An 'Open Letter' on Lakeland

A Response to Charges against James Sundquist for “Judging the Bride of Christ”

Very bold and direct Open Letter addressing false teachers and teachings. WTG James, tell it like it is...I absolutely love this guy's courage and backbone!

June 26, 2008 - Open Letter to: Brian Olynick, Stephen R. Strader, Gary S. Greig, Todd Bentley and Fresh Fire Ministries Staff,

I am responding to your charges that we are “judging the Bride of Christ.” If you had bothered to read the testimonies you would see that we are not judging the Bride of the Christ, as only Jesus Christ can do that at the Bema Judgment Seat. But we are commanded to judge the teachings of anyone who claims to be part of the Bride of Christ. So in one broad stroke you have already borne false witness against us. I was expecting that at some point you would retaliate with ad homimum personal attacks, instead refuting the charges against Todd Bentley and his collaborators, with Scripture as the Apostle Paul has mandated. We are required to judge teachings and be good Bereans to test the Scriptures to see if these things be true. You have done none of this. But we will! All of my discernment colleagues have exposed Todd Bentley as a false teacher, not by some emotional appeal, but by purely comparing his teachings as well as the roots of his teachings and teachers to Scripture. When did this commandment become extinct? We are not heretic hunters. In fact, we don't even have to hunt for them, they are in your face, published, and in constant media national and international media coverage.

Anyone can flail accusations, but if you are a Christian, you must prove your charges against us with Scripture, otherwise it is you who have become guilty of bearing false witness against a brother, which God has deemed is an abomination. If you continue to promote and defend Todd Bentley, then you become an accomplice and share in his iniquity. If you think every Christian shouldn't judge the teachings of a so-called Christian or Christian teacher, then you are deceived. If a man calls himself a brother i.e., one of "Christ's bride", but brings teachings contrary to Scripture, then we are commanded to expose him and expel him from the church. The Apostle Paul commands us to name names. So we are compelled to name Stephen R. Strader, Todd Bentley, Gary S. Greig publicly for being false teachers, refusing correction or warning, and for bearing false witness against those who have exposed all of you. We are not attacking the bride, because we are part of the Bride of Christ, rather we are exposing wolves who are attacking the Bride of Christ. Todd Bentley and company are not the Bride of Christ...the Bride of Frankenstein would be a more apt description, spiritually speaking.

If you are a pastor, then you should know that. Your failure to do so and defend your own sheep from wolves in sheep's clothing and Satan's servants masquerading as a servant of righteousness, then you are a false shepherd and derelict in your duty to protect your flock. In this regard, I am compelled to join my colleagues and expose both you and Todd Bentley publicly on the various discernment newsletters and national radio programs we frequent, informing them that you both refuse correction and have failed to repent even upon being confronted, and represent a clear and present danger to the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I have read Todd Bentley's defense of the female Angel Emma posted at: http://sheepyweepy.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/todd-bentley-responds-to-criticism/#comment-730

and quoted from Bentley's site, that the angel would not necessarily be female, just appear female. Response, so now God is the author of confusion, so we are not able to discern? What biblical precedent is there for any angel (male or female) to heal? As to discernment critics needing to think outside their comfort box, I have read Jackie Alnor's, Mike Oppenheimer's, Gary Osbourne's and Jacob Prasch's demolitions of Bentley's stronghold(s). I assure you that their comfort box is in fact Scripture itself. Is it written or is it not written? What Christians should worry about is when they are comfortable outside of the Scripture zone! If we are Christians and good Bereans, our comfort box will be that the fruit of the spirit is "self-control", not "out-of-control"...evil shrieks are the sounds made from evil spirits coming out one someone possessed, not the sounds made by people after they are delivered or for that matter coming from saints who don't even need deliverance or healing!

As to Bentley seeing Jesus physically, this reminds of Paul Yonggi Cho claiming he saw Jesus appear dressed up as a fireman. (Jesus wouldn't be a fireman anyway putting fires out, rather he will be sending the fires of judgment on the earth.) Sound good that Jesus is paying us visits? Big problem! The Book of Acts; 3:21 states that Jesus Christ must physically remain in Heaven until he returns in glory when he will restore all things! Jesus Christ himself warn us in Matthew 26:23-27 (and Mark 13:21-22) that if anyone says Jesus Christ is here or there, don't believe him or even follow after him. Jesus Christ knew people like Bentley would come along, so he made it crystal clear that he would not return to the earth until we all see the entire earth engulfed in the white lightning of his glory with the heavenly hosts following him. There will be no wondering if he came back yet for his Second Coming. There will not be a Third, fourth, 50th or thousandth coming. And no one can summon him. That constitutes conjuring spirits or sorcery. So if anyone says they saw Jesus before his final return, then they saw another Jesus. Are we to believe Jesus Christ over Todd Bentley who said he saw him? Worse, Bentley is telling his followers that they can now summon down Jesus and angels. Mike Oppenheimer reveals that according to Bob Jones, one of Bentley's mentors, Bentley's Lakeland Revival is supposedly part of the Third Wave following the First Wave of the Toronto Blessing, followed by the Second Wave of Pensacola. Mike Oppenheimer also points out that Paul Yonggi Cho falsely prophesied that the Pensacola Revival will last until Jesus comes, but it has been a dismal failure, completely collapsing, ship-wrecking the faith of many. Instead of revering Bob Jones, Todd Bentley should have exposed both Jones and Cho. Dr. Christian Wei, who is the director of a school which trains missionaries to take the gospel into Communist China has written an excellent documentary exposing Paul Yonggi Cho. The persecuted and martyred Church in China is already being alerted to false teachings of Paul Yonggi Cho. Dr. Wei is presently translating both of my books on the false teachings of Rick Warren into Mandarin and Cantonese languages to distribute to the underground church in China to warn them.

Dr. Christian Wei Expose on teachings of Paul Yonggi Cho:
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/cho/general.htm

Paul Yonggi Cho quotes compiled by Jim Fox:
http://www.believersweb.org/view.cfm?ID=557

Mike Oppenheimer's expose on Todd Bentley: http://www.moriel.org/articles/discernment/church_issues/let_us_reason_alert_lakeland.htm

Even though Bentley's chief apologist, Gary S. Greig, is an instructor at Jack Hayford's Foursquare denomination Church on the Way, who is a Rick Warren promoter, Bentley is not yet the global clear and present danger to the church at large that Rick Warren is with his Global Peace Plan.

Gary Greig Biography:
http://www.vanguardministries.org/bio-garygreig.asp

Note from his own biography that Greig hotlinks to both Injoy Ministries and Equip, which are headed by John Maxwell who is virtually the E for Equipping in Rick Warren's Global PEACE Plan. I expose John Maxwell's teachings and his unholy alliance with Rick Warren in my second book on Rick Warren entitled: Rick Warren's Global Peace Plan vs. Scriptural Teachings on Peace.

(Once loaded, search for “John Maxwell”)

Todd Bentley's false teachings (and Gary Greig's defense of them) aren't even subtle but glaring. Instead of repenting of defiling the temple of the Holy Spirit with massive and extensive tatoos all over his body and defying Scripture, Todd Bentley boastfully glories in them...a stumbling block to the “least one of these my children” and the poorest witness. Instead of repenting you (Brian Olynick) retaliate against the messengers, as though they are the enemy! No wonder the Apostle Paul said "I am now therefore the enemy because I tell you the truth"! So I must strongly rebuke all of you and pray that you repent while there is still a season to repent. So be assured we will publicly mark you and warn the church.

I had thought I was done with my own report on Todd Bentley and was ready to publish it and expose on the radio nationally and internationally when I read about Jack Hayford's commentary on this revival which is posted on the Foursquare International website as well as at:

Jack Hayford & Foursquare International Official Statement on Todd Bentley:
http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/
jack-hayford-statement-on-the-lakeland-revival-todd-bentley

Therefore, I am now compelled to add the following commentary on Jack Hayford to this article on this "revival!"

The most glaring question I have for Dr. Jack Hayford's formal Foursquare Church statement regarding Todd Bentley and the Lakeland Revival:

"by any standard of biblical wisdom, it is far too early to assert anything on any terms...We are not called to answer for any other ministry or its report;" is that if this is his position and that of his board of directors at Church on the Way and the Foursquare Church denomination regarding Todd Bentley and the Lakeland Revival, then why did Gary Greig, one of his teaching pastors and promoters of C. Peter Wagner at his own church, the Church on the Way and Masters Seminary, publish an apologetics defense of Todd Bentley's actions and so-called revival on the very website and church conducting the revivals? The pastor of the church, who is one of those presiding over the Lakeland Revival Stephen R. Strader even directed me to Gary Greig as the apologist defending Todd Bentley. For Jack Hayford to say that we are not called to answer for any other ministry is nothing short of staggering. All Christians are called expose the deeds of darkness and false teachings, whether in their own church or a church down the road. To refrain from speaking out against a wolf in the sheepfold is nothing short of dereliction of duty of a pastor and shepherd! And if this is true, then why does Hayford participate in Rick Warren's Purpose Driven hostile take-overs of other churches and denominations which most certainly do intervene in those churches affairs of other churches, expelling those who oppose Rick Warren's Global Peace Plan.

Second problem with Hayford's defense or failure to speak out against Todd Bentley is his invoking Gamaliel. Gamaliel's statement in the Book of Acts was not prescriptive, but rather descriptive. There is no evidence that Paul took or used the advice that if it is not of God it will go away after his conversion. In fact, Paul taught the opposite as evidence by his fear of what would happen to the Church of Ephesus after he died. The Apostles taught that things would get worse and worse (exactly what we see in Todd Bentley). If what Gamaliel said is true, then Roman Catholicism and Islam would have long disappeared, but both of these religions boast 2+ billion followers. It is precisely because the apostate church did follow Gamaliel's advice that in great part produced the fix we are in today. Following Hayford's kind of unwise counsel is the same kind of advice to refrain from intervention in both the Toronto Blessing and Pensacola nightmare's in the Assemblies of God and Vineyard. We still recovering from this nightmare because these so-called watchmen on the wall who became spectators and worse participants. Had George Wood stepped in at the beginning this nightmare might have been averted in the Assemblies of God. But what does George Wood do in the case of the latest Rosemary's Baby? He issues a statement on June 5, 2008 that does nothing to condemn Todd Bentley's teachings. Had he condemned Thomas Trask, the previous General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God, a destroyer of the brethren and God-fearing AG pastors, and promoter of much the very same false teachings promoted by Bentley, the Assemblies of God denomination might not be in the state of apostasy that it finds itself. Had Jack Hayford and George Wood intervened in the case of Rick Warren's teachings and programs, that plague might have been averted in the Foursquare Church and Assemblies of God, respectively. But what does Jack Hayford do? He promotes Rick Warren and Richard Foster who cite some of the same contemplative prayer mystics that are the inspiration behind Todd Bentley.

Speaking of Rick Warren, here is a update on him. I just received a letter from a good brother in South Africa. A Christian broadcast journalist stated on the radio there that Rick Warren is a false teacher. She has now received a threatening phone call from an attorney threatening her with a slander lawsuit. But this is not surprise because I was threatened with legal action by Richard Foster's Renovare organization. In the U.S. a major network Christian radio station censored the longest standing national conservative Christian radio show if they ever again said anything negative about Rick Warren...doesn't matter if what they said was true. The New York City Leadership group which was recently formed will be launching major events this Fall at Madison Square Garden promoting Rick Warren and Ken Blanchard (also exposed in my second book on Rick Warren) and his teachings...EVENT SPONSORS:

Buttafuoco & Associates

Greg Laurie NJ/NY 2008 Crusade So BEWARE: Here is their website for proof of sponsorship:
http://copgny.org/316776.ihtml

So beware of Jack Hayford, Tom Trask, George Wood and those I have cited in this document. You don't even need to use the present documentation of events or fruit in Lakeland Florida Outpouring to demolish this stronghold, though there is plenty going on to already rightfully oppose it. In addition to the fruit of this thorn bush, you can judge him as well as this tree by the root system which is riddled with false teachers and teachings that Todd Bentley is still touting to his audiences.

Finally, one of the most troubling statements of Hayford's official position is this statement:

"With time, whatever is taking place in Lakeland and through activities issuing from its happenings will either verify or discredit the source of the manifestations." (More Gamaliel reasoning)

Comment: Give the wolf time...if given enough time, it can destroy the whole flock. Give leaven enough time it will leaven the whole lump. Give the siren calls of the harlot enough time, she will deceive the multitudes.

Therefore, Jack Hayford is one of the least credible people one should trust.

Mike Oppeneheimer, Director of Let Us Reason's expose on Todd Bentley:
http://www.moriel.org/articles/discernment/church_issues/let_us_reason_alert_lakeland.htm

Jacob Prash's expose on Gary S. Grieg entitled:

A Review Of Gary S Greig’s Pseudo-Scholarly Apologetic For The Unbiblical Antics Of Todd Bentley And The Lakeland, Florida Sequel To The Failed Revivals Of Kansas City, Toronto, And Pensacola, is now posted internationally on Be Alert and Moriel Ministries at: http://www.moriel.org/articles/discernment/church_issues/review_of_gary_greigs_apologetic.htm

For Todd Bentley to claim he had a conversation with the Apostle Paul makes him a necromancer, forbidden in Scripture. Todd Bentley is not conducting true worship or true revival but seances. He is exploiting the masses with stories he has made up exactly how Scripture describes people like him in 2 Peter 2:3.

You have made a mockery of Christ and his Bride, and compounded your sin by attacking those saints who have exposed you for this circus. What a reproach! So rest assured, we will sound the alarm on His Holy Hill about you! If anyone had wondered what signs and wonders would be performed to deceive even the elect if that were possible, you are now witnessing it!

Final Warning:

2Jo 1:10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into [your] house, neither bid him God speed:

2Jo 1:11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds

Sincerely in Christ,
James Sundquist
Director
Rock Salt Publishing
http://www.abrahamic-faith.com/False-Teachers.html