A well known leader was shot down in Lakeland, Florida.  Not physically shot but in a way that has brought bitterness in the minds of some individuals, and raised doubt to some of what the Lord has awesomely done in the last few months. 

In the midst of a great outpouring of God’s mercy and grace; in the midst of personal renewal for hundreds, and personal salvation for many more; in the midst of supernatural healing accounts being medically documented and reported, the man who had the heart and courage to initiate the event with great trust in God, was shot down by the enemy of mankind to bring an end to an international move of God.

That man is Todd Bentley, who is alive, but far from well.  And, those of us who love and care for him as a brother in Christ have rushed the ambulances of prayer to him and his family.  I do not know him personally but know of his work and his dedication to Jesus Christ.  I have heard him preach and teach and have been touched by his enthusiasm and loyalty to Jesus, as the Lord confirmed His word with signs following, at my home church. (Mark 16:20) 

I do not know what he has done, nor do I care.  But, for the Grace of God it could be any one of us.  What ever it is I can forgive and pray for his restoration (John 20:23) as I know God has forgiven me; God is no respecter of person.

As for myself and anyone else who call themselves ‘Christian’, and are not overcome by ‘self-righteousness’; we do not follow men, but rather follow Jesus and love the men and women who preach about Him.  And, we don’t shoot our wounded.

When this meeting started and flourished into an international move of God with people watching all over world by television and computer; with people being saved and healed hundreds and thousands of miles from Lakeland, this became an international event. 

Someone very close to me said, “Watch and pray because the devil or his demons (the devil can’t be everywhere) will be at this revival just waiting for an opportunity to malign the integrity or attack the leaders.  I am sad and grieved that the person was right.

I am so vulnerable when I am tired.  I get cross at times, I want to ‘eat’ the wrong things, I sometimes do and say things I wish later I hadn’t done.  I have to be answerable to my actions.  Can you imagine pouring out everything in you for over one hundred days?  Can you imagine hundreds of people looking to you to bring the Spirit of God into their lives because of the power they have witnessed, for days and weeks on end.  Is that the reason Todd had a problem?  Could be.  May be the reason, but there is no excuse….Todd must be accountable. 

Of course the power of God is from God….duh….however, it comes through men and women who have given themselves to hours of fasting, prayer, study and intimacy in personal relationship.  In this case, Todd Bentley.  But, Todd isn’t Jesus, he is just a man and a prime target for the devil.  Is Todd responsible?  Of course!  But how naive to think an evil spirit did not move with power and influence to wound this man of God, trying to take others down with him, when he was tired and his defenses were down.

Jesus said, “The thief comes to kill, rob and destroy.” (John 10:10) What part of that do we not understand?  And since Abraham, Moses, David, and Peter (to mention a few) all committed crimes against the Goodness of God–why are we surprised about men such as Todd?  Some of us are grieving that we did not pray more for him and the ministry, asking God for supernatural protection and Angelic warfare on his behalf. 

In our defense I think we look at our leaders and assume because they are leaders, they don’t need our prayer.  WOW!  That is so wrong….they need it even more.

The Bible calls the devil a tempter, prince of the power of the air, ruler of this world, father of lies, murderer from the beginning, the destroyer, accuser of the brethren.  That covers it pretty well!   (Matt 4:1,3; Eph 2:2; John 8:44, 10:10, 12:31, 14:30; I Cor 10:10; Ex 12:23; 2 Cor 2:10; 4:4, 11:13) 

Are any of us safe then?  Of course, with prayer and faith, we are safe in Jesus.  Jesus said,  “I give you power over the enemy, nothing by any means will harm you…..”; “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (the world system).”  And, greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.  Will Todd be alright?  I feel sure he will. (Luke 10:19; John 16:33; I John 4:4)

But will he ever live down this ‘fall’?  Will the Christian community remember all the many years of service to God or the one failure?  Will the Christian community use Todd to undermine the work of God that has been done? 

Woe onto those who sit in judgment because Jesus said, “As you judge you will be judged.”  For years I thought that meant if you judged others and then did the same thing you would be judged accordingly.  Ah, NO, if you ‘judge’ (where you are not called to judge as a magistrate, teacher, parent, etc.) you will receive judgement for your judgment. (Matt 7:1)  What a sobering thought that is! 

Last night on the 60 Minutes TV show they has a segment on the hundreds of women being ‘raped’ by war-lords as a sign of power, and control.  And we have hundreds of people sending emails, and u-tube messages about Todd Bentley.  What’s wrong with this picture? 

Hundreds have joined ‘the accuser of the brethen’ on the side of ‘right’ and to protect others from deception. Oh, get real, when asked, the Holy Spirit will do a good job of that.  Wherein is the greater sin?  A corporate move attributing the move of God to the devil because of one man’s weak point adding to the destruction–or the individual sin itself?  My Bible notes tell me giving credit to the devil for the things of God is Apostasy.

We need to be outraged at the devil in his evil and praying and working for redemption of the fallen, and safety for the abused and wounded in Africa–all over the world–in our own back yard for that matter.  

It seems to me that most of the church ignores the devil.  How convenient for him.  The world talks about the devil but has no power over him.  The church has the power–those who know, I mean really know, who they are in Christ Jesus–to resist him, to wrestle against the powers of darkness together for the victory Jesus died to give us!  (James 4:7; Eph 6:10-19)

Thank God, His book, the Bible says, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” and “The goodness of God brings men to repentance.”   So let’s apply the mercy of God to the fallen, and take up the sword of the Spirit against evil.  In and for the Name of Jesus!  (James 2:13; Rom 2:4)  Amen!!!  As one of our hero’s said, “Let’s roll!”