I have spend the last few days dealing with one person a few hours from me who has been offended at my actions in ministry as well as dealing with a former friend that refuses to talk about the issues at hand. It has placed the issue of forgiveness, restoration, and community in my mind.

Before we venture into this blog, allow me to give my theological definitions to these words. This are not some book written by some old guy with a bunch of degrees. Just Peter Vandever’s working definitions.

Forgiveness– This is the purposefully act of a person who has been offended at anothers action. The offended may or may not be aware of the offense. Forgiveness means to destroy all evidence of the offense and to remove it from our mind, will, and emotions. That’s total forgiveness.

Restoration– To answer this question, we have to first answer another one, what is repentance. Re means to return and pent is the high point so repentence is to return to your high position in Christ. Restoration is to delete whatever happened and to return to life before the offense happened.

Community– This is a corporate gathering of believers who share each others lives. In Acts, they came together and have all things in common meaning they walked the journey of “The way” together.

R.T. Kendall is believing for “We will see God move in proportion to our total forgiveness of one another.” There is something to the outpouring of the Spirit that is related to our forgiving others. When we do not choose forgiveness, we are choosing to deny a biblical truth of the nature of God in us. We talk about the hope of glory, Christ in us but Christ told us a great deal about forgiveness.

We are in a time we can not afford to neglect the need for forgiveness in the Body of Christ. I know of several churches I work with closely who have experinced church splits recently over silly things. One of them was over touching someone’s hair, another was pastor’s wore different color socks one morning! (no joke!) ANd we wonder why God is not pouring out in power in our churches?

What is the born again experience? It is the forgiveness of sin and restoration of your life. When we are born again, our old nature is destroyed by the power of God and all old things pass away. Because of forgiveness, it is washed away in the blood of Jesus and launched into the sea to be forgotten about, correct?

In the same regard, we are to like Christ is our forgiving as well. If a friend of mine betray me and tell other people deeply personal things but afterwords, he realizes his sin, repents before God and it is washed away, I must be willing to forgive him and restore the relationship to proper to it happening or I am now the one guilty before God.

The books was full of power, signs, wonders and miracles but they could not go in God where they went without grabbing ahold of a few fellow believers and say “let’s do this together.” There is power in numbers.

Revival does NOT come from Heaven. Revival from earth to Heaven in response to God’s dealings. One of the ways true revival sweeps through a place is by people getting real with other people about offense and asking the Lord to empower us to walk in freedom from relational offense.

1. Satan's Names Reveal His Tactics

*Satan (adversary)
*Devil (slanderer)
*Lucifer (son of the morning)
*Beelzebub (prince of demons)
*Belial (without profit)
*Evil one
*Tempter
*Prince of this world
*Accuser of the brethren
*Representations include a Serpent, a Dragon, an Angel of Light.

2. Satan Attacks God's Program, The Church, By...

*False philosophies - Col. 2:8
*False religions - 1 Cor. 10:19
*False ministers - 2 Cor. 11:14-15
*False doctrine - 1 John 2:18
*False disciples - Matt. 13
*False morals - 2 Thess. 2:7

3. Satan Attacks God's People By . . .

*Directing governments - Dan. 10:13
*Deceiving men - 2 Cor. 4:4
*Destroying life - Heb. 2:14
*Persecuting the saints - Rev. 2:10
*Preventing service - 1 Thess. 2:18
*Promoting schisms - 2 Cor. 2:10-11
*Planting doubt - Gen. 3:1-2
*Provoking sin and Anger - Eph. 4:26-27
*Pride - 1 Tim. 3:6;

Worry - Matt. 13:22;

Self-reliance - 1 Chron. 21:1;

Discouragement - 1 Pet. 5:6-8;

Worldliness - 1 John 2:16;

Lying - Acts 5:3;

Immorality - 1 Cor. 5:1-2
*Producing sects/cults - 1 Tim. 4:1

Pastor, a friend has been telling me some things about Todd Bentley and I really don’t know what to think. She told me he has demonic tattoos on his body and that there is barking like dogs and clucking like chickens in his services. I’m not sure if that was recent or in the past. She also suggested that I look up Emma, so I did. I don’t know what to say or believe. I haven’t seen his revival but I plan on seeing it tonight. My friend claims this is all new age and I don’t even know what that is. I need to know what the truth is and what I can say to her to show her the truth. Thanks Pastor.

The questions you ask are good ones.  The answers are not as easy as they could be.

First let me say that every move of God I have ever seen has had plenty of opportunity for someone to be offended or to sit back from a distance and offer criticism.  This is the nature of what God does. He leaves a broad opportunity for offense. Jesus had His detractors.  Their issue was about the proper washing of hands.  It couldn't be a godly person, who would not properly wash his hands before he ate, could it?  Another issue involved the work of lifting mud to a blind man's eyes on the Sabbath.  The religious people of the day didn't really care that the blind man who had walked in darkness for 40 years could now miraculously see and that God was glorified.  They just knew "it wasn't right". 

Historically at the turn of the century there was a revival in Los Angeles that was held in a converted horse stable on Azusa Street.  In those days it was against the law for blacks and whites to have public gatherings together.  God was using a black preacher by the name of William Seymore to spread this revival.  He was poor, had no education (he had to have others read the scriptures before his sermon because he could only read at a third grade level), let alone being completely without ANY college or bible training.  This revival however, was against the law, led by a black, poor, uneducated preacher.  Many (mostly whites) would not go to the part of town where this revival was held, because, they reasoned, God would certainly not make the good white folk go into the ghetto to receive a touch from God, would He?  Many not only would not receive, but wrote articles in their religious papers of the days about the uselessness of this move. But, it gave birth to the Assemblies of God, Missions ministries that literally went around the world and changed nations, healing ministries that touched thousands with documented miraculous healings and literally thousands of salvations. 

It is with these things in mind that we must judge the meetings in Florida, not on hearsay or innuendo, but by real people who have been in the place and seen first hand; not only what is on the internet, but what is happening to the city and to the individuals involved.

Several questions are appropriate if any ministry or move is to be discerned as from God or from the devil.

1. Do people who attend love God, worship Him and are they positively affected by their experience? 

2. Is the result of their involvement positive? Does it make them Love God more, exert boldness to share their faith and bring others to Christ? 

3. Is God's scriptural mandate of Mark 16:15 being fulfilled?  Are deliverance, healing, disciple-making, and teaching integral parts of the move of God?

4. Is society being impacted, the gospel being shared in the streets and the kingdom of God declared with signs following?

It is interesting to me that if these questions are asked of many "bible-believing" churches today, many would fail hands-down.

If anyone would desire, I can supply a list of personal friends, people from our church, and pastors I know who have been "on the ground" in Lakeland and can answer these questions as they relate, not only to the hearsay of the internet bloggers, but personal experience. Beyond the "God TV" piece shown in the evening, they will testify that there is a completely different feel in the daytime, "equipping" and "sending" sessions where people are trained, activated and sent out to the streets of Lakeland.  They tell of miraculous power encounters on the streets and in the chairs in the congregation at the meetings that is genuine, life-changing and challenging to every believer to become involved.

Now, there is also another side to the revival, most of which revolves around personal criticisms directed at Todd Bentley and his perceived flaws.  Few of us would want to withstand the levels of criticism Todd undergoes on a daily basis.  He is tattooed, flawed and in many ways easy to criticize.

I don't know what "demonic" tattoos he may have, but one arm has all the details of the pictures in the book of Daniel and the other arm has the images of the book of Revelation.  If someone has pictures of demonic tattoos on him, I would love to see them.  If not, this is an untrue piece of information that is based in rumor and innuendo and any believer should be ashamed of repeating it without personal knowledge or verifiable proof of its truth. (Accusations against a spiritual leader are to be accepted only on the basis or two or three verifiable witnesses.  The definition includes the concept of personally experienced information, not innuendo repeated on the internet as "fact"). If you want to make an issue of tattoos, Revelation is a problem because the Messiah in a glorified body has written on His thigh "King of Kings and Lord of Lords".  There are other scriptures on the subject and many arguments, but I am currently only addressing the questions raised here.

On the subject of "Emma" the supposed "angelic", or as some would offer "spirit guide", Todd himself publicly and vehemently denied that he "accepts direction" from any personage called "Emma".  He has written a letter on the subject, and the past teaching in which he talked about this "angel" has been dismissed by him as an unwise and subjective revelation, not to be weighted in relation to the rest of his teachings on the angelic.

He has spoken of this in the past, and I am personally concerned about this article: 

www.etpv.org/2003/angho.html I found on the subject.  Most of this particular teaching is sound and scriptural as it relates to angelic visitations which are referenced in over half the books of the Bible!  This particular issue, (Emma) however, needs to be watched and discerned over time.  Most honest theologians will admit to being wrong at some point in their theology as it developed.  Todd has, in my personal opinion, adequately and publicly renounced this previously held teaching.

There are a couple of other issues that have been brought up on the internet concerning both Todd and the revival in Lakeland.  I will not stir those issues, as it is my personal knowledge that most, if not all of these accusations are either past issues, currently being dealt with, or completely unfounded.  If asked about a specific subject, I will be happy to respond.

As to how we each respond to those who reject this revival, it is a difficult situation.  Several things come to mind.

1. Never reject an individual over well-meaning concern.  Few people who I have ever known to be skeptical, discerning or even mislead are not bad people. 

2. I always will listen to honest concerns and make it my personal responsibility as a spiritual leader to seek out a matter.

3. KNOW that everything printed, repeated and thrown around is suspect.  My discernment starts by asking questions of those who know, have been there, are in the loop as to what is being done and said.  Those who are under authority are to be trusted as their authority unless proven they are obviously not fulfilling their obligations to the individual or the body of Christ.  I personally do my best to verify every bit of information.  If it cannot be well-documented by either eye-witnesses, pictures or the authorities involved it carries little or no weight.

4. If there is a criticism, I LOVINGLY am "on-alert" for either those things that confirm or deny the information presented.  My antennae "go up" and stay up.

5. Implicit trust in the Holy Spirit is imperative.  He was sent to lead us into all truth. 

Over the past two weeks, since I began to investigate these concerns, God himself has put me in the room with three different people who personally know Todd Bentley, have his personal phone numbers on their phones and one of whom has personally been a mentor of Todd's for over a decade and is headed to Lakeland next week to talk with Todd about some of these very questions.  God is more concerned for the purity of the bride of Christ than any cynic could ever be.  He, the Father, will present to His Son, Jesus a pure bride "without spot or wrinkle".   He can be trusted to expose what needs to be exposed, iron out what is "wrinkled" and clean up impurities.  Until HE makes an issue of it, my call is to lovingly (1 Cor.13) believe the best of every person, with a level of self awareness as to my own weaknesses.  I must allow those entrusted with responsibility for confrontation and correction to do their job (Gal. 6:1) and implicitly trust the leaders involved to correct or expose as needed, the servant of the Lord. 

The answers to questions 1-4 above, in my opinion, are overwhelmingly "yes" in the lives of those I personally know who have paid the price, bought a ticket, took the time out of their lives and businesses to go and discern first-hand what is going on there.  THEY unanimously verify the fruit of the "tree" is good, and the scriptures specifically declare that it is IMPOSSIBLE for a bad tree to produce good fruit. 

There is MUCH more that could be said or written, but I hope this answers at least your initial questions.  Please feel free to follow up as needed.

Hope this helps...

Pastor Steve

For additional insight, read Lakeland Outpouring – God, Deception, or Little Bit of Both? , suggested by one of our partners in ministry, Bill Byers. Copy and paste the following link:

http://www.injesus.com/index.php?module=message&task=view&MID=CB007ETV&GroupID=ZA0072M2&label=&paging=all

Here I decided to make a post out of some comments from my earlier posts on the Florida Healing Outpouring - Todd Bentley and the Seat of Scoffers. Those posts can be found here, here and here. The fact that Todd Bentley claims an angel named Emma visited him is creating a bit of a stir from the on-line revival police (aka the “Bible Diests” to use a Jack Deere term). First, I’ll let you read about Emma from Bentley himself. Then I repost my reflections on this which I wrote in the comment section of one of the earlier posts mentioned above.

EMMA, ANGEL OF THE PROPHETIC by Todd Bentley (entire article here)

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 Khulman 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. “God, what is happening?” I asked. The Lord answered: “She is releasing the gold, which is both the revelation and the financial breakthrough that I am bringing into this church. I want you to prophecy that Emma showed up in this service-the same angel that appeared in Kansas city-as a sign that I am endorsing and releasing a prophetic spirit in the church.” See, when angels come, they always come for a reason; we need to actually ask God what the purpose is. 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! Even though the entire community consisted of only three thousand people, weeks after I left the church the pastor testified that the church offerings had either doubled or tripled…

I believe Emma released a financial and prophetic anointing in that place. That was the first angel that I have ever seen in the form of a woman. Some angels I’ve seen seemed like they were neither male nor female. However, Emma appeared as a woman who was like a Deborah, like a mother in Zion. When she came, she began to mentor, nurture and opened up a prophetic well. The people in the church began having trances and visions and the pastor began getting words of knowledge and moving in healing. That congregation also saw more financial breakthrough than they had ever seen before.

Regarding your question about Todd Bentley and the angel Emma… Certainly angels visit people and speak to them. They are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who inherit salvation.” They are angelos - messengers. In Acts 8:26 an angel shows up and speaks to Philip about which road to go down to meet up with the Etheopian Eunuch. And, absolutely, angels have names - Gabriel, Michael, etc. Demons are fallen angels and we have numerous named fallen angels in Scripture - Legion, Abaddon, Lucifer, Prince of the Power of Persia, Mammon, Beelzbub, etc. Those in our deliverance ministry will tell you demonic spirits have identities that are often related to their assignments - spirit of perversion, spirit of division, spirit of infirmity or fear. Angels are no different, some minister before the throne of God, others in the dark corners of the earth. Some bring supply, some war on our behalf. They have assignments and identities. The seminaries I went to didn’t teach angelogy or demonology - they are good evangelical schools but they have no theology of the supernatural. I had to learn this stuff right from the Bible.

Angelic activity is increasing in the earth as is demonic activity and both will continue to increase until we reach the great conflict of the ages. I praise God for angelic activity, visitations and have several stories of personal interaction with angels myself and many, many more visitations and sightings at our church.

That an angel named Emma or “Winds of Change” visited these revival leaders is nothing to fret about at all. Even the fact that Satan comes as an “angel of light” says volumes about how active angels are in the world and the Body of Christ today. Satan is just trying to blend in with what God is doing and pull a few people off course.

God send more angels! Each weekend at Church at the Gate I ask for God to send angels to minister and bring the atmosphere of heaven in our worship services. Spiritually sensitive people frequently, almost weekly, comment to me they see angels in worship at our church or around the premises or in prayer meetings. Why are we surprised and skeptical? The Bible says they are ministering spirits send to serve us?

I’ll share one personal story. My wife and I were in Idaho praying with a another couple. The man said, “Pastor Steve do you know that you have angels around you right now?” I said, “I guess, aren’t they all around?” I meant like in a generic way, aren’t angels out and about anyways? He said, “open your eyes.” I did and I looked and saw two huge angels, one on my right and one on my left.

My wife didn’t see them. But I did and so did he. A week later I was back home and was heading to the church at 6 AM on a Sunday morning. I was tired, not ready to preach, discouraged, beat up, etc. As I drove to church I prayed that God would help me and that he’d send those two angels to me again, the one on the right and the one on the left and that they would pouring refreshment and strength over my life.

In our second worship service that day I was praying and notably in full strength again. At the conclusion of the service, a college girl in our church, now married, named Marissa, came up to me with a note written on the blank half of her Sunday bulletin. I have the note under the clear plastic mat on the top of my desk. The note basically says, “Pastor Steve, while you were praying in the service today I peeked and saw two massive angels standing over you pouring bowls of refreshment on you, one was on your right and one was on your left. I thought you’d want to know.”

Marissa will tell you today that she had no idea I’d seen those angels the week before or asked God to send them to me again that day. Today I welcome angelic activity, visitations and sightings do nothing except fire up my faith that God is at work in our midst! Imagine though that I were to “go public” (as Bentley has) with the fact that two “angels of refreshment” visited me twice. I suppose the unloving and anonymous heresy hunters would have my hide too. I’m thrilled to hear angels are visiting Todd Bentley. I hope angels visit you too.

Be careful of listening to the scoffers online whose “doctrine” is based on their experience in things supernatural - or in this case their lack of experience. The Word of God says God uses angels to minister to us and even speak to us.

UPDATED: A big thanks to LadyofFe for sharing this verse in the comments section. The verse speaks of two female angels “Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork….” Zechariah 5:9 This is an interesting and important reference as some in the seat of scoffers are making the absurb claim that angels can only appear as men.

Unbelieving Believers?

by Daryl Wood

Moses walked in the glory of God.  People look at him and think, WOW! What a man of God!  He must have really been something.  Wasn't he special?  Yes, he was special to God.  But God is no respecter of persons.  Just as Moses walked in the glory of the Lord, so can we!  If we want to walk in this glory we have to be willing to pay the price.  The trouble today is that those who are willing to pay the price to walk and talk with God are few and far in between.  That's why we don't see the power, the miracles, the supernatural we all crave.

Moses lived in the presence of God.  Moses was a man of power, because he walked in the Spirit.  If we're not flowing in the Spirit of God, we won't last.  If we're not walking in the Spirit, we're walking in defeat.  We need to know how to flow with God's Spirit.  If we don't flow in the realm of the Spirit, we'll never enter into what God has for us.  When I use the word "Spirit," people usually think, WEIRD!  The Holy Spirit is not weird.  He does strange things in the Spirit realm at times, but that is because we don't understand it.  We must have an understanding of the moving and flow of the Holy Spirit in these last days.  If churches do not flow with the spirit in these last days they will crumble.  I'm not prophesying doom and gloom; it's just a fact written on the billboard of the Spirit.  Flesh, emotions, and the name-tag Christianity is on the way out because God's glory doesn't mix with that.  The flesh and the Spirit can't flow together.  Moses lived in fellowship with the Father; not off flesh, his emotions, or a name and popularity.  Names and natural ability won't cause God to budge for you.  God comes to people who want to be his friend.  Moses walked in the glory because he had a relationship with God that didn't compromise.  To live in the Spirit is not a formula.  It is a relationship.

Paying the Price  

Moses paid the price.  That's why he walked in the glory.  He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter (Hebrews 11:24).  He was brought up in the house of a ruler and had access to all the riches, honor, and ecstasy of the natural world.  He had it all.  He had it made.  But he refused it.  He wanted something better than all that.  If you want to walk in God's glory, you must refuse the world and turn to Him. "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever" (1 Johns 2:17 NIV)

As you climb higher in God, there is a letting go, a giving up of things.  You must be willing to do this if you want His glory upon you.  You can't live the resurrection life in the flesh.  Flesh always fights the Spirit and always will.  You have to put that to death, or you'll never go higher in God; you'll never walk in His glory.

God's Presence With Us

God's presence went with Moses wherever he went!  He walked in that glory, and he saw mighty miracles and deeds.  Today, we need the same thing that Moses had.  We need God's presence with us.  God's presence isn't with many people walking the earth today, sad to say.  Why?  People aren't willing to pay the price to walk in His glory.  Until you are willing to pay the price, God's presence won't be with you.  It's time His presence was manifested more in this earth.  He desires it to be.  He wants His glory to fill the earth.  For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the water cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).  When will the glory of God cover the earth?  When we begin to walk in His presence daily.  When His glory flows in and through us, then and only then will the knowledge of the glory of the Lord fill the earth.  God's already done His part.  Now it's up to you and me.  Will we do ours?  How seriously do we desire His glory in our lives?  The choice is ours to make.

 Roberts Liardon