NickleandDimed Wrote:

> Couldn't hurt. Less fellowship isolation. Big
> improvement over G&M outreach to cult leader moron
> Todd Bentley.

Never heard of Todd Bentley, until now. This is the summary from Wikipedia:

"Todd Bentley (born 10 January 1976 [not verified in body]) is a Canadian Christian evangelist. He was a key figure of the Lakeland Revival and was in leadership of Fresh Fire Ministries until stepping down in August 2008 after admitting an extramarital affair."

BTW, shouldn't he be commended for having an extramarital affair? ;)

Todd Bentley's 'resume enhancement' came to light shortly after holding a large weekend gathering in L.A. that the entire LW fellowship was encouraged to attend, and where G&M received a personal blessing from the aforementioned.

How the mighty seem to fall . . .

The reason I am encouraged by Gary reaching out to those outside TLWF is that it is a baby step in ending the isolation TLWF has experienced from other Christians. I know we all tend to look at church structures instead of the individuals within those structures. The Catholic Church system may leave much to be desired, but there are still good people within that system. I think the Rio Archbishop as a person may be helpful to Gary, not the Catholic Church as a system. My friend David left home at 13 to be trained as a priest and then spent 15 years living in a mud hut in Africa trying to help the poor. His sister Dorothy spent her whole life serving those who nobody cared about in Brazil, even after receiving death threats. She knew she would be murdered, and still refused to stop serving them. “Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friend.” The HBO documentary film “They Killed Sister Dorothy” was made about her life.

I wonder how many "doctrinally correct" Christians would give up marriage, family, career etc. for someone who cannot possibly repay them. As James says, “Show me your faith by your actions”. Here are two Catholics that certainly were not after money and power. They gave it all up to serve the least. That’s real Christianity – taking care of widows and orphans – regardless of your name tag. I also wonder if we will actually make the effort to get past our false concepts and get to know people that may be a little different than us? We may discover that they are not as different from ourselves as we first thought. God’s love will help us bridge the communication gaps.

Do we really understand how doctrinally offensive it was for Jesus to tell Jews about a Good Samaritan – especially using him to illustrate the short comings of the Jewish leaders. Maybe today it would be the Good Gay or the Good Muslim – something we as Christians would find equally offensive. For the religious right, it might even be the Good Democrat – God forbid. After all, every “Good Christian” knows that all Democrats want to murder babies and there could not possibly be anything of value that they might have to offer. Those types of stereotypes or “us and them” thinking keep us from being able to have relationships with wonderful people. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus taught us to love our enemies and to do good to those who treat us badly? How has being the instrument of “God’s judgement” in the earth worked out for TLWF. None of those “pathetic words” have come to pass after all that effort. Perhaps God is really after redemption instead. Mercy triumphs over judgement.

changedagain Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> NickleandDimed Wrote:
>
> > Couldn't hurt. Less fellowship isolation. Big
> > improvement over G&M outreach to cult leader
> moron
> > Todd Bentley.
>
> Never heard of Todd Bentley, until now. This is
> the summary from Wikipedia:
>
> "Todd Bentley (born 10 January 1976 [not verified
> in body]) is a Canadian Christian evangelist. He
> was a key figure of the Lakeland Revival and was
> in leadership of Fresh Fire Ministries until
> stepping down in August 2008 after admitting an
> extramarital affair."
>
> BTW, shouldn't he be commended for having an
> extramarital affair? ;)


Here's more on Todd [www.letusreason.org]

Todd says he has access to the same angel that visited William Branham. That's the least of the bs.

To think that G&M would reach out to a con man the likes of Todd Bentley and bring him into the church I think shows G&M's lack of discernment and perception. If you are still in TLWF, you need to read the link.

Gary's outreach to the Catholics is an upgrade compared to Todd.

Thank you changedagain and lily. Hadn't a clue about Todd Bentley's bio. According to John, Gary was Joshua. Leading the fellowship into the Kingdom. Not more bull sh*t.

I had never heard of William Branham until after I left TLWF. Todd Bentley was not the only one who had an interest in Branham. It is very interesting to me that G&M were also drawn to Bentley. Although John denied having any interest in the Latter Rain Movement, boxes of Latter Rain reel to reel tapes were taken out of Martha’s house after she passed away. You tell me if any of this sounds familiar: the Latter Rain, restoration of the church, restoration of the five-fold ministries, pre-rapture spiritual second coming of Christ, new revelation and prophesies, manifestation of the sons of God, overcoming death before Christ’s second coming, dominion now theology, mainstream Christianity referred to as Babylon, personal ministry with directive words from God, emphasis on Jewish feasts, Manchild doctrine, Joel’s army and militancy, deeper levels of revelation leading to resurrection life, incarnation of Christ in a many- membered body, shepherding, and father/son mentoring. Most of those are not mainstream Christian teachings. About the only thing missing from Latter Rain teaching that later became the beliefs of TLWF is that John was the Door Opener Apostle to the kingdom – oh, and how could I forget the Lamp of Israel.

Many of the Latter Rain spinoffs included the leader having some special lofty ministry. Does anyone else remember John being the Elijah ministry at Shiloh or prayers for his resurrection after he died – just like William Branham? When a pastor at Shiloh was interviewed about prayers for John’s resurrection, he didn’t recall that ever taking place. Those of us that were there can’t even imagine how you could possibly forget –unless he was just lying. John also was very interested in the Great Pyramid and astrology - just like Branham. Much of John’s teaching was claimed to have come from visitations – again, like Branham. It is an eye opener to research William Branham and the Latter Rain Movement – you certainly will not come away thinking John was an original.

Larry. That Shiloh pastor was definitely lying.

puddington Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Larry. That Shiloh pastor was definitely lying.


Gary insisted that members of the fellowship pray for John's return. That was a significant dividing line following John's death...along with pledging allegiance to the lamp. If you resisted, you were shunned. I lost good, long-time friends as a result. They rightly protested this directive.

A Personal Time With Cardinal Dom Orani

[www.garyandmarilynhargrave.com]

It is hard to imagine that TLW members will be encouraged to start attending Catholic services, or more unimaginable, be encouraged to actually become Catholics. Perhaps there are hopes of picking off some marginal Catholics to buttress up falling fellowship numbers.

What is and has become evident is that there will be no shortage of photo-opts and VIP opportunities for TLW leadership. As has been the case, the focus has always been on the leadership, leaving the folks in the cheap seats whatever crumbs may fall from the table.

Good point kBoy. The unexpected Catholic connection sure has spawned a lot of joking and sarcasm speculation on the forum, but I don't think the Catholics are going to give up their doctrines that they are the one true church or is the LW going to give up their doctrines that they are destined to be the manifested sons of God. BTW, I doubt that the average Catholic worships Mary except maybe in Latin American countries; however, I'm sure the hierarchy does. Years ago one of the Popes (who was shot) claimed it was Mary who protected him. The Mary adoration runs deep among the hierarchy. Back to the point, it seems the whole unity/oneness movement is nothing more than dialogue and as you said, photo opts. Did you see the photos of Silas. He sure has let himself go. Anyway, as Larry and NickleandDimed suggested, the dialogue and prayer time together hopefully will minimize the isolation of the members.

Larry, just a thought, do you know what happened to those reel to reel tapes that were taken out of Martha's house? Who in the family listened to them? Just curious.