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
|