Lakeland Florida Revival-Steve Strang Commentary-Charisma

I
am posting below a commentary by Steve Strang from Charisma because it
seems he says better what I'd like to say but with much more grace than
I could have said these things. So as usually, read and process with an
open mind, grace, kindness upon kindness, respect and honor for people
involved.

I
have read numerous criticisms of Lakeland, Todd Bentley, Patricia King,
and others from Andrew Strom who is adamant in regard to supporting
past moves of G-d through people such as Wigglesworth, Brannan, David
Wilkeson and others but Strom and his followers criticize and judge
this movement heavily. I don't make sense of any of it . Seems as
double minded as the politicians around the globe.As well as much of
Church leadership. If anyone has personally talk to those who truly
have been healed and changed and not a judgement from a distance, I'd
like to hear about it and maybe others would as well.

Opinion & Commentary

Observations of the Outpouring in Lakeland, Florida

By Steve Strang

A great revival took place in Wales in 1904. Sadly there is little to
show today for the effects of that revival. Two years later the
Pentecost revival started at Azusa Street in Los Angeles. The black
church where it started actually closed around 1930. But the revival it
generated continues to include more than 400 million people around the
world today.

The difference between the two revivals is that the Pentecost revival
has actually been a "series of revivals" that has happened again and
again over the years-- the Latter Rain movement and the healing
revivals of the late 40's; Full Gospel business men that started in the
50's, along with ministries emerging such as Kathryn Kuhlman; followed
by the Charismatic movement of the 60's in the mainline Protestant
churches and the Roman Catholic church. Then there has been the Faith
movement, the Apostolic movement, and various revival outbreakings in
places like Toronto and Brownsville.

The latest outbreak of revival is apparently in Lakeland, Florida. It
started with meetings with Todd Bentley on April 2 at Ignited Church
pastored by my long-time friend Steve Strader. I've know Steve since I
was in the 9th grade and he was in the 6th grade when his father Karl
Strader came to pastor the church my family attended in Lakeland. That
was also the church where Rodney Howard Browne's ministry really took
off in the United States with extended meetings back in the early 90's.

(This revival with Todd Bentley started about the time that we had a
death in the family so I was not able to go down to the services until
Monday, May 5-- the 34th continuous day of the revival. By the time I
attended, Lee Grady and others had been to the revival and had given
their analysis. If you missed Lee's analysis you can CLICK HERE to read
it.( I have also posted it below) Before I attended on Monday I was also beginning to get critical
emails about the revival, expressing cautions, etc.

As I've covered the move of the Holy Spirit for the last three decades,
I know that anytime there is a genuine move of God, it is guaranteed
that certain people will automatically oppose it. These people oppose
any move of God that is beyond their own religious experience. The sad
thing is that some times they will have some valid criticisms that
people like me tend to discount because they are so negative.

Some people also question Todd Bentley's past. He has quite a
"testimony" that actually was first reported in Charisma several years
ago. But there are those who feel that a person who is less than
perfect can't really be used by God. Actually I believe that the Bible
teaches that "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the
wise" (1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV).

Also, at one of the meetings recently Paul Cain was given a place on
the platform. Unfortunately Paul Cain has disqualified himself from
ministry due to various sins in his life he has confessed to including
drunkenness and homosexuality. Other ministers have worked to restore
him, but we are told that the restoration process has not continued.
Nevertheless, Paul publicly said in Lakeland that there were "false
rumors" about him and that he had lived a "chaste life." Both are not
true. I've been told by leaders in the revival that Paul won't be
invited back. I compliment them for this. I can understand how someone
is let on the platform and they shouldn't. But to me, before I attended
the first meeting, this was a real caution on their discernment.

When I attended the meeting I was excited to see the level of
enthusiasm among those who attended. People waited in lines for hours
to get a seat at the civic center in Lakeland, a venue that seats about
7,000. There seemed to be about 6,000 there that night and I was told
that at the baseball stadium over the previous weekend there were
12,000. The meetings are broadcasted live on the Internet on the
Ignited Church's website, www.ignitedchurch.com, and also on GodTV
which is also broadcasting the services daily from 7 to 11 p.m. EST.

There was great praise and worship that night for about an hour and 15
minutes. Then there were testimonies, Todd Bentley shared and there was
ministry of various types that took place. There was a lot of humility
exhibited in the service that I attended. There were also words of
knowledge including that there would be an outbreak of revival in
Holland, Germany and Ireland. Todd Bentley called for delegations from
those countries that had flown over for the revival to come forward.
There were about a dozen from each country and they seemed to be
mightily touched by God when Todd prayed for them.

Toward the end of the service there were two lines of people who wanted
to give testimonies who were called up to the stage using the format
that has become familiar with Benny Hinn, where he has the helpers call
out the miracles on one side and then on the other. Bentley interviewed
the people one by one and then there was a ministry time where they
generally fall over under the power of God.

Todd Bentley is from Canada. Most of the people in his ministry team
have come down from Canada. Many of them are from the biker culture.
While I had never met Todd Bentley nor heard him minister, I was a
little surprised to see that he was covered with tattoos-- which is
much more acceptable in his generation than in mine.

Nevertheless he ministered with power. When I was asked later on to
describe the service I heard myself saying rather extemporaneously that
the first part of the service with worship reminded me of the worship
at the Brownsville revival and Todd's style of ministry reminded me of
a "Benny Hinn with tattoos." A couple people I've said that to have
found it rather funny and have also found it a helpful word picture.

It's too early to really tell the long-term effect of this revival. My
report today is neither criticism nor an affirmation. I have not had an
opportunity to research any of the miracles or even to talk personally
with Todd Bentley. Much of what I know has come from Steve Strader
(whom I have known a long time and who I trust).

However, the people I saw at the meetings seemed genuinely hungry for a
move of God. Like many, I'm also hungry for a move of God and I'm glad
to see this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I'm glad to see the
excitement that has been generated-- not only in Lakeland but in
various parts of the country.

I'm encouraged by the miracles that have been reported even from those
who watch on the Internet or on GodTV. I actually know a few of the
people who are reporting healings. Again, I've not been able to
research them and I may even report on that later. Today I just wanted
to get out a quick report on what I saw and say that I was encouraged
rather than discouraged.

I encourage you to check it out for yourself on GodTV or on the
Internet and analyze it for yourself but if you can come to Lakeland
that's even better. Please CLICK HERE to post your comments on the
Strang Report blog.

-----------------------

Steve Strang is founder and publisher of Charisma magazine.

DISCLAIMER: Church of God and Faith News does not necessarily endorse or sanction all or any part of this news item.

http://www.faithnews.cc/articles.cfm?sid=8909

Opinion & Commentary

Your Hands Have Been Anointed to Heal

By J. Lee Grady

In the days of Jesus, rabbis observed a myriad of extra rules that were
not in Scripture. Their legalistic code focused on what they could and
could not touch. These guys invented the original version of the
holier-than-thou religion. They stayed away from women, children, dead
bodies, lepers, beggars, sinners, blood, shellfish, pigs
and—especially—people of other ethnic s. They didn't want
"unclean" gentiles to corrupt them.

The Pharisees, especially, were obsessed with hygiene. They had a rule
for everything from how to wash dishes to how to stay ceremonially
clean after walking in the streets. That's why they got upset when they
saw that Jesus' disciples didn't follow the standard Jewish
hand-washing ritual.

They asked Jesus: "'Why do your disciples not walk according to the
tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?'" You
can almost hear their smug, nasal tone. Jesus' reply was blunt. He
called His inquisitors hypocrites; then He chastised them for
"'teaching as doctrines the precepts of men'" (Mark 7:5-7, NASB).

After Jesus rebuked their hypocrisy He immediately left His sanitary
Jewish environment and went north, to the gentile city of Tyre. There
He healed a Syrophoenician woman's daughter. (Any other rabbi would
have avoided her like the plague.) Then He traveled to the Decapolis
region and healed a deaf and dumb villager. Some scholars say this poor
guy was a gentile, too.

Jesus broke every religious rule in the Pharisees' hand-washing manual
when He performed this miracle. The Bible says He put His fingers in
the man's ears, spit on His hands and touched the man's tongue with His
own saliva (see Mark 7:33). Eeuuww! Jesus was not concerned about germs
or spiritual defilement, and I doubt He used hand-sanitizer after the
man was healed.

Jesus was making a point. He didn't come to earth to spend His time
washing his hands inside a synagogue. His message was not about what
not to eat or who to avoid. He came to touch dirty people. He came to
cleanse lepers, heal bleeding women, hold children, eat with tax
collectors and forgive prostitutes. He even visited a cemetery so He
could cast devils out of a lunatic! That's our Jesus.

Too often we fall under the influence of the "religious sanitation
police." Before you know it, we too are sequestered inside our holy
walls, compulsively washing our hands and obsessing over who wore what
and who went where. Legalism is a tool of the devil, but it masks
itself as a Christian virtue. Ultimately it has no power over sin and
it eventually causes spiritual sterility.

I believe the American church today must confront the spirit of the
Pharisees head-on. Religious systems despise healing, and they
certainly don't endorse touching the addicted, the diseased, the
demonized or the dying. Many sectors of the church have rejected God's
healing power altogether, and they certainly don't encourage Christians
to touch the pain of our generation.

They think holiness is about isolation. On the contrary, true holiness invades sickness, sin and shame—and overcomes it.

We are on the verge of a holiness invasion today. My friend Matt
Sorger, a young healing evangelist based in New York, has recently seen
a surge in miraculous healings in his meetings in the United States. He
wrote recently:

"As the weight of His glory has filled entire rooms, His healing grace
and presence has been sweeping over the people—healing them right in
their seats! We worship until His glory comes and then He does the
rest. There is a new realm of corporate healing glory being released.
We call out a sickness by the Holy Spirit and it gets healed. It's just
that easy. It's not hard in the glory!"

Matt also adds that humility is important as we enter this season of
healing. "It is very important to stay humble and pure in heart and to
always give the glory and honor to God and not place the focus on
ourselves. This will be vital to maintaining the purity and integrity
of God's move."

This movement of healing is not about one evangelist or one particular
revival phenomenon. God wants a holy breakout. He intends for all
believers to lay hands on the sick and to restore the broken. The same
Holy Spirit who anointed Jesus to cleanse lepers has empowered us with
a healing touch. Please don't sit on your hands during this crucial
hour.

---------------------------

J. Lee Grady is editor of Charisma.

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