SIGNS & WONDERS

 

CHARLOTTE, NC — As I sat and watched the man of God approach the platform, something seemed different this night. Many people read our paper and they get a taste of what we experience as we travel the country. They know that God has a few chosen prophets in the land that are having tremendous success in the area of divine healing. Last month, we wrote an article on divine healing and William Branham. This night, we found ourselves in the presence of a man who was similar to Branham in the area of healing. Todd Bentley, at age 21, lived in a mobile home and had a booming drug dealership until God got hold of him. He was a person who had never graced the inside of a church. He never had an example of Christianity in front of him to follow. From a broken home, Bentley had learned how to survive in the wilderness called this world. It is amazing when you think about what God has done through him. Maybe it was by design that He called Bentley forth. Maybe God wanted to take one individual, clean off his slate, and create purity so the established church couldn’t destroy what God was going to do through him. Established religion has no hold on this man — those who have been in the church for years have been taken back to square one with this individual. There are still a lot of rough spots on some of the things he does, but overall this man has a plan. He is aggressive - and he is accomplishing results.

There he was, moving in the gifts that God has given him. He made a statement about the church that would be very offensive to some people, but those of the Spirit understand completely what he was saying. "To win the world for Christ, it is going to take signs and wonders. Put your Bibles down and begin to demonstrate the power that is within the pages of that book. It is not enough to just read about the miracles of Jesus - we must demonstrate the power of God in the midst of those who do not believe."

Bentley is more than just a healing evangelist. He is a master of the Word. Like a lawyer trying a case, he went from Scripture to Scripture to make his point. I have never witnessed anyone like him before in Pentecost. The whole atmosphere in that tent in Charlotte changed as he moved about. When he spoke, every part of his body seemed to move to make a point in Scripture. He was a high-tension wire, throwing an arc of spiritual electricity to the people who surrounded him. He spoke of the body of Christ and the realization they should have about the healing gifts and the gifts of the Spirit. He spoke about gaining faith in one area. "Early in my ministry, I began to pray for people over and over again who had hearing problems. The more I prayed, the more I began to see people healed from hearing problems. It was an area of confidence in the meetings when I prayed for the people. When people began to witness the healings, then their faith level began to rise to believe for greater healings."

Bentley gave a testimony of how he would pray 12 hours a day and then work on a job in a lumberyard. He said that after being in constant prayer for several weeks like this, he had a visitation of a 20-ft. tall angel. Bentley said when this heavenly being came into the room, the entire atmosphere changed in an instant. The angel was there to give Todd direction. The angel brought a heavy atmosphere of a honey cloud of glory into the room. The angel was so tall that he passed through the wall of his small home while standing. Todd began to hear the Voice of God give direction then. The Voice said, "I have a word for you, watch and see. You will have to wait upon it. I’m going to call you into the ministry – you are going to quit your regular job and go into the ministry full time. This message will be repeated to you by a woman." Todd Bentley was just 21 years old and after he heard the Voice of God give him direction, he began to have visions of himself before thousands of people in healing meetings. It was all coming fast and it was coming to a novice, but it was of God and the day did come when what God had told him was verified. During a woman’s conference, a woman repeated the same words that were spoken to Todd in his living room. At that woman’s meeting, an offering was taken to help Todd as he had followed God’s instructions and had quit his job at the lumberyard. The arrival of the hurricane had grounded planes from leaving or entering the Charlotte airport, so Bentley didn’t come to the Signs and Wonders Conference until Saturday night, but it was a sure sign that God was on time. He told the capacity tent crowd that he had been off for a while and had not preached and felt rusty. We didn’t know if the hurricane was going to hit Charlotte, but the minute we witnessed Todd Bentley in the pulpit, we had a complete understanding of what a human hurricane looks like and the damage it could do to religious order.

We have seen what the future looks like in the move of God. It is radical, to the point, and effective. What we witnessed in Charlotte this time was the birthing of a young prophet who will only grow in power and wisdom for the future. The Signs and Wonders Conference wouldn’t be complete unless we heard from the man they call, "Papa." Mahesh Chavda spoke on Thursday night and was joined by old friend, Canon Andrew White. The Glory was in the tent. People in more than 169 nations logged on to the Internet to see the Signs and Wonders Conference, live, as it happened. Mahesh admonished those who were in the tent to go forward, "The Lord wants to energize and bring strength to those who are struggling. This is the
best time to be alive. The Lord has saved the best wine for this moment and time. God has come to remove fear. Many of those named in the book of Hebrews had times when they had messed up, but most of them that are written in that book were men that ended up as the champions of faith." Mahesh talked about the time he was baptizing people in the Congo River. "We met a person later on from that experience who was delivered while we were baptizing people. She was so wild at the time, but later when we were flying on Zaire Airlines, a young woman came up and said that she was that young woman who was delivered that time in the Congo
River. God is going to use those who are the imperfect to bring His glory upon the face of the earth." The power of God began to move as Bonnie and Canon Andrew White began to minister to individuals in the tent. The glory touched all those who came forward for prayer. A tent is one of the most awesome places to be. You can sense and feel the movement of the Holy Spirit as He lingers and walks among the people during the personal time for prayer. The powerful ministry of the Watch of Lord and All Nations Church continues to be a blessing to those who come to these conferences. Canon Andrew White and Todd Bentley are both very approachable people.

    They are as different from each other as daylight and dark, but the glory of God is upon both of these men. Canon White is still in the midst of the dispute in Iraq and Todd Bentley is planning more ministry trips to the nations of Africa.
    How awesome God is! Whether it is in the area of diplomacy or divine healing, He is raising up men of integrity to go into the
battle. These are the last days and the Holy Spirit is drawing people to Christ more and more as new ministers with unique calls are brought to the front for the last great move of God upon the earth before Jesus comes.