Topic : Anyone heard of the Lakeland Revival

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Created on : Thursday, July 10, 2008, 01:03:38 pm
Author : horselover1991
My pastor has been recently preaching about this "revival".  I don't know what others think about it, and hardly anyone knows about it that's in the church, which makes me wonder.

Well, for those who don't know, the Lakeland Revival is taking place and a man by the name of Todd Bentley is performing various "healings".  This man is covered almost literally from head to toe in tattoos and has multiple piercings.  The tattoos are not good tattoos either, like the pentogram, the upside down cross, and the goddess on his leg.  I get the feeling that this man is deceptive and is there performing signs and miracles to deceive even the elect.  I have been going to this church for many years, and my pastor has never gone this far out with the "revival" preaching as this (he even doesn't use Scripture as often as he used to).   I wonder what everyone else thinks about the Lakeland Revival and whether or not it is true or not.  I have the feeling that I should avoid it and that it is not of God.  And also, what about leaving my church in search of another?  I like my pastor, but I feel that the "revival" preaching goes too far, as well as the lack of Scripture in his sermons.  It almost seems like the godly power had left it in place of emotionalism.  I got the feeling to leave this church several years ago, and I am getting that feeling again really strong this time.  I was not the only one that got this message when I did because several years ago, someone else said that they had the feeling to leave as well.  I don't know what to do, but I get the feeling that I shouldn't be caught in the deception.  I get the feeling that if I follow, that I will lose everything to Satan, whom I believe is behind this.

I did my own studying of the Scripture, and I can find nowhere that this can fit other than it is deceptive.  Many people say that this is the time near the End Times when Jesus is near, at the doors, and there is a revival before the End Times, but it occurs in the Holy Land.  But the deceptive actions take place as signs and wonders and I believe will take place as healings.  I don't know about this, but I think that it would be safer for me to not follow, as I have nothing to lose if I stay away if it is from Satan, whereas I would lose everything if I followed it and it happened to be false.  And if it were true, I still believe that I wouyld have nothing to lose if I did disbelieve it.

I'm just wanting to hear what others think of this and what I should do in my situation.

Thanks,
Alison


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July 30, 2008, 4:33 pm PDT

Unfortunately, I have heard of this revival

 I have been trying to figure out what I should do also, about our pastor's involvement in the Lakeland "revival". I only heard about the revival  when our pastor told us about it in church and explained that the person leading this was not your run-of-the-mill type of evangelist. As it ended up, he did go to Lakeland,not once but twice and took people from the congregation with him the second time.

 The whole church service changed and there were services not only on Sunday morning and eve, but also on Monday and Tuesday. He wanted a revival in this church also. The head shaking of Bentley was also manifested in our pastor now among other "impartations".

 At first, I tried to pray and test the spirits  as we are supposed to do when in doubt. I have since quit going to this church and I feel like a lost soul now. I really miss the wonderful sermons and fellowship that used to be an important part of my life. I have been praying for God's guidance as to where to go from here. I know he will lead me to where I should be. I hope to hear from other people who know anything about all of this.

 
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July 31, 2008, 5:05 am PDT

Anyone heard of the Lakeland Revival

I know nothing about the Lakeland Revival. I wonder if the "healer" is looking to make some money? Are there donations being asked for? Now, for me, if I was going to a church that I didn't feel comfortable with for any reason whatsoever, I would stop going to that church. Period. There are many too many churches to feel obligated or stuck in one particular church. And if any of the members know or see anything that is criminal or whatever, contact the law inforcement.
 
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July 31, 2008, 8:37 am PDT

Anyone heard of the Lakeland Revival

Quote From: vicky600

 I have been trying to figure out what I should do also, about our pastor's involvement in the Lakeland "revival". I only heard about the revival  when our pastor told us about it in church and explained that the person leading this was not your run-of-the-mill type of evangelist. As it ended up, he did go to Lakeland,not once but twice and took people from the congregation with him the second time.

 The whole church service changed and there were services not only on Sunday morning and eve, but also on Monday and Tuesday. He wanted a revival in this church also. The head shaking of Bentley was also manifested in our pastor now among other "impartations".

 At first, I tried to pray and test the spirits  as we are supposed to do when in doubt. I have since quit going to this church and I feel like a lost soul now. I really miss the wonderful sermons and fellowship that used to be an important part of my life. I have been praying for God's guidance as to where to go from here. I know he will lead me to where I should be. I hope to hear from other people who know anything about all of this.

Is there a reason why you wouldn't consider going to another church of whatever denomination you believe in? Just get up on Sunday and take yourself out to another church. There are lots of great churches to choose from, no matter where you happen to live, I would think. Don't let this situation in your church hold you back and bring you down.
 
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August 2, 2008, 3:09 am PDT

Anyone heard of the Lakeland Revival

Hi y'all. I went to Wikipedia and read up on this Todd Bentley. I think y'all have good reason to be skeptical of this man. If you are concerned about the future of your church, why don't a bunch of you get together and go and have a sit down with your preacher? Revival is good in a church, but I think this Todd Bentley is a little far out, for my beliefs anyway. And I'm not talking about the tatoos and that stuff. I just don't share his beliefs. Some of them, but not ALL of them. Go to Wikipedia and check him out. Also there are other sites, with information about this man. I didn't go and check all of them out.  I don't blame y'all for questioning this whole thing. Some things need to be questioned. I too, would feel concerned about my minister and my church if I were in your shoes.
 
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August 3, 2008, 5:40 pm PDT

I have really researched this man Bentley!!

   I have been to so many websites that I couldn't even begin to guess the number of them that I've read up on about Bentley. The sad fact is that  as far as I know the members of the church that I was attending think that because the pastor is fine with this man, then they should be also. I am the only one that quit attending this church. I am researching other churches in the area to make sure they aren't involved in this before I start going to another church. I also believe in the power of God for healing and deliverence of sin but there are claims coming from this revival of people being resurrected from the dead! I just can't believe the people are so naive and gullible.

   They sure do take up offerings and at one point Bentley said he received a word from God that there were a thousand people that were to each give a thousand dollars. I am just really wanting people to open there eyes and see what this is really all about. I have tried to talk to a couple people from our church but they can't see anything wrong with any of this. If I'm wrong I ask God's forgiveness but, I don't really think I am wrong about this.

 
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August 4, 2008, 12:48 pm PDT

Anyone heard of the Lakeland Revival

Quote From: vicky600

   I have been to so many websites that I couldn't even begin to guess the number of them that I've read up on about Bentley. The sad fact is that  as far as I know the members of the church that I was attending think that because the pastor is fine with this man, then they should be also. I am the only one that quit attending this church. I am researching other churches in the area to make sure they aren't involved in this before I start going to another church. I also believe in the power of God for healing and deliverence of sin but there are claims coming from this revival of people being resurrected from the dead! I just can't believe the people are so naive and gullible.

   They sure do take up offerings and at one point Bentley said he received a word from God that there were a thousand people that were to each give a thousand dollars. I am just really wanting people to open there eyes and see what this is really all about. I have tried to talk to a couple people from our church but they can't see anything wrong with any of this. If I'm wrong I ask God's forgiveness but, I don't really think I am wrong about this.

I just recently heard of this guy via e-mail, and it is sad that you are the only one that is questioning whether this guy is a quack or if it is really a move of God. 

 

My best advice is that if you have a gut feeling that this is not of God, then go with your gut feeling.  I know God can use all types of people, as He did use a donkey to speak through, but I believe we still need to "try the spirits", "proove all things", and "hold fast to that which is good". 

 

It is sad that the members of any congregation will not question anything if the pastor okays it.  Been there, done that, and have my STUPID t-shirt! This is such a BRIGHT RED FLAG to run as fast as you can from this church, if no one is questioning this. 

 

 I don't get a good feeling about the things I have read about this and especially in regards to this "angel" he refers to, as Christianity isn't about angels, it's about the power of God through His Son, Jesus.

 

You may have read some of the following in your research, but this is what I received via e-mail.  It may just confirm some of your questioning.

 

__________________________________________________________

 Dear Friends,
As the truth is coming out it is getting worse and worse.


"God's  greatest  concern  is  not what Christians  are  falling  into  but  what  they  are  falling away from!  Multitudes of Christians -  including pastors, deacons, ministry people of all kinds are losing their faith and confidence in the power of Jesus' name!  They are turning away from Christ as the answer to everything.  They are falling away from a childlike faith in Him alone as the  solution  to  all  life's problems. There  is  a wholesale  turning  to methods,  to psychology,  to human expertise, to the philosophies and doctrines of men."   David Wilkerson


Todd Bentley reveals big differences in Todd Bentley over time... After preaching, he started overloading his body with demonic tattoos and piercings. Isn't it shocking that a person that claims to be a Christian would disobey the Scriptures and do such a controversial thing? This man was already preaching when he choose to mar his flesh.  
 
Also, Todd Bentley's claims about the angels he allegedly sees and communicates with go far beyond the boundaries of Scripture.
 
We should remember that not all supernatural experiences are from God, yet Todd Bentley claims to have supernatural encounters all the time. He says: (quote) "Never more than a few days go by that I don't encounter third heaven and some kind of prophetic experience — at times it happens daily for months. Supernatural experiences have become part of daily Christianity for me."
 
But one of the angels that Bentley claims visits him is an angel that was associated with William Branham's healing ministry, according to Bentley #1insert..(read more here). And this should concern Christians because Branham — a "prophet" in the Latter Rain movement — taught many false and heretical doctrines include:

 

• Claiming that he was the angel in Rev 3:14 & 10:7
• Claiming he was Elijah, who would precede Christ's return
• Denying the Trinity and calling it a satanic doctrine
• Teaching that Eve had sexual intercourse with the serpent, producing human beings who are destined for hell, which is only a temporal place. But those who receive God's seed (Branham's teaching) are the "Bride of Christ"
• Saying that anyone who was a member of any denomination had taken the "mark of the beast"
• Giving a number of false prophecies about the end of the world
• Teaching that the Word of God had been given in two other forms besides the Bible: the zodiac and the Egyptian pyramids
• Some of his followers thought he was God or had been virgin born and, when he died in 1965, they believed he would be resurrected.
• Many of Branham's critics believe he genuinely had a supernatural gift of healing, but that it wasn't from God since he promoted heretical teachings  #2 insert(read more here).

Bentley claims that, whenever Branham's angel shows up at one of Bentley's meetings, he gets a supernatural ability in his left hand to diagnose people's sicknesses, and he also gets correct words of knowledge about details from their lives — just as Branham claimed.
 
 
An Angel Called EMMA
 

WHO IS THE ANGEL THAT CREATES SIGNS AND WONDERS IN TODD BENTLEY'S MEETINGS?

 

1.  EMMA-O: King of Hell. He lives the good life in a large castle covered in gold, silver, pearls and jewels  . . . Google EMMA  ~ O

 

2.  Galatians 1:8, "If we or an angel from heaven preaches any other Gospel unto you (than this Gospel (Gospel of Jesus Christ) that he (Apostle Paul) had preached), let him be accursed."

 

3.  WHO IS THE ANGEL EMMA-0? He is also known in Japanese Mythology as EMMA Hoo. 

 

4.  EMMA-0, The Lying demon that calls itself the angel that (it is claimed) ministered with Rev. William Branham, the famous faith healer who fell into much error before he died. He believed that he was god. 
 
  Let it be said, that real revivals do not move on the power of angels. True revivals come by
the Power of the Holy Spirit. God with sovereignty move, bringing people face to face with the state of their soul.
  He will convict them of sin and then reveal to them God's divine love and compassion that He sent His Dear Son, to suffer death in their place. Revival will sweep millions into the Kingdom of God.
 
A demonic angel called Emma has absolutely nothing to do with salvation or
miracles by the hand of God. The Holy Ghost will never lift an individual's personality up because The Spirit's job is to draw people to Jesus Christ, to convict and bring them to God.

 

5.  According to Todd Bentley, Quote: "EMMA, ANGEL OF THE PROPHETIC."

 

This latest Christian idol is being brought forward by the "Latter Rain Movement," looks strange, acts strange and has many strange, unscriptural doctrines working signs and wonders with an angel of light.

Bentley says, "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."
— Todd Bentley.
 
  EMMA-HOO (Yama-raja) is enthroned in Hell, incorporated into the Buddhist pantheon at
an early stage as the deity entrusted with the enforcement of the law of retribution.  Emma-Hoo was both the ruler of the infernal world and the supreme judge of Hell. In art he is portrayed seated at his desk dressed in robes of a Chinese judge. He has a sister. 


Hell, Jigoku, is underground. It is made up of eight regions of fire and eight of ice. There are also subsidiary hells. The ruler of this infernal world is Emma-hoo. (ama-raga) who is also the supreme Judge of Hell. Under his orders are eighteen generals and eighty thousand men. He is represented in the dress of a Chinese-judge wearing a cap inscribed with the name Emma. The expression of his face is ferocious.

 

  EMMA –HOO only judges men, and leaves the task of deciding the fate of women to his
sister. The sinner is taken before this formidable judge, who sits between the decapitated heads of Miru-me and Kaga-hana, from whom nothing can be hidden. All his past sins are reflected in the sinner's eyes by a huge mirror. His sins are weighed and then Emma-hoo gives judgment. The sinner must stay in such and such a region of Hell according to the extent of his sins, unless his soul is saved by the prayers of the living. In this case a Bohisattva rescues him from torture and the sinner is reborn either on earth or in a Paradise.
 
  PMO (DEVIL-DEMONS). The idea of ill-omented forces was introduced into Japan
relatively late. Indian ideas and the Chinese doctrines of Yang and Yin are altered there and ended up in the creation of demons. Oni and the birth of a new iconography... The Oni of Hell are distinguished from the Oni on earth. The former have red or green bodies, with the heads of oxen or horses. Their occupation consists in hunting for the sinner and taking him hell. The gaki demons are eternally fire to Emma-hoo, god of Hell. The gaki demons are eternally tormented by thirst or hunger, and their bellies are enormous. The latter are maleficent demons who can assume the shape of a living being or of an inanimate object. There are invisible demons, but their presence may be detected because they sing, whistle, or talk... In the ninth century it was believed that very virtuous people oni might sometimes witness their processions, invisible to all other mortals. They have the power to seize on a dead man's soul and to appear to his relative in his form We must also mention the Oni who are responsible for diseases and epidemics (they are dressed in red) and the Oni who are women changed into demons under the stress of jealousy or violent grief. Although they are maleficent spirits, the Oni in general are very dangerous and they may even be converted to Buddhism.iii 
 
We  are  looking  at  an  end-time  phenomenon within  the Church.  In  light  of  all  this  activity, Apostle Paul says in (2 Tim. 4:1-5), I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who  shall  judge  the quick and  the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach  the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all  longsuffering and  .  .  . What?  .  .
doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound  .  .  . what?  .  .  .  .doctrine; but after  their own  lusts  shall  they heap  to  themselves  teachers, having  itching  ears; And  they  shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy ministry. Notice verse one says, AI charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ . . . Youve got to remember Paul is talking to a preacher!
 
Church  leadership  has  been  unwilling  to  challenge  doctrines  of  devils  and  have  ignored  the power of  these  teachings. Seminaries have neglected  to criticize  the significance of  the  rise of New Age acceptance by Church  leaders. Consequently, many are  ignorant of New Age  theories. We find mixtures of New Age  ideologies  into  the  isolated Scriptures  twisting  them  to say  things  that are not true.  Religious  spirits  sweep  into  numerous  churches  spawning multitudes  of  false  doctrines  and
false teachers. Countless are flourishing inasmuch as they offer a nearly perfect counterfeit of Jesus, His salvation, His church and His gospel.
 
The Apostle Paul forewarned the Church to watch out for Satans  infiltrating agents when he wrote,  AFor  if he  that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him, (2 Cor. 11:4).

 

The Lord promised us that the gates of Hell will not prevail against His Church. The Bible warns  us  that  Satan  can  get  an  advantage  of  us  if we  remain ignorant of his devices, (2 Cor. 2:11).

 

It is a misconception amongst Christians to think that a great revival is happening; in fact the Bible is very clear that the falling away must come first before the Antichrist is revealed and this is what we are seeing today! Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come,  except  there  come  a  falling  away  first,  and  that  man  of  sin  be  revealed,  the  son  of perdition, (2 Thess. 2:3).

 

What are  the "doctrines of devils?  What is  the result of a  spirit of error?  Can a  spirit of
whoredom rule over a church?  The Apostle Paul warned Christians to beware of deceivers but also to take heed that he would not deceive himself (1 Cor. 3:18).  Jesus also cautioned Believers to beware of self deception  in (Elk. 21:8).  From  the beginning of  the Church  throughout  its history, Satan has attacked  by  using  evil  deceivers.  "Evil men  and  seducers  shall  wax  worse,  deceiving  and  being deceived," (2 Tim. 3:13).
 
HERESY - FLESH
The  Apostle  Paul  exposed  heresy  as  a  work  of  the  flesh  (Gal.  5:20).   This  evil  self  life,  the terrifying result of man's fall, is responsible for the arbitrary choices of pet teachings, as surely as it is the promoter of drunken orgies, or dastardly murders.  A man governed by his natural mind does not understand  the working of  the Spirit of God.  He may  throw himself or herself wholeheartedly into 'religion', becoming so obsessed with the tenets of some particular church or organization that he can see  nothing  else.  Often  such  a man  is  so  zealous  for  the  cause  he  has  adopted  that  he  becomes militant and aggressive to the point of unbending hardness.
 
  (Gal. 5:24), provides an answer to the problem of heresy. "They that are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts," God, in the Cross of Christ, condemned and visited judgment on the fallen self life the flesh.  In this way He has supplied the means of slaying the flesh, and it is our part to accept this means as our own choice.  When soberly and quietly we count ourselves to be "dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord," (Rom. 6:11), we find our affection for, and desires for, fascinating theories, and the sponsors of them, are dealt with. 
 

 
 
 

 

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