Funny I said , “High” as if there should be even “low” assault rates in the Christendom!? this has become a terrible trend in in that, almost every other month you hear of notable men of God falling for this same weakness (hitting a woman). It is not the constant increasing rates of divorce, it is now the redesigning of woman’s faces that we are dealing with now, how low can we go!? it is not easy to say who is at fault here but judging by what the Bible says about women being the weaker sex . I think men should be able to restrain themselves even in most extreme cases where the woman just refuses to back down from an argument (for we women can sure argue our point to a fault) some of us will let go of the Holy Spirit and let go of all self restraint and lash out at the man and forgetting that as much as we like to see and believe that men are strong willed and powerful in the home, they also feel pain and are also anxious about their future like women too but too many women do not understand men’s pain for it is different from theirs while a woman is worried about “what type of cloth she is going to wear for an occasion a man is busy thinking of money and work or if he can keep on taking care of the family in the coming years” not that we do not have irresponsible men but we also have irresponsible women too, but in most cases men would be men and women will act like women. . . as we have all seen.
My point is that before a man gets married he has made up his mind to spend the rest of his life with this woman and for some reasons( devil prowling seeking who m to devour) he may not live up to his marriage vows and then all hell let’s loose. when this happens it is the woman’s duty to Pray not to nag and fight him,(and not be ignorant of the devils devices) for whether you like it or not a man with a made up mind is not easily swayed by emotions (that is why till date some women still wonder why their men left them for no reasons) it is not every man that is moved by tears, especially when he wants what he wants, he goes after it till he is fed up and then he may come back home.
With the matter at hand being that Pastors and men of God are no longer restrained, they beat their wives at the drop of a hat, some beat and listen later, what is going on brothers in Christ? if your wife is nagging you go into a quiet place and cool off for while instead of reacting on impulse, and if you are not living up to your responsibilities try your best to be there for you family after all you stated the family, why tear it down with your own hands! it is not wise. . . the devil is an expert at making us destroy ourselves with our own hands of course he will aid in the process but subtly
As for the women please allow the wisdom of God to guide your thought processes for I know women can think all kinds of crazy stuff to the extent that we become paranoid with rage and destroy the gift of God to us (our homes). Also the too much TV exposure cannot be good for your kids and family members, for the life of me I cannot understand why you would want your husband you once loved to be trashed on TV or on Newspapers, do they not know that these things will make reconciliation harder? what happens when the film crew are no longer interested in your stories? what will you be doing then? (am not supporting the men here but I wonder what some women think they are doing) Maybe am speaking as an African woman. . . who knows. in my place we have a proverb that says “two people don’t go mad at the same time” meaning one of the couple should show restraint when the other is going of the rails. Where is God in all of this!!!???Ephesians 5:22-25, 28-29 22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
At last, new trophy wife in tow, Todd Bentley, the Canadian evangelist who has been having many problems over the past year (to put it lightly) has entered rehabilitation. Over seven months after the collapse of his internationally famous revival in the U.S., he has at last gotten around to going to North Carolina to come under the mentoring of charismatic leader Rick Joyner. Mr. Joyner is to help him return to ministry. Yet, already, in the annoucements and videos that are coming out with Mr. Bentley, there’s more backspin than at a convention of billiards players evident, which is not a good omen for those hoping that Mr. Bentley can return to his work with integrity and a good character.
As videos began to be released a couple of days ago, there was a flurry of commentary and a bit of news coverage. Blogger Miriam Franklin has already weighed in with several pointed critical posts on Mr. Joyner and Mr. Bentley. I’d defintely agree with her on one point she has made, namely that people are concentrating too much on Mr. Bentley’s divorce and quickie remarriage to Jessa, whose affair with the evangelist seems to be the proxinate cause of the "Lakeland revival". Not so. The affair was a symptom not a cause. That is to say, Mr. Bentley had a character problem that exhibited itself in lying from the pulpit about, for example, raising people from the dead. There were some aberrant, heretical things being said and done at Lakeland. And he was canoodling with a younger, prettier intern while his wife was either watching the kids or taking the pulpit herself to promote what her husband was doing. Marrying Jessa will likely not fix what leads to these sorts of actions.
My blogging friend Bene Diction makes an excellent point in a post that notes that many prominent charismatic groups and churches are slumping in the amount of people that are logging on to their sites. This relates to several things that I have been seeing on The Elijah List, an e-list that caters to charismatics, to the effect that people with alleged prophetic insight are commenting that God will bring Christians through the current economic woes, or bless them in amazing ways financially. There are reports of layoffs at ministries, and the tone of requests for donations has been stepped up. All this backs up Bene Diction’s suspicion that there may be a lot of pressure to get Bentley out on the road prematurely so, as the "star" of the "Lakeland revival", he can start to draw the crowds again.
Mr. Joyner’s first letter, announcing that Bentley and new wife had arrived, also noted that Mr. Bentley has a new ministry, Fresh Fire USA, which is organized under Mr. Joyner’s own ministry for now. Those wanting to help Mr. Bentley were offered Fresh Fire USA’s address. So, I had to smile when religion editor Frank Lockwood of the Arkansas Democrat, on his religious news blog, titled his note on Mr. Bentley’s restoration process: "Sorry about the adultery. Please send $$$" .
Charisma, the magazine of record for charismatic Christians in the U.S., is covering this too. Their own story has an intestesting note. At the tail end of Bentley’s time in Florida, a team of charismatic leaders and ministers lead by C. Peter Wagner held a special commissioning service for Bentley which was broadcast worldwide via Internet, in which the "Revival Alliance" members predicted that Bentley would go from success to success. They welcomed Bentley as a member of their group and even gave him a special ring, but Charisma’s story quotes Revival Alliance member John Arnott (known for pastoring the "Toronto Blessing" in the 1990s) as saying that Bentley is no longer considered a "member in good standing" of their group. Mr. Wagner and Mr. Arnott revealed some of Bentley’s misdeeds in the aftermath of his leaving the revival, so Mr. Bentley has evidently decided to form alliances with those who are more sympathtic to him, such as Mr. Joyner.
Mr. Joyner features in another Charisma item as well. Charisma editor J. Lee Grady, in his latest column, is disgusted with the rush to bring Bentley back too quickly, calling it a "travesty". Mr. Grady is righteously indignant, but what I find telling is Mr. Joyner’s response. He writes, in part:
Lee, I love some of the things you write, but I also feel that some are straight from the mouth of the accuser.
It should go without saying that if you are a professing Christian, one of the worst possible insults that you could use would be to say that your opponent is being used by the devil as a ventriliquist dummy.
One would think that "fighting dirty" would be abhorrent for a Christian such as Mr. Joyner.
Mr. Joyner, as the conservative site Apologetics Index notes has a history of doing other things that would raise the eyebrows of many Christians. He has a reputation of being "prophetic" and having special insight from the Lord, but non-Christian sceptics would no doubt be amused that he occasionally sees through a glass very darkly, such as his prediction of Los Angeles being levelled by an earthquake and nuclear bombs in the 1990s.
Mr. Joyner’s occasiional intemperance, as exhibited in his response to Mr. Grady, may also be shown in one of his famous prohetic words, in his book The Final Quest, about the "Blues and the Grays". He predicts a coming civil war in Christianity, with the winning side (of which Mr. Joyner is a part, of course) defeats the Christians who have been misled by Satan being defeated and removed from their positions of authority in the church. We must "remove the cancer from our midst" he writes in his book. (I wonder, given the violence waged between Christians in history, and in our own time, whether it is appropriate to share these sorts of visions in public. Certainly, Christians should "contend for the faith", but so sadly, they do not need encouragment to turn to violence in the direst of circumstances.)
I note these things and note that Mr. Bentley, when not kneeing cancer victims in the stomach, has often delighted in telling his audiences about times that he has kicked old ladies in the head with his biker boot and such. (As I write, some of these stories are preserved on YouTube.) Amongst the fruits of the Holy Spirit that should be exhibited by an evangelist such as Mr. Bentley are meekness, gentleness and self-control. I have to ask whether Mr. Bentley’s mentor, Mr. Joyner, would be effective in advising him here when Mr. Joyner himself–this week–accuses his opponents of speaking on Satan’s behalf, and cherishes visions of winning a "war in the church". Yes, often the flawed have to help the flawed, but this is not promising.
On to the videos that have been released to explain Mr. Bentley’s rehabilitation process. The first video from Mr. Joyner’s ministry has Mr. Bentley himself as a guest. I’m posting a copy of most of the first video that has been saved on YouTube in case the videos start to disappear from Mr. Joyner’s own website:
Some things that jump out at me:
1. You’ll notice that Mr. Bentley is full of talk of mistakes and errors, but never mentions the word "sin". Even Jimmy Swaggart had the grace to cry "I have sinned," when he next appeared before the public after he sinned.
Not that people would demand a pound of flesh, of course. But talk of sin and sinning would indicate that Mr. Bentley is a lot more serious about making things right than his critics think that he is. The evangelist already has the problem that it took him over half a year to begin this supposedly important process, so he needs to be seen to be taking it seriously.
2. I don’t really believe that in an age of fax, e-mail and videoconferencing that it was impossible for Mr. Bentley to be working on his visa appeal with the U.S. custonms officials while moving to North Carolina. I’m sure that it is done all the time for compassionate reasons, for example. I sincerely doubt that it would be impossible as Mr. Bentley implies.
3. As a Canadian, I am a little dismayed to hear Mr. Bentley say this:
"….Shonnah’s doing everything she can to help with my immigration process…."
It would appear that Mr. Bentley is tring to become a landed immigrant or even a U.S. citizen. No points for guessing that his marriage to Jessa was designed to help with this.
If we grant for a moment that Mr. Bentley’s faith, giftings and burden to convert non-Christians are valid, this is sad. Yes, Canadian christians have been moving to the U.S. to pursue their calling since Aimee Semple McPherson, but the United States already has so many ministers and so much resources. If Mr. Bentley is who he says he is, the church in Canada needs people like him. Of course, his critics would say that Mr. Bentley should not let the door hit him on the behind as he leaves Canada. But the need is acute. If Mr. Bentley’s style of faith-healing evangelism is what is needed, then it is particularly sad that he never devoted much effort to the nearest major city to where he lived, Vancouver. (The last time that he himself ministered in the city was at a medium sized church over five years ago.)
Of course, Mr. Benley’s citics could question how committed Mr. Bentley was committed to "revival" in Canada’s cities and towns in the first place, based on his decision to move.
4. Mr. Bentley, 7:30 into the video, starts talking about how he dealt with problems as an unsaved teenager:
"….That old [sin] nature in you is when you hurt someone, you just want to give up and run away from the whole thing. That’s how I dealt with pain as I grew up as a child. If I was hurt or rejected or I disappointed my mother or disappointed my father, I just packed up and moved to the next town. When I burned all the bridges there, I just packed up and moved. This time we want to deal with everything square in the face…."
Let’s follow his logic. Mr. Bentley says that it is sinful, or at least immature, to deal with problems by running away from them. This is after he has divorced his wife and not only "packed up and moved to the next town" but moved to the next country. He has "burned all his bridges" with his ex-wife, turning in for a new model, instead of "dealing with everything square in the face" of Shonnah Bentley, his first wife.
How can you teach someone to stand and deal with their problems when they have just run away from most of them? What is preventing Todd Bentley from packing up and giving up on Mr. Joyner’s restoration process when by implication, spending the past few months running from everything that is painful to deal with is quite all right?
Did Mr. Joyner even try to persuade Mr. Bentley to stay with his wife and kids and stay in Canada?
5. An offhand remark of Mr. Bentley’s at the 8:55 mark will raise some eyebrows:
"There’s so much that I’ve learned on all this. There’s triumph. There’s tragedy. And, you know, there’ll be a message. Ther’ll be a whole series of messages…."
Tragedy I can understand. Triumph? The only triumph that there would be is Christ somehow cleaning up the pig’s breakfast that the evangelist has made, but the "restoration process" has only just started. Rather, are we seeing a "triumph of the will" specifically Todd Bentley’s will? He got the wife he wanted. He got the parenting situation that worked best for him. He got a very sympathetic mentor to counsel him. He has a lot that he wants, and that might not be good for him.
Watching this video may bring a sense that Mr. Bentley is not being asked to be serious about his mistakes. This is an unease that is shared, according to Cary McMullen of the Lakeland Ledger newspaper, who has done a lot of great reporting on Mr. Bentley’s revival and its aftermath. In a post on the reaction to the plans to restore Mr. Bentley in "Pentecostal circles", McMullen notes that many seem to fear that "this is just further evidence that Bentley and his supporters are frauds".
Mr. Bentley and Mr. Joyner have their work cut out for them. If they are truly wanting to do the right thing, there is a lot of scepticism to deal with. Well-founded scepticism, I am afraid.
Yes Christians Todd Bentley has finally said I do to his former live in nanny /Mistress (Jessa). But am not going to go into the nitty-gritty of what Todd has done , for I know that He and his Pastor/Prophets sure know what the word of God says about these things. This is truly a sad story, every Christian out there should continue Praying for Todd Bentleys first wife (Shonnah) who has had to endure these recent embarrassing situations she found herself in and, remember the Children (my heart breaks for them) and neither should we forget Todd and the New wife both who have given in to the lusts of the flesh we ought to hope that they truly repent and find their way to God. For what I can see and read so far shows of people with hardened hearts, those who have chosen their own way instead of Gods way. so sad indeed(sigh)
Read the full story for yourself from Todd Bentleys Chief apologist Rick Joyner (I call him that for he keeps on making excuses for Todd)
Todd Bentley Begins Restoration Process By Rick Joyner
Todd Bentley was used to spark the Lakeland Outpouring, which raised the faith level of much of the body of Christ. Testimonies of healings and miracles from it are now virtually all over the world. When Todd’s marriage failed, he abruptly stopped all ministry and virtually disappeared for almost nine months. In the meantime, his divorce was finalized and he has recently remarried. Todd has taken full responsibility for the failure of his marriage. He and Jessa also admit that their relationship was premature and should not have happened the way it did. Both are adamant that it was not the cause for the failure of his first marriage, nor did they begin their relationship until Todd was convinced that his marriage was over. They have both expressed that it was wrong and premature. They do not want to try and cover this up even though they know many will never accept them for it. Even so, they are married now and are resolved to make the most of their marriage, their lives, and to continue to serve the Lord in the best way that they can. My position all along has been that I will do my best to comply with Galatians 6:1, “If a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (NKJV). To obey this Word, I have always felt that it did not matter what one had done, and that it was my responsibility to help them find the grace of God to return to the place from which they had fallen. I confess that with Todd, I am not just doing this as a duty. From the time I first met him nearly ten years ago, I knew that he had an extraordinary purpose and a gift of faith for the miraculous that would be desperately needed in these times. I consider helping any of God’s children an honor, and helping Todd is a privilege. I also confess to some selfish ambition in wanting to do this. I had a dream two decades ago in which one of my children had fallen into a sewage ditch and could not get up. My child was being scorned and no one would help him. A man came along who helped my child get up and then cleaned up. In that dream, I felt as if I would give everything that I owned to this man who helped my child. Then I heard the voice of the Lord say, “Jim Bakker is My child. Will you help him?” Since that time, I have been devoted to helping any of God’s children that I could who have committed any trespass, because I knew there were few other things that would bring the Father’s favor. I consider this willingness to at least try to help others this way a major reason for the extraordinary favor that our ministry, my family, and I have received. I love Todd and am glad to help him, but I also know by doing this, I will be doing something that means a great deal to our Father. When we release someone to minister in the body of Christ, we are releasing him or her to minister to God’s own children, and I personally do not do that with anyone who I would not allow to minister to my own family. For all that was done through Todd, and especially at Lakeland, which touched and helped countless thousands, many were also left confused and hurt by the way it ended. I think Todd is even more sensitive to this than I am. Although in some ways he greatly misses being in ministry and praying for people, he wants to be sure that when he comes back that his life and his ministry are on the most solid ground possible so that he does not cause these kinds of problems again. Jack Deere and Bill Johnson have agreed to be a part of Todd’s restoration process. I asked them to be a part because I know they will probably see things I don’t, but also because both Todd and I trust them and know they would not sign off on something they did not really believe in. However, both of them are going to be involved in this at a distance, and therefore, I will be the main person responsible.
Being a believer in body ministry, I expect our whole leadership team, and to some degree, our whole local church, to be involved in helping Todd and Jessa. Our staff and all from the church that I have discussed this with are very happy about them being here and want to help them in any way that they can. In future Bulletins, we will go into more detail about what we’re doing and why, as well as what we think was a cause of some of the failures Todd experienced. We will only do this for the sake of helping others avoid the same traps. We know that trust has to be earned and that Todd will have to earn the trust of the body of Christ for future ministry, which will not be easy, nor should it be. Todd, more than most, does not want to jump back into ministry prematurely, even as much as he misses it in some ways.
I for one have been very encouraged by the expressions of grace and genuine concern so many have expressed toward Todd in this situation. It gives me great hope. As we have been constantly reminded, the Lord had great patience with sinners, but He had none for the self-righteous. We’re all here because He had mercy on us, and we know we still need it. However, we also know that true repentance and restoration can only come if we refuse to compromise the clear biblical standards for morality and integrity. Todd wanted to personally say the following: It has been a long while since I have spoken publicly and openly. I am sorry for the hurt and confusion that my decisions have caused the body of Christ. It has been a true season of brokenness, hiddenness, and a long process of grieving. As many of you now know, my previous marriage has endured years of unresolved conflicts. I apologize that it has ended in divorce, and I take full responsibility for my part for the ending of the marriage. I realize that my silence and decisions have caused many of you to feel hurt, confused, and offended. The reason for the silence was for my need of healing, creating a restoration process under a team of qualified leaders, much needed rest after the Lakeland Outpouring, repentance, and the divorce process. I have now relocated to Fort Mill, South Carolina and have entered into my restoration and healing process under Rick Joyner, Jack Deere, and Bill Johnson. I am confident of this one thing—that God is faithful to His promise and my hope is to be fully restored, strengthened, healed, and to learn from all the mistakes I have made along the way. Thank you friends and partners for your continued prayers, encouragement, and love. I am committed to the work of the Holy Spirit and confident that the good men around me will help me be restored first as a man, as a husband, and ultimately to fulfill God’s call on my life.
Those of you who were touched by the Lakeland Outpouring do not lose your encouragement. What happened there was from God, and Todd is a true servant of God. He has made some mistakes, and he is trying to get his life back in order, and you can be confident that he will. Throughout the Bible, many of the greatest heroes in it also made some of the worst mistakes. King David, possibly the greatest hero in the Bible after Jesus, made one of the most horrible mistakes, not only committing adultery, but murdering the husband of the woman he committed it with. God knew that was going to happen with David when He called him, and He loved David before, during, and afterward. One of the remarkable events in the Bible is that the Lord then used Bathsheba to bring forth the heir to the throne, Solomon, and she is part of the genealogy of Jesus. It still stretches me, but we need stretching in the grace of God. At the same time, we must balance it with how God hates divorce, and it is one of the scourges of our times that is tragically hurting many, many people. Marriage is under such an assault now because it is so important. However, legalism will not overcome lawlessness. This situation and similar ones that almost every church and family are now being faced with is one that we need answers for. We cannot run from Him, but must run to Him with our need. Many of Todd’s friends and former partners have asked if and how they might help to rebuild and establish Fresh Fire USA, which has recently relocated from Abbotsford, BC Canada and is now based at Heritage International Ministries in Fort Mill, SC. Donations can now be made to Fresh Fire USA at the following address:
Fresh Fire USA
C/O MorningStar Fellowship Church
375 Star Light Dr.
Fort Mill, SC 29715
Make checks out to Fresh Fire USA, or if you would like to donate by credit card to help in rebuilding Fresh Fire USA, call 1-800-542-0278, and tell the operator that you want to make a donation to Fresh Fire USA.
The international treaty creates specific civil, economic, social, cultural and even economic rights for every child and states that "the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration." While the treaty states that parents or legal guardians "have primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child," Farris said government will ultimately determine whether parents’ decisions are in their children’s best interest. The treaty is monitored by the CRC, which conceivably has enforcement powers.
Parents would no longer be able to administer reasonable spankings to their children.
A murderer aged 17 years, 11 months and 29 days at the time of his crime could no longer be sentenced to life in prison.
Children would have the ability to choose their own religion while parents would only have the authority to give their children advice about religion.
The best interest of the child principle would give the government the ability to override every decision made by every parent if a government worker disagreed with the parent’s decision.
A child’s "right to be heard" would allow him (or her) to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed.
According to existing interpretation, it would be illegal for a nation to spend more on national defense than it does on children’s welfare.
Children would acquire a legally enforceable right to leisure.
Teaching children about Christianity in schools has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
Allowing parents to opt their children out of sex education has been held to be out of compliance with the CRC.
Children would have the right to reproductive health information and services, including abortions, without parental knowledge or consent. Read More here: United Nations’ threat: No more parental rights
Suffice it to say that A dear friend, Sir Poddy sent me an email, at first I didn’t go to the link but then He sent the article to my inbox which I was very grateful for. Not only did it make it easier for me but I was now going to read this post as the Spirit of God led me to take a look at it. and when I got to it, I became worried by the tone of the letter still I continued reading the post and came off with so many questions but won’t be asking any questions today for enough has been said already about this but, that doesn’t make it any less painful. For I not only found out that even the ministry itself has a lot of Praying to do for Spiritual wisdom ,but that Todd is even adamant to repent of His sins and that breaks my little heart
BUT . . .
Christians, it is time I think we start Praying for many who are called to serve in the vineyard of the Lord. We are to Pray even for those who called themselves into the ministry and those who are confused too (trust me there are many confused pastors today).
For I feel that Todd has Hardened His heart since He insists on divorcing his faithful wife and continuing in the unholy relationship he is been having with their former nanny as you would see from the highlighted points in this post below (though very long but have selected few important areas for you to read) so you can then know which area you will direct your Prayers.
I don’t want to bloviate on this post neither do I want to Gossip online as some put it, as a matter of fact the whole Todd Bentley saga is just too much for me to handle amongst other things going on in life. This issue nonetheless deserves our noting, that once upon a time so, so happened for future references and for reproving of others when we notice that they are stepping off the mark. For we have been called to be watchmen Ezekiel 33:7
that said I do not think am the best qualified to write on this because I have seen most of the news articles on this story from the sympathetic to the downright mean articles (even we Christian bloggers can be mean some times) .It became impressed upon my heart to ask for Prayers for the whole Fresh Fire Ministries not just for Todd Bentley. for there are certain things I do not get from their letter to us all.
Not to rain on their parade but, there are some phrases used here am having problems with like, "Soaking each day " and the continuous excuses they keep making for Todd by listing his "great accomplishments" and also indicting others for criticizing them too not to mention the misquoting of certain scriptures to suit their purposes or should I say, the careful selection of suitable Biblical references to suit them. So am confused about this letter cause if it is an an apology letter then they have some lessons to learn in humility and true repentance. . . .anyway let me not make a long post, longer. READ ON if you can . . . . . . . . . . .
Update on Todd Bentley from Fresh Fire byJustin Abraham
Dec 1, 2008
After a long silence a new update has been sent out about Todd Bentley. As many of you know Lakeland ended with Todd being pulled out of ministry to rectify problems in his marriage. The latest news is in the following letter from Fresh Fire. Sadly it is not a very pretty picture. We love Todd and know Daddy is grieving. Todd is precious in His sight. They have been used mightily by God to push the boundary and raise the bar in our generation. Blessings Emerge team. November 28, 2008 – Update from FFM (www.freshfire.ca).
Please allow us to begin by sincerely apologizing for the long silence between our first two letters and this one. We will do our best to help you understand why it has taken us so long to respond to your many legitimate requests for information. Please also know that we write this letter as an explanation of our silence and not a defense of it.
We have received letters, emails and phone calls from many of you during the last three months, expressing sympathy and support as well as frustration and disappointment. We ourselves have been on an emotional rollercoaster for some time now and have found that looking to the Lord for His new mercies every morning enables us to make it through the day.
In light of our lack of communication, some of you have felt the need to withdraw your partnership with Fresh Fire Ministries; we completely understand and both release and bless you in your walk with God. Others have been compelled to discontinue their giving as a result of the economic crisis in America and in other countries around the world. We thank you for the many years of faithful support, and wish you to know that it was not in vain; more on that later. Nonetheless if you must go, for whatever reason, we trust that the Lord will lead you in connecting with the many other excellent ministries out there faithfully advancing His kingdom. Some of you have received so much good word and powerful impartation through FFM, that you might consider starting your own ministry.
Moving on, let us first say that we know, without a shadow of doubt, that Lakeland was and is an authentic move of God. Having known Todd well for many years, both his amazing strengths and his areas of weakness, we can say without reservation that the move of God in Lakeland, which began at Ignited Church, was genuine. We have never seen, in the history of this ministry, a greater quantity and quality of the miraculous demonstration of God’s healing power. As the Lord began to pour out His glory in Ignited Church and in the many venues that followed, Todd’s spirit was as pure as it has ever been and he was intensely hungry for more of God’s presence. He would spend hours soaking each day before the evening meeting, and once the worship had begun, Todd would become lost in the presence of God. The manifestation of amazingly accurate words of knowledge and astounding miracles flowed effortlessly night after night.
As the Outpouring continued, the Board of Directors and other leaders in Lakeland suggested that Todd take a few days off each week to rest and refresh. We learned from experience, however, and the post-Lakeland counsel of Christian leaders, that the anointing can be addictive.Significant personal issues in Todd’s life and make-up, as well as, flaws in the functioning structure of our leadership resulted in an impossible pace to maintain… seven nights a week for more than 15 weeks on end. We fully accept the responsibility as a Board of Directors for this lapse in judgment; we should have required that not just Todd and the team, but the entire Outpouring rest a minimum of one day a week. God himself rested after six days work as a pattern for His creation, and if the yoke of the Lord is easy and His burden is light, then He has no need to exhaust His people in a fresh encounter with Him.
As fatigue began to set in, significant personal issues in Todd and in his relationship with Shonnah were exacerbated. This, together with his increased familiarity with a female staff member created more tension in the Bentleys’ relationship. As the pressure of leading the revival continued, media attention increased resulting in less and less personal time. With the development of more friction in his marriage relationship, Todd began to make irrational decisions. Alcohol, movies and leisure time spent with a few of the younger, more impressionable members of his staff and road-crew began to replace the hours of soaking in the presence of God in which Todd had engaged during the early days of the Outpouring. Finally, Todd began to burn out, and things came to a head in his relationship with Shonnah. He was unwilling to put distance between himself and the female staff member and ultimately told Shonnah he wanted a separation.
The fact that the revival was in Florida, three thousand miles from our home office in Abbotsford, BC Canada, meant that the entire administration for the revival was provided by a rotating stream of church leaders and Board members who would assist behind the scenes and on the platform for a few weeks at a time and then return to Canada, usually on the verge of total exhaustion. Trying to keep up with the logistics of administrating the revival, including the massive challenge of moving from venue to venue until we finally arrived in the tent along with the media circus that ensued shortly afterwards, meant that communication was greatly inhibited between the leaders involved.Many early signs that something was drastically wrong were overlooked. By the time we became fully aware and/or were willing to admit how dysfunctional things had become behind the scenes, the damage had already been done.
As to our long silence in writing to you, please let us explain. We have been in much contact with Rick Joyner, Bill Johnson, John Arnott and other members of a team focused on restoring Todd, seeking to do all within our power to encourage him to embrace a process of counseling and genuine accountability. In deference to these leaders we have refrained from communicating at all until we could be assured that we were all on the same page. At the same time, senior members of the leadership team here at Fresh Fire as well as members of the Board of Directors have been stretched to the breaking point in attempting to deal with all of the attention created not just by the revelations of Todd’s marriage problems and personal issues, but also by the five months of revival preceding their disclosure. Since then, many false accusations and rumors surrounding both Todd and the Lakeland Outpouring have attempted to use Todd’s failures as a springboard to question the legitimacy of the revival. Consequently, key leaders have had to step back and rest in order not to burn-out themselves. This, coupled with the busy schedules of the restoration team, all of whom travel internationally, has made getting everyone on the same page difficult.
We so appreciate all those who have stepped in to assist the FFM Board in a process of restoration for Todd, but what we have come to realize is that ultimately, the buck stops with the FFM Board of Directors. No one knows Todd better, or has more access to all the facts from both sides than we do.
Again, we apologize for not writing to you sooner. We struggled for a while with the question of how to satisfy two important obligations – that of honoring Todd, while believing for his restoration and at the same time, our obligation to be completely honest and open with you as our partners. Through much prayer and with the Lord’s help, we hope to satisfy both those obligations with this letter.
There is a difference between covering Todd and covering for him. We refuse to expose explicit details of his failings over the last few months, but neither will we pretend there haven’t been any. "Covering" is a biblical term as in "love covers over a multitude of sins" or as in the case when Noah’s two sons draped him in a blanket when he unwittingly discovered what happens when you drink too much fermented grape juice. "Cover for" is a contemporary idiom meaning to lie or misrepresent the truth in order to enable another to get away with or to continue to be involved in illicit behavior. We have been slow in responding up until now, because we wanted to bring you a positive report, full of hope and the promise of restoration. All of that is still entirely possible and we pray to that end, however, further silence on our part would be misrepresenting the truth by allowing you to believe that what we said in our first two statements (which were true to the best of our knowledge at the time of their writing) is still the case. Unfortunately that is not so.
Here are the facts: Todd has yet to enter into a clear system of accountability with the leaders he identified that would be involved in such a process. Todd has visited Rick Joyner in Fort Mills, South Carolina, and indicated early on in September that he would be moving there soon to become a part of the community there and to receive counseling from Rick Joyner, Jack Deere, Bill Johnson and others that Rick might feel to bring alongside. Todd is in regular contact with Rick Joyner and has agreed together with Rick that he will move to Fort Mills during the first few months of 2009.
Having spoken with Todd in recent days, he is resolute in his intentions to divorce Shonnah, and in his mind, the restoration he is seeking is one which would not include reconciliation with his wife. Todd admits to being 100% responsible for the divorce. It also needs to be clarified that Shonnah has in no way initiated this divorce and has no present intention to do so at any time in the future. She is understandably hurt by Todd’s infidelity, but is not asking or pressing for a divorce. The legal separation from Shonnah was initiated completely by
Todd and he has not seen her or the children since the last week in July. To our knowledge, Todd’s relationship with the female staff-member, who was a former intern and also, at his initiative, a live-in nanny in his house for over a year, is still ongoing. We believe that there are currently no biblical grounds for Todd to leave his wife and children. While it has been maintained that no physical contact happened between Todd and the former female intern until after he filed for legal separation from Shonnah, in the Boards’ eyes, the nature of the present relationship between Todd and his former staff member is that of adultery.
Having said all that, our sincere desire is to see Todd first restored to Shonnah and the children, though at present this seems unlikely. We are optimistic that should Todd keep his word and move to Morning Star, Rick and his team are well equipped to be the Lord’s instruments in a process toward restoration. With genuine accountability, inner healing, counseling and deliverance we are confident that it is entirely possible for Todd to come through and gain victory over a number of significant personal issues with which he is struggling.
We love Todd dearly and so appreciate the ground he has broken, not just for us, but for many tens if not hundreds of thousands within the body of Christ. Todd’s genuine love for the Lord, his hunger and passion for souls and his tangible demonstration of the love of God in miracles, signs and wonders will be remembered for many years to come. Todd is a champion in the Global paradigm shift from a lethargic and dunamis-deficient church to an empowered body of believers carrying out the Great Commission in a mighty demonstration of the Spirit’s power. That’s how we, and we think many others, will choose to regard Todd even if he doesn’t allow the Holy Ghost to work a process of restoration in his life. If he will, and we pray sincerely for that, then only God knows what can be accomplished through this young fire-brand’s life.
It is our deep desire that our brother Todd should be restored, and we are still hopeful that this will be achieved. Please let us make it clear, that although what Todd has done is inexcusable, it is not unforgiveable. We do not judge him unworthy of a second, third or even fourth chance, and we hope that you don’t either. The Lord spoke clearly that those desiring mercy themselves would be well advised to give it to others, and the Lord has brought amazing goodness and life out of far worse circumstances.
The Lord has been speaking to us about sins of commission and sins of omission. Many may look at Todd and judge him for what he has done and excuse or justify themselves on the basis that they have not failed or sinned (missed the mark) in the areas in which Todd has failed. But if we are going to judge Todd by what he has done, then we need to include all that he has done. And if we will excuse ourselves on the basis of what we have not done, then we must also take into account all that we have not done.
Todd Bentley has demonstrated himself unfaithful to his wife by entering into a relationship with another woman while still legally married. He has consumed more alcohol on a few occasions than is prudent or becoming a Christian leader (or any believer for that matter). His sins have been sins of the flesh and we do not defend them.
He has, however, also seen over 1 million people make decisions for Christ in the 10 years of his ministry. He has been instrumental in seeing the Lord heal tens of thousands of people (if not more) of all manner of sickness and disease through the personal laying on of his hands and who knows how many others vicariously through television and the internet, or though the prayers of those who received the healing anointing through Todd’s ministry. He has been used by the Lord to give countless accurate prophetic words and words of knowledge to thousands of people around the globe, and his testimony and passion for God just since April 2 in Lakeland, Florida has touched literally millions through the internet and television.
Jesus said, "They are my children who obey my commandments", and if the theme of the Ten commandments in the Old Testament is "Thou Shall Not", then the theme of the Two Greatest Commandments as outlined by Jesus in the New Testament in Mark 15: 30-31 is most definitely, "Thou Shall!" "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength… (and)…You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (NIV). As is also said in 1 John 4:20-21 "If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." How many believers have become almost vicious in their attack against Todd, demonizing not only him but his ministry and everything he has ever done? What sort of spirit do you think is behind this? And how many around the world are sick and dying and unsaved because of what we, the global body of believers, have not done? Because we have not been obedient to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils (Matt. 10:8). Nothing is defined by what it is not, but rather by what it is; not by what it does not do, but by what it does do.
What Todd has done should not only be defined by his present failure. He has raised the bar on what is possible. He has broken a barrier of sorts for all of us and made a pathway into new possibilities. This is what you partnered with – not a man but a transferable anointing and an ability to reach into a combined realm of prophetic revelation and signs and wonders manifestation! Guard your deposit and don’t let the enemy’s backlash rob you of what you have already received. At the same time we openly admit that what Todd has done at the height of his supernatural breakthrough has resulted in a tragic breakdown in the natural causing great pain to many, but to none so deeply as to his wife and children.
Yet in all this we have been challenged and chastised by the Lord to remain gentle in our hearts toward him while we pray and encourage him to do the right thing and to come into accountability.
Galatians 6:1 is very clear in its instruction on how and with what attitude we are to restore one who has fallen, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted" (NIV). Maintaining gentleness of heart towards Todd means that we do not write him off or wish any manner of evil upon him. We need to continue to pray for him and to keep a door of relationship open to him. We are willing to assist in the process of his restoration, messy though it may be. Neither does a gentle heart towards Todd mean condoning what he has done nor enabling him to live in sin by either our support or our silence. So please pray for Todd and also for Shonnah and their family. Pray with fervency that the Lord would do a mighty miracle for the number one purpose of bringing vindication to His Name, but also that we might see our brother restored. We cannot control a person’s choices, nor have we any desire to do so. What we can control is our response to their choices and see the Lord take what the enemy means for evil and work it together for good.
We at Fresh Fire Ministries are presently in a season of waiting on God. We are in the process of re-defining our government structure with assistance from leaders in Bethel (the church pastored by Bill Johnson in Redding, California) and others affiliated with Morning Star—Rick Joyner’s ministry in South Carolina. In August, Todd verbally stepped down from the FFM Canadian Board of Directors and has recently given written notice of his resignation. With Todd no longer at the helm we are looking to identify vision-casters from within and to refocus the ministry’s endeavors in keeping with the original mandate of Fresh Fire Ministries. In the coming weeks we will provide you, our partners with a detailed update of our vision and emerging leadership structure. There is one area of the ministry that is seeing increased activity, and of all the many ventures and endeavors FFM has been engaged in, we believe this one to be closest to the heart of God. The Uganda Jesus Village in Africa is continuing to expand, with the building of homes on our recently purchased 35 acres of land just outside of Kampala, Uganda. Over the course of the summer, two brand new homes which will house eight to ten children each have been completed and construction is beginning on two more this week.
The purest expression of our faith as defined by the Lord in James 1:27 is to look to the needs of widows and orphans. Many FFM Partners and Missions’ Team Members have visited our children’s home in Uganda, commenting on the amazing transformation in the lives of these children orphaned by war and disease. Currently we are housing over 60 children in Kampala with a long-term vision to rescue as many as 500 children from the war-torn northern part of Uganda. We are in regular communication with our missionaries in Africa, Luke and Suzanne Jones and their family, and there is so much excitement in their hearts at the prospect of being able to rescue more children.
In this interim period as we wait on the Lord for clarification of our governmental structure we will continue to press forward in the work of supporting and expanding our Uganda Jesus Village. We thank all of our Partners that have given to this work and all of you that have sponsored and continue to sponsor the children in the homes.
Again, our sincerest apologies in having taken so long to respond and communicate to you, our beloved Partners. We thank you all for the grace you have extended us in this difficult season and together we look forward expectantly to brighter days ahead.
God poured Himself out in Florida and through the internet and television, around the world. Not on a man alone, but on a hungry body of believers has He given the seal of His Holy Spirit in power to be witnesses of His saving grace throughout the world. Through the weakness and failure of man, the enemy seeks to defame and discredit what God has done in empowering and authenticating his Church as carriers of His power and anointing to accomplish His purposes in the earth for His Glory.
Let us do as Elisha did when standing alone after a season of mentoring and impartation. Let us swing the mantle that we now carry, the mantle of God’s Glory, and together cross over to the other side.
God is waiting for us in 2009—certain to be our greatest year yet!
We understand you may have questions and concerns that you want to express to us. We love you all so much in Christ, and we welcome you to contact us by phone at 604-853-9041 or email info@freshfire.ca . We look forward to hearing from you. Blessings in Jesus name! Fresh Fire Leadership and Board of Directors.
Incase you missed everything or dont know what we are talkking about read the following posts when you can Godbless
I’ve recently been tagged by Lori laws at: PERSEVERE, The rules are that when you are tagged you have to share 7 things about yourself.
I cannot count how many times I have been tagged but have not responded because I have not been led to do so by the Holy Spirit, but today the Holy Spirit gave me the go ahead so I will use this opportunity to answer all the tags from my great friends like Anna, Adullamite, Valerie lynn and others whom I have forgotten to name here today, so here it goes . . .
These are short but will go along way to tell you who I am and what am like incase you were wondering my friend . . . .The 7 things that I would like to share are:
1) Created fearfully and wonderfully by God Almighty . . . I love my Savior Jesus Christ, I listen to the Holy spirit all the time for direction. I live for God and am His and His alone, I call my God "Daddy" for He is my DADDY. . . Thank You Jesus!!! I believe only God knows His true servants and those that Love Him and keep His commandments.
2) Am the First Child of my Parents, My Name is IJ or Hanna am 5 ft 7in short, brown eyes , light skinned, brown hair, married to a very nice and caring man named "Lucky" who I know God gave to me to wipe away my tears and to believe that not all men are not like my father, also I hold B.s.c Degree in Business Administration from Lagos State University (LASU)
4) Have traveled through my Country but not much to the Northern part (Hausa Land) but been through the Eastern, Western and most part of the southern parts of Nigeria , Outside of Nigeria have been to the following Countries Benin Republic, CotonouEthiopiaandIndia, as you can see I don’t like traveling much , but do hope, God willing someday I may be able to travel the World if necessary
5) Never taken a vacation in my life never went on "honey moon" too I look at those things as waste of time In My Humble opinion ,I have always believed you can vacation while working or doing something important with your life, not lazing around somewhere boring the daylights out of myself and those around me. So I prefer to work and relax a little wherever I am , so no special time to take a break . . . funny but that’s just my way of thinking. Not addicted to anything , don’t indulge my self on anything whatsoever. . .
6) Am content with all that the Lord has showered me with, I love content people and loathe greed/selfishness , I love humility, I love my own space, don’t meddle on other peoples lives ,don’t enjoy talking about myself . I used to be over protective of my family (Siblings) most times making me the enemy for not wanting them to experiment with stuff and do whatever it is they want to do, so yeah, am very unpopular in that area in my family, but God has given me wisdom to go about it nowadays. I let everybody be and ,react when am led by the Spirit of God. also I Find it difficult sleeping at night you could say I suffer from acute insomnia while my husband is the complete opposite you could characterize him as a hypersomniac which is quite urggh so frustrating watching him sleep easily while I Pray for sleep to come at night.
7) I love listening to Music a lot I grew up in a family where my parents always played music so it became part of me, I also I love Mystery Movies, crime and history Channels , I watch a lot of the following Mary Higgins Clark movies and thrillers of any kind, also investigative dramas like Perry mason, Diagnosis Murder, Matlock, Agatha Christies Poirot, Miss Marple, Jake and the fat Man, Father Dowling Mysteries ,Barnaby Jones, Get smart, I also enjoy good comedy shows too like the three Stooges, Charlie Chaplin, Maude , ,golden Girls etc am a big conspiracy person so I watch a lot of these things for one, I do not like to call them conspiracies especially when they appear truthful to me especially when there is physical evidence that confirms what’s in the Scriptures
Oh yeah I have seen pastors twist and turn the Word of God to suit their hearts agenda often times, even my father does that too, whenever he wants to do something terrible he looks for a passage in the Bible and twists it to his favor . . . but that is another topic for another day . . . Hopefully not!
Watch for yourself my dear friend . . .
From the message I could gather these few points that I could not comprehend how a man of God could say these things and people applaud at the same time.
Pastor weeks says . . .
"The Bible says the bedroom is undefiled that is why God allows undefiled stuff to take place in the bedroom"
The Problem arises when you say stuff you are supposed to say in the bedroom outside of the bedroom.
All those special words you can’t say no more because you are saved, say them in your bedroom
The bedroom becomes the balance to your salvation
To many "Church Folk" In Church!?
But my Bible reads like this . . . and am taking it from two versions for when I want to read I love to juxtapose the various versions to see if they all have same meaning and most times I see some disparities in translations so I guess the pastor just took one version for the purpose of this message even at that he is not right in what he is saying.
Heb 13:4Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.KJV
Heb 13:4Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.NIV
What part of this verse did the pastor not understand? I believe every true Christian understands the message in that verse, hence no need for my lecture on that subject . . .
Firstly, I would like to ask the pastor and other men/women of God were busy soaking up all this stuff , clapping, cheering him on to continue in that erroneous message, Apart from the obvious.Absurdities that he was busy saying that even a little baby will laugh at such claims. . . I would so like to know which Bible they read and also how on Earth did arrive at that conclusion that the "bedroom balances your Salvation".
Secondly, is the bedroom not part of world we live in? so how do you set your bedroom apart and "defile it" are you saying that there are places where by we can neglect Gods law and places where we cant?
Thirdly, I think, I know and I believe that that whole message was "Mr flesh" Talking and not the Holy Spirit in any way . . . for "the Scripture cannot be broken" if the bedroom is the balance to my salvation what about "Holiness within and without"
Why are Churches dwelling more on the subject of sex instead of Salvation and the Love of God? painfully or funny enough they are not even succeeding with the message since it not based on the Holy Spirit because I could see he was having a hard time getting his message through.
I also wonder If such messages worked in Church how come the incidence of divorce is still very high possibly higher than the olden days to borrow a line from a Nigerian Poet he would refer to the good old days as the days "when Earths Head Stood on it’s neck and hand sprouted but five fingers " I would say where the pure unadulterated gospel is preached and lives would be saved in Christ.. Things have gotten so out of control especially in the Church we claim to know more of God but yet so far from Him,
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[b]7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander,and filthy language from your lips. NIV
While I do agree with Pastor Weeks that God does understand what goes on inside of us that is not to say that we should continue in sin that grace may abound, pastor! we are not to glorify the flesh. Am pretty sure that before he went to the Altar to Preach this message he didn’t study his Bible to make notes and I also wonder the type of Christians that would jump at such a message and believe he is speaking the mind of God to them thank God "I don’t have the patience to listen to such messages in Church once a pastor veers off the message of Christ I switch off and leave"
THINK ON THIS
Romans 6-12
1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
13Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Matthew 6:19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
You Don’t Need King Jesus, You Need M O N E Y!
What Kind of message Is This In Church!?
My husband calls them Men of Goods? I couldn’t agree more. . . it is really sad.
Am Still not back to full time blogging please keep Praying for me In Jesus Mighty Name Amen
IS SEX THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN LIFE THAT CHURCHES NOW SPEND TIME ADVOCATING AND PROMOTING IT?
WHAT IS NEXT FROM THESE PREACHERS?
Watch this too
I cannot even begin to imagine that this goes on in Churches in America AND AROUND THE WORLD! I haven’t been doing much blogging lately or even visiting my fave blogs because am a bit stressed at the moment and am also trying not to sit for long due to pain I have on my pelvic bone but the Lord is Strengthening me in Jesus Mighty Name Amen.
I thought all that was going on in most Churches was the lukewarm messages coming out out of the pulpit. I didn’t know that right there in the Church, “Sex” is now the major subject instead of the message of salvation and repentance from sin.
As if people don’t get enough of that from the media , they still have get that inside the Church too!? Jesus am scared !!!
Little wonder I found this pictures of some Church adverts (flyers) on the Web today . . .
This is just so B A D!!! call me old fashioned I don’t think these types of messages should be what we hear from the Altar . . .
I never knew I would write any article on Todd Bentley, because I deliberately avoided the topic while it was raging all over, even though my husband was very vocal against him and his group then, he is even telling me right now that he is not surprised about this piece of news .
With this recent development in Todd Bentley’s marital life even, there are many questions that Christians need to search for the answers Spiritually and in the scriptures. . . also hold him accountable for the gospel he preached, especially if he is not living it. Enough about the people Preaching something else and doing another, I wonder why some Spirit- filled men and women of God are not on TV? Money . . . I guess
Separation May End Bentley’s Lakeland Appearances
Todd Bentley, the evangelist who has led the Florida Outpouring revival here in Lakeland since April 2, has filed for separation from his wife and might not return to the revival, according to his former local spokesperson, Lynne Breidenbach. She said Bentley made the announcement to his staff this afternoon. Bentley and his wife, Shonnah, have two daughters and a son and are Canadian citizens.
Under Canadian law, separation is a first step in divorce proceedings and takes nine months. Bentley and his wife have been in marriage counseling for several months, Breidenbach said. She called the situation “very sad” but insisted it “doesn’t invalidate what Todd did” at the revival.
Preacher killed wife, stuffed body in freezer, police say
(CNN) — An evangelical preacher killed his wife several years ago and stuffed her body in a freezer after she caught him abusing their daughter, according to police and court documents.
Anthony Hopkins appeared in court Thursday to face murder, rape and incest charges.
Anthony Hopkins, 37, was arrested Monday night at the Inspirational Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Jackson, Alabama, just after he had delivered a sermon to a congregation that included his seven other children, officials said.
He faces charges including murder, rape, sodomy, sexual abuse and incest.
Hopkins was denied bail Thursday when he appeared before Mobile County District Judge George Hardesty. The case is set for arraignment next week, Hardesty’s clerk said.
The case began Monday, when the daughter, now 19, went to the Mobile Police Department’s Child Advocacy Center and reported that she had been sexually abused by Hopkins since she was 11 years old, according to an affidavit filed in support of a search warrant of the preacher’s home in Mobile.
The affidavit related the daughter’s story as follows:
Her mother, Arletha Hopkins, 36, caught her father abusing her in a bathroom in November 2004. Afterward, her parents argued, and her mother locked her father out of the house. The father came to the daughter’s window and asked her to let him in, and she did so.
The next morning, her father asked her to help him hide her mother’s body in the freezer in the laundry room of the home.
The girl said she moved out of the home about two weeks ago and was living with a neighbor. She told police that her mother’s body was still in the freezer.
When authorities went to the home, no one was there, as Hopkins and the other children were at the church. A body was found in the freezer, the affidavit says.
Although police think the body is that of Arletha Hopkins, an identification is not expected until early next week, Mobile Police spokesman Officer Eric Gallichant said Thursday. Watch Nancy Grace’s report »
Mobile Police Chief Phillip Garrett had said that an identification and autopsy results would take a few days: “obviously, the body was in a freezer.”
He said he was not sure of the body’s condition or whether it was intact, as upon seeing the body, authorities immediately sealed the chest-type freezer. The body had been covered in the unit, he said, and the entire appliance was taken to the state Department of Forensic Science.
At the Inspirational Tabernacle Church of God in Christ, Hopkins was preaching at a revival, pastor Beverly Jackson told CNN affiliate WKRG. His message, she said, was about forgiveness and not passing judgment — and at one point, he turned to his seven children and asked them to forgive him his past, present and future.
Police allowed Hopkins to finish his sermon before arresting him, Jackson said. She said she asked police why they were arresting him and was told, “he murdered his wife.”
She said Hopkins had told her his wife died four years ago while giving birth to their youngest son.
Attempts to reach Jackson on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Authorities moved quickly on the daughter’s accusations to make sure the children still in the household were OK, Garrett said. They were placed in the custody of child welfare authorities. The next-oldest child is a 17-year-old female, he said.
All eight were the children of Arletha Hopkins, and Anthony Hopkins fathered six of them, he said.
An investigation has not found any record of Arletha Hopkins’ existence since 2004, according to the affidavit. Asked how long police think the body had been in the freezer, Garrett said, “I’m thinking that she’s probably been there for a number of years.”
He said Anthony Hopkins did not have a regular church but apparently preached in various areas around the South.
“Part of the mystery here is that, apparently, none of these children were in school” but were being home-schooled, Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson said. “Home schooling, under this situation, removes almost any chances of us catching up with these kinds of things until there is a catastrophe.”
Pastor Jerry Porter said he used to preach with Hopkins at his church, the Williams Street Holiness Church, and knew the family.
Arletha Hopkins “was very quiet,” he told Mobile television station and CNN affiliate WPMI. “She was kind of secluded. She’d talk, but not much.”
Anthony Hopkins, he said, made statements that led him to believe all was not well at home. “He always used to tell me … ‘You’re blessed in the fact that you have a wife that supports you and what you’re trying to do for God,’ ” Porter said.
He said Arletha Hopkins disappeared shortly after the couple’s youngest child was born. As rumors swirled, Porter said, he confronted Hopkins and asked whether his wife was dead. Hopkins “wouldn’t give me an answer,” he said.
After that, Porter said, he banned him from the church but remained on good terms with him.
He said he visited the family a few years ago, and their home was clean and well-kept.
“It was the ideal family. I mean, the children were so respectful, just so easygoing,” Porter said. “Didn’t seem to be no stress at all. Never got that impression, never.”
The children, he said, “loved their dad. They were very close to him.”
Of Hopkins’ preaching ability, Porter said, “he was a bulls-eye prophet. If he told you something, you could pretty much bank on it.”
This is very great news to me and the body of Christ, it is good to know that just after my recent post on Divorce in the Christendom, God led me to this News article some minutes ago
By Aaron Leichman Christian Post Reporter Wed, July. 09 2008 02:27 PM EDT In an era where rising divorce rates and marital infidelity are rapidly becoming societal norms, hundreds of couples met together last month to buck the secular trends of the world with a renewed commitment to God and the sanctity of biblical marriage. Worldwide Marriage Encounter (WWME), which is active in over 90 countries and exists to give couples a “weekend experience” to recommit their marriages through “techniques of loving communication” centered on God, held its 40th anniversary convention on June 27-29 at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, Calif. “This is a way for us to reinforce the permanence of our marriage vows and the sanctity of the sacrament of matrimony,” said couples Tony and Cathy Witczak, who attended the group’s anniversary convention, in a statement. The event, which gathered over 2,000 participants from around the world, was called a success by WWME which spoke glowingly of a banner proclamation affirming the commitment to biblical marriage that was signed by thousands of people at the conclusion of its anniversary event. The banner, which included a statement of faith and belief that marriage is an institution existing only between a man and a woman,” featured “Forever Yours” in large print at the top. WWME, which holds events periodically throughout the country, describes its programs as unique and innovative. “It’s not a retreat, marriage clinic, group sensitivity, or a substitute for counseling. It’s a unique approach aimed at revitalizing marriage,” the group says on its Web site. WWME, which continues to fight daily in its struggle to uphold the sanctity of marriage, is a non-profit organization that uses all its proceeds to finance its programs and give struggling married couples new hope in their lives. Copyright 2008 The Christian Post. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
By the Special Grace of God, I hereby submit a short version of my testimony, agree or not it is true, cannot write every thing Down but I must say that Life has taught me things only God knows. . . am not in the habit of talking much about myself and so if there any thing you might want to know about me, Read and feel free to ask me any questions you wish. Godbless.
I would also like you to Read this post A Brief History About This Blog before you continue … that is if you haven’t already. Thanks.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11, 9 History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. 10 What can you point to that is new? How do you know it didn’t already exist long ago? 11 We don’t remember what happened in those former times. And in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.
Revelations 12:11, 11 And they have defeated him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of their testimony.
Introduction
My Birth Name is IJ (meaning safe journey/ journey Mercies), I am Nigerian born to a Christian Home Anglican in the Niger Delta and now I reside in Lagos State, according to the instruction of the Lord, when He (God) said to; me to pack up your bags and go the Lagos and I will meet you there . . . God knows I hated the big city but I had no choice but to obey so, here I am trying to serve Christ any way I can. ” that’s another story for another day, as Lord pleases.” Am also A University graduate and am married to a wonderful man of God whom God gave to me for support and true friendship.
Early Days
My parents got married at the Anglican Cathedral and the wedding was conducted by 6 Reverends and a Bishop. My Mum was very young and also she is a very trusting individual, what ever you say she believes, always seeing the best in everybody so she trusted my dad and married him. little did she know that was going to live to regret her decision later on.
They got married, very soon I was born into the family. mum was a young woman at the time she was over the moon thinking that from here on it was going to be a roller coaster ride for her and us her Children. well that was not to be the case as she was very much hated by my fathers sisters and so began the saga of many years of suffering in the hands of my father and his sisters.. . you see I grew up in so much hatred and wickedness that I taught I was not going to be able to love anyone since all I had was hatred but God turned me into a loving person today, that even when I tried to hate, I find it difficult and end up loving again and given so many second chances to people around me.
As a child I found out my father hated my mother, and her children… his children, especially me since am the first born of the family, so maybe he believed I was the excuse why he should keep staying with a woman he hated so much and she was busy bearing him more children whom he loved to hate.(thank God for my brothers and sister) My childhood experience is so traumatizing that am not sure if it’s something worth sharing but God told me to do so and God is Good all the time. . . Amen.
Growing up I witnessed so many hurtful situations, I will only give account of a few, as early as the age of seven I became my fathers punching bag, I was beaten mercilessly and manhandled in a way fit for a criminal and not someone’s child. My father and his sisters made sure they stole my childhood, they tormented me for years, you might ask, how? let me throw a little light to how I grew up
For good Nine years I was a victim of physical torture almost daily, in other for you to understand my point take a look at this scenario that played out daily for years. My father called me names and beat my mother to pulp almost daily and I was next inline, he could just come back from work and when I run out to go and greet him he would slap me in both my ears at the same time and he does this daily, I would find it difficult hearing after the slap, till date I have trouble with my left ear. another constant scenario was that at night while sleeping he hits and pushes my room door open and gives me a heavy knock on the head to wake me up to ask for his food and it is mostly at midnight cos he was a heavy drinker and smoker. ..(because of the long years of torture even my husband can’t touch me at night I feel someone wants to beat me up ) My father was almost awake 24hrs a day or he sleeps when he leaves the house and goes to his many guest houses with his girlfriends that his sisters and brothers organized for him. whenever he comes back home there is tears and pain because I would be seriously beaten and he would ask us ; what are still doing in my house? and I would say “Papa please forgive us” and let us stay in the house with you, we have no where to go” and he would start stumping on my stomach and chest with his weight and he would beat me with the fan belt of his Mercedes Benz cars and also a mop stick, he always wanted to kill us , he would throttle me as if to choke me, I would be bleeding from my nose and other places and then he would push me against the wall and I would hit my head on the wall and fall down, and also he would kneel me down and ask me to carry a heavy object over my head for hours. when that is not enough he would force me to crawl round the compound and scrape my knees on the granite floor, sometimes he put knife on my immediate Junior Brother’s throat and my junior sister he threw downstairs from the balcony, God saved us we didn’t die or were we disfigured in all these years. this was what played out almost everyday he was drunk and not in any particular order. but mostly it did happen like this. he kept on repeating the punishment , ?(I wondered why he didn’t spank us like most parents did their kids) Instead he fought like he was fighting his match, it was like he was been controlled by forces to do those things to me and my mum… especially when my mum became pregnant he would beat her that she would be bleeding all over the house he did it to her so she would miscarry and God never allowed that to happen. He was also doing all this to make his people happy, because if his people find out my mum is pregnant they would be angry with him. . . some times when my mum gets to the hospital she lies that she was mugged by robbers., Because it was too much , I know wives get beaten once in a while but ours was like daily and very brutal too.
Aside from the beatings he called me names and which I think is worse, cos the beating and the wounds healed over time but the words I remember daily and it pains me that my own father would do what an outsider wouldn’t ever do to me uncountable times, he called me a nobody and a witch, a prostitute and, I was always checked if I was still a virgin he would send any lady available to do that(check) after beating me up even though I didn’t even have a boyfriend let alone have sex, this was what I knew as life. he always told me that his brothers and sisters were the most important thing to him (but today he is singing another tune)
My fathers sisters hated me so much, they taunted me and my mother shamelessly we were all called for meetings and they assigned a particular punishment to us as they deemed fit at the time for any reason they have, what they do is they accuse you falsely and they punish you for it too, they reckoned my mum wasn’t bold enough to leave so they where going to make sure they frustrated her out of her house, you could see the glee in their faces as the spat on us and calls us all kinds of names. This made me draw closer to God daily and in my distress I cried all the time to Jesus and guess what He answered me. They also made sure that I shouldn’t be friends with their Children, my cousins but today God has given me Jesus Christ, (He is all the friend I need that is why I keep to myself till date. . . I found I have peace that way). . . we were always threatened to be banished all the time, by them Because they were living in their small world and mum was from a poor home, so they believed she was not their class, it was in such a time that I was recalled a day when I heard a voice say to me; they are out, they have all gone out, quick take that rope and hang your self on that tree so that all your troubles would be over, and they won’t trouble you any more. As I sat there contemplating whether to get up and do it. I did I heard another voice say to me don’t ! , am your father, I know your father has offended you a lot, I am here to help you I will never leave you nor forsake you I will take care of you, just trust in me, though your father and Mother forsake you I will not forsake I knew from When you were in your mothers womb I have been watching I know what you are going through and I will help you. then I knew that was the voice of God and I didn’t go through with the suicide anymore. . . it was later when I took to studying the word of God that I found that actually the words I heard that day was in the Bible Isaiah 49:14-18, 14 But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. 15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. 16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. 17 Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. 18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.
To laugh is to risk appearing the fool To weep is to risk appearing sentimental To reach out for another is to risk involvement To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk their loss To love is to risk not being loved in return To live is to risk dying To hope is to risk despair To try is to risk failure But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing and is nothing. They may avoid suffering and sorrow, but they cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love, live. Chained by their certitudes, they are a slave, they have forfeited their freedom. Only a person who risks is free. –Leo Bascaglia
Many folks have heard or read this story time and time again but for the sake of those who haven’t already… please do read and be blessed as I was when read it.
Godbless
FOR COUPLES AND INTENDING ONES….
When I got home that night as my wife served dinner, I held her hand and said, I’ve got something to tell you. She sat down and ate quietly. Again I observed the hurt in her eyes.Suddenly I didn’t know how to open my mouth. But I had to let her know what I was thinking. “I want a divorce!” I raised the topic calmly.She didn’t seem to be annoyed by my words, instead she asked me softly, “Why”? I avoided her question. This made her angry. She threw away the chopsticks and shouted at me, you are not a man! That night, we didn’t talk to each other. She was weeping. I knew she wanted to find out what had happened to our marriage. But I could hardly give her a satisfactory answer; she had lost my heart to a lovely girl called Dew. I didn’t love her anymore. I just pitied her!With a deep sense of guilt, I drafted a divorce agreement which stated that she could own our house, our car, and 30% stake of my company.She glanced at it and then tore it into pieces. The woman who had spent ten years of her life with me had become a stranger. I felt sorry for her wasted time, resources and energy but I could not take back what I had said for I loved Dew so dearly. Finally she cried loudly in front of me, which was what I had expected to see. To me her cry was actually a kind of release. The idea of divorce which had obsessed me for several weeks seemed to be firmer and clearer now.The next day, I came back home very late and found her writing something at the table. I didn’t have supper but went straight to sleep and fell asleep very fast because I was tired after an eventful day with Dew.When I woke up, she was still there at the table writing. I just did not care so I turned over and was asleep again.In the morning she presented her divorce conditions: she didn’t want anything from me, but needed a month’s notice before the divorce. She requested that in that one month we both struggle to live as normal a life as possible. Her reasons were simple: our son had his exams in a months time and she didn’t want to disrupt him with our broken marriage.This was agreeable to me. But she had something more, she asked me to recall how I had carried her into out bridal room on our wedding day.She requested that everyday for the month’s duration I carry her out of our bedroom to the front door ever morning. I thought she was going crazy. Just to make our last days together bearable I accepted her odd request.I told Dew about my wife’s divorce conditions. She laughed loudly and thought it was absurd. No matter what tricks she applies, she has to face the divorce, she said scornfully.My wife and I hadn’t had any body contact since my divorce intention was explicitly expressed. So when I carried her out on the first day, we both appeared clumsy. Our son clapped behind us, daddy is holding mummy in his arms. His words brought me a sense of pain. From the bedroom to the sitting room, then to the door, I walked over ten meters with her in my arms. She closed her eyes and said softly; don’t tell our son about the divorce. I nodded, feeling somewhat upset. I put her down outside the door. She went to wait for the bus to work. I drove alone to the office.On the second day, both of us acted much more easily. She leaned on my chest.. I could smell the fragrance of her blouse. I realized that I hadn’t looked at this woman carefully for a long time. I realized she was not young any more. There were fine wrinkles on her face, her hair was greying! Our marriage had taken its toll on her. For a minute I wondered what I had done to her.On the fourth day, when I lifted her up, I felt a sense of intimacy returning. This was the woman who had given ten years of her life to me. On the fifth and sixth day, I realized that our sense of intimacy was growing again. I didn’t tell Dew about this. It became easier to carry her as the month slipped by. Perhaps the everyday work-out made me stronger.She was choosing what to wear one morning. She tried on quite a few dresses but could not find a suitable one. Then she sighed, all my dresses have grown bigger. I suddenly realized that she had grown so thin, that was the reason why I could carry her more easily. Suddenly it hit me, .. she had buried so much pain and bitterness in her heart. Subconsciously I reached out and touched her head.Our son came in at the moment and said, Dad, it’s time to carry mum out. To him, seeing his father carrying his mother out had become an essential part of his life. My wife gestured to our son to come closer and hugged him tightly. I turned my face away because I was afraid I might change my mind at this last minute. I then held her in my arms, walking from the bedroom, through the sitting room, to the hallway. Her hand surrounded my neck softly and naturally. I held her body tightly; it was just like our wedding day. But her much lighter weight made me sad. On the last day, when I held her in my arms I could hardly move a step. Our son had gone to school. I held her tightly and said, I hadn’t noticed that our life lacked intimacy.I drove to office… jumped out of the car swiftly without locking the door. I was afraid any delay would make me change my mind… I walked upstairs. Dew opened the door and I said to her, Sorry, Dew, I do not want the divorce anymore.She looked at me, astonished. Then touched my forehead. Do you have a fever? She said. I moved her hand off my head. Sorry, Dew, I said, I won’t divorce. My marriage life was boring probably because she and I didn’t value the details of our lives, not because we didn’t love each other any more. Now I realized that since I carried her into my home on our wedding day I am supposed to hold her until death do us apart.Dew seemed to suddenly wake up. She gave me a loud slap and then slammed the door and burst into tears. I walked downstairs and drove away.At the floral shop on the way, I ordered a bouquet of flowers for my wife. The salesgirl asked me what to write on the card. I smiled and wrote, I’ll carry you out every morning until death do us apart.The small details of your lives are what really matter in a relationship. It is not the mansion, the car, property, the money inthe bank, blah..blah..blah. These create an environment conducive for happiness but cannot give happiness in themselves. So find time to beyour spouse’s friend and do those little things for each other that build intimacy. Do have a real happy marriage!If you don’t share this, nothing will happen to you, but if you do, you just might save a marriage.
I Appreciate your Prayer Requests,(Thanks to God for all who have been sending already) Keep them coming in Please, I love Praying for you... Lets Trust Jesus Together! HALLELUYAH!!! Thank you Holy Spirit
Funny I said , “High” as if there should be even “low” assault rates in the Christendom!? this has become a terrible trend in in that, almost every other month you hear of notable men of God falling for this same weakness (hitting a woman). It is not the constant increasing rates of divorce, it is now the redesigning of woman’s faces that we are dealing with now, how low can we go!? it is not easy to say who is at fault here but judging by what the Bible says about women being the weaker sex . I think men should be able to restrain themselves even in most extreme cases where the woman just refuses to back down from an argument (for we women can sure argue our point to a fault) some of us will let go of the Holy Spirit and let go of all self restraint and lash out at the man and forgetting that as much as we like to see and believe that men are strong willed and powerful in the home, they also feel pain and are also anxious about their future like women too but too many women do not understand men’s pain for it is different from theirs while a woman is worried about “what type of cloth she is going to wear for an occasion a man is busy thinking of money and work or if he can keep on taking care of the family in the coming years” not that we do not have irresponsible men but we also have irresponsible women too, but in most cases men would be men and women will act like women. . . as we have all seen.
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