propheticmoments

THE LAKELAND, FLORIDA OUTPOURING

I've been catching the Todd Bentley revival meetings in Lakeland, Florida on God TV almost every day, at least portions of them. People have questioned whether this is really God. As expected, the critics have begun to come out of the woodwork. The first thing I have to say is that God has convicted me concerning being critical of anyone else's ministry. That doesn't mean I throw out discernment or suspend judgment regarding things that clearly aren't biblical. It just means that I must bless what God is blessing and leave the criticism to Him and to those who have enough relationship with the people involved to be able to speak needed words of correction.

Lakeland? I see God showing up. That much is clear and indisputable. I see people being genuinely touched and healed. And I see things being done, things being said and things being claimed for this revival that concern me. How could it be any other way? People are involved! Is it revival? Yes. No doubt. Is it a revival of the level of historical significance that is being claimed for it? Probably not. But one has to forgive those in the middle of it for thinking so. When you're standing in the midst of an outpouring like that you have to allow for over-estimation born of enthusiasm and elation. It's understandable. Been there, done that.

Part of the impact of this is simply that this is the first revival ever that has been broadcast nightly to a worldwide audience by a television network. Thus the crowds and the worldwide audience - 8,000 or so in the stadium last night. To put things in perspective, however, I remember sitting in Mile High Stadium in Denver with 75,000 men and seeing several thousand of them get saved in one night. I recall 40,000 charismatics in the Superdome in 1987. I have been part of conferences at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in the heyday of that outpouring with perhaps 4,000 crowded into an auditorium made for 2500 and felt the overwhelming power of it. I was part of the ministry team and I remember praying for people for long hours into the night, the floor carpeted with bodies, people crawling to the door and being carried to their cars under the power of the Spirit. I could go on and on. So this is a revival both significant and genuine, but I don't believe it is a revival of the historic significance being claimed for it. I could be wrong. Time will tell.

I do firmly believe, however, that the Lakeland outpouring is an announcement from heaven concerning what God wants to do. In a culture in which 70 million of us in the U.S. alone are entering middle age underfunded and under-insured and in a world in which many new and incurable diseases are emerging, God will certainly release a new healing anointing on His people. God meets suffering with healing mercy through those willing to walk in His Spirit. He always has. He always will. In my own church we've recently had two cases of nodules on lungs appearing on CAT scans and then disappearing after prayer. One brother with kidney stones that had appeared on a CAT scan was all gowned up and prepped for surgery when he heard the doctors talking outside his door. "It was there in the first CAT scan. I saw it. It's not there now." He got dressed and went home. The men's group had prayed for him a week or two prior and his wife had laid hands on him every night. I'm waiting for confirmation of some dental miracles. I led a mission team to do a series of conferences in Ukraine in April. Among many other reports we've received, we've now been told that two people experienced deaf ears opening as a result of our ministry there. God is on the move. It will get bigger. It belongs to every believer who has been filled with the Holy Spirit. It's not limited to the superstars. Good times lie before us as God's people even as the world grows ever darker.

So bless Todd Bentley and his team and pray that their hearts be shielded and protected from the toxicity of fame and success. May God preserve this thing for as long as He wants to extend it.