Friday, August 22, 2008
Hearing the Fathers' Voices
I wish this blog post addressed something else besides Todd Bentley's marital problems or, for that matter, anything to do with the Lakeland Outpouring. In fact, I'd planned on posting one of those carefree "it's Friday so lighten up" posts with chuckle-links galore. But the truth is, what we're going through as the charismatic movement right now is no laughing matter, and neither is it something to ignore in hopes that it goes away with time. It's time for us to roll up our sleeves, commit to sticking through this as family and deal with the raw issues.
We need the fathers' voices to be heard. Obviously we need to hear the Father's voice the loudest. But God has also appointed specific leaders to shepherd an entire movement, and those are the leaders we need to hear from now more than ever. We don't just need a rallying cry or a clarion call, we need heart-to-heart dialogue on what just happened, what it means and where we go from here.
After a brief silence, the fathers are beginning to speak. Below are links to some of the public statements released this past week. (There are obviously others speaking, but these are leaders I felt needed to be highlighted given their proximity to the situation or the depth of their words.) I've highlighted a few quotes from each person, but I encourage you to read through their statements in full. Don't just assume you know what will be said given who it's coming from, but instead undestand that every leader is trying to display the heart of God throughout this time. As has been reiterated throughout the charismatic body so often for so long, let's not toss the baby out with the bathwater.
We need the fathers' voices to be heard. Obviously we need to hear the Father's voice the loudest. But God has also appointed specific leaders to shepherd an entire movement, and those are the leaders we need to hear from now more than ever. We don't just need a rallying cry or a clarion call, we need heart-to-heart dialogue on what just happened, what it means and where we go from here.
After a brief silence, the fathers are beginning to speak. Below are links to some of the public statements released this past week. (There are obviously others speaking, but these are leaders I felt needed to be highlighted given their proximity to the situation or the depth of their words.) I've highlighted a few quotes from each person, but I encourage you to read through their statements in full. Don't just assume you know what will be said given who it's coming from, but instead undestand that every leader is trying to display the heart of God throughout this time. As has been reiterated throughout the charismatic body so often for so long, let's not toss the baby out with the bathwater.
From John Arnott:
- “I am aware that the devil wants to tempt some people to say, ‘I told you so.’ Do not allow yourself to become his instrument by using the sword of truth without mercy in this way.”
- “Be slow to speak out publicly and to judge prematurely. It is time to treat these people with grace, like you would like to be treated when you fall or make a mistake. Be assured that nothing is being ‘swept under the carpet,’ but we are bringing it out into the light of God’s truth in mercy so that we can interrupt Satan’s plan to use this to discredit Jesus Christ by destroying the lives of Todd, his family and his friends.”
- “While I will never blame Todd’s opponents for Todd’s bad choices (Todd alone is responsible for them) their opposition had a greater effect than any of his critics will likely own up to in this lifetime.”
- “The ripple effects of Todd’s decisions have been astronomical. I’ve not seen anything like it in my lifetime. I’m sure there has been, but I’ve certainly not been this close to it.”
- “This is the way it is for the kingdom: Everything is for advancement. Everything. While it looks like sometimes you’re taking three steps backward, if heart is kept clean and we stay accountable and we learn how to maneuver through this minefield, we can come out on the other side of this thing so much stronger than before.”
From Che Ahn:
- “It is not surprising that the enemy would use this incident and anything he can find to impugn the work of God to cause us and all involved to question the Lakeland revival. Every revival that I have experienced or studied had its controversy, and the Lakeland revival, to say the least, has had its share.”
- “I have every confidence that God began the ‘Outpouring,’ and the ‘cat is already out of the bag.’ Thousands upon thousands in our nation and many others have already received the impartation to cause it to continue and grow.”
From Rick Joyner:
- “ What makes [Todd] capable of such extraordinary faith also makes him prone to extraordinary blunders. … Like it or not, that is often the nature of those who accomplish some of the greatest spiritual exploits—they also make some of the biggest bloopers. Hearing about these problems did not surprise me at all. Since I have now heard about more details, I’m still not shocked. These are problems, and they need to be fixed, which includes repenting and turning around, but if we want the victories and breakthroughs we all hope and pray for, they usually come through people with the same kind of nature.
- “One thing that would help them and the body of Christ, possibly more than anything else, is to see some real Christian charity expressed in this situation and some righteous judges stand up, which is the duty of true elders in the church.”
- “This is a real opportunity for the church to show some maturity and Christian love. This does not mean compromise, but it does mean addressing this situation in an almost opposite way that we have tended to do in the past.”
From Dutch Sheets:
- “When something has the potential of setting precedent, birthing a movement and being reproduced as a prototype, we are no longer simply endorsing good brothers, good intentions and miracles. Doctrine and foundations will be built on these events. Teachings and paradigms for future ministries will be formed—in short, the next generation of the church and the move of God in the earth could be greatly impacted.”
- “We leaders in the Church have become no different than the world around us in our standards for measuring success and greatness. This has contributed to the body of Christ giving millions of dollars to undeserving individuals; it has allowed people living in sin to become influential leaders—even to lead movement, allowing them influence all the way to the White House. Through our lack of discernment we built their stages and gave them their platforms. We have been gullible beyond words—gullible leaders producing gullible sheep.”
- “I don’t believe anyone is expecting perfection from us—I know I’m not. We’re far too human for that. But we are expected to have enough humility to look the world and those who follow us in the eye when we miss it and say, ‘We were wrong and we are sorry.’ Our careless accountability has caused the body of Christ to be spiritually raped and abused. It has produced disillusionment and brought immeasurable reproach to our God and cynicism to His message. Concerning Lakeland, what was called the “greatest revival since Azusa Street” has become possibly one of the greatest reproaches. We, the leaders of the charismatic church, are responsible.”
- “Our procedures and standards of accountability are incredibly inadequate. We have provided camaraderie, not biblical accountability.”
- “We are again experiencing the disappointment and even disillusionment that comes when perceived servants of God fail. This is a dangerous time for us.”
- “Lord, have mercy upon us! Turn our propensity for judgment into mercy and intercession. May the disappointment and disillusionment that is ours through the sin of another, work in us a radical pursuit of You, Lord, Your Presence and Your gifts!”
Monday, August 11, 2008
Council in Lakeland
It didn't take long after the Lakeland Outpouring began in April for certain issues to rise to the surface and eventually cause such a division among Spirit-filled believers that many referred to it as a potential "charismatic civil war." At the core were such issues as extra-biblical doctrine, overemphasis on angelic encounters and necromancy. And as so easily happens in this age of armchair quarterbacks, the blogosphere lit up in fervent debate. Heresy hunters feasted on any proof-less claims and foundation-less doctrines. Defenders railed against a lack of spiritual discernment among the "revival police." And everyday inquisitors were stuck with a truck-load of questions mingled with a sincere desire to stay in step with what God was doing.
As the debates climaxed, few realized that behind the scenes a group of leaders representing various parts of the Spirit-filled community were dialoguing about these same issues—albeit usually in a more civilized tone. Though the names of those involved changed, the goal remained the same: to create an apostolic council that, despite personal differences and preferences, was willing to address these core issues and bring biblical order to the situation. Those tuned in to GOD TV's daily broadcast of the Lakeland meetings got a taste of this in late June when Peter Wagner organized a night to apostolically commission evangelist Todd Bentley.
Now, more than a month later, Wagner is releasing a report documenting the council's findings so far. There isn't much "new news" contained in what he's written—even for those hearing about this for the first time—and I have to be honest, I severely question both the breadth of representation within the council and the criterion for "apostleship" among the group. However, the document does reveal at least two positive things: 1) Though the Lakeland Outpouring may dwindle, leaders are fully aware that these issues will linger long after the crowds subside and therefore need to be adequately addressed, if not resolved; and 2) Leaders are determined to address the issues of Lakeland—and those ongoing ones affecting the entire charismatic movement, for that matter—in a healthy, orderly and biblical manner.
So ... after reading through it, what do you think?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE LAKELAND APOSTOLIC FINDINGS
From the Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team
Written by C. Peter Wagner, Convening Apostle
(As of 8-11-08)
Introduction
Few events in recent church history have drawn as much national and international attention as the Lakeland Outpouring, May-August 2008, led by evangelist Todd Bentley and his Fresh Fire Ministries team. A key factor contributing to this unusual phenomenon has been the decision of Rory and Wendy Alec to use GOD TV to televise the revival meetings internationally.
As would be expected, true to the history of revivals, a powerful move of God like this inevitably draws serious attacks from the enemy and his forces of darkness. One outcome is a range of reactions to the phenomenon from those who focus on the hand of God in the ministry to those who focus on the damage that the enemy is doing. Because of the unprecedented number of people who have been affected one way or another by Lakeland and because of instant communication through technology, opinions and points of view easily become public domain, and the body of Christ can readily become polarized, which, of course, would be a victory for the enemy.
Unfortunately, in the case of Lakeland, the enemy has been succeeding, more than he should, in producing widespread confusion and even chaos throughout large segments of the body of Christ.
Throughout the early weeks of the Outpouring I watched it from time to time on TV, I followed the news items and rejoiced at what God was doing in Lakeland, but the matter was located toward the bottom of my priority scale. I also became aware of a rising number of criticisms and concerns about what was going on there, but I had very little interest in absorbing or analyzing them. This changed when I received a telephone call from Apostle Stephen Strader, Pastor of Ignited Church, and host of the Lakeland Outpouring. Stephen called me as the Presiding Apostle of the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA) of which he was a member. From first hand observation he described both the blessings and harsh opposition that they had begun to experience. Then he said, “Where are the apostles?”
I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me at that moment and said words to the effect, “Peter, you will need to answer that question.” As I have written in my books, one of the roles of an apostle is to set things in order and another is to assure that the body of Christ is operating on the basis of sound, biblical doctrine. There was no question about the need—disorder reigned, and many of the Lakeland doctrines as well as practices were being called into question on an international scope. I believe that I was given a divine assignment that I hadn’t even desired, namely to attempt to bring some kind of apostolic order to this widespread and potentially damaging confusion.
While I was talking to Stephen, God kept bringing the word “alignment” to the front of my mind, so I questioned him on Todd Bentley’s apostolic alignment. The upshot was that Todd believed in apostles and prophets, but he had never entered into a formal alignment. I did some more investigation over the next couple of days, and I was assured that this was indeed the case.
As the picture developed, there were two pressing needs. One was to facilitate apostolic alignment for Todd and the other was to deal responsibly with the doctrinal and ministry style issues being discussed. Then the question became, Which should come first? Meanwhile I had been discussing these things with several friends, all of whom were also members of ICA and whose opinion I highly respected. I immediately discovered to my surprise that many of my friends had formed highly-charged and emotionally intense opinions. Some were advising me not to go to Lakeland to promote a formal alignment until the doctrinal issues first had been resolved. Others took the opposite position. I carefully considered what they said and weighed the pros and cons as best I could.
My thinking was that I did not want to deal with doctrinal issues with any one but fellow apostles. I had recently attempted a similar process that had to do with a certain prophet, and I had failed in accomplishing my goal of bringing about a reconciliation of opposing parties. I felt that one of my mistakes had been attempting to deal directly with a prophet who was not aligned with me instead of dealing with an apostle with whom this person was in fact aligned. I certainly knew that I did not want to attempt to work directly with an evangelist such as Todd Bentley, especially one whom I had never met. If Todd was not apostolically aligned, this alignment needed to be formalized before I was prepared to go any further. I am well aware that some friends thought I should have stopped right there and pulled out. Perhaps I should have, but I felt that I would be disobeying the word from the Holy Spirit if I did. Some of my friends have not yet forgiven me for not taking their advice, and, who knows? Someday they might be telling me, “I told you so!”
Regardless, I knew that alignment needed to come first. Chuck Pierce, with whom I am closely aligned prophetically, wholeheartedly agreed. I did my due diligence and discovered that Ché Ahn was the ICA member who had the closest contact with Todd, and that Todd was willing to accept this alignment. Ché felt that he should bring in Bill Johnson and John Arnott since all three of them were close to Todd and they lead the newly-formed Revival Alliance. Unbelievably, all four of us had one date in common open all summer, Monday, June 23, so we decided that we would propose it to Todd. He enthusiastically agreed and invited us to come.
By now the word was getting out and I was receiving a quantity of email correspondence from other apostles who were interested. I opened the door for those who desired to accompany us on the platform. I did not allow prophets, evangelists pastors, or teachers to join the group—apostles only. A total of 17 apostles participated representing three apostolic streams: ICA, Revival Alliance, and Morning Star (Rick Joyner).
The Alignment Ceremony
My role in the ceremony was to facilitate Todd’s alignment with the three from Revival Alliance, who would then commission Todd as the evangelist to the Lakeland Outpouring. The others were invited to join in with short prayers or prophecies as led.
I need to explain a couple of things at this point, because it turns out that some have misunderstood what I have just said. Some have thought that Todd is aligned with me, which is not the case. He is not a member of ICA. We are barely aquainted. Please note that purposely I have never come out and defended Todd against any of the accusations. I have attempted to maintain neutrality in order to deal with the issues as objectively as possible.
Some have said that my very appearance in the ceremony constituted a de facto endorsement of the Lakeland Outpouring. I anticipated that this would be the case, and I felt I had to take the risk because I knew of no other way to proceed. So while it was an endorsement, I in no way meant it to imply that I was endorsing Lakelands’s side of the controversial issues. For one thing I couldn’t do that because I had not yet investigated them as I am doing now. I felt that the proper protocol was alignment first. However, I did feel, and still do, that what was wrong with the Outpouring should be corrected if at all possible rather than rejected out of hand.
Others wondered if this was an ICA event. It was not. However, I cannot separate myself from my role as the ICA leader, and I so identified myself in my paper. Thirteen of the 17 apostles on the platform were ICA members, and they agreed that Todd would be better with formal apostolic alignment than without it.
I have been scolded by some for making an apostolic decree at the end of my presentation. They may be right. However, I believe in apostolic alignment so much, that my thought was that Todd would be blessed more after the alignment than before. Take note also that I mentioned a heightened level of discernment between truth and error which obviously has been called for.
The vows of alignment with Ché, Bill, and John led to Todd’s commissioning. Ché Ahn was in charge of this. Notice that the only ones who laid on hands and commissioned were the three of them. Several prayed and prophesied. I want to make it clear that I did not commission Todd as some wrongly think. I didn’t lay on hands, I didn’t anoint with oil, in fact I moved to the back and neither my wife, Doris, nor I prayed or prophesied. I did this intentionally because I knew I would be wrongly positioned for the second part of my assignment if I did.
With the alignment completed, I was ready to go on with the second part of the assignment, namely attempting to bring order out of the confusion concerning doctrines and ministry practices
Bringing Order to the Issues
I felt that I needed a team of apostles who were willing to work with me in order to identify the concerns that had been brought up, define them as carefully as possible, and come to an opinion that could be issued to the public. Ten other apostles have agreed to work with me in this project: Ché Ahn, Bill Johnson, John Arnott, Chuck Pierce, Stephen Strader, Lee Grady, David Cannistraci, Steve Strang, Jeff Beacham, and Joe Askins.
One of our first tasks was to develop a “Lakeland Spectrum” in order to help individuals concerned to know where they stood as over against others. We have a five point spectrum (1) Strong approval, (2) Concerned approval, (3) Neutral, (4) Conditional disapproval, (5) Strong disapproval. The members of our apostolic team range from 1 to 4.5, so we have a range of perspectives.
We have been working on sorting out what we now have, and the list is down to 24 issues. We are taking this very seriously, and we understand that the process will take time. When we arrive at our conclusions we will release them to the public. John Arnott will be the point person to review our findings with Todd Bentley and the Fresh Fire Board of which he is a member.
We will add to this report of the findings as soon as possible . . . .
As the debates climaxed, few realized that behind the scenes a group of leaders representing various parts of the Spirit-filled community were dialoguing about these same issues—albeit usually in a more civilized tone. Though the names of those involved changed, the goal remained the same: to create an apostolic council that, despite personal differences and preferences, was willing to address these core issues and bring biblical order to the situation. Those tuned in to GOD TV's daily broadcast of the Lakeland meetings got a taste of this in late June when Peter Wagner organized a night to apostolically commission evangelist Todd Bentley.
Now, more than a month later, Wagner is releasing a report documenting the council's findings so far. There isn't much "new news" contained in what he's written—even for those hearing about this for the first time—and I have to be honest, I severely question both the breadth of representation within the council and the criterion for "apostleship" among the group. However, the document does reveal at least two positive things: 1) Though the Lakeland Outpouring may dwindle, leaders are fully aware that these issues will linger long after the crowds subside and therefore need to be adequately addressed, if not resolved; and 2) Leaders are determined to address the issues of Lakeland—and those ongoing ones affecting the entire charismatic movement, for that matter—in a healthy, orderly and biblical manner.
So ... after reading through it, what do you think?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THE LAKELAND APOSTOLIC FINDINGS
From the Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team
Written by C. Peter Wagner, Convening Apostle
(As of 8-11-08)
Introduction
Few events in recent church history have drawn as much national and international attention as the Lakeland Outpouring, May-August 2008, led by evangelist Todd Bentley and his Fresh Fire Ministries team. A key factor contributing to this unusual phenomenon has been the decision of Rory and Wendy Alec to use GOD TV to televise the revival meetings internationally.
As would be expected, true to the history of revivals, a powerful move of God like this inevitably draws serious attacks from the enemy and his forces of darkness. One outcome is a range of reactions to the phenomenon from those who focus on the hand of God in the ministry to those who focus on the damage that the enemy is doing. Because of the unprecedented number of people who have been affected one way or another by Lakeland and because of instant communication through technology, opinions and points of view easily become public domain, and the body of Christ can readily become polarized, which, of course, would be a victory for the enemy.
Unfortunately, in the case of Lakeland, the enemy has been succeeding, more than he should, in producing widespread confusion and even chaos throughout large segments of the body of Christ.
Throughout the early weeks of the Outpouring I watched it from time to time on TV, I followed the news items and rejoiced at what God was doing in Lakeland, but the matter was located toward the bottom of my priority scale. I also became aware of a rising number of criticisms and concerns about what was going on there, but I had very little interest in absorbing or analyzing them. This changed when I received a telephone call from Apostle Stephen Strader, Pastor of Ignited Church, and host of the Lakeland Outpouring. Stephen called me as the Presiding Apostle of the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA) of which he was a member. From first hand observation he described both the blessings and harsh opposition that they had begun to experience. Then he said, “Where are the apostles?”
I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to me at that moment and said words to the effect, “Peter, you will need to answer that question.” As I have written in my books, one of the roles of an apostle is to set things in order and another is to assure that the body of Christ is operating on the basis of sound, biblical doctrine. There was no question about the need—disorder reigned, and many of the Lakeland doctrines as well as practices were being called into question on an international scope. I believe that I was given a divine assignment that I hadn’t even desired, namely to attempt to bring some kind of apostolic order to this widespread and potentially damaging confusion.
While I was talking to Stephen, God kept bringing the word “alignment” to the front of my mind, so I questioned him on Todd Bentley’s apostolic alignment. The upshot was that Todd believed in apostles and prophets, but he had never entered into a formal alignment. I did some more investigation over the next couple of days, and I was assured that this was indeed the case.
As the picture developed, there were two pressing needs. One was to facilitate apostolic alignment for Todd and the other was to deal responsibly with the doctrinal and ministry style issues being discussed. Then the question became, Which should come first? Meanwhile I had been discussing these things with several friends, all of whom were also members of ICA and whose opinion I highly respected. I immediately discovered to my surprise that many of my friends had formed highly-charged and emotionally intense opinions. Some were advising me not to go to Lakeland to promote a formal alignment until the doctrinal issues first had been resolved. Others took the opposite position. I carefully considered what they said and weighed the pros and cons as best I could.
My thinking was that I did not want to deal with doctrinal issues with any one but fellow apostles. I had recently attempted a similar process that had to do with a certain prophet, and I had failed in accomplishing my goal of bringing about a reconciliation of opposing parties. I felt that one of my mistakes had been attempting to deal directly with a prophet who was not aligned with me instead of dealing with an apostle with whom this person was in fact aligned. I certainly knew that I did not want to attempt to work directly with an evangelist such as Todd Bentley, especially one whom I had never met. If Todd was not apostolically aligned, this alignment needed to be formalized before I was prepared to go any further. I am well aware that some friends thought I should have stopped right there and pulled out. Perhaps I should have, but I felt that I would be disobeying the word from the Holy Spirit if I did. Some of my friends have not yet forgiven me for not taking their advice, and, who knows? Someday they might be telling me, “I told you so!”
Regardless, I knew that alignment needed to come first. Chuck Pierce, with whom I am closely aligned prophetically, wholeheartedly agreed. I did my due diligence and discovered that Ché Ahn was the ICA member who had the closest contact with Todd, and that Todd was willing to accept this alignment. Ché felt that he should bring in Bill Johnson and John Arnott since all three of them were close to Todd and they lead the newly-formed Revival Alliance. Unbelievably, all four of us had one date in common open all summer, Monday, June 23, so we decided that we would propose it to Todd. He enthusiastically agreed and invited us to come.
By now the word was getting out and I was receiving a quantity of email correspondence from other apostles who were interested. I opened the door for those who desired to accompany us on the platform. I did not allow prophets, evangelists pastors, or teachers to join the group—apostles only. A total of 17 apostles participated representing three apostolic streams: ICA, Revival Alliance, and Morning Star (Rick Joyner).
The Alignment Ceremony
My role in the ceremony was to facilitate Todd’s alignment with the three from Revival Alliance, who would then commission Todd as the evangelist to the Lakeland Outpouring. The others were invited to join in with short prayers or prophecies as led.
I need to explain a couple of things at this point, because it turns out that some have misunderstood what I have just said. Some have thought that Todd is aligned with me, which is not the case. He is not a member of ICA. We are barely aquainted. Please note that purposely I have never come out and defended Todd against any of the accusations. I have attempted to maintain neutrality in order to deal with the issues as objectively as possible.
Some have said that my very appearance in the ceremony constituted a de facto endorsement of the Lakeland Outpouring. I anticipated that this would be the case, and I felt I had to take the risk because I knew of no other way to proceed. So while it was an endorsement, I in no way meant it to imply that I was endorsing Lakelands’s side of the controversial issues. For one thing I couldn’t do that because I had not yet investigated them as I am doing now. I felt that the proper protocol was alignment first. However, I did feel, and still do, that what was wrong with the Outpouring should be corrected if at all possible rather than rejected out of hand.
Others wondered if this was an ICA event. It was not. However, I cannot separate myself from my role as the ICA leader, and I so identified myself in my paper. Thirteen of the 17 apostles on the platform were ICA members, and they agreed that Todd would be better with formal apostolic alignment than without it.
I have been scolded by some for making an apostolic decree at the end of my presentation. They may be right. However, I believe in apostolic alignment so much, that my thought was that Todd would be blessed more after the alignment than before. Take note also that I mentioned a heightened level of discernment between truth and error which obviously has been called for.
The vows of alignment with Ché, Bill, and John led to Todd’s commissioning. Ché Ahn was in charge of this. Notice that the only ones who laid on hands and commissioned were the three of them. Several prayed and prophesied. I want to make it clear that I did not commission Todd as some wrongly think. I didn’t lay on hands, I didn’t anoint with oil, in fact I moved to the back and neither my wife, Doris, nor I prayed or prophesied. I did this intentionally because I knew I would be wrongly positioned for the second part of my assignment if I did.
With the alignment completed, I was ready to go on with the second part of the assignment, namely attempting to bring order out of the confusion concerning doctrines and ministry practices
Bringing Order to the Issues
I felt that I needed a team of apostles who were willing to work with me in order to identify the concerns that had been brought up, define them as carefully as possible, and come to an opinion that could be issued to the public. Ten other apostles have agreed to work with me in this project: Ché Ahn, Bill Johnson, John Arnott, Chuck Pierce, Stephen Strader, Lee Grady, David Cannistraci, Steve Strang, Jeff Beacham, and Joe Askins.
One of our first tasks was to develop a “Lakeland Spectrum” in order to help individuals concerned to know where they stood as over against others. We have a five point spectrum (1) Strong approval, (2) Concerned approval, (3) Neutral, (4) Conditional disapproval, (5) Strong disapproval. The members of our apostolic team range from 1 to 4.5, so we have a range of perspectives.
We have been working on sorting out what we now have, and the list is down to 24 issues. We are taking this very seriously, and we understand that the process will take time. When we arrive at our conclusions we will release them to the public. John Arnott will be the point person to review our findings with Todd Bentley and the Fresh Fire Board of which he is a member.
We will add to this report of the findings as soon as possible . . . .
