I am in the process of completely redesigned the site, in particular to enable the easy downloading of teaching mp3s… so watch out for the change!  I will more than likely have to do it gradually due to time pressures.

Over the last couple of weeks, there has been an increasing swirl of controversy regarding Todd Bentley. I have had almost daily contact with him, and he asked me to post the following:

Todd Bentley asked me to convey his appreciation for all the prayers, expressions of love, and concern while he tries to navigate through this present situation. He is grieved by the trouble and confusion this has caused, especially to his friends, coworkers, and all who have trusted him. He wants to make a clear statement about it, acknowledging his responsibility in this and the mistakes he made, but he feels that he should first meet with Pastor Bill Johnson, who is out of the country and will not be available for a couple more weeks. He asks that you would continue to pray for him, and he thanks those who are willing to be patient. He wants to do this right and not hastily or superficially.

I would like to accept personal responsibility for counseling Todd to wait until he has talked with Bill before trying to make the “full disclosure” of his mistakes. This needs to be done right and in a way that does not unnecessarily hurt even more people. In just a couple of weeks, things should have calmed down enough for a statement to be made. Impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit, and I have personally never seen anything done under the kind of duress and pressure that some are trying to exert at this time that ended up not being a mistake.

The only thing that I have received from the Lord about this matter directly is that “those who rush to judgment will be exposed.” This entire matter, including the Lakeland Outpouring, is a test. To me, the miracles, healings, salvations, and profoundly changed lives that resulted in people, some that I personally know, make all that is happening now still worth it, many times over.

My opinion of the Lakeland Outpouring has not changed, and it will mark a demarcation point for the church that will have a positive impact on our future. I greatly appreciate all who helped to make it possible, and I also appreciate the devotion we are seeing to not compromise basic biblical standards of morality and integrity. If we handle what is now before us rightly, it can have an even greater impact than the Outpouring did to encourage and strengthen the church for the great tasks before us.

I have no doubt that many of the statements that are now being made are going to be regretted by those who made them. Since I am appealing for a couple of weeks to give Todd the chance to process these matters and meet with Bill Johnson, I think we should give any who may have made premature statements some grace too. There are leaders who are applauding some of these statements, but almost every Christian that has talked to me about them, as well as most of the leaders I have talked to, thought that they were hastily made statements meant to cover their bases which cost these leaders a lot of credibility. I have only read a few, and that was not necessarily my perspective, though it is very obvious with some.

Even if this is the case, this is a natural tendency when someone is wounded. I think we should resist writing off these people and maybe have a moratorium to allow everyone a chance to retract what they have written for the last couple of weeks. We are told in Galatians 6:7 that we will all reap what we sow, which means that if we want to receive grace, we should give it, and if we want to receive mercy, we should give it. There may be some of this in my own writing that I am not able to see because I too am hurt by this situation. Therefore, I am also asking for grace and mercy if this is the case.

My main concern is that some of the worst doctrines and actions taken in church history were the result of people responding out of their wounds rather than by following the Lord. A lot of people are understandably hurting right now. Even so, those who resist taking action or making statements out of their pain, or under pressure, will be glad they did. Again, impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit, and it will never lead us to where the Lord wants to take us. Those who rush to judgment, or are hasty to take action, are not treated kindly in Scripture, and are likely to pay a high and unnecessary price for it.

I recommended to Todd to allow a panel of those who are considered true elders in the body of Christ, who could be impartial, to judge this situation, and he readily agreed. He did not make any demands or suggestions about who should be on the panel. He only said that he felt he should not cross the line and say anything negative about his wife, and that he intends to continue to love her and his children, and take care of them.

The Apostle Paul lamented in I Corinthians 6:5 saying it was to their shame that there were no judges among them, yet they were even called to judge angels. The lack of elders, who are also called as judges, is probably still the main cause for much of the shame that continues in the body of Christ. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of the Lord’s throne as we are told in Psalm 89:14, and if we are going to walk in His authority there must be a place for due process that is a standard of justice. God obviously cares very deeply about people being treated fairly and that His standards of righteousness are upheld. His seat of authority demands this for a foundation.

One thing we can be sure of—the Judge is on His throne and all of this is going to work out for good for His people. I am more encouraged every day at what is unfolding and at the great opportunity this situation is for us. The Holy Spirit moved upon the chaos in the beginning and look at the beautiful creation He brought forth! He knows how to do this and seems to love the opportunity that chaos gives Him to show what He can do. This, too, will work out for good to everyone who loves Him and is called according to His purpose. We have this as a sure promise from the One who cannot lie.

sourced here Rick Joyner, 8/23/2008

With deep sadness and in prayer for them both I have taken a few minutes out of my holiday to write this. I cannot write much now save to say I feel deeply for them and appreciate the wise and necessary move that Todd has taken in stepping down from public ministry. Please pray with me for the Holy Spirit to heal and restore their marriage and love for one another deeply.

Many of you will know that I can understand some of what they are going through. they need prayer and not criticism. I hate the way the enemy will use this as more stumbling block material for what is clearly God’s Spirit bringing healing and salvation to many worlwide. This move was championed by Todd but it is God doing his works of love and He has not changed. Let us keep pushing into God more and not grow weary. let’s push into God for the working of all things together for our good.

Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wondrous works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Whilst in God’s presence recently I was pondering how it was the Israelites found it so difficult to trust God to enter the promised land. I was quizing the Lord how that could be so after all they had seen God do. He’d performed wonders infront of them in Egypt, He’d miraculously parted the red sea in front of their very eyes, yet they did not trust Him to help them enter. Throughout their history they were quick to forget.

Then the Spirit prompted me how easily I forget the goodness and the power of God. God may have done amazing things a week ago, even a day ago, but it can be so easy in the ‘terror of the now’ forget all of that and panic.

Througout the bible we are encouraged to remember our God and His works. Why? It is our testimony of what He has done in and through us and it is powerful. When we recall it, it stirs our faith, questions our doubts and starts to birth hope within us that God will do it again. It’s as if, when we recount it, it makes those interventions tangible again.  Within our grasp.  It’s like we call on the Kingdom to be here again, as then and as it is now in heaven.

I am starting to take seriously noting what God has done each day… sovereignly done.  How we prayed for a woman a few days ago with pain in her hip, and she had not pain the rest of the day.  How pain in a womans chest that had been there for three weeks, left in a worship meeting.  When we remember what God has done and said, we start to see the connections throughout our days, and we have faith.

It seems there is a fresh open heaven when speaking at the moment.  A deeper awareness of the love of God, and God’s power seems to show up easily to demonstrate what we talk about.  I am loving it.

I certainly am realising the depth of what Jesus meant when he told us to call for God’s Kingdom will to be done on earth now.  We need to push into that more, God does want to demonstrate who He is and what He does now.

God’s compassionate love, feels the pain and wants to change it.  And get this, sometimes he does it without there and then demanding a response of making Him Lord!  In the healing at the pool in John 5, He heals the invalid of 38 years, and then slips away.  Only later does the man find Jesus.  Recently Kathryn and I prayed for a checkout woman in Asda for her bad eyesight.  She was having a bad day, forgotten her glasses and frustrated.  We felt for her and prayed.  She could see a sign 20 metres away that she could not possibly have seen before!  We prayed in the name of Jesus, but that’s it.  No time and chance to give the gospel in any length… but we know her name and go back there regularly so the story is not over yet.  But it seems God was concerned enough to want to touch her eyesight there and then.

I gave my life to Jesus partly (and no small part) because I was healed three years before.  I called out to ‘God, if you are real’.  And I was healed.  I was shocked, had promised to go to church if I was healed, but did not follow through on that promise.  Three years later, God came to get me through through a Christian friend in school.

Sometimes at least, it seems, God just wants to have compassion.

At St. John’s we prayed for pretty much everyone who came.  Some for healing, some for freedom from fear, most for an impartation of the revival anointing that God seems to be releasing.  There does seem to be power touching people.  Many people felt the tangible presence of God and are saying they are different.  A new boldness is coming over us.

We have seen two healings happen in worship, when noone was praying for anyone.  One woman, who has suffered from knee pain for 15 years.  A gymnastic injury and consequent treatment has meant that she has had to get used to daily pain.  No longer!  It left in the worship and she has been pain free now for four days.  One woman said that her sight appeared to have improved whilst we were worshipping.  She had bad short sightedness and could not see sharply more than a few feet in front of her.  She thought I will check again when I wake up in the morning.  No doubt, it is vastly improved and she can see sharply without her glasses.

We also prayed for a woman with joint pain.  It left ten minutes after praying.  At the same time we prayed for a skin condition which had flared up badly that day.  the next day it was gone! We are praying that this skin condition will not return again.

On Thursday night in our church home group, we prayed for a relative of someone in the group.  She is dying from cancer and may not have lived the night out.  We interceded boldly for life for about 20 mins, and then sent a text to her career, asking her to speak life over her mum.  She had never done anything like this before.  She sent a text back ten minutes later saying she did it, and felt a powerful presence of God as she did it.  We were asking God to bring this woman back from death so that she could hear clearly that God loved her and have a chance to respond.

I could go on… myself and Kathryn prayed for one of the checkout attendants in Asda.  I asked the people behind me if they would mind waiting whilst we prayed.  She had very bad eyesight and had forgotten her glasses.  We prayed using the  name of Jesus.  She said that she could now read the ‘Optician’ sign in the distance, which she could not do before.

So much is happening and we plan to go onto the streets of Hinckley and Nuneaton next week and offer to pray for people.  What seems to have happened to us is both a new boldness and a new faith that God will do something when we pray.

We’re pressing in for more!

Oh, and the vicar of the church we spoke in last week, we prayed for him.  His text back to me three days later, was saying ‘What did you pray over me?!  I don’t know what it was, but it was powerful!  Things are happening when I pray for people with far more effect than before.’

Lord, we want your presence more.  Thank you Todd Bentley for leading the way for us ALL to rise up in the authority we have in Christ.

I’d tell you more, but why not come and hear it and even get some of this presence of God!  We are speaking at St. john’s Hinckley at 6:30pm on Sunday night the 6th.  See you there!

The worship went on for over two hours, and I don’t know exactly how long, because I got ‘lost’ in it!  After about an hour I was really feeling tired, and then I felt a huge wave of God’s presence over me and I was crying and hearing God.  His presence is so tangible here.  I am also aware that I am being ‘given’ something.  Or in the words of many here, something is being ‘imparted’ to me.  There is something in my being that I want to give away!  The other day we went to TGI Fridays to get lunch and people were praying for their waiter.  We ended up praying for our waiter.  Yesterday morning someone was praying for a woman’s legs at breakfast.  There’s a boldness that comes over people here to pray God onto people.

Interestingly, in the worship, I felt that the deeper glory that was coming tonight was going to be an increase of this anointing going to the nations.  Not long after that we went into a corporate prayer/worship/intercession time contending for the nations.  Kathryn and I also felt that there was a contest tonight, with the sense that this may well get more costly for some people from now on. Todd then got up and spoke about the personal cost of this revival for him.

Todd’s message showed what God has done in this man to enable him to front what is a move of God beyond a man.  How God has broken him and brought a deeper humility into his life.  When he says (and he did several times) that this is not about him or his ministry being built you can sense the integrity.  The integrity needed for God to be able to put so much on one man’s shoulders.  It would be so hard for me to capture what he said, a very personal story from his recent last years.  Watch it on god.tv.

Again, healings broke out, again too many to mention.  I absolutely love it when God heals someone before anyone can get near them!  Todd called out a specific word of knowledge for a woman with a neck problem that had been operated on and it had not solved it, but made it worse.  He pointed in the direction of the back, and we saw a woman in red coming up.  By the time she had got to the stage she was healed!

We’re coming home today, and I believe I have a new fire in my belly!