Know who the dude to the left is? No, he's not a tattoo artist or a roadie for Avenged Sevenfold, he's Todd Bentley...no?...nothing?
Don't feel bad, I didn't know who he was until a week or so either. Apparently the guy is getting a lot of exposure across the world through the satellite channel God TV and a new book ("The Journey into the Miraculous").
The guy is former convict who spent time in prison for sexually assaulting a young boy (he owns up to it and states that he has repented) and is now a charismatic evangelist...from Canada!.
Apparently he was hired to conduct an old time 5-day revival in Lakeland, Florida back in April...its still going on with roughly 4000 people packing in every night! People claim to have been healed and one story circulating states that one little girl was raised from the dead.
Skeptical? Me too. Not because I doubt that God is active in the world today or because I'm a cessationist. I'm a charismatic Calvinist (no that's not an oxymoron). I pray for revival and know that miracles often accompany them.
What makes me skeptical are statements by Mr. Bentley like this:
"So when I need a financial breakthrough I don't just pray and ask God for my financial breakthrough. I go into intercession and become a partner with the angels by petitioning the Father for the angels that are assigned to getting me money: "Father, give me the angels in heaven right now that are assigned to get me money and wealth. And let those angels be released on my behalf. Let them go into the four corners of the earth and gather me money."
and this:
"Now let me talk about an angelic experience with Emma. Twice Bob Jones asked me about this angel that was in Kansas City in 1980: "Todd, have you ever seen the angel by the name of Emma?" He asked me as if he expected that this angel was appearing to me. Surprised, I said, "Bob, who is Emma?" He told me that Emma was the angel that helped birth and start the whole prophetic movement in Kansas City in the 1980s. She was a mothering-type angel that helped nurture the prophetic as it broke out. Within a few weeks of Bob asking me about Emma, I was in a service in Beulah, North Dakota.
In the middle of the service I was in conversation with Ivan and another person when in walks Emma. As I stared at the angel with open eyes, the Lord said, "Here's Emma." I'm not kidding. She floated a couple of inches off the floor. It was almost like Kathryn Kuhlman in those old videos when she wore a white dress and looked like she was gliding across the platform. Emma appeared beautiful and young - about 22 years old - but she was old at the same time. She seemed to carry the wisdom, virtue and grace of Proverbs 31 on her life. She glided into the room, emitting brilliant light and colors. Emma carried these bags and began pulling gold out of them. Then, as she walked up and down the aisles of the church, she began putting gold dust on people... Within three weeks of that visitation, the church had given me the biggest offering I had ever received to that point in my ministry. Thousands of dollars! Thousands!... During this visitation the pastor's wife (it was an AOG church) got totally whacked by the Holy Ghost - she began running around barking like a dog or squawking like a chicken as a powerful prophetic spirit came on her. Also, as this prophetic anointing came on her, she started getting phone numbers of complete strangers and calling them up on the telephone and prophesying over them... Then angels started showing up in the church."
So, there you have it. Angel bag men.
Now the Corinthians were a jacked up bunch who still possessed spiritual gifts as well but getting drunk and making out with step moms from freshly converted pagans is one thing but how about Bentley's claim that God ushered him to "third heaven" where he visited the Apostle Paul who lives in a small cabin in heaven where he told Bentley that he wrote Hebrews with the help of Abraham...WTF is right! Darn Canadians.
If you want first hand accounts then check out Adrian Warnock's blog (link to the left).
