A helpful book for such a deception as this:
‘True To His Ways’ by Ruth Davis.
In recent weeks I have had a number of inquiries concerning a supposed ‘Healing Revival’ taking place in Lakeland, Florida under the ‘ministry’ of Todd Bentley.
I was first alerted to these happenings when an inquirer sent me a copy of a ‘personal update’ that had been issued by Mr Bentley. This is that ‘update’ –
Dear Friends,
As I write this, just two hours ago at 2pm the Glory fell on me; I’ve been weeping and praying about what is happening here in Florida. I honestly have never felt such a manifest presence. People are saying they feel the glory 10 miles away from the meetings, it’s that tangible. And based on how absolutely electric the meetings are going, one can only imagine what will happen tonight and in the meetings to follow. Along with many other leaders, we pray that this is the next wave that we have all been waiting for.
I just spoke with Bob Jones again and he told me several things. First, he was not expecting that the glory would fall this soon. Second, Bob said the angel, “winds of change,” is bringing the change NOW, and that this outpouring would break out internationally. He said this outpouring, the very tangible healing anointing, is for the world and would go everywhere. [God told me that every night in the meetings I was to impart it to ministries, and as I write this, several hundred pastors, evangelists and ministries have already come.] Third, Bob said, and I agree, we have never seen such notable miracles. [Distinctively, scars and burn marks have been removed from bodies, and there are testimonies coming in of cancers, tumors, deaf ears, diabetes, lupus, autism, and a vast array of other sicknesses and diseases, all being healed. I’m talking hundreds of healings so far! There are dramatic salvations, and heavenly visitations especially coming to the children.] Fourth, Bob said that our interns would become “doctors,” quickly, and take this to the world, and that our associates are needed to spread the fire. [Since many associates are in the meetings here, right now, if you would like to book any of these associates to bring the fire and revival to your city, church, or ministry, call the Fresh Fire office: 604-853-9041 or go to our website www.freshfire.ca and check out our associates under “Associate Ministries.”]
Please read the following letter and comments from Denny Cline, one of our real friends and fathers, who pastors the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Albany, in Oregon. Also, another report follows below given to me today by John Arnott, who is currently in Hawaii right now with Che Ahn, Bill Johnson, and Heidi Baker. Before closing, I want to invite all those who are really hungry and praying for revival, to come get some! You can also watch what God is doing in Lakeland on GOD TV or live on our website nightly at 7pm EST at www.freshfire.ca
We are here through April 27th and willing to stay longer. I also welcome any comments you might have about what you believe is happening.
In Revival
Todd Bentley
In my reply to this particular inquirer I wrote as follows –
To begin with, if the photo is of the writer, Todd Bentley, as I looked at the stud in his chin and what appeared to be a few ‘implants’ in his left eyebrow I thought of the verses in Leviticus 19:27-28 – these modern-day ‘adornments’ seem to be very close to OT procedures that God warned against…[the tattoos certainly are but they may have been ‘in place’ before Mr Bentley supposedly became a Christian – since first posting this article I have now seen evidence that the tattoos have unfortunately been ‘added’ since Mr Bentley claimed to have become a Christian ]
In his letter he mentioned a ‘Bob Jones’ – could this be the disgraced ‘Kansas City Prophet’ called Bob Jones? – The following article is from this link –
http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/fridaynews/fridaynews020329.html
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CHARISMATICS AND DREAM EVANGELISM.
Friday Church News Notes, March 29, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org) A group of Charismatics used “dream evangelism” at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. This was sponsored by the Foursquare church in Salt Lake City, which is pastored by a husband and wife team. Charismatic teams set up shop at two secular bookstores and invited the unsaved to share their dreams, which were then interpreted. This soothsaying nonsense comes from the alleged Charismatic prophet John Paul Jackson, who has trained some 2,000 people to interpret dreams through his Streams Ministries International. It is used by some of the Vineyard churches, which were founded by the late John Wimber. In the 1980s, Jackson was associated with Mike Bickle, Paul Cain, Bob Jones (not the Bob Jones of Bob Jones University) and others that were called the Kansas City prophets. They claimed that God was restoring prophets to the churches to prepare for a last days miracle movement that would allegedly precede the return of Christ. They were absorbed into the Vineyard movement in the late 1980s. In 1990, I heard John Wimber, Mike Bickle, and Paul Cain speak about these things at a conference in Indianapolis. They admitted that the new prophets were not always accurate. One in those days admitted that they were only accurate from 10 to 65 percent of the time! Paul Cain has since been discredited as a false prophet. When Bill Clinton was president, for example, Cain prophesied that he was God’s man and that Clinton would lead America away from the New World order. It didn’t happen, of course. Bob Jones was forced to resign in 1991 because of immorality. Mike Bickle left the Vineyard movement and today has weird 24-hour praise warfare meetings. Beware of the Charismatic movement. Its enthusiasm for signs and wonders and experiences, and its desire not to put “the Holy Spirit in a box,” has produced a steady stream of dangerous practices and unscriptural doctrines.
You can also read of Bob Jones and other ‘Kansas City Prophets’ on this link
http://www.christiandoctrine.net/doctrine/articles/article_00093_the_kansas_city_prophets_web.htm
Then in the letter it mentioned John Arnott – he is the pastor of the Toronto Airport Vineyard where the diabolical so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ came from. If you want to see how diabolical those goings-on were just ask me to send you the DVD of a talk I gave called ‘Toronto- Antics and Heretics’ – in it I include extensive footage of the 1st anniversary service held in Toronto to mark ‘the blessing’ and you see John Arnott orchestrating all the awful goings-on. In the light of these ‘connections’ I would steer well clear of Todd Bentley.
The same inquirer then sent me part of an email they had received from someone [that they had met on a holiday to Israel] really promoting Todd Bentley’s meetings – part of the email they received said this
Dear xxxx,
I admit it does sound strange, some of the manifestations at the Healing Revival, but they already got drunk in The Holy Spirit in the Upper Room (where we were!!!!) Acts 2:4-5…
And my response was
This being ‘drunk in the Holy Spirit’ was touted at the time of Toronto because of the accusation we read of in Acts 2:13. Before my conversion I knew a thing or two about being drunk and when drunk both your mental and physical capabilities are impaired. On the Day of Pentecost the mental faculties of the disciples were not impaired – they were enhanced because they were able to speak in known languages that they had never learned. Their physical capabilities were not impaired [like falling over etc] – they too were enhanced because in verse 14 we read of “Peter, standing up with the eleven” and he goes on to preach with clarity and passion. On the Day of Pentecost the work of the Holy Spirit helped to reveal the things of Christ and brought glory to Christ unlike the shameful ‘drunk in the spirit’ escapades at Toronto etc. Your friends wrote of how ‘God’ turned Todd away from drugs etc – Satan can often mimic a work of God – many years ago I spent an evening witnessing to a couple whose lives had similarly been cleaned up through becoming ‘religious’ – they were Hare Krishnas. Look too at the example of ‘clean living’ set by many Mormons but they too are victims of another diabolical cult. No wonder the Bible, in the context of the Christian’s armour, speaks of ‘the wiles of the devil’ [Ephesians 6:11]. This is all just like a re-run of ‘Toronto’ and ‘Pensacola’.
This supposed ‘Revival’ has received a ‘seal of approval’ from Wendy Alec who along with her husband Rory founded the GOD TV channel some years ago. This was Wendy’s endorsement that I downloaded from Todd Bentley’s ‘ministry’ website –
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Lakeland Florida Outpouring – Wendy Alec GOD TV
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Date: April 15, 2008 Location: Lakeland Florida Outpouring
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Author: Wendy Alec – GOD TV
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GODTV IS BROADCASTING TODD BENTLEY’S REVIVAL MEETINGS FROM LAKELAND
Dear friends
Just a quick, short but important note to YOU – while Rory is flying on his way to Los Angeles, I have been working frantically on the running orders for our Israel TV events – but I have just literally been apprehended by the Lord to urgently let you know what has been happening in Lakeland Florida!
You may have just received our e-blast but this is to reaffirm that SOMETHING SPECTACULAR-SOMETHING SUPERNATURAL HAS BEEN BREAKING OUT IN LAKELAND FLORIDA IN TODD BENTLEYS MEETINGS – SALVATIONS, INCREDIBLE HEALINGS AND DELIVERANCES FROM DRUGS – PASTORS AND LEADERS ARE ARRIVING FROM ACROSS THE NATIONS TO BE A PART OF WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE – AND WE ARE SO PRIVILEGED TO BE ABLE TO BRING IT TO YOUR GODTV SCREEN
This truly feels it could be the beginnings of a revival like Pensacola experienced with Steve Hill – so Rory and I urge you – switch on tonight and every night this week – the Lord will surely TOUCH YOU! Okay – I’m back to work prepping for Israel – I know so many of you are SO busy like us – but TUNE INTO the SUPERNATURAL TONIGHT! BIG GOD BLESS from the programming side!
Much Love, Wendy
Wendy Alec GOD TV Co-Founder http://www.god.tv
Back in 2005 I invited a guest speaker to come and talk on the subject of GOD TV and by way of introduction to what he said I showed some video of a ‘fund-raising’ broadcast by GOD TV that featured both Wendy and Rory Alec and their guest ‘fund-raiser’ called Steve Munsey. If you go to this link
https://www.takeheed.info/strange-bedfellows-with-evangelical-alliance/
and scroll down in the article to the section headed ‘Steve Munsey and Benny Hinn’ you will see where you can click on a link to watch Steve Munsey. If you watch this particular segment you will I think understand why it has been so easy for Wendy Alec to put her ‘seal of approval’ on the shocking events happening in Lakeland.
I have watched a number of video postings to YouTube of Mr Bentley ‘ministering’ and this is quite simply a re-run of many of the horrible ‘manifestations’ that were claimed at the time of the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ and then its successor [also in Florida] the so-called ‘Pensacola Revival’. You can currently see what I mean by viewing such an item on
Over the past few weeks I have received reports/assessments of Todd Bentley and his ‘ministry’ and herewith are links to some of them that I hope will be helpful –
In the title of this article I mentioned a book called ‘True To His Ways’ by a lady called Ruth Davis. Ruth, at her own expense, published this book back in 2006 and in it she details her own charismatic encounters, particularly as they related to the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ and she then goes on to chart how the Lord enlightened her to the deception that she had fallen victim to.
This is a very honest and easy to read book that provides answers to many of the questions that are posed by the claims made by those orchestrating these ‘revivals’. In her own words she hopes it will be ‘A clear explanation of occult spirituality so believers can avoid it in all their ways’.
One of the endorsements on the back cover made by a retired pastor reads as follows – ‘Not only charismatics, but all sinere Christians should read this book so they understand about the occult and how Satan comes as an angel of light’.
What is particularly interesting about ‘True To His Ways’, in the light of current ‘goings-on’ in Lakeland, Florida is that there are references to Todd Bentley on page 119. A little snippet from that page reads – ‘Well-known charismatic, Todd Bentley, who claims to receive visitations from angels, travels widely for “Catch the Fire” events to impart occult visions in shaktipat-type [associated with Hinduism] practices’.
I believe this honest work by Ruth Davis will prove helpful to those who might be tempted to believe that what is going on with Todd Bently and his ‘ministry’ in Florida is of God – it most assuredly is not.
Details of this book ‘True To His Ways’ and how to order it can be obtained on this website link http://www.truetohisways.com/
Sadly from a local perspective the events in Lakeland are being given both coverage and credence in the Elim Christian Centre in Alexandra Park Avenue and there are links on their website to enable people to watch what is happening.
Equally disturbing was a section in the early part of one of their videos where the Belfast Pastor, Brian Madden, first of all tells people in the congregation to turn to someone close to them and to tell them ‘You’re going to get really messed up tonight’. He’s basically assuring the congregation that God is without any doubt going to impact upon people in the congregation. I believe such utterances, issued with that intention, are both unscriptural and presumptuous. However I do feel he might be very close to the mark in predicting that some people there are ‘going to get really messed up tonight’ for that has been the documented testimony of many people deceived by previous similar events witnessed at Toronto and Pensacola in the 1990’s [a number of such testimonies are quoted in ‘True To His Ways’ by Ruth Davis].
Then secondly the Pastor tells of visiting a young man in hospital who he claims was clinically dead for 15 minutes [during which time he apparently ‘saw the devil’] but of how he felt led to ‘anoint the sides, head and foot of THE BED with oil’ and to ‘rebuke the spirit of death’. Where in the Word of God is such superstitious paganism authorised? This Pastor clearly speaks with passion and sincerity but clearly, in a similar vein as Paul wrote of his fellow Jews many centuries ago, “he has a zeal for God but not according to knowledge” [Romans 10:2].
Returning to the events in Lakeland, I would close by repeating what I wrote earlier – ‘this is quite simply a re-run of many of the horrible ‘manifestations’ that were claimed at the time of the so-called ‘Toronto Blessing’ and then its successor [also in Florida] the so-called ‘Pensacola Revival’
Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 24 May 2008
APPENDIX
Since publishing ‘True To His Ways’ the author Ruth Davis has I believe come to a much greater understanding of the darkness and deception of both Roman Catholicism and the false Ecumenical Movement. In relation to her quoting a Roman Catholic priest on pages 67-68 & 101 she asked me to draw attention to, as she phrased it in an email to me, ‘I did in a footnote (p 68) try to make it clear that I was not endorsing the priest because his own practices were occult’. Then on Ecumenism in the same email she wrote ‘I also would prefer not to have quoted J I Packer, as it turns out’. One statement that Ruth and I would not have a meeting of minds on is on page 75 where Ruth wrote, “I am not advancing the position that God does not …communicate through words, visions or other extraordinary means”. In an email Ruth stated that this type of ‘communication’ would not constitute ‘new truth’ but would simply be a personal ‘communication’. Based on my understanding of Hebrews 1:1-2 and on my agreement with the principle of ‘Sola Scriptura’ we have amicably agreed to disagree on this point. I do feel however that it seems to run contrary to the huge volume of well-researched material that Ruth has presented in the book on the real dangers enshrined in ‘Toronto Blessing’ style movements. Her acceptance of this type of personal ‘communication’ seems in ways to mirror what she identifies in her book as ‘The White Magic Error’ but you’ll have to read the book to discover what that is. Despite our differing viewpoint on this issue I believe this book ‘lifts the lid’ on the reality of much that has been and is happening in the world of ‘things charismatic’ and I pray the Lord will use it to rescue many from these deceptions just as He has clearly rescued Ruth herself.
Cecil Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – May 2008