From that first time I flicked on to God TV and saw the pictures from Lakeland and tangibly felt God's presence I have been Pro-Todd Bentley. Certainly not everything he says or does or how he says and does them. But absolutely convinced that God was at work through him and that there were things I needed to learn from his ministry.
There are many blog posts out there devoted to criticising Bentley and the Lakeland meetings. Many of the criticisms are right and well founded but equally many are from those who would have had a problem with Jesus and the disciples methods of ministry if they had been blogging 2000 years ago. But I'm certainly on the 'Pro' side of the debate.
Yet over the last few weeks I have been preparing myself for the inevitable and the unavoidable.
I am going to get let down.
Not by God - of course not, He still is unimaginably good and gracious - but by Todd Bentley. He will get things wrong. He will make mistakes. He will disappoint me.
30 people raised from the dead - yet there remains, over 100 days into these meetings, little evidence. Not that I don't think they happened - but they are not coming good with the evidence I'd like to see. Equally for many of the incredible miracles that are happening, there is surprisingly little evidence to back up most claims. I still think God healed these people - but some undeniable medical evidence would be helpful for us all!
The thing to remember about this (and I've been saying this from when I first saw it) is that it was never about Todd Bentley or Roy Fields or David 'Ben Affleck' Tomberlin or Fresh Fire Ministries. It is about the power AND the grace of our God to heal, restore and radically change lives.
I never even thought it was about Lakeland. When a window of opportunity came and went to go to Florida, I was gutted about what I was missing out on. But now I wouldn't go, because I don't want to miss what God is doing Cheltenham for anything.
He has reminded us suddenly and forcefully of who we are as His Church and what we are called to do. He has awoken us to the important things we had forgotten and is making us strong and sharp for the battle ahead.
Storms are coming. There coming within the environment, economics and social fabric of our globalised society. I'm not a doom and gloom merchant - but you don't have to be Isaiah to work out that things are getting more than a little bit shaky.
God has woken His Church. He is filling us up. He sorting us out.
dg
2 comments:
Great post. Kinda couldn't agree more. I think what God has been doing over the last few years around the world - (i.e. before the Lakeland phenomena) is a ‘waking up’. We’ve seen that in the New Wine network, and what has been birthed by the vision of its leaders and the external input of people like Bill Johnson. I've been on a journey personally and with my community in much the same way as yourselves, and I feel like I've changed.
Crucially, my life is not easier. It definitely much, MUCH less comfortable to offer to pray for healing with people in the streets than to sit in a church and try to out perform the world with whizzy gizmos and a watered down philosophy of universal acceptance (God is nice, we are nice, would you like to hang around us and be nice together?). But at heart of it is a relationship with God, and when you start aligning yourself with what He would have you do, life becomes an adventure, and there are moments of immense fulfilment. Because a powerless life is comfortable, people react against it. Why did Jesus warn us about the dangers of taking offence and missing Him if the whole Christian deal wasn’t meant to be challenging – to social and economic power based and cultural strongholds?
We need to grow from cynicism, I feel. Early on last year when there was a significant ‘upping of the ante’ in the spirit in my church, there was (and I guess always be) division between those who really want the move of God, and those who only think they do. For me this has meant learning to let go of my defence mechanisms, and trust God. My pastor warned us against not getting swept along with every fad and fashion in the Christian world – but also warned us against being so concerned about not getting taken in that we miss what God is doing – throwing the ‘baby out with the bathwater’ (someone should theme a blog round that or something. We sit in tension.
So excited to hear what’s been going on in the ‘Nam as Miss Brunt calls it. I’m more and more convinced that those who remain local, faithful and steady will see the greatest sights there are to see on earth. Because there is a level of ‘anointing’ (hate that word, but it carries the idea) that God can only give to a community, to a group who are as committed to an area and a people as He is. The church is waking up to every-member ministry like never before; it’s not about the man of god in the white suit, or the great crusade and evangelist, but a million kingdom ambassadors living out of the freedom, power and authority they have in Christ.
Anyways. Sorry for always posting mammoth comments on your blog!
Mattdrop into your life.
you're always welcome matt....
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