PTM WEEKLY UPDATE -- JUNE 30, 2008

Fresh face, fresh fire -- but same old scam?
Todd Bentley inspires passion and skepticism from Lakeland, Florida

(EP News) -- Canadian Todd Bentley doesn't look much like a minister. The 32-year-old has body piercings and tattoos on his arms and neck, and he often dresses in black.

But a minister of the Gospel he is, or claims to be -- and the difference between what he is and claims to be has become the real story of a series of meetings Bentley is holding in Lakeland, Florida.

Bentley’s British Columbia-based Fresh Fire Ministries arrived in Lakeland on April 2 for five days of revival meetings at a local church. These services would be broadcast on God TV, a satellite network with a worldwide viewership.

The services were different in another way, Bentley claims: God showed up in a powerful way. A New York public relations firm was quickly hired to send out press releases claiming “documented healings,” and God TV relentlessly plugged their broadcasts of the services. As many as 10,000 people a night are coming to the services, now being held in a huge air-conditioned tent. Bentley claims hundreds of people have been healed from everything from deafness to infertility -- though he did admit that in the latter case we wouldn't know for sure until the women actually got pregnant. As for the other cases, EP News has made repeated requests for documentation of healings, but so far claims of "privacy issues" have been the only response.

Michael Horton, whose book The Agony of Deceit, documents fraud among televangelists, says the inability to produce documentation for healings is typical. "This is the prevarication I encountered repeatedly," Horton said. He characterized Bentley's methods as a "scam."

A visit to one of Bentley's services suggests that he was learning how to turn the big crowds into big money. ATM machines had been set up, providing attendees with ready cash for the offering plate and book purchases.

A visit by EP News to one of Bentley's services suggests that he was learning how to turn the big crowds into big money. ATM machines had been set up, providing attendees with ready cash for the offering plate and book purchases. The tent itself both expanded the meetings' capacity and relieved the group of the $15,000 a day rent it was paying at the local convention center. The offering is now a significant part of the service, taking as long as 30 minutes. Bentley has not released financial information, saying he was currently "too busy keeping up with what God is doing" to pull the information together. On the night EP News attended, Bentley said God had told him that 1000 people would give $1000 that night -- either from the live audience or from the TV audience.

More than 150,000 people have attended the meetings, and at least 1.2-million more (according to God TV estimates) have watched on television. Even accepting Fresh Fire's estimate of an average donation of $3 to $5 per person, it's easy to see how donations could end up in the millions. Perhaps the greatest miracle of the revival so far has been a miracle of timing: Bentley’s newly published autobiography and God TV founder Wendy Alec's new books were both hot off the presses in time for the services.

Christian critics wonder if Bentley's theology can be reconciled with Scripture. Horton said, "I have not yet encountered a 'faith healer' who failed to preach a different gospel than the one that we find clearly presented in the New Testament." Even those sympathetic to charismatic and Pentecostal theology are apprehensive. Mark Balmer, the pastor of the 8000-person Calvary Church in nearby Melbourne, Florida, got so many questions about Bentley that he spoke out. He told EP News he believes "in all the gifts for today, including healing." He also asserted: "We are not heresy hunters." But he nonetheless told his congregation "not to attend any of this counterfeit revival."

Even Charisma magazine, normally a cheerleader for Pentecostal preachers and events, has been guarded. Editor Lee Grady told EP News: "Charismatic and Pentecostal leaders are divided over its legitimacy." Grady said a "council of national-level leaders" convened by Dr. C. Peter Wagner will address these concerns in a meeting later this summer.

Till then, though, crowds remain strong, and Bentley said he got a "word from God" to keep the services -- and the book sales -- going through at least the end of June.

Smelling a scam How can you tell if a ministry's claims are too good to be true? • Ask for basic financial information. An inability or unwillingness to make such disclosures should be a warning sign. • Is there an emphasis on money? Passing the plate is one thing. Passing it multiple times in a service, or dwelling on money issues, should raise questions. • Ask for proof of claims of healing. Even Thomas wanted to see Jesus' scars. Reputable ministries are not defensive when asked for proof of their claims. They don't make claims they can't prove. • Seek wise counsel. Before following the latest Christian celebrity preacher, check with your pastor or others you trust. SOURCES: MinistryWatch.com, Calvary Church Melbourne

EP News Service
By Rusty Leonard and Warren Cole Smith -- Mike Kuckel also contributed to this story.
This article may not be re-published without the written consent of the Evangelical Press News Service.

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