with a quizzical look on her face as she recounted how some months after the Revival these people that had received the miraculous dental work, found their old crowns and silver fillings had returned. Go figure!
I can only scratch my head and thank my blessing that I know the Real Healer, the Great Physician and He lives in me. I don't need no meeting because I have the deep sweet waters of His healing grace to swim in right here at home. Ain't that some real Good News! Will you share the same news with me and will you share it with your neighbor before she or he gets on that plane to fly to some Revival Meeting to have the latest Charlatan lay hands on them. I hope so.
Our dear sister, Elyiah gave this testimony(below) as a comment with our last blog and how precious was our God to reveal to her the truth of the matter. I have had the blessing to visit with Eliyah and her husband Mordekai by phone a few times this last month. WOW! has God taken them on a journey to know and experience so much that they might share with others the Truth they have recently found to rest in. Isn't that the way it is with many of us.
Eliyah writes (parenthesis mine):
"All tables (from which the Church is fed) are filled with vomit and filthiness, so that there is NO PLACE CLEAN" (Isa. 28:8"
That verse says it all.
I was so grossed out by what I read...and it made me angry too.
I read the whole Mike Kirkland article(last blog) and it was very real & raw.
I have been to a conference OF Todd Bentley... the operative word is OF.
Everything that Mike wrote was my experience too.
The Lord is so good though...b/c in my search for the deeper waters HE KEPT me from drowning. I went to one of Bentley's conferences in Abbotsford Canada...by myself...determined to experience 'the glory'. I had never been to a christian conference so I was excited to see what it would be like...(this was my first and so far has been my last).
As soon as my plane left Houston, Tx I strangely started getting a bronchial infection...but I was determined to not let that effect me...I would PUSH through to RECEIVE the glory, the fire...blah,blah,yada,yada.
When I first got to the conference I was struck with the hippie vibe that was so prevalent, it felt like a christian WOODSTOCK. I looked at the stage of musicians (Don Potter..who I actually really like)...the dancing/swaying/jitter-twitching movements...I actually thought 'this is cool, I am digging this, I am going to LOVE THIS...there is so much FREEDOM IN THE SPIRIT'...
(YEAH RIGHT--, NO!!!!)
What I soon learned is that the 'freedom' had no foundation in HOLINESS. I also sensed very little fruit of the spirit...no kindness or for that matter common courtesy.
I also was struck with how much everything cost...for books/tapes ect. I so wanted to get as much 'revelation' as I could and take it back with me...but it was soooo EXPENSIVE! It was such a sacrifice for my family to put me on a plane, pay for hotel, food, that I couldn't justify spending MORE on tapes,(b/c at that time in our lives we were in the HEAT OF THE REFINING FIRES...we had lost everything and had very little money, so this was truly a sacrifice.) I bought as much as I could to give as gifts to others and a few tapes for myself.
The last day of my trip Bentley was going to 'lay hands' on everyone and pray/give a 'word'...and called everyone (1,000) people to line up. I was motioned to come up to the front of the stage to stand in line. As I was walking I told a man walking beside me...'this never happens to me, I am always the one in the back..I sit in the back...I never am one to sit up front...this is weird". So as I made it to the front I was in the position of being the VERY FIRST PERSON in the VERY FIRST LINE....and once again I told the man next to me..."o.k., this is REALLY WEIRD b/c I never am the first person in anything.." and to tell you the truth in my spirit I was perplexed b/c part of me was thinking that maybe this was a sign that times were getting ready to change for my family, but then I also was sad b/c I kept thinking of the verse that says 'the last shall be first and the first last'.
So what was going on???
All the sudden as the last person got in line the Host of the conference took the mike and announced..."NOW ABOUT FACE"....
LOLOLOLOLOL!!!! I then looked at the guy I had been talking to and said..."now this is more like it!!!"
I was actually smiling and so happy in my spirit b/c now I was the very last person in the very last line.
It only was a couple of weeks later after getting home that I started have MAJOR CHECKS in my spirit that all the 'revelation' that I was receiving was not good, and that I did not want to be deceived. So I threw away the tapes/cd's that I had bought and gave some away to others that had asked for them (letting them know that I had major concerns about listening to them, but you need to discern yourself). I have also gone to those that I bought tapes for and asked their forgiveness for ever 'introducing them to Todd Bentley'.
That was 2005...and I just briefly viewed a youtube video of Bentley and it was as if I was seeing him for the first time...for this time he looked to me ALIEN....very pale, and honestly I could see the darkness ON HIM...the tattoos (which I didn't notice back then, are so proudly displayed now), the bald head is so PROPHETIC...on & on.
OH! THANK YOU FATHER FOR YOUR MERCY.
For truly I am what I am by HIS GRACE ALONE.
I give our Father praise & GLORY b/c through it all...He has led me, kept me, preserved me, taught me, had pity on me and LOVED ME.
I love you .....
eliyah
In closing this extended message on Todd Bentley, and others like him, this below fell into my lap tonight as I was viewing a Christian forum. I truly don't go looking for this stuff but it just seems, that which He wants me to share comes my way. Hopefully this is the last word we have to share about this guy on our blog.
JOYNER, WAGNER, ARNOTT "Commission" BENTLEY-Andrew Strom.
Here is how Charisma announced the news of what took place in
Lakeland just a couple of days ago: "Leaders Commission Todd
Bentley at ‘Lakeland Outpouring’... The special service was billed
by leaders as one of the greatest moments in revival history."
The article continues: "Canadian revivalist Todd Bentley, leader
of the Lakeland Outpouring, was commissioned as an evangelist
last night in a special ceremony in Lakeland, Fla., that was
broadcast into millions of homes by God TV...
"Participating leaders at the ceremony included [C. Peter] Wagner;
Ché Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, Calif.; John
Arnott of Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in Canada; Bill
Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Calif.; and Rick
Joyner, founder of MorningStar Ministries in Charlotte, N.C."
(EDITOR's NOTE: If you saw a video of this commissioning, you
may have noticed that Staci Campbell, one of the main 'Toronto'
leaders who spoke, had her head shaking so violently - literally
whipping back and forth - that it was hard to hear her. Of course
this happens all the time and they say it is the "Holy Spirit").
CHARISMA ARTICLE continues:
Wagner said to Bentley on the platform: "This commissioning
represents a powerful spiritual transaction taking place in the
invisible world. With this in mind, I take the apostolic authority that
God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley, your power will
increase, your authority will increase, your favor will increase,
your influence will increase, your revelation will increase..."
"I am no church historian, but I do not know of any other time in
history, since the book of Acts, have so many different apostles
and so many different prophets and movements and leaders been
represented," Bentley said of the capacity crowd.
The article goes on to talk a little about why some have opposed
the revival: "Critics complain that Bentley entertains extra-biblical
practices and has devoted some of his past teachings to third
heaven experiences and angelic encounters. They say it’s bizarre
for him to claim he has met the apostle Paul and angels named
Winds of Change and Emma. They also object to what they
believe are exaggerated claims of healings and resurrections."
For me though, one of the most grievous statements in the whole
article is this one:
"Leaders who have expressed private concerns about Bentley’s
ministry turned down Charisma’s request for public comment."
(Article source - www.charismamag.com)
ANDREW STROM: DId you see that last sentence? -Even though
some leaders have been privately expressing their concerns, they
actually refused an opportunity to speak out in public! So where
does this leave the poor sheep? Are these men so concerned with
their "reputation" that they are afraid to speak out at such a pivotal
moment? How will history judge such a thing? Isn't it simply the
"fear of man"? And Isn't this the exact reason why the Charismatic
movement is in such a mess in the first place? Have we completely
forgotten the old saying- "Evil prospers when good men do nothing"?
Who is going to stand up and declare the TRUTH in this situation?
To me, this revival has all the hallmarks of the most blatant of
Last Days deceptions spoken of in Scripture. And yet it is
prospering because good men do nothing!
Todd Bentley is claiming a city-taking, nation-taking anointing...
We’re going to the cities, then the nations." And look at the lineup
of heavyweights that have now openly joined his crusade to
promote this "impartation" around the world: Peter Wagner, Rick
Joyner, Bill Johnson, John Arnott (of the 'Toronto Blessing'), Che
Ahn - and more!
'Who could possibly oppose such a lineup?' They think, 'What
madman would even entertain the idea? Why - his ministry would
be finished, his reputation ruined, his friends made into enemies
overnight.' Oh yes - they seem to have it all sewn up now. And
so, this "drunken glory" anointing with its angels, its 'jerking', its
epileptic-type seizures - is free to spread around the globe and be
imparted to God's precious sheep everywhere. And all the while,
so-called "concerned" Christian leaders shirk and shiver in the
shadows, never daring to openly speak out.
Shouldn't we be calling this exactly what it is - "COWARDICE"
of the worst kind? Can anyone imagine a crisis in the Spirit-filled
church that is more urgent than this one? Isn't silence simply
aiding and abetting the deception? Who will God hold accountable
for doing nothing? CHRISTIAN LEADERS - SPEAK UP!!
We aren't leaders in the church and hopefully like us, most of you have vacated the system long ago. We are hidden in Him and will remain so, until the day of His revealing. For this we are blessed and abundantly thankful. We also know heresy must come to try the Truth. It must come also to separate God's son's from the confused and wandering herd. Oh, to be a separate and peculiar people ....... a little flock .......... hidden in Him!
Isn't it good to rest in Jesus. Is there a better place to be found. We think not, for the better part is ours. Let us ever be hidden in the cleft of His side near the Father's heart.
Jack and Joian
"For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you" 1Cor 11:19
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We cannot contain the overflowing cup of His love thus we share with you these messages of the Life of our Lord as lived out in His saints.
