A look at the distance between the sublime and the ridiculous in Charismania.

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You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. -- Galatians 5: 7-9 (ESV)

As the end times grows darker and deeper it is more important than ever that true Christians draw a line in the sand and say no more. No more dancing with the doctrines of devils. No more looking the other way when false teaching is running rampant. No more coddling wolves that tear the sheep of the Lord apart. Yes some churches will go out of business. Of course they should not have been "in business" to begin with. The compromising of the Gospel starts with good intent. Just want to draw a few more people into the house of God, right? Just want them to feel comfortable, right? Just want the church to seem relevant to where they are at because we are all on different journeys, right?

Wrong. Dead wrong. We are all on the same journey and the inevitable destination is hell. The only one that can save us from this broad path is our Savior Jesus Christ through His preached Gospel. While many know this and believe it in their heart they allow leaven into the church. The key verse comes from the end of the Book of Galatians. The Church at Galatia had allowed an insidious false teaching to enter their church. The group known as the Judaizers had convinced the Galatians that you had to adhere to circumcision in addition to saving faith in Christ. Paul spends the majority of the letter rebuking them and calling them foolish. He says that if they insist on adding to the Gospel they actually sever Christ from them and render Him useless in their lives! Our key verses show his exasperation. You were running so well. Who led you away from the truth because that persuasion sure didn't come from God. Do you not realize that a little leaven will leaven the whole lump?

The false teaching is the leaven in this analogy. False teaching spreads like a cancer and it claims lives as one as well. It does not start however in the extreme because it would be more easily noticed. Holy laughter did not grow out of a hole in the ground. It slowly and methodically entered the church and because it was not excised out immediately it festered and grew. We see the same thing today in modern Charismania. We have a sliding scale of stupidity when it comes to false prophets and teachers but they serve to prop each other up, share underserved credibility and at all cost -- defend the brand. Allow me to present this week's teaching on the absurd side of the scale -- Todd Bentley. Todd was a former biker turned false evangelist who rose to popularity in 2008 during the "Lakeland Revival." He was packing 15,000 per night into tent meetings where he would amaze the crowd by punching and kicking people to "impart" healing and claiming he was directed to do by the Holy Spirit. He was making so much money the NAR decided to try and cash in by anointing him a "prophet." Shortly thereafter he fell in disgrace for having an affair with his secretary.

He is back though beloved; this time in Texas. His "restoration" to ministry was overseen by familiar false prophets and teachers. He recently made a claim that someone DOA at a local hospital came back to life when his show was placed on the TV in the dead man's room. The hospital of course has no such record of this instance but the Charismatics went wild! This past week he is at it again. Here is his testimony of what happened:

"I'm in my hotel and in my bathroom and it's the middle of the night. And I open my hotel room and turn the light on, and there's a man in there, in my bathroom. And I looked at this man, he didn't have his shirt on, so I thought he must've got into the wrong hotel room. First thought. You know 'you're in the wrong room bro.' ... And then realized he was wearing funny like, white yoga pants, like really tight, white ballet-type pants and like Aladdin golden slippers. And I looked down at him and thought 'wow, this isn't a man. This is an angel, you know this is where you may be entertaining strangers but you're entertaining angels Hebrews 13:5. Literally this is like Abraham thought three men came to his tent and it turned out to be the Lord and two angels but he thought it was three men. He like told his wife to go get the fattened calf and you know Genesis 18, he said three men are coming to have dinner with me, they were actually angels. That was what happened to me, and so this angel then turned around and I saw like out of the angel's back, wings and feathers like an eagle. And the angel then, the man ... spread his wings and out came four wings. And I looked and inside his wings, feathers -- whatever you want to call it -- were gemstones of every kind, precious gemstones."

Bentley then claims the angel spoke to him saying: "'I'm like a cherubim and I work in the realms of glory.' 'I'm here to release the glory that will bring a favor that will release supernatural resources for the purpose of kingdom. And I am a financial angel from the highest realms of glory working with Heaven's economy." -- Todd Bentley

Not coincidentally, this waking visitation was shared by Todd during something called a "Supernatural Debt Forgiveness Jubilee Service. Beloved, I pray I do not need to do that much discernment on this hot mess. There are no such things as financial angels beloved. There are no such beings working in heaven's economy and for some reason dressed like a male stripper. It is true that the bible says that we may entertain angels without realizing it, even though it is not Hebrews 13:5. What it does not say is we may entertain angels who look like Chippendale's dancers who secretly are bankers in heaven. The supernatural resources we have; we already know about. They are prayer, faith, and forgiveness. That isn't what Mr. Bentley is speaking about -- he is speaking about cash because that is obviously what this is a shill for. There is no "supernatural debt forgiveness" or "supernatural wealth transfer" or any other idiotic, carnal schemes of man dressed up to sound vaguely biblical and pious.

Todd Bentley should be low hanging fruit beloved. He should be dismissed out of hand as a charlatan and the huckster the Bible warns us about. The Holy Spirit never told him to kick anyone to impart their healing. Fabio did not show up in his hotel room to lead him to the treasure room in heaven. We need to label what is absurd as absurd. We do this to protect ourselves, those weaker in the faith and those on the outside. The world can easily discern that Bentley is a menace and a con artist. He is banned from entering serval countries! How do we get to Todd Bentley even having a platform, let alone a church? How is it that he was able to sucker 15,000 people per night? It is because others on the sliding scale endorsed him and gave him legitimacy. A little leaven leavens the entire lump.

We get to Bentley by allowing lunatics like Jennifer Leclaire to go unchecked. The creator of the myth of the sneaky squid spirit recently released a $65 spiritual warfare teaching on drowning water spirits such as mermen. She hosts two fake schools to teach you to be a false prophet or a false seer, which are the same thing. Leclaire is only one degree of separation away from Benny Hinn and his magical sports coat that slays people by the thousands. Hinn has grifted his way to a 42 million dollar net worth. He has made absurd prophecies that have not come true and taught silly doctrines he had to repent of. We get to Benny Hinn by thinking Bill Johnson is a solid teacher and pastor. Johnson has embraced nearly every false doctrine there is. He operates a school of the supernatural where he pretends to be able to actually teach the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He has claimed false manifestations at his services such as glory cloud, angel feathers, gold dust and gemstones. Maybe they were the same gemstones Bentley saw in the wings of his male lap dancer. Johnson preaches mandatory healing, prosperity gospel, word faith, and Bethel is ground zero for experiential Christianity that tosses the bible aside in favor of what we feel. That does not even get into the dead raising team or the grave sucking. So I hope you can start to visualize this sliding scale:

Todd Bentley -- Jennifer Leclaire -- Benny Hinn -- Bill Johnson -- Dr. Michael Brown

Now at the more rational end of the scale are teachers that are much harder to discern. Teachers that have years or longer credibility within the church. Someone like J. Lee Grady has no idea how much he eviscerates his own integrity by continuing to post and publish on Charisma News which is now but a front for the government but a literal cesspool for false prophets and teachers. Bedsides Grady there is the infamous NAR gatekeeper -- Dr. Michael Brown. His service in the church spans four decades. Master of multiple languages and host of a nationally syndicated radio show, Dr. Brown is highly regarded among charismatic circles. Why wouldn't he be? There is not one false teacher he is willing to denounce. Not only that, he has openly supported Leclaire, Hinn, and Johnson! He appeared on Benny Hinn's television show for an entire week without batting an eyelash. When I confronted Dr. Brown on his radio program he claimed ignorance to the plethora of Benny Hill scandals. When I confronted him this year he declared Benny Hinn is his brother is Christ. When Chris Rosebrough from Pirate Christian Radio confronted him about Jennifer Leclaire's sneaky squid spirit he actually defended it by make some vague allusion to Leviathan. The second time I was on his radio show Dr. Brown mugged me for suggesting that Bill Johnson was false. Johnson is someone who says God is not in control, we are and teaches that repent simply means to return to God's perspective.

This is why it is necessary to call what is false false. Dr. Brown would probably speak against Lakeland and Bentley; at least I hope he would. What he cannot see is that he is indirectly responsible for it. Who we endorse matters beloved. Who we lend our credibility to matters. This is not even seven degrees of separation. Guess who oversaw Todd Bentley's fake restoration after he divorced his wife to marry his secretary? Bill Johnson. The same Bill Johnson that went to Lakeland with the NAR to anoint him a prophet. The same Bill Johnson who prayed for Bentley as they poured oil on his head. The same Bill Johnson that Michael Brown passionately defends. This is how the sliding scale of Charismatic stupidity works beloved. One bad teacher begets another. One small compromise leads to larger compromise. A little leaven will eventually leaven the entire lump.

This is not to pick on Brown because there are plenty of other well intended teachers who are not false but create Todd Bentley's every single day. How does Jennifer Leclaire grow to the point that she can charge $500 to make you a fake prophet? Because she wrote for and was an editor for Charisma News for a long time establishing her Charismaniacal bonafides. People like Brown shrugged off the sneaky squid so now we have the drowning mermen theology. Benny Hinn worth 42 million. Paula White worth 5 million. Kenneth Copeland worth 650 million dollars! There is a wealth transfer underway but it is not supernatural. It is pure carnality and we have to grow up as the body of Christ. Who we repost or retweet is seen by everyone on our social media feeds. We can no longer stand back and tolerate this leaven. The false teacher we allow in the camp today can no longer tell the difference between male strippers and angels tomorrow. A little leaven beloved is never little.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- July 13, 2018

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.