Category Archives: -Lakeland Revival

(-Todd Bentley via Wikipedia)

Here’s a link to one more article by J. Lee Grady about Lakeland: 

"20/20 Hindsight: What I Hope We Learned From the Lakeland Revival"

Grady lists a few points that he hopes that we can agree on.  Some lessons he hopes we have learned from the Lakeland experience:

Lesson #1: Accountability. Accountability. Accountability.

Lesson #2: The one-man show is over.

Lesson #3: Chill out.

Lesson #4: Character is more important than anointing.

Lesson #5: Lay hands on no man quickly.

Lesson #6: You can’t have revival without repentance.

He also provides a link to a new statement (Nov.28) by the directors of Fresh Fire Ministries on Todd Bentley.

Response: Re: #1,2,and 6 –I am in total agreement with. Re: #4 -Character is just as important as an anointing. However, God has used flawed servants to do incredible ministries in the past. Re: #5 -Todd was not new to ministry, he had been ministering with a healing anointing for quite a few years. Who gave Todd the anointing in the first place?

The greatest disappointment to me was that it remained a one-man show that fell apart when the one man fell. I had hoped that it would just be the beginning of a move that would spread across the country and that thousands of unknown leaders would take it to another level. 

The statement by Fresh Fire is sad to say the least. We need to continue to remember Todd and particularly his family in our prayers.           *Top

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• Update: Lakeland Outpouring is ‘Officially’ Over?

Picture by eager sky via Flickr

The final ‘official’ meeting of the Lakeland Outpouring was held Sunday (Oct.12)at Ignited Church, six months after Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley launched the daily revival meetings in Lakeland, Florida. Gone were the lights, TV  cameras, healing evangelist, and large tent.

But is it really over?

Actually, the effects of the outpouring continue in a number of different venues and locations.

According to the Charisma article, it continues in a number of different European churches including a significant continuing revival in Dudley, England.

Also, the revival has spread to other churches in the Lakeland area. Here is a recent report from David Copeland of Revival Now Ministry and Carl Thomas of Revival Blog.            *Top 

Todd Bentley announced a separation from his wife this week. The blogoshere is full of "see I told you so’s" and "this proves that Lakeland was bogus" tirades including J. Lee Grady’s latest- Fire in My Bones.

So what does this mean? Are those folks that were healed now required to give back the blessing? Those who where raised from the dead around the world in response to prayer, are they now required to give up and die? All the folks that I know who received a blessing from the Lakeland Outpouring–are they now supposed to deny that it ever happened?

This is a personal tragedy for Todd and his family. What really bothers me is how gleeful and celebratory some ‘Christians’ are in response to a brother’s difficulty–no it actually make me rather sad and angry at the same time!

The old adage that "we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water" really does apply here. Let’s change the bath water so to speak and let the Revival continue.

Is Todd’s whole ministry and anointing now to be questioned? I was reminded this morning of some of the Judges in the Old Testament that had some personal problems and yet were blessed of God tremendously—particularly Samson. We haven’t heard the last of Todd Bentley and I am sure his future will include something more than just bring down the Philistine temple. My prayers go with him and his family.            *Top

Jesus and his disciples were healing folks right and left, yet John the Baptist sent some of his group to find out what was up.  It was not going the way he had expected: "shall we look for another?"

That is a lot like what is happening at Lakeland. Some folks are being healed and many are being blessed, and yet there are even more Christians who would paraphrase John the Baptist and ask- "Is that all there is –shall we keep looking?"

I would be inclined to agree with some of the critics except that I firmly believe that we are just at the beginning of a sovereign move that will not be limited to Florida, but will sweep across all of North America and eventually to the UK and Europe. Already, I have personally heard of dozens of churches and ministries in America that have seen an obvious increase in healing in 2008.

John the Baptist obviously had some preconceptions about the Messiah and what would happen when he came. A few miracles and healings didn’t look anything like the revolution he expected. But it was just at the beginning! 2,000 years have come and gone and most of us still don’t have a clue what Jesus is doing and what he is waiting for.

We have to remind ourselves that whatever is happening at Lakeland, it is just at the beginning. I wonder how past revivals would have survived the onslaught and glare of 24 hour TV and Internet. What did Wales and Azusa Street look like after a month and a half into it?

So many of us have read about past revivals and expect God to do the same thing again, full blown and mature at the start. We forget that each sovereign move was new and strange for those who experienced them at the time.

My Own Expectations

Myself, I am looking for a revival that sweeps across all of North America and effects 1000′s of churches in hundreds of places. A revival that crosses all the man-made divisions and denominations. Then like a tidal wave engulfs the UK and washes up on the shores of France and Northwestern Europe. A revival coming soon near you.

So many are looking for Jesus to come for his church, I’m looking for him to come to it. Come to it? What exactly does that mean? I’m not entirely sure what that means except it’s a ‘word’ that I keep hearing in the Spirit and it’s going to be good.

The church is going to get closer to Jesus, there will be a changing of the guard, ‘churchianity’  is going down, and his people will hear his voice in a profound way. I say, Come Lord Jesus and surprise us!            *Top

There are tons of critical articles on the Internet about what is happening in Lakeland Florida. Most haven’t been there, some haven’t even seen any of it on TV, yet many feel compelled to give a ‘theological’ opinion anyway.

  Found the following articles in defense of Lakeland last weekend but haven’t have the time to post about till now:

1. Todd Bentley- "Lifting Jesus High!"

Here’s Todd’s own defense.

2. Carl Thomas- Revival Blog- "Theological Response to Lakeland Critics"

Carl gives a link to a 55 page paper by  Dr. Gary S. Greig, PhD:

"A Theological Response to Criticism of the Lakeland Outpouring and Todd Bentley- Biblical Reasons To Receive God’s Glory and Give it Away in Power Evangelism"

3. Peter Kirk- Gentle Wisdom- "A theological defence of Todd Bentley’s ministry"

If you don’t have the time to read the 55 page defense by Dr. Greig, Peter provides a great summary of the main points.

*Top