OPEN LETTER to WAGNER, JOYNER...
-by Andrew Strom.

I write this as a tongues-speaking, Spirit-filled, prophesying believer.

Dear Rick Joyner and C. Peter Wagner,

I will do my utmost to avoid disrespect in this letter. But I cannot avoid the hard questions which must be asked.

I hope my comments here are not construed as "arrogant". This is certainly not my intent. But I'm sure you have heard the news by now that the tide has turned in what you call your "Civil War".
I'm sure you have heard that the Lakeland meetings have dwindled, and the "big tent" has been abandoned in favor of the 700-seat Ignite church once again. I'm sure you have heard that your man Todd Bentley's meetings in England have been cancelled, and that respected leaders even within your own movements have found vast evidence of falsehoods, fraudulent claims, manipulation and hype of the most blatant kind. The news of it is worldwide. It is not just ABC Nightline. It is your own people saying these things.

I'm sure you have heard the news that has even shocked and saddened me - that the British press is calling Bentley "A US child sex offender turned church minister who tries to cure cancer victims by kicking them" - and that 79% of Britons polled want to keep him out of the country. Where is the glory to Jesus in this?
How could Todd even set foot in England under such a cloud?

Sirs, if this really were a 'Civil War', aren't you living in Gettysburg?

Mr Wagner, I am sure you are aware that because of your open endorsement of Todd Bentley, numbers of your own ICA 'apostles'
(some very well-known) are already planning an "alternative"
network without all your 'Dominionist' trappings or NAR hierarchies.
Sir, they are leaving. Are you sure you were right to endorse the Lakeland movement in the very face of your own apostles like that?
Wasn't this one of the most crucial tests of your leadership? Sir, if your discernment is such that you could get on a stage and openly endorse one of the most deceptive movements in the history of the church, then - with all due respect - should you really be heading up the apostles of the entire Charismatic world? Are you aware that you have greatly endangered God's precious sheep all around the globe?

And Mr Joyner, are you conscious of how terribly the Prophetic movement has deteriorated on your watch, sir? As the most influential 'father' in that movement, why have you stood by while the "New Mystics" have taken over - with their gold dust, their portals, their 'orbs', their drunken jerking, their strange "angel"
encounters and 'visualization' techniques, etc? In fact, why have you actively encouraged and participated in these very things yourself?

Isn't it true that Bob Jones has been a big mentor for you in these things, just like he was for Todd Bentley? Wasn't it Bob Jones who taught you how to "visualize" your way into the 'Third Heaven', Mr Joyner? Isn't Bob Jones one of the major hidden influences behind your ministry? Where do you get your visions? How do you write your books? How can we ever again trust the "angels" that you see? Sir, what were you thinking - to openly endorse the "New Mystics" as you did with Todd Bentley? Did you not see that it could end so badly?

We all know what Bob Jones said when he stood on the stage with Todd Bentley in front of the whole world:
BOB: "I released my angels to him... this man from Canada asked for my angels; this Wind of Change is most powerful. Except for the arch angels, this 'Winds of Change', this is the most powerful angel..."
BOB TO TODD BENTLEY: "As I watch you, you VIBRATE. You know there are two portals, clockwise and counter-clockwise.
When you vibrate you close demonic vibration. Counter-clockwise vibration is demonic. The vibration is healing. Does it seem peculiar?"
[He waves his hands]... "I’m releasing it to you."

A very basic question here: Is there anything even remotely biblical about any of this?

Mr Joyner, since Bob Jones is your major mentor, and since you stood on the stage and openly endorsed that whole movement, I guess we have to assume that this is the kind of "Prophetic" that you now represent? Isn't that fair to say, sir?

And now I need to ask some questions of my colleagues overseas:
Isn't it true, my friends, that almost every deceptive fad or heresy of the last 25 years has come out of North America? (ie. The USA and Canada)? And hasn't it been growing worse and worse?

When I travel to Africa I find deadly "Prosperity" teaching rampant in the most poverty-stricken of nations. When I travel to Europe I find them bombarded with flakey 'prophets' from the States.
When I travel to Australia I find them enthralled with 'Mega-church- Itis' imported from the USA. In every way, North America has become a source of utter pollution, sickness and compromise - both in the church and the world. And I believe God wants to put an end to it.

Personally I love Americans. I lived there for four years, and I have many dear friends in that part of the world. But I do not believe that God is going to allow this pollution to spread any longer.

Why do leaders in Australia or Europe think that their movements must be led by Americans? What nation is most of this pollution coming from? Why do African leaders allow sick money-grubbing telecasts from the USA to be beamed to their people via satellite?
Why are any of us allowing any of this garbage? When are we going to stand up and cry, "ENOUGH"? When are we going to cut off this pollution - not just for ourselves - but for the sake of God's precious sheep? Why should we be led by America if they are leading us into deception?

Should North America even be allowed to lead the worldwide church any more?

And finally, let me return to Mr Joyner - who once intimated that it is time to "drive" out those who want to "test the spirits" in the church. Sir, let me say to you that indeed the time has come to drive a particular spirit out. It is the spirit of rampant "Charis-mania".
And sir, I have to say with all due respect, that your very own movement strikes me as the primest of prime places in which to start.

Discuss this on our Forum at-  http://www.revivalschool.com

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Are WAGNER's APOSTLES LEAVING??
-Andrew Strom.

Last week we published a number of strong statements against Lakeland by one of Peter Wagner's 'apostles' named Robert Ricciardelli. For those who are not aware, Peter Wagner heads up an organization devoted to setting in place "apostles" over the church. This is known as the 'New Apostolic Reformation' (NAR), and it has been very controversial. I myself have never seen it as any kind of true "Reformation" - because all it seems to do is set up another level of hierarchy over the existing ones. I also question whether many of the "apostles" are true apostles - but that is another story. Suffice it to say, that Wagner runs one of the most powerful and far-reaching global networks in the Charismatic world.

I don't know if Peter Wagner fully realized what he was doing when he went down to Lakeland and publicly endorsed Todd Bentley and the 'revival' there. But clearly he started a rift in his own movement that may very well almost tear it apart.

However, before we discuss this further, it is also important to note that even some "pro-Lakeland" churches are beginning to have second thoughts about supporting that movement - as more factual information begins to emerge about what is really going on.

 

The following was written by the leader of a "pro-Lakeland" church - and forwarded to me this week. (I have removed the identity of both the leader and the church). This really is an amazing admission for such a "pro-Lakeland" leader to make:

"Hi staff,
We need to talk, probably as a staff, and go through what I've found out. I had a long talk with Robert Ricciardelli. He's no revival critic... He loves revival, believes in healing, prophecy and all the rest and is delighted to hear about the healings we've had here.
He's a close friend of Stephen Strader... He's in an accountability relationship with Lee Grady (editor of Charisma Magazine) and is a writer for Charisma on occasion. He's part of C. Peter Wagner's apostolic network, recognized by Peter as an apostle. I've seen the man's website and he's legit, not a heresy hunter.

"The reports he has given me are firsthand, not hearsay. I am deeply troubled, grieved and tormented at what I'm hearing. He attributes most of the anointing at Lakeland to Roy Fields (worship leader). I agree. Roy is nothing but clean and God shows up hugely when he leads worship. I can go into detail later about what is surfacing, but there are huge lapses of integrity going on... Much embellishment. Many claims have been made that simply are not true. The Charisma crew has researched it. I want to weep. My heart is breaking. For now, to be safe and for the sake of integrity, we need to stop speaking about the claimed resurrections. Three of them have been checked out with the doctors and EMTs involved and found never to have happened at all. Todd has been confronted with this and has not adjusted the numbers in his claims. Not a single one of the other claimed resurrections can be substantiated despite diligent effort to do so. Even after Stephen Strader brought it down to 13 (and even those couldn't be substantiated) Todd ran it back up to 27 and more.
Misrepresentation and embellishment!

"On the financial front, Todd recently told the crowd that God had told him that there were 1,000 people who would give $1,000 and that they would be blessed 1,000-fold. Robert called Stephen Strader to confront the unbiblical nature of that appeal. It came out that Todd admitted he hadn't heard that from God, that it was just an idea he had so that they could raise money to build a big stadium. Robert challenged them to issue an apology the following night based on that false claim of being told by God and they refused to do it on the excuse that it's a different crowd every night.

"That's the flavor of what I'm finding. There's a lot more. I'm so grieved I can hardly think. I'm not saying the Lakeland Outpouring is not of God (God is bigger than the men involved), although good men whom I have respected all my life are saying just that (that it's not of God), based on what they know and have seen...

"What I am saying is that we need to back up and not identify ourselves closely with Lakeland and that we need to stop repeating claims being made on the air lest we end up getting splattered with the collateral damage when certain issues of false claims, embellishments and lapses of integrity begin to come out more publicly. By the way, no one is saying that some healings have not happened - only that many false, embellished or unsubstantiated claims have been made. A number of really good men, champions of revival through the years, are actually saying that the whole thing is of the devil and that even the healings are demonically inspired. I want to be clear that I'm not going there..." [-end quote].

So here we have a 'pro-Lakeland' church checking out these facts for the first time and now deciding that they "need to back up and not identify ourselves closely with Lakeland." Pretty amazing!

Meanwhile - back to the topic of "apostles" and what is now happening in Peter Wagner's main 'ICA' organization:

One of Wagner's apostles, Robert Ricciardelli, put out an email this week saying that he has received a great deal of support for his stand against Lakeland - the majority of it from pastors. And he also made the following very significant statement:

"As a member of ICA, Peter Wagner actually caused many questions to come my way because of my membership there.
I will no longer be involved with that organization and actually have not tracked well with them and some of their agendas since I have been involved with them. However, I have enjoyed the many relationships I have developed from going to the annual meetings.
Most all of those relationships are also disengaging from their affiliation with ICA, because of many issues beyond Lakeland."

So clearly Robert is now leaving the ICA - as are other 'apostles'
that he knows of also. I asked him to clarify this last point.

Robert wrote to me:
"The ICA leadership continues to adopt belief systems without seeking the advice and counsel of members. Many of the members do not, and will not support these beliefs, including the support of anti-biblical behavior and doctrine currently being expressed through Todd Bentley and Freshfire Ministries. In fact as ICA embraces this, they now have taken a stance that will indirectly have to embrace many of the same ministries, including "New Mystic"
John Crowder and others. This escalating focus on angels, experiences, trances, etc is far from the focus of Jesus, His Kingdom, and His righteousness... Many of us who really enjoyed the ICA annual conferences are now forced to make a decision as to whether to continue our involvement with them."

Robert has also stated that he personally was never into "Dominionist" beliefs or the "hierarchical NAR agenda." His last statement to me was: "I think that there is a chance that many may disassociate with the ICA depending on Todd continuing to reveal his deceptive doctrine and Peter continuing to support such doctrine."

I wonder if Peter Wagner ever imagined that by endorsing Todd Bentley he may be sowing huge seeds of destruction in his own movement? -Perhaps only time will tell.

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Some people think the Lakeland revival is "winding down". This is far from the truth. Todd Bentley is still there every night - and recently announced that from Aug 23 he will be taking the revival all over the USA and also overseas - with huge meetings everywhere.
Here is how he puts it on his website-

"Already we’ve had successful excursions to “test” the waters in places like Dallas, Concord, and Louisville. The Lord has shown me many more potential wells to uncap in the days, weeks, months, and perhaps even years to come—38 in all right now, including places like Knoxville, Atlanta, Spokane, and into Birmingham, England, and other key areas..." (~www.freshfire.ca).

Meanwhile I continue to get emails from all over the world telling me that vast numbers of Spirit-filled people everywhere are being sucked into this movement - often entire churches at a time.

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J. LEE GRADY on TRUE PROPHETS

My heart cries out for the American church to stop muddling, muffling, cheapening, distorting and merchandising the pure gospel. How we need to return to the simplicity of evangelism that cuts to the heart, produces repentance and reveals the Son of God.

For several months I’ve been asking the Lord to make me his trumpet. In my quest He’s shown me some of the qualities that shaped biblical prophets into His mouthpieces. I pray all of us will adopt these same characteristics.

1. A prophet is bold. True prophets have steel backbones and foreheads of flint. They do not cower when the majority disagrees with them. Like the apostle Paul, they are compelled to preach because a holy restlessness churns inside them. They are possessed by God, and they must release the fire inside. Will you pray for this boldness and say with Isaiah, “Here am I, send me”
(Is. 6:8, NASB)—even when you know you will be opposed?

2. A prophet stays biblical. So much of what is passed off as prophecy today resembles what you might find in a daily horoscope. The so-called “prophetic movement” in the contemporary church has been tainted by silly fads and charismatic witchcraft.
One prophetic e-mail list sent out a word recently saying that dormant angels were being awakened out of the walls of our churches. (That’s not remotely scriptural.) Another predicted that God would begin to speak to people through the names of candy bars and blue jeans.

So much of our prophetic verbiage sounds like warm and fuzzy fortunetelling. This type of “imitation prophecy” can titillate and thrill those with itching ears, but it is pablum designed for babies who don’t want to grow up. What we need is a word we can sink our teeth into—true meat that is the Word of God.

3. A prophet does not compromise. Nathan was willing to confront King David’s sin, even though the prophet was on the palace payroll. Yet today, we practice the “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” rule. We prophesy what people want to hear so we can get an honorarium and an invitation to return. This has caused some whole groups of prophets to collectively follow each other into a ditch.

Beware of the herd mentality! Don’t just swallow and follow! You cannot go along with something just because everyone else is doing it or preaching it. Stay close to the Lord, develop keen discernment and listen to the nagging voice of your conscience.

4. A prophet is compassionate. Some prophets today refuse to confront because they are too nice. Others speak rashly “like the thrusts of a sword” (see Prov. 12:18) and their words are delivered with a bitter, vindictive spirit. Neither of these prophets will receive his reward. We must speak the truth, and we must do it in love.

Most people think Jeremiah was angry and judgmental, but actually he wept when he confronted Israel’s sins. It is not enough to prophesy the Lord’s word—we should aim to speak with His tone of voice. We must be willing to intercede for and identify with those we confront.

5. A prophet stays pure. When Moses made the tabernacle, God told him to make silver trumpets that were “hammered work” (Num.
10:2). If we want to speak for Him, we must be willing to endure the smelting process. (In other words, prepare to be hammered!) Before Isaiah could be an effective prophet to his nation, his lips had to touch burning coals from God’s altar (see Is. 6:6-8). We must be willing to visit the uncomfortable furnace of sanctification.

God is not so much interested in the booming voice, the rousing delivery, the charisma or the technological savvy that we expect today from celebrity preachers. What matters most is pure content, and that can only flow through a pure vessel.

6. A prophet faithfully embraces the call. Jonah tried to flee as far as possible from Nineveh, but the God of the second chance used a strange vessel to get the prophet back on course. It involved a visit to a fish’s stomach, where Jonah spent three days in darkness, stewing in digestive juices. When the fish vomited him on land, he was better prepared to speak heaven’s words.

From "Becoming a Trumpet of the Lord" - http://fireinmybones.com

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LIFE AFTER LAKELAND:

Sorting Out the Confusion -by J. Lee Grady.

Todd Bentley’s announcement that his marriage is ending has thrown our movement into a tailspin—and questions need to be answered.

It was not supposed to end like this.

Evangelist Todd Bentley had heralded the Lakeland revival as the greatest Pentecostal outpouring since Azusa Street. From his stage in a gigantic tent in Florida, Bentley preached to thousands, bringing many of them to the stage for prayer. Many claimed to be healed of deafness, blindness, heart problems, depression and dozens of other conditions in the Lakeland services, which ran for more than 100 consecutive nights. Bentley announced confidently that dozens of people had been raised from the dead during the revival.

But this week, a few days after the Canadian preacher announced the end of his visits to Lakeland, he told his staff that his marriage is ending. Without blaming the pace of the revival for Bentley’s personal problems, his board released a public statement saying that he and his wife, Shonnah, are separating. The news shocked Bentley’s adoring fans and saddened those who have questioned his credibility since the Lakeland movement erupted in early April.

I’m sad. I’m disappointed. And I’m angry. Here are few of my many, many questions about this fiasco:

Why did so many people flock to Lakeland from around the world to rally behind an evangelist who had serious credibility issues from the beginning?

To put it bluntly, we’re just plain gullible.

From the first week of the Lakeland revival, many discerning Christians raised questions about Bentley’s beliefs and practices.
They felt uneasy when he said he talked to an angel in his hotel room. They sensed something amiss when he wore a T-shirt with a skeleton on it. They wondered why a man of God would cover himself with tattoos. They were horrified when they heard him describe how he tackled a man and knocked his tooth out during prayer.

But among those who jumped on the Lakeland bandwagon, discernment was discouraged. They were expected to swallow and follow. The message was clear: “This is God. Don’t question.”
So before we could all say, “Sheeka Boomba” (as Bentley often prayed from his pulpit), many people went home, prayed for people and shoved them to the floor with reckless abandon, Bentley-style.

I blame this lack of discernment, partly, on raw zeal for God. We’re spiritual hungry—which can be a good thing. But sometimes, hungry people will eat anything.

Many of us would rather watch a noisy demonstration of miracles, signs and wonders than have a quiet Bible study. Yet we are faced today with the sad reality that our untempered zeal is a sign of immaturity. Our adolescent craving for the wild and crazy makes us do stupid things. It’s way past time for us to grow up.

Why didn’t anyone in Lakeland denounce the favorable comments Bentley made about William Branham?

This one baffles me. Branham embraced horrible deception near the end of his ministry... and his strange doctrines are still embraced by a cultlike following today...

Why didn’t anyone correct this error from the pulpit? Godly leaders are supposed to protect the sheep from heresy, not spoon feed deception to them. Only God knows how far this poison traveled from Lakeland to take root elsewhere. May God forgive us for allowing His Word to be so flippantly contaminated.

A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley’s news hit the fan. He said to me: “I’m now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment.” Ouch.
Hopefully we’ll learn our lesson this time and apply the necessary caution when an imposter shows up.

Why did God TV tell people that “any criticism of Todd Bentley is demonic”?

This ridiculous statement was actually made on one of God TV’s pre-shows. In fact, the network’s hosts also warned listeners that if they listened to criticism of Bentley, they could lose their healings.

This is cultic manipulation at its worst. The Bible tells us that the Bereans were noble believers because they studied the Scriptures daily “to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11, NASB).
Yet in the case of Lakeland, honest intellectual inquiry was viewed as a sign of weakness. People were expected to jump first and then open their eyes.

Just because we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit does not mean we check our brains at the church door. We are commanded to test the spirits. Jesus wants us to love Him with our hearts and our minds.

Because of the Lakeland scandal, there may be large numbers of people who feel they’ve been burned by Bentley. Some may give up on church and join the growing ranks of bitter, disenfranchised Christians. Others may suffer total spiritual shipwreck. This could have been avoided if leaders had been more vocal about their objections and urged people to evaluate spiritual experiences through the filter of God’s Word.

Why did a group of respected ministers lay hands on Bentley on June 23 and publicly ordain him? Did they know of his personal problems?

This controversial ceremony was organized by Peter Wagner, who felt that one of Bentley’s greatest needs was proper spiritual covering. He asked California pastors Che Ahn and Bill Johnson, along with Canadian pastor John Arnott, to lay hands on Bentley and bring him under their care.

Bentley certainly needs such covering. No one in ministry today should be out on their own, living in isolation without checks, balances and wise counsel. It was commendable that Wagner reached out to Bentley and that Bentley acknowledged his need for spiritual fathers by agreeing to submit to the process. The question remains, however, whether it was wise to commend Bentley during a televised commissioning service that at times seemed more like a king’s coronation.

In hindsight, we can all see that it would have been better to take Bentley into a back room and talk about his personal issues.

The Bible tells us that ordination of a minister is a sober responsibility. Paul wrote: “Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others”
(1 Tim. 5:22). We might be tempted to rush the process, but the apostle warned against fast-tracking ordination—and he said that those who commission a minister who is not ready for the job will bear some of the blame for his failures.

I trust that Wagner, Ahn, Johnson and Arnott didn’t know of Bentley’s problems before they ordained him. I am sure they are saddened by the events of this week and are reaching out to Bentley and his wife to promote healing and restoration. But I believe that they, along with Bentley and the owners of God TV, owe the body of Christ a forthright, public apology for thrusting Bentley’s ministry into the spotlight prematurely. (Perhaps such an apology should be aired on God TV.)

Can anything good come out of this?

That depends on how people respond. If the men assigned to oversee Bentley offer loving but firm correction, and if Bentley responds humbly to the process by stepping out of ministry for a season of rehabilitation, we could witness a healthy case of church discipline play out the way it is supposed to. If all those who were so eager to promote Bentley now rush just as fast to repent for their errors in judgment, then the rest of us could breathe a huge sigh of relief—and the credibility of our movement could be restored.

I still believe that God desires to visit our nation in supernatural power. I know He wants to heal multitudes, and I will continue praying for a healing revival to sweep across the United States.
But we must contend for the genuine, not an imitation. True revival will be accompanied by brokenness, humility, reverence and repentance—not the arrogance, showmanship and empty hype that often was on display in Lakeland.

We are weathering an unprecedented season of moral failure and spiritual compromise in our nation today. I urge everyone in the charismatic world to pray for Bentley; his wife, Shonnah; his three young children; Bentley’s ministry staff; and the men and women who serve as his counselors and advisers. Let’s pray that God will turn this embarrassing debacle into an opportunity for miraculous restoration.

~SOURCE:  http://www.charismanews.com/