The Revolutionary Review by Jonas Clark

Lee Grady over at Charisma magazine wrote about the Todd Bentley divorce and restoration:

The Tragic Scandal of Greasy Grace
J. Lee Grady Newsletters – Fire In My Bones

This week’s announcement about evangelist Todd Bentley’s hasty remarriage and restoration is sending a confusing message to the church.

I groaned when I learned early this week that Canadian preacher Todd Bentley, leader of the controversial Lakeland Revival, had decided to divorce his wife, Shonnah, and marry his former ministry intern, Jessa Hasbrook. The news surfaced after almost nine months of silence and speculation, during which time the board of Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries in British Columbia publicly scolded him for committing adultery.

In a statement released March 10 by Rick Joyner, the popular author and minister who is overseeing Bentley’s restoration process, we were told that (1) Bentley married his new wife several weeks ago and moved to Joyner’s base in Fort Mill, S.C.; (2) Todd and Jessa agree that their relationship was “wrong and premature” and that it “should not have happened the way it did”; (3) Bentley will remain out of public ministry while he seeks healing; and (4) Joyner will oversee the healing process with input from Dallas pastor Jack Deere and California pastor Bill Johnson.

“Many of us have rejected biblical discipline and adopted a sweet, spineless love that cannot correct.”

It was also announced that Bentley plans to relaunch his ministry, called Fresh Fire USA, in Fort Mill, and that Joyner is now collecting donations from supporters to help rebuild it. (The Canadian ministry Bentley started has now been renamed Transform International, and it has severed ties with the evangelist.)

In a few places in his statement Joyner expressed tough love, especially when he said: “We know that trust has to be earned and that Todd will have to earn the trust of the body of Christ for future ministry, which will not be easy, nor should it be.” He also made it clear that true repentance and restoration “can only come if we refuse to compromise the clear biblical standards for morality and integrity.”

But there were some glaring omissions in the statements released this week that indicate a fundamental weakness in our freestyle approach to “restoring” fallen leaders.

First of all, it is outrageous that Shonnah Bentley, Todd’s first wife, does not seem to be an issue in the current discussion. Her name is never mentioned in Joyner’s statement—while Todd is mentioned 18 times. We are never told how Shonnah is handling the divorce. How will she manage to care for the three children she and Todd share? She and the kids seem invisible in this process. Yet if anyone needs healing and restoration, is it not the other half of this broken family?

Second, we charismatics still seem to have a habit of elevating gifting above character. It’s almost as if the end justifies the means. (So what if a preacher ruins one marriage and makes a hasty decision to marry a younger woman—the important thing is that we get him back in the pulpit to heal the sick!) That is a perversion of biblical integrity. God can anoint any man or woman with the Holy Spirit’s power; what He is looking for are vessels of honor that can carry that anointing with dignity, humility and purity.

What is most deplorable about this latest installment in the Bentley scandal is the lack of true remorse. In his own statement, Bentley apologizes for his actions and says he “takes full responsibility for my part for the ending of the marriage.” But how can he be taking “full responsibility” if he willingly chose to have a girlfriend on the side—and then married her immediately after his divorce was final? Why did he hide for several months when he should have been listening to counsel and seeking reconciliation with his first wife?

Many Christians today have rejected biblical discipline and adopted a sweet, spineless love that cannot correct. Our grace is greasy. No matter what an offending brother does, we stroke him and pet him and nurse his wounds while we ignore the people he wounded. No matter how heinous his sin, we offer comforting platitudes because, after all, who are we to judge?

When the apostle Paul learned that a member of the Corinthian church was in an immoral relationship with his father’s wife, he did not rush to comfort the man. He told the Corinthians: “You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst” (I Cor. 5:2). Sometimes we must draw a ruthless sword in order to bring genuine healing. The “wounds of a friend” are faithful to bring conviction and true repentance (see Prov. 27:6).

Paul actually delivered the unrepentant Corinthian man to Satan “for the destruction of his flesh” (5:5) so that he could be saved. That does not sound very nice. Many today would call Paul’s tactic harsh and legalistic. But that is because we have lost any true sense of the fear of the Lord—and we don’t realize that our laxness about God’s standards is a perversion of His mercy. When the sin is severe, the public rebuke must be severe.

In all the discussion of Bentley and the demise of the Lakeland Revival, I am waiting to hear the sound of sackcloth ripping into shreds. We should be weeping. We should be rending our hearts—as God commanded Israel when they fell into sin (see Joel 2: 13-14). To give guidance to a confused church, our leaders should have publicly decried the Lakeland disaster while at the same time helping both Todd and Shonnah to heal.

We have not mourned this travesty. We have not been shocked and appalled that such sin has been named among us. We act as if flippant divorce and remarriage are minor infractions—when in actuality they are such serious moral failures that they can bring disqualification.

If we truly love Todd Bentley, we will not clamor for his quick return to the pulpit. While we certainly want him to be fully restored to fellowship with God, we cannot rush the process of restoring a man to ministry. Leaders must live up to a higher standard. We must demand that those involved in Bentley’s restoration not only love him but also love the church by protecting us from the kind of scandal we endured last year.

I can offer a unique perspective since long ago, I was on staff at MorningStar. I remembered feeling proud of Rick Joyner when he reached out to help the restoration process of Jim Bakker. I know it wasn’t an easy decision. Many within the Body of Christ were hurt by the Bakkers and did not want to see Jim involved in ministry ever again. However, we do serve the “God of Second Chances.” Those in leadership have an especially difficult time since their sins are often made public. I am not condoning the sin, only that any restoration will be public to some degree. If you read Rick’s statement on the MS website, you will see his desire is to help is genuine.

Restoration processes differ but one constant theme seems to be a certain length of time that allows the fallen leader to fully repent for his sins. It also is important to allow those who were offended or hurt the time needed to heal and forgive. It is not an instant process, as you accurately noted.

What bothers me about this situation is that I never hear if the abandoned wife is being restored. Who is praying with her and helping her work through this very difficult time? I can only imagine how painful it is to see her husband remarry in less than a year. In cases like this, it is easy to overlook Jesus’ commands about divorce and adultery. Why couldn’t there have been a time of restoration for the marriage?

I have questions but realize that ultimately it isn’t my business since I’m not the one involved. But I do realize it has serious implications for the church at large. We can pray and ask for God’s mercy but at the same time, we cannot take God’s mercy for granted. A very sobering thought, indeed.

I just have one question. When will we, the Church, learn to heed and adhere Titus 1:6-9?

“An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless–not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.”

Todd Bentley is a FALSE PROPHET and does not deserve another platform whereby he is able to demonize innocent believers. Check his fruit. The Lakeland disaster was an apparent manifestation of how satan enters the church and transforms himself as light. Refer to scriptures such as: Matt 24:23-26, Mk 13:21-23, Lk 4:4;8;12, 2 Cor 11
:12-15, & 2 Peter 2. todd Bentley fits into all of these scriptures. I still don’t understand why he is still being discussed on this website.

Well, whomever of you have not sinned throw the first stone!

Is there any difference between adultery or a little lie for your own’s best will TO GOD?

Can you get restored with God and people when you have lied?

So, can you get restored with God when you’ve committed adultery?

What does ‘forgiveness’ mean?
Does it mean: I forgive you, BUT, there will be consequences?
Would that not diminish the meaning of the word, if forgiveness was only offered in part?

Like, “I forgive you for hurting , but I’ll put a lock on you so you’ll never hurt me again”.
That ‘d be forgiveness in part. If we receive forgiveness in part for all our sins, we’d not grow old on this planet!

The only thing you’re trying to do is prevent people from getting into a stage where it’s normal for man to get divorced, and married again; because it’s indeed an evil under the sun.

I mean, who knows the heart of man but God?

And if God is faithful to forgive, should not we also?

Man knows when he failed, but God knows when his heart is true in repentance or not.
If he truly is a prophet, he will not be able to speak God’s word anymore unless his repentance was genuine, and God has forgiven him again and taken him back in.

Never learned anything from the story of the lost son?

I believe there CAN be forgiveness. We don’t know what happened before the act, we only know it was wrong to divorce and remarry, since divorcing for any other reason as adultery of the other side is not biblical.
also the way things have gone is wrong;but are we going to keep on letting the body be in dis accord?
What is more important,to lose a soul due to exclusion and rejection, or to accept him with his flaws?

What would God do?

It is funny that we try to reach out for those in the world who are even promoting adultery, but we fail to reach them that know they’ve fallen and try to get restored!

A soul is a soul; and the value is un-estimate-able.
God does definitely not get rid of a soul as soon as it committed a sin!

For those who have good marriages, you should thank God for that! You should thank God every day of your life, that He has give you another day to live free from the stain of divorce; and the pain it brings!
Don’t think even a single moment that a person who divorced his wife,in exchange for another (younger) one, will not somehow experience some form of pain from it!
A broken relationship (especially those that have been rooted for a couple of years) ALWAYS hurt! And it does affect the ministry!

I remember a group called ‘daughters of zion’, which was a group of newly converts, ex-prostitutes.
I remember they got the name because they’ve been offered a second chance; and for as long as you’re alive there will be second chances!

If God called us by GRACE, we should also learn to see with His eyes; and remember that that person we’re judging could be one of us; or for what it’s worth, could be us!
You don’t know the future. You don’t know if your partner will turn her back or not! And some of you don’t even know yourself good enough to know if YOU will be faithful to your partner!
Hollywood is full of people ‘promising’ to be faithful through good and bad, but how much of all those promises keep holding true?

Be careful when you stand, lest you fall!

And about that it is not right for whatever happened that happened, yes, it isn’t! But no amount of talking about it is going to bring the past back to be corrected!
I’m sure,like with every sin, that God completely forgave him, but that in the natural complete forgiveness just don’t come, and that he’s probably supporting his ex wife like a father would, financially.
The kids really are the issue here, growing up without a father figure is not a very good thing!

That ‘d be my take on the story.

Tons of manipulation is underway under the guise of godliness. How dare Rick Joyner, as a spiritual leader to the Charismatic church, try to cover sin with his “spiritual spin”. Let’s look at the facts…Todd Bentley drops off the face of the earth long enough to divorce Shonna and marry Jenna. Shonna is systematically replaced and a new wife enters the picture. No mention of Shonna or the kids. All of a sudden Todd Bentley is very repentant and ready to be restored????? Is the church supposed to be okay with this since Todd found a replacement wife???
Another glaring oversight is that Rick Joyner in his letter to the church wrote that Todd didn’t have the affair with Jenna until he was certain that his marriage with Shonna was over. I had to pick my jaw up off the floor after reading that one. So was Shonna then in agreement with the affair??? Does that make adultry okay then? Rick Joyner also refers to King David and Bathsheba in their “situation” of adultry saying that as God forgave David he forgives Todd. That may be true, however, let us not forget that David suffered greatly with family dysfunction due to his poor decisions.
Who do Rick and Todd think that God is???? Are gifts more important than character? I never want to be in a place of judgement against any of Gods people, but it grieves me to think that Todd Bentley is considered the best of the charismatic church. Godly integrity should never take second stage to the gifts…ever, with anyone. That is what is happening here and it is setting a very dangerous precedent for the future of the Charismatic church. My suggestion to both Rick and Todd is that they go back to Bible basics 101 and relearn what they have obviously forgotten in the Word of God.

Oh….and right-on Tirzah

For too long a lot of people were following “THE PROPHET” because of itching ears. I feel the devil came in when he was given a chance and he had a field day with this. Not only through adultery but through the pressures of his ministry to perform. He could only cover it for so long until it was exposed. So many have forgotten who our God is. We have walked in so much unbelief that we have not seen the supernatural work of God in our churches for a long time. So when we hear or see something like Lakeland,florida we start to feel some hope and encouragement. I will admit, I was excited to hear about the revival in Florida.I even asked myself if this was the beginning of a great revival in this country which we so much need.
I am not going to throw out the baby with the bath water. I feel that there was good that happened there too.People were saved and healed in the midst of all that. And at the same time I am concerned about those who were effected negatively by what happened.
The last days are now here and soon our coming King will come. We must be aware of false prophets and those who will deceive many and if it were possible, even the very elect. Test the spirits and see if they are of God. Your spirit and Jesus in you will bear witness to what is false and what is true. Get to know the TRUE SPIRIT of God through his word and coming into communion with him daily. He will guide you into all truth. Thank the Lord we have the Jonas Clark’s who will speak the truth and not tickle our ears.
As for Todd Bentley, I forgive him and pray that he will walk uprightly before the Lord for the rest of his life. Time will tell if he is sincere. He is with some great men of God who can help him through this time of restoration. That does not happen overnight. There will also be reprecussions of his actions. They won’t simply go away just because he repented. His children must now have to bear the weight of his sin also and that saddens me. God be with him and his entire family, including Shonna.
Linda V

He stumbled, he fell, and unfortunately it was well publicized.

Who among us has not stumbled and fallen at some point? I think that we should all be thankful to the Lord that our own transgressions have not been made as public as his.

I cannot be sure as to whether he “truly” repented or not, but only God can judge a man’s heart so i would caution you all, my friends, not to step into the seat of judgment. Judging is for God, and God alone.

I heard it once said that if the Christians were viewed as an army, we would be the only army in the world which kills its wounded! The wounded need help. Are the wounded/sick not the people which Jesus came to see?

Time will tell as to whether the Lord is truly restoring him and his new wife or not. I myself cannot say and dare not to “assume” one way or the other. Do not forget that God restored King David and Bathsheba “after” David repented. So anything is possible…

LT

Congatulations, Todd and welcome on board! You made the right choice, We need him as the body of Christ, the whole world need him to pick up where he left. I don’t care who he married or who he divorced but all i know is that man is a man of God. Believe it or not, i am so blessed by the man, even by just looking at his face on TV doing all that ‘bang’ thing, i feel the presence of God. I have been waiting for this news God knows for how long.
I support Todd Bentley with all my heart. I thank God for letting him in again. May God bless him as he undergo the restoration program and as he embark in the pulpit, let him give him his hundred and a thousand fold of the anointing. Claim what belongs to you Todd, the devil is a liar! You deserve us to be with you all the way, like you have blessed so many of us, now its the time to return it to you in time such as this. Preach preacher man!

Right on LT!
Unless you know what it is to have been forgiven, and by grace received back in God’s arms; it will be hard to forgive others and take them back as well.

We live by grace, not by the law! Those who are perfect, throw the stone!

i want to say that i really enjoy Rick Joyners ministry,..i enjoy this ministry of Apostle Jonas as well,..i have also come to find out that i enjoy and believe in the ministries of all the “name brand” christians that oppose Todd Bentley,.the ones that i have heard with my own ears,..but i know that God is not pleased with what is going on in the body and what is going on with his bride,.so we need to make the choice,.that either we are going to restore fallen ones or if we gonna continue to fight against others that are also God’s children and continue the division,.i think there is a lot of jealousy because deeply we wish that it was us who performed the miracles,.and we tend in the body to try to limit who God should use,..well you know what i am seeing now,.is God is skipping over the church and using people that will get his job done,..and that is what is going to matter,..i’m not condoning the sin,.but i know real people of God personally that have fallen,..and i know that i have as well,..and i know and am glad that yes through repentance i was restored and they were also,.but it was no ones place but me and God to know when that repentance occurred and how it occurred and if it was real or not,..paula white and her husband divorced,..she is still going and i believe she is called,.is she perfect,..no,..is she a child of God yes,..same with Juanita Bynum and her husband,.that woman is a child of God,.these are God children,.they are not false because they made a mistake,..the church is so self righteous,.no wonder the world wants nothing to do with us,.when they were so drawn to Jesus,..what is wrong with us,.i think we actually feel better about ourselves when others fall,.we feel like we are more righteous,..God is not pleased,..and i am tired of the battles that we are fighting with each other,..i wonder if we really know,.”if” any of us are really in tune with what God is doing,.”now”,..if so stop fighting,.being self righteous,.and lets unite,.and advance the kingdom,..i would hate for some of us to fall and it will if you continue to think this way and try to display someone elses faults,..

one more thing,.i say all this because God has delivered me from this form of self righteousness,.does anybody love Todd Bentley? I tell you what if you don’t approve of him now,.get ready you are really gonna be mad,..we are to put God on display and thats what he did,.to the world and he did it with faults,.but that is because we still don’t know how to separate the man we see from the God in him

I think we need to learn to differentiate between those who are throwing stones, and those who have genuine concern. It is foolish to give trust to somebody who has not earned it. We heard about how sorry Todd was BEFORE he divorced and remarried. If he lied then, can somebody tell me why if I don’t trust him now I’m “throwing stones”?

This is critical in the Body of Christ right now. Truly all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but let us remember that God is very clear about what He wants from His spiritual leaders ie., Todd Bentley. Read Titus Chapter 1:6-9 “if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of dissipation or insubordination. For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.” Is Todd truly in a place where he can exhort/convict others to stand firm to this Scripture when he himself was/is unable to do so? That is hypocritical, and that is what makes him inaffective as a leader in the church.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the gifts make Todd a godly man, for even satan can duplicate those qualities. It’s the man who can stand faithfully on the Word of the Lord. Yes, Todd is forgiven through the shed blood of Christ but his actions should not allow him restoration as a leader in the Body of Christ. Scripture is very clear about that; and it is in our best interest to follow the Word of our Lord.
God is firm in His standards of a godly leader, and how we represent Him should always be first and foremost in our lives. By his own actions Todd has not shown that he is willing to do that.
We should never water down the scripture for the sake of the gifts. They were meant only to be used hand in hand with one another for the glory of God; never to be used separately, but always in confirmation of each other. Our gifts are to be used only in Truth…and always point back to Christ.
If Todd is restored he may example the gifts but he won’t be using the gifts in conjunction with the Word of Truth, and that is a crime against Christ. It makes a mockery over everything that Christ died for. Understand that Todd is replaceable. If God raised up Todd, he can raise up another. What is most important is that whomever represents God in a leadership position must be a man spoken of in Titus Chapter 1, or a woman spoken of in Titus Chapter 2. So, like it or not the Lord has spoken and He is quite clear about what He expects from His leaders. Todd no longer fits that description.

Sometimes people who purport to follow Christ can be downright stupid. In attempting to whitewash Todd Bentley’s lies, fraud and adultery, a number of sycophants have used the Scripture ‘let him who has no sin cast the first stone.’ This is abusing the Scriptures because Jesus has never spoken these words in the spirit of excusing sin. Instead, he said it to condemn those who had been guilty of similar gross immorality while publicly condemning the one woman.

Imagine today if a punk broke the law and stole a car and crashed through a supermarket window and then grabbed a toddler to use as a human shield to thwart arrest. The cops are yelling at him to release the child or they will shoot. People are screaming abuse at him for using the kid to shield himself. They are calling him all kinds of names and shaking their fists in anger because the toddler is actually the child of one of the supermarket cashiers.

And the punk’s response to all this: ‘Which of you has no sin let him fire the first bullet?’

How utterly ridiculous do you think this is!

If we simply use Jesus’ words to whitewash every immoral and criminal activity, imagine the chaos and anarchy our society would find itself in. Every pervert, murderer, liar, extortionist, rapist and thief would be at our door.

Someone tried to equate Todd Bentley’s gross misconduct with lying and argued that if we were still lying, then who’s to stop Todd Bentley from fornicating with his partner in adultery. This kind of logic utterly blows my mind.

Those who are lying should stop lying. Those who are stealing should stop stealing. Those who are sleeping with women who are not their wives should stop sleeping with women who are not their wives. And those of us who are not doing these things have a right to yell at those who are doing this things to STOP.

Todd Bentley has been caught lying, cheating on his wife, forsaking his marriage vows, abandoning his kids, having an affair with his baby-sitter, making up stories of raising the dead, writing weird articles about angels called Emma, boozing, mutilating his body with piercings and tattoos, etc. He has to STOP.

Rick Joyner, Bill Johnson and Jack Deere need spiritual deliverance. They have forgotten their first love, the Lord Jesus Christ, and instead fallen in love with a seducing spirit. They cannot see right from wrong and cannot get out of the situation themselves. Christians, we need to pray for these men! If we don’t, they might end up being serial liars, adulterers, blasphemers and substance abusers like Todd Bentley.