My feedback and discernment after the end of the Lakeland outpouring

Message 2, by George E. Markakis, 21 Aug. 2008

At the end of my letter follows a very interesting article by Charisma on the Lakeland latest developments and issues on Todd Bentley's ministry.

These are now my comments on the events.

1. In spite of the present outcome, I still believe the outpouring in Lakeland was genuine from an angel of the Lord who came to stir the waters (as in John 5 - that is what the Lord communicated to me - see original article for more). Except, that the people whom God used for the outpouring were not walking in the balance of holiness and humility, and the fire of the Anointing burned them up.

2. The essence of the article I had written was meant to communicate a couple of major things:

    A) Lakeland-style healing outpouring is ok, but watch out; there is something better: the Presence of the Lord!

    B) If you want to go to Lakeland, DON'T GO! -- those were the main 2 messages meant to come across through that article.

Note -- I INSIST, even though many don't understand me: God's PRESENCE was NOT manifest in Lakeland -- that was His Hand, and more specifically, His Healing Hand. His SHEKINAH PRESENSE is a DIFFERENT thing altogether. I can prove it through the Scriptures, and the reason I understand the Scriptures in that area is because I know His SHEKINAH.

3. At the start of the outpouring the Lord had simply told me: this is nothing more than a mere temporary angelic visitation to reveal my desire to heal the sick! That is what happened through it. When people went overboard, the Lord put an end to it. However, in spite of what some “prophets” were saying about the outpouring out of their own bellies and the hype of the events, God was planning to keep it short right from the start!

4. I have never openly endorsed Todd Bentley, but I also have never expressed my reservations either (I simply kept quiet each time people were going crazy about the healings). This is the first time I will say my opinion with simplicity of heart: I believe he is an anointed servant of the Lord with a good heart, but he is grossly deceived in many areas, because his mind is not properly renewed. When I checked out his website and I saw his photo, I felt he was showing off, and that he needed deliverance from the spirit of Ashera. I discerned the following: too much attention to the flesh; a spirit of narcissism, skin deep anointing without inner holiness. Apart from my earlier discernment, in hindsight I can also see the obvious that many now understand: Todd needs more wisdom to balance the power of the anointing that God has entrusted him with, so that he can channel it more properly and in more edifying manner.

5. Don't miss the essence: Todd Bentley is still a chosen vessel; an anointed man of God! He simply needs deliverance from certain spirits, as most (all?) of us do! We are not called to judge him - if we do, we shall be judged in like manner. This is a moment to love him and pray for him that he will overcome this terrible moment of his life, and he will come out a broken vessel, truly sanctified, truly usable by the Lord for good works! My prayer is that some day soon Todd will be used of God for an alternative outpouring -- one of HOLINESS! He also needs to renew his mind concerning how to minister with wisdom – let us pray for him that he will submit to Godly authority and be taught in the ways of God’s wisdom and sound mind (he seems to need more sound mind and less carnal enthousiasm).

6. There is a strong message the Lord is giving to His Church through this situation: Don't compromise with the world! That is where some ministers can miss it; if we allow the spirit of the world to gain access, it will manipulate the ministry. The fruit of the spirit of the world through the Lakeland outpouring can be quite devastating if we permit it. Many Christians are now at risk of becoming very skeptical of signs, wonders, miracles, and the supernatural flow of the Holy Spirit. That should not happen. Just because some ministers may prove to be inadequate vessels of a strong anointing flow does not mean that we should shy away from God’s power and shrink into disbelief and skepticism. We need to remain steadfast in our determination to see the Power of God flow!

7. The second strong message of the Lord is Scriptural – if we want God to use us, we need to balance the power with purity and true sanctification:

1 Joh 3:2 (NKJV) Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

2 Tim 2:20 (NKJV) But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

Rev. George & Evi Markakis
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Christian Development & Revival Ministries - P.O.Box 66519 Papagou GR-15610, Greece
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Shalom Center & Church of the Holy Spirit - 8, Akominatou str. Omonia Athens, Greece
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Email: info@shalomathens.com - www.cdrm.org
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Life After Lakeland: Sorting Out the Confusion 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.) 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. J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. To read Charisma’s news story on Todd Bentley’s recent announcement, click here. Discuss this article Visit fireinmybones.com

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