14 August 2008

Here it comes

by Frank Turk

Dr. Piper on the melt-down at Lakeland.

Expect my comments on this sometime on Friday, since Dan and Phil are doing things "like ministry" this weekend.


17 comments:

~Mark said...

It definitely gives hope that this will be awake up call for the folks who follow this sort of thing. The comments from Charisma mag were startling and encouraging. I've prayed for their marriage, and I'll be praying God uses this to bring repentance to the parts of the Church this affects.

Stefan Ewing said...

Oh my goodness. I just learned that Todd Bentley hails from the Abbotsford Bible Belt!

This is a bible-believing enclave a few miles east of Vancouver. There are a lot of conservative (non-charismatic) evangelicals who come out of there. I had no idea the area was a centre for Pentecostalism.

So Vancouver (and environs) can claim folks ranging from J.I. Packer to Todd Bentley. Wow.

greglong said...

The fact that the folks from Charisma are only now recognizing there was a problem does not reflect well on the movement.

Natrimony said...

Gregg,

I'd have to agree with you there buddy. J. Lee Grady blew a quasi-whistle on the Lakeland phenomenon a few weeks ago, but, once again we see zeal at work without knowledge.

BJ Irvin said...

Piper's comments are spot on and a great punctuation to these recent posts. Many of the FADDERs and Emergers will also be following Anti-Christ. A key reason to pray for God's grace for them and thank Him for it in us!

Rick Frueh said...

Is there anything sadder than seeing a theatrical counterfeit of Christianity that draws the attention of the world, and then disintegrates in shame before the eyes of the lost?

We could pray for a move of God with a demonstration of the Spirit through believers who will not resort to constructions of the flesh.

Kevin Williams said...

That Bentley was a false prophet was clear from the start, and he caused lots of goats to stand out from among the sheep. Yet it is even more unbelievable that so many took the "wait and see" attitude, and ignored all the false miracles, kicking a man in the stomach and saying “God told me to do it”, pronouncing someone healed of cancer, who was to die of it eight days later, his whacky stories of angels, and only now after he divorces his wife do many start to question.

Kay said...

I shelved a post on this in the last day because of this news, actually. I'm sort of a mix of angry and very sad. I've friends who have been affected by this, and it's been very difficult for them.

It looked like it was all winding down, and I was pleased about that, but a little sad no lessons would be learned. Then all this comes out and it really is one of the worst outcomes. I'm hoping that the Charisma article bears some fruit, because I thought it asked some good questions.

But from what I've seen from Rory and Wendy Alec, Patricia King et al, they are still utterly determined to close off the useful examination of what happened (and certainly not taking any responsibility for it), and this is being treated like a private tragedy for a private indivual, rather than an astonishing failure of wisdom on the part of those who had the responsibility to ensure that God was glorified.

In fact, I keep seeing people berating the harshness of those who wanted to examine doctrine, and completely missing that this outcome has arisen precisely because there was not a love and care for the truth from the very beginning.

CR said...

Greglong: The fact that the folks from Charisma are only now recognizing there was a problem does not reflect well on the movement.

The Charismatics are between a rock and a hard place. Even though Benntley saying he kicked some pregnant lady (or some nonsense like that) how is the Charismatic going to respond? The Tood Bentley's are going to say, "The Lord told me to do it - I got a revelation about it." The Charismatics realize they can't say or do much because they would be criticizing the same things they do albeit to a much lower degree and not violent.

CR said...

Rick: Is there anything sadder than seeing a theatrical counterfeit of Christianity that draws the attention of the world, and then disintegrates in shame before the eyes of the lost?

I know it saddens to see this but we must not forget the Lord tests believers by allowing them to meet false teachers or false teaching. (Deut 13:1ff).

David A. Carlson said...

Many of the FADDERs and Emergers will also be following Anti-Christ.

Good thing they are the only ones who have to worry about that.

Mike Westfall said...

All those "Why didn't anyone see this coming?" type questions asked in the Charisma article seem disingenuous at best. The issues and concerns addressed by those stupid questions have been all over the internet and elsewhere for months and months.

Why didn't Grady and Strang pay attention? Why didn't they sound the clarion in their heavily-read-by-those-kind-of-people magazine, Charisma?

James Scott Bell said...

And Paula White splits from husband and continues on TV...what a farce this all is. There are good and sincere people within the "Charismatic movement", but they need one more thing: to get out.

SQLSvrMan said...

We are to Never put our focus or hope in a human being.

Our hope is in Jesus Christ PERIOD.

This just shows mans sinfulness. Man will usually fail at some point.

David A. Carlson said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
steve said...

No surprise here whatsoever. A couple of us editors have watched this one from afar for a long time, wondering when Charisma and the like would finally call Bentley and Lakeland for what they really are.

Of course, DJP's post some weeks ago about the tests we can apply to situations like this was spot on.

FX Turk said...

This thread is closed in lieu of the real action about to take place in the post for Friday which I just put up.