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ON THIS PAGE
Introduction
History and Appearance
Bentley’s My Space
Bentley and West Coast Chopper
Violence in The Name of God
Music
Todd Bentley a.k.a James Van Praagh a.k.a John Edward
Contagious Anointing or Contagious Kundalini Awakening?
A New Thing? You Have To Be Kidding!
False Prophecies
Oily Smelly Hands
God Wants People To Believe in The Angel
Emma?
Angel of Finance ????
Christian Alchemy
God’s Nightly Show
The Tree of Life. Bentley Vs. The Bible
Todd Bentley and Sundar Singh
Demon Possession?
Bentley’s Connections
Is Todd Bentley’s Lakeland Outpouring like the Day of Pentecost?
Conclusion
Todd Bentley R.I.P?
Introduction
Todd Bentley was first brought to my attention in late May of this year [2008]. At first I ignored the whole issue, dismissing him as one more charlatan on the whole sordid landscape of the modern church. However as the voices grew more insistent, I finally (and reluctantly) started reading about, watching and listening to excerpts from his various talks. A short time later I have come to three inescapable conclusions…
Here we go again… Writing another chapter in the history of a dysfunctional church.
Bentley definitely has a positive function in life. He makes people like Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland look good… really good.
Whatever rock in the furtherest reaches of hell Todd Bentley crawled out from, Satan is no longer bothering to conceal his minions behind the cloak of respectability (After all Robert Schuller does look and sound like someone’s benevolent grandfather). I wonder if Satan actually thought to himself.. “Lets see just how much these fool Christians will fall for. Let’s hand them someone with tattoos, and body piercings with a sleazy background and a penchant for Harleys... let’s arm him with a fistful of tall stories and top it all with his propensity for violence and see just how gullible these people are.”.
Well what ‘happened’ is history in the making. The Lakeland Healing "Revival" lead by 32-year-old Canadian ‘evangelist’ Todd Bentley is in full tilt. Bentley's arms and neck are covered with tattoos, and he wears studs in his chin and left eyebrow, yet nearly every evening thousands gather to hear him preach and hear “Holy Spirit fall! God is here! We want more! More, more, more!". In the video I watched Bentley yells “BAM” over and over again along with the usual trite phrases “Release the revival anointing”, “Release revival glory” and then screams “Take It” over and over again.
(Hmmm! I wonder whether Bentley ever watches Emeril Live on Food Network. Emeril’s famous trademark ... “BAM” as he adds salt to whatever he is making is endearing...on him. On a so called preacher it is despicable).
In the words of Al Dager (Media Spotlight)
“Bentley believes that his ministry will flow throughout the churches and that it will become a revival that will take us into coming of Jesus. He has been endorsed by John Arnott, pastor of Toronto Airport Vineyard at the time of the “Toronto Blessing” Paul Cain and Bob Jones of the “Brownville Revival”, and others associated with various alleged outpourings of the Holy Spirit manifested by bizarre conduct. At times Bentley has lost control of himself on stage, laughing hysterically, falling on all fours, and engaging in myriad gymnastics to get the people’s attention. He encourages his audiences to let go of themselves to where they bark like dogs, and exhibit the same behavior found in the aforementioned “outbreaks”. [Lakeland Outpouring in Second Month.]
And Gary Osbourne
“There is no doubt in my mind that the “Lakeland Outpouring”, as it is now being called, is nothing more than a recycling of previous movements that stretch back decades. Whether it was meetings held by people like William Branham, Kathryn Kuhlman, Benny Hinn, Rodney Howard-Browne, Steve Hill, or any of the so-called Kansas City Prophets, the spirit and basic doctrine are the same. There’s a common thread of specific heresies that go back a long way”. [Lakeland’s Recycled Revival By Gary Osborne. Source]
(NOTE: This is almost the only page on this site that makes such extensive use of video clips.. simply because this man has to be seen to be believed. In time I imagine that most of these videos will disappear off You Tube. I have used Real Player to download most of them, although I have no idea if (or how) they can be shared)
In an article dated May 29, 2008, msnbc.msn.com said
“The meetings have outgrown four venues, including a local convention center that seats roughly 7,000. Now they meet under an air-conditioned tent that can accommodate 10,000 on the grounds of the local airport. Organizers estimate that more than 140,000 people from at least 40 nations have attended meetings here” ... according to Fresh Fire Ministries, 1.2 million people have watched live streaming broadcasts of the meetings on the Internet. The meetings also are carried on the religious satellite channel, God TV, which transmits Bentley's healing services to more than 200 nations”. [Revivalist Claims Hundreds Of Healings]
According to the Ledger
Bentley came to Lakeland at the invitation of Stephen Strader, pastor of Ignited Church and son of Karl Strader, to lead a one-week revival beginning April 2... Strader began sending hundreds of e-mail dispatches about the revival during the first week, and soon after Ignited began streaming the services live on Ustream... "We went global in less than two weeks," Strader said. [Florida Outpouring: Internet Draws Thousands to Lakeland Revival. TheLedger.com. May 18, 2008]
“The evening services usually last for several hours, beginning with an hour or more of near-deafening music that has the wildly eclectic crowds leaping and spinning”. [Evangelist's Popular Ministry Claims Miraculous Healing. Saturday, April 19, 2008 TheLedger.com. [Source]
Incidentally
In March 1993, Karl Strader invited South African evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne to lead a revival at Carpenter's Home. Howard-Browne, now pastor of The River at Tampa Bay, a church in Tampa, is a proponent of holy laughter, and he led 16 weeks of revival services during the following 10 months, with some weeks off....The Toronto revival began at the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church under evangelist Randy Clark just as the Carpenter's Home revival was ending [Florida Outpouring: Internet Draws Thousands to Lakeland Revival. TheLedger.com. May 18, 2008]
Todd Bentley... History and Appearance
History
Bentley, 32, runs Fresh Fire Ministries, based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. He said he dropped out of school in the eighth grade and overdosed on drugs three times before he became a Christian in 1994. According to a 2003 article in Charisma, a magazine devoted to Pentecostal news, before his conversion at age 18, Bentley spent several stints in jail, including one for a sexual assault committed as a juvenile. [Evangelist's Popular Ministry Claims Miraculous Healing. Saturday, April 19, 2008 TheLedger.com. Source]
A Mar. 5, 2001 article in Report Newsmagazine stated that…
“As a teen, Todd Bentley knew one thing very well: how to get into trouble. Growing up in Abbotsford, his life was filled with drug dealing, fighting and robbery. The nadir came when he was sentenced to 18 months in detention for assault and breaking-and-entry. Mr. Bentley, now 25, was able to put that all behind him seven years ago when he became a Christian. But his transformation was not all at once. Over the past three years, he has gone from working the green chain in a sawmill to speaking in major Protestant churches throughout the western U.S., Canada and Africa”. [Source]
Appearance
Todd Bentley is far from mainstream. He is heavy set and bearded and his arms and neck are covered with tattoos. He wears studs in his chin and left eyebrow and certainly doesn’t look anything like a typical evangelist.
But isn’t being a Christian all about being forgiven for past sins and being filled with the Holy Spirit which helps enable one to live out the rest of our lives in righteousness etc. etc. Isn’t being a Christian more to do with the inside being clean, rather than the outside adhering to some set standard? Didn’t Jesus criticize the Pharisees for their appearance of righteousness while the inside was rotting?
 Certainly! As long as our present lives are pleasing to God and our beliefs according to the precepts of Scripture, it should not particularly matter what our outward appearance is like. Except for a couple of small problems...
Unlike many Christians, I have absolutely nothing against tattoos, but in the photograph Bentley is displaying a bizarre tattoo that is eerily similar to the popular depictions of Medusa. Besides which it is all too often the case that tattoos, body piercings etc. are far more than just appearance, they represent a lifestyle …a mindset or worldview, if you will, that is completely antithetical to Christianity. A premise that seems to be further reinforced by ....
Bentley’s My Space….
There is a disturbing pattern to Todd Bentley’s interests on his myspace page, which has a prominent Harley Davidson symbol at the top. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with Harleys, there is a mind-set here that just doesn’t sit right on a so called minister of God.
The Bible instructs us to come out from the world and be separate (which is the definition of holiness). So isn’t it reasonable to expect the life of a preacher/evangelist/man of God to be a little bit different from everyone else? Are we being unreasonable to expect that this man’s life be salt and light, that he set the example for the rest of the flock to follow, that he display at least some separation from the entertainment and lifestyle of the world.
However this is far from the case with Bentley, who’s preferences in movies etc, are pretty typical of any unregenerate ‘tough guy’. For example his general interests are listed as
Family, Sushi, Harley Davidson's, Music, Starbucks, Movies, hangning out with Friends (misspelling in original)
Bentley seems to have an affinity for roughness and violence.. (Why would I not be surprised if Bentley also favored professional wrestling?) his favorite movies include …
Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Braveheart, Die Hard, Mission Impossible and Bourne on the big screen and King of Queens, Seinfeld, American Chopper and CSI on television.
While time and space preclude a meaningful analysis of all these programs, we have dealt with a few.
Television
Seinfeld is as dumb as ‘comedy’ get with it’s characters neurotic and conceited at best and immature, dishonest, petty and totally wacko at worst.
The immature Doug in King of Queens does nothing but watch sports, play poker and put on weight.
CSI pushes the envelope as far as graphic violence, images, and sexual content goes. [Emphasis Added]
“The CSI series (along with its spin-off shows) have pushed the boundary of what is considered acceptable viewing for primetime network television. The series had numerous episodes on sexual fetishism and other forms of sexual pleasure (see especially the recurring character of Lady Heather, a professional dominatrix). CSI has been ranked as among the worst prime-time shows for family viewing by the Parents Television Council nearly every season since its second, being ranked the worst show for family prime-time viewing after the 2002–2003and 2005–2006 seasons. The PTC has also targeted certain CSI episodes for its weekly "Worst TV Show of the Week" feature. In addition, the episode "King Baby" aired in February 2005, which the PTC named the most offensive TV show of the week, also led the PTC to start a campaign to file complaints with the FCC with the episode; to date, nearly 13,000 PTC members complained to the Federal Communications Commission about the episode. The PTC has also asked Clorox to pull their advertisements from CSI and CSI: Miami because of the graphically violent content on those programs”. [Source]
American Chopper.... The day-to-day drama of a volatile father and son team (New York natives Paul Teutul Sr. and son Paul Jr) as they create outrageous custom motorcycles. However Paul senior is a hot-tempered tattooed foul-mouthed patriarch who’s every second word has to be bleeped out.
Fans of "American Chopper" have come to expect certain things from the reality show: Loud engines. Tattoos. Father and son shouting bleeped obscenities at each other.[Rob Merritt. The Gazette. Source
And this is what TB calls his favorite television programs.
Bentley and West Coast Chopper
 Bentley has a larger version of the picture on the left on his MySpace page. Wondering what the logo on his chest (and sleeves) was, I enlarged it [below right].. Then still not recognizing it, I enlisted my husband, who told me it was the West Coast Chopper logo. Bentley is wearing a West Coast Chopper T-shirt.
West Coast Chopper is a company best known for selling chopper-style motorcycles. If you Google ‘West Coast Choppers’, their site comes up at the top of the page with the charming caption …
“If you don't like how we're livin', FU jack”
Managed by Jesse James (former host of Monster Garage) who has a “a love for custom motorcycles coupled with a bad attitude”
“James moved out of his father's house at the age of sixteen because his enthusiasm for motorcycles was not matched by his antique slinging father. Spending the next three years stealing motorcycle parts to build his bikes, Jesse James acquired familiarity with the police and Orange County jail cells. This California Youth Authority veteran experienced a metamorphosis from a bad-boy incarcerated to a bad-boy in the spotlight, when the Discovery Channel picked him up for their pilot "Monster Garage" in 2001”. [Greg Kucera. Monster Garage: Jesse James, West Coast Choppers, Custom Motorcycles And Harley. May 31, 2007. Source]
On the site, which is strewn with pictures of scantily clad women astride motorcycles [Surprise surprise!] you are urged to sign up or become a Chopperdog’s member by a female clad in boxing shorts and strategically held boxing gloves. After signing up you can buy an “Exclusive Chopper F--‘s T-Shirt”. [See For Yourself]
Now Jesse James and the rest of the whatever the heck they call themselves can do and say exactly what they wish. However a so called preacher of the Gospel, who ‘visits Heaven on a regular basis’ can and should be held accountable.
The duplicity of Todd Bentley wearing a cross around his neck, which rests on the West Coast Chopper logo on his shirt is enough to make anyone gag.
While the man is a despicable hypocrite, what is even worse is that he has carried over his violent tendencies into his stage shows, and the so called Christian audience, not only encourage him, they laugh at his loathsome accounts.
Violence in The Name of God
The following information including the partial word-for-word transcript of the video below is thanks to Christian Research Service
“At about 10 seconds into the video, Todd Bentley states:
The woman was standing in the back of the room when the faith of God hit the meeting, and her tumor exploded out of her right leg, slid down her leg onto the floor! (audience applause)
I said, "God! I prayed for like a hundred crippled people. Not one?" He said, "That's because I want you to grab that lady's crippled legs and bang them up-and-down on the platform like a baseball bat." (audience laughter)
I walked up and I grabbed her legs, and I started going, BAM! BAM! I started banging them up-and-down on the plat[form]! She got healed!
And I'm thinking, God, why is not the power of God moving? He said, "Because you haven't kicked that woman in the face." (audience laughter)
And there is this older lady worshipping right in front of the platform. (audience laughter) And the Holy Spirit spoke to me--the gift of faith came on me--He said, "Kick her in the face with your biker-boot." (audience laughter)
I inched closer and I went like this [Todd Bentley performs a kick with his right leg and yells] BAM! (audience laughter) And just as my boot made contact with her nose, she fell under the power of God.
The remaining moments of the video speaks for itself and demonstrates what happens to Todd Bentley when he is overcome by the so-called "gift of faith." In what may be termed an award-winning theatrical performance, Bentley claims that "God" told him to: run and knock a person to the ground; "Ground and pound;" choke a man; run and hit a man so hard "it drove him back several feet! He hit the ground and his tooth popped right out of his mouth!" (audience laughter)
The video ends with Todd Bentley claiming that "God" instructed him to perform a "leg-drop" on a pastor.
I hope you realize that this assault would have landed Bentley in jail had it taken place anywhere other than a ‘church.
But The Audience Did Nothing But Laugh!
NOT ONE of these good ‘Christians’ in the audience objected to this story. Not ONE person stood up and said “Hey! You don’t kick anyone”. NOT ONE person stood up and yelled “We do not serve a God who kicks people”.
God forgive us for what we have become.
Tragically, Todd Bentley is not the first to use violence in a ‘ministry’. Stories abound about people like Smith Wigglesworth and A.A. Allen. But in the nearer verifiable past
Kenneth Hagin claims the Lord instructed him to hit an elderly woman in the stomach with his fist. (Hagin, Understanding the Anointing, 114-115 and
Rodney Browne who attended Hagin’s Rhema college slapped a deaf person so hard the person fell flat on the floor.(Flowing in the Holy Ghost p.53, R.H.B quoted in counterfeit Revival H. Hanegraaff).
So what does Scripture say about
1) the nature of the Holy Spirit…
In the words of Let Us Reason Ministries
“Jesus said In Jn.14:16 he would ask the Father to send another comforter (Greek- Allos paracletos) which means another of the same kind, (a person). Here the Lord calls him our helper, the comforter one that comes alongside, he will be in the Christian, as well as with them. His ministry is to do what Jesus did when he was here physically but mainly from the inside of us. Instead of Jesus being here in the flesh, the invisible Spirit is. So the Holy Spirit would have the same nature of Jesus.
Now we need to ask, what was Jesus like? Matt.11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." The Jesus of scripture is Gentle, humble, meek.
2) The Nature and Behaviour of Christian Leaders
Additionally the New Testament is quite clear about the character and behaviour of a Christian, especially the leadership. In his instructions to Timothy regarding the qualifications of a bishop, Paul says [Emphasis Added]
1Timothy 2:2: for kings and all that are in high place; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.
1Timothy 3:2-3: The bishop therefore must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, orderly, given to hospitality, apt to teach; no brawler, no striker; but gentle, not contentious, no lover of money;
1Timothy: 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
2) The Nature and Behaviour of all Christians
Scripture uses the words gentle, peaceable and meek quite often.
Galatians 5:22 tells us “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness (gentleness), temperance: against such there is no law”
Ephesians 4:30-32 says "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."
1Thessalonians 2:7 "But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children.
Titus 3:2 "... speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy."
Music
While I do not know a great deal about all the music and musicians Bentley extols, he includes P.O.D and U2 on his list of favorites and we all know what they are like. You don’t? Well I guess that has to be remedied. See POD HERE and U2 HERE.
One of his other music favourites is a so called Christian group called Haste the Day, who spent the summer of 2007 on the Vans Warped Tour and, shortly after that, a month on the road with Atreyu. Vans Warped Tour features post-hardcore, pop punk, some hardcore punk, street punk bands and metalcore acts and Atreyu calls the Bible “some bullshit rule book” and asks to be spared from “biblical back peddling nonsense”. [Details]
While his favorite books include Benny Hinn’s Good morning Holy Spirit, and works by Kenneth Haggin and E.W. Kenyon. Kenyon? Who is Kenyon you ask! Well…
The modern Word-Faith movement is undeniably rooted in the teachings of E.W. Kenyon (1867-1948). Hagin’s primary role within the Word of Faith movement was to take its teachings mainstream and he ‘borrowed’ from the writings and teachings of E.W. Kenyon. Kenyon taught that our words activate an impersonal universal force and that disease is spiritual in origin. [See The Word Of Faith Movement: History And Leaders]
Todd Bentley a.k.a James Van Praagh a.k.a John Edward
I found the graphic on the right on http://defendingcontending.com:80/ and could not resist posting it here, which in no way should take away from the seriousness of Bentley’s deception.
The next video came from on A Little Leaven and brings home the fact as to how similar Todd Bentley’s ‘reading’ are to any of the psychics I have ever watched on television. For example in speaking to a woman, he says ..
“Thank you Holy Ghost, thank you Lord for that oil coming right now for healing in Jesus’ mighty name for healing… release that”
That oil coming right now?? What oil? He then asks the woman whether she has any children, to which she shakes her head in the negative.
Bentley then says [Emphasis Added]
“No Children? cause I’ve just laid hands on you and I feel like there something in that room right now that God’s going to release. Doesn’t mean you’re going to have natural children, it could be that I’m picking up on it because you’re not married, never had children, but the Lord’s highlighting that to me for whatever reason right now.
In speaking to another person Bentley asks if she worked in medicine or nursing or anything like that. When the woman says no, Bentley asks if she has ever done anything like that, to which the woman again answers in the negative.
Bentley tells the next woman that she need a “creative miracle of the heart”. Whatever that is.
Bentley then unbelievably goes down the line “releasing the anointing” and yelling “Boom-Ba” as each person falls to the ground.
Boom-Ba???
Let me relate one more ‘incident’ on the video before I throw up… Bentley is talking to a man who was struck by lightning years before and still has some residual effects. After blathering on for some time about impartations etc. Bentley says [Emphasis Added]
“I feel like the Lord told me that the man who had the lightning visit him in the late seventies will be a man that I am going to mark with a real gift for faith and healing.
Bentley refers more than once to what he is “picking up on” or what he “feels the Lord told him”. So the inescapable conclusion is that either the Lord is mumbling and/or being extremely vague in what he is telling Bentley or Bentley himself is either hard of hearing and/or an extremely bad listener.
If you haven’t ever done so please turn your TV on and watch one of the psychics in action. Don’t worry, it is extremely unlikely that evil spirits will rush out of the television set and attack you in your living room. You just have to see the similarities between their ‘readings’ and Bentleys to believe it.
And Christians still fall for this claptrap.
Contagious Anointing or Contagious Kundalini Awakening?
In the following video Todd Bentley [in tones that would make any self-respecting banshee extremely
proud] says.. [Do not miss his “vibrating” or having his own “glory party” up there]. Comments in parenthesis and bold mine.
“We have an international television audience tonight” (God help us! Now we are dumping the dregs of the earth on other unsuspecting countries).
“The Lord told me that this anointing would be the most contagious anointing in my ministry”
(He then bends over and emits a loud and prolonged scream, which I imagine is the same sound someone would make should a knife be stuck in their gut)
“As great as the anointing’s been, this was the year of the double portion… transferable, tangible anointing
[Puppet on a string imitation again]
“And the Lord spoke to me in the beginning of this outpouring that ever service, and I have not been tired… at every meeting I was to pray for the leaders coming in from around the world, pastors, missionaries, evangelists that were hungry for a fresh touch on their lives.
[Now we know what kind of leaders we have. Actually we have known for some time now, but that’s another story]”
“and He told me that this anointing, this same glory would follow them wherever they went….and it is breaking out already,
Bentley then goes on to tell how the leaders of his churches came down and told him that the “glory” is falling in Canada, also how he got a call from someone associated with Randy Clary who told him that he didn’t “know what to do”
“ He was in Lakeland and you laid hands on him and then he went to Iowa and the same anointing began to break out and a boy with cerebral palsy got out of a wheel chair,
[Hmm! Wonder if he is still out of that wheelchair?]
[Banshee imitation again.. “Send it to Ioooowa”
Someone then walks up to Bentley with a piece of paper which is supposed to have just come in off the web .. Apparently some church in Charleston W. Virginia is advertising the “Florida Healing revival live 7pm nightly. Bentley says they are “piping in the meetings” and “you can get this revival by satellite”
[Apparently we all seem to need a primer on what exactly a revival is.. so I strongly suggest you start reading this section]
Bentley then turns and faces the camera screaming to the church in Virginia to
“stand on your faith and receive that same glory and miracle anointing come on you in Valley Christian in Virginia.. GROWL!. I don’t care, you can get it on God Tv, you can get it on the website streaming, you can get it. We’ve got churches in Peru, Guatemala, Japan, Africa, Canada and all over America that believe that this anointing is so contagious that if they put a big screen up in their church .. the same anointing will pour in.”
Bentley then goes on to say whether he is there for three weeks or five years he is going to
“lay hands on every leader that’s hungry enough to humble themselves and come and soak in the glory and get some”
“The Lords has been speaking to me and I talked to Bob Jones about it …12 cities that are next.. 12 cities in America. This revival is international because it’s the winds of change and the wind blows wherever it wishes .. all you can do is set up your sail… It’s the wind of the Holy Ghost.. BLOW! BLOW! BLOW!, WIND! WIND! WIND!... Winds of change…Let a mighty rushing wind be released all over the world. Let the wind blow.
So Bentley is says this anointing is contagious, the most contagious of his ministry and it will spread through satellite, the internet and television. That he was to pray for the leaders coming in from around the world, so that this same glory would follow them wherever they went…. [John Arnott compared it to a "spiritual virus''].
A New Thing? You Have To Be Kidding!
Christians that flock to Toronto, Brownsville and Lakeland do not seem to realize that the manifestations at these places are not a “New Move of God” but have existed for thousands of years. They are a “Very Ancient Move of Satan”.
Todd Bentley, John Arnott and the like think they are hot stuff running around screaming “Bam” and “Fire” , yet
For thousands of years gurus have operated with gifts of healing, miracles, gifts of knowledge and intense displays of spiritual consciousness for thousands of years.
For thousands of years they have connected with a cosmic power which, though demonic in origin, is very real.
For thousands of years devotees have gone forward to receive spiritual experience (Darshan) from a touch by the open palm of the hand, often to the forehead, by the guru in what is known as the Shakti Pat or divine touch.
For thousands of years, as a result of the Shakti Pat, these devotees have had a raising of the spiritual experience also called raising Kundalini……
For thousands of years Shakti has been easily passed by a touch or by some other method from one already ‘on fire'. “The mere presence of a single being whose shakti is strongly active can awaken the shakti of those around him. Similarly being in the presence of many people whose shakti is awakened to some degree can awaken one's own shakti.
For thousands of years the manifestations of an awakened kundalini among people of other religions has been exactly the same as the results of being ‘Slain in The Spirit’ in so called Christian meetings. Such as involuntary and spasmodic body movements and postures; vibrating sensations; shaking; abnormal breathing patterns; hot and cold sensations, unusual or extremes of emotions; distortion of thought processes; detachment; disassociation; bodily activities such as trembling, vocal activities such as yelling, roaring, whistling, and chirping, spontaneous chanting and mental activities such as visions.
What Kundalini is
Kundalini has been defined as
“A concentrated field of intelligent, cosmic invisible energy absolutely vital to life; beginning in the base of the spine as a man or woman begins to evolve in their first incarnation; fed by the chakras along the spine and by the cosmic energy entering through the feet from the earth; as wisdom is earned in each incarnation, this electromagnetic, ultrapotent energy moves slowly upward through the spine; Kundalini is feminine polarity in nature”. Sim. (Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary, June G. Beltzer, Ph.D., p. 343).
For more on Kundalini and it’s similarities to the Counterfeit Revivals see Page on Kundalini
False Prophecies
Sadly, the so called church has become so used to various fakes spouting exceedingly similar (and tiresome) ‘prophecies’ that no one bothers to even check whether these prophecies actually come to pass.
"Beware of false prophets" (Matthew 7:15). These well-known words of Jesus instantly tell us two things: 1) There are false prophets 2) They are dangerous. In fact the Lord took the whole subject of false prophecy so seriously that the penalty in Old Testament times was death for false prophets (Deut 18:20).
But this is not all. Willing listeners who have given these false prophets credence are under an equally severe judgment as those who done the actual prophesying, since the Lord made it an extremely simple matter to distinguish a false prophets from a real one, and He did so FOR OUR PROTECTION.
The listeners are not excused because false prophets told them lies, for they have given credit to these fabrications.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land: By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them-them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them. [Jeremiah 14:15-16. Emphasis Added]
Jeremiah further tells us
An astonishing and horrible thing is come to pass in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? [Jeremiah 5:30-31. Emphasis Added]
Which perfectly sums up the situation today, in Lakeland and many other places...
At one of his whatever-he-calls-them meetings on the 7th of June 2008, Bentley read a prophecy by God TV’s Wendy Alec…
“Listen to this. The Lord just spoke to me and said ‘This IS what will happen tomorrow night, The King and the Kings anointing falls tomorrow night. The 8th of June 2008 The anointing of the king of glory falls. Jesus said “I am coming in person”. The King is coming in person. I sense so strongly there will be a personal divine visitation of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ to the revival tomorrow night. He will come in the clouds in His chariot surrounded by a great angelic host because the great honoring of the Lamb of God, the King of Glory is coming to visit Lakeland, to visit the revival, to visit the outpouring. The devil trembles with that knowledge. For tomorrow the King of Glory sets foot upon the stage in Divine personal one to one visitation.
Bentley goes on to say
“Now for all those watching that just don’t understand the nature of the prophetic ..tho’ the Lord can appear .. I’m not suggesting there going to be a physical flesh Jesus Christ … I hope you understand.. we’re talking about atmosphere. Talking about in spiritual experience. We’re talking about impartation.
Wait a minute. Didn’t you just say He was coming in a cloud with all the angels? Didn’t he just say King of Glory will set foot upon the stage in a Divine visitation. How does all that change into “impartation” and “atmosphere”?
And then Bentley gets even more strange. He turns to someone called Roy and says [Emphasis Added]
“If tonight and last night’s worship is any indication that something is changing in the realm of the gold ring
What the hell is the realm of the gold ring? And for those of you that think that ‘what the hell’ is cussing.. I disagree, but in this case mean it very literally. [Source]
Oily Smelly Hands
In yet another embarrassing display Bentley says that his oily hands are a ‘sign’ of the Holy Spirit.
He extends his hands to several people and asks if ‘they smell that?”, telling them that “it appeared on my hands”. He then encourages people to pray for oil to appear on their hands…
“I want you to lift your hand up right now and say ‘God, let the oil appear’. Take a moment and say ‘God, let the oil appear’.. Let the oil drip out of my hands.
Bentley then turns to the camera and says
We can not, for which we have to thank God for small mercies, especially when it apparently smells like “Sheeka-Boom-Ba”. Bentley’s words, not mine.
God Wants People To Believe in The Angel.
In yet another astonishing ‘revelation’ Bentley says that he has to tell people the full story..
“… if you want to know why God’s moving I have to tell you the whole story. If you don’t believe the story.. well sorry. You know I told the Lord.. “Why can’t I just move in healing and forget talking about all that other stuff ?” He said “because you got to get the people to believe in the angel” I said “Why do I want people to believe in the angel? Isn’t it about getting the people to believe in Jesus? ” He said “The people already believe in Jesus , but the church doesn’t believe in the supernatural. The church has no problem believing in Jesus, what we don’t believe in is the supernatural. What we don’t believe in is angels, we don’t believe in the prophetic, we don’t believe in some of what’s going on, and I’ll tell you what ..we need to have an awakening.
The angel being referred to here is the “angel of the winds of change”
Bentley then apparently told God that maybe He wanted to
“give this ministry to someone else cause none’s going to receive it.. You’re going to give me the most controversial testimony. You’re going to visit me with all this supernatural stuff. Maybe if I were a little more clean shaven and polished.. Or maybe the world is looking for something new. How any of you believe we need something new?”
Bentley’s god has his facts wrong.. the church has absolutely no problem believing in the supernatural.. We believe the God parted the red sea, caused the sun to stand still, healed many peopled, raised Jesus from the dead (and will one day raise many others). We believe in prophecy, which gives assurance to our faith.
We also believe in angels as messengers of God.. that angels announced the birth of Christ, ministered to Him and that a single angel of judgment destroyed the entire Assyrian army (Isaiah 37:36), that angels protected Daniel and his friends, that an angel rolled away the stone from the tomb of Christ, that one angel shall bind Satan and cast him into the bottomless pit and on and on and on. So what part of all this is Bentley going to ‘awaken’ us to?
Perhaps his version of the angels, none of which has any grounding in Scripture but often flatly contradicts it. For example he talks about an angel he described as carrying the “Winds of Change.”
Asked him to describe this angel, Bentley replied that those familiar with the life of William Branham would recognize the angel from being a relevant factor in his healing ministry. He felt that this angel’s appearance signaled a “shift in the atmosphere” for the meetings and felt that an openness for revival had been ushered in. [Reports of Revival Breaking Out in Lakeland, Florida, Fresh Fire Ministries. April 11, 2008]
Hmmm! Is this the same Branham that taught that the Word of God was given in three forms: the zodiac, the Egyptian pyramids, and the written scripture and believed he was Elijah the prophet? He also believed in UFO’s.
So an angel associated with a man who taught heresy has now turned up at Lakeland
On another occasion Bentley says he saw a ‘female’ angel called
Emma
And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. [2 Thessalonians 2:11-12]
In Bentley’s words
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.
During this visitation the pastor's wife (it was an AOG church) got totally whacked by the Holy Ghost- she began running around barking like a dog or squawking like a chicken as a powerful prophetic spirit came on her. Also, as this prophetic anointing came on her, she started getting phone numbers of complete strangers and calling them up on the telephone and prophesying over them. She would tell them that God gave her their telephone number and then would give them words of knowledge. Complete strangers. Then angels started showing up in the church. [http://www.etpv.org/2003/angho.html]
There are more than a few problems with this, starting with the fact that no angel in Scripture is ever described as being ‘female’. To add to which The World Kigo Database of seasonal words covering Japanese Festivals and Ceremonies from Buddhist, Shinto and other backgrounds, tells us that.
Enma or Emma is the Japanese name for the Sanskrit: Yama or Yama-raja, the King of Hell. [Source]
Emam is not female, but the ruler of the underworld in Buddhist mythology and is often referred to as "Great King Enma". Please remember that the God of the underworld can transform himself into “an angel of light” (2Corinthians 11:14).
So is there any good reason this Emma or Enma would appear as a woman.. Certainly! Since westerners associate the name ‘Emma’ with women, an obviously masculine looking spirit with the name would cause much head scratching.
The deplorable antics of the pastor's wife have been dealt with here..
And the Gold Dust later on in this article.
Angel of Finance ????
Bentley says there is “an angelic realm in Heaven, devoted to the finances”. Using Revelation 11:15 (“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord in Christ) for support, He then goes on to say..
I mean God gives power to get wealth. God oversees the wealth of this world.. it’s God’s wealth… God’s riches.. Doesn’t matter who’s hands it’s in, it belongs to the Lord”
However he has not only quoted just part of Revelation 11:15, but has also taken it completely out of context. The entire verse reads
And the seventh messenger did sound, and there came great voices in the heaven, saying, `The kingdoms of the world did become those of our Lord and of His Christ, and he shall reign to the ages of the ages!'
Which is a parallel to Daniel 2:44,
"The God of heaven shall set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break to pieces all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever."
Neither of which has nothing to do with finances or healing. Revelation 11:15 is where the seventh and last trumpet of the trumpet judgments is blown. It represents the certain and glorious outcome of the age-long struggle against Satan, who wields the kingdom of the world, which he offered to Christ on the mountain for one act of worship. The climax comes with Christ as conqueror of the kingdom of this world for his Father. This verse is the crowning lesson of the Apocalypse.
Anyway back to TB and his vivid imagination.
After blathering on for a while about incredible financial breakthroughs (For whom?) and “a whole lot of supernatural giving going on’, he goes on to tell how he was sitting in a meeting (in Santa Rosa) and fell into a trance, which he describes as “a dream like state but you’re awake… A state that you go into to have an experience” Why trances? According to Bentley... “God wants to get your attention, cause your brain’s too busy”, but “you know when they are coming and you can actually resist it”.
Bentley says that over the years he has had many trances and uses a couple of Scriptures to back up his experiences. First he says that “God cause a deep sleep to fall on Adam .. it was a trance like state”. He then says that Peter fell into a trance in Acts 10.
However Acts 10 says absolutely nothing about Peter falling into any kind of trance. All it says is that he “saw a vision.. an angel of God coming in unto him”. In fact, unlike Bentley who claims that quite often he cannot even move but just sits there during one of these trances, Peter was very afraid and spoke to the angel saying “What is it, Lord?”.
On this occasion Bentley says that he did not see anything, there was no vision and he was totally awake, but “checked out”. He goes on the say that he
“..saw heaven open and as I ascended a ladder. I ascended into the heavens…I saw white feathers, I mean these feathers were as real as any bird in the natural. This was not a vision .. these were full vibrant wings. And then I noticed the wings move and there was an arm under one wing and an arm under the other wing and when the wing was lifted I saw ever precious gem, ruby, stone treasure diamond….every treasure you could think of under the angels wings. Then the angel stood and he has the body of a man and six wings. And it’s the angel of finance. I have seen him on two other occasions.
I saw a treasure room in Heaven with a door called ‘Treasure’ and the door was open and without thinking he was in this treasure room, which only had one item in it… Gold coins. Bentley, since he got the opportunity “to look at himself during the experience”, saw himself dressed in a 1950’s outfit (suspenders etc) stuffing gold coins in his pockets and down his shirt. When he asked what he was doing, God told him that “He was getting the offering”. Upon which he made a conscious decision to get more and began “stuffing it in my ears…”
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Also See HEAVEN CANT WAIT ..Visionaries throughout the centuries have claimed to have been caught up to the other side, however visions of heaven throughout the centuries have been significantly conditioned by whichever view of the afterlife prevailed at the time. Besides which contradictory versions about trips to heaven shoot wide of Scripture in significant areas.
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He goes on the tell of “8 golden nuggets coming out of his scalp” and how ‘his face was covered in gold with gold flakes falling out of his hair” and how later his dog “was covered in gold”. All of which brings one verse to mind
And he took the (golden) calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. [Exodus 32]
Christian Alchemy
“The most significant meaning for gold is of course in the realm of alchemy, and most people know that the aim of alchemy was to transmute base metals into gold. Although this was actually attempted as a chemical process, the real meaning behind alchemy was a spiritual transformation of flesh into divinity”.
Alchemy has always made extensive use of analogy, symbolism, and so forth to relate chemical and physical concepts to esoteric and mystic ones. In some epochs and contexts, these metaphysical aspects came to predominate, and the chemical processes were then viewed as mere symbols of spiritual processes. [http://www.crystalinks.com/philosopherstone.html]
In an article entitled All That Glitters, G. Richard Fisher said the following about the Toronto blessing
It seems that God has reemerged at Toronto as the cosmic dentist — a mystical Dr. Midas — a celestial tooth fairy, a heavenly Goldfinger, who fills teeth and sprinkles a little gold dust besides. What will God think of next?
It seems that the celestial tooth fairy has now shown up at Lakeland. | 
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