By Jim Coggins

The Lakeland Outpouring, the controversial revival in Florida led by Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley, has come to an end, amid reports that Bentley's marriage is in trouble.

The board of directors of Fresh Fire Ministries, which Bentley founded 10 years ago, issued a news release August 12 stating, "Todd and Shonnah Bentley are presently experiencing significant friction in their relationship and are currently separated. We want to affirm that there has been no sexual immorality on the part of either Todd or Shonnah, nor has there ever been."

On August 15, the board issued another news release stating, "We have discovered new information revealing that Todd Bentley has entered into an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level, with a female member of his staff. In light of this new information and in consultation with his leaders and advisors, Todd Bentley has agreed to step down from his position on the board of directors and to refrain from all public ministry for a season, to receive counsel in his personal life."

The whole story?

Questions have been raised about whether Fresh Fire's board was telling the whole story. After the August 12 news release, Stephen Strader, pastor of Ignited Church, which had invited Bentley to Florida in April, told the Lakeland Ledger, "I've been assured by his people that there is no third party involved."

After the August 15 release, Strader said Bentley "told me he kept me out of the loop for my protection." However, Strader further stated, "Three years ago, he did the exact same thing. He grew out of his relationship to his wife and transferred his affection to another . . . The bottom line is that he was traveling too much and not taking care of his wife and family like he should." Strader also said he had been informed three weeks earlier that Bentley and his wife had been undergoing marriage counseling for a few years.

Bill Johnson, a pastor from California, said in a sermon August 17, "I was involved in a restoration process to help Todd a couple years ago, in this very area."

Sadness and disappointment

A statement from Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship pastor John Arnott, a key Lakeland supporter, expressed "sadness and disappointment" over the latest turn of events.

Regarding his personal relationship with Bentley, he noted: "I have known Todd for several years and have seen God work mightily through him." However, Arnott conceded that Bentley "has chosen to do something that is wrong according to scripture."

He added that "The Holy Spirit, who is perfect, must use imperfect people even in revival" -- and that those who felt blessed by Lakeland should "not allow the seeds of hope and healing that were sown into you there [to] be uprooted by this leader's mistakes. It was God who touched you, and no one can take that away unless you allow it."

God, Arnott stressed, "is able to take the worst situation and turn it into a great blessing."

In their August 12 news release the Fresh Fire board of directors, referring to both Bentley's marriage and ministry, stated: "We are hopeful that the outcome will include restoration, but we can make neither promise nor guarantee."

Bentley had gone to Lakeland April 2 to lead four days of meetings at Ignite Church. The meetings were so successful that his stay was extended. The meetings attracted more attention when they were reported in Charisma magazine and broadcast on GodTV, and soon people were flying in from all over the world to attend. The meetings were moved to the larger Auburndale Life Church, to Joker Marchant Stadium in May and then in late June to two large tents on the grounds of the Sun n' Fun Fly-in Airport, which could accommodate up to 10,000 people.

Healings and revelations

However, the increased attention also led to criticism of Bentley's tattooed appearance, his occasionally violent approach to healing (sometimes kicking and hitting people), his theological emphasis on angels and prophetic revelations, and his claims of healings. Bentley claimed more than 20 resurrections from the dead had occurred during the Outpouring. However, news media such as the TV program Nightline complained that none of the healing claims had been substantiated.

The crowds began to decline, particularly after July 13, when GodTV announced that Bentley "would be taking some time off to refresh and to rest...after nearly one hundred days of ministry."

The meetings returned to the 700-seat Ignited Church, and Bentley was scheduled to resume preaching. It was decided to end the meetings in Lakeland August 23, and then Bentley was scheduled to embark on a series of Outpouring meetings around the world. However, those meetings have now been indefinitely postponed.

Further polarization

Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine, told the Lakeland Ledger that Bentley's fall would likely further polarize those following the revival.

This is particularly true in the charismatic community, where a very active debate has been raging, particularly on the Internet, ever since the Lakeland Outpouring began. One notable participant is Andrew Strom, who had already written the first book on the phenomenon, True & False Revival: An Insider's Warning, in addition to posting information on his website.

The intensity of the debate is reflected on CC.com, in the extraordinary number of responses to a feature on Bentley.

Grady said that some who had been ardent followers of Bentley will suffer "spiritual shipwreck" in the wake of the Outpouring's demise; but for others who "are not grounded in scripture ... it won't be an issue."

Vision of Christ

While Bentley may be off the revival platform for the foreseeable future, his spiritual insights are available in books called The Reality of the Spiritual World, and Journey into the Miraculous. In the latter, he said he once had an extraordinary vision of Christ as a "warrior king."

"Upon his breastplate," Bentley wrote, "was the imprint of a golden eagle . . . His biceps were enormous, the size of my head, and he had massive forearms and huge hands. There was Jesus, the mighty warrior God! He towered over me, three to four times my height."

The evangelist further claimed that Christ gave him a special revelation, declaring to Bentley: "I have a hidden, secret army around the earth that I will enlist and uncover at my time. They are hidden away in the secret prayer closets - a generation of nameless, faceless nobodies . . . . You are one of many first fruits of an entire army that I am equipping."

Elsewhere in the book, Bentley exhorted his readers: "The power of the early church that we read about in Acts is an example of the normal Christian life - the way it should be. And that's the blueprint for us, and our lives, too - but the new dimension of this Christian life will be even greater. Have faith in the God who does miracles!"

Bentley's theology was learned from other contemporary figures who are considered prophets by some charismatics, such as Americans Paul Cain and Bob Jones -- and Patricia King, whose Extreme Prophetic ministry (like Fresh Fire) is based in B.C.'s Fraser.

While some bloggers have contended the Lakeland Outpouring was based on deception from the beginning, many in the charismatic movement argue the revival was genuine, and needs to be separated from Bentley's failures. Breidenbach observed, "God uses fallen, flawed people .... This doesn't invalidate what Todd did."

Bigger than one man

The Fresh Fire board of directors pointed out in their news releases that the ministry is still running conferences, led by associate ministers, and pursuing missions and relief work in Africa. They cited Bentley's own words: "What God is doing is bigger than one man."

One of the most balanced observers of the Lakeland Outpouring has been Charisma's Grady, who has been writing about the phenomenon from the beginning. While sympathetic to the charismatic movement, he has been urging caution about Bentley and his supporters.

In an article called 'Sorting out the confusion', Grady was critical of people who were so eager for revival that they were "just plain gullible." He was also critical of some Lakeland supporters -- such as GodTV, which dismissed any criticism of Bentley as "demonic."

Grady further criticized "respected ministers" Peter Wagner, Che Ahn, Bill Johnson and John Arnott who publicly laid hands on Bentley June 23 to "bring him under their care" -- but apparently didn't ask the hard questions, or provide him the help he so desperately needed.

- additional reporting by David F. Dawes

After originally claiming no third party was involved in his filing for separation from his wife, evangelist Todd Bentley confessed to his ministry’s board of directors last week that he had engaged in “an unhealthy relationship” with another woman—the second such occurance in three years. A letter written by Fresh Fire Ministries’ board stated that Bentley had “entered into an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff.” Another statement released by Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship pastor John Arnott, one of the three leaders appointed during the Lakeland Outpouring to oversee Bentley, added reports of “excessive drinking” to the mix. Bentley has since resigned from Fresh Fire’s board of directors and will “refrain from all public ministry for a season to receive counsel in his personal life.” “I am deeply saddened for the body of Christ that has been disillusioned yet again,” Arnott said. “Had any of us known what was just ahead, perhaps we would have been able to intervene before things went into crisis.”

And this:

Evangelist Todd Bentley, leader of the Lakeland Revival, stirred up interest in angels when he wrote about Emma, a female angel he said wears a long white dress, floats above the floor and resembles Kathryn Kuhlman.

It is obvious that the naysayers, many of whom were very reputable Full Gospel leaders, kept telling us something was fishy in Lakeland. They were accused of being doubters and worse. Just three weeks ago we were told that to disbelieve in this fellow was going to start a "charismatic civil war."

Now the Body of Christ is reeling in the wake of the revelation of Bentley's drinking, womanizing and visits from the angel Emma. This is just terrible. I am grieved. The Full Gospel did not need another A.A. Allen/Robert Tilton type who makes everyone question our legitimacy. Why can't we grow out of this?

Let me say that it isn't a matter of my caring what those outside of the Full Gospel camp think of us. We have been looked down on from the beginning and will always be by some. But we had made such strides. The kind we read about in the Book of Acts. Miracles are certainly important. I am all for miracles and signs and wonders. But doctrine and discernment are important too. I would also have to think that Apostolic oversight would be important now as then. Where was that?

You may ask, what about those who did receive miracles during this "move of God?" I believe they received because they had personal faith in God. God honored faith. He always does. Even when an alcoholic A.A. Allen prayed for folks some did receive. Was it because Allen was anointed? Not in my book. It was because people who had no knowledge of his real lifestyle trusted God. I think the same probably happened in Lakeland.

So let's do this:

1) Ignore hype and sensationalism (we have to be careful in these last days)
2) Trust God (where you are, right now, living room or local church... He's just as real)
3) Don't ignore red flags (talking to an angel that says it also visited William Branham, a sure enough heretic, would be one)

I don't want to seem critical but now is the time for discernment. We are living in the days of deception and apostacy. The devil knows his time is short.

Brother Jesse

Posted on Aug 19, 2008 | by David Roach NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--With controversial faith healer Todd Bentley announcing that he is separating from his wife, charismatic leaders J. Lee Grady and Stephen Strang have reacted by saying someone should have raised questions about Bentley earlier.

Grady, editor of the popular charismatic magazine Charisma, said the way thousands celebrated Bentley despite his moral and theological shortcomings demonstrated a lack of discernment that pervades the charismatic movement.

"We're spiritually hungry -- which can be a good thing," Grady wrote in an Aug. 13 column. "But sometimes hungry people will eat anything." (Yes, but that is why God gives us spiritual discernment and a measuring stick to measure these things by.)

Bentley, who led a heavily publicized revival in Lakeland, Fla., beginning this spring, announced in a statement Aug. 12 that he and his wife Shonnah were separating. The staff of Bentley's Fresh Fire Ministries said "an atmosphere of fatigue and stress" created by the daily revival meetings "exacerbated existing issues in [his marriage]," according to Charisma. On Aug. 15, the board of Fresh Fire released a statement saying it had learned Bentley had been involved in "an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff." The statement said Bentley had agreed to "to refrain from all public ministry for a season to receive counsel in his personal life."

Bentley and his wife had been attending counseling for the past three years, but the counseling was suspended for the last four months while Bentley was away from his home in Abbottsford, British Columbia, Charisma reported. The Bentleys have three children. (So here is a man who has martial problems, enough to seek counseling for the past three years, and yet he is 'minister' enough to minister to thousands of people? Didn't God command that the minister's house must first be set in order?)

Bentley is known for his multiple body piercings and tattoos, his violent healing techniques, his claims of angelic visions and "holy" laughter and "holy" vibrating shakes. He even claims to have raised dozens of people from the dead.

Bentley claims to be visited regularly by angels, including a 20-foot-tall angel in his apartment on one occasion and on another occasion an angel that knocked him out of his body. One angel's name supposedly is Emma. Bentley also says that Jesus Himself appears to him.

Charismatic leaders who endorsed Bentley, Grady wrote, should have known better than to thrust him into the spotlight prematurely and owe the public an apology.

"Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study," Grady wrote. "Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It's way past time for us to grow up."

God TV, the network that televised the Lakeland revival meetings, is particularly blameworthy because it told viewers in a pre-revival segment that "any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic," Grady wrote, adding that the network's hosts also warned listeners that if they listened to criticism of Bentley, they could lose their healings.

"This is cultic manipulation at its worst," Grady wrote.

Though America needs true revival, any leaders who wholeheartedly endorsed Bentley promoted heresy rather than revival, according to Grady.

"Godly leaders are supposed to protect the sheep from heresy," he wrote, "not spoon feed deception to them. Only God knows how far this poison traveled from Lakeland to take root elsewhere. May God forgive us for allowing His Word to be so flippantly contaminated."

Charisma publisher Stephen Strang also took aim in a column at Bentley and those who supported him. Strang said the charismatic leaders to whom Bentley submitted himself in an accountability relationship -- John Arnott, Ché Ahn and Bill Johnson -- "should have seen it coming." He listed several indications that Bentley's ministry was not of God.

"Anyone who is in services 4 to 6 hours a day, 7 days a week for weeks on end is bound to have some type of breakdown," Strang wrote. "Anyone who covers himself with tattoos while in the ministry raises questions about his stability.

"Anyone who talks about the 'Angel of the Healing Revival' that ministered to A.A. Allen and William Branham must have overlooked the fact that Allen and Branham both were discredited with moral shortcomings. Anyone who baptizes people in the name of the Father, the Son 'and BAM' is playing lightly with the Holy Spirit and is bordering on blasphemy." (Bordering? Really? Just on the Border?)

While God uses flawed men to do his work, Christians must hold spiritual leaders to the highest standards of conduct, Strang wrote.

"Perhaps some of the problems would have been prevented if men had spoken into Bentley's life several months ago," he wrote. "As good as it is to have an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff to help the injured, it is much better to have a fence at the top of the cliff to prevent someone from going over."

Chad Brand, professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that while all denominations within Christianity have been touched by divorce, the charismatic movement is particularly susceptible to overlooking its leaders' moral failures.

Brand is the editor of "Perspectives on Spirit Baptism," a book detailing the charismatic and non-charismatic views of baptism in the Holy Spirit. He published several additional papers and articles on issues related to the charismatic movement.

"There is a dynamic that makes charismatic leader situations sometimes treated differently, and it is partly tied to the very term, 'charismatic,'" Brand said. "Because this person is perceived to have charismatic power or anointing, his or her failure in marriage is often easily forgiven and overlooked. So, while in many traditions, a divorce for a pastor or key leader means a loss of prestige or influence, it is not necessarily the case in charismatic circles.

"John Hagee of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio divorced his wife of 15 years in 1975 and the next year remarried, but his ministry and influence only grew in the years after that. Richard Roberts, son of Oral Roberts, also divorced his first wife after 11 years of marriage, and 10 months later remarried. Paula White and her husband Randy divorced last year. It was Paula White's second marriage. While these divorces have had ramifications for their ministries, in every case the ministry only flourished afterwards. In most other evangelical traditions, the impact of divorce has been more deeply felt by the ministers in question." (For the life of me, I was sure there was something about a minister having only one wife...)

More important than focusing on Bentley's marital difficulties is noting the fact that he is a false teacher, Brand said.

"We do not know all the details of Bentley's marital situation, and so we should withhold judgment on that matter," he said. "What is plain is that he is teaching false doctrine and that the claims to his ministry's 'successes' seem pretty spurious."

Brand speculated that, like William Branham in the mid-20th century, Bentley relies on hype to promote his meetings but has few real healings.

"I spoke with a very influential Swiss Pentecostal theologian and pastor a few years ago, Walter Hollenweger, who had invited Branham to Zurich to hold meetings in the early 1960s," Brand said. "He said Branham pronounced scores of people to be 'healed' of their ailments, but a half year later not a single one of those persons was actually healed, and many had died. Branham's personal charisma had carried him, and I suspect something similar is happening with Bentley."

David Roach is a writer based in Louisville, Ky.

He and other charismatics are asking a fair question: why do Christians become so gullible that they will follow someone with questionable moral attributes? "Mac" in the comments section noted that "Evangelicals are gullible because their faith is largely rooted in emotional responses from beginning (the 'feeling' or 'conviction' of being saved) to the practice--that is, the emotional manipulativeness of most evangelical services.

Are any of you out there influenced or know of someone influenced by this Lakeland Revival? If so, could you tell us why? If you know of someone influenced by this, what would you say about their theology and Christian maturity? What do you think of Stetzer's assessment?

 
A Message from Doris from Global Harvest Ministries

My Take on the Lakeland Happenings

August 15, 2008
This past Tuesday, August 12, started out like any other tough travel day. Peter was out of the house by 4 a.m. heading to the airport for a grueling 24 plus hour trip to San Francisco, Tokyo, and finally to Singapore where he would arrive midnight the next day after crossing the International Date Line. He called me from San Francisco with his usual cheerful: "Hi, did you wake up?" He hadn't awakened me to say goodbye since I had major surgery on my foot on August 1 and it is sometimes tough to sleep well with the cast on my foot and lower leg.

Did I wake up? Man, the computer was filled with correspondence about Todd Bentley's announcement that he was separating from his wife. This was not quite a complete surprise since late the evening before the rumor of marital strife had been dropped in our ears, but it was just a rumor. Of course we had hoped it wasn't true. But there it was.

Since Peter doesn't do his own email, I had to read the Lakeland Ledger newspaper article to him. He then called Chuck Pierce, who immediately wrote the following letter to Peter and e-mailed it to me and wanted to fax it to Peter in the United Airline lounge in San Francisco where he had a little layover. After some detective work (I couldn't call him directly, his phone was busy and his battery was fading fast from overuse), I located him in the International Lounge and procured that fax number from the kind receptionist. She found him and positioned him at the fax machine where this letter from Chuck arrived:

August 12, 2008

Dear Peter:

When I got up this morning and prayed about the move of God in Lakeland and Todd Bentley, this is what God showed me: First of all, I felt a compassion to pray for Todd. The anointing of this move has stirred up a hunger in the Body, and the scrutiny of Todd's life has probably taken its toll on him. So when I began to pray for Todd this morning (since I usually set aside Tuesdays to pray), I saw several things. The Spirit of God is beginning to move greatly. Also, I feel that your call to set some sort of apostolic authority in place was warranted because of potential problems moving into this move of God. The order you set in place in Lakeland establishes a structure and boundary for Todd's problems to be addressed. Before that, there were no boundaries, and Lakeland had been going on for almost three months.

The thing we must remember is that God chose to use Todd to stir up the hunger in the Body of Christ. Therefore, as I prayed, the Lord took me to the life of Samson. He is a mystery. He had a Nazarite vow on his life, yet he had many character flaws. His character flaws did not stop God from using him. I think this is the biggest misunderstanding that the Body has when it comes to the anointing. That is why you see anointed men and women being used so mightily by the Lord, and then falling into sexual sin or monetary impropriety.

Because you have set an order for his life now, for the first time he has a shot at being fully accountable and breaking spiritual forces that could destroy his future. What he needs to do now is submit to apostolic authority over the next nine months. Ministry should not to be his goal. Instead, the restoration of covenant alignments must occur in his life. He and his wife might not be able to withstand the pressure of ministry together in the future, but during these nine months Todd's choice would be to submit to the authority structure that God has established in his life publicly. If he does that, he might have a ministry in the future. If this had not been set in place, this would have been much more serious. I'm sure others would say you should not have been involved at all.

Since Stephen Strader requested your help and he is in ICA, you did respond to his Macedonian call. Yes, you would have looked like a hero if you had waited and gotten involved now. But just as you wrote recently, you chose to establish the order first and then any spiritual discipline could be brought. That makes you look like a father.

Again, Todd's ministry allowed us all to see the hunger in the Body of Christ for miracles, healing and just a touch from God. Todd had flaws going into the time in which God chose to initiate his call and had not dealt with some of his problems. But God still chose to use him. Not only did his ministry reveal this hunger, but many have gotten saved. Now, hopefully, Todd will enter in the phase of being disciplined and establish his life in a new way so he can be qualified for use in the future.

Have a good flight to Asia.

Blessings, Chuck

To that, Peter added the following letter the "Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team", Skyped it to our assistant and grabbed his plane for Tokyo and Singapore.

To: Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team
From: C. Peter Wagner
Date: August 12, 2008
Subject: Todd Bentley's Character Crisis

Most of you would be aware that the Lakeland Ledger broke the news publicly that Todd and Shona have decided to terminate their marriage. In Canada this requires a nine-month "separation" before official divorce proceedings can go into effect. I am quite upset by this development, and I know you will be also. I am now receiving a large amount of "I told you so!" email and I must say that my friends have a point. This has taken the lid off of a number of related character accusations against Todd that are now coming in which I might have dismissed previously, but no longer can do so off hand.

Let's take some time to process this. Todd was officially, publicly aligned with the Revival Alliance, so the three of you should definitely make some kind of statement, probably sending it to Steve Strang. Let's not sweep this under the rug with a "touch not God's anointed" as has been done with so many similar issues in our morally soft charismatic environment.

Meanwhile, I called Chuck Pierce for help, and he sent me the letter I am attaching with this. Chuck has some very encouraging insights for us.

Blessings,
Peter

C. Peter Wagner
President, Global Harvest Ministries
Chancellor, Wagner Leadership Institute
719-262-9922

Then, during all of Tuesday, until after 1 a.m. Wednesday, all of my time was spent at the computer with e-mails and they all fell into two categories: the PROS and the CONS, roughly pretty equally divided. Wednesday and Thursday, all of my waking hours have been spent answering this type of mail.

The Cons are pretty nasty. One even said: "Let me be the first to say 'I told you so.'" These individuals asked Peter not to get involved in the "Lakeland Thing" from the onset. Some of them are probably rejoicing over Todd's problems. Several are demanding a public apology from all who were on the platform on June 23rd, along with God TV. Many are disrespectful, seemingly calling names and slinging mud. They come across to me as jubilant in victory. I question the godliness of this attitude. Along the way we have lost friends who have ceased to trust us, pulled out of our organizations and separated from us. That's o.k. They say we have been guilty of poor decisions and actions.

The Pros have seen things differently. They have agreed with our actions. Let me reflect a little on these actions as I see it. If I seem defensive, forgive me. Peter is such a kind and gentle person that he would never defend himself. I am a deliverance minister, and can become abrasive when I see Religious Spirits, Pharisaical Spirits, Spirits of jealousy, envy and even hatred become exposed. The fattest of all is the Accuser of the Brethren very much at work in the current situation. Whenever Peter is falsely accused in print, he usually just smiles and says "Did they spell my name right?" If things get really bad with false accusations, by a John Doe, he will serenely say "John Doe is not the enemy-we know who the enemy really is." This ability to handle the negative really bugs some folks and they dislike him even more. Believe me, my pillow has been next to his for 58 years and I have seen this played out. There doesn't seem to be a wide neutral zone, either he is liked or disliked. That's just the way it is.

Peter is a man of the highest integrity. He's a man of his word, as honest as the day is long. He has kept his wedding vows-no need to renew them, the old ones are still perfectly good! He has been total fun to live with and to raise our children together. He has treated me as a colleague with great respect. He is brilliant and godly. As we have been working on his memoirs, I have been amazed at what we have accomplished together, and we have worked side by side all of our married lives. Of all women, I consider myself to be highly blessed. Enough of that.

Peter did not jump into the "Lakeland Thing" lightly. He thought about it, prayed about it and we talked it over. Did "the outpouring" or Todd have some imperfections? Absolutely. Peter was asked to help out to set things in order and to investigate what some folks thought might be doctrinally "iffy." He was asked to do this by Lakeland's host, Stephen Strader, a colleague in the International Coalition of Apostles, which Peter leads. It was a "Macedonian Call" for help. That is Peter's job. Many of the Con people mentioned above thought Peter should have said no to this plea. After serious thought, prayer and consultation, particularly with our most closely related prophet, Chuck Pierce, we decided to move forward.

We felt as though there was a legitimate anointing on Todd's life. We knew he was an imperfect person but our honest desire was to sort out and save the good. The other charge against us is that we stupidly could not recognize that these miracles were being done under the power of a satanic spirit and that we were totally lacking in discernment. My answer to that is, there probably was some of the flesh at work on some occasions, and people operating with a higher level of discernment may have picked up on some things we could not. I seriously question whether a satanic spirit got away with all of the good. My conclusion is that it was mixed and we wanted to help sort out the good. The Apostolic Team of 11 apostles which Peter put together is still in the process of sorting all of that out, and time is needed to do that.

The most serious charge against us is that the alignment meeting of June 23 was absolutely wrong (implying that at best we were misled, at worst committed a grave sin in so doing). Our thought was to bring alignment to Todd, thereby gaining the right to speak into his life and ministry as he accepted the apostolic oversight of Che Ahn, Bill Johnson and John Arnott. This was accomplished. Please reread Peter's paper sent out to our entire mailing list a few days ago. Peter did not "ordain" Todd, as some journalists keep saying over and over wanting it to become truth. He blessed him, yes! Isn't it strange that all the negative things surfaced so soon after alignment took place and Todd agreed to oversight?

I see all of this as God's great mercy and love. Lots of critics just plain don't like Todd's looks. He's tattooed and pierced and dresses down on the platform. I wouldn't want my son to look like that, but to throw it all out at the cost of throwing out the anointing needs to be carefully considered. But then the world didn't think much of John the Baptist who probably wore smelly camel pelts and ate bugs. Jesus had other thoughts about John, however. As I work in the field of deliverance we start with what wants help and go from there. To see some major transformation in a person's life is a miracle often witnessed. We work with some raunchy raw material at times and our only prerequisite is that they want to be helped. It's enough. Man, indeed, looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Let's look at hearts and the hand of God, and bless what He is blessing.

Todd is in a perfect spot for help. The night of June 23 when we were there, Todd gave a long testimony. He has been wounded, and has wounded others along the way. He is still a young man, rescued from the streets and a biker society. He is not highly schooled or terribly polished. He does not fit the scholarly, seminary finishing school mold. He has not had the advantage of a solid steady home environment. But then again God has this habit of not choosing the things that we would choose. I could easily see that Todd needs deep inner healing and professional-level deliverance he has not yet had the opportunity to receive. One of our critics said that we got it backwards and should have taken him into a back room and ministered to him before the ceremony. We had the luxury of a few minutes with Todd before the evening meeting. We had never met the man before. Was I to say "Hey, Todd, you're a mess and need help in the next five minutes"?

The prescribed protocol is to put things in proper alignment first, then be in a position to speak into his life. That opportunity is presenting itself now. Todd now has the opportunity to address some character flaws and get them healed and corrected in order to carry the anointing God has given him. We in deliverance and inner healing minister to these things daily-they are nothing to be ashamed of. Not to deal with them out of pride or denial is where the shame can take hold. I worked with dairy cows as a kid and picked up some of their lice once. My mom told me as she treated my head with some smelly remedy "The shame is not in getting lice, the shame is in keeping them." I never had lice again!

Be assured that Todd's overseers, Che, John and Bill along with Peter are hard at work. Please give us some time. Peter is in Singapore and goes on to Indonesia for a few days and will not be back until next week. Che is ministering in Korea. Bill and John have killer schedules all summer long. We are working as best and as fast as we can, but there are constraints that slow us a little. Things like thousands of miles and schedules that cannot be changed, and when it is day here it is night in Asia.

I am very optimistic. I see a door of opportunity swung wide open. I see a wonderful, merciful God reaching out. What many are calling a rotten mess I see as a splendid chance for one of the church's finest hours. The mess was there festering for a while anyway, now let's fix it. Is Todd's situation a strange thing? The breakup of the family is one of the most common societal problems we face today. How many other couples contemplating family breakup could be encouraged to get help if this is a successful rehabilitation?

Todd now has some fathers by his side to help in time of need and to avoid shipwreck if he chooses to accept that help. He now has some authority in his life, and parameters are comforting to kids. He is deeply loved by many who are in a position to help spiritually, emotionally and mentally. He is a place of protection he did not have the luxury of before June 23.

Let me close by asking and a few questions:

Might it be that there is a hunger for revival as never before in our country? I think so.

Might it be that God wants to send us that revival and is anxious to do so but needs the right persons and proper government in His church to look after it? I think so.

Could it be that there was true anointing in an imperfect vessel and a merciful God wanted to set up circumstances to bring healing to Todd? I think so.

Could it be that when one apostle asked another for help in separating truth from error in a situation of mixture, that error began to surface so quickly? Isn't the church better off when error is exposed and corrected? I think so.

Could it be that God brought alignment, authority and order into the Lakeland situation and once that order was established Todd was in a safe place to be ministered to? If a wounded soul gets help and is rehabilitated, isn't that good? Isn't it wonderful to have a restoration process in place to help a brother back to useful service and full use of his gifts and anointing? If he decides not to be helped, we have done our job in making that help available, and his overseers have charge of his care.

Isn't this what the church is supposed to look like? I think so. If we fail, at least we will have tried. Not to have tried would have been failure to do what God required of us at this point in time.

Now here is where you come in. PLEASE PRAY. Ask God to so minister to Todd to soften his heart and to reach out for help, and to be fully healed. Ask God to help him to be willing to submit to the apostolic oversight that has been put in place. Ask God to heal his marriage and protect and bless his wife and three children.

This episode has the potential of being one of the finest hours the church has seen in recent years. I implore you to pray. Because this has all been so public it is all of our business and we must act on our knees. We have a real enemy capable of infiltrating the church to truncate this process. Let's fight for victory!

Sincerely, in Christ,

Doris

Todd Bentley’s Personal Problems
I did not hear that Todd was going through a personal crisis until the day before our meeting with him here. When I saw him Wednesday night, he immediately wanted to share with me about his personal problems—especially about his recent separation from his wife. Todd did not share this in a way to try and justify himself, but he wanted me to know what was going on with him to give me an out if I did not think he should minister the next day. I greatly appreciated this.

I still do not know all of the details of his separation, but I did ask him if there had been any immorality on his part, or if he had affections for someone else that was causing this. He assured me that he had never committed adultery, and that there was no “other woman” that caused his separation. Some of his leaders who I talked to also confirmed that Todd had not been in any immoral relationship, though they were all grieving over Todd’s marital problems.

The problems Todd and his wife have had getting along have been public knowledge for several years. I don’t know enough of the details to blame anyone, but I know Todd quite well, and being married to him has got to be like being hand-cuffed to a hurricane. Todd is so intense he makes Mike Bickle and Bob Weiner seem laid back. I think he is very much like the Apostle Peter. What makes him capable of such extraordinary faith also makes him prone to extraordinary blunders. Todd is an extreme manifestation of an emerging extreme generation. His wife may deserve to sit at the right hand of the Lord in the kingdom, and anyone who has worked with him should be up there close somewhere too.

Like it or not, that is often the nature of those who accomplish some of the greatest spiritual exploits—they also make some of the biggest bloopers. Hearing about these problems did not surprise me at all. Since I have now heard about more details, I’m still not shocked. These are problems, and they need to be fixed, which includes repenting and turning around, but if we want the victories and breakthroughs we all hope and pray for, they usually come through people with the same kind of nature. Right after Jesus gave Peter one of the greatest commendations in Scripture for the receiving the greatest of all revelations, that Jesus is the Christ, and then gave him the keys to the kingdom, He had to give Peter one of the greatest rebukes in Scripture by calling him Satan! (see Matthew 16:18-23)

However, the Lord did not take the keys back from Peter, even after he later denied the Lord, and even later in his life when the youngest apostle, Paul, had to publicly rebuke him (see Galatians 2:11-15). It seems that most of those who are given these keys to unlock the spiritual doors to the kingdom will also be prone to make major blunders. This type of person is simply not going to do anything small—they will have great victories, and when they have defeats, they will be great too.

When I was in Lakeland a few months ago, I was told that Todd had been making a real effort to patch things up and heal their relationship, but in June she had left and refused any contact. Todd has now lost hope that it will be worked out, especially now that she has made it clear that she will not even see him. Todd is obviously frustrated and just wants to resolve this situation that has been so hard for so long.

In marriage, I have learned there are those who admit they have been through times when they wondered if their marriage would make it, and then there are liars. Relationships are hard, and the closer they are, the harder they can be. I tell everyone that I give premarital counseling to that the Lord has ordained their marriage in order to kill both of them! That is true. It is also worth it! The greatest gift He gave to man was marriage and family. However, to have a marriage that is good, both will have to die to themselves. If either one does not make the commitment to lay down their life for their mate and their family, then what was meant to be heaven can be hell.

Family is the foundation of society, and the weaker the family is, the weaker that society will be. The weaker the families are in the church, the weaker the church will be. That is why the family life must be strong of those whom the church accepts as leaders, and there are clear biblical standards for them. If we start compromising the clear biblical standards for morality, integrity, and relationships, we will fall, and we will fail at all that the Lord has called us to. Compromising clear biblical standards can never be on the table—for anyone, regardless of how much power they walk in, how great they can preach, or how they can mobilize people.

We are also living in a society where about half of the people have now been divorced. Many more are refusing to get married because of the problems they have witnessed and the pain they suffered when their parents went through a divorce. The children are always the biggest victims of a divorce, and the meltdown in family is one of the great tragedies and great emergencies of our times. It is therefore understandable that some want to make a big deal out of Todd’s marital problems—it is a big deal.

So, should someone who is divorced be disqualified from ministry or from leadership in the church? How can we disqualify someone from ministry or leadership for something that would disqualify God? In Jeremiah 3, we are told that God gave Israel a certificate of divorce. God is divorced. Nearly half the people in our churches have been divorced. A good many Christians now stay away from the church because they have suffered a divorce, and they feel condemned by the church for it. This is an issue that we need to address for the church, not just Todd.

When God got a divorce, was it His fault? Of course not! He was the most perfect Husband there could ever be, but He had a wayward wife that He finally gave up on. That is what happened, and if you do not believe me, go read it yourself. There is a limit to what even God will put up with and rightly so. There are things that justify divorce. Even so, I think it is because the Lord Himself went through a divorce that He hates divorce so much. Divorce is always a tragedy and usually even more for the children than for the parents.

I am not at all saying this to justify Todd or condemn him. At present, I still do not know enough about his situation to condemn or justify anyone. Unrighteous judges, who are often those who rush to judgment, are also condemned in Scripture. I am writing this to try to keep some from stumbling by jumping to conclusions. We have a brother, a sister, their children, and a ministry that is really hurting right now. I greatly appreciate Todd’s willingness to keep ministering and praying for the healing of those who are afflicted and hurting, but he, his family, and his ministry need much healing right now. One thing that would help them and the body of Christ, possibly more than anything else, is to see some real Christian charity expressed in this situation and some righteous judges stand up, which is the duty of true elders in the church.

It would be one of the great tragedies to the body of Christ in our times to lose a ministry like Todd has. He is called to start much more than the Lakeland Outpouring, and just as the Lord went around destroying the works of the enemy by healing the sick, casting out demons, and demonstrating the power of the kingdom, Todd is doing that. He is taking ground in real power ministry on a level that has not been seen in decades. To lose Todd, and to lose Fresh Fire Ministries, would be a major defeat for the body of Christ. We would survive, and we would still ultimately prevail, but the cost of this defeat would be great.

So what do we do? First, in all things we must keep in mind that “love never fails” (see I Corinthians 13:8). How would the Lord respond to this? How can we see this through His eyes? We already know because He showed us. In II Corinthians 5:14 Paul wrote, “For the love of Christ controls us.” How would we behave if Christ’s love was controlling us? When mankind fell, He did not criticize, gossip about us, or condemn us—He laid down His life for us.

The world will never believe our gospel of redemption and restoration until we learn to redeem and restore. Let’s take a worst case scenario here and say that Todd was guilty of terrible things and is the one at fault in the separation—what should our response be? We are told in Galatians 6:1:

Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.

So, if anyone has been “caught in any trespass,” those who are “spiritual” must restore them. Those who are truly spiritual approach every situation with that goal—redemption and restoration. This is more than just forgiving them—it is getting them back to the place they were. The next verse says, “Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

Already there is some gloating over this situation. Some are trying to use it to promote themselves. Every situation like this is a test for everyone. Some will pass and some will fail, and the nature of everyone will be exposed. Those who truly walk in the Spirit of Christ will be obvious. The Holy Spirit is the Helper, and those who truly walk by the Spirit will be trying to help, because they love Todd, his wife, the church, and most of all, the Lord who already laid down His life for them.

This is a real opportunity for the church to show some maturity and Christian love. This does not mean compromise, but it does mean addressing this situation in an almost opposite way that we have tended to do in the past. We will all reap what we sow, and if we want to reap grace, we must learn to sow grace every chance we get. If we want to receive mercy, we need to learn to sow mercy every chance we get. Here’s a good chance!

So what does this mean for the Lakeland Outpouring? I will address that in a bit more depth in the next Bulletin, but for now, it can continue and it can get even stronger. A well has been opened there that does not have to be shut again. However, it does depend on a lot of decisions made by the church there. We should be praying for them and asking how we can help them because they were used to release something very important to the worldwide body of Christ.

I have already seen a great deal of gloating on the Internet over the problems Todd is having and the obvious satisfaction of certain individuals who are saying, "See, we were right." You were nothing of the sort.

Todd is having marital problems and that has nothing to do with his tattoos or his angels. If you are saying that his doctrine caused this then Charles Stanley must have false doctrine, too, and be a false teacher, because his wife divorced him and he has refused to step down. Now, my New Testament Professor was a Southern Baptist and his wife left him. As long as he was single, he was not allowed to pastor in the SBC. As soon as he remarried, all was right in the world of the SBC and he was allowed to pastor again. Seems a bit of a triple standard here.

I am not privy to the intimate details of Todd's marriage, and neither are the of the heresy hunters. My brother is going through hell and I will stand with him and pray for him. He's my brother and Jesus expects nothing less of me.

Our focus as Christians in this needs to be interceding for a terribly hurt family. Todd, Shonnah, their three children and the ministry family that they have created need healing.

I don't think anyone should be boasting about this.  However, many people did see this coming.  The kind of self promotion that many saw happening usually precludes a fall like this.  I should know, it happened to me many years ago.  Whether or not one agreed with Bentley's doctrine, there are now thousands of people affected by this.  The Lakeland meetings attracted over 300,000 people from all over the world.  Those people have got to be questioning their faith, I would imagine.  The fall out from this will undoubtedly have an affect on countless churches as well.  I'm also sure that ardent Bentley supporters will blame those of us that criticized what was happening at his meetings.  Everyone, including Todd Bentley, needs to realize that we as individuals are responsible for our own actions.

The article did not say what the "inappropriate relationship" entailed, beyond saying that it was an emotional relationship with a female staffer and I refuse to speculate beyond that. I can only hope for the best for Todd and his family, and everyone involved in this mess.

You can read the statement from the Fresh Fire Board of Directors here:

http://www.freshfire.ca/