By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
Todd Bentley, the bush telegraph reportedly says, is pleased with the recent Oprah Winfrey Network program on faith healing, which features him. I think, sadly, that he has some reason to be.
Lisa Ling’s OWN program, “Our America” is reportedly so good that it has alreday been renewed for a second season on the network.
Now that the entire episode featuring Todd Bentley has been put online, we can see how she did.
Please judge for yourself, but here are some brief things that jumped out at me.
The entire program is about a healing conference at the Morningstar complex last year. It was the one where the activists from Operation Save America staged a public protest in the middle of Todd Bentley’s service and he had the local police remove them from the building.
[I was pleasantly surprised to see that the OSA protest got a brief mention in the program, especially in light of what was to follow.]
Ling talks to people wanting to be healed and others at Morningstar who try to minister to others. This is what allows her to have a generally hopeful attitude about the possibility of faith healing.
She acts and reports as if Todd Bentley is something totally new to her experience. Todd Bentley, she says at 14:30, “is about as close to a rock star as the preaching world gets.”
Earlier, in a voice-over at 13:40, she had said that Bentley “is, quite possibly, the movement’s most compelling and controversial figure.”
This led me to wonder if there is a possible caution for those in the evangelical world who are either inclined to be charitable to Bentley, or are merely hoping that if they ignore Bentley he will just go away. Bentley, with all his flash and media savvy, is being seen as representative of everyone with an interest in healing–even if they are less flashy and have a better character than Bentley. If Bentley falls again, you folks might become “collateral damage” in the eyes of the media. Just a heads-up.
Bentley brings Ling to his house, complete with “5 Lazy-Boys” chairs. Reclining like a sunning walrus on the beach, he shares his story briefly.
“I grew up around sex drugs and rocakl and roll,” Bentley says, “I got involved in all sorts of criminal activity. I was a thief, I was a liar…”
And what was the most part of your criminal activity is the eyes of the law. Oh that. Certainly less significant than what Bentley likes to mention, I am sure.
I empathize with Lisa Ling, as I was led down the garden path by Todd Bentley the very first time that I interviewed him. It is natural, when reporting on what seems like a good news story, to take people at face value.
However, in my own defense, I was one of the first people to report on Todd Bentley in the earliest days of the Internet.
With due respect to Lisa Ling, she can’t say that as I was able to. There is quite a bit of evidence out there now to enable a reporter to take a more sceptical approach towards Todd Bentley, if they care to.
There is a blatant example of this in Ling’s own piece. Blink, and you can miss what tips it off.
At 16:49, in a montage of critical coverage of Todd Bentley, we see a headline “Heal or Heel” of a story by Warren Cole Smith.
Obviously, Lisa Ling, or her staff, saw the article before their show aired. What does it say?
It’s the famous 2009 article from World Magazine in which Smith reports that people who had been reported as being “healed” at the Lakeland revival had since died.
Hmm…wouldn’t that lead an on-the-ball reporter to perhaps assume that Todd Bentley has a reputation for, well, not being entirely truthful? Perhaps things that he says should be double checked? It may even be germane to the entire subject in that there may be deceit and lack of character in the way that some people practice faith healing.
Not to Ling. If Todd Bentley sometimes lies like a rug, it hurts the thesis of her story. Best not to notice.
May we say that a journalistic “sin of omission” has taken place?
Someone tell me how this deceiver gets so much exposure?
I just don’t get it.
Very enlightening post.
Not so much about Bentley, as I don’t care for charlatans, but about Ling’s approach to factual documentary. Her objective is to document the differences in American life styles, choices etc., not so much for shock value but to show that they are all Americans and that somehow people will be more accepting of others who live in different circumstances or those who made different choices. Her proposed topics include a community of convicted child molesters, cross gender individuals and I guess faith healers.
However there should more to it than just pointing a camera and saying here is another American. Factual research that might educate the viewer and counter balance the story being pitched by the subject, especially when you consider the influence that this Oprah backed show will have with the Oprah army of middle class women.
Stuart
To quote John Loftus:
“I think Christians cannot be reasoned out of their faith since they were never reasoned into it it the first place.”
It would seem that both the world of politics and religion is plagued with an excess of narsisstic freaks / leaders! This phenomena is an infectious disease that brings devastation, destruction and misery to numerous “followers”.
RELIGION: eg. Peter Youngren, Benny Hinn, Todd Bentley.
POLITICS: eg. Muammar Gaddafi, Silvio Berlusconi, Kim Jong-il,
Not to speak of the hordes of lesser known “middle men”.
Thank God for the healthy, humble, normal men and women who are not MEDIA-FREAKS but simple “faceless-nameless” servants.
an observation of the charismatic churches trend of healing rooms and prayer rooms: they do not following a precedent set by our king who walked among us for 3-1/2 years are will treat his citizens as his bride in the next age. he walked the streets “doing good and healing those under the power of the devil” (acts 10:38). today’s “believers” want their own healing, instead of walking the streets and healing the down and outers. all of the bethels and morningstars operations provide “antiseptic” environments, far removed from the gritty reality of the streets. and then we have the circus performers like tb: 5 recliners? his own backyard garden? what bs. and he does not seem to care that he might be “talking the lord’s name in vain?” could this guy even find a job in the real world? maybe minimum wage that might pay for living in a rundown ’50s strip motel. (not to talk down about these places; living in these places, he would have much opportunity to attempt to follow jesus’ example of doing good.) but no, he and the $375K annual salaried bill johnsons and rick joyners are too chicken sh** for that life style.
I see Bentley as someone who thinks he has the gift of healing. It’s easy to observe his yearning for the supernatural. It’s obvious that he lives out his own version of the supernatural. He tends to make his displays on the platform appear genuine, and I think that is what draws those yearning for a physical healing into his world. So, if it’s Bentley’s mindset to project healings on the unfortunate ones needing it, then it will fail.
This type ministring for healing is strange and unhealthy in my opinion. The elements in his meetings goes far against rational reason. No one deserves to pay any amount of money to receive a healing. Let alone $600 dollars per person to attend this one. This type of thinking can do more harm than good.
I tend to think that Bentley has a strategy for allowing hurting people to believe they are healed. I think he really see’s himself as having this gift, and he does not want to aknowledge the obvious, because it would give him insight that he could just be very wrong about the gift of healing.
I would hope and pray that a seasoned christian would pray about this type healer, and challenge themselves to obtain a much clearer understanding of such a beautiful gift. Before you believe Bentley and his pre-conceived testimonies and interpretaions, remain open-minded and see if this type of teaching on healing is contrary to God’s word. Don’t let the focus of physcial healing be your main objective.
Susan:
Gods word on healing makes absolutely no sense.
Why do we have to beseech an all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving god to be healed in the first place? and why would we be praying to an all-loving god to be cured from diseases and the effects of natural disasters that he himself created?
ministry in charismatic circles is lucrative. why not be restored to lucrativity? I agree the Ling piece was very lukewarm. but a few of those christians blessed me. in the midst of charlatanism and ministers gorging on tithes and offerings of the simple and lowly, God still has his remnant. i was a deceived baby christian once too. if they read the word and keep following the spirit of God, they’ll grow up and wake up. i used to send money to robert tilton years ago.
I don’t know if Oprah’s network is available in Canada – probably, and I haven’t been following the show online.
I’m curious. Is Bentley now a US citizen?
I am curious about his former wife and children in Canada. How are they feeling about TB’s life now? He never seems to mention his children. Is he even allowed back there to see them? According to another blog comment that I read, he left quite a bit of devastation at his former Canadian ministry.
I doubt that he’s a US citizen. It normally takes five years of residency to be eligible for citizenship, so if the clock started ticking during the Lakeland debacle, he’d only be halfway to that.
It’s hard to believe he still has “legs” in charismatic circles, but he does. Was it already three years ago you and I helped get that story on the Web?
Mark said:
“It’s hard to believe he still has “legs” in charismatic circles, but he does. Was it already three years ago you and I helped get that story on the Web?”
Mark, so much of the charismatics will swallow anything as long as it’s in line with their preconceived delusions. How else does one explain the Flakeland fiasco? Me, I’m still waiting for concrete proof of all those resurrections from the dead that were claimed at Flakeland. Not holding my breath on that one, though.
Perhaps we need to hear less about the angel Emma and more about the Marital Fidelity/Anti-Adultery angel. I don’t expect that topic to appear front and center anytime soon either.
what’s the word on the trey smith mike murdock expose
Facts:Todd Bently has NO Solid Biblical Education and or Training
at Cocking {aka “Patrica King”} annointed him as an “Apostle 12 years ago
:He is under No Real Authority-Knight of Malta-Rick Joyner does not count
Say No More….bla bla bla
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Gong Show…
This is in response to Susan, comment of Feb 26:
I’d love to know whether Bentley genuinely believes he has the gift of healing, or if he realises that he is simply a conman. I once spoke with a former pentecostal faith-healer, who said that the deception in this field is so strong that you become deluded by all the fame and money you receive, and you end up living in a fantasy world. However, he went on to say, you also find that you are constantly having to lie to people, and he questioned whether someone who was truly a christian could behave in such a way.
I reckon that most, if not all, the key people in pentecostal and charismatic christianity (both current and historic figures) are/were frauds. There’s lots of scandals and no miracles. The fact that all the current lot supported Lakeland back in 2008 makes me even more convinced of this. It makes me very sad indeed.
anastasis – the frauds are not limited to pentecostal circles. Seems every sector of Christendom has its share of closet non-believing pastors and ministers.
http://www.cbc.ca/tapestry/episode/2011/02/27/preachers-who-dont-believe-in-god/#socialcomments
http://www.epjournal.net/filestore/EP08122150.pdf
Seems to me preachers who no longer believe in god, the bible, etc. fall into one of two categories. Those who, in their honest search for truth admitted to themselves that they can no longer hold to religious beliefs, but feel trapped in disclosing their true feelings to family and congregation for fear of reprisal. And those who do not believe in god, but intentionally deceive and defraud congregants to further their careers and finances.
Here’s a link to the mp3 audio file from the Tapestry show Marina refers to, in case you want to download it and listen at your leisure.
http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/tapestry_20110227_45981.mp3
Hello Anastasis,
I think Todd believes he has this supernatural gift of healing. At the same time I agree the the fame, money and the many perks created an allure for him and his ministry. Fantasy world may be just what evolves, when our hearts are taken by a false charm.
I use to work with end stage cancer patients. That was not easy. I met some brave people. A good bit were christians. This one guy, who was 18, always carried his Bible very close to himself. One day he shared something with me, that I will cherish all my days on this earth. He’s just one reason I believe in miracles. You know, some of the best miracles are the quite ones. The ones ment for just you.
I had never heard of Todd Bentley until Lakeland. So many claims were being made about healing, dead people coming back to life, created miracles, etc. One of our pastor at church one night, told us to be careful. He was very constructive about it and did not want anyone to get mislead. Lakeland is in the past now and it was sad for many how it ended.
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