I would love to say things are getting better. I would love to report that we are on our way Back to a nation who both loves and fears the Lord! I wish I could tell you that all of God’s appointed are repenting of their negligence and apathy and are on fire again for the true word of God! I wish I could tell you that there are no false teachers out there seeking to destroy your Christian faith. As you might be able to conclude that is not this message…However, this message will speed you up to the deceptions taking place right now in our country and sadly around the world. I will be giving you some key scriptures that will help you to contend for the faith and ‘defend’ the position that these ‘manifestations’ are not of the Lord and are in fact demonic and very damaging. Follow along with me as I take you first to the scriptures, then to introduce you to some infamous names and places…questions and comments are welcomed, as well as accountability and correction.
Some Scriptures I have used to understand the difference between falsehoods and truth:
Galatians 1:6-9 (6) I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 (1) Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ[a] had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Matthew 24:23-27 (23) “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Mark 13:21-23 (21) “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.
Ephesians 2:2 (2)in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (13) For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 (3) But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity[a] that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
Satan’s Character:
Isaiah 14:12-15 12 “ How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘ I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.
Daniel 11:36-39 36 “Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. 37 He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all. 38 But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. 39 Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge, and advance its glory; and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.
Daniel 5:23 (23) And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. –this was in regards to the son of Belshazzar, if you look back to Isaiah 14 the same character type is portrayed here.
Ephesians 6:11-12 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (example of the powers of the air)
The above scriptures I have used to help me in discerning some of the claims by false prophets. For the sake of room I will let the word speak for itself…not to say there aren’t even more scriptures to utilize!
Now then for the False Anointing and Teacher; Todd Bentley
Now that I have equipped you with some scriptural background I will explain why I have discerned this anointing of Todd Bentley to be false. I will give the full ‘personal experience’ I have had in coming to this conclusion.
A few months ago a friend of mine who will remain nameless approached me and told me that she had heard of a story on CBN that a ’sign or wonder’ had been reported in Puerto Rico, US. Apparently a small church had’ experienced’ a ‘miracle;’ oil had begun to drip from the ceiling and from the Pastor’s Bible stand. Soon after the congregation began to pray and as they were praying ‘jewels’ began to fall on them. These ‘jewels’ began appearing in frequency and the pastor laid down black velvet cloth and showed the camera the ‘angel footprints’ of the ‘Jewel Angel.’ I immediately attributed this MANIFESTATION as a ‘false sign and wonder’ as I knew that there was no precedent of this in the bible. I also will refer you back to the scriptures I quoted above. I blogged it, it may be found here on this site, and thought little of it. No one else had mentioned anything similar to me so I did not tell my immediate circle of friends. A few months later while meeting with some discernment ministry women I was recalling the story to them when one woman explained she had written a story about the same sort of ‘angel’ back in 2006, however this angel was then in Idaho, US. I researched it and found the article. Again I was intrigued but still no one in my immediate circle had heard of such thing and was not reporting it to me. A month later after that meeting I began to get e-mails regarding: Todd Bentley and his ‘false anointing.’ It wasn’t until after the third e-mail I received when I read that he (Todd Bentley) had “seen” and “spoken with” the “angel Emma” did I realize the significant impact all these stories were having! I began to see that a pattern was developing of both ’sightings’ and ’signs and wonders.’ Again, after my own personal investigation and reading numerous discernment ministry websites I found that the demonic power behind Todd Bentley was not something to handle lightly. I found myself praying and even ’scared’ to tell my friends about this ‘thing’ because I didn’t know if they would be able to handle it and I also continued to have hope that no one I knew would even believe such lies from Todd Bentley. I continued in silence until it hit home. Through communication with a family member who will remain nameless, I discovered that she had become a ‘fan’ of Todd Bentley. I know this person to be a God Fearing, Jesus Loving, Saved and Born Again Believer! (I want to stress this point because we should never for one second believe ‘we’ cannot be deceived.) Through some communication I urged my sweet relative to search the scripture for explanation of Todd Bentley’s methods and test what he says with what the Lord has already revealed to us in His word. (I haven’t heard back from her since then) After that I realized that God had entrusted a very special gift to me, that of discernment, and when it needed to be utilized I restrained myself (I fleshed out) and with held for no other reason than fear of rejection. I thus had failed my Lord and now I am stepping out in Faith to reveal this False Teaching for what it is. I have sought forgiveness from My Abba Father, and also asked for an increase in Faith. I believe the persecution of the Saints has started. You can read about various attacks on our Christian faith in the daily news (WND is a good source and OneNewsNow) and yet the bible has already predicted these things would happen. I admit, I was afraid. I am now sorry and trying and praying with all confidence that God will have is way now and use me to share with you that these things are so. You may not agree with what is presented here, but I have done this article with foresight. I have laid out for you HIS word, my ‘experience,’ and documentation done by tested and tried discerner’s and defenders of the faith. In all earnestness I pray you will seek the Lord in this matter, through prayer and supplication, and through His word that you would be blameless and spotless. We are to be set apart, and if you have found yourself ‘deceived’ know that our Lord God of Heaven can restore you and comfort you, you are His. The following articles are related to exposing Todd Bentley for what he is, some are also on ‘Emma.’
Some Sites that offer clear scriptural reasons for Todd Bentley’s heresy/Information on Emma/and other information on this topic
Footprints of a Prophet or tracks of a Wolf? by Jan Markell
For website copy and paste: http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/3636/By_Jan_Markell
Let us Reason Ministries Alert on Lakeland
For website copy and paste: http://www.moriel.org/articles/discernment/church_issues/let_us_reason_alert_lakeland.htm
Todd Bentley’s Diabolical Signs by Jackie Alnor Apostasy Alert
For website copy and paste: http://www.apostasyalert.org/REFLECTIONS/bentley.htm
The Angel Emma by Dave Hunt The Berean Call
For website copy and paste: http://www.thebereancall.org/node/6794
Directly from the website “Fresh Fire Ministries” Todd Bentley’s Homepage; Angelic Hosts by Todd Bentley. For website copy and paste: http://www.etpv.org/2003/angho.html
A Review Of Gary S Greig’s Pseudo-Scholarly Apologetic For The Unbiblical Antics Of Todd Bentley And The Lakeland, Florida Sequel To The Failed Revivals Of Kansas City, Toronto, And Pensacola; By Jacob Prash Moriel Ministries
For Website copy and paste: http://www.moriel.org/articles/discernment/church_issues/review_of_gary_greigs_apologetic.htm
More information on ‘Emma’ **Editors Note: Please be very careful in reading or watching too much on this DEMON. Use discernment before opening this site. If you are sensitive to reading what you have read thus far consider how much research you need to do. By knowing the truth you will discern the false. On this site there is a lot of information as well on Todd Bentley’s tattoos and what they mean.
For Website copy and paste: http://www.scribd.com/full/2909690?access_key=key-1kemdjn0fcv3×06fjfh2
A False Healing Revival in Florida by Andrew Strom
For Website copy and paste: http://www.revivalschool.com/florida.html
**This website has many links with even more information on Todd Bentley.
Todd Bentley, Do we have anything to worry about? by Living in the Way blog
For Website copy and paste: http://blog.thewaycf.com/2008/05/todd-bentley-do-we-have-anything-to.html
Angels or Demons? Todd Bentley and the Beautiful Side of Evil by Berit Kjos
For Website copy and Paste: http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/08/bentley.htm
In Closing
I would like to leave you the reader with a word of encouragement. If you are a saved person, having accepted the full Gospel of Jesus Christ, knowing Him and accepting Him as your Lord and Savior then you will also understand that the things mentioned in this post are presented her for the edification and reproof of every Christian. One, we should be diligent and alert, knowing that the enemy is roaming about the earth seeking whom he can devour, two, that although these things may seem outrageous to us; if we are not diligent in studying the word of God and being fully adorned with the full amour of God we too can find ourselves being deceived. It is for this reason that I implore you! I beg you out of a love that lacks the ability to communicate it fully here in these lines that you Test the Spirits and that you guard yourself against the wiles of the Devil. I pray that all my friends and family will be with me in Heaven worshiping our Lord Jesus Christ! Our Lord has promised us to deliver us…we must hold on to all the promises of our Lord and Father. Trust in the Holy Spirit, use the Word to filter out untruths, and stand steadfast. Do not give up this fight and do not stop praying for those who may have stumbled along the way.
Isn’t discerning all of this one of the practical problems of Sola Scriptura?
The Problem is that people aren’t using Sola Scriptura. Nice try. Let’s not try to push off one’s over education in ‘theology’ to undermine the simplicity of God’s word. More belief and faith, less verbiage would suffice us all on this blog.
[...] August 28, 2008 by mijadedios Fresh Fire Ministries. Todd Bentley. Unholy Gospel of Fresh Fire Ministries. [...]
It isn’t a “try”. I honestly don’t see how one can be confident of their reading over another who is equally confident. Sola scriptura has lead to this since when it first started getting used – in the 1500s.
simple sinner, why do you bother. I’m not Catholic, I don’t agree with your theology and your comments are an atempt to cause strife here. I don’t go to your blog and blow it up with random comments to stir your readers. Would you like me to? Even if you did I don’t have time for that childish and divisive behavior. I will answer your last question and then your further comments will be deleted.
“I honestly don’t see how one can be confident of their reading over another who is equally confident.”–simple sinner
Answer: The Holy Spirit teaches, the Word of God is “2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your savior (the only mediator between God and man–not Mary or saints) and then been filled with the Holy Spirit, you would not be able to discern God’s Holy Word. Many people in churches do not know the word of God because they DO NOT read it. They only trust in others interpretation. Then because of that they can be easily deceived and give head to doctrines of demons because they have not been checking the word for what the Holy Spirit revealed in the Word. I’m not a theologian, I don’t have the Educated answers you are looking for to debate. For this reason again I say you are coming to the wrong place for a debate. I believe in the whole word of God. I will always take the Whole Word of God over what any man says. If he is a Godly man and has been given the gift to understand and teach the word of God, then his explanation of the word will match when I go and read it and check to see if the teacher was right. It’s really that simple for me. Maybe you need to go back to the beginning. Genesis 1:1
By all means, come to The Black Cordelias and put your 2¢ into the pot. I thought that is what blogging and comboxes was about. I didn’t realize we had to agree to talk about something.
If you want to only preach to the choir, consider closing the comboxes or noting that only comments that agree with your sentiments are welcome.
You are always welcome to stop in over at TBC – we like the company!