Theological Response to Lakeland Critics
June 9th, 2008 by Carl Thomas.
This was forwarded by Randy Clark. It is a 55 page defense of the activities of the Lakeland outpouring. Here is a selection from page 5:
Normative New Testament evangelism is accompanied by God’ power
A simple perusal of the following passages shows that true biblical revival always involved word and deed, the preaching of the gospel alongside people ministering and experiencing (not just talking about) God’ healing and miraculous power: Matt. 4:23; 9:35-36; 10:1, 7-8; 11:5; 12:15, 18; 15:30; 19:2 (cf. Mk. 10:1); 21:14 (cf. Lk. 21:37); Mk. 1: 38-39; 2:2, 11; 3:14-15; 6:12-13; 10:1 (cf. Mat. 19:2); Lk. 4:18; 5:17, 24; 6:6-11, 17-18; 7:22; 9:1-2; 10:9, 13; 13:10-13, 22, 32; 14:4, 7ff.; 21:37 (cf. Mat. 21:14); 16:15-18, 20; Jn. 3:2; 7:14-15, 21-23, 31, 38; 10:25, 32, 38; 12:37, 49; 14:10, 12; Acts 1:1; 2:22; 3:6, 12; 4:29-30; 5:12-16, 20-21, 28, 42; 6:8, 10; 8:4-7, 12; 9:17-18 (cf. 22:13), 34-35; 10:38; 14:3, 8-10, 15ff.; 15:12, 36; 18:5, 11 (cf. 2 Cor. 12:12; 1 Cor. 2:4-5); 19:8-12; Rom. 15:18-19; 1 Cor. 2:4-5; 11:1; 12:1-11, 28-31; 14:22-25; 2 Cor. 12:12; Gal. 3:5; Phil. 4:9; 1 Thes. 1:5-6; Heb. 2:3-4; 6:1-2; Jas. 5:13-16.
Indeed Paul said in Romans 15:18-19 that only the proclamation of the gospel that is accompanied by healing, signs and wonders, that display the power of the risen Lord, represents a full proclamation of the gospel: Rom. 15:18-19 (NIV)€” I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done€” by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. [italics and boldface mine]
The suggested donation is $3-$5 to be paid to Fresh Fire to finance the work in Lakeland.
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Carl, you absolutely ROCK! Where did you get your hands on this? It is AWESOME!!!!!!
I am going to unashamedly lift the document and use it on my blog and church website.
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[...] on June 10, 2008. Carl Thomas, over at Revival Blog, posted a document today entitled A Theological Response to Criticism of the Lakeland Outpouring [...]
[...] 2. Carl Thomas- Revival Blog- "Theological Response to Lakeland Critics" [...]
It seems that lots of folks simply hotlinked to the file. I dare not look at my download stats.
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Todd does attempt to perform signs & wonders in the name of Jesus. As far as I know none have been confirmed by people thru doctors & from the news interview he showed no substance or evidence of any true physical healing, but rather of people with severe physical conditions that not healed at all. We need to test the spirits the bible tells us & not believe every wind of doctrine that passes by – did you know that Todd says the healings are done because of an “angel sent from God” called the “winds of change” The Lord does not change nor does He have angel who does His healings called the winds of change.
Matthew 7:22-23 (English Standard Version)
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
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January 6th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Lots of folks were healed at the event. That is not really debatable. Besides the people I saw healed with my own eyes I have several ministry friends that had people healed at the meetings with issues ranging from mild to quite severe.
I don’t know the name of all of God’s angels. If God has given you some extra-biblical revelation on that subject I guess you can post it.
Clearly there were things amiss with Todd’s ministry. Sin is awful and more oversight should have been exercised. That does not mean he was a tool of Satan performing false signs.
As far as testing the spirit we covered that as well
http://www.revivalblog.com/what-lakeland-tells-me-about-the-church-4-we-can-all-use-a-little-sharpening/
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Matthew 7:22-23
22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Isaiah 29:13
13Then the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words
And honor Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,
Ezekiel 33:31
31″They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.
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Yes, Thomas, and this is for you:
Titus 1:15
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
I Cor 1:17
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
I Cor 2:4-5
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
I Cor 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
John 14:12-14
I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
So, let’s hear about your healings. Since Todd’s can’t possibly be from God, and Jesus commands his disciples to heal the sick, let’s hear about your credentials. Jesus said anyone who has has faith would do what he does, so let’s hear about it.
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Thomas, I welcome opposing views. But long strings of scripture is not a discussion. Patsy asked you a direct question. You can engage or run but any further cut and paste answers will be deleted.
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My point in this isn’t to be snotty. Most of the people that I have encountered who have bashed Lakeland and Todd Bentley with the self-righteous attitude of limiting what God is and is not allowed to do have never seen a single person healed. Not only that, many of them have never led anyone to Jesus.
If you are not doing the stuff and seeing fruit in your own life, SHUT UP about those who are. Todd Bentley led over a million souls into the kingdom before he was 30. If you can do that, then by all means correct him on his methodology. If you have seen thousands of people healed in your ministry, by all means bring correction. If you’ve had angelic visitations, then by all means talk to Todd about his.
Todd crashed in a spectacular, public way. But how many of you who have been rejoicing over that like it proves something about your theology (think about that – if it take sin to prove your point, maybe you need to re-examine your point) how many of you were on your face praying FOR Todd during the Lakeland meetings rather than praying AGAINST him?
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