I posted this in the Charismatic Forum and decided I wanted to put it here as well. It is concerning the evangelist Todd Bentley and what has transpired in the last 3 weeks. Just for the record I am not a Todd supporter but have not been a basher either. I have tried to keep an open heart and mind as guided by the Holy Spirit to all that was happening in Lakeland not just Todd's performances.
There has to be balance and I do think that the post ******* cited had some insightful comments. We do not want one thing to be swept under the rug but brought out to the light of God's truth and dealt with completely. And if this means Todd never ever again ministers in the public arena so be it. Without true repentance there can be no restoration. Is that happening in Todd's life at the moment? We don't know do we. Even Jimmy Swaggart made a public apology as did Jim Bakker. Perhaps Todd needs to make a statement himself not just hide behind the ministry honchos. We certainly know that God's Holy Spirit will be faithful to convict of sin but will that ministry be received or will self justification be made. Many times I have simply seen that man becomes harder and will not admit that they were in error in the deeds done or decisions made. It is not a matter of being harsh or unloving to insist on accountability.
We had to do this with a man in our congregation who had abused a child of a fellow parishioner and had been convicted by law. We wanted him restored to fellowship but for the safety of our body we set up support guidelines regarding his attendance at Sunday services where Children would be. He refused to be accountable to our pastor and monitored while at church. He left and went elsewhere. How scary. It was also extremely scary that some members were willing to forgo that accountability to keep the man happy as he was wealthy and a great contributor.
(Added comment on blog only)
{"freely quoting scripture to justify their position You know the judge not one which was not what the board was doing. The guidelines were as much for his safety and reputation as for the rest of us. And of course they did not recognize the habitual nature of this type of sexual sin. That is not to say the man would have re offended but as a body could we take the chance?”}
Of King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel spoke:
Dan 5:20 "But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.
And of the Holy Spirit’s Work:
Jhn 16:8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Jhn 16:9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
My greatest concern is that there will be no true consequences for him because he IS FRESH FIRE MINISTRIES.. So he get marriage counselling many do that and still end up in divorce court. It is not the fact that he is having marriage problems that is the issue for me. Many Christians do, what bothers me is that he had these issues and did not have the will or conviction to step down from the ministry as soon as even the hint of inappropriateness began. Why was that? Pride, money, embarrassment, lack of discernment that it was even wrong? It took the prophet Nathan to come and be God's voice to convict David of his sin with Bathsheba. Even when he was given the example of the man stealing the lamb from his neighbour when his own flocks were enormous David still didn't get it and was full of righteous anger against the person doing this.. He needed harsh reality spelled out plainly. "You are THAT MAN". Praise God he received the word and got right with His Heavenly Father.
With Todd, I wonder, will he just continue to "minister" in the flesh thinking he is still in the will of God. What of the drinking does he think it is a problem? Maybe he doesn't. I know this has happened many times with many ministries and few ever really get back on track spiritually after that kind of thing as the heart is so hard through self justification it can no longer hear the true voice of the Spirit.
I thought also that the comments regarding the video prophesy by Todd of God coming in the clouds was interesting. Perhaps it really was a true vision and the interpretation espoused here that it was for judgement was missed by Todd completely. It seems to have come down to that doesn't it? That fact that this has happened actually encourages me as it proves to me that God will not be mocked. gg
We had to do this with a man in our congregation who had abused a child of a fellow parishioner and had been convicted by law. We wanted him restored to fellowship but for the safety of our body we set up support guidelines regarding his attendance at Sunday services where Children would be. He refused to be accountable to our pastor and monitored while at church. He left and went elsewhere. How scary. It was also extremely scary that some members were willing to forgo that accountability to keep the man happy as he was wealthy and a great contributor.
(Added comment on blog only)
{"freely quoting scripture to justify their position You know the judge not one which was not what the board was doing. The guidelines were as much for his safety and reputation as for the rest of us. And of course they did not recognize the habitual nature of this type of sexual sin. That is not to say the man would have re offended but as a body could we take the chance?”}
Of King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel spoke:
Dan 5:20 "But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.
And of the Holy Spirit’s Work:
Jhn 16:8 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Jhn 16:9 "of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
My greatest concern is that there will be no true consequences for him because he IS FRESH FIRE MINISTRIES.. So he get marriage counselling many do that and still end up in divorce court. It is not the fact that he is having marriage problems that is the issue for me. Many Christians do, what bothers me is that he had these issues and did not have the will or conviction to step down from the ministry as soon as even the hint of inappropriateness began. Why was that? Pride, money, embarrassment, lack of discernment that it was even wrong? It took the prophet Nathan to come and be God's voice to convict David of his sin with Bathsheba. Even when he was given the example of the man stealing the lamb from his neighbour when his own flocks were enormous David still didn't get it and was full of righteous anger against the person doing this.. He needed harsh reality spelled out plainly. "You are THAT MAN". Praise God he received the word and got right with His Heavenly Father.
With Todd, I wonder, will he just continue to "minister" in the flesh thinking he is still in the will of God. What of the drinking does he think it is a problem? Maybe he doesn't. I know this has happened many times with many ministries and few ever really get back on track spiritually after that kind of thing as the heart is so hard through self justification it can no longer hear the true voice of the Spirit.
I thought also that the comments regarding the video prophesy by Todd of God coming in the clouds was interesting. Perhaps it really was a true vision and the interpretation espoused here that it was for judgement was missed by Todd completely. It seems to have come down to that doesn't it? That fact that this has happened actually encourages me as it proves to me that God will not be mocked. gg
