When four hours in December reminds you of Seven Days in May

[Originally posted at Bene Diction Blogs On, Dec. 31, 2009]

You can learn interesting things by keeping an eye on Todd Bentley's Twitter feed. Such as how the American hard right and the wackier fringes of the charismatic movement are starting to play footsie, for example.

Our Todd is attending the Morningstar New Year's Conference as I write. (You recall Rick Joyner's ministry...)

Bentley tweets:

IamToddBentley: Must hear general boykin. Heavy stuff for the USA. I'm listening to him at MS new year prophetic conf. It time for church wake up. 1 day ago from Twitterrific

He's referring to retired U.S. Army lieutenant-general William Boykin. As the Wikipedia page notes, Boykin quietly retired from the Army after making some very controversial comments in the course of his job to the effect that he had success in combating a terrorist because his God was better than the terrorist's "God". (If you agree with Boykin, you should probably also agree that Boykin should have been at least more non-partisan in his comments in order to respect the views of Muslims in the armed services, to start out with.) If the comment from this blog is accurate, Boykin is apparently quite charismatic in his religious views:

...More oddly, he thinks that he has taken photos of the sky above Mogadishu which show “a demonic spirit over the city.” “Ladies and gentleman, that’s not a fake, that’s not a farce,” he has said.

Morningstar's media page allows you to watch his remarks from earlier this week. Here is how the page describes his talk:

Tuesday Night - New Years Conference - 12/29/09 General (ret.) Jerry Boykin New Years Dec 29-31 Downloads: 100 Recorded: 12/29/2009 Length: 3 hours 9 minutes Nathaniel Calnin and Melissa Helser lead a time of worship with the songs "Higher" and "Explode My Soul." Ret. General William Boykin brings a sobering message about the invasion of Islam into the United States. Using stories from his decorated past, Gen. Boykin brings light and truth to a dangerous situation growing in America. The evening is concluded by a powerful CD Release concert for the new youth album "Peacebringer." Play Download Windows Media Video (300Kbps, KB)

Tuesday Afternoon - New Years Conference - 12/29/09 Rick Joyner & General Boykin New Years Dec 29-31 Downloads: 80 Recorded: 12/29/2009 Length: 1 hour 30 minutes Rick Joyner and Ret. Lt. General Jerry Boykin teach on the principals and strategies of warfare from historic battles. They share on how we as the body of Christ can apply these lessons to our spiritual walk.

I've left the mistake about his first name alone to show that I've copied the page exactly.

Since leaving the Army, Boykin has written a book and started to take speaking engagements. One wonders if we are seeing an Edwin Walker 2.0 in some ways.

I do know that my friend Bene D has taken note of Boykin before,writing about his concerns that someone with his views was in such an influential position. Boykin's visit to Morningstar is an example of very conservative elements in the armed forces and very aberrant factions in the church cross-pollinating, to the detriment of both.

It's certainly something worth noting and keeping an eye on, whatever your point of view.