J. Lee Grady, editor of Charisma magazine, is often a voice of reasoned critique when his movement needs some correction. (You have seen me cite him before, click here.). This is true of him once again, and this recent article is a must read. But before I share a bit from Grady's article, let me give you a little background just in case you haven't heard of the Lakeland revival and the surrounding controversy.

On April 3, 2008 Canadian evangelist Todd Bentley was invited to speak to the Ignited Church of Lakeland, FL. Though he was only scheduled to be there for 5 days, he remained for 3 months during what he considered to be the biggest pentecostal revival since the Azusa Street revival. To put it mildly, the "Lakeland revival" has been controversial. Claims of people being raised from the dead? Violent healing? Now it appears Bentley is stepping down after filing for separation from his wife and admitting to an inappropriate relationship with another woman. Grady asks some hard questions in his article.

Why did so many people flock to Lakeland from around the world to rally behind an evangelist who had serious credibility issues from the beginning?

To put it bluntly, we're just plain gullible...

A prominent Pentecostal evangelist called me this week after Bentley's news hit the fan. He said to me: "I'm now convinced that a large segment of the charismatic church will follow the anti-Christ when he shows up because they have no discernment."

Why did a group of respected ministers lay hands on Bentley on June 23 and publicly ordain him? Did they know of his personal problems?

...No one in ministry today should be out on their own, living in isolation without checks, balances and wise counsel. It was commendable that [C. Peter] Wagner reached out to Bentley and that Bentley acknowledged his need for spiritual fathers by agreeing to submit to the process. The question remains, however, whether it was wise to commend Bentley during a televised commissioning service that at times seemed more like a king's coronation.

In hindsight, we can all see that it would have been better to take Bentley into a back room and talk about his personal issues.

...I trust that Wagner, Ahn, Johnson and Arnott didn't know of Bentley's problems before they ordained him. ... But I believe that they, along with Bentley and the owners of God TV, owe the body of Christ a forthright, public apology for thrusting Bentley's ministry into the spotlight prematurely. (Perhaps such an apology should be aired on God TV.)

Grady cites C. Peter Wagner. If you have been reading the blog, you will remember two recent posts on apostles, here and here that mention Wagner. In both cases, I shared a bit about Wagner so the timing of my post and the timing of this incident prompted this blog entry.

Well, Wagner recently brought what they call "apostolic covering" to Bentley. During a publicized gathering on June 23rd Wagner explained what this covering ceremony was all about (youtube). He said, "This is a ceremony celebrating the formal apostolic alignment of Todd Bentley." He explains that alignment is a kind of adjustment, or putting things in order. Bentley was asked if he recognized the apostolic authority of the apostles who were present, and when he did Wagner says that this will be a formal "commissioning" equivalent to offering the the right hand of fellowship as the apostles did to Paul in Jerusalem.

Wagner continued by proclaiming,

This commissioning represents a powerful spiritual transaction taking place in the invisible world. With this in mind, I take the apostolic authority that God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley:

• Your power will increase.
• Your authority will increase.
• Your favor will increase.
• Your influence will increase.
• Your revelation will increase.

I also decree that:

• A new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry.
• A new life force will penetrate this move of God.
• A government will be established to set things in their proper order.
• God will pour out a higher level of discernment to distinguish truth from error.
• New relationships will surface to open gates for the future.

In his article, Grady also points out that Bentley's theology should have been seriously investigated when Bentley connected with the "healing angel" of William Branham. (See the picture below for the "healing angel.") Yet, Bentley was never called on this bizarre connection.

While teaching at Southern, I served a church in the same town where Branham founded a church. Branham was once a well known (perhaps the best known) Pentecostal healing evangelist... at least until he went astray.

A little history may be helpful:

Branham rejected the doctrine of the Trinity and in fact claimed the doctrine was of the devil. Consequently he believed that anyone baptized into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit needed to be re-baptized. He predicted that 1977 would usher in the new millennium, and he believed denominationalism is the mark of the beast. Branham also believed the sin in the Garden of Eden that brought about the curse of God was not the eating of literal fruit, but the sexual union between Eve and the chimpanzee-serpent-beast. I kid you not.

Yet, the movement and the meetings with Todd Benley went on... until last week when reality caught up.

Now let me say, I work very hard to be charitable to Christians of different stripes-- much to the chagrin of those in my denomination who think we are the one true New Testament faith. And, this is not intended to be a post against one group (note, again, the title and you can visit my earlier posts on Pentecostal movements here and here.) Finally, I tend to think that movements should work out their theological discussions and I stay out of them-- rarely writing a post like this.

Yet, when I see things like this, it is just hard not to ask: does anyone still have a Bible and some common sense?

Let me add: I do not think this is a Pentecostal issue. That is why the title is, "Evangelical Gullibility."

In other words, all kinds of Christians are forwarding emails about the FCC's phony plan to ban religious braoadcasting, signing up to have emails sent to the loved ones after the rapture, and watching Christian television for its theological depth. For that matter, I have just as many odd people come up to me with "something they discovered in the Bible that no one has ever noticed" after I speak at a Baptist, Wesleyan, of non-denominational meeting as I do when I speak at a Pentecostal one. Furthermore, many Pentecostals and Charismatics HAVE expressed concern about this movement-- including some when I visit the Assemblies of God office a couple of weeks ago.

I just have to wonder with Grady if Christians really are just gullible.

True revival is generally a messy affair. On the one hand abuses often accompany genuine works of God, and on the other hand much of what is called revival is nothing more than fanaticism. Courage is required to ask tough questions and do so with with grace and kindness, patience is necessary to wait and see if what is called revival bears lasting fruit, and theological discernment is critical for the church when it comes to awakenings and revival.

This week is my Pentecostal week.

I can only do one week a year without getting in trouble or at least getting empowered. Grin.

When you tell Pentecostals that it can't be done, they go ahead and do it. It bugs me.

I wish everyone had their passion... particuarly for church planting.

Here is a graph of where Pentecostals are primarily concentrated in the U.S. Click here to blow up to full size:

For example...

Assemblies of God

When Steve Pike, national director of church planting for the Assemblies of God asked me if I could spend a day with his national church planting team this week, I declined. I was already speaking too many places this week and could not travel anymore.

Well, Pentecostals get things done... so he brought his team to Nashville. So, if you need me today (Wednesday), I will be unavailable and talking church planting with Pentecostals in Nashville with a friend of mine, Danny Sanchez. The A.G. leadership will be meeting and strategizing today and tomorrow.

In preparation for the meeting, I received a new book by George Wood. George is the new President of the Assemblies of God (taking Thomas Trask's place).

Accoring to his new book, he will lead the Assemblies to five key values:

Passionate Proclamation
Strategic Investment
Vigorous Planting
Skillful Resourcing
Fervent Prayer

Don't miss this-- one of the top five stated A.G. values is church planting! Nice. Pentecostals get things done.

I thought about guessing where my denomination would put church planting on it "value" list... and then discretion won out. Grin.. But, we ALL need to elevate it to the top level of church and denominational life.

Church of God

So, I thought I had enough time with the Pentecostals this week. But, a few months ago, the Church of God folks called. They asked me to speak at a conference for Pentecostal innovative leaders. Well, I could not come because I was doing a missional church conference in Oklahoma until Friday morning.

Well, as I said, Pentecostals get things done. So, the Church of God is sending a plane to fetch me. I wish I could say it was a fancy plane, but it has propellers and not jets... and my wife is none too happy that I am flying on a plane with propellers.

So, I will be at the Engage 21 Conference with my Church of God friends. (It will be especially good to catch up with Paul Walker, former pastor of Mount Paran Church of God in Atlanta and now a denominational big-wig with the Church of God.)

Here is a Church of God fun fact for you: the denomination existed BEFORE the Azuza Street experience and was NOT a Pentecostal group (really, no one was Pentecostal before Azuza street or at least before Topeka). They were actually a holiness denomination and then became Pentecostal. You can read their history here (and, if you are so inclined, don't miss my fun facts about the Assemblies of God... I have been told they were passed around the AG leadership.)

But, I like to "give a little extra" on the blog, so check out the Wikipedia history:

Elder Richard Spurling (1810-1891), an ordained Baptist minister, rejected some of the views of the Baptists in his area as not being in accord with New Testament Christianity. In August of 1886, he and seven members from the Holly Springs and Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Churches in Monroe County, Tennessee and Cherokee County, North Carolina organized the "Christian Union". They agreed to free themselves from man-made creeds and unite upon the principles of the New Testament....

A. J. Tomlinson, a former Quaker, united with the church at Camp Creek in 1903, after climbing what is now known as "Prayer Mountain" (located in the Fields of the Wood park that is run by the Church of God of Prophecy in Murphy, NC) and reportedly being divinely assured that this fledgling church was indeed God's reestablishment of the New Testament church upon earth. Tomlinson was selected to pastor the congregation, and his drive and vision brought about efforts that resulted in other churches being organized in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee...

The name Church of God was adopted in 1907. In 1909, Tomlinson was elected General Overseer. The Church of God was known as a "holiness" church more than a Pentecostal one during these early years, though some had experienced the "Pentecostal Blessing" of being "baptized in the Holy Ghost". In fact, Tomlinson himself did not believe he received the "baptism of the Holy Ghost" until some time later, when the church had moved to Cleveland, TN, when a special meeting was held by the church. At that revival the guest speaker was an individual who visited the Azusa Street revival, and during those services Tomlinson finally experienced this signature blessing. Thereafter, the Church of God began to place additional emphasis on the Pentecostal aspect of the church.

According to the aritcle, they started by rejecting "some of the views of the Baptists." Sigh.

By the way, uberblogger Travis Johnson is part of the Church of God and will be at the conference.

I am not a Pentecostal, but I do appreciate their passion for planting and their global missions emphasis. I look forward to a good week with my Pentecostal brothers and sisters in Christ.

In case you are wondering, here are the growth rates by "types" of Christians according to a site that gathers and summarizes such research:

-Pentecostals: 8.1%
-Evangelicals: 5.4%;
-All Protestants: 3.3%
-Roman Catholics and Others: 1.3%

Evangelicals could learn something about passion for planting from Pentecostals.

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So, in case you want to track me this week:

Monday, Cedarville University Evangelism Conference
Tuesday, Georgia Evangelism Conference
Wednesday, Assemblies of God Church Planting Leadership
Thursday, Oklahoma Missional Church Conference
Friday, Church of God Engage 21 Conference

This marks the last week of too many trips in one week. My new plan: one conference per week. Really. I promise. Really.