Filmmaker Roy Petersen kindly advises that his documentary on the "Lakeland Revival", featuring Todd Bentley, is now readily available.
It's not on DVD, or at your local theatre, but for a small fee, you can rent the ability to temporarily view it on your computer.
I'll let Roy explain in his own words:
"The 52 minute film is still with our sales agent for broadcast tv, but no sales as of yet.
"No plans for [sales of the film on DVD using] amazon right now- if the online rental of the 70 minute is successful then we'll do a DVD with lots of extras. Right now the best and most immediate way for the film to spread is online and I am liking the new dynamo player which gives filmmakers a lot of freedom."
"I am happy with this longer film as it covers more of the tangibly powerful "breakout" meetings at Morningstar in 2008-- and more of my time with Ante Pavkovic [the leader of the OSA priest at Bentley's service at Morningstar last year], my good brother. When he is preaching, its hard to make him laugh- but I did it, he laughs in this film."
"We were able to make an additional 30 minute film which is included in the rental. The greatest aspect of the lakeland outpouring, at least from my perspective, was its first 30 days- and I think the simple, basic interviews in this film show what a surprise it was, and how the Presence of God really touched people during the initial meetings at Ignited church."
Roy has a link on his blog where you can see a free preview, and get the temporary ability to see the complete film and its extra film.
Whatever your point of view, I predict it should be worth seeing.
I haven't taken the opportunity to see the film yet, but I have a caution that I would like to offer, if I can put my blogger cap on for a moment.
It seems that Roy may have picked up how the Todd Bentley brains trust might be changing its appraisal of how they should talk about the revival.
Roy alludes to this in his remarks about the second film on the earliest days of Lakeland, before the GOD TV cameras showed up. No doubt he will have Todd Bentley and others talking about how nice and uncorrupted the revival seemed at the time. (Todd Bentley made a point, in one of his first webinars, to complain that people were asking him about merchandise that they wanted to sell at the revival.)
The various clips of GOD TV footage was used by critics of the revival to smite Todd Bentley hip and thigh. So, the Bentley's brains trust may be thinking, why not appeal to a pre-GOD TV "perfect" version of Lakeland?
Then, when Roy Petersen brings along his cameras, you can say something like "Boy, if you were only here then Roy, the Lakeland revival was great then..."
The very earliest days of Lakeland may have been good. I concede the possibility. But I have my doubts.
Given my knowledge of Bentley, I suspect, that due to his nature, things might have always been pear-shaped at Lakeland.
Something passed on, second-hand, at the time, leads me to think this too.
Remember how evangelist Robert Ricciardelli was one of the first critics of Lakeland. Well, in an extended interview, as the revival was ending (or collapsing) on Seattle christian radio station KGNW, Ricciardelli related how during his investigations he heard of an exchange between Todd Bentley and one of his friends, revivalist Craig Kinsley.
Kinsley, Ricciardelli related on the radio show, was helping at Lakeland during the first weeks of the revival. (The time perhaps to be cited admiringly by Petersen.)
During the opening of the revival, Kinsely is alleged to have thought that little was happening, according to Ricciradelli's report on the radio show.
Todd reportedly told Kinsley that they needed to work to "keep this [revival] going."
Kinsley's response, according to Ricciardelli?
"Keep what going?"