Lakeland Revival

There has been quite a bit of controversial debate about the Lakeland Revival, whether it is real or not, scam or genuine, fact or fiction, God or Satan at work? The latest ABC Nightline report adds more fuel to the fire (accessible from YouTube) further raising the suspicion that Todd Bentley, the key figure in this entire episode, is but a snake oil peddler. There is really no easy answer to this controversy since we can neither say yea or nay of what God is really doing in these meetings, and neither can we say yea or nay whether Todd's motives and character are of sterling quality. We simply do not know and we should never judge anything just by their appearance. So some would say we should look at the fruit. Surely, some seem to be healed and some are not. But there are also some who receive blessings that are beyond the physical although, at the same time, some also come away from the meetings disappointed and disillusioned. Again, we cannot and do not know the whole truth simply by looking at these "external" fruits because God may continue to minister to them well beyond the meetings.

Those in Todd's camp should be careful of their extravagant claims. Although mentioned at times, it should be stated clearly and repeatedly that God may heal and God may not heal as most may expect in these services. It is devastating to give false hope to those who suffer. There is also no need to claim God's healing only when it is physically manifested. We should never "trap" God in a corner that He must heal. Healing does not need to be physical, even though it is sensational, and this is where a lot of the criticisms are made, and justly so. And healing does not mean it is always a sign of blessing. We tend to forget that suffering can be a blessing but our culture does not want to accept that. Bottom line is that those who claim God is performing the healing miracles should be careful of not reducing God to a genie in that He will always do the same for everyone, and those who claim Todd is fake should be careful of what God can accomplish even through him. Oh how we need to learn to be humble and esteem one another rather than tearing down each other.