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Hype or fact? US outpouring heads for Britain
by Pat Ashworth
 Flowing from Florida: a poster for the Florida Outpouring |
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TODD Bentley, the revivalist behind the Florida Outpouring, is to send some of his Fresh Fire Ministries team over to the UK for a London Outpouring from 10 to 12 July. It will take place at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster, in association with Premier Christian Radio. Reported healing miracles at his church in Lakeland have been interpreted as the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and elicit comparisons with the Toronto Blessing of 1994. Visitors to the events in Florida have brought back its influence, chiefly in the Dudley Outpouring in the West Midlands, led by Trevor Baker, pastor of the Revival Fires church.Thousands have flocked to the Lakeland Outpouring, which now meets in a 10,000-capacity tent in the grounds of the local airport. Mr Bentley, a Canadian, is 32, and founded Fresh Fire Ministries in 1997. He believes God has used him supernaturally to heal people, and attributes his power sometimes to the Holy Spirit and sometimes to his “angels”, chiefly an angel called Emma. He has in the past described “third heaven” trips where he has met and talked with St Paul. Accounts of healings describe him laying his hands on sick people and shouting, “Bam!” He is said to shake his head backwards and forwards, physically shake, and wave his arms over the audience, shouting, “Fire! Fire! Fire!” Recipients are caught as they fall over. They are variously described as convulsing as though being whipped, or appearing to be in a drunken stupor. In Dudley, Mr Baker uses a cloth soaked in anointing oil, given to him by Mr Bentley, to anoint everyone present at his meetings, sometimes numbering 1000. Meetings have been streamed on the internet, with people praying for each other online. There is anointing for debt-cancellation, where those present wave their paperwork in the air and those online press it to the computer screen. Reported miracles include healing for everything from bad backs and tinnitus, to depression and cancer. Most talked about has been the “raising from the dead” of 18-year old Andrew Duffin from Tigers Bay in North Belfast.His heart stopped while he was being operated on in the Royal Victoria Hospital and he was reported to have been dead for 16 minutes before coming back to life after his father, a member of Elim Pentecostal Church, appealed for international prayer. Elim’s pastor, Brian Madden, had visited the Lakeland Outpouring. He said the doctors had described Andrew’s recovery as a miracle. Revival Fires is a member of the Evangelical Alliance (EA). EA’s general director, the Revd Joel Edwards, has expressed mixed feelings about the developments in Lakeland. In an open letter he says: “I’ve spoken to a number of our members who are overjoyed at what they perceive to be the latest outpouring of God’s spirit. Others, though, have expressed their concern at what is happening, and particularly the kind of appeals being made on TV and the internet.“Inevitably, all of this reminds me of the struggles we all had at the Alliance at the time of Toronto. And I simply don’t yet know how I feel about all that is gong on in Florida. There are aspects that make me rejoice, and others that make me uneasy,” he writes. A list of five principles drawn up at the time of Toronto have enduring relevance, he suggests. These include the cautious: “We rejoice with those who testify to a deeper level of commitment and joy as a result of their experience, but would equally urge them to avoid excessive behaviour which may discredit the gospel, or distance those who genuinely seek an encounter with God.” St Andrew’s, Chorleywood, the Charismatic Anglican church from which New Wine and Soul Survivor emerged, has wholeheartedly embraced the Outpourings after its Vicar, the Revd Dr Mark Stibbe, and others visited the Lakeland Outpouring in May. |
 Founder: Todd Bentley |
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The church has weekly Sunday evening FIRE (Father’s Impartation for Revival through Evangelism) meetings, described on the church’s website as “an opportunity to keep imparting this anointing to God’s people, in an environment of high praise and prayer for healing”. It is also putting on two conferences, the first of which rapidly sold out.
Dr Stibbe writes of the Outpourings: “Since the move began, one of the most noteworthy features has been the number and the quality of the healing miracles. During the meetings, deaf ears have opened, blind eyes have begun to see, the lame have leaped for joy and the dead have been raised. None of this is hype. It is fact.”
He adds: “Right from the beginning there have been prophetic words about the importance of this move of God for the UK. It has been said, for example, that there is a firestorm of the Holy Spirit coming especially to England.”
See also: Church Times Blog: Bishop to investigate Todd Bentley UK visit |
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