They were overwhelmed by deep repentance

A LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS


Malaysia is divided into two sections: the west occupies part of the peninsula at the southeastern tip of Asia and the eastern section part of the island of Borneo.

Ethnic groups include the Malays, Chinese and Indians. Among the aboriginal tribes are the famous ex-head-hunters. One of their customs was that, when a youth reached maturity, he had to bring back the head of an inhabitant of a neighbouring villlage. This practice continued until Christian missionaries arrived.

The revival which came in 1973 was characterised by many signs and wonders with the power of God coming down in remarkable visitations.

A new move of God been in a high school among young people in a place called 'Bario'. This group used to get together at night to pray for hours after class. They were inspired by the book, Like a Mighty Wind about the Indonesian Revival and believed God could work among them also. They prayed, 'God, if You did it in Indonesia, You can do it here, also.

When the answer came from heaven, they were overwhelmed by deep repentance, accompanied by crying. Conviction was such that even small things appeared great in their eyes. Impoliteness or arriving late to class was seen as something terrible before God.

At first the teachers were very put out. The students spent all night praying, even though they would soon be having their final exams. The Holy Spirit then began convicting the teachers until they also started to cry out to God. There was a spirit of reconciliation around and many wrote letters to others asking for forgiveness.

The young people who went back to their villages at the end of term, took the fire of the Spirit with them and this affected other tribes. God gave them words of knowledge for members of their family, describing their sins and exhorting them to repent. Often they would indicate where they kept some fetish or article related to Witchcraft. The revelation caused the family members to fall on their knees and cry out to Cod. The young men and women would remain in the village from morning to evening, often for several days, till the whole tribe turned to God.

During this revival, there were many miracles. On one occasion, the Holy Spirit indicated that this group of young people should go to a village. While travelling through the forest, in the midst of dense vegetation, phosphorescent, transparent light appeared in front of them, illuminating their path. Wild animals did not bother them, and the light moved before them.

In every little village where these ignited hearts went, the fires of revival would spread.

On another occasion, God told a group of young people to visit a certain village. To get there they had to travel at night through the forest along dark paths. The Spirit of God told them to gather branches or leaves. When they broke a branch off a tree it became light in their hands. Those who saw such a miracle thought that when they arrived at the village the tribesmen would be impressed. Much to their surprise, however, when they arrived, the light vanished.

In the town of Bakelalan, people started to fall under the power of the Holy Spirit and speak in other tongues during a meeting. One woman, who was the wife of the tribal chief, was about to have a baby. She fell under the power and remained like that for two days. When she came to consciousness, she gave birth to a healthy boy!

Often, after experiencing the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repentance, the people were flooded by waves of tremendous joy. They began to jump and shout and laugh.

Sadly, however, when some of the missionaries saw this, they said, 'This is not God.' The missionaries did not accept this move of God and stopped it. In the words of one eye witness, speaking several years later: 'Only now, do I understand the joy and laughter as I see again what God is doing in our midst. What we experienced then was snuffed out by the missionaries."

Revival began with a group of 20 or 30 people, but it became so large that today it can be read about in government archives.

I see Sabah as a powerful state ....

Sabah – paradise and a paradox
Friday October 23, 2009


KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is a paradox – it is a land blessed with many resources yet remains poor.

That is how Prof W. Chan Kim, co-author of the best-selling Blue Ocean Strategy, sums up the state.

“When you have so much natural resources you are comfortable to sell what you have (but) what you have will one day disappear,” he said.

The professor, who co-authored the Blue Ocean Strategy with Renee Mauborgne, said there was a need to exploit the state’s resources in areas which are untapped.

Noting that Sabah was home to the third largest rainforest in the world, he said it was important that the state made itself known to the world as Asia’s rainforest tourism destination.

The main areas of economic growth in the world are pharmaceuticals, bio-science and telecommunications, he said, noting that the rainforest provided 25% of the ingredients for modern pharmaceutical use.

“I see Sabah as a powerful state especially compared to a place like Dubai which had nothing apart from a desert, goats and some oil and gas and today is a big tourist spot.

“You have incredible resources. Sabah can become better than Dubai but you must do more to attract the world,” he told reporters at a Yaysan Sabah-organised Blue Ocean Strategy conference opened by Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman.

The Blue Ocean Strategy is about finding new market space that offers low cost, in-demand solutions.

Prof Kim said his advice to Sabah was to conserve its resources and attract people from around the world to come and multiply its resources to improve its economy and eradicate poverty.

He said the state should look at the future and adopt new ways to handle its resources.

“You have to put the pieces of the jigsaw together to get the full picture,” he said.

CAN CHRISTIANS RUIN a REVIVAL?!

CAN CHRISTIANS RUIN a REVIVAL?
-by TPW.

A POPULAR criticism of the Welsh Revival was that four Churches
gained 80,000 in the Revival and lost 20,000 afterwards. Why did
converts leave these "mainline" Churches? They were frozen out.

Said Dr. Eifion Evans: "The ecstasy of the new wine was all too
soon curbed by the frigidity of the old bottles." Some ministers
even objected to the converts' assurance of salvation!

Like the Methodists over a hundred years before, against their
leaders' wishes Revival converts reluctantly formed new churches.
The Pentecostal-Apostolic Churches began.

In the Revival itself, great criticism was made against its apparent
leader, Evan Roberts. He was called "the young lunatic." A
respected minister published a letter against "the Evan Roberts
Revival" calling it "a sham Revival, a mockery, a blasphemous
travesty of the real thing," an "exhibition," "froth," "false fire" and
"utterly sacrilegious."

The effect on the young lay-preacher Roberts was dramatic. Though
he seemed not to notice the criticisms, within days his doctor
diagnosed a nervous disorder. Five months later, he went into
seclusion, almost never to minister in public again for the rest of
his long life.

The effect on the Revival was terrible. Before the published criticism,
conversions were 35,000 a month. In the month of the criticism
and the two months following, conversions dropped to 5000 a
month, recovering a little once the controversy had died down.

But the mud stuck. "For many years the 1904 Revival was looked
upon as 'much a do about nothing' because of its emotionalism."
Many more years were to pass before an historical perspective
could restore its name as a wonderful and lasting work of God.

How slow we are to learn our lessons! Because less than fifty
years before, exactly the same thing had happened in Wales! Of
the 1859 Welsh Revival a leading Christian wrote: "It is a man-made
Revival; the chief instruments in it are not persons of any weight or
character ... it is mere excitement and enthusiasm, and although
many persons of disreputable conduct seem to be for the present
changed, yet, when the excitement ceases, they will return to their
former habits, and their end will be worse than their beginning ...
the noise - the confusion - the loud and long prayers - and singing,
with various excesses of feeling, and extravagance of language -
these are most offensive ... The 'converts' will ere long be 'perverts.'
They will go back, betray religion and bring disgrace upon the
whole movement."

And what was the true situation? "About 110,000 were converted
and added to the churches ... one estimate, cited in 1897, is that
19 out of every 20 (95 per cent) maintained their profession and
were fruitful in godly duties."

104,500 still going strong for God 38 years later! Oh, for more
"man-made Revivals!" [so-called!!]

We have seen that Christians can ruin or stop a Revival. Can
Christians also cause a Revival to happen?

The spiritually sensitive are going to experience revelation knowledge of those who are dying of spiritual malnutrition and disease.

Get Ready to Serve
by Steve Hill

Something powerful is on the horizon. The Lhttp://global-south.blogspot.com/ord is equipping His church for the greatest outpouring the world has ever seen. We must do everything possible to prepare our hearts and to train others for this soul-saving revival. We also must be willing to be used by the Lord in new, unfamiliar ways.

A fresh evangelistic anointing is about to rest upon true believers. Fear will give way to Holy Ghost-boldness as the Spirit of God directs His people into uncharted spiritual territory. The thirsty masses are about to be handed an unsolicited cup of cool water that will change them for eternity.

In a recent interview with a major news organization I was asked if the evangelical church should be responsible for solving the world's starvation and disease epidemic. Though I don't believe the answer lies solely with the church (it's a little more complex than that), I do believe that we are mandated to feed, clothe and help the poor. If we don't, then according to the Word of God, our religion is lifeless.

However, we can't ignore those who are starving for fresh bread and fresh water from heaven. Their deep hunger pains can only be satisfied as we offer more of God's presence, power and prophetic insight.

We can do this by allowing the Lord to show up in our church services and home groups without restraint and by showing the hungry and thirsty multitudes that God wants to meet their needs. He can save, He can heal, He can deliver—and we can prove it.

The world is craving a touch from the Creator. We must provide the atmosphere and the opportunity for miracles to take place.

I believe God is going to empower us by sending a new wave of revelation as a foundation for operating in the prophetic. The Lord is going to take the anointing we enjoy inside the sanctuary to those who need it most—outside in the marketplace! Our cup is running over and we're about to offer it to strangers.

In the months and years ahead God's people are going to become acutely aware of the spiritually malnourished around them. He will reveal to us the depth of their cravings as if we were watching a documentary on starvation.

The spiritually sensitive are going to experience revelation knowledge of those who are dying of spiritual malnutrition and disease. Vivid images of their desperate plight will be dropped into our spirits. This will take place in schools, shopping malls, the local grocery store—anywhere we find the spiritually destitute.

Without warning, the Lord will use His obedient followers to delve into the very core of the lives of strangers. Hidden secrets will be revealed to the believer, and out of a heart of compassion, he or she will share them with the lost to prove that Jesus Christ is alive. These words will be so direct and precise that conversions will take place.

My favorite prophetic words have always been those that are given outside the church walls. These are the divine appointments that reach into the lives of people who often know nothing of biblical principles and doctrine. All they know is that some brave heart just read their mail.

Such precious, God-ordained meetings will become more commonplace in the days to come. God wants our words, anointed of the Holy Ghost, to penetrate their darkness of doubt and fear. These words, fitly spoken, will literally shock the unbeliever into reality.

Ask God, this year, to give you words in season for the unconverted. That cup of cold water and taste of fresh bread could be the beginning of the end of spiritual world hunger.

An Update on Lakeland from Peter

A Message from Peter



August 25, 2008

I was in the San Francisco airport on my way to Singapore and Indonesia when the news of Todd Bentley's separation from his wife became public on August 12. When I arrived back home last week, I found that Doris had received and replied to around 1,700 emails and the stack of correspondence on my desk was unbelievable. It took me the rest of the week to catch up!

During the week I was gone, a major watershed occurred regarding the Lakeland situation as most of you would know. We are now on a new playing field. Lakeland Outpouring I, in which Todd Bentley was the main figure, is now history. Lakeland Outpouring II, in which Stephen Strader of Ignited Church is the main figure, has begun. The Outpouring started in a local church, went to a tent, and now is back in the local church. My suggestion is that we no longer use the term "Lakeland Outpouring" but rather distinguish between Lakeland I and Lakeland II because they are very different.

Let me talk a bit about the present, then revisit the past, then project the future.

The Present

It will sound surprising to some, but Lakeland II in Ignited Church, which you will remember was the original host church, is going very well. The big crowds and GOD TV, of course, are gone. Ignited Church seats around 700 in the main sanctuary and Stephen Strader reports that on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings they have to use their overflow room. It is comfortably filled on week nights. The morning training sessions continue with a couple hundred every day, and teams continue to move daily into the streets of Lakeland spreading the gospel. Percentage-wise the dramatic miracles and healings occur nightly with probably a higher percentage of salvations on a daily basis. Support from local pastors is improving considerably. The most interesting report is that every night some 30 percent are first-time attenders, meaning that people are still coming to Lakeland from the outside to experience Outpouring II. A lady from our church with a severe chronic back problem went to Ignited Church and came home healed! Such a thing does not usually happen when a public figure suddenly goes down the tubes, so we need to take our hats off to the apostolic gifts and role that Stephen Strader is demonstrating for us.

Speaking of the public figure going down the tubes, Todd Bentley now carries the label of a liar and a deceiver. I'm sorry to mention it, but I felt personally deceived in the same way when Ted Haggard's sin was exposed and he was immediately removed from ministry. In the Lakeland I case, I am elated at the way things are turning out. The Revival Alliance with whom Todd was aligned on June 23 has kicked into action with a vengeance. Ché Ahn and Bill Johnson, like me, were overseas when things broke, but John Arnott stepped up to the plate and moved in apostolically. It has since become clear that Todd's Fresh Fire Board could not have handled the situation, Stephen Strader and Ignited Church could not, nor could any of his other close friends. Only the Revival Alliance could. I am delighted that they are not buying into typical charismatic soft morality, also called "greasy grace" or "don't touch God's anointed" or "mercy must triumph over judgment," phrases that have been used on other similar occasions as convenient religious cop-out excuses. They're proceeding in love, but it is tough love!

Since this is an update, I will share some of what I know about what is happening with Bentley, but not all because some things need more verification and it is up to discernment of Revival Alliance what and when this will be revealed. Suffice it to say that there is more than I am going to mention. First of all, Todd has been removed from public ministry until further notice. He has resigned from the ministry he founded, Fresh Fire, so he is no longer a part of that board. It has become clear that he indulged in periodic drunkenness. He has no intention at the moment of reconciling with Shonna, nor does she with him. Their marriage has been torn for years by his emotional attachment with at least one other female whose physical contact went beyond hugging and kissing and holding hands. Enough said-maybe more details will be revealed later-but it was clearly immoral. All of this was skillfully concealed by lying and by swearing close associates who had observed his behavior to secrecy. Stephen Strader, for example, knew nothing of this before June 23. Apparently some of his board members did, but they did not have the ability to deal with it.

The Past

I hope this is the last time I will have to address the past. It is now history. But as history is written, I feel that I have some responsibility of helping to have history be written accurately, especially since I have turned out to be a lightening rod for a number of severe criticisms.

Most of you know this, but let me reiterate to keep it on record. Previous to around the middle of June, my interest in Lakeland was about a 2 on a scale of 1-10. Then I got a call from Stephen Strader, the host pastor who was a member of ICA, which I lead, with a passionate appeal for apostolic intervention because chaos and confusion had begin to invade the Outpouring I. Toward the end of the hour we were talking, I received one of my infrequent direct words from God: "Alignment!" Just one word, but I knew I had a divine command and responsibility.

Once I knew that God had assigned me to initiate some sort of apostolic intervention at Stephen's side, I began praying and consulting with close colleagues. In less than two days I discovered that Todd Bentley had no formal, established apostolic alignment. I asked God how I should proceed, especially since I had no inclination to attempt an apostle-evangelist approach and expect that Bentley would submit to or even listen to what I had to say if I made an appointment with him in Lakeland. I felt that proper apostolic protocol would be for me to deal with one or more peer-level apostles to whom Todd had aligned apostolically. Since as yet he had no such alignment, I began asking God how such an alignment might come about. He directed me to my close friend, Ché Ahn, who himself is apostolically aligned with me and who also had been close to Bentley for years. Ché agreed that the best apostolic protocol would be for Todd to align with the Revival Alliance if he were willing. Ché called him and Bentley agreed to submit publicly to the Revival Alliance.

At this point some disagreements arose. I have already mentioned that I was consulting with several apostolic colleagues whom I trusted and whom I know trusted me. It is very necessary for us to understand exactly what the disagreement was about. It was about the most appropriate apostolic protocol for the occasion. After prayerfully listening to the different points of view with careful consideration of what was being said, the decision had to be mine. I believe that God's word to me about "Alignment!" had to be directional. I concluded that the best protocol was to do the alignment first, then deal with the issues that had been raised. My other friends disagreed and urged me to deal with Todd's problems first then do the alignment. I respected their point of view and I was very sorry that I had to follow God's leading for me personally instead of taking their advice. It was not a comfortable decision.

Now let me address what was behind much of their disagreement with my apostolic protocol. They were concerned that if I appeared on the platform with GOD TV, many viewers would interpret it as my personal endorsement of everything that was going on in Lakeland I, and since they were so closely associated with me, they would be implicated as well. This was a legitimate concern, and one I seriously wrestled with as I made my decision. If I went to Lakeland and presided over the alignment, some might well take it as an endorsement. It was a risk, I knew. Let me say personally that all my life I have been a risk-taker instead of a play-it-safe person, and I have taken many hits for it. As an example going to the jungles of Bolivia as a career field missionary when I was 25 with my wife and a one-year-old baby girl was a serious risk. Both that daughter and another who was born in the jungle without medical attention came close to losing their lives during those five years. And we were criticized for our decision to take the risk by many, including parents!

Closer to the Lakeland I situation, I have a private list of no fewer than 18 high-profile Christian leaders starting from the 1970s until Bentley for whom I took risks. For each one of them I took serious criticisms and in some cases personal hits even much more serious than I have received in this current case because I endorsed or partnered with or provided alignment for them. Some were typified as "crazy!" However, I can pretty much discern winners, although not always. My track record for the 18 is 72% emerged as real winners (you would know most of them), 17% ended up losers (including Bentley), and 11% indecisive. I'm sorry for the losers, but they prove I am not perfect. The point I am making is that I am no stranger to taking risks and living with the fallout.

One fallout from Lakeland I is that several have resigned from ICA and other organizations that I lead because they no longer want to be identified with me. Others are still upset. Still, believe it or not, I think that everyone involved is still my friend. We just disagree.

I want it understood that I did not go to Lakeland on June 23 for Todd Bentley. I had never met him personally. I had no knowledge of and little interest in his ministry. I went because I received an apostolic plea to help bring order to the confusion and chaos that was sweeping through the body of Christ worldwide because of the television. I went strictly for the body of Christ at the invitation of the host pastor of the Outpouring I.

The final question is: Was it successful? Looking back, I praise God for using me and others to help bring order to confusion, which is one of the chief biblical tasks of an apostle. Stephen Strader, who has been keeping records, affirms that the evil that the prince of the power of the air had been subtly introducing into the Outpouring I started to be exposed and unraveled the day after the alignment, June 24! Spiritually, this is very understandable. Just about every leader I knew had discerned that Lakeland I was a mixture of the godly and the ungodly. We were praying in one accord that the evil would be separated from the good. My take is that God had decided to answer these prayers and in order to facilitate His process, He assigned me and the Revival Alliance leaders and others who were with us to align Todd Bentley apostolically for the first time in his life. When we did this publicly, spiritual transactions took place in the invisible world that would not allow the enemy to maintain the veil of secrecy he had carefully placed over the Outpouring. The evil was exposed, Revival Alliance had the authority to deal with it, and the net result is that order is replacing chaos in the body of Christ.

In my section above on "The Present" I gave you some details. Believe me, they are only the tip of the iceberg as I just learned from a new phone call even as I was writing this paper. The proper apostolic structure, happily, is in place at the time of crisis!

The Future

It is now important to recognize that from now on we have a different playing field. Two separate things are going on. (1) The Revival Alliance is dealing with Todd Bentley and the fallout from his sin that has been and continues to be exposed. (2) I have told you previously about a group of 11 apostles that I have formed into the Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team. We no longer need to deal with Lakeland I and Bentley as such. However, we have a list of 24 serious issues that have emerged from that unpleasant experience which need to be thoroughly discussed with the conclusions circulated in the body of Christ. If you have seen Dutch Sheets' recent "A Statement and Appeal Regarding Lakeland" you will get a glimpse of some of the things that we agree need to become standard operational beliefs and practices, particularly in our charismatically-inclined evangelical segment of the church.

It will take time, but our Apostolic Team will get to work on the 24 issues after some of this present dust settles, and we will be back to you!

Blessings,
Peter

Many of you will have questions, for most of which we presently have no answers

Todd Bentley, Wife Separating

The leader of the 'Lakeland Outpouring' is leaving Florida and will reportedly receive counseling.

[08.12.08] In a stunning revelation by his ministry today it was announced that evangelist Todd Bentley, who has led nonstop revival meetings in Lakeland, Fla., since April 2, is separating from his wife, Shonnah, due to “significant friction in their relationship.”

The board of directors at Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries released a statement Tuesday afternoon that praised the “outpouring” in Lakeland led by Bentley, but also acknowledged “an atmosphere of fatigue and stress” that more than 100 daily meetings had created, which “exacerbated existing issues in [Bentley’s marriage].”

Though the “outpouring” came with the “blessing and the burden of exponential increases,” the board of directors stressed in the letter that the meetings were not to blame for the break up of Bentley’s marriage. They expressed hope for restoration, but neither promised nor guaranteed it—instead focusing on “growing the Global Outpourings” that have spread via the Internet and GOD TV. “We know that many of you will have questions, for most of which we presently have no answers,” the board members stated.

Bentley has spent most of the last four months away from his home in Abbottsford, B.C., where his wife and three children reside. Shonnah Bentley has flown to Lakeland and has appeared on stage with her husband periodically. The statement released by Fresh Fire Ministries on Tuesday emphasized the separation was not due to infidelity by either spouse.

Stephen Strader, senior pastor at Ignited Church where Bentley’s revival was first sparked, told Charisma the separation was for “a period of time while they both continue to receive counseling.”

Lynn Breidenbach, who until yesterday was a spokesperson on Bentley’s staff, told Charisma on Monday that she had no knowledge of any impending separation between Bentley and his wife and that rumors of such a separation received by Charisma were apparently false. However, according to the Lakeland Ledger, Bentley called a staff meeting later on Monday and acknowledged his plans to separate from his wife.

Bentley did not respond to Charisma’s request for comment. At press time, members of the Revival Alliance, a group made up of prominent charismatic ministers who ordained Bentley as an evangelist in the Lakeland meetings in June, had not yet commented.

According to Strader, Bentley turned over the spiritual authority of the meetings to him last Wednesday—more than two weeks earlier than the August 23 date announced earlier this month. Strader said Bentley’s official departure will occur during this Wednesday night’s meeting in Lakeland, when Bentley is scheduled to thank the crowd, while also “commissioning his interns” to continue the revival. —Paul Steven Ghiringhelli

The sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity

Life After Lakeland: Sorting Out the Confusion

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Todd Bentley’s announcement that his marriage is ending has thrown – our movement into a tailspin and questions need to be answered

It was not supposed to end like this.

Evangelist Todd Bentley had heralded the Lakeland revival as the greatest Pentecostal outpouring since Azusa Street. From his stage in a gigantic tent in Florida, Bentley preached to thousands, bringing many of them to the stage for prayer. Many claimed to be healed of deafness, blindness, heart problems, depression and dozens of other conditions in the Lakeland services, which ran for more than 100 consecutive nights. Bentley announced confidently that dozens of people had been raised from the dead during the revival.

But this week, a few days after the Canadian preacher announced the end of his visits to Lakeland, he told his staff that his marriage is ending. Without blaming the pace of the revival for Bentley’s personal problems, his board released a public statement saying that he and his wife, Shonnah, are separating. The news shocked Bentley’s adoring fans and saddened those who have questioned his credibility since the Lakeland movement erupted in early April.

I’m sad. I’m disappointed. And I’m angry. Here are few of my many, many questions about this fiasco:

Why did so many people flock to Lakeland from around the world to rally behind an evangelist who had serious credibility issues from the beginning?

To put it bluntly, we’re just plain gullible.

From the first week of the Lakeland revival, many discerning Christians raised questions about Bentley’s beliefs and practices. They felt uneasy when he said he talked to an angel in his hotel room. They sensed something amiss when he wore a T-shirt with a skeleton on it. They wondered why a man of God would cover himself with tattoos. They were horrified when they heard him describe how he tackled a man and knocked his tooth out during prayer.

But among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message was clear: “This is God. Don’t question.” So before we could all say, “Sheeka Boomba” (as Bentley often prayed from his pulpit), many people went home, prayed for people and shoved them to the floor with reckless abandon, Bentley-style.

I blame this lack of discernment, partly, on raw zeal for God. We’re spiritual hungry—which can be a good thing. But sometimes, hungry people will eat anything.

Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up.

Why didn’t anyone in Lakeland denounce the favorable comments Bentley made about William Branham?

This one baffles me. Branham embraced horrible deception near the end of his ministry, before he died in 1965. He claimed that he was the reincarnation of Elijah—and his strange doctrines are still embraced by a cultlike following today. When Bentley announced to the world that the same angel that ushered in the 1950s healing revival had come to Lakeland, the entire audience should have run for the exits.

Why didn’t anyone correct this error from the pulpit? Godly leaders are supposed to protect the sheep from heresy, not spoon feed deception to them. Only God knows how far this poison traveled from Lakeland to take root elsewhere. May God forgive us for allowing His Word to be so flippantly contaminated.

A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley’s news hit the fan. He said to me: “I’m now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment.” Ouch. Hopefully we’ll learn our lesson this time and apply the necessary caution when an imposter shows up.

Why did God TV tell people that “any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic”?

This ridiculous statement was actually made on one of God TV’s pre-shows. In fact, the network’s hosts also warned listeners that if they listened to criticism of Bentley, they could lose their healings.

This is cultic manipulation at its worst. The Bible tells us that the Bereans were noble believers because they studied the Scriptures daily “to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11, NASB). Yet in the case of Lakeland, honest intellectual inquiry was viewed as a sign of weakness. People were expected to jump first and then open their eyes.

Just because we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit does not mean we check our brains at the church door. We are commanded to test the spirits. Jesus wants us to love Him with our hearts and our minds.

Because of the Lakeland scandal, there may be large numbers of people who feel they’ve been burned by Bentley. Some may give up on church and join the growing ranks of bitter, disenfranchised Christians. Others may suffer total spiritual shipwreck. This could have been avoided if leaders had been more vocal about their objections and urged people to evaluate spiritual experiences through the filter of God’s Word.

Why did a group of respected ministers lay hands on Bentley on June 23 and publicly ordain him? Did they know of his personal problems?

This controversial ceremony was organized by Peter Wagner, who felt that one of Bentley’s greatest needs was proper spiritual covering. He asked California pastors Che Ahn and Bill Johnson, along with Canadian pastor John Arnott, to lay hands on Bentley and bring him under their care.

Bentley certainly needs such covering. No one in ministry today should be out on their own, living in isolation without checks, balances and wise counsel. It was commendable that Wagner reached out to Bentley and that Bentley acknowledged his need for spiritual fathers by agreeing to submit to the process. The question remains, however, whether it was wise to commend Bentley during a televised commissioning service that at times seemed more like a king’s coronation.

In hindsight, we can all see that it would have been better to take Bentley into a back room and talk about his personal issues.

The Bible tells us that ordination of a minister is a sober responsibility. Paul wrote: “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others” (1 Tim. 5:22). We might be tempted to rush the process, but the apostle warned against fast-tracking ordination—and he said that those who commission a minister who is not ready for the job will bear some of the blame for his failures.

I trust that Wagner, Ahn, Johnson and Arnott didn’t know of Bentley’s problems before they ordained him. I am sure they are saddened by the events of this week and are reaching out to Bentley and his wife to promote healing and restoration. But I believe that they, along with Bentley and the owners of God TV, owe the body of Christ a forthright, public apology for thrusting Bentley’s ministry into the spotlight prematurely. (Perhaps such an apology should be aired on God TV.)

Can anything good come out of this?

That depends on how people respond. If the men assigned to oversee Bentley offer loving but firm correction, and if Bentley responds humbly to the process by stepping out of ministry for a season of rehabilitation, we could witness a healthy case of church discipline play out the way it is supposed to. If all those who were so eager to promote Bentley now rush just as fast to repent for their errors in judgment, then the rest of us could breathe a huge sigh of relief—and the credibility of our movement could be restored.

I still believe that God desires to visit our nation in supernatural power. I know He wants to heal multitudes, and I will continue praying for a healing revival to sweep across the United States. But we must contend for the genuine, not an imitation. True revival will be accompanied by brokenness, humility, reverence and repentance—not the arrogance, showmanship and empty hype that often was on display in Lakeland.

We are weathering an unprecedented season of moral failure and spiritual compromise in our nation today. I urge everyone in the charismatic world to pray for Bentley; his wife, Shonnah; his three young children; Bentley’s ministry staff; and the men and women who serve as his counselors and advisers. Let’s pray that God will turn this embarrassing debacle into an opportunity for miraculous restoration.

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.

I think the leadership of America need a fresh touch from God

Revival Sparked in Kansas City Church

Since May 2 hundreds of men, women and children have been experiencing an unusual outpouring of the Holy Spirit at a church in Kansas City, Mo.

[07.22.08] Crowds of people run to the altar, a preteen ushers in the presence of God, signs and wonders abound—all marks, observers say, of a revival that has shaken a Kansas City, Mo., church to its core.

Since May 2 hundreds have gathered at World Revival Center in the heartland city to experience the miraculous power of God.

“I can hardly stand up half the time,” said Casey Lohman, 47, a member of the church for 13 years. “It is that incredible. You’re stumbling for words all of the time.”

Senior pastor Steve Gray said he knew something was different in his congregation after multitudes of people began testifying of miraculous healings.

"The doctors could not get it fixed,” said Jim Conner, referring to a “nagging” pain in his lower back. “No one even laid hands on me. The power of God overwhelmed me and knocked me back. The pain was instantly gone."

During the four services held every week, many have given testimonies of being healed of blindness, deafness, lameness, high blood pressure and a myriad of other ailments. But what astonishes Gray most are the transformed lives observed after the altar call has ended.

“They’re becoming different people,” Gray told Charisma. “We see the fruit of it. The commitment and desire to love Jesus and to serve Jesus more … than they ever had in their entire life. They have obviously been revived.”

Children and teenagers are also testifying of healings and to the presence of God.

“A lot of the children are receiving as powerful a touch as anyone,” Gray said. “If [the Holy Spirit] doesn’t hit the children then, to me, it’s not a revival.”

The power of God apparently fell so strongly on the congregation one night that Ivan Ramirez,a 9-year-old boy who was praying for congregants at the time, recalled feeling warm, “like a thousand blankets all around me … it felt so good."

The services are being streamed on the church’s Web site (www.worldrevivalchurch.com/media/) and many young people have given testimonies.

Gray says the presence of God also manifests powerfully in meetings when he opens up his Bible to preach. “It’s so intense that when I preach or when I say God’s moving people just don’t saunter down [to the altar]. They run down,” he said. “I always laugh when people say ‘The Spirit was moving so strongly I couldn’t even preach.’ I always say: ‘That’s probably the time you should have preached.’”

The pastor of the 800-member church says that revivals in the past have had a bad reputation of being “emotional and scripturally weak,” which is why he makes sure he preaches Scripture and sound doctrine.

“We have these tremendous powerful moves of God,” he said. “Then we sit down and we listen to the Word and we let the Word of God do its work in us.”

Gray’s congregation is familiar with revival. The church was the home of the 1996 Smithton Outpouring, which lasted more than five years and drew 225,000 people from every U.S. state and 60 countries worldwide.

Gray doesn’t want to keep silent about the move of God transforming his congregation.

“We want to bring this to every local congregation that we can,” he said. “[We want to] get a hold of the pastors and the leadership of the churches. I think the leadership of America need a fresh touch from God.” —Felicia Mann

This revival is meant to move

Bentley Announces His Departure From Lakeland

Todd Bentley, leader of the Florida Healing Revival, announced that Aug. 23 would be his last day in Lakeland, Fla. GOD TV has also said their live broadcast coverage of the Lakeland meetings would end.

[07.28.08] Todd Bentley, leader of the Florida Healing Revival, announced last week that Aug. 23 would be his last day in Lakeland, Fla., telling his followers that God had instructed him and his staff to “move, walk the land, [take] the Ark of God’s glory” to the nations.

”Since the beginning, we’ve sensed that there’s nothing ordinary about this outpouring,” he said in a statement. “It’s something new and fresh, with much movement to it . … We’re sensing that this revival is meant to move, it’s our time now to walk it throughout the land, to move the Ark from the cradle and into the harvest fields.”

Another leader from the outpouring confirmed Bentley’s upcoming departure. “We are excited and prepared,” said Stephen Strader, senior pastor of Ignited Church, the 700-seat converted storefront on the north side of Lakeland where the revival broke out nearly four months ago.

Strader indicated he was in the process of forming a “Lakeland Alliance” to help the revival continue after Bentley leaves. He reported four other local churches are already signed up and that he expected more.

The latest news came after 111 days of meetings that have had to relocate numerous times to accommodate crowds in the thousands that were in search of a physical or spiritual touch from God. Documented proof has been difficult to come by, but Bentley and others say thousands have claimed to be healed as a result of the meetings.

Bentley described his departure as a needed transition for propelling the revival into the future. “This in no way means the end of revival, it’s just the beginning,” he wrote. “The Lord has shown me many more potential wells to uncap in the days, weeks, months, and perhaps even years to come.”

GOD TV, which has broadcast the Lakeland meetings live in 214 nations almost every night since April 11, also announced that its live broadcast coverage would end Aug. 23. Graeme Spencer, the network’s head of production, said it would continue streaming the Lakeland meetings live on its Web site and would also attempt to broadcast as many of Bentley’s itinerant meetings as possible.

Bentley said God has told him to visit a total of 38 cities, most of them in the U.S. He has already held “impartation” services in places such as Dallas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Ky., and Concord, N.C. He is scheduled to travel to the African nations of Uganda and Sudan in late August and early September. ——Paul Steven Ghiringhelli

Questions about Holy Spirit etiquette

BAM! POW! WHEN PRAYER MINISTRY Gets VIOLENT
-by J. Lee Grady (Charisma).

Lakeland Revival leader Todd Bentley’s unusual prayer methods
have triggered questions about Holy Spirit etiquette. For weeks the
blogosphere has been sizzling with comments, pro and con, about
the unusual ministry style of Todd Bentley, the leader of the
Lakeland Revival in Florida. Thousands of people have watched the
tattooed evangelist shout “Bam! Bam!” as he prays for the sick and
interviews those who say they were instantly healed.

Nobody could ever accuse Bentley of lacking zeal. And he always
gives Jesus the credit for the healings he announces on God TV
every night. But he has come under fire because of video clips
from a sermon in which he says the Holy Spirit told him to use
violent means to heal people.

The sermon, preached in Lakeland and posted on YouTube,
features Bentley demonstrating how he (1) banged a woman’s
crippled legs “like a baseball bat” on a stage; (2) tackled, mounted
and choked a man to free him from a demon; (3) shoved a Chinese
man to the ground to pray for him (causing the man to lose a tooth);
(4) kicked an older woman in the face with his biker boot to heal
her; and (5) “leg-dropped” a pastor—a professional wrestling tactic,
popularized by Hulk Hogan, in which the aggressor jumps in the
air and lands on his opponent with one leg outstretched.

When we asked Bentley about his unorthodox methods, he
assured Charisma that none of the people were hurt and that
many were healed. He also explained that British evangelist Smith
Wigglesworth, a legend in the hall of fame of Pentecostal
preachers, used similar methods.

So if Wigglesworth healed a man by punching him in the stomach,
and Bentley sees similar results by using techniques borrowed
from the World Wrestling Entertainment, does that mean we
should teach all altar workers to become more aggressive?

I know that people have been healed in the meetings in Lakeland. I
know of a woman from South Carolina who was healed of cystic
fibrosis while sitting in one of Bentley’s services. (She was never
touched by anyone.) I also know a man from California who was
healed of sleep apnea while watching the Lakeland revival on
television. Jesus is most definitely still in the healing business.

I also know that Bentley is not performing Hulk Hogan stunts from
the stage in Lakeland every night. But because his comments
about violent prayer have been so widely broadcast, we need to
call a timeout and make it clear that hitting people is wrong, period.
Bentley’s teaching on unorthodox prayer methods should include a
disclaimer: “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.” Here are three reasons why:

1. The Holy Spirit is gentle. Jesus boldly drove the moneychangers
out of the temple with a whip. But when He prayed for sick people,
there is no record of Him head-banging or leg-dropping anyone. He
rebuked evil spirits authoritatively, but He never hit, slapped,
choked, mounted or kicked a person. He was meek, which means
He knew how to control His strength, and He never threw His
weight around.

When He commissioned His followers to heal the sick, Jesus told
them to “lay” hands on them (Mark 16:18). Since gentleness is
part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (along with kindness—see Gal.
5:22-23), any ministry we do should be tempered with mercy and
concern.

2. If we minister in the flesh, we will reap flesh. Several years ago I
was standing near the stage in a large meeting when a visiting
evangelist said he wanted to pray for all the ministers in the room.
Immediately some ushers yanked me up to the platform and the
man of God raced over to “pray” for me. Before I knew it, I was
assaulted in the name of the Lord.

Whack! The guy hit me so hard that I fell down and held my face in
my hands to hide my grimace. The skin on my neck was stinging.
When I finally went back to my seat, a friend ran over to
congratulate me, saying, “Wow, I saw you go down under the
power!” I had to grit my teeth and ask the Lord to help me forgive
the preacher who inflicted pain instead of a holy impartation.

Why do we think that more bodies on the floor equals “more
anointing”—especially when the evangelist shoves people to the
ground or slaps them silly? To build a ministry on such foolish
theatrics is to trust in the arm of the flesh.

3. Somebody’s going to get hurt. We reported last week that a
Tennessee man sued his charismatic church because its pastoral
staff did not provide the proper “catchers” when he fell down during
a prayer meeting last year. Matthew Lincoln of Knoxville said he
struck the hard floor of the sanctuary with his head and aggravated
a disc problem in his back, resulting in the need for surgery.

I don’t know the specifics of the situation in Knoxville, Tenn., and
it may be that this church has done everything possible to provide
a caring atmosphere in their meetings. Plus, the man suing the
church does not say anyone hit him or knocked him over. But
serious accidents are bound to happen if we don’t stress the
importance of ministering with gentleness and wisdom.

In our zany charismatic world we often let our zeal run wild. I’ve
been in services in which all kinds of injuries happened. Once I
watched a 300-pound man fall on a frail woman. I’ve seen heads
hit metal chairs. I’ve seen evangelists step on people’s arms and
legs. We may say the Holy Spirit is moving, but—more often than
we want to admit—our chaos may be a sign of our immaturity.

Please understand me. I desperately want the power of God to
invade our churches. I’ve been in meetings in which the Lord’s
glory was so thick that no one could stand up. I have felt the
weight of His presence fall like a blanket on a congregation. And I
remember falling to the floor when I got within four feet of a humble
Indian preacher who barely touched people on the forehead when
he prayed for them.

We don’t have to force things to happen. God’s power is real. May
we never settle for a man-made imitation.

~J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.
SOURCE- http://www.charismamag.com/fireinmybones/

Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson announced that gay marriage is a new truth revealed by the Holy Spirit?

Whatever Happened to the Fear of God?

If we want the same level of supernatural anointing that was evident in the New Testament church, we should also pray for a higher level of holiness.

We charismatics yearn for a return to the raw intensity of the early church—the angelic visitations, power encounters, prophecies, mass conversions and missionary adventures. I want all of that! The book of Acts is the gold standard for normative Christianity, and we shouldn’t rest until we see it manifested in our generation.

But those first-century miracles didn’t happen in a vacuum. They flowed from a praying church that was bathed in humility and holiness. The early disciples had not only been baptized in the Holy Spirit; they had also been baptized with fire (see Matt. 3:11). And the fire of God is a cleansing flame that burns up sin and produces the fear of the Lord.

We tend to forget that the same people who experienced tongues on the day of Pentecost, and then witnessed the healing of a lame beggar in Jerusalem, also watched in horror as Ananias and Sapphira—two influential but compromising church members—dropped dead because God’s presence was so strong. When their bodies were carried away, the Bible says, “great fear came over the whole church, and over all who heard of these things” (Acts 5:11, NASB).

Do we want that level of God’s presence? The fear that came on the early church is also called a “sense of awe” in Acts 2:43. We often downplay the fear of God by saying that it really means “reverence.” But the Greek word used in Acts 5:11 and Acts 2:43 is phobos, which can be translated “exceeding dread, alarm or terror.”

We love the ecstatic joy and the goose bumps that accompany revival meetings. But revival is not fun and games. Are we ready for the terror?

As I pray for revival in my own life and in my nation, I have started praying regularly for the fear of the Lord. And I think it will manifest in some key areas:

1. Truthfulness. When we walk in close fellowship with the Holy Spirit we will feel an immediate sense of conviction if we say anything false or misleading. That conviction will hound us until we repent and repair the damage we have done with our mouths. We will hear the word of the Lord echoing in our conscience: “Do not lie to one another” (Col. 3:9).

I realized a few years ago that I sometimes lied when someone asked me if I had read a certain book or knew of a certain celebrity or sports figure. Even if I did not know anything about the subject of the conversation, I would nod and pretend that I was informed. I recognized later that I did this out of insecurity, hoping to appear knowledgeable. I had to repent of pride and ask God to help me be honest.

This may seem minor, but little white lies breed serious deceit. If we have no fear of God, we will exaggerate and think nothing of it. This can become a crisis when church leaders, in their zeal for revival, are careless when reporting miracles, healings or numbers of conversions. Exaggeration is lying. If we build a ministry by stretching the truth, we stand on shaky ground. Christ’s kingdom cannot be built on hype.

We often assume that the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was greed. But the Bible actually says they were struck dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit (see Acts 5:3). They sold a piece of property and pretended to give all the money to the apostles when in fact they had kept some of the proceeds for themselves. They were trying to look good in the eyes of church leaders. They were attempting to buy favor and influence—and God caught them in the act.

2. Sexual purity. All of us know that the American church is facing a sexual crisis. Some denominations, such as the Episcopal Church, have bowed to the spirit of Baal to embrace homosexual practice as acceptable behavior. Recently, Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson announced that gay marriage is a new truth revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Thankfully the charismatic world hasn’t slipped to that level of depravity. But we have never witnessed so much moral failure in our ranks. Many ministers are living double lives and hiding their girlfriends and out-of-wedlock babies. In my city, one prominent minister had an affair with a stripper and went right on preaching from the same pulpit without skipping a beat.

If I am walking in the fear of God, I will not peek at pornography, entertain fantasy or cross a sexual boundary. And if I am in church leadership, I will never allow ministers with questionable sexual reputations to defile the congregation by allowing him to lay hands on them or impart his defilement. I don’t care how “anointed” a man of God is or how accurate his prophecies are. If he has been engaging in immorality and has not been restored properly, he will infect people with his sin if we give him a platform.

3. Financial integrity. We should learn from the example of Eli’s reprobate sons, Hophni and Phinehas, that God does not wink at extortion — especially when it involves money that has been given to God. These “worthless” men were judged severely because they had their hands in the offering plate (see 1 Sam. 2:12-17).

The eighth commandment forbids stealing. Yet in the “Spirit-filled” church today, ministers think nothing of robbing the saints. Too often the collection of the offering turns into a circus involving manipulation, theatrics and the twisting of Scripture—as well as arms—to meet a budget goal. Why should we be surprised when God’s presence lifts at that point in the service?

If we truly fear the Lord we will be conscious of the fact that He watches how we handle money in His house. He sees every dollar that is given. Heaven keeps accurate accounting. God knows how we word our financial appeals and if we use the money for one thing when it was pledged for another.

4. Reverence for God. In some charismatic churches today, leaders have introduced a trendy new teaching that compares God to drugs. They proclaim that “Jesus is my D.O.C.”—my “Drug of Choice.” In a bizarre attempt to be relevant with our culture, they compare a spiritual encounter with God to a heroin overdose. In one instance, a group of people pretended to shoot invisible needles into their arms as they prayed for one another and asked God for His anointing. And this was in a so-called “revival service”!

One minister in Oregon refers to God as “Jehovahjuana” — implying that the Lord can give you a marijuana high. Another conference speaker in California put a plastic Jesus from a nativity scene into his mouth and encouraged a group of teens to “smoke baby Jesus.” The kids all laughed and everyone thought this was a hoot.

Actually, mishandling the name of the Lord in such a flippant manner, and comparing God to an illegal drug, is what the Bible calls blasphemy. We do not have permission to dishonor His character by changing His name to something sinful and degrading.

How desperately we need the dreadful fire of His holy presence! I hope we will all cry out together the prayer of David in Psalm 86:11: “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.”

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. You can join him next week for a live conference call with Mark Hall, lead singer of the band Casting Crowns, when Lee interviews Mark about how we can reach the younger generation for Christ. Sign up for the call at connect2leaders.com.

God doesn’t require evangelists to wear three-piece suits or to have impressive theological degrees. He uses nobodies.

A Holy Ghost Outbreak in Florida

Charismatics are flocking to the sleepy town of Lakeland, Fla. to attend evangelist Todd Bentley’s unconventional revival services.

Todd Bentley is not exactly your grandmother’s evangelist, but that didn’t stop grandmothers from lining up to get prayer from the 32-year-old preacher last week when he opened his 14th straight night of revival meetings in Lakeland, Fla. People of all ages—including plenty of retirees with bad backs and partial deafness—crammed into the 700-seat Ignited Church to watch Bentley pray for the sick and to hear testimonies from the healed.

“If you need a miracle in your body, stand up!” Bentley shouted, waving his tattooed arms over the crowd. “There is healing in the atmosphere! Sometimes people feel fire or heat. It’s Jesus!”

The audience was pumped. Many had been coming to the meetings since April 2, when a four-day conference began and then zoomed into overdrive. Others had just arrived in Lakeland from out of state after hearing reports of the revival on the Internet. The night I attended, host pastor Steve Strader said more than 90,000 people had watched the meetings online.

“Tumors are going to be pulled out of people’s bodies tonight,” Bentley announced with a grin. “It’s gonna pop tonight!”

The scene inside this church, a former Scotty’s home-supply warehouse, was beyond unconventional. Teenagers with spiked hair worshiped God side by side with soccer moms and scruffy, pony-tailed bikers. After an hour of singing they cheered Bentley as he took the stage looking like a roadie for a grunge band.

Heavy-set with a beard and shaved head, the Canada-born preacher is rough around the edges. He wore jeans and a black T-shirt that said “Legend Killers” on the back. The metal studs in his ears and left eyebrow glistened in the stage lights. His tattoos covered both arms and most of his neck.

By his own admission, Bentley is a walking miracle. He should have died 15 years ago—but his life was spared when a burly stranger carrying a large white Bible knocked on his door and delivered what Bentley calls “the fieriest hell-and-damnation sermon I’ve ever heard.”

Immediately after his conversion at age 17, Bentley began spending four to 12 hours a day in prayer and Bible reading. It wasn’t long before he was preaching to huge crowds.

A high school dropout, Bentley has conducted healing crusades in dozens of nations including Ecuador, India and Tanzania. His staff says crippled people have left their wheelchairs behind numerous times.

But his methods are far from polished. When he prayed for people in Lakeland, he usually began by laying his hand on their heads and then yelling, “Bam!”

Often the people fell backward to the floor. After one elderly woman fell, Bentley told the audience: “She doesn’t know why she fell down.” The woman then laughed and said to him in the microphone: “Because you pushed me!” He prayed for her three more times that night, and she said she could hear better.

“I’m feeling the presence of God so strong in here!” he shouted. More people ran to the stage, dodging teens who had swooned on the floor. A teenage girl walked up to Bentley on the platform and said a lump on her neck had just dissolved. During the past three weeks people have testified of being healed from heart conditions, skin rashes and back problems, and many said scars disappeared.

Bentley says he refuses to give this outbreak of Pentecostal revival a name, but some have already dubbed it the “Florida Healing Outpouring.” Strader, the former pastor of Carpenter’s Home Church in Lakeland, said a New Zealand preacher prophesied in March that Bentley would be used “like a boomerang” to trigger a national revival that would start in Florida.

Many charismatics are wondering if the protracted meetings will become a phenomenon similar to what happened in Rodney Howard-Browne’s meetings in Lakeland in 1993, at the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church in Canada in 1994 and at Brownsville Assembly of God in Pensacola in 1995.

It’s too early to tell if this outbreak is the next Toronto Blessing—which lasted for several years and spread revivalist fervor to dozens of nations. If the crowds in Lakeland keep growing, Strader will have to move the meetings to a larger venue since his building and parking lot are already at full capacity.

Those who can’t visit Lakeland should be encouraged to know that God doesn’t require evangelists to wear three-piece suits or to have impressive theological degrees. He uses nobodies. If anything is obvious from the Lakeland revival, it is that God wants to anoint and empower ordinary people—even those who dropped out of school or got messed up in drugs—to take His radical love to a world that is desperate to see the raw power of God.

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma. You can learn more about Todd Bentley’s revival services in Lakeland at the Ignited Church Web site, ignitedchurch.com. Last weekend Bentley announced that he has canceled his bookings in April so he can keep the momentum going, at least through early May. Starting Thursday, Apr. 24, the meetings are being moved to Auburndale Life Church in Auburndale, Fla., about 10 miles from Lakeland.