The origin of faith healer Todd Bentley's ministry

Todd Bentley, leader of a revival in Lakeland, Fla., has been called many things, including a fraud and a false teacher. But he claims that thousands of people have been healed and dozens been raised from the dead through his ministry.

How did his ministry begin? An article in Baptist Press says that it started when God spoke to Bentley:

He was saved only when God spoke audibly to him in his drug dealer's trailer and told him that was his last chance to make a decision for Christ, Bentley said.

He invited listeners to be saved and told them that Jesus could forgive all their sins and make then a new creation.

Bentley was called to ministry, he said, in 1998 when a 'glory liquid honey cloud' came through the kitchen of his apartment and into the living room. It rested over his head, and the 'manifest tangible presence of God' did not leave his life for three months. During that time Bentley was 'slain in the Spirit' from four to 12 hours per day and saw many visions, he said.

After the three months were complete, Bentley said Jesus appeared to him on Mother's Day and told him he would never return to secular work again.

'[Jesus] said, 'I have a ministry for you, and it begins today, Mothers Day 1998.' He said, 'You will go all over the world, and you're going to bring a healing revival,'' Bentley said.

Bentley plans next to take his revival meetings overseas; his last day at Lakeland is Aug. 23.

A mailman on a lawnmowing mission

Eric Wills, a mailman in St. Petersburg, Fla., does more than deliver the mail. He also mows the lawns of seniors, single moms and others in need on his route -- for free. Tampa Bay's 10 had the story on how Wills' ministry started:

This mowing mission started about three years ago when on his mail route Eric tromped across a yard gone wild. 'I was kind of walking through the yard complaining saying, 'I wish this guy would cut his grass,' and right then I believe God spoke to me and said, 'Why don't you cut his grass?', so I did,' Eric explains.

For his work, Reader's Digest named him one of "America's Best."

From a FEMA trailer to a new house

Greg Bradford, president of Merced, Calif.-based Envision Homes, took a team of his to look over the damage from the recent California wildfires. According to the North County Times, God spoke to Bradford while he was there:

'I took a team down to evaluate what happened (after the fires) and looked at all the devastation, and it touched me,' Bradford said. 'God spoke to me and said, 'Build a house for a family that has no insurance.''

Bradford put together a committee to review applications from fire victims. The committee ended up selecting John Oleson's family of nine, who have been living in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers since their house burned down.

Following God. . .to leave college?

Ilsa Paulson was attending Northern Arizona University, and was training for that school's cross country and track teams. She experienced setbacks through injuries, illness and stress when God told her to leave the university to follow her dream.

The Sherwood Gazette ran an article on her July 10:

'God spoke to me and said ‘What are you doing here?’' she recalled. 'After Bible study, I realized I have to do something now.'

Paulson decided to leave Northern Arizona University to pursue her dream of being a professional distance runner. She has since worked with a coach, run marathons, and is training for the 2012 Olympic marathon.

The waiting is the hardest part

In the words of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, "The waiting is the hardest part." So true.

Stephanie Voiland reflects on always being a bridesmaid and waiting for the right man in the July/August 2008 edition of Today's Christian Woman. In the article Voiland also writes about a friend, Tiffanie, who completed graduate school but could not find a job for months:

Throughout those agonizing months, God showed up in ways more profound than a job offer. She was looking for a way to support herself; God taught her a new level of dependence on him. She was desperately waiting for a potential employer's phone call; instead, God spoke into her soul's quiet places. She was searching for a genie-god to provide instantly for her needs; God blew her away by revealing he's much better and bigger than she'd ever dreamed.

It's a good reminder that God has his own timetable. Our job is to see where God is meeting us in the waiting journey.

Making room for church expansion

Pastor Patrick Maxwell of Victory Christian Center in Union County, Fla., has a good problem: his church is growing so much that he needed to find room to expand. His church currently meets in Lake Butler Elementary School. In a Bradford County Telegraph article, Maxwell relates how he found a new location:

Every church service, he would ride right past an old building with the weeds and grass grown up around it because it had sat vacant for a number of years. He never gave it much thought.

'One day, on my way to the elementary school for church, I happened to look over and God spoke to me and told me that place right across the street from the school was a great place for a church building. I just needed to open my eyes and see it,' Maxwell said.

Victory Christian Center currently has 160 members, and 50 percent of them are under the age of 18.

A cowboy's crusade

For the past five summers, cowboy Mick Thompson has made his way from the West Coast to the East Coast on horseback. Why? According to Capital News 9 in New York: ". . .to get God and Jesus' name being used in vain out of movies and off of TV."

Thompson said that it wasn't always that clear. Initially he just knew that the Lord wanted him to get on his horse and ride. In the hills of Colorado, God spoke to him and clearly gave him his mission. Thompson has since become known as the "Cross Country Cowboy".

What would Jesus read?

The Star Tribune ran an interesting article over the weekend called "What would Jesus read?" In the article, Jeff Strickler writes about the explosive growth in sales of religious books and provides a guide to what's hot at religious bookstores.

On the list:

• "The Shack" by William P. Young
• "Dead Heat" by Joel C. Rosenberg
• "The Door Within" trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson
• "DragonSpell" by Donita K. Paul
• "Quiet Strength" by Tony Dungy
• "Finding the Monk Within" by Edward C. Sellner
• "Thin Places" by Mary Treacy O'Keefe
• "How to Raise a Jewish Dog" by Ellis Weiner
• "unChristian" by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
• "The Reason for God" by Timothy Keller
• "The Faith" by Charles Colson
• "Take the Risk" by Ben Carson
• "Love and Respect" by Emerson Eggerichs
• "Do Hard Things" by Alex and Brett Harris
• "Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light"
• "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper

We are the ones being tested

On p. 143 of "The Bondage Breaker", Neil T. Anderson relates a story that demonstrates the reality of deceiving spirits:

When I was a pastor, some of the members of my church unwittingly yielded to the temptation to put God to the test. I had a dear friend who was dying of cancer. But word spread around the church that four independent 'witnesses' all testified that Dick wasn't going to die because God had told them so. Several exclaimed, 'Isn't it wonderful that God is going to heal Dick!' Three weeks later Dick was dead.

If God was the One who told these four people that Dick wasn't going to die, then what does that make God? A liar. But is God a liar? Of course not; He's the truth. The originator of this 'good news' was obviously the father of lies. Deceiving spirits had circulated a lie about Dick in an attempt to create a false hope and destory the congregation's confidence in God.

God is under no obligation to us; He is under obligation only to Himself. There is no way you can cleverly word a prayer so that God must respond to it. That not only distorts the meaning of prayer but puts us in the position of manipulating God. The righteous shall live by faith in the written Word of God and not demand that God prove Himself in response to our whims or wishes, no matter how noble they may be. We are the ones being tested, not God.

31 years of missionary service

Jerry and Vicky Love, career missionaries in Mexico, recently were recognized for their service. The Loves were called to missionary work as teenagers:

'During high school I began earnestly seeking God's will for my life,' Jerry says. 'One evening God spoke specifically and personally to me about obeying what I already knew to be his will. I repented in tears, rededicated my life to him, and shortly thereafter his call became crystal clear.'

Vicky recalls, 'Shortly after my conversion at age 16 while living in Alaska, I began sensing a possible call of God on my life. After a year of investigating why local ministers had come North, I attended a citywide revival and signed a decision card pledging my own life to go south for full-time Christian service in Mexico or Central America.'

What type of call has God placed on your life? You will know it because it will feel right in your heart.