Deb's Diary ~ Healing Revival

Healing Revival
*from God, or of the devil?*
June 23, 2008
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        It has come to my attention that there's a *healing revival* going on in Lakeland, Florida (USA). Actually, I've known about it since just after it's beginning in early April 2008 and have been watching it on GodTV since about the third week. As of today, Todd Bentley, the healing revival's main attraction who is carrying the mantle ~ *torch of fiery hot coals* ~ estimates this to be day 84. There is much *to do* about this revival, is it real or is it satanic, which has inspired me to write once again. I have some thoughts I'd like to share on this topic, although ultimately it's up to you to decide for yourself. But, consider this when you do ... you yourself limit God, not He. God will only be to you what you allow Him to be, nothing more, nothing less.

        The fuss is whether or not Todd's revival, aka: the Florida outpouring, is really God inspired or satanic deception. Do you realize the bible states a similar issue regarding our Lord Jesus and the miracles He performed and whether or not those miraculous acts were performed by Him from God or the devil and his agents (fellow fallen angels). And no, I'm not comparing Todd's ministry/revival to Jesus', except to say the Lord was not believed by many *authorities* of His day either. I think the bible is pretty clear about Who's authority & power our precious Savior Jesus was working under, but let's read what the *nay sayers* of that time had to say (scripture is KJV from BlueLetterBible.org, words in red are Jesus' words; other emphasis are mine) ...

Mat 9:34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

Mat 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard [it], they said, This [fellow] doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Mar 3:22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.

Luk 11:15 But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.

        Sound familiar? Yes, Todd does have a *background*, some of it not very pretty ... but don't we all? Jesus forgives us of our sins (past, present & future) when we sincerely ask Him into our hearts & lives and repent of our sins as He exposes them in our walk with Him. Why is it Christians still bring up the mud on other Christians when they want to discredit them? How would you like it if your past (and probably even present) dirt was thrown in your face even though you know the Lord has forgiven you for those ... think about it!?

        And yes, I also have some concerns about some of the things he (Todd) does, such as the way he drops some people with a strong knee or elbow or head bunt, as a way of transferring the anointing, as he says that is how he's instructed by the Lord. If this is the case I pray (for and with Todd) that the Lord soften these actions to more align with God's LOVE. I don't see any evidence in the bible that anyone was floored in such a manor and the bible should be our ultimate source of confirmation in all that we do.

        Another concern of mine is his tattoos and how he portrays them as OK because he says they are Christian oriented. What he does with his own body is his business but to profess that marring one's body is OK in the name of God is not, especially not from a public platform ... it's a bad influence on the younger generation watching for whom many will be looking up to him as their role model. I have logged into his Ustream chat room from time to time and see chat going on from obvious young people saying they're going to get tattoos because Todd has them. The Word of God, our bible, says that our body is the "temple of the Holy Spirit"; that being true we should not mar it once we've been saved by the grace of God's Son Jesus in our lives.

1Cr 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

        These two issues I have are the only two dislikes at the time of this writing. I pray the Lord will bring these issues to Todd's mind in good time and deal with him about it. Let's face it, he's still quite young (32 years old) and the Lord will deal with him as time goes on. One other slight annoyance is that he does tend to speak too loudly at times. I realize that 1) everyone needs to hear him in these rather large settings and 2) he gets excited especially when speaking on what he feels to be persecution towards himself or his ministry. Still, it would be nice if the level of his speaking was strong but not yelling as it makes me have to turn the volume up/down a lot. By the way, none of these things in any way suggest he's not a Christian, at least not to me. I do have to say that God picked a *real person* for this revival, he's *out there* as far as the standard view of someone so public but then so was John the Baptist (at least how the bible describes him)! And no, I'm not comparing his ministry to John's so don't go there with me please!

        As for angel *Emma* ... there is no where in the bible that I'm aware of that says angels can only show up in the masculine form so I'm not going to comment too much on that. At the very least I believe angels can appear in any form they choose or need to for the occasion at hand. I have seen angels myself (my sister saw them during the same incident also) when I was about six years old but they were both male in appearance and both had wings. Others have said they've seen angels in female form, and some say they've seen them without wings. Be that as it may, that's all I'll say about that for now.

        Todd (if you ever get around to reading this) ... keep up what you feel you are called by the Lord to do, which is to heal the sick & dying, and to pass the torch (anointing/mantle) on to those that want it. Your call isn't to preach so I advise you not to get distracted with what others *think* you should be doing! Stick to what God calls you to do! Don't waste precious time explaining yourself, just do it OK!? God bless you & your team/staff and stay strong in the Lord ...

        To those that say they are Christians that have nothing better to do than attack other Christians ... shame on you! I liken that to your hand (one part of your/Christ's body) slapping your own face (another part of your/Christ's body). Remember the words of the Lord regarding divided houses or kingdoms, this goes for us as Christians! Lest we forget, we are the body & bride of Christ. Interestingly enough, after the Lord states these vital truths about houses & kingdoms divided falling He goes on to say that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven ... blasphemy means to speak against or evil of, to attribute the actions of God through the Holy Spirit as evil, or worse to accredit something done of God as though it were done by satan and thereby call the Holy Spirit evil <<< this is the UNPARDONABLE sin >>> read it for yourself in Mat 12:22-32 & Mar 3:20-30 & Luk 12:8-12! Think about that before you bad mouth your brethren for you will be accountable for all your words, thoughts & actions! Remember also that you yourself will be judged by the standard for which you judge others {see Mat 7:1-5, Luk 6:37, Jhn 7:24, Rom 14:13}! If you have no good to say about your fellow believers I suggest you say nothing at all ... God is well able to debunk without your help if that's His will in the matter. Examine your heart!

Mat 12:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Mar 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Luk 11:17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house [divided] against a house falleth.

Mat 12:26-28 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast [them] out? therefore they shall be your judges.
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Mar 3:23-26 And he called them [unto him], and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.

Luk 11:17-20
But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house [divided] against a house falleth.
If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.
And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast [them] out? therefore shall they be your judges.
But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Mat 12:30-32 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the [world] to come.

Mar 3:28-30 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

Luk 12:10 And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

        This *dividision* has truly happened to the church and likely for reasons already stated. It's a no wonder this church group/denomination does one thing and another group/denomination does something else. I believe the Lord has (what I call) *keys* in each church but until we unite in the Lord those keys will not be brought together for the use of His body the church as a whole. Even though we may not get the keys as a whole body, there are individuals within the body that can obtain these keys if they keep an open mind. I will likely do an article on what I believe to be the keys and which church has what key and how we as individuals can strive to attain them. For the record I'm not Pentecostal by faith, nor have I taken up any sort of mantle, which is freely available to anyone brave enough to step into it. I don't speak in *tongues* or any of that. However, we are all called to do this and more so let's not take shots at someone who does do it just to alleviate our own guilt because we do not o.0

Mat 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Mar 16:17-18
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

Luk 9:2 And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

Jhn 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

        Had Jesus not have resurrected we could say this was all just for the apostles' day, but He DID resurrect and He IS with the Father and so these things are for US to do TODAY!!! I say again, we are limited by what WE are willing to believe, or not. God Himself isn't limited but I believe He will only show as much of Himself to us as we are willing to believe of Him. How many times did Elijah send out his servant to check the clouds for rain he'd prophesied would happen (1Ki 18:41) ... he checked SEVEN TIMES and only then the cloud began as the size of a man's hand ... but Elijah knew that God would provide, even if delayed, and that that small hand-sized cloud was the rain he'd been waiting for! Let's not try to fit an all powerful, omniscient, omnipresent God into our little mental boxes OK? After all, God chose many a man such as the prophets of old and none of them were believed either, nor were they listened to. God does not work by conventional means for all that He does is effective and has a purpose as He sovereignly wills. God IS in control!

         Why am I not willing to crucify (OK that's a pun) Todd, who is just one of a few current day faith healers, for what he is doing? As long as he is doing good and giving the glory and credit to Jesus I will not speak badly of him. One passage that sticks out in my mind, even if Todd (and the others) were not doing what what they do as an actual call of duty from the Lord, which I don't think is the case, is that Jesus did allow others to cast out demons in His name and this is scripturally documented ... even though the one performing said acts was not one of his chosen twelve apostles as we read next.

Mar 9:38-40
And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
For he that is not against us is on our part.

Luk 9:49-50
And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
And Jesus said unto him, Forbid [him] not: for he that is not against us is for us.

        Now, as touching the subject of healing: ... if someone was healed today and lost it tomorrow that is likely to do with that person's personal faith/belief in what God can/will do for them or lack of it; satan's conversations in their minds that convince them they never really got healed to start with; other people's influences for or against; sin that is still not dealt with in their personal lives like perhaps they smoke or drink or take drugs (what would be the point in healing someone that insists on self abuse?); or are addicted to pornography; or maybe they've not forgiven or are harboring resentment towards people that have hurt them; and there may be many other factors that hinder how we interact with God. But the hindrance is usually on our end, not His, unless as with Paul that infirmity is part of His will for your life and for good reason. I believe if you were healed you should cling to that gift and cast out anything that doesn't line up with that experience for God is a good & loving God and you are His child. On the flip side, if you don't believe you can *loose your healing*, I remind you of these scriptures:

Mat 12:43-45 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth [it] empty, swept, and garnished.
Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. {see also Luk 11:24-26}

Jhn 5:13-14 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in [that] place.
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

        We don't actually need another individual for our healing if we ourselves have a strong relationship with God because we have a direct spiritual connection to Him, we trust Him and have faith & belief that He wants what's best for us. If we're not strongly connected to Him... then perhaps we, for our lack of belief or other problems & sins yet unresolved in our lives, may need someone else to intercede on our behalf ... God does use others to help us. Be aware that healing & spiritual gifts are part of what you have bestowed upon you as a child of God, worked out through you by the Holy Spirit within.

        If you are looking for why something like a healing revival is NOT of God, you will easily find it, and scriptures to back up your thoughts because the scriptures you find will be taken out of context. Remember that satan is a scholar (well studied) of biblical writings and uses them against us whenever he can ... twisting and warping them to an improper conclusion and planting those into our minds. He succeeded in his attempt *in the beginning* with Eve and he also tried to do the same with Jesus at the time of His greatest physical weakness ... our Lord refuted satan's incorrect/inaccurate quoting of scripture with correct quotes from Deuteronomy! The ultimate truth here is to refrain from entertaining the devil's thoughts and stick with what God says in His Word! Jesus quoting scripture from Deuteronomy is PROOF POSITIVE that the scriptures He had were relevant, as He said "they are they which testify of me." If they were relevant for Him and He is our example, they are still relevant for us today and into the future!

Jhn 5:39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

        So, likewise if you want to find the positive for any subject with biblical references you also will succeed (such as this article). The KEY is the bible, read it & know it ... know what is being spoken of and don't just grab a scripture here and a scripture there and plug them into your own theological box. This is why there is such division in the body of Christ as all of us are looking for either the negative or the positive of any given subject according to our pre-conceived or previously taught mind set! My personal feeling is to look for the positive, give God the glory for all things and let Him be God. He knows what He is doing ...

        If Todd's works are false and he is leading people astray, God surely knows about it and the result is not going to be pleasant for him. The bible does say that in the end times, which I believe is now, that many will be led astray. It also clearly speaks of the fruits of wrong doers & their rewards or condemnations in Mat 7 but in particular we see what happens to those that work iniquity (for their own personal fame & glory) ~ professing to work in God's name but have in truth not accepted Jesus as their Lord & Savior &/or have their own personal agendas. I pray this is not the case for Todd ...

Mar 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect. {see also Mat 24:24 & Luk 21:8}

Mat 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Todd's ministry~revival motto is: "Come get some!"
I like that ... ;o}
May the Lord God bless you & heal you, in Jesus' name, amen!

Back to Deb's Diary Homepage!

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Mat 9:34	But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.
Mat 12:24	But when the Pharisees heard [it], they said, This [fellow] doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Mar 3:22	And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
Luk 11:15	But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.

Mat 12:25	And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
Mar 3:25	And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Luk 11:17	But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house [divided] against a house falleth.

Mat 12:26-28	And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast [them] out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Mar 3:23-26	And he called them [unto him], and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
Luk 11:17-20	But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house [divided] against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast [them] out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

Mat 12:30-32	He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy [against] the [Holy] Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the [world] to come.
Mar 3:28-30	Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
Luk 12:10	And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.

Mat 10:8	Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Mar 16:17-18	And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Luk 9:2	And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
Jhn 14:12	Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater [works] than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Mar 9:38-40	And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part.
Luk 9:49-50	And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid [him] not: for he that is not against us is for us.

Mar 13:22	For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if [it were] possible, even the elect. {see also Mat 24:24 & Luk 21:8}
Mat 7:22-23	Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.