I haven’t been following blogs about Todd Bentley recently, largely because they are so often full of speculative nastiness. But my eye was caught by a post at Onward, Forward, Toward… because it linked to one of my posts. And there I found some interesting information which seems to be more than speculation. It is certainly true that someone has set up a Myspace page in Todd’s name. This appears to be new, with a signup date of 16th December 2008.
I cannot confirm what is stated in the post, that the Myspace page has been set up by Todd himself, or at least by someone acting on his behalf. There is surely the possibility that this is an unofficial page set up by someone wanting to blacken Todd’s name even further – or my a misguided supporter. But it does look quite genuine.
What I discovered is that linked to this Myspace page there is a blog. Now the Myspace blogging software is so poor that the link to View Todd’s Blog leads to an almost unreadable page. But there are three posts there, all dated 16th December 2008, which can be read if accessed individually. And they do appear to be genuine writings by Todd, although not necessarily new ones.
PJ Miller, who has also posted about Todd’s new Myspace page, claims that
You won’t find anything on his page concerning his recent troubles–including his separation, impending divorce [he lists himself as ‘single’] or the fact he is continuing to live in adultery.
The fact here is not the presumption that Todd is continuing to live in adultery (for which the only evidence offered is that one of his Myspace friends is allegedly the woman with whom he has admitted an inappropriate relationship). The fact is that there is in the Myspace blog material relevant to Todd’s personal situation, although not explicitly about it. For two of Todd’s three posts are about Restoration. Here is an extract from this post, based on Isaiah 61:2-4:
Actually, did you know that it’s one thing to loose and undo the work of the devil—it’s one thing to be set free—but it’s another thing to have God restore back in your life all the damage that was done because of the oppression of the enemy?! In other words, just think for a moment about the alcoholic that gets set free, and we thank God for that. But what about all the aftermath—the damage that the alcoholism did to the children and others—or the drug addict that’s now free, but the family is still broke?
The fact is, there are testimonies of people that have come into notable freedom, yet there still remain lingering negative consequences. But biblical restoration cuts off those negative consequences! That’s because, when God restores, one: He brings an increase; two: He multiplies beyond where you were; and three: He adds the extra, making it better than it was before. Look at Job. When God restored Job, He gave him double (Job 42:10). In fact, you cannot be touched by the anointing of restoration and, for example, just get your money back at the same measure. It’s not just recovery of a former condition. No! You’re not going back to a former state. You’re going back to better! I mean, when God restores, say double, it’s everything double—life, joy, and revelation, and much more!
Is this the kind of restoration Todd is looking for? Indeed God can restore him from his current brokenness and give him an anointing that is double even that which was poured out at Lakeland. But one prerequisite for that is repentance. There is no mention of that in this article, although it is a start for Todd to recognise “the oppression of the enemy” in what has happened to him. What we do read is that when Todd was praying for his father to be saved God
revealed to me that my dad had made certain choices and he wanted the darkness. That being the case God was prevented from breaking in to help him.
Todd has also reportedly made certain choices, to live in a sinful way, which prevent God from restoring him. If he seeks restoration, first he needs to make different choices. The details of what he needs to do are known only to his close advisers. But it must include turning away from any inappropriate relationship with his former nanny and seeking reconciliation with his wife and children.