The Lakeland Revival, Part 2: Controlling God

Ok, so this one’s been a long time coming. I am just totally sick of hearing about Todd Bentley and the Lakeland Revival. I am also sick of people falling for it hook, line, and sinker- and for that, I will continue- to expose the Truth so that people would ask the Lord for discernment and begin to look to the Word of God before diving in head first into the looney bin.

My disclaimers are as they were before:

1.] I do believe in the precense of the supernatural gifts of the Spirit in the world today and that they can be used however the Lord wills. and…

2.] I do not believe that Todd Bentley means for the people he “ministers to” to be led astray. I believe Mr. Bentley has good intentions, but is being decieved by the devil in order to lead people away from Christ. His own statements have made that very clear- more on that another time.

My first post on this issue pertained to the whole locallity issue- that you have to go “there” (Florida) to get “some” (drunk off the Holy ghost). Today’s post will be discussing the problem of “evangelists” and their followers trying to Control God in their ministries.

God is soveriegn and He acts how he pleases to bring Himself glory- we cannot lead God around on a leash. We cannot put God in a box. And we cannot saddle up the Holy Spirit and direct Him wherever we want.

Sadly, many people are heading down to Lakeland becasuse they expect God to do a specific thing for them. They want to be slain in the Spirit, they want to speak in tongues, they want some holy laughter, they want to be drunk in the Spirit , they want to be healed, etc…

What about wanting to worship God simply for who He is? What about bringing glory to God and expecting nothing out of it? What about realizing that we are totally lost people incapable of restoring our relationship with God without Christ? What about telling the lost about Jesus and doing whatever possible to invite them into His Kingdom?

Sadly, this Lakeland Revival tends to be simply a Holy Huddle- a feeding frenzy of Christians out to “Get Some” of God instead of giving something back to Him.

What if God doesn’t give them what they selfishly expecte? Will they still follow Him or will they go to the next ‘thing’ that can make them feel good?

Sadly, many Christians base their Christianity on a feeling or an experience instead of on the person of Jesus Christ. You see, my relationship with Jesus is not based off of a time when I spoke in tongues. My relationship with Jesus is not based off of a time when he made me fall backwards into a ‘catchers’ arms. My relationship with Jesus is not based off of a time when shivers went up my back or when times were good in my life.

My relationship with Jesus is based on the biggest miracle of all time- that God loved me, despite my sin, so much that He would send His Son Jesus to live a life I could not live, die a death I deserve to die, raise from the grave three days later, ascend into heaven where He sits at the right hand of God the Father, who imparted to me Christ’s righteousness as a sovereign gift of grace that I recieved through faith, as my High Priest, Savior, and Lord and through His Holy Spirit is making me more and more like Him as I approach the day that I see Him face to face.

That’s it- Christ alone and Him crucified. Nothing more. Nothing less. Do I expect that God will bless me in ways I can’t imagine? Yes. Do I rejoice when times are good? Yes! Do I rejoice when God reveals to me His power through a supernatural act of the Holy Spirit? Yes! Do I rest my relationship in Him on those things? No!

Jesus told the story of a wise man who built his house upon a rock. My faith is built on the Rock of my salvation- Jesus Christ. So when the wind comes, the rain falls, and the earth quakes, I will stand firm in Christ.

Jesus also told of the story of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. And when the forces of nature came up against it, it crumbled. Sadly, the faith of many will crumble when hard times come because their foundation has been a state of euphoria instead of Christ.

So, unlike those who rush to Utopia in Lakeland, I do not put expectations on God of what he should do in my life. I leave it to Him. I heard someone say once that God is the most untameable Creature on earth and they are so right!

The Newsboys said it best with their song Who:

“And there’s no use explaining what can’t be contained

[Chours 1:]
I’m not following a God I can lead around
I Can’t tame this deity
That’s why Jesus is the final answer
to Who I want my God to be!
He’s Who [I want my God to be...]”

Coming up next: Supernatural Doesn’t Mean Godly