Once again, I felt the need to post an email that I received from Andrew Strom. He has vital information about some ministries connected with Todd Bentley of which the Church needs to be aware and wary. (See the section titled, "WHO ARE the "NEW MYSTICS"?")
Let me start by saying that there is no-one who would enjoy "moving
on" from the topic of Lakeland more than me. When I first heard
of what was going on there, my immediate reaction was "OH NO!"
because I knew we were going to have to use this List to expose
certain things - a task I dreaded at the time. But overall I think it
has been a good thing. I have received huge numbers of emails
from all over the world from people who were caught up in that kind
of deception - who are now breaking free from it - Glory to God!
Also, it is important to realize that even though Lakeland is
closing down on Aug 23rd - and God TV will stop broadcasting it -
Todd Bentley will still be travelling to other cities and nations
holding what he calls a "One Night Revival Impartation with Todd
Bentley". So it is not completely over - but yes - I am very keen to
"move on" from Lakeland and get back to the things we normally
emphasize - "Personal Revival" and the 'True Gospel' and massive
Reformation and Change in the church, etc.
The "OPEN LETTER"
And now onto the topic of my 'Open Letter' to Rick Joyner and
Peter Wagner earlier this week. I received literally hundreds of
supportive emails over it, but also a few where they obviously
thought I was being sarcastic in my use of the word "sir", etc.
Please realize - there was no sarcasm intended at all. I used the
word 'sir' to try and inject some "respectfulness" into quite a hard-
hitting letter. Please go and read it again, taking the sarcasm out,
and hopefully you will get a different impression of what I was trying
to convey. I certainly apologise for any misunderstanding, my friends.
Others felt that I was "exceeding my bounds" in writing such a
letter to men of stature like that. After all, David did not throw rocks
at King Saul. I can totally see this point. And so, if I exceeded my
bounds in any way I am truly sorry. I apologise unreservedly for
doing so. It may be that in my zeal for protecting the sheep and
rooting out deception I went "too far" with that letter. God forgive me.
ADMIRATION for BLOGGERS
Some say that Lakeland would have fallen apart by itself without
any need for all the emails or blogs, etc. As someone with an
inside view of events, I have to say that this is not true at all. The
people posting information via blogs, emails, Youtube videos, etc,
have been utterly essential to what has happened. When Charisma
started publishing about the Revival, I know for a fact that when
they found out certain information through the Internet it changed
their stance from "total support" to 'questioning'. I'm sure that ABC
Nightline would say the same. And I know for a fact that ICA
apostle Robert Ricciardelli's opposition to Lakeland would not have
become widely known at all if it weren't for blogs or email Lists like
this one. All of these factors have been utterly crucial. I think some
blogs may get a little bit harsh or "personal" at times, but overall
I want to say- Kudos to the bloggers! You've made a real difference.
You have protected multitudes of sheep around the world from
being further deceived and destroyed.
When you think about it, isn't it amazing that this is the first 'revival'
in history that has played out almost entirely on the Internet and
the "new media"? -A sign of things to come, perhaps?
WHO ARE the "NEW MYSTICS"?
Since I am hoping this may be our last post about Lakeland for
awhile, I need to put forth a very specific warning about certain
ministries while I have the chance. Todd Bentley has long been
numbered among the 'New Mystics' in the Prophetic movement -
but there are others that I need to warn about also. These are
literally the most dangerous ministries (operating in a strange
"power") that I have ever come across in the Christian church.
That is the only reason why I feel I must "name names" in this
email - and I do so with great sadness.
The first of them is Jill Austin - from 'Master Potter' ministries.
I have seen her live in person, and sadly I regard her as one of the
most dangerous of all. A minister from England described one of
her meetings as follows: "The weirdest three hours I have ever had
to endure... she spoke of the times that she meets with the Angel
Gabriel and other spiritual beings, next we moved on to portals
between this world and the next and then finally to how she was
going to open up a portal to Heaven in the room that we were all in.
Now things started to happen, really crazy things and strange
noises... As [she] moved around the room ministering to individual
people they were crashing to the ground, bouncing up and down,
running around as if on fire and making all sorts of sounds... My
Vineyard friend was the first to crash to the floor. Since that day
his church has taken on a different guise, it is not the same
church any more."
In a very similar vein is Patricia King - who operates in the same
area of "portals", jewels, 'angels', drunken jerking, etc. There is
real power in a lot of this - and I urge people to stay well clear.
John Crowder is another one. With his 'Drunken Glory' tours and
his "toking the ghost" and every other deceived thing - you cannot
even imagine how "off-beam" this guy is. Words sadly fail me.
And then there are the "fellow travellers" - men like Ben Dunn, Dave
Vaughan, Justin Abraham, Joshua Mills and many others who have
imbibed of the same weird spirit out of Toronto and the Prophetic
movement. It is just awful what is going on out there. So sad.
It is tragic to have to put out warnings like this, but my hope and
prayer is that it will prevent great harm from coming to Christ's
precious sheep. I hope you can hear my heart in this, my friends.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
A lot of people have commented that we should be PRAYING for
all these leaders who have been caught up in these various
deceptions. I totally agree with this, and I would like to devote a
large portion of our Friday night Phone Prayer to exactly that. And
we will not be praying "against" them either - but rather for God's
grace and truth and mercy and blessing to prevail in their lives and
ministries in a powerful way.
Please help us pray for these ministries, my friends.
God bless you all!
Andrew Strom.
No comments:
Post a Comment