I am trying to wrap my head around the Lakeland Revival. Let me first say that I have been to Brownsville twice ('98 and '02), and I have done alot of reading, watching, and listening to things going on in Lakeland because in my position I have alot of people asking me what I think about it and some are asking for help in discerning things they are seeing on Godtv and Youtube.
The truth is, I'm not ready to answer that yet. I would like to slowly, SLOWLY walk through some things I have read and get to a decision.
I would like to present portions of a post on a COG forum by Buck Marshall, a COG pastor and a ministry colleague of mine in college. It's one of the best summaries on a criticism of Lakeland yet. If you link to the full article, there's alot more.
Todd Bentley was completely foreign to me. I had NEVER heard of him before and had absolutely no opinion of him whatever. So….I watched. There were several things that struck me as problematic.
First, Todd’s teachings border on heresy. He speaks of trips to the third heaven in a fashion that can only be described as New Age. It in fact mirrors that of those who practice out of body experiences, astral projection, and channeling. It does not follow along the lines of other experiences such as John’s in Revelation. Further, he makes claims of the Paul/Abraham co-authorship of Hebrews as revelation from his own “trips” to the third heaven. I find that completely untrustworthy. He focuses on Angels in such a manner that would make any Biblical angel rebuke him for attributing to them what only belongs to God. He prays to them instead of God. That is not merely extra-biblical like say, “gold teeth filling” but is absolutely UN-biblical! The messages he has preached are so un-sound in doctrine and Biblical theology it makes one wonder how he began preaching in the first place. He even claims to have been possessed with 25 demons AFTER he was a believer and operating in the prophetic! This is simply impossible according to scripture. There are many passages to debunk that assertion but look no further than 1 Cor. 10. So, with no sound doctrine to offer and erroneous teachings at best and heretical theology at worst I began to really pay attention to this minister.
Secondly, there were many, many, many people who shouted, danced, and fell down but I didn’t see one miracle. I wanted to. I really wanted to. There are so many cameras there. There is so much attention focused on this thing. It is not like the Toronto or Brownsville revivals in scope. Those were an earlier time technologically. Now, this revival is taking advantage of live broadcasting not just on TV but on satellite networks, streaming live on the internet, posting clips on YouTube, podcasts and it is even available on your cell phone. So, I really wanted miracles to happen as a sign to unbelievers….but they didn’t. Oh, there were plenty who claimed to be healed but they were of the variety that could not be verified. So, Iet’s not doubt them. Let’s suppose that God is healing them through the ministry of this guy. So, when they wheeled the girl who had cerebral palsy onto the stage….I wanted to see her limbs begin to change. I wanted to see her gain proper motor function. Nothing happened. When the girl came onto the stage with a tumor that was literally HALF the size of her head….I wanted to see it shrink like the ones the other people claimed had. He told her it would happen later in her bed. That was convenient. WHY….we have the cameras ready….let’s see this healed and send it to every cell phone…every iphone….let His glory be on display and become the most downloaded video on YouTube since Star Wars Kid and the Numa Numa Guy. Now, I understand that not everyone gets healed and all the disclaimers we in the 21st century American church use to stop praying for the sick and not feel bad. And, I suppose that would not have been as big a deal if he hadn’t done what he did. He prayed for those two and then immediately instructed the cameras to get a shot of his stage. Many people on the other end of the stage had fallen down and were shaking on the floor. He said, “Look what God has done. Look at how my stage is messed up.” No, turn the camera back on these two girls who desperately need a touch from God and let’s not stop praying until they are healed! Let’s get all the millions of people watching on tv’s, cell phones and computers to start praying for these two people until they are healed! I can’t shake these people….I pray for them every time I think of them. I guess I want less show and more prayer. Not BAM!!! and fall down….but more focused, earnest, continuous prayer.
Thirdly, it just seemed to all be about him (Todd). His anointing, his stage, his ministry, his experiences, his opinion, and his support. I am really hungry to see revivalists and even a lot of Christian television ministers with less ego. Philippians talks of Jesus humbling, lowering, and emptying himself. It is not a position of weakness. Yet, those who stand in a place of leadership too many times do not follow his servanthood example.
So, I am disheartened by this revival. The fault lies not with the people who are going. It lies with the leaders. I have real questions about this minister. I will not go so far as denouncing him as a fake…I just think he has really bad theology and the church as a whole has done a very bad job of training him and/or holding him accountable. We can point fingers…but, we have a lot of that in the CoG as well. We have a lot of Pastor’s with really bad theology. They fill our pulpits every Sunday and no one writes one word about it. I think that is probably the greater problem.
- 1. There was a lack of Biblical foundation but rather the experiential was exalted.
- 2. The demonstrative reaction to prayer was vaunted while the sick went unhealed.
- 3. There seemed to be a focus on Todd Bentley as though he was the force behind what God did.
First, Todd’s teachings border on heresy. He speaks of trips to the third heaven in a fashion that can only be described as New Age. It in fact mirrors that of those who practice out of body experiences, astral projection, and channeling. It does not follow along the lines of other experiences such as John’s in Revelation. Further, he makes claims of the Paul/Abraham co-authorship of Hebrews as revelation from his own “trips” to the third heaven. I find that completely untrustworthy. He focuses on Angels in such a manner that would make any Biblical angel rebuke him for attributing to them what only belongs to God. He prays to them instead of God. That is not merely extra-biblical like say, “gold teeth filling” but is absolutely UN-biblical! The messages he has preached are so un-sound in doctrine and Biblical theology it makes one wonder how he began preaching in the first place. He even claims to have been possessed with 25 demons AFTER he was a believer and operating in the prophetic! This is simply impossible according to scripture. There are many passages to debunk that assertion but look no further than 1 Cor. 10. So, with no sound doctrine to offer and erroneous teachings at best and heretical theology at worst I began to really pay attention to this minister.
Secondly, there were many, many, many people who shouted, danced, and fell down but I didn’t see one miracle. I wanted to. I really wanted to. There are so many cameras there. There is so much attention focused on this thing. It is not like the Toronto or Brownsville revivals in scope. Those were an earlier time technologically. Now, this revival is taking advantage of live broadcasting not just on TV but on satellite networks, streaming live on the internet, posting clips on YouTube, podcasts and it is even available on your cell phone. So, I really wanted miracles to happen as a sign to unbelievers….but they didn’t. Oh, there were plenty who claimed to be healed but they were of the variety that could not be verified. So, Iet’s not doubt them. Let’s suppose that God is healing them through the ministry of this guy. So, when they wheeled the girl who had cerebral palsy onto the stage….I wanted to see her limbs begin to change. I wanted to see her gain proper motor function. Nothing happened. When the girl came onto the stage with a tumor that was literally HALF the size of her head….I wanted to see it shrink like the ones the other people claimed had. He told her it would happen later in her bed. That was convenient. WHY….we have the cameras ready….let’s see this healed and send it to every cell phone…every iphone….let His glory be on display and become the most downloaded video on YouTube since Star Wars Kid and the Numa Numa Guy. Now, I understand that not everyone gets healed and all the disclaimers we in the 21st century American church use to stop praying for the sick and not feel bad. And, I suppose that would not have been as big a deal if he hadn’t done what he did. He prayed for those two and then immediately instructed the cameras to get a shot of his stage. Many people on the other end of the stage had fallen down and were shaking on the floor. He said, “Look what God has done. Look at how my stage is messed up.” No, turn the camera back on these two girls who desperately need a touch from God and let’s not stop praying until they are healed! Let’s get all the millions of people watching on tv’s, cell phones and computers to start praying for these two people until they are healed! I can’t shake these people….I pray for them every time I think of them. I guess I want less show and more prayer. Not BAM!!! and fall down….but more focused, earnest, continuous prayer.
Thirdly, it just seemed to all be about him (Todd). His anointing, his stage, his ministry, his experiences, his opinion, and his support. I am really hungry to see revivalists and even a lot of Christian television ministers with less ego. Philippians talks of Jesus humbling, lowering, and emptying himself. It is not a position of weakness. Yet, those who stand in a place of leadership too many times do not follow his servanthood example.
So, I am disheartened by this revival. The fault lies not with the people who are going. It lies with the leaders. I have real questions about this minister. I will not go so far as denouncing him as a fake…I just think he has really bad theology and the church as a whole has done a very bad job of training him and/or holding him accountable. We can point fingers…but, we have a lot of that in the CoG as well. We have a lot of Pastor’s with really bad theology. They fill our pulpits every Sunday and no one writes one word about it. I think that is probably the greater problem.
2 comments:
I think you've covered the topic quite well. The thing in Lakeland is going to mess up a lot of people's lives. It's sad.
I've heard a lot about this. I think it's quite sad when people think they have to go all the way to FL to receive something from God...like God is somehow more concentrated there. I was in Brownsville several years ago for their revival, and looking back on it, I remember a lot of people shaking and wailing on the floor but no miracles. I am not saying miracles didn't happen, and I know this is a completely different revival. It's just that coming from a pentecostal (A/G) background, I am left feeling empty at times from ministers who chase after what borders on the paranormal. I don't think Jesus prayed for people so they would fall on the ground and shake. He genuinely prayed for their healing and salvation, b/c he genuinely cared about them.
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