Todd Bentley: Adultery, Revival, Divorce, Remarriage
(April 1, 2009)

 

 

            The Lakeland Revival led by Todd Bentley was scheduled to end August 23, 2008, but Bentley ended his appearances there much before that which no doubt had a lot to do with there being “trouble” in the marriage camp. On August 12, 2008, TheLedger.com website of Lakeland, Florida reported that Todd had filed for legal separation from his wife Shonnah, the mother of his three children.  The article, “Separation May End Bentley’s Lakeland Appearances” reported that the Bentleys, who are Canadian, had been in marriage counseling prior to the separation which is the first step in Canada’s divorce proceedings. Church, God hates divorce but the devil loves it. If that revival had genuinely been of the Lord who hates divorce, how would He have allowed that to happen in the middle of such a great work? How would the couple themselves have allowed it to happen in their lives without considering the consequences for disobedience to God and the destruction of their family?  How was it that the couple did not recognize that Satan was out to destroy their marriage as added shame while in the middle of the supposed outpouring?  Separation and divorce did not paint a pretty picture of the works of God and intentionally so because, God was never in the outpouring from the beginning.           
            Todd Bentley is full of lies just like his father, the devil.  When he first announced on his Fresh Fire Ministries website that he had filed for separation from his wife Shonnah, he assured the readers that it had nothing to do with an extra-marital affair.  A day or so later, the Fresh Fire Ministries Board of Directors came out with new information that revealed Todd was engaged in an unhealthy relationship “on an emotional level” with a lady on his staff, and he was asked to refrain from all public ministry until he completed counsel. Three days later, August 18, 2008, TheLedger.com reported that, that was not the first time Bentley had strayed from his wife according to Reverend Stephen Strader, pastor of Ignited Church where Bentley’s Lakeland revival began. “Three years ago, he did the exact same thing.  He grew out of his relationship to his wife and transferred his affection to another” (McMullen, Cary. The Leger. “Evangelist Had ‘Unhealthy Relationship.’” Aug 18, 2008. Aug 19, 2008 http://www.theledger.com/article/20080818/NEWS/808180374&title=Evangelist_Had__Unhealthy_Relationship_).  How does anyone grow out of their relationship with their wife if he or she is Holy Ghost baptized and so anointed and supposedly “called” of God to do a great work? There is positively no way on earth that a person can be Holy Ghost baptized let alone have a genuine call of God on their life and contemplate committing adultery much less divorce their mate.  It is just not spiritually possible unless the ruling spirit is of darkness.  It just doesn’t happen if the work and the worker are genuinely of God.   

            In November 2008, Todd Bentley had not returned to his evangelizing ministry because he was supposedly still in the process of restoration after his two extramarital affairs and alcohol that brought down both his Fresh Fire Ministries and his marriage.  A committee of three, Rick Joyner of Morningside Ministries, Jack Deere of Wellspring Church, and Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, assigned themselves to oversight responsibilities in bringing about Todd’s restoration.  From the looks of the self-assigned ministers of restoration, Joyner and company were trying to roll back some of the shame heaped upon them when they first rushed off to Florida to commission Bentley into ministry just a few weeks before all hell broke loose in Bentley’s life.  What they didn’t seem to understand was that sweet words of council would not be enough to help Todd Bentley because he has entirely too many demons running and ruining his life.  What Todd needed then and still needs is an old-fashioned Pentecostal deliverance from a lot of sin in his life going back to when he supposedly first got saved.  No hardcore deliverance in Todd’s life means that there will be no change in his life. 

            At the time, Todd Bentley seemingly did not really want change in his life if it meant giving up his mistress, Jessa Hasbrook, and going back to his ailing wife and three children. The Fresh Fire Ministries Board of Directors confirmed that “Having spoken with Todd in recent days, he is resolute in his intentions to divorce Shonnah, and in his mind, the restoration he is seeking is one which would not include reconciliation with his wife” (From The Board of Directors. Fresh Fire Ministries. Nov 28, 2008. Dec 02, 2008. http://www.freshfire.ca/printpage_content.php?id=1067). Todd wasn’t looking for restoration because that meant him having Shonnah as his wife. When the Board posted the update on Todd, he had not entered counseling with the self-appointed committee of three and they expressed that:   
 

Todd has yet to enter into a clear system of accountability with the leaders he identified that would be involved in such a process. Todd has visited Rick Joyner in Fort Mills, South Carolina, and indicated early on in September that he would be moving there soon to become a part of the community there and to receive counseling from Rick Joyner, Jack Deere, Bill Johnson and others that Rick might feel to bring alongside. Todd is in regular contact with Rick Joyner and has agreed together with Rick that he will move to Fort Mills during the first few months of 2009 (Ibid.).      

 

Todd didn’t want change because his demons wouldn’t let go of him and neither did he want to let go of his mistress at the time.  The Board also verified that to their “… knowledge, Todd’s relationship with the female staff-member, who was a former intern and also, at his initiative, a live-in nanny in his house for over a year, is still ongoing” (Ibid.). What a devilish man-whore! Had his mistress living in his house with his wife and children! A “real” servant of God with the Holy Ghost dwelling in him and God’s anointing upon him could never do such a thing.

            Todd Bentley, the so-called great anointed as a special one chosen by God, divorced his wife (Shonnah) and three children and almost immediately married his young adulterous partner Jessa Hasbrook.  Brothers and Sisters, that all happened in the span of months. If the Lord, as Bentley said, instructed him to marry Shonnah, did that same “lord” instruct him to dump her?  Further, if the Lord told him to marry Shonnah in the first place, there was no way on earth that the Lord would not see them through to the end as husband and wife.  Which lord told Bentley to marry Shonnah, Lord Darkness?  Yes, it must have been a voice from the dark side giving him counsel and understandably so when you look back into Todd Bentley’s history. Church, if Todd Bentley had had such a powerful Holy Ghost anointing upon him, he would not have had a troubled marriage as he claimed in justifying his divorce from Shonnah. Look at the man’s history for answers to why he has done the things he has done.

           

Acceptance Of Excuses Pushed On The Church

            March 9, 2009, Morning Star Ministries’ head, Rick Joyner, wrote in his Special Bulletin #17, “Todd Bentley Begins Restoration Process”, what led one to believe that both Todd and his new wife, Jessa, were not the cause of Todd’s failed marriage to Shonnah.  Todd and Jessa must have thought that they would be accepted in the Church if their adulterous relationship was not seen as the cause of the break up of Todd’s family, so naturally the two of them would say that they were not the cause. However, Todd did say on Rick Joyner’s March 11 video, “The Restoration Begins,” that his divorce was not justified, but it was “two people who failed.” Two people who failed? The response to that is, so-called Christians fail (1) when they genuinely don’t have the Holy Ghost to guide and prod them; and (2) when they see the enemy sowing discord in their relationship, they fail to pray together rebuking the enemy until he gives them peace.  Todd also somewhat blamed his failed marriage on his turbulent childhood which is so inexcusable considering that being Born Again means old things pass away.  However, in his case, the old things obviously didn’t pass away because his history is left intact. 

            Rick’s March 13 video, “Rick Answers Frequently Asked Questions – pt. 1” further excused Todd’s behavior when he said Todd didn’t think he could stay sexually pure if he didn’t get married. Couldn’t stay sexually pure! Okay, when was he ever pure? When he was two years old? Church, Todd Bentley’s ministry cannot be of God because his flesh is totally out of control and serves as evidence he has no Holy Ghost and no anointing. Since salvation, numerous fresh tattoos up one side of his body and down the other serves as a sign of how his flesh has gone haywire – absolutely running and ruining Todd’s life.  So, Todd being unable to stay sexually pure is believable because by looking at him you can see that he reeks of unclean spirits. Yet, Rick Joyner pushes Todd Bentley’s acceptance on the church and unhesitatingly calling all “self-righteous” who are not willing to go with the program. 

The March 11 video also accused half of the church of being in the same sin as Todd Bentley. Rick Joyner said “Maybe more than half of the church has been through something similar to what you’ve [Todd] been through”as he spoke with Todd on the set. Then in his March 13 video he somewhat lowered the statistics by saying “fifty percent of people sitting in our churches are divorced.” His statistics changed. By telling the Church that over half the church is in the same adulterous position as Todd, is saying that Todd’s sin is prevalent in the church and that half of all Church people are guilty of the exact same sin. That false notion is a means of further pushing the church to accept Todd and Jessa’s sin of adultery. Granted, there is plenty of divorce in mainline denominations, Baptist, Catholics, and others, but amongst Born Again, Spirit-filled Christians such as Pentecostals and Charismatics, they are least likely to divorce and remarry. (Adulterers amongst Pentecostals and Charismatics such as Paula White, Juanita Bynum, John Hagee, Sandi Patty, Amy Grant, Arthur Blessitt, Richard Roberts, Clarence McClendon, Jim Bakker, Robert Tilton, W.V. Grant, Larry Lea, Eddie Long, and others, do not serve as the green light from Heaven for the Church to commit adultery because God winks his eye at such sin. It’s still adultery as long as they are in a relationship with their new mates, regardless of years, and it is still sin.)

 

Take A Look At Todd Bentley’s History - His Enabler

            Of all the false outpourings in the late twentieth century and into the twenty-first century, the most egregious of them all was Todd Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries’ Lakeland Revival in 2008. In that outpouring there were so-called healings of all sorts, and supposedly a number of people, twenty-five, were raised from the dead according to Todd, but of course none were proven true.  The services were broadcast throughout the world by God TV of England and was streamed live over the Internet as well.  People were going to Florida from all over the world for the supposed outpouring of Holy Ghost fire to take back to their home churches.  Was it real?  No.  It had Satan’s powerful fingerprints all over it.

            Church, you must first understand that Satan and his demons have great power and they can exercise their power over people, animals, nature, and over other demons depending on where the demons are on the chain of command.  Demons are all very calculating and deceitful which enables them to come off as “angels of light” with false miracles, signs, and wonders, as well as false goodwill.  But, when all is said and done about how powerful Satan and his demons are, (1) they only have power over people whose hearts are not sold out to God; and (2) they have limited power over God’s people when God permits such for the building of faith and character in His people.       

Todd Bentley operated as a kingpin in the satanic game of Christianity’s demise.  How Todd got the role of kingpin began before his supposed salvation. Mr. Bentley was a rebellious teen and a heavy drug user who overdosed on drugs three times.  Coupled with that, he was also a listener of satanic music. Through both the drugs and the music, demons got power over Todd and they made their entrance into his life to destroy him and through him destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. Demons were given power over Todd, by Todd, and operated through him because he gave them legal ground when he gave in to the drugs and satanic music. Demons don’t just enter into a person’s life at will, but a door is opened through sin and they enter in precisely as they did in Todd’s life of drugs and satanic music. 

            Mr. Bentley claimed to have been converted to Christianity at the age of 17 and supposedly was immediately delivered from his vices – drugs and satanic music. A Charisma magazine article said that after Bentley’s conversion someone gave him a copy of “Good Morning Holy Spirit” by Benny Hinn to which Bentley said

I didn’t know anything about Benny….I said I wanted to know the Holy Spirit just like what Benny talked about in his book. I said if Benny spent eight hours, I was going to spend 12. At first, it was an immature competition.  I didn’t know who Benny was. I just said I want this kind of anointing.  I said, ‘Come, Holy Spirit’….And the Holy Spirit fell on me….There’d be hours of trembling, hours of weeping. There was an electrical presence in my room (Wood, Gail. “God Can Use Nobodies.” Charisma. Sept. 2002. 75). 

 

Poor Todd Bentley!  His mistake was reading Benny Hinn’s book that encourages readers to believe that the Holy Spirit should “…be worshipped…..You should shower Him [Holy Spirit] with your devotion and your love” (Hinn, Benny. Good Morning, Holy Spirit. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 1990. 89-90).  The larger error though was in Bentley not wanting to know Jesus first, but wanting the Holy Spirit just like Benny Hinn, and then calling on the Holy Spirit to fall on him. That was an easy request to be filled by demons being that he was still demon-riddened though he thought he was delivered. Todd Bentley got what he asked for when he opened up his heart to religious demons by seeking out and praying to the Holy Spirit for hours and hours which brought him to experience trembling and weeping in an electrically-charged room as he so put it.  Church, know that by   
 

Waiting for the Spirit to come, in hours of prayer, brings those who ‘wait’ into passivity, which at last reaches a point of ‘séance’ conditions, and frequently brings an influx of lying spirits in manifestations” (Mrs. Penn-Lewis, Jessie, and Evan Roberts. War On The Saints. London: Marshall Brothers. 1912. 301-302).           

 

Todd Bentley has lying spirits running his life being that he was ripe for the picking because of demon infestation from his drugs and satanic music-days that never left at the time of his so-called conversion. Yes, those desires to do drugs and listen to satanic music ceased at the time of his so-called conversion, but that was only because the “strongman” or chief demon in his life ordered the demons of drugs and satanic music to cease operation thus bringing Todd to believe that it had to have been the work of God in his deliverance.  After that, Todd invited in religious demons who would do more harm in destroying Christianity through him, than any drug-taking demon could. Clever, clever demons! If Todd did not receive deliverance from the prayers of a real Holy Ghost-filled Christian, and it’s clear that he did not, hundreds of demons remained nestled in his being in addition to added new religious demons that were summoned as he waited for the Spirit of God to come into his life. Tricky, tricky, tricky demons!  

            As if Benny Hinn’s book had not done enough damage in the early days of Todd Bentley’s believed salvation, he was discipled in the prophetic by Catholic Charismatics. In the first couple months of Todd’s salvation, he said his “hottest” (most anointed) meeting was in a charismatic Catholic Church group where he would attend mass every Monday night.  He also got involved with a Catholic home group meeting from that same church. (Killertrumpet. YouTube. “Is Todd Bentley Devil Possessed.” Added May 25, 2008. Retrieved Aug 18, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtSK9TyduR4&feature=related.) Mind you now, Todd supposedly was already Born-again, supposedly Holy Ghost baptized, and speaking in tongues so how could he or anyone else who is truly a new creature in Christ get a spiritual awakening out of anything Catholic if they had genuinely been Born Again and Holy Ghost baptized? 

In the Catholic home group was a so-called prophet called Frenchie, whom Todd hung out with for about two to three months. According to Todd, Frenchie could look at people and see their sicknesses; see their demons, and it was this Frenchie who taught Todd and spiritually covered him. In one of the meetings Todd said he heard the audible voice of God telling him to go up to Frenchie and tell him that he had a demon.  As Todd was telling Frenchie that he had a demon the words came out in a voice that was not his and that he neither had control over. Todd said it was then that he realized he really did have a demon. (How about demons!) He was thrown to the floor writhing like a snake. He smashed a coffee table; grabbed people and threw them against a bookcase; and spoke in a different voice as he cursed the very people he loved.  Frenchie jumped on him and began performing deliverance. A demon casting out demons! It also took about eight additional people to hold Todd down while twenty-five demons supposedly were cast out of him. Twenty-five demons may have been cast out of Todd but rest assured, they were minor critters in Satan’s scheme of things and more impactful demons moved in for the big assignment of working through Todd to defeat the Church of Jesus Christ. Those twenty-five demons that Todd supposedly was delivered of was not the end of Todd having a demon-riddened life.  Yes, because of the demonic chain of command, some demons may ve been forced to leave but far more important ones came in to accomplish a mighty evil work of deception in the Church of Jesus Christ through Todd Bentley.

 

Demons At Work In Todd Bentley

            His Appearance: A true Christians would easily recognize that holiness was missing from Todd Bentley’s life. Bentley not only had tattoos up and down his arms and on his fingers which boar gozillion rings, but he had tattoos all around his neck. The arms were so marked up with tattoos that they could easily have passed for the sleeves of a green jungle-print shirt. The man’s legs were tattooed as well because ABC television show “Nightline” aired on July 9, 2008 a news clip of Bentley displaying a tattooed leg to the television crew (Kofman, Jeffrey, Karson Yiu, and Nicholas Brennan. “Thousands Flock to Revival in Search of Miracles.”Jul 9, 2008).  He had body piercings here, there, and everywhere, and looking at a photo of Bentley in a September 2000 Charisma magazine, he visibly did not have all of those tattoos and piercings on his body even though he told the Charlotte Observer newspaper that “Most of his tattoos are from his pre-Christian days….‘I love art and, to me, my skin is the canvas….I’m not taking my skin to heaven’” (Chandler, Charles. “Tattooed Preacher Says God Heals Through Him.” Charlotte Observer on the Web. 19 Jun 2008. 26 Jun 2008. www.charlotte.com/local/v-print/stroy/676527.html).

Okay Mr. “My skin is the canvas” and “I’m not taking my skin to heaven”! That not only sounded immature, but was insane coming from someone who supposedly had the anointing of God upon him. At the phenomenal rate of spiritual decay in his life, if his skin could go to Heaven, he might not be taking it there anyway. Todd Bentley is a liar.  He lied about those tattoos on his body that display his sin as he goes about his business even through God said the body should not be marked (Leviticus 19:28). That’s rebellion right there. He evidently believes there is no harm in him being tattooed because he likes art, but the harm is in his blatant disobedience to what God has commanded.  God is adamant about His people not printing or marking themselves up because it was a pagan practice expressing grief over the dead.  God has not changed and neither has His distaste for such practice, regardless of how many crosses or angels are tattooed on the body.  It is offensive to the Lord! How on earth can a so-called man of God unashamedly disobey God’s Word?  Demonic control of his life is how he does it, and does it so easily.

His Acts: In the revival services, after about an hour and a half or two of worship with a live rock-styled band playing the same handful of songs over and over again, the people would go under a spell so much so that some of them swayed, jumped, clapped, waved arms, danced, bounced up and down like they were on pogo sticks, as some even ran around in circles.  The people were mesmerized and that is not the way God’s Spirit moves upon His people – demonic spirits, yes. Once Todd was on the platform he would pace back and forth chanting or rather begging, “Come Holy Ghost”! “Fire, set us on fire”! “Let the fire fall!”  Again, he was asking for trouble by calling on the Holy Ghost.

Evil spirits’ counterfeit of the Presence of God is felt upon the body, and by the physical senses, in conscious ‘fire,’ ‘thrills,’ etc. The counterfeit of the ‘Presence’ in the atmosphere is felt by the senses of the body, as ‘breath,’ ‘wind,’ etc., etc. The mind is passive or inactive. The person affected by this counterfeit ‘presence’ will perform actions he would not do in broad daylight, with all his faculties in clear operation (Penn-Lewis, Mrs. and Evan Roberts. War On The Saints. London: Marshall Brothers. 1912. 300).  

 

Dear Church, first of all, ask God and not the Holy Spirit for the anointing; and second, God does not have to be begged by anyone for the fire of His Holy Spirit to move in a church service or revival.  If the hearts of the people are right, God will move.  If Todd Bentley’s Lakeland Healing Revival had genuinely been a mighty move of God, why did the leaders and the people constantly shout “God! we want more; give us more.” Or, “Holy Ghost! Set us on fire; let the fire fall”?  Church, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was not present in Bentley’s Lakeland Healing Revival!  Demons were running that show. The fire that was upon the Lakeland Healing Revival was unholy fire, for “‘Fire’ caused by evil spirits is generally a glow in the body, which the believer thinks is a manifestation of ‘God’  in ‘possession’ of the body, but afterwards results in darkness, dullness and weakness with no reasonable cause; or else it continues deceiving the believer into counterfeit experiences” (Mrs. Penn-Lewis, Jesse, Evan Roberts. War On The Saints. London: Marshall Brothers. 1912, p 303).

In watching Todd Bentley’s emotional manifestations in action during ministry, one could clearly see he was under the power of deceiving religious demons who manifested through the uncontrollable shaking of his head, body jerks, trembling, and the heresy he shared about Jesus wanting the people to now praise angels. While on the platform before the revival crowd, Todd could be seen swiftly bobbing his head as he said he wanted to drink of the glory. His upper torso would swiftly bend back and forth; he would do rapid deep-knee bends and with each squat say the word “ah.” That he called a drunken glory.  He even had a very disturbing laugh that seemingly came from his gut as he would bend over in uncontrollable laughter. He would sometimes fall to his knees in laughter with the bobbing up-and-down and rapid shaking of his head from left-to-right, all working in harmony. This is not evidence of someone manifesting the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would never manifest in such a manner because He influences the spirit of a person, not a person’s body. That kind of action does not typify the serene quality of the Father and the Son who make their abode in the Believer as the Holy Spirit.  Without doubt, an unholy spirit was and no doubt still is operating in Todd Bentley’s life.      

Once when Todd was on the platform he strutted back and forth with his head shaking at lightening speed from right to left as he said, “We want more fire, fire, fire! Let the angels come and release that fire! Come Holy Spirit, stir us up tonight!” Church, if Todd’s Lakeland Healing Revival had really been a move of God, the pleas for the anointing of the Spirit of God to fall would not have been necessary.  In the July 18, 2008 Internet live streamed service, Todd shouted out “Fire, fire, fire, fire! Burn baby, burn!” as in Disco Inferno from the 1977 Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.  What was he thinking? He wasn’t thinking; it was his demons doing the thinking and speaking through him.  How on earth does anyone tie “Burn baby, burn” in with a mighty move of God’s Holy Spirit anointing?  (Once in praying deliverance over a young man and reminding a demon that God’s Holy Ghost fire goes ahead of Him and burns up His enemies as Psalm 97:3 reads, the demon quickly retorted, “Burn baby, burn.”  Very devilish!)  Why would a so-called man of God who supposedly was caught up in the spirit at the time, shout out “Burn baby, burn”?  That was not God operating in Todd Bentley; those were religious demons.

            In Todd’s explanation for the demonic display of the so-called Holy Spirit, he laid the charge to God having a sense of humor. God does indeed have a sense of humor but He is too holy to come off like some character in the 1966 Batman television show that used comic-style captions such as Bam!  In the July 19, 2008 Internet live streamed service, a lady told Todd that she had been healed of a heart problem and two bad discs in her back and Todd excitedly blurted out, “Boom ba ba bam bam bam bam.” That was not God.  Also during a July 2008 baptismal ceremony, he baptized people “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and ‘Bam’!  He as well baptized some using the phrase “sheeka boom ba” (“Lakeland Baptism Extravaganza.”   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnXMMp-0yG0&feature=related).  Church, God is not a stand-up comic and only Satan would disrespect God in such manner as demonstrated through Todd Bentley.

            Charles Chandler asked Bentley about the use of his trademark word ‘bam’ and his answer was:   
 

I believe God can have fun. I don't want to spiritualize it to much. When I feel the power of God, I say `Bam!' Could I move in the power of God without saying ‘Bam!'? Absolutely….I think it's a mannerism I picked up in the spirit. It could be part of my personality or part of the breaker anointing (“Q&A With Preacher Todd Bentley.” The Charlotte Observer on the Web. 18 June 2008. 26 June 2008 http://www.charlotte.com/345/story/676593.html).       

 

If the dear man could move in the power of God without saying “bam”, then who was really in control – the Spirit of God or Todd Bentley?  Does God really move in Todd?  For a fact, Todd was not feeling the power of God that made him say “bam” and as for “bam” being a mannerism he picked up in the spirit, well, uh, yeah, picked up in the spirit or from Chef Emerald Lagasse’s television cooking show?  Most impious!  He picked up bam in the spirit alright enough – right from one of his demons speaking through his vocal chords. Demons clearly run Todd Bentley’s life. Even if such antics are a part of Todd Bentley’s personality, it seems that when it comes to God he would leave them outside the church service as one would leave out profanity. On the contrary, he can’t because his ways are demonic and He has no respect for God. What demon does?

 

Todd Bentley And The Supernatural

            The most dangerously deceptive approach of Satan and his demons is in the area of miracles, signs, and wonders, and God’s people are always looking for a mighty move of God in that arena.  Demons are very good at the supernatural because they possess supernatural power and the Church witnesses this power in the supernatural activities mostly among Charismatic Christians.   
 

He [Satan] does perform miracles, including bodily healing.  He can operate through any present-day healing movement.  His miracles add credence to his false teaching, which in turn gains followers (Strauss, Lehman. Demons Yes – But Thank God For Good Angels. Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers. 1976. 54).

 

Amen to that even though Todd believes Christians are not big on the prophetic, supernatural, and angels. He believes they need an awakening.   Like William Branham’s angel told him to get the people to believe him about angels, Bentley’s god has said the same. When Bentley asked God why he could not just move in healing and not talk about the “other stuff,” God supposedly told him that he has got to get the people to believe in angels. Todd said he asked the Lord, “isn’t it about getting the people to believe in Jesus” (DawnTransformed. YouTube. “Todd-Bentley Says We Must Believe In ‘THE’ Angel.” May 25, 2008. Aug 11, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKA_X1zxOQc&feature=related)?  Supposedly, God’s answer to that was that the people already believe in Jesus but they don’t believe in the supernatural. My word! So not God.

            Todd doesn’t seem to know that church-people have no problem at all believing in angels and the supernatural. God’s people know that angels are His messengers to men and are fellow servants of theirs (Revelation 19:10), and they also know that they are not to worship angels and nor can they summon up God’s holy angels; only God can do that.  The church knows that outside of God, worship ends with Jesus Christ because no angel is called the Son of God, or was crucified, nor sits at God’s right hand preparing to rule and reign during the Millennium as is Jesus Christ.  “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 34:14) means Christians worshipping no one else and certainly not worshipping angels.  What else could Bentley’s angel friends or his god have in mind except to get the people of God to commit idolatry by looking to those so-called wonderful angels who would show up with the false miracles, signs, and wonders in his meetings. 

            Todd spoke of when he was invited to a conference on the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of healing ministries and how an old man formerly of John G. Lake’s ministry in Portland, Oregon, came to him saying that he brought the angel with him, meaning the angel assigned to Spokane and Portland in the days of Lake’s ministry. (Nahoruk. YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSlt0_8HwMk. “Todd Bentley’s Encounter With Angels.” Added July, 22, 2007.  June 26, 2008). The old man told Todd that the Lord told him to go to that conference because Todd was being assigned an angel who, incidentally, was already standing in the back of the tent.  Sure enough, when Todd looked in the back of the tent the angel was standing there.  Todd has acknowledged that an angel stands on his left side, but did not always see him even though the people would see him. 

            Another of Todd Bentley’s angelic visitations involved an angel by the name of Emma.  That name for an angel should have been a signal to Christians that something wasn’t right with Todd Bentley. God is so perfect in the way He does things that he would never ever first of all show angels to his people in the masculine and then change to the feminine.  God changes not.  Michael, Gabriel, and now Miss Emma? An angel, in angelic form with the name of Emma is not a messenger from God, but a messenger from Satan. Biblically, God’s angels never appeared in the feminine gender.

            Bentley’s angel Emma was also helpful in the birthing forth of the defunct 1980s Kansas City prophetic movement. Some of the false prophets of that movement were Paul Cain, Bob Jones, John Paul Jackson, Mike Bickle, and Bill Hamon. It was Bob Jones though who first met Todd in a restaurant in Grants Pass, Oregon. After learning of Todd’s interest in going to the Third Heaven, Bob Jones took Todd’s hand so that they could, right then and there, uninvited and unannounced, pop up in the Third Heaven – the supposed immediate abode of God.  Mind you now, this took place in a restaurant while sitting at a table with about 20 or 30 other people. Just like that, they could enter into Heaven by faith and supposedly did. Todd felt his body going up and he smelled vanilla and all the other so-called fragrances of the anointing. (Plumblineapologetics. YouTube. “Todd and Bob’s Bogus Journey.” July 12, 2008. Aug 13, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2cewSXvoFM.) What demonic hogwash! Absolutely no human being can just go into God’s presence when they so please – not even Moses was able to do that, let alone apostates such as Bob Jones and Todd Bentley.

Church, the Old Testament nor Jesus Christ says anything about the Third Heaven; that comes from Apostle Paul and the Pseudapigrapha writings of the Intertestamental period when God was not speaking to the Jews because there were no prophets of God during that time of grave sin in Israel.  The Jews, however, just kept on writing as though God was still with them.  False writings equal demonic writings, and that is what the Pseudepigrapha writings are.  Remember, Third Heaven is only spoken of in II Corinthians 12 where Paul was “…caught up to the third heaven…he was caught up into paradise,” and Paul, without a doubt, studied the ancient Jewish  teachings (Pseudepigrapha – 2 Enoch)  that were produced during that 400-year period when God wasn’t speaking to Israel. Second Enoch equates Third Heaven with Paradise just as Paul does. Other than Paul, both Old and New Testaments only speak of “Heaven” and “Heaven of Heavens.” How is it that Bob Jones has so much power that he can go in and out of Heaven – his believed Third Heaven, whenever he so pleases? Demonic! Remember, Satan and his demons have supernatural power. This is the same so-called prophet Bob Jones who, back in 1991 at the age of 63 was removed from his ministry after admitting to sexual misconduct involving two females.  This is the same so-called Prophet Bob Jones who was under scrutiny for his prophecies and prophetic teachings back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, who took Todd Bentley into the immediate abode of God Almighty?  What a demonic joke.         

 

Bentley And The Old-Timers

            Bentley, on no few occasions, spoke glowingly of the Charismatic healing ministries of the old days such as the Voice of Healing that began in 1948 and later became known as “Christ For The Nations” in 1967.  He spoke of:  (1) William Branham who died at the age of 56 from injuries sustained in a head-on automobile collision six days earlier; (2) Kathryn Kuhlman, who died of a heart problem at the age of 69; (3) John G. Lake, who died of a stroke at the age of 65; and (4) Jack Coe who died of polio at the age of 38. Each of those healing ministers never reached the 70 years allotted for life by God, and were even hospitalized for a period of time.  Healing ministers?  In the fall of 2006, Todd Bentley himself was in the hospital and under the doctor’s care for a heart problem.  The man who helped him get to the Third Heaven, so-called great prophet Bob Jones, is under doctors’ care for kidney problems – dialysis and the whole nine yards.  Where is the healing in the healing ministries?  Why hasn’t Todd laid hands on Bob Jones for healing?  How about hands on himself for healing?  Something is terribly wrong with Charismatic healing ministries and their so-called prophets.

            Todd gave accolades to William Branham which should have raised brows and sent people running out the door. William Branham began his ministry before the likes of Oral Roberts and others sprung up after him that caused his ministry to decrease. Branham believed that God was going to give him a “third pull” so that the imitators (other healing ministries) could not copy. Imitators? Weren’t they all supposedly in service to the same God Branham was serving? But yet, the others were called imitators.  Church, does that not remind you of what went on in Pharaoh’s court with Moses and Pharaoh’s magicians – the holy against the unholy?  Please think on this: all of those healing ministers supposedly were men of God, but why the competition? That is so not the way God operates. Leo Mercier of Branham’s camp revealed that “God had told him [Branham] that he would receive a new ministry and that ‘no one could impersonate this last ministry that will be given to him’” (Harrell, David E., Jr. All Things Are Possible. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 1975. 41). That you might call “Godly competition” but there is no such. A new ministry that no one could impersonate! That was not God! None of those charismatic healing ministries were of God then; just like they are not of God now, including Benny Hinn and Todd Bentley. Yet, Todd Bentley honored the old timers and that serves as a warning sign flashing all over Todd Bentley. What will it take to sober up professing Christians?     

 

It Was A Freak Show

            Todd Bentley had not a clue as to what his so-called ministry was all about.  He could not see that he was a pawn of the devil.  The angelic visitations, the female angel, the visitations from Jesus and Apostle Paul, the trip to the Third Heaven, the so-called miracles, signs, and wonders, and people supposedly raised from the dead was very real to Todd, but none of it was from the God of Israel.  The supernatural in Todd Bentley’s life came from Satan and his demons.  When Todd learned that a great majority of Christians had a problem with the supernatural that went on in the Lakeland Healing Revival, he could not understand why.  He asked:

Since when did the devil come to heal the sick, raise the dead [never proven], open deaf ears and eyes, lead people to salvation in Jesus, or preach that the Kingdom of God is at hand? Just when did the devil change his plan? Jesus promised life and life more abundantly, and that’s the fruit that we’re seeing in Lakeland (Bentley, Todd. “Lifting Jesus High! Fresh Fire Ministries. June 8, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008. www.freshfire.ca/printpage_content.php?id=1059).

Poor Todd Bentley had no inkling that the devil was nobody’s fool. No, the devil’s plan changed not, and also the evil knows just how to mix a lot of righteous stuff with even a smidgen of error (a drop of leaven in the whole religious batch.)  Dear Church, that is precisely how people such as Todd Bentley and his following got tricked, in fact, the whole Charismatic movement. Todd has absolutely no idea how very powerful demons are and how much authority they have. Todd has absolutely no idea how knowledgeable demons are of the Bible and their capableness of mixing lies into it. What is more sad is that Todd doesn’t know that the power of God in the True Believer is far greater than the devil’s and no Christian has to cow-tow to any demon, great or small, and accept his lies. 

            As for Todd’s vision of Jesus, his response to the naysayers was “It's not that far out there when you consider that the apostle Peter beheld Jesus, Moses, and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration and was actually commissioned while in a visionary trance, to preach to the Gentiles (see Matt. 17:9, Acts 10:19)” (Bentley, Todd. “Lifting Jesus High”! Fresh Fire Ministries. June 8, 2008. Retrieved July 5, 2008. www.freshfire.ca/printpage_content.php?id=1059).  First of all, in no way was either one of those verses of Scripture commissioning Apostle Peter to preach to the Gentiles.  Second, the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-13) was all about Jesus, the Son of God and not about the commissioning of Peter while he was in a trance. It was to let Jesus’ apostles see His glory while confirming who He was – Messiah.  Jesus’ transfiguration was Him actually being seen in His glory, and appearing before Him was a figure of  what He preached in the Gospel: The Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah), when the bright cloud of God The Father came over them giving testimony that Jesus is His beloved Son and to believe His preaching because He was not sent to abolish the Law (Moses) and the words of the prophet (Elijah).  Try as Todd Bentley may, he can never equalize the holiness of the vision on the Mount of Transfiguration to the demonic visitations he supposedly had from Jesus and Apostle Paul. Todd’s visitations were a hundred percent demonic and tens of thousands of church-going people digested them all into their spirits.

            Church, when you receive Todd Bentley’s or any other preacher’s counterfeit move of God, you accept the works of evil spirits in their attempt to destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. Lakeland Healing Revival appeared as “light” while unmistakably was deception. That revival was nothing but a daring mockery of the works of the real God of Israel.  It was a freak show that only Satan and his horde could put on in such a convincing style. There was very little preaching on Jesus and neither did anyone, Bentley nor his associates, ask the Father for anything in Jesus’ name because they all were too busy asking the Holy Spirit to let His presence and fire fall in the meeting place. Bentley could not preach much on Jesus because he knew very little about the real Jesus since he was a gung ho Holy Spirit man from the beginning. Though it may have seemed that the Holy Spirit honored Bentley’s requests, for a fact, it was not the Holy Spirit, but a big fat religious demon approving his requests.  

 

Church Overlooked Misdeeds That Told It All

            There were two colossal misdeeds manifested during the so-called revival time in Lakeland. Those misdeeds should have been seen as signs from the Lord alerting the Church that He was not in the Lakeland Healing Revival.  If the people saw nothing else wrong with Bentley, those two misdeeds were clear indicators of Satan and his demons being behind the whole thing.

First Misdeed:   Bentley supposedly was already commissioned to do the work of the Lord but in a call to unity, got commissioned a second time by a group of false prophets. June 23, 2008, Todd Bentley was officially commissioned as an evangelist by having several pastors lay hands on him. False prophets Peter Wagner and Rick Joyner were present as a show of support for Bentley as well as to endorse his revival.  Peter Wagner of “International Coalition of Apostles” said

 

‘This commissioning represents a powerful spiritual transaction taking place in the invisible world. With this in mind, I take the apostolic authority that God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley, your power will increase, your authority will increase, your favor will increase, your influence will increase, your revelation will increase. I also decree that a new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry. A new life force will penetrate this move of God. Government will be established to set things in their proper order. God will pour out a higher level of discernment to distinguish truth from error. New relationships will surface to open the gates to the future’ (Ghiringhelli, Paul Steven. “Leaders Commission Todd Bentley at ‘Lakeland Outpouring.’” Charisma News. June 24, 2008. http://www.charismamag.com/cms/news/archives/0624082.php).

 

(A new relationship had already surfaced – Jessa.) Bentley himself had long ago said that a 14 foot tall angel came to him just seven days before he was commissioned into ministry back in 1998. If he was already commissioned into ministry, supposedly by God, why did Peter Wagner suggest the ceremony commissioning him so that he had more accountability or “apostolic alignment” as Wagner called it?  Plain and simple:    
 

The false prophets call for unity based not on Scriptural doctrine, but on their claims for authority….They are placing on a par with Scripture, the teaching authority of the priesthood.  This is an inheritance of the Roman Catholic Church’s doctrine of Magisterium (Dager, Albert James. Vengeance Is Ours. Redmond, WA: Sword Publishers. 1990. 150-51).       

 

Though several months later, Rick Joyner, in his Special Bulletin #17, revealed his fascination with Todd Bentley which explains the real reason he and Peter Wagner had to rush off to Lakeland and commission Bentley, making them his overseers.  He said, “I confess that with Todd, I am not just doing this [overseeing restoration] as a duty. From the time I first met him nearly ten years ago, I knew that he had an extraordinary purpose and a gift of faith for the miraculous that would be desperately needed in these times. I consider helping any of God’s children an honor, and helping Todd is a privilege….I will be doing something that means a great deal to our Father.”  Rick Joyner has some of the same charismatic demons in him as Todd so yes, he was drawn to Todd.  In him being drawn to help Todd restoratively, rest assured he is not doing anything meaningful for God, the kingdom, nor the church body, but as a self-appointed prophet, in claiming authority over Bentley whom he believes to really be a God-chosen vessel for these last days. Nothing could be further from the truth.  What deception! Joyner himself is in need of spiritual deliverance from the false Christianity he lays claim to.  Who sits on the throne of Heaven, God or Todd Bentley’s false prophet friends?

            Poor Todd Bentley! With the second commissioning, he had more demons added to the hundreds he already had nestled in him. All Bentley could say was:

 

I am no church historian, but I do not know of any other time in history, since the book of Acts, have so many different apostles and so many different prophets and movements and leaders [been represented]…. This is so much bigger than [anything else] ever before. The devil is shaking in his boots because the apostles are gathering and the prophets are gathering (Ghiringhelli, Paul Steven. “Leaders Commission Todd Bentley at ‘Lakeland Outpouring.’” Charisma News. June 24, 2008. http://www.charismamag.com/cms/news/archives/0624082.php).

 

Yeah, yeah, sure, the devil is shaking in his boots! If the devil was shaking in his boots, it sure wasn’t out of fear of any of those false Charismatic leaders. If anything, the devil was shaking in his boots because he feared Todd and his ministry would wise-up as to how fast and how bad he, the devil, had deceived them.  But, hey, the devil had nothing to worry about because Todd and his false prophet friends could not see the light anyway, and apparently neither could the Church.

            Second Misdeed:   To give credence to Todd’s claim that the Lakeland Healing Revival was from God, he and his ministry invited false prophet Paul Cain to appear on May 4, 2008.  Charisma Magazine on the web quoted the revival host, Pastor Stephen Strader of  Ignited Church saying,        

We simply invited Paul to be present for when we replayed his prophecy from 1999 (Ghiringhelli, Paul Steven. “Paul Cain ‘Totally Misunderstood’ At Revival.” Charisma Magazine on the web. 13 May 2008. 10 Aug 2008.   http://www.charismamag.com/cms/news/archives/051308.php). 

           
In the 1999 prophecy Cain spoke of a vision in which he saw great stadiums and auditoriums all over the country filled with people seeking God.  He saw people brought in on gurneys, cots, stretchers – crippled and in wheelchairs who were getting healed,and that the dead were being raised because he heard people saying that they had a resurrection of someone who had died that morning. The dead being raised! Cain supposedly saw it happening all over the world. He said the major news networks were reporting the mighty works because, as the networks said, they had no bad news to report.  Paul said the world was turning to God.  Church, if the world was turning to God, then surely this must have been after the millennial reign of Christ when both the Father and the Son dwell on earth.  What a pack of demonic lies! And to think, Todd Bentley and company believed that their Lakeland Healing Revival was the beginning of Paul Cain’s prophecy which was why Paul was invited to be present for when they played his prophecy.  Another cruel demonic joke!  

            Once Paul Cain was called out on the stadium platform he made an outrageous statement to the people, which was, “I’ve been a celibate all my life and I wanted to get married” (Elmoziffle.  You Tube. Jun 17, 2008. Jul 2008. www.youtube.com/watch?v=o25jTVb5Bj8). Uh, who asked!  That was a lie anyway, and besides, that had nothing to do with his 1999 prophecy. The so-called prophet lied before a stadium filled with people and before Todd Bentley who had invited him.  Granted, the 78 year old seemed a bit confused and looked as though he didn’t really know where he was.  He called to one of Todd’s interns, Chad (believed to be Chad Powers) and he said to the young man  “you have the easiest spirit to discern of anybody I’ve ever seen other than Todd Hunter [he meant Todd Bentley], yeah, ah, what’s the other one – Rolls Royce.”  Rolls Royce! He must have meant the worship leader, Roy Fields. But to call him Rolls Royce – as in the luxurious automobile! The crowd laughed at Paul Cain when they should have been crying for him.  Was Paul Cain back to drinking alcohol again? Also, what on earth brought Paul Cain to lie like he had been celibate all his life when it was back in 2005 that he was confronted by Mike Bickle, Rick Joyner, and Jack Deer about his homosexual affairs and alcoholism which he eventually confessed to publicly? A celibate! Todd wanted to honor that man! Paul Cain is no more a man of God than is the man in the moon.  Neither is he a prophet of God and has never been.  What a red flag to the Church that Todd Bentley was not sent by God if he could not discern the darkness operating in Cain’s life.      
            Why didn’t the professing Christians in revival attendance from the world over question the misdeeds of Bentley and recognize that God could not possibly have been in the Lakeland outpouring? The answer is obvious: they were not Holy Spirit-led and were also deceived by Satan and his demons into believing that everything supernatural “must” be of God.  That holds also for those having fallen under the sway of the Toronto and Pensacola revivals, the ministries of Rodney Howard-Browne, Benny Hinn, and the numerous other big and small, known and unknown ministries of the likes.

            Present day ministries of the supernatural are headed by “in-your-face” false servants of God.  Those ministers bring you just what you want in a church service because you believe you are so on fire and right with God. But, the word to you, dear Church is, seek the True God of Israel and genuinely live for Him. Stop seeking the supernatural and let God bring it in His good timing – the real thing. Attend to basic Christianity and a life of holiness as you cut loose the false doctrines, false prophets, false anointings, false tongues, and even false Holy Ghost baptism because you have no discernment of spirit and in those falsities you are gullible to deceptive and manipulative religious demonic spirits out to destroy the Church.  It is now understandable as to why Todd Bentley has conducted himself the way he has – he does not have the REAL JESUS and never has had the real Jesus.

            Todd Bentley needs to get out of the adulterous relationship with Jessa.  He needs to genuinely repent, get spiritual deliverance, re-dedicate his life to the Lord, forget about the false ministry he was in, and just fall in love with the real Jesus while He directs his footsteps.  Amen, amen, and amen!