Todd Bentley and the Lakeland Revival

"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."

Maybe you've heard about Todd Bentley, the tattooed, unorthodox Evangelical Protestant preacher whose Lakeland, Florida revival has taken the Evangelical sect of Christianity by storm.

Maybe you've heard about their claims of supernatural healings, at least 13 resurrections from the dead, people being delivered from evil. Maybe you've seen it broadcast on GodTV or watched some of his claimed healings on YouTube.

Maybe you've read about the deceptions, the healings that really weren't, or the fake resurrections, the Emma-O angel visitations, or his praising of William Branham (a Christian who was deceived towards the end of his life), or heard about his latest extra-marital affair and divorce, causing him to step down.

I've been hoping for a long time the error in Todd Bentley's movement would be exposed, and it appears that is now happening.

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Thank you, Lord, for exposing the falsehoods and the things that were not from you.
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I've been hoping and praying the falsehoods would be revealed because a lot of people, including some close Christian friends, got into this and were deceived. I do not take pleasure in seeing Bentley's family torn apart. I do not claim to be on higher moral ground when it comes to sin. I am only happy to see that the error in this claimed revival is being exposed, and that people are repenting of it.

Charisma magazine, one of the large Evangelical Christian magazines, issued a statement on Todd Bentley today, as Bentley recently announced he's stepping down and will be divorcing his wife, Shonnah, due to an extra-marital affair. Charisma magazine asks,

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?

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 blame this lack of discernment, partly, on raw zeal for God. We're spiritually hungry—which can be a good thing. But sometimes, hungry people will eat anything.

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.

Why didn't anyone in Lakeland denounce the favorable comments Bentley made about William Branham?

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.

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.

Why did God TV tell people that "any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic"?

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.

Because of the Lakeland scandal, there may be large numbers of people who feel they've been burned by Bentley. Some may give up on church and join the growing ranks of bitter, disenfranchised Christians. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I have stated my belief that much of Christianity won't recognize the radical Jewish Messiah when he comes. Messiah's Jewish, pro-Torah nature will be so foreign to gentile Christianity, many will discard him, just as the religious leaders of Yeshua's time discarded him. Many Christians expect the pacifist lamb of the nations, but will receive the triumphant King of Israel.

If that weren't enough, the Evangelical thirst for signs and wonders and the ease at which millions have been deceived is more concerning. How much more easily will we be deceived when the anti-Messiah who in all likelihood will go by the anglicized name of Jesus, performs all kinds of signs and wonders and set himself up as God in what will be the 3rd Temple?

Paul's vision of the great apostasy seems ever more likely. Paul warned us through his letter to the Thessalonians,

Don't let anyone deceive you in any way.

For the Day will not come until after the Apostasy has come and the man who separates himself from Torah has been revealed, the one destined for doom. He will oppose himself to everything that people call a god or make an object of worship; he will put himself above them all, so that he will sit in the Temple of God and proclaim that he himself is God.

Don't you remember that when I was still with you, I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is restraining, so that he may be revealed in his own time. For already this separating from Torah is at work secretly, but it will be secretly only until he who is restraining is out of the way.

Then the one who embodies separation from Torah will be revealed, the one whom the Master Yeshua will slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the glory of his coming.

When this man who avoids Torah comes, the Adversary will give him the power to work all kinds of false miracles, signs and wonders. He will enable him to deceive, in all kinds of wicked ways, those who are headed for destruction because they would not receive the love of the truth that could have saved them. This is why God is causing them to go astray, so that they will believe the Lie. The result will be that all who have not believed the truth, but have taken their pleasure in wickedness, will be condemned.

Todd Bentley's Lakeland Outpouring was just a tiny example of false signs and wonders, and yet it deceived millions.

How much easier and how many more will the "man of lawlessness" deceive and lead astray?