DISCUSSION: Commentary & Good Article by J. Lee Grady...

REASONABLE VOICES

Good article below (after my introductory comments) by J. Lee Grady, Editor of Charisma.

Thank God there are some reasonable voices out there like his--whether or not they've recently just come to their senses--or from the beginning knew Bentlley was a bent pin.

Or perhaps reasonable voices emerge just because of healthy disillusionment and disgust with the crazy excesses of sick 'Latter Rain Syndrome' revivalism.

Over the years I've worked as a clinician in two acute psychiatric units. I'd often rush out to meet my friends after my shift--not just to grab a sandwich--but mainly to talk with somebody who was sane, nothearing voices, (and, because he'd had a vision that he was Napoleon--had his hand in my blouse--Ha!). Like--when you've had the unfortunate experience of witnessing a bar fight--or some bitchy soccer mom beating up the coach--you relish going to a scenic park and reading a good book.

I've felt the same way after leaving a Latter-Rain type church or meeting (with its hyper-deliverance, holy laughter, pre-frontal-lobe-disturbance-visions, writhing on the floor like snakes, animal sounds, slaying, PMS-prophetesses, hopping-to-bad-music-like-jumping-jack idiots, pre-occupation with angels, obsession with ridding the place of jezebel-spirits, and making maudlin money-grubbing pleas for some damn--mythical usually--orphange in Haiti) ...looking for conversation with anyone--anyone sort of in their right mind--ha!..go to an art show..or, hey...a good cigar shop--talk with sombody--the bigger sinner the better--but hopefully an intelligent reader (a real rarity in Fresno!)--but somebody not religiously-pre-occupied in the goofy charis-manic sense--somebody not taking lists of demon names on a steno pad--with a copy of Frank and Ida May Hammond's Pigs In the Parlor tucked under her arm.

Sane voices (which are also biblically-sound Christian voices) can help us fend off the emotionally unstable, the apostates, the confused sheeple, and, sadly, the so-called 'Christian leaders' who endorsed, 'anointed', praised, followed (and will still follow) Bentley et al--and his 'Strange Fire' (a la Nadab & Abihu) Menace-try.

I have been personlly amazed at finding people that I'd known for years (and thought had half a brain) who still seem to want to remain in the 'Strange Fire' nest--like little birds with their mouths open--waiting for more worms. And, of course, worms they will get..!

For years, i've been warning people (not only about buying food from roach-motel fast food Mc-restaurants) but about the dead cessationist NAE and their ecumenical impotence on the one hand--and about Latter Rain Schizotypal ( charismagical) Personalities on the other.

Throughout my many years of ministerially-unhappy captivity in the 'egypt' of California's San Joaquin Valley--I've seen, for the most part, the one extreme or the other.

You may ask, "Have you found a haven in your cartooning and writing? And have you enjoyed the Psalm 23 respite you find in Satire..? And, while not being cyncial--do you continue to relish a healthy and robust skepticism and sales resistance to any prophetess..? And a godly aversion to all things evangelical, ecumenical, pop-religious, and 'prophetic'. And a healthy allergy to words like 'Elijah' and 'Jezebel'..? And mentally stable avoidance of any tattooed, splenetically-revivalistic, rock-n-roll-praise-band-atmospheres full of kundalini-gyrating emergent-church millennials..?

...Is the Pope Catholic...? ----P.C. Brewer

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Life After Lakeland: Sorting Out the Confusion by J. Lee Grady, Charisma

Todd Bentley's announcement that his marriage is ending has thrown our movement into a tailspin—and questions need to be answered.


It was not supposed to end like this. (Ed. Note: Really? How could it have ended in any other way..when it was off-center 'Latter-Rainism' from the start..? --PB)

Evangelist Todd Bentley had heralded the Lakeland revival as the greatest Pentecostal outpouring since Azusa Street. From his stage in a gigantic tent in Florida, Bentley preached to thousands, bringing many of them to the stage for prayer. Many claimed to be healed of deafness, blindness, heart problems, depression and dozens of other conditions in the Lakeland services, which ran for more than 100 consecutive nights. Bentley announced confidently that dozens of people had been raised from the dead during the revival.

But this week, a few days after the Canadian preacher announced the end of his visits to Lakeland, he told his staff that his marriage is ending. Without blaming the pace of the revival for Bentley's personal problems, his board released a public statement saying that he and his wife, Shonnah, are separating. The news shocked Bentley's adoring fans and saddened those who have questioned his credibility since the Lakeland movement erupted in early April.

"Among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message was clear: 'This is God. Don't question.' "

I'm sad. I'm disappointed. And I'm angry. Here are few of my many, many questions about this fiasco:

Why did so many people flock to Lakeland from around the world to rally behind an evangelist who had serious credibility issues from the beginning?

To put it bluntly, we're just plain gullible. (Ed. note: "Duh..." --PB)

From the first week of the Lakeland revival, many discerning Christians raised questions about Bentley's beliefs and practices. They felt uneasy when he said he talked to an angel in his hotel room. They sensed something amiss when he wore a T-shirt with a skeleton on it. They wondered why a man of God would cover himself with tattoos. They were horrified when they heard him describe how he tackled a man and knocked his tooth out during prayer. (Ed. Note; What's that Appalachian saying about "...didn't you know what it was when you picked it up..?" --PB)

But among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message was clear: "This is God. Don't question." So before we could all say, "Sheeka Boomba" (as Bentley often prayed from his pulpit), many people went home, prayed for people and shoved them to the floor with reckless abandon, Bentley-style. (Ed. Note: Of course--"Monkey see--monkey do..." --PB)

I blame this lack of discernment, partly, on raw zeal for God. We're spiritual hungry—which can be a good thing. But sometimes, hungry people will eat anything. (Ed. Note: 'Sheeple' contestants on Fear Factor type TV shows eat all kinds of rodents and vermin...because they want the money..! --PB)

Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. 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. (Ed. Note: Trouble is--that's asking the impossible of I.Q.of 5 'Millennials'--ha! --PB)

Why didn't anyone in Lakeland denounce the favorable comments Bentley made about William Branham? (Ed. Note: Ignorance of modern Church History also comes back to haunt us! --PB)

This one baffles me. Branham embraced horrible deception near the end of his ministry, before he died in 1965. He claimed that he was the reincarnation of Elijah—and his strange doctrines are still embraced by a cultlike following today. When Bentley announced to the world that the same angel that ushered in the 1950s healing revival had come to Lakeland, the entire audience should have run for the exits. (Ed. Note: Ah...but the 'sheeple' didn't recognize the fact that Bentley is 'Latter Rain'...and, of course, there wasn't a scholarly Bible student in the bunch. And, sadly, these folks 'pre-screen' themselves--like attendees at professional wrestling--or Benny Hinn meetings...--PB)

Why didn't anyone correct this error from the pulpit? Godly leaders are supposed to protect the sheep from heresy, 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.

A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley's news hit the fan. He said to me: "I'm now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment." Ouch. Hopefully we'll learn our lesson this time and apply the necessary caution when an imposter shows up. (Ed. Note: Don't hold your breath..! --PB)

Why did God TV tell people that "any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic"? (Ed. Note; Because GOD TV administrators present themselves as pushers ofNew Order of the Latter Rain--due to their endorsement of Bentley's propagandizing:"This fire of revival started in 1948 and is coming back to go around the world today!" --PB)

This ridiculous statement was actually made on one of God TV's pre-shows. In fact, 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. The Bible tells us that the Bereans were noble believers because they studied the Scriptures daily "to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11, NASB). Yet in the case of Lakeland, honest intellectual inquiry was viewed as a sign of weakness. People were expected to jump first and then open their eyes.

Just because we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit does not mean we check our brains at the church door. We are commanded to test the spirits. Jesus wants us to love Him with our hearts and our minds. (Ed. Note: Amen and amen...!!! --PB)

Because of the Lakeland scandal, there may be large numbers of people who feel they've been burned by Bentley. (Ed. Note: Hey--we can only hope. --PB) Some may give up on church and join the growing ranks of bitter, disenfranchised Christians. (Ed. Note: Like many of the intelligent folk I enjoy chatting with in coffee shops.) Others may suffer total spiritual shipwreck. This could have been avoided if leaders had been more vocal about their objections and urged people to evaluate spiritual experiences through the filter of God's Word.

Why did a group of respected ministers lay hands on Bentley on June 23 and publicly ordain him? Did they know of his personal problems?

This controversial ceremony was organized by Peter Wagner, who felt that one of Bentley's greatest needs was proper spiritual covering. He asked California pastors Che Ahn and Bill Johnson, along with Canadian pastor John Arnott, to lay hands on Bentley and bring him under their care. (Ed. Note: Wouldn't this cause a sensible, sane, wise Christian to question the spiritual wisdom of the above-mentioned 'respected ministers'..? --PB)

Bentley certainly needs such covering. No one in ministry today should be out on their own, living in isolation without checks, balances and wise counsel. It was commendable that Wagner reached out to Bentley and that Bentley acknowledged his need for spiritual fathers by agreeing to submit to the process. The question remains, however, whether it was wise to commend Bentley during a televised commissioning service that at times seemed more like a king's coronation.

In hindsight, we can all see that it would have been better to take Bentley into a back room and talk about his personal issues. (Ed. Note: And then take him out to the wood shed!....ha! --PB)

The Bible tells us that ordination of a minister is a sober responsibility. Paul wrote: "Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others" (1 Tim. 5:22). We might be tempted to rush the process, but the apostle warned against fast-tracking ordination—and he said that those who commission a minister who is not ready for the job will bear some of the blame for his failures.

I trust that Wagner, Ahn, Johnson and Arnott didn't know of Bentley's problems before they ordained him. I am sure they are saddened by the events of this week and are reaching out to Bentley and his wife to promote healing and restoration. But I believe that they, along with Bentley and the owners of God TV, owe the body of Christ a forthright, public apology for thrusting Bentley's ministry into the spotlight prematurely. (Perhaps such an apology should be aired on God TV.) (Ed. Note: Again...don't hold your breath..! --PB)

Can anything good come out of this?

That depends on how people respond. If the men assigned to oversee Bentley offer loving but firm correction, and if Bentley responds humbly to the process by stepping out of ministry for a season of rehabilitation, we could witness a healthy case of church discipline play out the way it is supposed to. If all those who were so eager to promote Bentley now rush just as fast to repent for their errors in judgment, then the rest of us could breathe a huge sigh of relief—and the credibility of our movement could be restored. (Ed. Note: Please explain further in detail about 'the credibility of our movement'...sounds intriguing..! --PB)

I still believe that God desires to visit our nation in supernatural power. I know He wants to heal multitudes, and I will continue praying for a healing revival to sweep across the United States. But we must contend for the genuine, not an imitation. True revival will be accompanied by brokenness, humility, reverence and repentance—not the arrogance, showmanship and empty hype that often was on display in Lakeland.

We are weathering an unprecedented season of moral failure and spiritual compromise in our nation today. I urge everyone in the charismatic world to pray for Bentley; his wife, Shonnah; his three young children; Bentley's ministry staff; and the men and women who serve as his counselors and advisers. Let's pray that God will turn this embarrassing debacle into an opportunity for miraculous restoration. (Ed. Note: Trouble is--all the cronies, toadies, and groupies chose to dance with the devil out of their own naivete, narcissism, self-conscious attention-seeking, and shallowness . These folks are a mile-wide-and-an-inch-deep--because of their very glomming onto Bentley in the first place. Look at the YouTube videos of these associates in their trance-like stage performances. They're all one taco short of a Happy Meal---ha! --PB)
J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.