By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission
Sometime during the past couple of days, Rick Joyner, who has been in charge of Todd Bentley’s restoration process, released a “Special Bulletin” which explains from his perspective how things are coming along with that.
Joyner admits that the bulletin is long overdue. But if you consider what happened last Friday–which I have been blogging about here since then, it could be very timely.
There’s not a word of mention of how police were called to Todd Bentley’s open revival service at the Morningstar compound to ensure that a handful of protestors were silenced and ordered to leave–one being bodily carried out of the auditorium. In the many words of the bulletin, there is just one sentence that may touch on what the protestors were yelling about.
However, the police incident involving Todd Bentley probably gave an impetus to Joyner to release this statement quickly as possible, in order to reassure Bentley’s friends that Bentley’s critics are just wrong, wrong, wrong.
It’s damage control, in my opinion, without Joyner letting his readers know what the latest damage is.
I hope that other bloggers address some of the specific thological issues that Joyner raises, but I have some thoughts of my own that I would like to mention about what he has to write.
Joyner writes:
After nearly a year and a half of working with Todd, I recently felt that it was time to release him into some limited ministry in our local church. This does not mean that Todd has been released back into ministry in general, nor does it mean that Todd is nearing the end of his restoration process. We do not know how long this will be, and as from the beginning, we want to be confident that it is the Lord’s timing with each step that is taken….Before Todd will be fully released back into ministry, we will ask for a council to endorse this, which will be composed of those who are respected throughout the body of Christ as true elders in the church….
“limited ministry in our local church” I want to deal with that specifically first, so I will pull up something from later in the bulletin.
Joyner adds:
….We have received many testimonies from those watching our meetings on our IPTV channel at www.MorningStarTV.com. I’m sure that at least some of the explosive growth of those watching MorningStar TV is because of Todd. Since MorningStar TV is already being watched by people in more than 140 nations, I have heard a few concerns that this seems like Todd is being released back into international ministry. I can understand this objection; however, I do not agree with it. People are free to watch or not watch these meetings, just as they are free to come to our church or not come. We have visitors from many other nations in virtually every meeting we have, so what is the difference except in degree? Whether they visit our local church or if they watch our services on Morningstar TV, sometimes Todd will be ministering. I am glad to take the heat to see as many people touched as we are currently seeing….
Joyner may not “agree” with those who argue that Bentley is not really ministering locally, but it’s “local” in name only. When you say “local”, you have in mind something that is quiet, with little publicity. You don’t have Morningstar TV broadcast live over the internet. You don’t have Joyner and Bentley, in the midst of a restoration video inviting the world to come to stay at the Morningstar hotel. You don’t keep hinting, in this statement and some videos that a revival is brewing. You let other Christians notice what is going on and publicize it for you.
If Joyner is merely wanting to have Todd reach the surrounding area, why speculate that this Morningstar “revival” could be the start of a regional revival that Joyner has waiting for for thirty years?
A “mini-Lakeland” is better than Bentley packing his bags and heading for Wembley in England, say. Todd can sleep in his own bed, and everyone seeking revival can come to him, and stay in the Morningstar hotel, eat waffles prepared by the Morningstar cafe cook and tip the Morningstar cafe waitress before walking over to the Morningstar bookstore to buy some Morningstar tapes and CDs…. The responders on Friday reportedly came from a “sheriff’s office”, which may mean that Fort Mill itself is quite small and that the Morningstar compound is in the countryside. Having people come to a “local outpouring” would directly benefit Joyner’s ministry in a way that Todd hosting a revival in Texas, say, wouldn’t.
If what is happening in Fort Mill does well, it could be the start of a “great American revival” that Joyner is expecting–as noted in the statement. If what is happening at Fort Mill splutters and dies, Bentley was just engaging in “local church ministry”. Either way, Joyner is covered and Bentley just putts along.
Joyner adds:
“….As far as his spiritual health, Todd is probably now in a better place than many other ministries I know. However, he does still have issues that could hurt him, or cause problems in the future, some of which we have not even addressed yet…”
Thanks for kneecapping the reputations of “other ministries [you] know”, Joyner.
Joyner then goes on at some length to discuss why he believes that deeply flawed people should sometimes be allowed to minister. I can imagine though that some of my readers would want to be more careful when bringing back someone into preaching, teaching and evangelism.
He writes:
“….Many leaders feel that these embarrassing falls from those in high visibility in the church are causing many to stumble, and doubtless they do. However, the self-righteousness manifested by many when this happens is probably causing far more to reject the church and our message. How can anyone trust our message of redemption and restoration when we will not even restore our own fallen?
Restore, I would suggest, need not necessarily mean to have Todd Bentley doing exactly what he was doing before. The Lord allowing Bentley to fail in such a public way might be His way of trying to tell the evangelist that a different line of work might be better for both Bentley and the church. But Bentley wants badly to be an evangelist again, so he and Joyner will never address this basic question.
I would like evidence that non-Christian people are worried about Christians not forgiving Christians to the degree that Joyner cites. In my own experience, any questions that non-Christians have about forgiveness have behind them the argument that they feel that Christians set too high a standard for non-Christians.
Certainly, my readers would want Bentley to be truly repentant and then forgiven. But I can think of a few examples in the church where “restoration” wouldn’t mean returning to the exact same job that you did before.
A bit later in the statement, Joyner uses a trick that is intended to get angry dogs chasing you off your tail. He throws Bentley’s critics a rhetorical bone and hopes that they stop pursuing Todd so ardently:
….Many years ago, I was shown Todd’s calling. I know that what he has yet to do will greatly eclipse what he has already done. As Bob Jones said when the Outpouring broke out in Lakeland, “This is just previews of coming attractions.â€
Even so, one of the greatest concerns I had about Lakeland was the prima donna attitude that began to manifest on Todd. People with this syndrome don’t think the rules that apply to others apply to them. This will cause you to start thinking you are the main reason for the revival, not Jesus, and not the lost. You’ll start seeing yourself as more important than any one person is, and even essential to the plan of God. This is the root of pride, which likely caused the fall of Satan, and has caused many falls since.
It was fairly obvious at Lakeland that Todd might have a problem with pride, so Joyner can safely concede this. What is also obvious is that he “lied like a rug” sometimes. But Bentley has never sought to correct nor apologized for the false things he said. Doing so would be evidence of repentance. Evidence that I suspect we may wait a long long time for.
Was Todd heretical? Try to bend what happened and attribute it to pride, as that is easy to apologize for.
If Bentley were to start saying that he had taught some perhaps heretical things or that he had lied in the pulpit, it would warn the wise that Todd had a problem with these things and that people should watch for them in the future. Pride, however, is more subtle. Bentley could act as if he were very humble, but actually not truly be so, and it would fool many. If that is the only gross sin that Joyner sees in Bentley, Todd could could easily fool Rick Joyner too.
What I find surprising about Todd’s alleged lapse into a “prima donna attitude” is that this comes right after Joyner rattling off some of the great things that Todd has done in the past. I’ll add a little emphasis for something that I find a bit amazing for anyone to allow have mentioned about themselves:
We were recently visited by the leader of more than twenty-two hundred churches in India. He told us about how people go to villages all over his region and ask young children their names, and a good number will say, “Todd Bentley.†Their parents named their children after him because he led them to the Lord in his crusades there. This church network, one of the strongest and fastest growing in India, credits much to Todd’s work there. His crusades did not leave new believers who had to make it on their own, but left churches, orphanages, and schools by raising up and working with strong local leaders. Of course, this was not done just by Todd, but by his whole team.
Can we have this fellow’s name, and a statement from him? Better yet, can we have enough details so that third parties can check out the truth of what he says? Bentley may have done some good work in India, but considering that his ministry had a record of declaring people healed of illnesses who then went ahead and inconveniently died, it would be good if people who don’t have an interest in seeing Bentley restored said some of these things themselves.
Is this network in southern India, which already had millions of Christians, or is it in the heavily Hindu parts of India, where Bentley’s efforts might have done more good?
Can we meet little Todd Bentley Prasad, say? (I’d hate to have that name if Bentley became infamous on a worldwide scale, it goes without saying.)
I hope that Bentley didn’t have anything to do with bragging that little Indian kids are named for him. That would show that his alleged “prima donna complex” is harder to kill than Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator in the first Terminator film.
As the Bentley critics were reportedly crying out that Bentley was an “adulterer” last Friday, Joyner’s latest statement might be a good place to address these concerns and obviate the need for more police to show up to listen to Bentley’s sermons in the future. But this is all that Joyner writes:
“….I hope to address most of the questions people have about this process and to help clarify the doctrines of marriage and divorce which the whole church is in desperate need of.”
I thought that the statement of what Todd Bentley believes on divorce and remarriage was done? Not that it greatly matters to me, as I know Bentley will–surprise–discover that divorcing his “starter wife” and marrying his former intern is just swell. But I do know that the question is urgent to some. They will even go to Bentley and berate him in public, so you think that Joyner would finally drag out the “Reasons why you shouldn’t think that Todd Bentley is an adulterer.” They would have been handy to have on Friday night, eh?
The effect of the whole statement is to reinforce To Bentley’s friends that everything is fine and that tough questions should not be asked, lest you be even worse than Todd Bentley at Lakeland, morally. It’s like a sleeping drug, intended to gently lull your spirit to sleep.
I wonder if Rick Joyner owned the same pop psychology book that my parents owned about how to talk with assertiveness. One of the techniques that the author, whose name escapes, reccomended was called the “Broken Record” technique. Like a record with a skip, you force the other person is the conversation to acknowledge your central point by saying it over and over again. Perhaps Joyner feels that if he says “Everything is fine. We have to restore Todd Bentley,” over and over again, Bentley can win on points in the 162nd round of his rhetorical boxing match with his critics.
But I think that the men who came and yelled at Bentley last week were at least partly frustrated that Bentley doesn’t seem to respond to the concerns that they think are important.
And isn’t that what a repentant person might do? “A gentle answer turns away wrath”, it is said.
No matter what turbulence that Bentley might face, Joyner adds that he will be Bentley’s co-pilot for a while longer:
When I was a flight instructor, I could fairly accurately tell which mistakes a student would make. I would not let those students solo until they had made those mistakes with me in the cockpit so they would not kill themselves. However, no matter how much I tried to explain their tendencies that I considered dangerous to them, until they actually made the mistakes while flying, they did not get it. It was time for Todd to start flying again, but I am going to be very close to him for a while, for his sake, and for anyone else who might later get in the plane with him.
It’s perhaps sadly appropriate, in the mind of Bentley’s critics anyways that I read this statement within a week of the anniversary of “The Day The Music Died.” It’s been argued that the pilot that sad day misread his instrument panel and flew down and not up, leading to the crash.
As I have shaken confidence in Joyner’s ability to read Todd Bentley’s “instrument panel” correctly, as it were, he will perhaps forgive me if I chose to take the bus instead. Buses are not known to fall out of the sky.
The part of naming their children after Todd Bentley made me sick. I started thinking of idol worship. Does Mr. Joyner think that’s something to be proud of? I have a hard time fathoming that statement. Many questions pop-up in my mind about someone naming their children after Todd Bentley. Whooooo!
So, Mr. Joyner wants to stay “very close” to Todd Bentley. I thought he was already “very close”. What has changed? Oh, maybe he want’s to make sure Todd can fly. Why? Todd’s a grown man. According to Todd, he’s already been in some heavenly realms. Did not even need an airplane to get there. Whoooo!
These people at Morningstar may just be tied to the New Age movement. Just my opinion.
This is kind of comical in a way. It is kind of like the retired farmers who gather for coffee every morning in the cafe. They solve all the worlds problems and swap stories.
Yes, there is a Fort Mill. It really does exist. And it is a small town and a rural area. And it was the third most visited place in America when Jim Bakker was here.
Why don’t you visit sometime?
Why not blame me for calling the sheriff? I don’t attend, but wish I was there so I could have called 911 with all those children present.
As I said these people can not be trusted until you get to know them.
Ask George Tillers family.
I’m sure that the sheriffs department is fully informed of all the constant death threats.
In fact a deputy attends the church and my wife went to his home group and Bible study.
Rick Joyner is totally consistent in his actions of helping people.
He took in Bob Jones.
And he took in Jim Bakker. Ruth and Billy Graham took in Jim Bakker after his release from jail and the next place he went was with Rick Joyner.
Also Jim Bakkers Aunt Berdie (Berdina) and my Aunt Kay were best friends and camped together when their husbands were alive.
People have been scandalized for years with ministers.
Aimee Semple McPherson and just make your own list.
They simply can’t understand why God doesn’t use perfect people like themselves.
Can they explain how God used a gay man walking the streets at night and then ministering to ignite the greatest revival of the 20th century in Lonnie Frisbee? And then dying of aids.
This is all fine and well until your church gets invaded and your wife and children are present.
Where is the criticism for that?
Remember George Tiller.
Yes Fort Mill exists. They do have a sheriff and a good one.
The schools are great. Most of the teachers are Christians and they still pray with students.
This is a real place.
There is a Fort Mill.
Maybe the retired farmers should come and see it some time since they are retired and not doing much.
I got to think about my statement about the greatest revival of the 20th century.
Actually Azuza would have been greater. Azuza is still going to this day as any religion editor in the entire world will tell you. Pentecostalism is the fastest growing faith.
The Charismatic renewal of the 70;s was more of a renewal of churches and people already saved. So I would put that at number 3.
Lonnie Frisbee and Chuck Smith I would put at number 2. Out of this gay preacher came the Jesus movement, Calvary Chapel, Vineyard, later Toronto. Calvary Chapel is still known for getting most of their membership through new coverts rather than sheep stealing.
Out of a minister who died of aids came Greg Laurie, Skip Heitzig, make your own list. This is the 2nd greatest revival.
Please blame me for calling the sheriff. I want this really bad.
Remember George Tiller.
George, I have been in Fort Mill.
Would you please spare us the sarcasm?
Care to share the places you’ve visited in Canada?
“I don’t know,” is an acceptable answer, this is not a contest, it’s a conversation and fact finding mission.
If I pressed you too hard I’m sorry, 60% of essential elements in communication are lost in text.
Why don’t you look up Rick Hiebert and his Bentley coverage in teh google?
Then why not come back and say thank Rick for his 2001 The Report article on Bentley and the outstanding subsequent coverage he’s done on Bentley, NAR (both US and Canada) Joyner, Engle, Kryskow. His work is referenced and used by media and apologetic sites all over the world.
Rick is my guest, I’m honoured to have him post here at BDBO.
If you have no facts to contribute to this event, that’s fine, move on.
George:
Mr Joyner, I have no doubt ‘has saved the souls of many’ ‘to what extent though and for whom, his own glory or theirs or both.
Revival: Breaks out ‘all over the place’ but mostly in and around those who need one. Walking with, in and of Jesus you don’t need one you are one and the ‘sweet perfume you leave behnd says it all.
Words aren’t always necessary and very often kill, and maim, actions don’t always gift the motivations behind them.
This seems to be a new man-made doctrine in Christianity, the concept that one can be “partially restored” and allowed to minister to controlled numbers of believers. I would think that if a person can be trusted to minister to one of Christ’s chaste bride company, he can be trusted to minister to all of them. Likewise if he is not fit to minister to all of them, he is not fit to minister to even one. Are not all of inestimable value in the eyes of the Lord, and is He not jealous for each one?
After Moses blew it, he was relegated to the back side of a desert among pagans for 40 years, far away from fellowship with God’s people, and then it was the Lord, not a Rick Joyner, who picked Moses up and sent him out to deliver His people. Period. It’s the Lord who restores, the Lord who sends, but then who really trusts Him to rule His own kingdom and do His own job anymore?
Does this restoration process, even remotely resemble what we see in the Bible? Has Todd Bentley been handed over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh for even 5 minutes? The only prescription written by the Great Physician for our ailing flesh, is the cross, painful but effective. The word “disciple” shares the same root as the word “discipline”. Rick Joyners’s “loving arms” have been wrapped so tightly around Todd all along, that the Lord has not had a chance to get near his wayward son and deal with some of that flesh-life that is so obviously very sick. Rick Joyner does not outline what he means by a “restoration process” in this “in-depth” statement, but it seems pretty clear that his criteria for “restoring to ministry” means nothing more than testing the waters of public acceptance. Are they serving “Ministry” (I like Susan’s’ word here, Whooooo! and I’ll even add Aahhhhh!) at Morningstar, or are they serving the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? And with Joyner wrapped tightly around Todd like this, Todd will not be “free” to stay at Morningstar or go, he will owe his debt of gratitude to Joyner, not the Living God.
” I know that what he has yet to do will greatly eclipse what he has already done. As Bob Jones said when the Outpouring broke out in Lakeland, “This is just previews of coming attractions.†”
This sounds like a very ominous statement to me.
George,
Let me preface my remarks by stating that disrupting a meeting is not my style. But since when has a Bentley meeting been known for being “decent and in order?”
You keep saying “Remember George Tiller.”
Indeed the specter of violence emanating out of Morningstar by proponents of Joel’s Army should alarm all of us.
Back in 1996, Joyner prophesied that an end-time battle will be fought in the church between two types of Christians — the “grey coats†and the “blue coats.†The grey coats — who represent the bad guys in Joyner’s prophecy — are Christians who use their “natural minds†and “human wisdom†to evaluate teachings in the church. The grey color of their coats represents “grey matter†— which, Joyner points out, is a slang expression for “the brain.â€
But the blue coats — the good guys — don’t rely on their brains to evaluate teachings. They’re “heavenly minded†and “follow the Holy Spirit,†according to Joyner. (1)
Morningstar’s “prophet emeritus” Bob Jones prophesied about a “bloody civil war” coming to the church.
Joyner’s disdain for the non-prophetic/apostolic Christianity is well known. In his book “The Final Quest,” which Joyner says God inspired, Joyner talks about vultures vomiting on what he considers to be nominal Christians (a.k.a. grey coats).
Joyner himself has spoken of “the dismantling of organizations and disbanding of some works” as “a positive and exhilarating experience for the Lord’s faithful servants.” The revolutionaries called to this work would be “a great company of prophets, teachers, pastors and apostles…raised up with the spirit of Phineas.”
Numbers 25 records the account of Phineas who led the slaughter of disobedient Israelites, thereby turning away the wrath of God from Israel. According to Joyner, the same “spirit of Phineas” will characterize a great company also called Joel’s Army which will now redefine Christianity. (2)
The prospect of violence in the church has been suggested, but ONLY by Joyner and his cronies, not by others.
George, please tell me if I got any of these facts wrong. I know a little bit about Fort Mills, dating back to the time my former pastor was snapping towels at Jim Baaker’s hiney in the steam room at Heritage. Yeah, quite a legacy.
-Bill
(1) http://www.spiritoferror.org/2010/02/brain-stopper2-human-logic-is-bad/356
(2) http://watch.pair.com/quest.html
About the only thing that might ‘restore’ Bentley is a good psychiatrist.
It only takes one psychiatrist to change the lightbulb. But the lightbulb has to really want to change.
Sorry – old joke.
Bottom line – Bentley is a serious threat to others. He has found himself a corner of the world where he is welcomed and has nested in a culture that accepts his behaviour. “This is just previews of coming attractions?” Smoke and mirrors and a cast of misguided characters.
Revival starts with repentance. Restoration is an action verb.
….just some further thoughts about “restoration” – the thing is, only God can really discipline or restore a soul, when it is needed – hence the reason a fallen believer is handed “over to Satan , so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved..” (1 Cor. 5:5) – sounds horrible, but it just means to temporarily withdraw fellowship – and church support – and allow the Lord to discipline that one THROUGH THE TRIALS OF REAL LIFE, until such time as the fruits of repentance and true restoration to God are self-evident, (not just claimed). This is where I think Morningstar is getting between Todd and his Heavenly Father. I have a hunch Joyner’s program of restoration consists of something that resembles 100 ‘Hail Mary’s and 50 ‘Our Father’s on bared knees on a rough stone floor, thrice a day, with set periods of fasting, protracted bible reading on a bed of nails, and other forms of self-flagellation, (but who knows what hoops he is making Todd jump through, it seems to be a state secret) whereas the Lord’s discipline consists of real life experiences as opposed to artificial, self-imposed, man-made programs. Of course in real life that can take a long time, but in the shelter of a fantasy-land theme park, mmm, maybe only a year and a half…..
“Therefore since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result he does not live the rest of his life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God..” 1 Peter 4:1-2
Isaiah 3:10,11
“Tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned! But the wicked are doomed, for they will get exactly what they deserve.” Isaiah was speaking of the judgement against Judah.
My point is, that in the mist of the gloom of this message, God gives hope. It can be difficult and disheartening to see the wicked as if they prosper. However, God see’s the struggles of those who strive to obey His plan. Hold on to God’s truth and take heart! God’s justice will prevail in the end. He will reward those who have truly been faithful.
The leaders of a congregation are responsible to help the people. But how can they help when they are unjust? At the time of this prophecy, the children of God were intermixing with those who worshiped idols and such. Even giving jewish names to the pagans.
The true prophets in biblical times were murdered for the pure word. Are we to expect any less? I appreciated the video. It looked to me as if Todd was buying some time, and got caught off guard.
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Yes Rick, you are absolutely correct. Broadcasting meetings on Internet TV is a completely different form of communication than a simple ‘local’ meeting. There is nothing local about the Internet and Joyner knows this.
Interestingly, MorningStar set up their new IPTV channel, just in time for this ‘new thing’. Coincidence?
Poor Todd. Of course Rick is going to let him minister again. Why? Rick said it himself in one of the ‘restoration updates’ (another example of Joyner’s spin doctoring) that “it’s all he’s ever known”. Well, maybe he could get a job like the rest of us. But, if you read his books (it’s a bit torturous, sort of like water-boarding I imagine) you will see that he never really did appear to have a regular job. Todd preferred to spend eight hours a day praying…
Rick Joyner is a very smooth operator. From a theoretical perspective what Rick does is known as propaganda. And he’s very, very good at it. Impressively so. He is a master manipulator of the word.
Mr Joyner is also the Orchestrator and the Orchestra.
Gift the Prophecy and then ‘walk right in and claim it’.
Under these so called leaders the church is being led into another HOLY WAR.
they are tapping into peoples resentment and giving them a place to ‘action it’.
Why: These men have brought ‘christianity’ to a place of ‘man power’
NOT JESUS POWER.
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As to the ministry being local, Rick Joyner knows full well that it’s not. At the beginning of the second video we posted you can clearly hear the announcer say, “We’ve got folks from all around the world watching right now through Fresh Fire USA and Morningstar TV” and “we’ve got more than 140 countries tuning in tonight.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX4W2tVPjKg&feature=sub
Bye, bye, Crazy Preacher Guy,
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry…
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