Friday, July 02, 2010

Todd Bentley, man of compassion and order?

[Originally posted at Bene Diction Blogs on, Feb. 15, 2010]

From Todd Bentley's Twitter feed this morning:

IamToddBentley: Saddest thing a glue strip mouse catcher. We got one and he is still alive struggling to live. So sad. Can't pull him off the tar rips him about 6 hours ago from Twitterrific

Anything that helps Todd to look kind and caring, in comparison to future protestors I guess. Todd Bentley, friend of children and small animals! Unless these are children wanting a full-time dad living nearby, I guess...

And Twitter reveals that Todd Bentley's fans on Twitter are kicking it up a notch in their thinking:

One writes:

preacherskidd: Churches and preachers have a right to defend themselves against the lunatic fringe and the unknown in their midst. Todd Bentley about 17 hours ago from iTweet

Lunatic fringe? Fair enough, that's their opinion. But what's this about wanting to avoid the "unknown" in a service? Especially when the Holy Spirit is supposed to be moving, as Bentley has argued happens in his services for over 10 years now.

I wonder--if Bentley and Joyner start screening out even peaceful and mannered "wrongthinkers" from their meetings will they find sympathy for doing such a totalitarian-minded thing among their friends?

I don't want to see anarchy in any service, but on the other side of the coin, how far would "order" go? I read on the weekend that some unnamed people--not Bentley--have people with "discernment" stand at their doors kicking people out of their audience because they figure that God has told them not to allow someone in, when they haven't done or said anything at all. Scary...