http://witnessed.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/if/

Hip Hop / Gospel / Christian Rap have something to say about this and here what he wrote be bless by it and God is the Judge , Jury , and Executioner !

What’s up family,
I just wanted to encourage every one to be strong in “The Faith”, and to walk “By Faith.” I have recently been following up on the tragic happenings involving the Lakeland revival and Todd Bentley, and thought that it was important that I should speak on it. As most of you know, I am an advocate for walking in the Power Of God, and the things of The Holy Spirit, so when something likes this happens, it hits home so to speak. I’m not going to go into detail about what happened there (Lakeland) and in Mr. Bentley’s life (I wasn’t there, and really didn’t see much of it on T.V., so I wouldn’t know much anyway), but I will say this…just because a man is in excess, exaggerations, extremes or “error”, doesn’t mean that God has ceased doing supernatural things. He is still a God that heals, delivers, and saves in The Name of Jesus. He is still a God that performs signs, miracles, and wonders in The Name of Jesus. And He is still a God that uses His people to do these things through…in The Name of Jesus! I think that it’s important for us all to check ourselves. What we don’t want to do is shrink back and enter into unbelief (regarding spiritual gifts and manifestations of The Holy Ghost) because of someone’s mistakes. There must be balance. I am a firm believer that anything taught, rapped, or preached by any minister (including myself), should be line upon line, precept upon precept with the Word of God. His Word is our standard. Our opinions and our experiences that don’t line up with his Word shouldn’t even be considered as a “Word” or “Visitation” from The Lord. Of course I was disappointed when I heard about what happened (and had been happening), simply because of the fuel these happenings give to the fires of the “heresy hunters” and “cessasionists” (those who believe that the gifts of the Spirit have ceased and are not for today). But again I shout joyfully…”we are not of those who shrink back!” I pray that God gives you wisdom, understanding, and discernment when it comes to the things of The Holy Ghost. If you find yourself headed to the other side of the road, into the ditch of cynicism and unbelief, now would be a great time to “refocus” and “readjust” the wheel. There must be balance. Jesus Christ is still the same yesterday, today and forever!

Free Da’ Holy Ghost!
Mynista

http://letmypeopleread.blogspot.com/2008/07/william-dembski-on-todd-bently-and.html

I might add that Ed Stetzer (the SBC Missiologist) has also written a great piece on Evangelical (and not just Charismatic or Pentecostal) gullibility.

(John 15:23 KJV) He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

(1 John 2:9 KJV) He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

(1 John 2:11 KJV) But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

(1 John 3:15 KJV) Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

(1 John 4:20 KJV) If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

…Many Christians are doing their own thing, trying to live a life without Jesus, without even taking to him now often too.. Jesus himself hath said without me you can do nothing.. nothing!!!

http://anyonecare.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/great-links-great-christian-literature/

Scott, you’re funny…:) thanks for the link to Dembski….it was honest and sobering to consider those who don’t get prayer.

Cls, thanks for the links to Justin Peters…I enjoyed reading his article and his interaction with the biblical text (also, the comments on that blog were insightful as well).

Jon, thanks…always love your input. I too thought about Jesus unconventional methods. I guess the big question is whether methodology is limited to biblical examples.

Ty, love your posture… Q: Do you trust the leadership that surrounds such a dynamic figure to be clear and biblical in their thinking? Also, what do you think is the difference between judging and discerning?

Jason, I appreciate our Gamaliel approach to controversy.

Friend of God (great screen name), appreciate the note. Nevertheless, what you consider slander may be discernment for others. I feel like it can still go both ways. The question for me is whether or not Bentley’s “attacks” are because of his faithfulness to Christ. In any case, I’m not sure if the comparison to God’s dwelling place is justified in context as you use it.

Rick, thanks for keeping us focused on love, a love that covers a multitude of sins. I am definitely not trying to “slam” Bentley in anyway. I, like you, would like to keep the conversation about what’s happening and not necessarily about who Bentley is…b/c this could have happened through anyone…also, the issue here is not about his salvation…that’s between him and God.

Thedeezone, thanks for the specific clarifications!

Caleb, I too think you are being held back by demons! (J/K)… great questions bro! You articulated well our struggle.

Joel, well said!!! I love how you bring things back to those things Jesus clearly cares for…like the poor. Being from a charismatic background, I know my theology tells me to be open. I don’t doubt that God is healing people through Bentley’s ministry. (By the way, on the Fresh Fire website, they still advertise people to come to lakeland to “come and get some”.). Nevertheless, I do wonder how these kinds of ministries may actually lead some away from Christ as well.

It’s an interesting world we live in with the internet…I wonder what the conversation would have been like with Azusa street if we had youtube.

Still processing…

My parents too have gone and while they had their nightly meetings, they also went out into the city each day, eating at Waffle Houses and the like, and were able to lead over a dozen people to the Lord.

I have watched the meetings on TV many times and have been encouraged when Todd speaks because it really is all about Jesus. You never see this side of the depth of his teachings through YouTube and Blog Rants. How come it is easier for the Christians who disagree with stuff of this nature to hop online and leave their rantings, but if thousands of people coming out are having fake healings, why aren’t those who experienced “fake” healings also getting online and on TV, which is just as easily accessible for them to do?

I will say, if anyone just turns off the YouTubes and Blogs and ask simple questions like “Why did Todd disappear?”, you will actually see he posted a letter online. One-it hasn’t stopped when he isn’t there. It isn’t about him, so he has raised others to do the work. Two-God has showed him not to make it about Lakeland either, so he is going to shut down the tent in a few weeks and take it to other cities. Again – we can look a short clips on methods of healing, but we miss the big picture that has a man who is after Jesus. He also does have other leaders of big churches and/or movement who got on stage back in June to say they backed and blessed what was happening. Peter Wagner, Chuck Pierce, John and Carol Arnott, Bill Johnson (Redding), Che Ahn (Pasadena), Shawn Bolz (Studio City) and others.

And Charles, you know the history of Foursquare and the roots of Azuza. Histories of the awakening and past revivals in the 18th and 19th centuries all include weird things like throwing dead bodies against the wall to bring them back to life, etc. Even our own Scripture had prophets cooked over animal feces, laying on their side for a whole year, going naked around town, and claiming that we were to eat flesh and drink blood, among many other things.

While I personally don’t pray for “revival” any more, I do desire an increase of His presence in my life and in our world. There is something happening in this time where the atmosphere around us is changing. People are hungry and desperate. I was at a coffee shop where I over heard three 40- somethings talking about how they don’t have medical insurance and this woman had to claim bankruptcy because she broke her arm and it would have cost her $26,000. We have gas on the rise. Food costs around the world on the rise. Terrorism is the least of our domestic worries now. Obama or McCain will have a mess on their hands. Hah.

But the question for us – will the Church be ready to confront the coming years? What do we do when someone breaks their arm and they don’t have the insurance to pay for it, because it costs so much? What do we do when poor families in our own country can’t put food on their plates because they spend it all on getting gas to work?

I personally believe that only in the darkness can us, who are light, shine at our brightest, because we carry the same Spirit that resurrected Jesus within us. We all have it. And Jesus himself said greater things will we do! If that is so true, then I should be able to bring my sick and dead to New Hope South Bay, to the Bridge, to the Crystal Cathedral, wherever, and then should find life and healing right?

But it’s not the case. I’ve never seen the dead raised, let alone cancer healed. Jesus cared for the poor, healed the sick, freed the oppressed, raised the dead. These were marks of his life, and yet we are finally just managing to get the poor, the orphans and the widows part.

If Jesus said “These signs will accompany those who believe…”, and Jesus did all these signs, the reality is that we are BEHIND the starting line that Jesus put us on 2000 years ago.

We want to see those things, but we have our list of reason why we don’t: we don’t like the abuse it’s caused, out of fear, control (also fear), fear of man, fear of making sure things are orderly and in good conduct in our churches, and just the plain notion that that stuff is for weirdos and I don’t want to be hyper-spiritual. Haha.

But the world is hungry. Look at the BestSeller list that has everything from the Secret, to The Third Jesus to to the Power of Now, etc. I feel their hunger and from talking to people in my own city and county, there is a hunger rising like never before. Aslan is on the move…will we follow with eyes to see and ears to hear what His Spirit is saying to the churches?

I realize that in romans we learn about the importance of unity in the body and that we should not be arguing amongst ourselves on non negotiables but there has got to be a point in which the church stands up for all of christ’s virtues as a revival.

there is a videos online with Todd claiming that dimonds fell from the sky so valuable they could not get sell them. One he said was worth over $50,000. He also claims he has been to heaven several times and that God told him that Paul and abraham co-wrote the book of Hebrews.

so at what point do we confront, and to what extent? some my say its condemning but couldnt there be loving correction? I wouldn’t ever say that Todd has a wicked heart, or that his ministry is ill-intended but I would not say that it does not effect the body as a whole so what do we do with that?

TY for clarifying neither Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY) or Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ft Worth, TX) have news sites.

It was an interesting article. Although, the drive from FW to Denton isn’t as bad as the article made it sound. It gave the round trip milage but didn’t say that. From SWBTS campus it takes about 45 min to get to Denton. The article also illustrates that no real healing is happening.