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

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.

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!

As the torrential tropical rain falls outside our Hotel room I am reminded of the persistent cries in the meeting for God to send His rain. One of the speakers on the first night testified to a fine mist cloud settling in his living room while he and some friends watched the meeting on God TV. They were literally wet when they put their hands in it.

I have been impacted by the persistence of these people as they press into His presence each night. Last night His healing power came after two hours of intense calling out for God, declaring our hunger and exhalting Him in worship. I have seen how quickly I can focus on my flesh – get tired, bored or distracted and not persist in pushing into the Spirit. I am stirred to move up the gears in persistence and hunger for Him.

Last night, as we stood to the left of the platform waiting for people to come forward for prayer, I saw a little girl (Rachel, about 7 years old) kneeling by the barrier at the foot of the platform. She was clearly pressing into God as the power of God came on her and she crumpled to the floor. She remained in this place with her head bowed to the ground for a long time. Her mum stood near holding her glasses and told me that Rachel was asking God to heal her eyes. Every now and then she would open her eyes to see if she could see better. She stayed in this place for a long time and then prayed for each of her parents as they fell down under the power of the Spirit. I was moved with compassion for her – how much more did God’s heart break for her? I was deeply impacted by her persistence and hungry faith to meet with God.

Tonight, Sunday, it has been prophesied that God’s glory will come in a far greater measure than in these previous 81 days. I am reading about Moses in Exodus 34, how he was on the mountain in God’s presence for forty days and nights without eating or drinking. When he came down he did not realise that his face was radiant. This seems to be about pushing past our natural desires for earthly things into seeking His presence alone. Any physical manifestation that comes out of that is secondary.

Tonight, the 81st night, before any preaching had happened, healings started to happen. We had volunteered to be on the ministry team so we went up to the side of the stage. Our role was to bring people to the edge of the stage who had already been healed, and praying for those who were coming with a partial healing or needed healing. It meant that we did not get to hear all of the healings being called out from the front, as we were ‘busy’ praying and talking at the side. I am looking forward to seeing the rerun and getting the whole picture!

There was a woman who came to our side who had arrived in a wheel chair. She came to us, already walking in an awkward way, and also crumpling up every few seconds as if an electric current was going through her. Myself and Kathryn prayed with a guy called Billy who had COPD in his lungs ( I don’t know what it is, but I was told it is some kind of cancer ) and also arthritis throughout his body. As we prayed he felt heat all over his body ( pretty amazing as the air conditioning is so strong it is cold! ). I asked if the pain from the arthritis had gone. He said that he would not know because he was on such strong pain killers that he did not have any pain! He was on an oxygen cylinder to help with breathing which was very wheasy. I asked him to try breathing deeply, it was still very wheasy. He was such a lovely man, so hungry, had come for this meeting from a long way and it almost seemed like he was determined to get healed. That is what is so astounding about these meetings. An expectation rises in the meeting that God is healing people. A faith rises and people step out and do things they could not do before, before they have any evidence of healing. As we kept praying for Billy, and he kept praying, his breathing seemed to get easier. Eventually he decided to take a step of faith and take the oxygen off. He can normaly only survive for about 10-15 mins without it. So taking it off is a bold step even if others could reatatch it when they saw he was struggling. Over an hour later he was still off the oxygen, had been on stage testifying, and I could tell his breathing was so much easier.

There’s more people we prayed for, whom we are looking forward to seeing in the next meeting, but what remains consistently in all these meetings is that most people are being healed in the worship or just in the meeting generally before anyone has prayed for them. It’s like ‘faith arrives’ in the meeting. Suddenly an expectation is there. As we prayed for people, I experienced new things I have not done before. A stronger anointing and direction in praying from the Holy Spirit. Both Kathryn and I felt so much compassion for the people around us we were praying for. When I looked at the people with broken bodies my heart was so melted.

That also made another part of the meeting hard. It’s like the bitter with the sweet. Seeing some people go away not healed. This is no magic panacea. But there are no simple words to write in a blog like this to convey that compassion, joy and pain mix that is so intense, humbling and makes me cry from the bottom of my belly, “more God, more”.

Todd was back from his other meeting last night, and when he preached, the presence of God was very strong. The night before he had been in Concord North Carolina. It was a ‘testing of the waters’ to see if what is happening in Lakeland could be taken out in a similar way to other cities. He spoke of several powerful healings that night. One very moving one was a man who had a pancreas disease that meant it was painfully swollen, so much so that it was agony for him to have his belly touched. He had to have a feeding tube inserted. His wife had given up work to care for him. They were broke and in debt. He was totally healed. Todd asked his wife ‘What does this healing mean for you?’ she replied, “We get our life back”. Todd then spontaneously called for an offering for them to cover their debt and get them back on their feet. Kidney cysts had been healed and the person brought medical confirmation. A disease of the spine was healed and Todd had just received the before and after x-rays.

But get this… he spoke of an amazing exposing of the hunger in America for Jesus. The stadium they hired was not only filled, but they had to turn away many people. Not only that, the amount of people coming was so overwhelming that there was a 6 mile traffic jam on the highway into the stadium! An estimated 3,000 people were stuck in their cars on the highway and eventually had to be turned around by the Police. Todd was stuck in that jam. The Police escorted him up the grass on the central reservation those 6 miles to get him to the meeting place. It was all over the state press.

And talking of Press, Todd held up a print out of a newspaper report from Belfast, Northern Ireland. “Young man comes back from the dead”. A young man who was involved in a car accident was clinically dead for 16 minutes. The father sent a prayer request to Todd’s dedicated email address for those needing immediate prayer for life threatening situations. The boy came back to life. The paper said that the doctors were calling it a miracle. They are connecting it to a ‘Pentecostal revival from the states lead by a man called Todd Bentley’.

Todd said that some have commented on this move of God that it is just driven by Todd’s gift of healing. His response is ‘I wish’! He said this is far more than his gift. If it was just that, he would have had it happen five years ago. ‘This is far bigger than me’ he said. This move of God can be viewed in over 200 nations and is literally affecting hundreds of thousands of people.

So, Todd says he will remain in Lakeland at least all summer, but will occassionaly go out to another US City. He announced the next one will be Dallas Texas. But this time, he will be booking 50,000+ stadiums. And for the UK, he confirmed that he will be coming to England in September. Wouldn’t it be great to see our roads in chaos as people come to see the Kingdom of God in action?!

Your Kingdom come, you will be done, here on earth as it is being done right now in heaven.

By about 9:00pm people were on stage telling of healings that had just happened. One young woman was crying as she talked of having no back pain whilst standing up for the first time in many years. There were many people suffering from hearing problems healed. One man talked of being totally deaf in his right ear. He had left the army years before after an injury had left him with this problem. During the meeting he was suddenly aware of a wooshing sound in his right ear… and the noise from the worship music started to hurt! He was totally healed.

Another woman, since she was a girl, had found standing more than five minutes very painful because of a problem with the arches of her feet. She realised whilst at the front that she had now been standing for over twenty minutes with no pain! By the time she testified on stage she had had no pain for over half an hour of standing. The end of forty years of pain.

One young woman was totally healed of chronic back pain that she had had since a young girl. She bent over, again and again, enthusiastically to demonstrate all pain had gone! Tears were forming in her eyes.

I could go on, and on. The healing testimonies come so fast and quick it’s hard to keep up.

One of the striking times for me was before the meeting from 6:30-7:00pm, when people gathered in front of the stage, called to intercede for the evening and then for all those watching on God tv and the internet (transmission begins at 7:00pm). The roar of intercession from hundreds of hungry and passionate people was truly awesome. The sense of breakthrough was tangible.

There were over 36 nations represented last night. Germany was called out in particular from the front, and all the Germans were brought up onto stage. There was a powerful presence of God as they were prayed for.

All of this and Todd was not there! He was at a another meeting in North Carolina last night. It does not seem to be centred around one man. He is back tonight, Friday night. And I understand that it is usually a commissioning night for all of the church and ministry leaders on Friday nights. Can’t wait!

It seems like many people here at this motel are also here for the meetings that you may have heard about, with Todd Bentley and the many healings that are happening here. I will try and blog at least once a day here and give you our perspective on what is happening and snippets of what is happening to us in the process! So stay tuned.