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Whiskey Priests, Todd Bentley, the Lakeland Revival and Why “the Wicked” Prosper

By Anita Mathias

The Whiskey Priest is the hero of Graham Greene’s powerful novel, “The Power and the Glory.” The Mexican government in the state of Tabasco outlaws Catholicism. But as this weak, sick, despairing, alcoholic priest with an illegitimate daughter, goes from village to village at the risk of his life, taking communion to those who believe it is indeed the body and blood of Jesus and yearn for it, something happens.   The power and the glory of God insistently breaks out, and the desperate villagers see it.
We saw a modern Whiskey Priest recently in Todd Bentley who worked creative miracles at his crusades attended by several thousands.
The vicars in the church I was then attending, St. Aldate’s, Oxford, Charlie Cleverly, Simon Ponsonby and Gordon Hickson flew to Florida to listen and learn.
They came back all excited. Monkey see, monkey do. The leaders lined up on either side of the aisle, and the congregation ran through it, and each of them blessed and prayed for us. It’s called “a fire tunnel,” and the procedure is called prophetic impartation, or activation.
Well, I went through it too, and it was a powerful experience, as if electricity coursed through me. I was shaking. Was it mere psychosomatic excitation on my part? At the time, I thought not. I have a writer’s temperament, and part of me stands apart and wryly observes things, even in times of great stress, sorrow, anger, or joy. So I noticed, amused and a bit annoyed, that all the wannebe leaders, and ecclesiastical  social climbers joined the leaders to bless, rather than be blessed. Keenly observing, with some amusement and scepticism, the drama and histrionics in progress, I went through the tunnels. Not the right frame of mine for psychosomatic excitation, huh?
Anyway, there was no enduring change in myself as a result of that fire tunnel, which so reminded me of a child’s party game. (And if there was any positive change in the church, it was invisible to the naked eye J.) If however, we had been sincerely blessed and prayed for by several dozen people, we would have been blessed. Perhaps all the drama of the fire tunnels, and its histrionic thaumaturgic potential interfered with simple prayer. (Shut up, Anita; stop being cynical!)
* * *
And meanwhile in Florida (the perfect locale for a revival: the beaches, the sunsets, the Mouse; I remember youngsters going to Pensacola from my church in Williamsburg for the Pensacola Revival, and coming back, short-term on fire, long-term, unchanged), meanwhile in Florida, the Lakeland revival continued.
I heard John Mumford (father of Marcus Mumford and Sons!) say at a St. Aldate’s retreat that a friend of his in New York was healed just watching it on GodTV!
And the young Todd Bentley gradually became wilder, weirder and wackier. He said he saw (or indeed saw?) an angel called Emma who scattered showers of gold dust.  
He brought in so much money that the church who hosted him had him work 7 days a week. At the start of the revival, he sensibly spent his mornings in prayer and Bible study. Later on, he went drinking with the interns, drunk too much, had an affair with his nanny, eventually divorced his wife, married the nanny.
But all through this, through all this, the miracles continued.
                                     * * *
Why should God work like that through a whiskey priest like Todd Bentley?
Well, why shouldn’t he?
What unlocks the power of God in our lives? Firstly, his sovereign decision: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,Romans 9:15. And secondly, our humility and faith.
 And perhaps, in the sight of God, the open sin of Todd Bentley was no worse that the secret sin of other people. We rank sin. Sexual sin is the worst, followed by drugs, and alcohol. Evangelists love catches with glamorous testimonies—drugs, drinking, promiscuity, overdoses, suicide attempts. I once was wild, but now am tame; was cool, but now I’m not. 
But, for all we know, it’s the dreadful churchly sins–the subtle judging and exclusion; the ranking of people by wealth or social status or church status; the gossip, the looking through, the mean little judgements—that makes God cringe more than the golden glories of a passion-driven tumble beneath the sheets, or glorious wine. (Perhaps. David, the repentant adulterer, was known as a man after God’s own heart. Haven’t read many of the Chief Priests and Pharisees Psalms recently.)
And so perhaps a whiskey priest is no worse than the ambitious clergyman who gauges his congregation for what they can do for him, in terms of money or willing labour, or adding lustre to his reputation, and looks through those who have nothing he can use, as through the invisible.
And perhaps the visible sin in Lakeland, Florida, was less displeasing to God than secret, vicious and hypocritical sin in wannabe Lakeland churches. And that’s why God chose to show up in Lakeland.
* * *
Yes, I am convinced that this is why “the wicked” prosper: Because in the eyes of God, they are no more or less wicked, than those who wring their hands at their wickedness. 

In the eyes of God, it’s the heart matters, whether we lust in our heart or limbs, whether we murder with words or weapons (Matthew 5:28-29).
The sin of the wicked is obvious. And obvious sin is more acceptable to God than the petty hidden little sin and hypocrisies of the chosen frozen, the merciless, pitiless, judgemental little “men and women of God.”
Who went home justified before God? Not the pompous small group leader, who fasts and prays and tithes, but the sinner who knew he was a sinner, and beat his breast and prayed, “Lord be merciful to me a sinner.”
And so perhaps Christ, who stands watching in the aisles of the temple, ensures he prospers. We are dealing with God, you know, and he has the most annoyingly egalitarian habits. He makes the sun shine and the rain fall on the good and evil alike, and is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
* * *
Bill Johnson and John Arnott became part of a committee of restoration for Todd Bentley. Bentley apparently had faith, he took God at his word, he worked miracles. He sinned like David did. Why shouldn’t be restored as David was?
Is blowing it the worst thing for a Christian? Nope, not at all.
In fact, it may be just the opposite.
Publicly blowing it will slow down and impede your public ministry, but then you are forced to go underground, to be silent and still with God. And even while all excoriate you for how you blew it, you get strong, and you burrow into the secret places of God, and grow in grace and strength and wisdom. And God may choose to, again, show you visible, undisputable favour. What you touch may turn to gold—whether business ventures, or creative ventures, or ministry. Your prayers might be answered by miracles. The peace and joy which glimmers around you like gold dust may become evident.
We haven’t heard the last of Todd Bentley, I suspect. Stay tuned.

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Comments

  1. Anita Mathias says

    September 16, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    Thanks, PLT. Very interesting. I was, obviously, in church on this occasion, and can testify that not the slightest hint of reservation was voiced from the pulpit. Quite the contrary. As I wrote, they wanted to transfer “the anointing” to the congregation in that “fire tunnel.”

    In fact, within a few months, one of the 3 kings fired another; the PCC circulated a letter of protest against Charlie Cleverly, signed by many lay leaders; many of the best people left St. Aldate's; almost all the pastoral staff and many support staff have left in the following year or two; giving was down, so that there was a staff redundancy programme, in which the less supportive lost their jobs. In many ways, the chaos and pain at St. Aldate's, Oxford mirrored those at Lakeland.

    But, thank goodness, God does work through a seriously flawed cloud of witnesses in Oxford as at Lakeland, or else who could stand?

  2. Paradise Lost In Translation says

    September 15, 2012 at 7:57 pm

    Actually to be fair & accurate, Simon went because he was asked to go as he is wise, weighs things carefully & is a natural sceptic to boot! & they all went to check out what was going on. Simon wrote (& sent to me) a private very detailed document detailing all the reasons he was unhappy & had huge reservations about what was going on. He made exactly your point, however, that God was using Todd,despite Todd, despite everything else, God was responding to people's hunger, not Todd's flaws.

  3. Anita says

    December 28, 2011 at 11:35 pm

    Edward,
    Thanks for visiting and commenting.
    I don't remember if Cleverly, Ponsonby and Hickson actually endorsed Bentley from the pulpit. I think they went to Florida to check him out. But they did feel they had received “an impartation,” and the “fire tunnel” was a way for them to lay hands on every member of the congregation for us to receive a “prophetic impartation,” too.
    Whether some or all received it is, as I said, invisible to the naked eye. I am certainly growing in awareness and practice of the “prophetic.” I did go through another fire tunnel in 2010 in an Aldate's co-sponsored conference led by John Arnott etc. from Toronto. The conference certainly heightened my sensitivity to the Spirit.
    Happy New Year,
    Anita

  4. Red says

    December 23, 2011 at 2:03 pm

    I agree, very thought provoking… I think its difficult to say that peopel can have a short term experience but are unchanged long term, because as mere witnesses we just cannot say what God has done in their hearts, or what seeds have been planted for some future date. So many things can seem one thing but turn out to be something else and we just cannot know the mind of God.
    I agree with the Todd Bentley thing I think that had more to do with how he was 'managed' that anything else – how is working 7 days a week, of God? no Sabbath rest? But I also believe that if God uses someone in a powerful way that the devil will be putting even more pressure on them and even more temptations their way. It stands to reason doesn't it? and in that respect TB was just a victim of temptation. He was used in a mighty way but he was and is still human. None of us are perfect and he just shows us that even when God has his hand on someone in a big way, they are not immune to attacks of temptation etc.
    It is sad that he did give in because it just takes credilibility away from the amazing miracles that did happen there…
    Personally I don't think that we can say one sin is worse than another (other than grieving the Holy Spirit which is biblical) and I am not sure it is even worse if it is hidden, we might think that, there is a certain vulneability to someone who admits or openly sins, but only God can say whether it is worse if is hidden surely?

    I am not on any level with Todd Bentley but I know that God has slowed me down in order to spend more time with him, and it has
    been and is amazing! I truly believe that prayer and time spent with God has to be the foundation of anything that we do in his name. How can we expect to know his will if we dont listen to him? Thats why what happened to Todd is such a shame, it sounds like in the beginning he had it right, spending time in prayer etc, perhaps if that had continued he wouldnt have fallen from grace in that way. Anything that takes our focus from God and his will, we should be wary of…
    Really interesting post, have so many more questions… will ponder some more…

  5. Edward Green says

    December 23, 2011 at 10:21 am

    Very thought provoking.

    I never felt comfortable with Todd Bentley and am not convinced by veracity of the spiritual phenomena or miracles that took place.

    For me the greatest 'sin' of the revival was, much like the Toronto blessing (which I had many ecstatic experiences within), mistaking emotional response and (mass) hysteria for the work of the Holy Spirit.

    Not that I am opposed to such experiences as part of faith, just the way they can be packaged and interpreted.

    The other sin was the placing of one man (or woman) on such a pedestal that they could fall so far.

    Todd's personal failings are minor in comparison to these wider structural sins.

    I had no idea that such prominent Anglicans had embraced the movement. In doing so do they invalidate and call into question their own ministry?

    But the comparison with the Whiskey Priest is fascinating. Because the difference there is that the Bread and Wine do become Christ's Body and Blood – an assured miracle that goes beyond any emotional experience. It strikes me that aspects of Christianity constantly yearn for assured miracles whilst ignoring one that the church believed in from the earliest days.

    And whilst the Whiskey Priest was no saint, for catholic Christians we wait for people to die before we recognise their sainthood and through the Spirit seek to join our prayers with theirs. Here when the prayers of earth and heaven are in harmony remarkable miracles do indeed occur.

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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