Todd Bentley’s (and prophet Bob Jones) angel, Emma

I copied this following article (written by Todd Bentley, in his own words) about ‘his’ angel Emma from his own website back in December. I have been meaning to write on him for that long – as I watched him on God TV at that time and was horrified how obviously demonic parts of his ministry was – but I have just not had enough time until now to properly write up all my thoughts on him and his ministry – and even then this is more rushed than I would like because of pressure of work. However, the recent events at Lakeland Ignited church, have pushed this article in my ‘to do’ list at the front of the pile, and an urgent warning needs to resound so more people do not get caught up in this counterfeit revival.

There are a lot of concerns (not just one) that many watchmen in the church have about Todd Bentley and his ministry. I have briefly mentioned some of these reasons on this site already, but obviously feel it important to go into more depth now. Todd Bentley’s past has been brought up (he was jailed as a teenager for child molestation), but this is not an issue for me at all in terms of why I am critiquing him (and I did not know this piece of his history until a couple of days ago anyway). Though I in no way condone his actions, nor do I glibly gloss over them (I do not in any way, nor could I – it is horrific and inexcusable) – I do not think it fair to judge a repentant reformed forgiven born again adult (if that is what they are) for what they did as a messed up abused kid before coming to Christ. So that factor shall be of no regard in my weighing or testing his ministry at all – for if the old is done away with, I shall not bring it up.

Anyway here is the article by Todd Bentley:-

“Now let me talk about an angelic experience with Emma. Twice Bob Jones asked me about this angel that was in Kansas City in 1980: “Todd, have you ever seen the angel by the name of Emma?” He asked me as if he expected that this angel was appearing to me. Surprised, I said, “Bob, who is Emma?” He told me that Emma was the angel that helped birth and start the whole prophetic movement in Kansas City in the 1980s. She was a mothering-type angel that helped nurture the prophetic as it broke out. Within a few weeks of Bob asking me about Emma, I was in a service in Beulah, North Dakota. In the middle of the service I was in conversation with Ivan and another person when in walks Emma. As I stared at the angel with open eyes, the Lord said, “Here’s Emma.” I’m not kidding. She floated a couple of inches off the floor. It was almost like Kathryn Khulman in those old videos when she wore a white dress and looked like she was gliding across the platform. Emma appeared beautiful and young-about 22 years old-but she was old at the same time. She seemed to carry the wisdom, virtue and grace of Proverbs 31 on her life.

She glided into the room, emitting brilliant light and colors. Emma carried these bags and began pulling gold out of them. Then, as she walked up and down the aisles of the church, she began putting gold dust on people. “God, what is happening?” I asked. The Lord answered: “She is releasing the gold, which is both the revelation and the financial breakthrough that I am bringing into this church. I want you to prophecy that Emma showed up in this service-the same angel that appeared in Kansas city-as a sign that I am endorsing and releasing a prophetic spirit in the church.” See, when angels come, they always come for a reason; we need to actually ask God what the purpose is. Within three weeks of that visitation, the church had given me the biggest offering I had ever received to that point in my ministry. Thousands of dollars! Thousands! Even though the entire community consisted of only three thousand people, weeks after I left the church the pastor testified that the church offerings had either doubled or tripled.

During this visitation the pastor’s wife (it was an AOG church) got totally whacked by the Holy Ghost – she began running around barking like a dog or squawking like a chicken as a powerful prophetic spirit came on her. Also, as this prophetic anointing came on her, she started getting phone numbers of complete strangers and calling them up on the telephone and prophesying over them. She would tell them that God gave her their telephone number and then would give them words of knowledge. Complete strangers. Then angels started showing up in the church.

I believe Emma released a financial and prophetic anointing in that place. That was the first angel that I have ever seen in the form of a woman. Some angels I’ve seen seemed like they were neither male nor female. However, Emma appeared as a woman who was like a Deborah, like a mother in Zion. When she came, she began to mentor, nurture and opened up a prophetic well. The people in the church began having trances and visions and the pastor began getting words of knowledge and moving in healing. That congregation also saw more financial breakthrough than they had ever seen before.

I was at another meeting in Atlanta when my wife, Shonnah, saw two financial angels walk into the service and pour oil out on the pastor. Shonnah then knew there was financial breakthrough coming. That night two people wrote the pastor cheques for $16,000 and $17,000 and others also wrote cheques to Fresh Fire for thousands of dollars, which we used for missions to the nations. In addition, many people experienced great financial blessing as well. The day after this angelic visitation one guy had millions of dollars released to him-he had been waiting for about 10 years for this breakthrough. All this financial release came because my wife saw two financial angels walk up and stand on the platform. Can you imagine? We need to pray for the Father to give us financial angels for our lives, our church and region. With this angelic assistance, we will prevail and overcome the warfare trying to hold back our financial breakthrough. Some of you don’t know how to use the angels in intercession like this. You don’t even know whether it’s OK or not….”

There are several red flags that immediately are raised from this piece.

We see straight away that this ‘angelic introduction’ comes through ‘prophet’ Bob Jones of the Kansas City Prophets. This, if we recall, is the man who had young ladies strip naked before him to recieve a prophetic word from him in private, and who claimed Jesus told him when he was in mental asylum he had to kill or forgive people to get his mind back, and from whom other spiritual abuses and elitism came from. (He is now supposedly under the pastoral care of Mike Bickle of IHOP/The Metro Vineyard fame, though I dispute these prophets have ever been pastored. Their supposed discipline and rapid restoration by John Wimber of the Vineyard after the infamous Ernie Gruen report came out detailing some of their heresies and abuses was laughable, and did far more harm than good as it got them and their heresies and their accompanying spirits and strange fire accepted into the wider church.) Bob Jones was then, and is still, a heretical false prophet – his words and practices are abusive and often weird (eg he claims his hands change colour to indicate spiritual conditions), his theology is Latter Rain Manifest Sons of God dominionism and blasphemy (direct from Branham’s ‘genetical’ line including Paul Cain), and many of his prophetic words miss the mark – scripturally and also historically. (But he claims that it’s not only ok to miss the mark, but it is to be expected as the church is not ready apparently for prophetic accuracy!) So therefore for someone to claim they got something spiritually imparted to them from Bob Jones is worrying. Of course it is also odd that one seems to have to be personally introduced to these angels by Bob Jones, which is spiritual elitism and bears all the hallmarks of cultlike tendancies. If these angels were truly from God, they need introduction from no man.

Bob Jones has, however, ‘introduced’ various angels to the many of the ‘new’ line of (false) prophets (eg the Elijah List favourites) including Patricia King of Extreme Prophetic (to whom Todd Bentley is linked) and Sharneal Wolverton of Swift Fire Ministries (Note the name ‘Swift’ Fire). One of the angels is a golden eagle called Swift – have you seen how many golden eagles there are on most modern prophetic websites? It was the erroneous false prophet and healer and occultist William Branham (who many pentecostals revere despite his terrible theology – including Todd Bentley (Todd also claims one of Branham’s angels now accompanies his ministry: allegedly, Cal Pierce of the Spokane Healing rooms (linked to John G Lake) came to a meeting with a 15ft high angel ‘in tow’ and told him that the angel was John Knox’s and William Branham’s angel and that if Todd ‘received’ the angel it would partner him in ministry.) It was William Branham who wrongly said that ‘Prophets are often represented by Eagles in the Scriptures, known for their vision, power, and speed…’ So the symbolism for the golden eagle is an identification with the NAR prophets, but also with their false spirits and ultimately to William Branham, his false spirits, teachings, prophecies and the heresies of the Latter Rain.

Then we move on to ‘Emma’s’ identity. (Incidently, all angels in scripture appeared to people as ‘men’ and they did not float above the floor, they were not all weird colours as described, they appeared as tall ‘normal’ looking men). We are told by Todd Bentley that Bob Jones told him: ‘Emma was the angel that helped birth and start the whole prophetic movement in Kansas City in the 1980s. She is a mothering-type angel that helped nurture the prophetic as it broke out…’ That is one huge reason not to touch Emma or any of her ‘gifts’ with a bargepole (if she even exists and is not a lie or urban legend – for many of these ministries are NOT adverse to lying or to charlatanism or at least gross exageration, double-speak and cover-ups). The prophetic movement in Kansas City reeks and is false as can be. (See previous articles on this). It is not the true prophetic, and thus any angel (if there are angels involved as claimed) was not from God in birthing it, but is rather an angel from the Father of Lies, albeit dressed as an angel of light.

The described mothering element to Emma is also troubling, for God’s real angels point to the Father, or the Holy Spirit as a comforter – they are not mothers or fathers who ask men to come to them to be comforted or mothered or salved, but ‘only’ ministering spirits, servants of fire, sent to help those who will inherit salvation.

The next red flag is the gold dust and gemstones and oil element – a false sign and wonder (again not adverse to being counterfeited by human trickery) that I have written on before so will not unduly repeat what I have said on it again here, except to underline that is more akin to Catholicism than protestanism (and it is to Rome, which is where this whole thing is going or wanting to go), as Patricia King, Joshua Mills and their cronies are even now pointing to stigmatism as another sign and wonder and Rick Joyner and C Peter Wagner and others all extol Catholicism’s virtues. Bleeding (or oil pouring from) statues could be next from this lot. Patricia King apparently has three angels who appear wherever she goes. (Angels are obviously the in thing). One is red – one is green – her prosperity angel (green like the dollar which these prophets are overly fond of) – and the other angel is either blue or yellow. The words ‘Colossians Heresy’ comes to mind (more on that later).

The next red flag is Todd Bentley’s prophetic testimony that God told him “I want you to prophecy that Emma showed up in this service-the same angel that appeared in Kansas city – as a sign that I am endorsing and releasing a prophetic spirit in the church.” If this actually happened as I know many of these men and women are bare-faced LIARS and fakes, then Todd testifies he is a false prophet as God could not, and would not, and cannot endorse these manifestations or the word testimony that goes with them which is false Latter Rain heresy and dominionism. (Which I think is why, despite his faith, the father’s baby in the icebox brought to Brownsville was not raised from the dead as God does not and will not endorse liars, cheats, fakes, charlatans, false prophets, false teachers, and heretics – and David Hogan, sadly, belongs to this group). Furthermore, if God is ‘endorsing’ the release of the prophetic spirit within the church then Todd still has a long way to go if his own prophecies are anything to go by (see here for example: http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/todd-bentley-prophesying-bad-cold-reading/ ) and another one about his encounter with Paul and Abraham in heaven which I aim to post shortly. It is a very odd and very false prophetic spirit indeed that Emma testifies to.

‘When she came, she began to mentor, nurture and opened up a prophetic well. The people in the church began having trances and visions and the pastor began getting words of knowledge and moving in healing.’

Todd Bentley testifies against himself and his angels when he says this for it is no true prophetic well that was opened up, with true spiritual gifts, but rather it was a stinking cesspit of deception and delusion. As I write this, I am reminded of the vision I had some weeks back (from http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/prophecy-re-rick-warren-purpose-driven-life-purpose-driven-churches/ ) – :

‘I then saw a vision of a water well, with lots of disgusting thick black sludge dredged at the bottom. I saw a man standing at the top of the well on one of its walls, and he held a long bargepole down the well and he was poking down and prodding about at this vile sludge with this bargepole – and it was intentional on his part though I know not why, to break this sludge loose so it would mix in with the fresh clean water and pollute it (nb: he was not trying to clean the well and get rid of the sludge). He was doing the opposite of what you’d want done with fresh drinking water, you should not do this. This was what effectively Rick Warren was doing with his movement. The bargepole rings of the expression ‘you should not touch it with a bargepole’ (e.g. not touch something even from a distance). The man resembled a resistance fighter in the war – on the enemy’s side though, as I saw much darkness in him – and it was like it was all being done very underhand/subversive and was counter tactics while dressed in normal civilian gear and seemingly being nice and normal and one of us. I thought this vision was something to do with ecumenicism/interfaith polluting the clear water. As the man poked about, I could smell rather acrid dirty smells filling the air and there was also a smell reminding me of smells from the Middle East. (I think this means interfaith mingling with the Islamic faith as well as with Roman Catholicicism etc).

I was reminded of the scripture ’with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.’ God said to me, comparing this scene with the scripture: these are not the true wells and this is not the true water of salvation.’

Such I believe are Bentley’s prophetic wells he is dipping into – stinking cesspits with no clear water, but rather mist that obscures men’s eyes from the truth.

We also see the fleshly and not spiritual focus of these manifestations- the odd bodily behaviour that historically accompanies the counterfeit (see the articles on this site on The French Prophets and the Tornoto Blessing for more detail ,for example) which we are told by Todd Bentley is actually being ‘whacked in the Holy Ghost’ – yet the Holy Spirit is one of order and of self control – and the focus on the gold, on the money, on manna. ‘That congregation also saw more financial breakthrough than they had ever seen before.’ Yet the true test of the Holy Spirit is NOT the fleshly manifestations, not the alleged angelic encounters, not the prophecy, but whether the congregation are led to God, are led to their knees in submission and obedient service and self sacrifice (are this church involved in more missions, are they feeding more widows and orphans, where is that gold going to, that is a test), and ultimately and always, that they are led into all truth. If they are not led into truth but error by the angel Emma and her servant Todd, then it is the spirit of error that accompanies him, and not the truth.

***

I found the following additional on-topic pieces from Andrew Strom’s revival school website:

Somebody had a dream. In the dream there were people talking about the angel Emma.

‘Then I heard the Lord’s voice say “Emma is not one of my angels“, or something to that effect. My brother then searched the internet for a connection of emma, after I had told him about my dream. We found that emma actually means to “embrace everything”. We also found that another name for satan is “emma-o”. Then later, my mother heard about emma. She instantly saw the devil, who had visited her as a baby christian. God had showed her that this devil, who had called herself the enchantress, was actually satan. Then, my wife went to a Todd Bentley conference. She said she felt horrible evil there. But she was being as open to the Lord as she could be. All of her friends were being touched by “god”, while she was not. By the end she has having a really hard time with everything. She thought that perhaps it was her. Anyhow, he (Bentley) was selling “annointed” hankerchiefs there, and taking money from people so that he could pray over them. I only found this part out within the last week here. It came as no surprise really. But I was still stunned because I had the revelation of him before I knew about any of this rotten fruit.’

Todd Bentley refused to hear a prophecy the Lord tried to give him through somebody. Todd spoke bodly to the audience saying he reached a point in his ministry that he knows who he is and where he is going; and then he arrogantly said he did not need any more prophetic words but we (those in the audience) do need them. This is elitest, proudful and arrogant, and of course false.

See also http://endtimespropheticwords.wordpress.com/2008/06/09/the-angel-emma-is-not-here-more-lies-and-contradictions-from-todd-bentley/

All Todd Bentley and Lakeland articles here