Peter Wagner has established a revival council that is reviewing public issues in the Body of Christ related to the move of the Spirit.  When the issue of Todd Bentley’s divorce came up, he asked me how I felt about it.  The following is what I wrote. 

Blessings, Chuck D. Pierce

August 12, 2008

Dear Peter:

When I got up this morning and prayed about the move of God in Lakeland and Todd Bentley, this is what God showed me:  First of all, I felt a compassion to pray for Todd.  The anointing of this move has stirred up a hunger in the Body, and the scrutiny of Todd’s life has probably taken its toll on him.  So when I began to pray for Todd this morning (since I usually set aside Tuesdays to pray), I saw several things.  The Spirit of God is beginning to move greatly.  Also, I feel that your call to set some sort of apostolic authority in place was warranted because of potential problems moving into this move of God.  The order you set in place in Lakeland establishes a structure and boundary for Todd’s problems to be addressed.  Before that, there were no boundaries, and Lakeland had been going on for almost three months. 

The thing we must remember is that God chose to use Todd to stir up the hunger in the Body of Christ.  Therefore, as I prayed, the Lord took me to the life of Samson.   He is a mystery.  He had a Nazarite vow on his life, yet he had many character flaws.  His character flaws did not stop God from using him.  I think this is the biggest misunderstanding that the Body has when it comes to the anointing.  That is why you see anointed men and women being used so mightily by the Lord, and then falling into sexual sin or monetary impropriety.

Because you have set an order for his life now, for the first time he has a shot at being fully accountable and breaking spiritual forces that could destroy his future.  What he needs to do now is submit to apostolic authority over the next nine months.  Ministry should not to be his goal.  Instead, the restoration of covenant alignments must occur in his life.   He and his wife might not be able to withstand the pressure of ministry together in the future, but during these nine months Todd’s choice would be to submit to the authority structure that God has established in his life publicly.  If he does that, he might have a ministry in the future.  If this had not been set in place, this would have been much more serious.  I’m sure others would say you should not have been involved at all. 

Since Stephen Strader requested your help and he is in ICA, you did respond to his Macedonian call.  Yes, you would have looked like a hero if you had waited and gotten involved now.  But just as you wrote recently, you chose to establish the order first and then any spiritual discipline could be brought.  That makes you look like a father. 

I wish all ministries and calls were like Dutch Sheets Ministries.  Dutch has been called to establish the Presence of God during these 90 days through 24-7 worship.   Dutch will walk in his call with utmost integrity because he has spent years disciplining his life, his family is in order, and he is cautious in the way he does ministry. He is an apostolic intercessory leader that will lead the Body into the next move of God with great authority.  His is an establishing ministry.  He will most likely be used to establish the next move of miracles and healing.  I am glad the hunger for this has been stirred up in the Body of Christ.

Again, Todd’s ministry allowed us all to see the hunger in the Body of Christ for miracles, healing and just a touch from God.  Todd had flaws going into the time in which God chose to initiate his call and had not dealt with some of his problems.  But God still chose to use him.  Not only did his ministry reveal this hunger, but many have gotten saved.  Now, hopefully, Todd will enter in the phase of being disciplined and establish his life in a new way so he can be qualified for use in the future.

Have a good flight to Asia. 

Blessings, Chuck