Todd Bentley tracks lead straight to the Contemplative New Age Spa
Todd Bentley says that the secret to living a prosperous, abundant life in ministry and business is “The Open heavens” – living and ministering under a heaven that’s open above and beneath our feet and lives. It should be of great interest and concern to those following the Florida revival that the following description of how to live under the Open Heaven by Todd Bentley is no different than contemplative mysticism or New Age practices.
The following quotes are excerpts from An Open Heaven by Todd Bentley (found at openheavensoakingmusic.com). [Titles in bold lettering and other bold emphasis added by Wolf Tracks.]
***Todd Bentley Practices the secret of the Awareness – Contemplation and Being Still 4-12 hours a day:
Several years ago, many of you already have heard my testimony as shared in our 3 tape series “The Secret Place” a must for those who you hungering for what I am about to share in these first two paragraphs of how I had a holy visitation from the Holy Spirit. As a result, at different times during the span of about three months. I would be laid out (slain in the spirit) or as I would rather put it. I was so overwhelmed with God’s manifest presence like a thick honey cloud. I could do nothing most days but “BE Still” or “Wait on the Lord” I was blessed from heaven with such an awareness of His divine presence I was forced to the floor and would simply lie in His glory. I call it forced by the weight of His glory into a place of contemplation, times of solitude or just sitting at His feet like Mary. For four to twelve hours a day, I would simply gaze at the Lord’s beauty or as Paul describes in Heb 12:2, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” the word “looking” is translated to Gaze or stargazer.
***Todd Bentley Practices the Presence of God and the Secrets of Brother Lawrence through contemplative meditation and soaking prayer, Results in visitation by Spirit Guide and Altered State of Silence:
During these extended times of soaking I would receive at times, numerous kinds of visions, dreams, prophetic experiences and visitations of angels sometimes. I often refer to that time in my life as my “soaking season”. God taught me how to dwell and abide in the secret place of His presence (Ps 91:1) I came to understand the power of stillness, quietness, basking, bathing and drinking in His love. I was in a place of surrender and meditation in His presence. I understood here some of the secrets of Brother Lawrence’s life and practicing the presence of God. This is better known today as the silent prayer of the heart or meditation and contemplation.
It was after that soaking season that God called me out into full-time ministry. I received a divine visitation of the Lord. It was as if a person walked in to the room and stood behind me. I could feel His presence over me and heard distinctly, the audible voice of the Lord. I was told exactly how I would be called out and prophesied over in a meeting that evening, deeming that time as my commissioning for ministry and shown in open vision numerous events in the meeting that night as a sign. You could say it happened overnight. In fact that night, that the intensity of the soaking season and times of almost daily revelation ended, though I still continue to live a lifestyle of soaking.
***Todd Bentley Practices The Silence and Stillness of Listening (Contemplative) Prayer and Meditation to induce revelations, experiences and visions:
… I would soak or wait on the Lord in absolute stillness. Day after day I positioned myself in stillness and quietness, listening prayer and meditation on the Lord’s presence. I learned to quiet my mind of all business and when my mind did wander I would simply refocus on thinking about Jesus. After some time I began to receive visions and different prophetic experiences sometimes several times a day and many times everyday. I simply began to expect it when I came into the Lord’s presence. Did I pray and worship or do any other kind of prayer? Yes! but when I began to feel the Lord’s glory. I would simply lie on the floor and just “be there” in the presence, focused on Him in quietness and total surrender. After weeks of practicing this kind of silent prayer I noticed much more increase of revelation. The more I wait the more I receive. I wait as much as I can now. It is a lifestyle, sometimes 1-3 hours a day of quiet prayer and soaking.
***Todd Bentley practices visualization:
I believe that it is important in receiving an increase of revelation and seeing into the spirit to exercise our spiritual eyes. …What are the eyes of your understanding? In the Greek understanding is translated the mind and imagination. Let’s learn to set our mind on things above and seek those things above including that we might see in the spirit. One way we can exercise our spiritual eyes is to look not at the things, which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. I encourage you to take every time God has been seen in the scripture and described by the prophets in heavenly glory and read it. We need to get a glimpse in our spirit of what the heavens look like. We need to have a vision of Jesus describe in heavenly glory.
***Todd Bentley practices mantra repetition and meditation to induce personal revelations:
One sure way to increase revelation in your life is Meditation. Meditation brings revelation and revelation the manifestation of what’s been revealed. In this verse every word that’s come from God is to be received as a light that shineth in a dark place, “until”. There is a process of becoming revelation.
When we read a scripture it is as a light that shineth in a dark place “until” the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. That is revelation, we meditate, speak out loud, re read and speak out loud over and over the same verse “until” the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.
***Todd Bentley experiences Supernatural smelling of scents – signs of Kundalini:
We were created with five natural and five spiritual senses including touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing. In the same way that I am familiar with these five senses in the natural, why not in the spirit? Can we touch, taste, sight, smell and hear heavenly things now?
[…]
I want to share with you some of the ways God reveals himself and some different experiences I have had in the prophetic. One of the first experiences I ever had with revelation was through the scent sense.
Smells: We should be aware of what we smell. Sometimes He wants to minister His presence on His people’s lives and we can smell the fragrant touch. At times I have smelled cinnamon, vanilla, roses and even oil, such as oil that one would use to polish boots.
***Todd Bentley practices out of body experiences (another manifestation of kundalini) due to altered state of consciousness:
I was taken into the spirit several times and quite I will feel my body be sucked up like a vacuum. I will immediately shake and feel myself hurled through space and time. I have even seen and felt myself leave the earth, travel through the stars and flash of bright light and I am somewhere. Did my physical body go? Never that I know but when I find myself aware of where I was before I went I know I was in another place. All my emotions are heighten and involved in a caught up experience and most times I feel my self go.
To read Todd Bentley’s entire description of his Open Heaven living and daily soaking experiences, which may as well be at a contemplative New Age retreat or spa, see here:
http://www.openheavensoakingmusic.com/id23.html
(The Open Heaven Soaking Music website where this “teaching” can be found belongs to Jay Maddox who operates in ‘a seer anointing.’ While Maddox and Bentley, like many others in the soaking movement, may say they are attempting to bring people of all ages into closer communion with God, the Bible says that we are brought near only by the blood of Christ. These teachings are overshadowed by the Spirit of Error, not by the Spirit of Truth, as this website states.)
——————–
Related reading:
Kundalini Energy (the effects of Soaking Prayer)
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=1088&more=1&c=1
SOAKING? A spiritual discipline or Eastern mysticism?
http://www.crossroad.to/Q&A/church/postmodern/soaking.htm
Backtracking to March 2006 to Bentley’s home town
Tracking back to March 2006 to Bentley’s home town, this is from a blogger who lives in Abbotsford, B.C. where Todd Bentley is from. Here are some interesting facts from from a concerned sheep regarding Todd Bentley…
http://abbotsfordcitychurch.blogspot.com/2006/03/2.html
Who knows a person better than the people who live with him?
More Ministries Now Tracking the Florida Revival
Let Us Reason Ministries is now tracking the Angel/Vision/Burning Hotel story trail here:
A Story of Earth and Heaven
Caught up to deception and a dark visitation
http://www.letusreason.org/Latrain39.htm
Jacob Prasch of Moriel Ministries is also now tracking this revival and has sent this out in his latest newsletter…
Lakeland – Just Another Counterfeit Revival
Just another lie, another deception, and another false move of God. Just one more false revival
It is just more of the same old ridiculous, unscriptural, carnal, and demonically inspired junk that will not and cannot bring true biblical & historical revival, but can be used to help prevent it.
In the character of other counterfeit moves of God that produced no promised revival, the latest lie is from Lakeland, Florida – after the failed promised revivals of Kansas City, Toronto, and Pensacola.
It is more of the same unbiblical doctrine and contra-scriptural practices, manipulation, carnality, demonic influences, counterfeit spirituality, and just plain stupidity in the groove of The Kansas City False Prophets (Mike Bickle, the drunken homosexual Paul Cain, and the sexually immoral Bob Jones), the Toronto Experience (John Arnot, influenced by Rodney Howard Brown via Randy Clark), its American clone, the Pensacola fiasco (John Kilpatrick, Steve Hill), and West Africa’s TB Joshua.
No revival came from any of this lunacy, and true revival will not come from Lakeland either for the same reasons – it is not scriptural and not of God….
Read the rest of this article here:
http://www.moriel.org/articles/discernment/church_issues/lakeland_counterfeit_revival.htm
Can you spot it?
How can you spot the difference between a sheep and a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
By their view of the shepherd, and the way they treat the other sheep.
Watch very closely…very very closely…
Todd Bently vs. Paul Washer
http://christianresearchnetwork.com/?p=5089
Which testimony made you weep?
Do shepherds guide the sheep with their rod and staff, or do they kick sheep with biker boots…
Todd Bentley Kicks ‘Older Lady’ with his ‘Biker-Boot’
http://www.christianresearchservice.com/ToddBentley2.htm
A Sheep Speaks from the Heart
A Sheep Speaks from the Heart…
This is from another blog called Slaughtering the Sheep:
Speaking from the Heart
Someone recently posted a comment here at Slaughter (of the Sheep) relaying the important truth that, while discernment ministries and blogs are important, it is important not to develop a critical spirit.
Since her post, I have had time to reflect on that. Before I started Slaughter of the Sheep, I was becoming increasingly heartbroken and frustrated with the apostasy I saw growing in the church today. Every which way we turn, we see error infiltrating the church and going from the top, all the way down to the very last pew. It breaks my heart…
Read the rest here:
http://slaughteringthesheep.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/speaking-from-the-heart/
This why bloggers like us do what we do. We are not trying to fault find. We are doing this out of love, first of all for the Lord, our Shepherd, and secondly, out of love for the flock. If you love someone, you will tell them the truth.
Are McLaren, Bentley and Tolle from the same pack?
Brian McLaren is the founding pastor of Cedar Ridge Community Church and an influential leader in the emerging church culture. He was recently listed by Time Magazine as one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in America.
But what he is teaching is far from traditional evangelical or even Protestant doctrine. What he preaches is another gospel. In fact, he admits that he is looking to other sources than the Bible for answers.
In a 2004 interview, Brian McLaren said the following about the Bible:
“We modern Protestants, whether liberal or conservative, can seem to think of only one thing to do with the Bible — analyze it, study it. Many of us are looking for other things to do with the Bible other than analyze it in sermons and studies.
So, we’re looking to the Benedictines, Ignatians, and others to learn ways of contemplating Scripture through practices like lectio divina, examen, and imaginative readings. We’re finding the value in ritual and symbol, which involve the body and imagination, not just the rational powers of analysis — and we’re being helped by brothers and sisters from other traditions.”
-An Interview with Brian McLaren
http://jasonclark.ws/2004/02/20/interview_with_/
Besides, Catholicism, exactly what are some of these other traditions Brian McLaren was talking about?
“Brian McLaren wants us to learn more about ‘meditative practices, about which Zen Buddhism has said much. To talk about different things is not to contradict one another; it is, rather, to have much to offer one another’ (A Generous Orthodoxy, p. 255.) Can Zen Buddhism have something to offer that would improve a Christian’s spiritual life when the Bible teaches us that we are already partakers of Christ Jesus’ divine nature? (2 Peter 1:3-11) McLaren cites contemplative meditation promoter Richard Foster as one of the key mentors for the Emergent movement.”—Spiritual Fusion: East comes West, Mike Oppenheimer, Let Us Reason Ministries
-Source: Brian McLaren – New Age/Mystic/Contemplative
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/brianmclaren.htm
What does McLaren mean when he talks about these meditative practices?
Brian McLaren’s newest book, Finding Our Way Again: The Return of the Ancient Practices, is about exploring the ancient Christian spiritual practices. The review of this book at Lighthouse Trails Research (here) concludes with this:
In the last chapter of McLaren’s book, “Theosis (via Unitiva),” he sums up his calling by stating that “The purpose of the via purgativa [the practices] is to prepare us for the via illuminativa [the awakening], and the purpose of the via illuminativa is to prepare us for the via unitiva [all is one], the union of our nature with the nature of God” (pp. 171-172). He calls God “fire” and says, “We join God in being fire … Before the beginning … God was All, and All was God” (p. 175). This is the exact same message that Eckhart Tolle and Oprah are propagating. But while many Christians are now condemning Tolle’s message, they don’t realize that the very same message is permeating their very own churches.
Lectio Divina? Imagination? Awakening? Fire? As you may have noticed, McLaren (who says on his Deep Shift website that what we need is a ‘big shift’) is not the only one who is using these words. They are also a big part of the counterfeit revival that is going on right now.
Christianity is undergoing a paradigm shift of major proportions – a shift from faith to feelings; from fact to fantasy; and from reason to esoteric revelation. Leaders of this Counterfeit Revival, such as Benny Hinn, Todd Bentley, Rodney Howard Browne and John Arnott, have peppered their preaching and practice with fabrications, fantasies, and frauds, seemingly unaware of their profound consequences.
Many of the followers who at first flooded into Counterfeit Revival “power centers” have become disillusioned and have now slipped through the cracks into the kingdom of the cults.
John the Apostle warned, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
This warning is particularly relevant today, as Christianity is undergoing a paradigm shift of epic proportions.
-Lakeland Revival – Todd Bentley
http://earthless.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/lakeland-revival-todd-bentley/
New Age terms like transition, transformation, energy (fire), unblocking or opening your mind to the supernatural, and the concept of ‘feeling the shift’ are commonly used by many today, incuding Oprah’s friend Eckhart Tolle…
“You ask, “What does Word of Faith and Emergent Church have to do with Oprah?” Most likely you’ve heard of Eckhart Tolle and his blockbuster book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life Purpose. For the past few months Oprah has been promoting Tolle’s “revolutionary message” to her TV audience and offers a class on XM Satellite Radio. So, Oprah now sponsors two occult classes: A Course in Miracles with Marianne Williamson and A New Earth with Eckhart Tolle.
Listen to what Warren Smith says about The Shift:
“In her first class with Eckhart Tolle, Oprah asked if people had experienced the ‘shift’ while reading Tolle’s book, A New Earth. The question reminded me of Werner Erhard’s New Age EST program in the 1970s that taught this same idea of shifting one’s perception, and then similarly asking – ‘Did you get IT?’ Obviously, there is pressure to ‘get IT’ – to feel the shift: Oprah felt the shift – did you? Are you understanding this new [age] way of looking at yourself and the world? Or, are you being blocked by your mind and your ego from seeing this New Spirituality that can save our planet? Keep logging onto our classes. Keep reading Tolle’s book – you’ll ‘get it.’”
– http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/print.php?&ArticleID=3470
How interesting that Todd Bentley always calls the fire anointing “it” – step into “IT,” “IT’s” going to happen, this church and that city is going to get “IT,” or ”Come and get “IT”. And other churches are supposedly getting “IT” now too as youth pastors fly to Florida to ‘get some’ and bring “IT” back home.
Keep in mind that Todd Bentley, like McLaren, also has been learning the meditative practices of ‘brothers and sisters in other religions.’ He was discipled early on by a Roman Catholic Charismatic “prophet” named Frenchie. And who can forget his vision of Sadhu Sundar Singh – Hindu Mystic in Sheeps Clothing, whose meditation steps of Lectio Divina he practices AND teaches?
Exactly what is IT that Brian McLaren, Todd Bentley, and Eckhart Tolle are getting from their meditative practices which they have learned from other sources than the Bible? Could it be they are all from the same pack of wolves?
Meanwhile, the sheep on the slope are contemplating grazing on the pretty patches of green New Age grass, totally unaware of the gravity of their dire situation. They have taken their eyes off the Shepherd and have allowed themselves to be lured here by the false shepherds who promise to lead them to IT. They are oblivious to the watchmen who shout, “Don’t do it sheep! IT is not what you think IT is! Run away from “IT”, and back to the safety of the Good Shepherd, while there is still time!”
Some perk up their ears and listen, but most of them don’t want the truth. They want a pack of lies told by a pack of wolves. They just want IT.
There is a way which seems right to a man, But ITS end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons – 1 Timothy 4:1
Related reading:
Todd Bentley and a Spirit Named “Winds of Change”
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=1099&more=1&c=1
LECTIO DIVINA – Leading Sheep to a New Level of Consciousness
Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina is derived from a Latin word that means “holy reading.” It is an ancient method of slowly reading the scriptures in a repetitive fashion in order to encounter the presence of God.
Friar Luke Dysinger explains that this “VERY ANCIENT art, practiced at one time by all Christians, is the technique known as lectio divina – a slow, contemplative praying of the Scriptures which enables the Bible, the Word of God, to become a means of union with God.” (See The Ancient Art of Lectio Divina)
Today, this practice that has been kept alive in the tradition of Benedictine monastics and oblates is not only popular among Catholics, it has gained acceptance in other faiths and, more recently, in the emerging church.
The Youth Ministry & Spirituality Project, an organization dedicated to contemplative youth ministry, has a description of the four steps of Lectio Divina on their website:
In order to practice lectio divina, select a time and place that is peaceful and in which you may be alert and prayerfully attentive. Dispose yourself for prayer in whatever way is natural for you. This may be a spoken prayer to God to open you more fully to the Spirit, a gentle relaxation process that focuses on breathing, singing or chanting, or simply a few minutes of silence to empty yourself of thoughts, images, and emotions.
Reading (lectio) – Slowly begin reading a biblical passage as if it were a long awaited love letter addressed to you. Approach it reverentially and expectantly, in a way that savors each word and phrase. Read the passage until you hear a word or phrase that touches you, resonates, attracts or even disturbs you.
Reflecting (meditatio) – Ponder this word or phrase for a few minutes. Let it sink in slowly and deeply until you are resting in it. Listen for what the word or phrase is saying to you at this moment in your life, what it may be offering to you, what it may be demanding of you.
Expressing (oratio) – When you feel ready, openly and honestly express to God the prayers that arise spontaneously within you from your experience of this word or phrase. These may be prayers of thanksgiving, petition, intercession, lament, or praise.
Resting (contemplatio) – Allow yourself to simply rest silently with God for a time in the stillness of your heart remaining open to the quiet fullness of God’s love and peace. This is like the silence of communion between the mother holding her sleeping infant child or between lovers whose communication with each other passes beyond words.
–An Ancient Way of Praying with Scripture
(http://www.ymsp.org/resources/practices/lectio_divina.html)
Mike Perschon at Youth Specialties compares the four steps of Lectio Divina to “four levels of consciousness…which introduces you at each new level into a whole new world of reality” that occurs through the four levels of repetitious reading:
1- LITERAL LEVEL CONSCIOUSNESS
2- Moral level of consciousness
3- the Allegorical level which requires a Spiritual level of listening
4- We simply rest in the presence of the one who has used His word as a means of inviting us to accept His transforming embrace. We call this level, Union of Life or the unitive level of consciousness.
–An Experience of Lectio Divina
(http://www.cellofpeace.com/refl_lectio.htm)
It is no secret that chanting a mantra indeed empties the mind of thought and opens one up to a different state of consciousness. Mantras are used in yoga, Zen, Hindu, and Transcendental Meditation. Here is what some of these websites say about mantras:
*From a Yoga website:
“Modern science has reaffirmed what yogis have known for thousands of years – that SOUND is able to effect the chemistry of the body and mind, and alter thought patterns. (…) Mantra Meditation is a VERY Powerful technique!
You will discover that the repetition of Mantra allows your mind to focus and concentrate more completely on sound, and clear away other thoughts, emotions and distractions which divert our energies. Our senses become more acute and our mind become sharper and more perceptive as the mind clears away the jumble of unnecessary inner dialogue.”
– http://www.focalpointyoga.com/mantra_meditation.htm*From a Meditation website:
“The repetition of a mantra…is meant as a method of practice which brings about a power (siddhi) to reach the supreme state of consciousness. In this state there is silence within the mind which becomes still (shaant) and eventually you will merge the mind or individual awareness with the whole, which is Pure Consciousness and Knowingness. Every time you practice you obtain the result, as this fourth state of consciousness is always with you.”
-http://meditate4life.com/four-stages.htm
In spite of the well known purpose of mantra repetition to clear the mind and achieve this state of altered consciousness, many Christians today are mistakenly teaching that this is how to meditate on the Word of God. But is this how we fill our minds with God’s Word – by emptying our minds?
True biblical meditation involves thinking and understanding, as we read at bible.org in an article called Biblical Meditation:
What Does It Mean to Meditate?
The first question we must consider concerns the meaning of meditation and what meditation involves. This is particularly important to the Christian because of the great and growing emphasis on meditation in eastern religions. Transcendental meditation, as it is often called, is not biblical meditation. It is dangerous and actually opens up one’s mind for Satanic attack as it is found in New Age thinking.
(…)
Meditation means “the act of focusing one’s thoughts: to ponder, think on, muse.” Meditation consists of reflective thinking or contemplation, usually on a specific subject to discern its meaning or significance or a plan of action.
(…)
In Eastern forms of meditation as in TM there is an attempt to empty the mind. Biblical meditation, however, is an attempt to empty the mind of the wrong things in order to fill it with what is right and true according to the index of God’s inspired Word.
–Biblical Meditation by J. Hampton Keathley
http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=989
If you want to learn about God, understand His Word, and enter into His presence, Lectio Divina is not the way to go about it. What would you do if someone called you and kept repeating the same phrase over and over again? Would you talk to them, or would you hang up the phone?
———-
*Related reading:
What is Lectio Divina? @GotQuestions.org
http://www.gotquestions.org/lectio-divina.htm
Todd Bentley and Contemplative Meditation
Todd Bentley Taught Contemplative Prayer and Silence
***UPDATE:
More Disappearing Trails
https://sheepyweepy.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/more-disappearing-trails/
Don’t Do It Sheep!
There is a video on youtube that could not possibly be more fitting for what we are seeing today in God’s flock. As Christians leave the path (the plumb line of God’s Word) and inch out onto the slippery slope, they are in grave danger of falling away and sliding into apostasy. This slope takes many forms…today we have false revivals, false prophets, and false teachers who are taking the sheep into dangerous territory. These are experience based teachings, doctrinal shifts, the emerging church, contemplative spirituality, and even ‘Christian’ yoga, to name a few. These are all slopes that sheep must be warned to stay away from.
During the next few weeks, Wolf Tracks is going to leave the stale Florida trail to track some other wolves who have entered in.
But before we do that, this is a video some of us need to watch over and over, to remind us of the dangers and pitfalls of leaving the safety of our Shepherd’s guidance and going our own way.
Please watch this video called Sheep Falling.
Don’t do it sheep!
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…
2 Thess. 2:3
John Arnott tracks the Lakeland Revival wave back to the laughing revival released by Rodney Howard Browne
There are some more tracks on the Florida trail this week. John Arnott has come down to bless this revival which he says originally started with the laughing revival of Rodney Howard Browne…you can read about that here:
John Arnott of the Toronto Blessing blesses Todd Bentley at Lakeland
http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/john-arnott-of-the-toronto-blessing-blesses-todd-bentley-at-lakeland/
But is this true revival or apostasy?
Who can forget the mockery called the Toronto so called ‘blessing’?
This is revival? Watch this Toronto Blessing video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCeVZ6e2T0E
Is this laughter Holy? Is a laughing revival supported anywhere in scripture? Or does true revival always come with weeping and repentance?
Here are some helpful links that will help answer these questions:
Unholy Laughter
Dr. Cathy Burns
http://www.inplainsite.org/html/unholy_laughter.htmlAn E-book on The Toronto Blessing called WEIGHED AND FOUND WANTING by Pastor Bill Randles (1995) can be found HERE.
General Toronto Blessing Articles:
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/blessing.htmlThe Toronto ‘Blessing’ and Brownsville ‘Revival’..
Move of God or demonic deception?
http://www.inplainsite.org/html/toronto_blessing_brownsville.html
In the video from two nights ago (May 26), John Arnott is talking about angel visitations with Todd Bentley…the two angels of revival with packs on their backs that want to go do some tracking of their own and go back to revisit all the same locations touched by Rodney Howard Browne where the blessings were poured out. On the video there is much talk between Arnott and Bentley about angels and revisitations but nothing about Jesus, just releasing and receiving the wind and rain, but no Jesus. Prophecy to the wind, prophecy to the rain, prophecy to the water, says Todd…awaken those revival mantles.
But no Jesus.
No Scripture.
No gospel.
No cross.
No repentance.
No meat.
Not even milk.
Just Todd shouting at the camera… “Come on God, DO IT again! Light up the network, fire fire fire fire, this is your hour of visitation!”
Lord Jesus, have mercy!
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. James 4: 8,9
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Tracking the Florida Revival all the way from Northern Ireland
Here is the latest from Cecil Andrew’s ministry, Take Heed (from Northern Ireland):
Todd Bentley & his ‘Healing Revival’ in Florida:
A helpful book for such a deception as this:
‘True To His Ways’ by Ruth Davis.
http://www.takeheed.net/Current_Concerns/Todd_Bentley_ARTICLE.htm
Praying or Preying?
Here’s a question asked on the latest Theology Today post called Todd Bentley and the Florida Outpouring Part 7 regarding the resurrection of the three year old girl…
“Hundreds are claiming healing from various ailments, including deafness, cancer, tumors and paralysis. There are also unconfirmed reports of the dead coming back to life.
One of the cases involves a 3-year-old girl, dead for two days, who allegedly woke up and coughed as she was being wheeled into a room to have her organs harvested, Strader said. The hospital denied the report.”
– http://www.charismamag.com/cms/news/archives/0522081.php
The question is this: Is Todd Bentley deceived or is he a deceiver?
The above Charisma article also says:
“Bentley places a strong emphasis on taking “the anointing” from the worship services and out into the streets. People have reported many salvations and healings taking place in local parking lots, restaurants and malls throughout Lakeland.”
Read about the effect that “the anointing” is actually having in one local parking lot as it’s being taken out into the streets. This is from a new article about the revival in Lakeland (posted at Christian Research Service on their new Todd Bentley/Freshfire Ministries Research Page):
[…] Bob Gomeringer, a Lakeland retiree, works part time parking cars at Lakeland Center events and finds the services unsettling. He hears loud music – “the same song being played over and over and over again” – coming out from the arena. He watches ministry workers carry in buckets “to rake in all the money” during offerings.
What concerns Gomeringer most are the young people, many of whom appear to be in a “trancelike state” when they come out of the arena, he said.
“They just don’t look or act right,” he said.
Monday night, he found a young person lying on the ground. Gomeringer was ready to call an ambulance when the prostrate man’s friend stopped him.
“He told me that his friend was fine, and that he was just full of the Holy Spirit,” Gomeringer said. “And if I wanted some of that power, to get inside and get some of it myself. No, thank you. This isn’t the kind of spirit that I’m interested in.”
Gomeringer has attended Methodist churches for more than 50 years and said what’s happening in Lakeland is quite different from the Christian faith he’s known throughout his life. “It’s not prayerful or private. This is extremism,” Gomeringer said. […]
–Bentley’s Lakeland Revival Keeps Moving Spirits, Closing Date
Is this the kind of revival Bentley wants taken into the streets? Is Todd Bentley sincerely praying for the sheep, or preying on the sheep?
Tracing Todd Bentley’s roots to Simon Magus’s root of bitterness and idolatry
This is a very good article:
Todd Bentley – The New Simon Magus
“But there was a certain man called Simon… claiming that he was someone great, to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying,”this man is the great power of God.” And they heeded him because he had astonished them with his sorceries for a long time.” Acts 8:9-11
Todd Bentley is great! If you don’t believe me just ask the multitudes who have been astonished by the “miraculous revival” in Lakeland Florida! Or just check out the Christian television show “Xtreme Prophetic” featuring Host Patricia King, which I saw on YouTube. Bentley was featured on the show as one of the new prophets of the younger generation. Patricia King the host spoke for many when she proclaimed Todd as an “awesome man of power who is a Seer’. She also announced that Todd has brought “a million people into the Kingdom of God in the last eight years”. Todd was guest on the show with his mentor, another great prophet – Bob Jones. His resume was equally impressive- King described Him as “a champion of the Seer realm”, and “one of the most accurate of prophets of our generation”, and she thanked him for being a “father of the faith”, as well as a seer-prophet. […]
Read the rest of Todd Bentley – The New Simon Magus by Pastor Bill Randles here:
http://www.believersingrace.com/page/page/5875486.htm
Tracking through the Mud
As many of us continue to follow the tracks surrounding the Knot OK Sheep Corral in Florida, the mud is getting deeper daily, making it harder to tell which tracks are fresh and which are old. Here are some fresh Todd Bentley track reports, some of them contain older information, some are brand new, but all of them point to Matthew 7:15:
Cleaning Out the Barn
http://lakelandrevival.blogspot.com/2008/05/cleaning-out-barn.html
Todd Bently Promotes the Roman Catholic Mass
http://christianresearchnetwork.com/?p=5078
Todd Bentley – Florida Outpouring of Drunkenness
http://christianresearchnetwork.com/?p=5075
Florida Outpouring Healing Revival Information
*Has links that provide a balanced and Biblical view of what is being called the “Florida Healing Revival” or the “Florida Outpouring”
http://www.obeyjesus.net/content/category/1/101/74/
More Perspectives on Florida Outpouring
http://availablelightonline.com/blog/2008/05/25/more-perspectives-on-florida-outpouring/
Florida Revival – is there a Kundalini connection?
http://livingjourney.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/florida-revival-is-there-a-the-kundalini-connection/
*Watch video here:
http://livingjourney.wordpress.com/2008/05/26/todd-bentley-messenger-of-god-part-3/
From End Time Prophetic, Prophecy, Visions, Dreams, Revelation, Christian Blog:
Index to all articles on Todd Bentley, Lakeland Outpouring Florida Revival
From a Sheep’s Mouth
Read this eye opening testimony from someone who has been attending the Florida Outpouring and has some legitimate concerns…..
Todd Bentley and the Florida Outpouring Part 6
http://phillyflash.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/todd-bentley-and-the-florida-outpouring-part-6/
More Sheep Talk
The sheep are baaa-ing today, and this is what they are saying…
“Meet the New thing- Same as the Old thing” “Will We get Fooled Again?”
Bentley’s healing video promoted by New Age website
Todd Bentley Says that the Heavens Open in Certain Geological Locations
Does Todd Bentley Bend the Bible?
At the last link, Lest Any Man Should Boast , a question is asked of the sheep:
Is Todd Bentley’s “Fire” trying to get into your church?
I was wondering what Fire Retardant people are using to keep Bentley’s Fire out of their church. He is continually instructing the recipients of his anointing to take the Fire back to their church’s and communities. He seems to be aiming this primarily at the youth and youth pastors.
How are you dealing with this?
And finally, this one is about a Hindu mystic wolf in sheeps clothing:
Sadhu Sundar Singh – Hindu Mystic in Sheeps Clothing
(Remember, Todd Bentley saw a vision of Sundar Singh and later taught the prayer steps of contemplative spirituality that he practiced).
Run to the Shepherd!
Would a wolf in sheeps clothing tell you about the shepherd? Or would he lure you away from the shepherd?
This make me weep…
http://blog.thewaycf.com/2008/05/audio-todd-bentley-says-its-not-about.html
Did you hear that? Todd Bentley says, it’s not about Jesus, our Shepherd, our Saviour. No, it’s not about knowing Him, and living for Him, and following Him. It’s about believing in angels. It’s about awakening to the supernatural.
Open your eyes, sheep! Run to the Shepherd!!!
How Wolves Fleece the Sheep
Here are 10 methods used by wolves to fleece the sheep:
A Word of Faith Question
http://slaughteringthesheep.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/a-word-of-faith-question/
Also see the flock fleecing handbook here:
Official Handbook of How to Fleece the Flock for Fun and Profit
http://www.oaim.org/fleecing.html
To the Sheepfold or the Luau?
Are these the words you would hear as a shepherd gently calls, guides and feeds his flock?
“Bring the coals up for anointing”
“Feel the burning in your spine”
“I believe God is burning out every cyst. BAM! BAM! BAM!”
“BAM! BAM! MORE FIRE! FIRE, FIRE, FIRE, FIAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! BAM! BAM! BAM!”
Or does that sound more like the words you would hear at…a barbeque – a luau (pig roast), complete with fire dancers and coals?
Or what about this, from Day 46 of the Florida Healing Outpouring:
“ I saw a vision of an angel, and he had a coal in his hand…he took 1 live coal from the altar of Heaven and he stuck it right inside my belly and I screamed! I felt fire go through my body from the top of my head to my toes. That is when the lord began to speak to us about the coals and he said COME GET SOME. All you need is 1 live coal. You don’t need a whole fire. Just a few burning embers. And if you are only smoking and your fire is just about out, it only takes 1 wind…just get around people that are hungry… get a little dry wood. The Lord wants to release those coals tonight..
Let the embers burn. Father, let the embers begin to burn. Father, I prophesy to the embers, to the coals, to the burning ash. Let the coals…let the fire rise! Come on. Stir up that fire!
[…]
Lord, fill this place with the angels. Fill this place with the coals.
Fire! Fire! Fire! In your nation, in your house, in your city. Fire! Fire! Fire!”
Are the shaking sheep flocking to Lakeland for to be fed, refreshed, and nourished? Or are they in danger of being deceived by hungry wolves…and being hypnotized by the flames and smoke of strange fire and ‘contagious anointings’?
Read these:
*What a Todd Bentley Revival meeting was like:
Healings & Prophecy at Florida Revival Lakeland Outpouring Meetings with Todd Bentley*This is from Slaughter of the Sheep:
Todd Bentley Annoints 13 Wise Virgins to Carry Revival Forward
What exactly is this anointing? Is it the Holy Spirit – or a substitute spirit?
Holy Spirit or Kundalini
http://www.deceptionbytes.com/HolySpirit-or-KundaliniRevival Spirits from Eastern Religions
http://www.unleavenedbreadministries.org/?page=revivalspiritsVideos Exposing Todd Bentley
http://battle4truth.wordpress.com/2008/05/17/videos-exposing-todd-bentley/
***This is very very good, please read:
Todd Bentley Imparts Anti-Christ Spirit
http://lavrai.com/blogs/2008/05/19/todd-bentley-imparting-anti-christ-spirit/
~~~
History tells us that the Maccabean revolt began when Antiochus Epiphanes IV (168 BC), who wanted the Jews to be of the same culture and worship Greek gods, desecrated the Temple, erected an idol on the altar, and desecrated its holiness by substituting the lamb sacrifice with an unclean pig.
Is this present day mockery and gross display of unclean spirits that is being passed off as the Holy Spirit any different? Believers who, under the new covenant, are temples of the Holy Spirit, have no business entertaining the doctrines of demons. They must choose today who they will serve – the spotless Lamb of God, or an unclean substitute.
Who will be a Maccabean?
Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. 1 John 2:18
Related:
Virgins anointed – The truth about the Third Wave
http://livingjourney.wordpress.com/2008/05/21/virgins-anointed/
***UPDATE: BRAND NEW FROM Christian Research Service:
Todd Bentley or Jesus Christ?
Wolves say the darndest things
Wolves say the darndest things:
“I told the Lord why can’t I just move in healing and forget talking about all that other stuff?”
“Because, Todd, you have to get the people to believe in the angel.”
“I said, God, why do I want people to believe in the angel? ”
“Isn’t it about getting people to believe in Jesus?”
“He said, the people already believe in Jesus, but the church doesn’t believe in the supernatural.”
-Todd Bentley, Historical/Apostolic Revival Succession, lakelandrevival.blogspot.com
http://lakelandrevival.blogspot.com/2008/05/historicalapostolic-revival-succession.html
The Shepherd will find you
This is a comment that someone left on Wolf Tracks today:
“Last night in Lakeland there was an alter call and many people gave their lives to Jesus. Tell me why satan would like people to repent of their sins and give their lives to Jesus?”
That’s a valid question that many are asking. If the Florida outpouring a false revival, why are people getting saved? The answer is that no matter where you go, if you are truly seeking the Shepherd, He will find you. Read this:
“Why are some people finding Jesus and getting healed in Lakeland (or a Benny Hinn conference or elsewhere that looks suspect)? Because if you go ANYWHERE seeking JESUS, you will be found by Him. But if you go seeking Benny or Todd (or whatever is on/in/around them), you’ll be found by that, too!
Real revival is about repentance and brokenness and humility and people on their face weeping for their worldliness. It’s NOT about laughing or falling down or feathers or gold dust or talking to angels. It’s NOT about performance or impressing people or emotional appeals. It’s about FEAR OF THE LORD and His JUSTICE, not one-sided promises of blessing because God just wants to love on you.”
That was a quote from a very very very good newsletter by Doug Perry that you can read the rest of here:
Tracking the Root of Todd Bentley’s Fruit
This is how an article from Deception Bytes introduces the source of Todd Bentley’s fruit:
“In Todd Bentley’s Article Angelic Hosts Bentley issues the invitation to eat from the Tree of Life. “I see angels bringing some of you to the tree of life. Remember how God, in Genesis 3:24, sent the cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life because man had sinned. God took Adam and Eve out of the garden. But today the Lord wants to bring some of us into that place where we taste the fruit of the tree of life. I want you to get involved right now and say:
Father, please give us that fruit. Lord let those angels bring us right into the place where you have prepared a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Give us the divine life that comes from that tree so we can taste and see that the Lord is good.”
But is the fruit that Todd Bentley offers good? Find out more about this ‘tree of life’ and it’s roots, here:
Todd Bentley, Fires of Kundalini and the Demon Samael
http://www.deceptionbytes.com/Todd-Bentleys-Fire-of-Kundalini
All who read here, please heed the warning signs! CAUTION: EATING THIS FRUIT MAY BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR SOUL!
Trail of Fire Heading to Phoenix?
Is the Florida trail of fire blazing it’s way to Phoenix?
Lakeland’s ‘Strange Fire’ coming soon to Phoenix
http://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/lakelands-strange-fire-coming-soon-to-phoenix/
Backtracking a few days, also of interest at pjmiller’s blog is this:
Saturday Night in Lakeland Florida
http://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/saturday-night-in-lakeland-florida/
Tracking the Disappearing Trail
It’s very strange when you are tracking a trail and it suddenly disappears into thin air.
The following is from –
The Way Christian Fellowship
Food for Sheep.
Water for Goats.
Todd Bentley: Do we have anything to worry about?
http://blog.thewaycf.com/2008/05/todd-bentley-do-we-have-anything-to.html
Does a true shepherd have to retract what he says? Does a true shepherd have to cover up and change his story? You be the judge.
Here is another strange occurance in the disappearing trail mystery:
There was a page at Todd Bentley’s Freshfire Ministry entitled THE GLORY CLOUD OF REVELATION & PROPHETIC MANTLES ~ PART TWO: CONCLUSION BY TODD BENTLEY, FRESH FIRE MINISTRIES. This page told in detail Todd’s vision of Sundar Singh as well as details about the Christian Contemplative Tradition called Lectio Divina.
This is no longer available. It has disappeared into thin air.
Sometimes those who are being tracked have to go to great lengths to cover their tracks.
Update:
It was reported that the Sundar Singh vision page had disappeared from Freshfire’s website. Wolf Tracks has tracked it down. The link has been changed from this:
http://www.freshfire.ca/teaching_details.php?Id=143
to this:
http://www.freshfire.ca/index.php?Act=read&status=teaching&Id=143&pid=954
But we are still on the lookout for Emma’s whereabouts, as reported in the above link.
(Fellow bloggers may also want to change their links accordingly, as has been done on the Wolf Tracks post Todd Bentley and Contemplative Meditation.)
Lions and Wolves Among Us
The following is from a blog called the great apostasy – is it coming to a church near you?
There Are Lions and Wolves Among Us
http://thegreatapostasy.wordpress.com/2007/06/09/there-are-lions-and-wolves-among-us/
I think sometimes when we hear about things like “wolves” entering in amongst us or about the Devil walking about like a “lion” seeking whom he may devour, many of us tend to think in terms of almost cartoon versions of wolves and lions […]
Be sure to check it out. Great pictures.
Tracking Roots and Fruits
Tracking the roots and fruits of the NAR-wolves…
The Roots and Fruits of the New Apostolic Reformation
by Bob DeWaay
http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue103.htm
Related:
The Problems with Personal Words From God
How People Become False Prophets to Themselves
http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue98.htm
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