Todd Bentley Does Not Trust God!
Apparently, the great man of faith does not even have any faith in God to restore his own marriage!
Charisma magazine has a soft piece on the restoration waiting out the bad press for Todd until someone is gullible enough to let him fleece them again.
From the article: “In the current case, Joyner said Bentley does not believe his marriage to Shonnah is salvageable. “[Bentley] has also taken steps to make the relationship with the girl that was inappropriate, appropriate,” Joyner said.
The next time you hear Todd talk about faith you can be sure he doesn’t believe what he is selling. He does not believe that God is big or strong enough to salvage his marriage, and his marriage problems are too big for God. Qal Wahomer Mr. Bentley. If God can’t do this little thing like save your marriage then how is he going to do the big things you so flippantly promise? How do you make a relationship with another woman appropriate while you are married and in the ministry?
I suppose though that since God is a force and not a person in Bentley’s “theology” (for lack of a better word) you can always trick the force by saying the right combination of words from his magic book after an astral trip to the third heaven while your fillings turn to gold.
Absolutely mind boggling. Would love a breakdown of how he plans to go about making an inappropriate relationship(adulterous) appropriate? I imagine he means to first make an inappropriate decision with his appropriate wife, i.e. divorce, and then attempt to superficially redeem the inappropriate relationship with marriage. My head is spinning. When a man says his family is unsalvageable it causes me to punch them in the face.
I’ve seen and heard this up close and personal, and it’s disgusting and frustrating.
He could follow David’s example, have a child with this chick and let God kill it – or something like that. Seems to have worked out for David.
I was chatting with my friend who interned under Bentley and his assessment was that basically Bentley was only interested in the relationship on his terms, meaning he should be able to neglect his family for the sake of ministry. I know a lot of ministers who suffer this same delusion. If he found someone who is willing to put up with that kind of BS then hey, that’s a mess he’s welcome to.
Personally I’d rather see him try to make the relationship with his wife appropriate.
What’s remarkable to me in that story is that 1 year after the adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, God told the same prophet who pronounced judgment on David that he “loved the child (that was conceived during the adulterous affair) and [he] sent word through Nathan the prophet hat his name should be Jedidiah – ‘”beloved of the LORD” – because the LORD loved him” (2 Sam. 12:24 &25). What??
Jedidiah (aka Solomon) goes on the become one of the most disastrous leaders that Israel ever experienced (so much for “the wisdom of Solomon”) and sets the nation on a course of idolatry, a divided Kingdom, internal conflict and eventual banishment to Babylon.
Things that make you go hmmm…
This is a great post to read from a pastor I deeply admire:
http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/01/07/who-you-are-not-vs-who-you-are/
I know you are very upset at the thought of lost faith…but to be honest we’re not perfect. We can’t judge Him. This appears to me to be like gossip…which I’ve struggled with before as well…but we must not cut down fellow Christ followers. We must not talk badly of them…we must be constructive (and realize that “constructive”ness can only happen when speaking to that person).
For the glory of God’s Kingdom,
Jared
Jared. When a figure chooses to operate in a public way then they are subject to the scrutiny of the public. This is especially appropriate in a public forum. If someones actions are not befitting the office, then they should be called to task. You assumption about hurting people’s faith is not completely accurate. I think that if someone’s faith is based on a person (idolatry; cult of personality) then their faith is bound to crumble and amount to nothing anyway. But regardless – it is simply a pastoral concern that we not let the Church’s witness be tarnished in such a way. If you read the Church Father’s this is exactly what they did – all the time it seems. So why should we be that different in our concerns?
The problem lies in a false isolation of the public and private spheres of life. I’m no holiness preacher, but I do believe that our lives need/should be good advertising for God. By that I mean I should be honest, admit my mistakes, humble, loving justice and desiring mercy. I honestly would love to see Bentley get the help he needs. I don’t see that happening through the Revival Network because the problem is acerbated by a flawed theological framework that cannot help but shift the blame (mostly because it is based on a presupposition that these days are evil and we must mitigate our suffering while we endure the wait for Christ’s return) and encourage escape. I even have a parishioner who mentored under Bentley. So I’m a bit closer to this, and a bit more careful in my accusations, than some of these guys. But their read is correct. Something needs to be addressed. And what is at stake is not just our discomfort and maybe a few false conversions falling away – but what is at stake is the ability of the Church to be a real moral voice in the public sphere instead of a joke.