gdp's Comments

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:57:22 +0000

Like I said, I've read quite a bit about Bentley. I don't have to have read every one of his books fully to know what he says. But throughout our conversation, I've allowed the possibility that I could be wrong. I'm still waiting for you to show me where!

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:25:33 +0000

Kathi, I told you at the very beginning that I am an outsider and that I am not directly involved with Bentley or your church. I also told you that some of my facts could be wrong, being that I have read instead of directly experienced all of these things. I've also shown a willingness to be corrected. I have asked you on a number of occasions to tell me where I am wrong. Did Bentley not commit adultery? Did he not immediately remarry afterwards? Did he not restart his ministry shortly thereafter. If those are not facts, please tell me so. I'll close by saying that Indirectly, my agenda IS the gospel. If a false preacher is out there preaching a false gospel, if corrupt leaders are gaining power within the church, then engaging in discussion with those who are being deceived is a good thing. I cannot see how you could disagree with that. I refuse to buy Bentley's book. I will not contribute to his ministry because it preaches heresy (again, I refer to his spirit guide Emma) so I guess we're done. Anyway, it was nice having a civil conversation with you.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:05:16 +0000

That's a shame! If they ain't preaching the Gospel (which doesn't have to be restricted to evangelism...nailing your sin habits to the cross IS the Gospel, forgiving your wife because Christ forgives you IS the Gospel, finding hope in Christ when sickness/bad circumstances/etc. are making life full of strife IS the Gospel) then I don't want to be there. I can make a broad statement like that without having to confront every single person who doesn't preach the Gospel.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:01:38 +0000

Regardless of the context, he's talking about a better way to proseletyze other than speaking the Gospel. He wants to give our words some "oomph" and reveal the power of God. He's saying the Gospel message is lacking without some kind of Spirit outpouring. FYI - Haven't read the book. Found the quote online. I'm willing to be corrected if I'm wrong.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:48:27 +0000

Kathi, you're assuming that I have a hidden agenda. I've been totally honest with you here, and I've told you that the only agenda I have is the gospel and sound doctrine. I have not lied anywhere. It is a fact that Todd committed adultery. It is a fact that he remarried as soon as his divorce was settled. It is a fact that he began his ministry again shortly thereafter. There are no lies being spread here. Instead, I (along with some others) are calling for more accountability. That's not spreading lies, that's called critiquing what's going on in the church. This is called playing the Pharisee card. Whenever a critique is lodged against someone, they automatically cry out "heresy hunter" and claim that those of us who are doing the calling out are "pharisees". Where have I stumbled? Where have I sinned? Don't weep for me because I disagree with you.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:33:51 +0000

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark 16:15-16). "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:16) ...I'm sure you know of the many others ;)

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:32:14 +0000

"We can preach the Gospel all day long, but that won't win souls. That won't win the hearts of the people. We can talk, try to theorize, theologize, reason, argue, debate, and spend time trying to prove that Jesus lived, but that won't win a heart." [Todd Bentley, Kingdom Rising: Making the Kingdom Real in Your Life, Destiny Image Publishers, Inc., October 2008, p. 67] I'm sorry, but that right there says it all. We are commanded to boldly preach the Gospel. It is not PEOPLE that convinces unbelievers to have faith in Christ, it's the Spirit that regenerates their souls, and opens their eyes to the truth. We are just the vessels that communicate. This has been God's plan from the very beginning, but Todd is saying that's not good enough.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 20:01:16 +0000

Ok, granted apologetics ministries may be the wrong way to describe them. How about watchdog ministries? Furthermore, are you saying that if watchdogs attack other Christians for preaching false doctrine, then that makes those watchdogs unbiblical? I know of many a saved man and woman who fell into belief about something they shouldn't have been believing, only to have their eyes opened to the truth. Just because we're saved, doesn't mean we'll never fall into deceit! That's why Paul commands us to test the spirits! That doesn't apply to non-believers, because they don't believe the Gospel, therefore they have no standard to test against!!!

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:53:19 +0000

I swear I am not deliberately ignoring anything. Christ's death and resurrection, and the constant reminder that we once *were* separated by a great gap, is the gospel! That message should be preached, considered and revered daily! At no point do we become too advanced to be reminded that it is only by God's grace that we have been saved. There is no level we reach where we don't need to be reminded to enter into daily repentence and confession. The point of the church is to equip the body, but you cannot do that without the Gospel. It's not just a "now I'm in the club so I don't need to hear it any more" sort of thing. The only way the sanctification process can be attained is through constant repentence and obedience, constant reflection on His word, and constant prayer and communication with our Savior. I cannot find any place in Scripture where spirit anointings somehow take the place of those things.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:11:53 +0000

What does true repentance look like for Todd Bentley? I'll quote a great article from CharismaMag: "If we truly love Todd Bentley, we will not clamor for his quick return to the pulpit. While we certainly want him to be fully restored to fellowship with God, we cannot rush the process of restoring a man to ministry. Leaders must live up to a higher standard. We must demand that those involved in Bentley's restoration not only love him but also love the church by protecting us from the kind of scandal we endured last year." Read more: http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/fire-in-my-b...

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:11:22 +0000

In addition, Todd Bentley has been repeatedly confronted about his heresy (especially concerning the Angel Emma which is his self-proclaimed spirit guide) and he has not heeded those warnings. The implication that I would have to first confront him on my own before warning other people about him (or trying to engage in discussion about him here on this blog) is ridiculous, and more of a legalistic requirement than anything else. I call it legalistic because it ignores the heart of what Christ was saying in the Matthew 18 instructions on confrontation (which is what I think you are getting at). I believe that teaching is about operating out of grace and forgiveiness and allowing a brother who sins against you to repent and be forgiven before his sin is made public. If he does not repent, then you bring another brother, and then to the church if all else fails. I do not need to go through all of those steps if he has already revealed that he has no intention of repenting.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:10:54 +0000

As for your comment about having to sit down with Todd Bentley personally to express my concerns in love before I post anything on the internet, I disagree. On the one hand, there are many apologetics ministries out there who spend their entire careers researching different religious movements in order to protect the sheep from false doctrines. Their job is two-fold: to rebut those false preachers with the truth, and to inform the flock of this deception, in order to protect them. Those apologetics ministries are priceless! Yet using your logic, they are unbiblical because they did not pull each person aside to have a one-on-one confrontation.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:10:27 +0000

I want to challenge you on this: Listen in the tonight when you go to Morningstar and try to count how many times man's wretchedness and sin is discussed . Or how often we are called on to reflect the Cross and the amazing price Christ paid because of our sin. Listen for someone to preach about the enormous gap that separates us from God, and then about how because of God's grace he sent his only Son to pay our debt of sin and die on our behalf, and then who rose again so that if we believe in Him as our salvation, then we can be reconciled with God. Listen for those things (i.e. the Gospel). If that is not being preached (and I'm not talking about every 5 seconds...but then again, that is the whole point of the church) and every service is spent "experiencing" God through existential means instead of preaching the truth, then that is my biggest argument against Todd.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 19:09:31 +0000

Kathi - I am not a pastor, nor do I have a comprehensive understanding of everything in Scripture. But in my understanding of Scripture, God chooses when to heal. (i.e. David's illegitimate child with Bathsheba, Paul on the island of Malta, you and your amazing story of being healed!). The book of Acts is a great book because it shows how God laid the foundation of his church! And yes, he is still doing such a thing, working miracles in the lives of people as he chooses, healing through prayer. But this concept of man-centered healing, where people come in droves with the assurance of being healed is not found in the Bible either (outside of Jesus of course, and a few of the apostles at the very beginning of church history). More often than not, what we find at those services is less preaching of the Gospel, and more discussing spirit outpourings, anointings, prophecies, and other such things.

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:56:28 +0000

no problem ;)

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:47:48 +0000

Kathi, (this is Johnnyboy777) please explain to me what I have done wrong and how I have unbiblically addressed this issue. Please respond, if not for satisfying my own curiosity, then to set me straight so I can abstain from future sin. If I'm sinning right now, then at least have the decency to tell me why so I can decide whether or not I agree with you and change my ways. As for your last comment, I pray for healing every day! (for my own heart to be healed from sin (anger, pride, vanity, etc.), for others to be healed of sickness, and in many other ways.) I've had hands laid on me, and I've laid hands on others as well! I ABSOLUTELY believe in the laying on of hands. But I do not think that God's power can be harnessed in some type of "Spirit outpouring" service. God answers those prayers when and if he chooses to do so. I still haven't heard an apology or a reason why I deserve to be called a satan lover, but we're operating out of grace and forgiveness here so I'll let it slide ;)

iamhealed.net : An outbreak of heresy hunters @ Morningstar

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 15:32:32 +0000

And you'll be happy to know that "HoyaSexy" no longer exists on the world wide interwebs.