Flaccid Rigidity
Member
This post deals with my observations over the past several months about the decline of the Church and the rise of a "new" spirituality.
Little did I know when the Lakeland revival began under Todd Bentley what it would eventually spiral into.
I remember hearing about Mr. Bentley and not having known much I looked into him. I eventually saw a Nightline story and interview done on him. I immediately knew something was wrong with this guy and that he was not the "Man of God" he claimed to be. Rather, he was a charlatan.
I spoke out against him. I told my friends to not follow him. I even have one friend who drove a thousand miles to see Todd Bentley but wouldn't drive two miles down the road to come see me. Another of his followers was always talking about him and how great he was. Months after the revelation of Todd Bentley's affair, this disciple of his claimed to never have supported him or believed in him, while my memory tells me just the opposite.
Now let me explain a little of my background. I grew up in the Church of God-Cleveland denomination which is Pentecostal/Charismatic. We believe in all gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Fivefold Ministry including Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. I am 20 now and have been in church all my life except the past year or so when I haven't had transportation. My spiritual forte is discernment although I have also operated in prophecy. I have a pretty close relationship with God, but I admittedly make mistakes and am by no means perfect, even to the extent that some of my observations here may be wrong. So I encourage you to consider this for yourselves because I by no means have a monopoly on the truth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Todd Bentley rose up and fell, I saw an interesting shift in the people of my age group. I noticed there was something not quite right, although I did not know what it was.
Here are a few examples.
One guy, widely respected as one of the most spiritually enlightened men on my campus said this about his religious views: "Ill tornado kick religion in the back of its head."
Another so-called believer said this: "It's not about religion, it's about RELATIONSHIP!" About politics she said, "What does it matter!"
I'll tell you why it matters. Because the "government shall rest on His shoulders". So it does matter.
Now people from all walks of life are rejecting the traditional view of church in favor of their form of "spirituality".
I understand the need for spontaneity but the Bible also demands order in the Church and an organization of leaders called and chosen for specific tasks, and despite what this new generation of Christians will have you believe, the Church requires this for the sake of the pursuit of Godly things.
A new man I would recommend you watch out for is Brad McClendon. He openly states that while he had cancer and was miraculously healed, he openly cursed God saying, "God! Why did you heal me? I want to die God why did you heal me!!!!!!" His followers laughed at this.
Another one of the great guilts of Brad McClendon and I'd say most pastors out there today is the method of delivering a message. I went to the church of a great pastor and great man of God. He left after many years at that church but returned to start a new church years later, which I started going to. Suddenly his preaching had turned from purely from the Word of God and the things of God and the Spirit to... believe it or not... storytelling!
I cannot tell you the number of preachers I have heard just in the past few years who have relied on storytelling to convey a message. In fact, many of these stories are humorous and lighten things up, but lo and behold, the Word of God is not being preached but instead a comedy hour takes place and stories are the highlight of the morning.
We have an ignorant population of people who want to hear stories and not the Word of God. What spiritual enlightenment is gleaned from these stories I cannot tell.
What I can tell is that the people today hate and despise religion, in favor of spontaneity. This service I went to last night was filled with people telling about visions they had and prophecies they received, none of which I bore witness to.
These people having visions and prophecies have mighty good imaginations... I assure that is all it is.
One last thing. After my main introduction to Brad McClendon, where he taught that "You can be a prophet too, if you follow these ten easy steps!", I noticed a grave spiritual danger to my friends, who happen to follow him.
They went to someone's house and two proclaimed that God was making a move and that He had told them to perform miracles. They punched one guy in the nose several times to heal his eye problems. They hit another girl with a hammer to heal her eye and other things also took place. I tried to stop it, I did. But I could not.
Last night, I had a lady ask me if I wanted to be healed from smoking. I basically said "No." At the end of the service as the pastor was laying hands on people to be healed, she confronted me again asking if I wanted healing. I told her I certainly did not want a false prophet to lay hands on me. Two women who overheard this immediately came under the power of the demonic spirit of laughter. I said, "See. This is proof enough. If you say something negative about their Dear Leader you are met with ridicule, laughter, and mockery."
They said, "We understand. You're caught up in religion."
And there you have it people. This new cult of Christianity is anti-religion and purports to walk in the Spirit. I assure you there was a spirit moving in that facility last night... but it was not the Holy Spirit.
I do not know who is the leader in all of this. But I know Brad McClendon is one of them. I also have reason to believe Bob Jones is in on this too. Who else... I cannot say.
In fact, God gave me confirmation last night during the sermon, or storytelling I should say. I had just been telling my friends days before that "God loves not the man who loves not foxes." And then last night, the pastor made a very rude remark about foxes. This was confirmation for me.
Here are a few verses that I find helpful in discerning a true prophet from a false prophet.
Luke 6:26: Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
Matthew 24:24: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Matthew 24:23: At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.
Deut 18:22: When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Matt 5:11: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Matt 13:57: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
Matt 24:34: Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city
These are the traits you should look for. They are without honor in their own country, shall be persecuted and many killed. False prophets speak presumptuously and the thing follows not, they have loyal followings who speak well of them, they shall shew great signs and wonders that perhaps could mislead even the Elect, and also they will say, "Look here is the Christ!"
These are the basic ones although a quick search reveals that there are numerous others. This is my justification in naming names and this is my foundation by which I make this accusation against the New Age church. They are guilty of everything listed here and have been brought under the power of Satan and his forces.
When I made the comments in the worship proceedings last night and was so dishonorably made a mockery of, I walked outside.
Soon thereafter, the owner of the facility and 2-3 men came out and escorted me off the premises. My ride was called out and he drove me home. My charge was, I can only imagine, some unconscionable heresy or blasphemy against the Prophet of God.
I was kicked out.
Read Matthew 24. It is the guidebook to the Last Days and it is our key to hope. Learn it like the back of your hand and learn all of the Gospels. They will never fail you.
Galatians 1:9: As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
Little did I know when the Lakeland revival began under Todd Bentley what it would eventually spiral into.
I remember hearing about Mr. Bentley and not having known much I looked into him. I eventually saw a Nightline story and interview done on him. I immediately knew something was wrong with this guy and that he was not the "Man of God" he claimed to be. Rather, he was a charlatan.
I spoke out against him. I told my friends to not follow him. I even have one friend who drove a thousand miles to see Todd Bentley but wouldn't drive two miles down the road to come see me. Another of his followers was always talking about him and how great he was. Months after the revelation of Todd Bentley's affair, this disciple of his claimed to never have supported him or believed in him, while my memory tells me just the opposite.
Now let me explain a little of my background. I grew up in the Church of God-Cleveland denomination which is Pentecostal/Charismatic. We believe in all gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Fivefold Ministry including Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. I am 20 now and have been in church all my life except the past year or so when I haven't had transportation. My spiritual forte is discernment although I have also operated in prophecy. I have a pretty close relationship with God, but I admittedly make mistakes and am by no means perfect, even to the extent that some of my observations here may be wrong. So I encourage you to consider this for yourselves because I by no means have a monopoly on the truth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Todd Bentley rose up and fell, I saw an interesting shift in the people of my age group. I noticed there was something not quite right, although I did not know what it was.
Here are a few examples.
One guy, widely respected as one of the most spiritually enlightened men on my campus said this about his religious views: "Ill tornado kick religion in the back of its head."
Another so-called believer said this: "It's not about religion, it's about RELATIONSHIP!" About politics she said, "What does it matter!"
I'll tell you why it matters. Because the "government shall rest on His shoulders". So it does matter.
Now people from all walks of life are rejecting the traditional view of church in favor of their form of "spirituality".
I understand the need for spontaneity but the Bible also demands order in the Church and an organization of leaders called and chosen for specific tasks, and despite what this new generation of Christians will have you believe, the Church requires this for the sake of the pursuit of Godly things.
A new man I would recommend you watch out for is Brad McClendon. He openly states that while he had cancer and was miraculously healed, he openly cursed God saying, "God! Why did you heal me? I want to die God why did you heal me!!!!!!" His followers laughed at this.
Another one of the great guilts of Brad McClendon and I'd say most pastors out there today is the method of delivering a message. I went to the church of a great pastor and great man of God. He left after many years at that church but returned to start a new church years later, which I started going to. Suddenly his preaching had turned from purely from the Word of God and the things of God and the Spirit to... believe it or not... storytelling!
I cannot tell you the number of preachers I have heard just in the past few years who have relied on storytelling to convey a message. In fact, many of these stories are humorous and lighten things up, but lo and behold, the Word of God is not being preached but instead a comedy hour takes place and stories are the highlight of the morning.
We have an ignorant population of people who want to hear stories and not the Word of God. What spiritual enlightenment is gleaned from these stories I cannot tell.
What I can tell is that the people today hate and despise religion, in favor of spontaneity. This service I went to last night was filled with people telling about visions they had and prophecies they received, none of which I bore witness to.
These people having visions and prophecies have mighty good imaginations... I assure that is all it is.
One last thing. After my main introduction to Brad McClendon, where he taught that "You can be a prophet too, if you follow these ten easy steps!", I noticed a grave spiritual danger to my friends, who happen to follow him.
They went to someone's house and two proclaimed that God was making a move and that He had told them to perform miracles. They punched one guy in the nose several times to heal his eye problems. They hit another girl with a hammer to heal her eye and other things also took place. I tried to stop it, I did. But I could not.
Last night, I had a lady ask me if I wanted to be healed from smoking. I basically said "No." At the end of the service as the pastor was laying hands on people to be healed, she confronted me again asking if I wanted healing. I told her I certainly did not want a false prophet to lay hands on me. Two women who overheard this immediately came under the power of the demonic spirit of laughter. I said, "See. This is proof enough. If you say something negative about their Dear Leader you are met with ridicule, laughter, and mockery."
They said, "We understand. You're caught up in religion."
And there you have it people. This new cult of Christianity is anti-religion and purports to walk in the Spirit. I assure you there was a spirit moving in that facility last night... but it was not the Holy Spirit.
I do not know who is the leader in all of this. But I know Brad McClendon is one of them. I also have reason to believe Bob Jones is in on this too. Who else... I cannot say.
In fact, God gave me confirmation last night during the sermon, or storytelling I should say. I had just been telling my friends days before that "God loves not the man who loves not foxes." And then last night, the pastor made a very rude remark about foxes. This was confirmation for me.
Here are a few verses that I find helpful in discerning a true prophet from a false prophet.
Luke 6:26: Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
Matthew 24:24: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
Matthew 24:23: At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.
Deut 18:22: When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
Matt 5:11: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Matt 13:57: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
Matt 24:34: Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city
These are the traits you should look for. They are without honor in their own country, shall be persecuted and many killed. False prophets speak presumptuously and the thing follows not, they have loyal followings who speak well of them, they shall shew great signs and wonders that perhaps could mislead even the Elect, and also they will say, "Look here is the Christ!"
These are the basic ones although a quick search reveals that there are numerous others. This is my justification in naming names and this is my foundation by which I make this accusation against the New Age church. They are guilty of everything listed here and have been brought under the power of Satan and his forces.
When I made the comments in the worship proceedings last night and was so dishonorably made a mockery of, I walked outside.
Soon thereafter, the owner of the facility and 2-3 men came out and escorted me off the premises. My ride was called out and he drove me home. My charge was, I can only imagine, some unconscionable heresy or blasphemy against the Prophet of God.
I was kicked out.
Read Matthew 24. It is the guidebook to the Last Days and it is our key to hope. Learn it like the back of your hand and learn all of the Gospels. They will never fail you.
Galatians 1:9: As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!