Lakeland, Good or Bad?

5 October 2008

Dear Phyllis,

The highlight of every week is my visit to the ladies prison to spend two hours with Jeana Crane. She is a phenomenon like I have seldom – if ever – seen. She has been saved a year and a half, but her spiritual maturity is like someone who has been saved 15 or 20 years. Her spiritual perception rises above many pastors. The other day she was telling me that she had just been engaged in a very intense time of prayer for her daughter, Cynthia. Cynthia is 17, living in Canada, but seriously messed up. Just after this heavy time of prayer for Cynthia, two foreign Christian workers came in the prison. She had met one before, but the other person was new to her. She asked if she might meet with them. One of the workers is involved in a children’s ministry in Cambodia that Jeana is very interested in. She asked the worker for a contact address of the person in Cambodia. He jotted something on a piece of paper and handed it to her. In large letters across the top it read CYNTHIA FREED. When Jeana related that story to me, and showed me the piece of paper, chills ran up my spine. I asked again, “Where did you get this? Did he know anything about Cynthia?” As it turned out, Cynthia Freed is the name of the person to contact in Cambodia. But Jeana asked me, “What do you make of it?” I replied, “I’ll buy it! I’ll take this as from the Lord. Let’s stop asking the Lord to free Cynthia and just thank Him for doing it.” In a very mature tone, Jeana suggested, “It may be years later, but I believe that the Lord has heard prayer and Cynthia’s salvation has been secured. Time alone will prove the validity of that faith, but I am tremendous impressed with Jeana’s walk with the Lord, her maturity, and rock solid faith for her children’s salvation.

In talking with my very good friend, George, recently he was raving about an amazing moving of the Spirit in Lakeland, Florida with Todd Bentley. George is very enthusiastic about Todd Bentley. He had attended a Bentley conference in Seattle a year ago, and came home with a white angel feather that fell out of nowhere landing at George's feet. I checked a couple of web sites in Internet and heard testimonies where they are suggesting that Lakeland may be the most significant moving of the Spirit since the days of Azusa Street in 1917. A month ago the count was 27 resurrections from the dead, and astounding miracles are happening every day. God Channel TV is broadcasting it live and beaming it world wide. People from all over the world are flocking to Lakeland to get the blessing.
I don’t know.

I also checked several sites on Internet and saw several video clips of what is going on in the meetings. Much of what I saw this time was negative. The best I saw was an excellent message by Dave Wilkerson, and an interview of Andrew Strom. Dave Wilkerson was talking about unusual phenomenon in Christian meetings.

The Toronto Blessing was a major phenomenon 12 years ago. For several years tens of thousands flocked from around the world to go to Toronto to get this blessing. I personally knew several. The dominant characteristic of this revival was the laughing spirit. But another very common testimony was people howling like animals. I knew a man from Japan who went to Toronto and came back howling like a wolf in Sunday morning services. Wilkerson told of one pastor who stood up to preach but laughed uncontrollably for 30 minutes, and then sat down. He never mentioned one word of the Word of God. Another pastor barked like a dog, he crawled around the floor with a dog collar on, and his wife holding the leash while the congregation sang “Where He Leads Me I Will Follow”. But the most distressing testimony was a very famous healer who went around the auditorium sticking his tongue out hissing like a snake. People would fall down “slain in the Spirit” and writhe on the floor like serpents. Needless to say, it would be scarcely less than spiritual insanity to credence these weird phenomenon as the working of the Holy Spirit. But this is being lauded by a significant section of Christians as evidences of the Holy Spirit.

In the interview with Andrew Strom the interviewer was trying to get Strom to bad mouth Lakeland. Strom held to his message that in looking at these modern movings of the Spirit it is necessary to examine them in light of historic revivals over the centuries. Without exception, all revivals since the Day of Pentecost have been characterized by the centrality of Christ, and the salient feature of terrible conviction of sin and salvation. I cannot imagine the Holy Spirit doing anything where Christ was not in the spot light. And when Jesus is lifted up there is tremendous conviction of sin and cleansing.

It is highly significant that these features are totally absent from the modern moving of the Spirit. I have seen many hours of these meetings but I have never heard one word spoken about sin. In these meetings, to suggest that there is a problem with sin is as unthinkable as a kitten in a dog show. The only thing I ever heard about Toronto was howling laughter, and the Todd Bentley meetings are a wild carnival atmosphere. I personally saw Todd Bentley boasting how the Holy Ghost told him to kick a lady in the face; and again take the legs of another lady in a wheel chair and beat them on the platform like a baseball bat. Everyone laughed and applauded. The commentator at the web site where I saw this asked, “What are they laughing at?”  Jesus is only mentioned in passing and to speak about sin is unthinkable.

In speaking with George the other day I asked, “What is Todd Bentley’s message?” George amazed me when he replied, “I don’t know.” He is an enthusiastic supporter of Todd Bentley but he doesn’t know what Bentley’s message is. The reason for that is because Bentley doesn’t have a message. He is all about phenomenon. The videos I saw of Lakeland were entirely about “the anointing!” There is nothing about Jesus, but it is all about the anointing and the super natural phenomenon that is happening. Because these are Christian meetings and a large number of super natural things are happening; this is the proof that this is of God.

Thailand and the other countries in Southeast Asia are highly spiritual countries. If we want to talk about supernatural phenomenon we have an abundance right here. Jesus clearly warned that in the judgment, "Many will say, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name, in Your Name cast out devils, and in Your Name done many wonderful works?’ Then will I profess, I never knew you…” (Matt. 7:22, 23). I am not the least bit impressed with miracles or supernatural phenomenon. The devil does all of that and it is not surprising that we are seeing a lot of that done in the Name of the Lord.

The Lord knows what is going on in these meetings. I will be glad to allow the Lord to pass final judgment on that, but – apart from the weird, insane things going on – the most significant feature is the focus. Jesus is not preached. Oh they say, “Praise the Lord”, when someone is healed. But the Gospel is not preached and there is utterly no thought of sin, repentance, or salvation.

I told George that I have a problem with the emphasis on being slain in the spirit. I have seen many meeting where that is the sum total of everything. And I don’t see it in the Scripture. George replied, “Oh, it is clearly in the Bible. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus and He said ‘I am He’, they fell down.” I remarked, “Equating what happened in the Garden to what is happening in Bennie Hinn and Todd Bentley meetings is an incredible stretch.”

This has been the subject that has occupied my mind in the past week. Obviously some very strange things are happening world wide these days. And much of it is very confusing. But when examined in the light of, what does it say about Jesus? Is the focus on Jesus or the anointing? And where is the sorrow for sin, repentance, and salvation? When these questions are raised, it raises some extremely serious doubts. There is no question that Todd Bentley and Bennie Hinn are very spiritual men. They talk a great deal about angels. George said, “Bentley’s purpose is to get people to see God.” This may be true, but Bentley’s approach to seeing God is by accessing the spirit world. I believe the teaching of Scripture is that we should see God in His character and as we see Him in Jesus. I don’t see where the central message of the Bible is a handbook on how to access the spirit world. New Age is very interested in this, and they see a lot of things too. I wonder if what we are seeing isn’t a Christian form of New Age that could be extremely dangerous.

Praise God, you are in heaven and see Jesus as He is sitting upon His Throne. I wonder if what we are seeing here is as confusing to you all in heaven as it is to us here on earth. See you next week.

bill.