More lies, cover ups, deception – Paul Cain, Todd Bentley, Steve Strader

I recently asked the question: Why did Todd Bentley let Paul Cain lie to millions?   There were at least two lies, and not just one. See the background article here is you have not already here.

It was not just I that spotted this lie - many others did, with far more clout than me in church circles, as Paul Cain’s fall is well known, as well as the reasons for it. Other commentators even sympathetic to the Lakeland Outpouring were troubled by Paul Cain’s faux pax. Steve Strang, the publisher of Charisma Magazine  and long-time friend since 9th grade with Stephen Strader of Ignited Church, said on 7th May on his blog:  http://www.strangreport.com/

“…At one of the meetings recently Paul Cain was given a place on the platform. Unfortunately Paul Cain has disqualified himself from ministry due to various sins in his life he has confessed to including drunkenness and homosexuality. Other ministers have worked to restore him, but we are told that the restoration process has not continued. Nevertheless, Paul publicly said in Lakeland that there were “false rumors” about him and that he had lived a “chaste life.” Both are not true. I’ve been told by leaders in the revival that Paul won’t be invited back. I compliment them for this. I can understand how someone is let on the platform and they shouldn’t. But to me, before I attended the first meeting, this was a real caution on their discernment……Much of what I know has come from Steve Strader (whom I have known a long time and who I trust).”

So Steve Strang is told by Steve Strader, some time on or before 7th May, that Paul Cain lied, that the leaders of the revival well knew this, and thus will not invite Paul Cain back because of it. But interestingly, Strang does not seem concerned that the lie remained hidden and covered up to the world – for although some  know of Paul Cain’s sin and hypocrisy, many of particularly the younger crowd do not – and so the lie went unchecked with all of them. Steve Strang does not mention that Paul Cain should immediately have been rebuked and corrected publically for lying, not only while speaking or teaching, but worse still, while prophesying. 

None of them even raised the question about lying spirits evidently being in Cain’s mouth and how a true prophet could not possibly speak out such lies while supposedly speaking for the Lord – for if the Lakeland leaders did as logic and conscience and integrity dictates, then Paul Cain, and many others that back Paul Cain and his prophecies, are also shown up for what they   are – as false prophets with frogs in their mouths too as they echo Cain word for word!

If  Todd Bentley had rebuked Cain then and there, as any man with even a little integrity should have done, then the prophecy about himself being the new Elijah fulfilling the Joel’s Army healing revival visions with stadiums full etc as prophesied by Paul Cain would also   obviously be called into question by the crowd as the lying prophet Paul Cain is shown for what he is – a liar and hypocrit who lacks any fear of God. But Todd Bentley does not care enough about correcting such big lies, and will allow lies to go unchecked, however big, for the sake of his reputation and to make himself look good. That is bad news! What does this say about the man? That he is willing to let lies go unchecked to make himself look better? And what does this say about his prophetic mantle to let another prophet lie while supposedly prophesying? That Todd Bentley like Paul Cain also has such a lying mantle? It makes sense as they both claim William Branham’s angels, and Branham was a liar – both as a prophet and a healer. It raises questions, of course, about the leader’s and prophet’s discernment too – and the discernment of those listening to them, especially if they believed Paul Cain.

On the 11th May, my article came out on this site, and on 12th May, a commentator responded on the post on my website about Cain lying:

“Todd Bentley did not allow Paul Cain to come back to the podium after that. He was honoring him for the vision he caried. The hope was that Paul would have been restored. He is not. Rick Joyner of Morning Star Ministries has posted this in a Special Bulletin section from their web site. I do pray for Paul, but he is not alowed to minister through Fresh Fire or Morning Star now.”

So I went to Rick Joyner’s website, and sure enough there is this special bulletin dated 9th May on there, possibly in response to the concerns expressed by people like Steve Strang around the 7th May.  Rick Joyner has a vested interest to promote the Lakeland Outpouring because of all the interlinking ties with the New Apostolic Reformation and new prophets network. If he speaks against Todd Bentley, not only does he speak against and possibly jeopardise his associated Heritage Outpouring, but all the prophecies and their self-fulfilment spoken over Bentley by  Joyner’s buddies like Bob Jones, Patricia King, Che Ahn etc. Todd Bentley of course is also promoting Bob Jones agenda and the NAR and Latter Rain’s agenda. Rick Joyner is thus going to damage limitate as much as possible for his  sake as much as Todd Bentley’s. This article is from http://www.morningstarministries.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?id=1000031954 (the bold emphasises are mine):

“I kept that hope (about Cain being restored) until Paul spoke in Lakeland about “the allegations” about him and his assertions of having lived a celibate life. That was pretty overwhelming evidence that he has still not repented of these serious transgressions. What Paul called “allegations” are abundant and overwhelming evidence, which Paul has admitted to. However, admitting something is not the same as repenting of it. As long as there is blame-shifting, an attempt to cover them up, or dilute the seriousness of them, the restoration process has at best fallen far short of its purpose.

As it has been reported that Todd would not let Paul come back on the platform after he asserted that he had lived a celibate life is a credit to the integrity that Todd is trying to maintain in his ministry. If Paul had even just said that he had made serious mistakes in his life and owned them just a little, it would have given me hope, but it seemed quite clear to me that not much has changed with Paul, and in fact, they are getting worse. Even so, I am resolved to not give up on Paul for as long as he is with us. I long for the day, as I know Jack and Mike do also, when we can assert that Paul is free of the serious strongholds in his life and should be restored to ministry. Presently, my concern for him grew considerably after his night in Lakeland.

When Paul Cain appeared on the platform of the revival in Lakeland it caused quite a reaction, jamming my personal emails to the point where I thought for a while it might be impossible to answer them all. Some were disconcerted about Paul’s appearance, others by some of the things he said, and others were simply asking if Paul had been restored yet.

The reason why Paul was invited to the Lakeland revival was that he had prophesied that “the last-day ministry” would begin in Florida. I have personally heard Paul say this many times over the years and questioned him about it in depth. I believe it is a true prophecy, and when I heard that Paul was saying that what was happening in Lakeland was the fulfillment of this prophecy, I was very interested to hear what he would say about it.

I also felt that Todd Bentley was right to honor Paul by bringing him to that meeting and letting him share the vision he has carried for so long. As I have shared in the previous Special Bulletins, I think it may have begun with a devotion to honor the fathers as I was shown in a dream. As I was later shown, this was because it was by the dishonoring of fathers and fatherhood that a gate of hell was opened that released much of the evil which has taken a grip on the nation. I consider Paul Cain a spiritual father to us personally and to a number of the important works that have been raised up in these times for “the last-day ministry.”

The commandment to honor our fathers and mothers does not say they have to be “perfect” ones or there would be none to honor. We have all fallen short of His righteousness. Some of the greatest heroes of the faith in the Bible made some of the greatest mistakes. Paul Cain has had some serious failures in his life, but even when Mike Bickle, Jack Deere, and I were compelled to release some of these matters publicly for the protection of the church, I never ceased to consider Paul Cain a hero of the faith, and one who possessed one of the greatest prophetic gifts. Even so, we all knew that if Paul did not submit himself to a real restoration process, he would be a serious danger to himself and others. We could not be true shepherds or watchmen if we allowed that to happen without sounding the warning that we put out.

Later, Paul submitted himself to a restoration process and they declared him restored to ministry. When those who had led this process explained how they had accomplished this so fast, it set off more alarms in me. Some of the communication I had with them and with Paul only solidified my doubts. Even so, I had a great hope that I was wrong, or even if I was right about the validity of their restoration process, that the Lord would intervene some other way so that Paul could be delivered from the powerful strongholds that had taken such a grip on his life.”

So Rick Joyner is agreeing with Steve Strang and Stephen Strader’s initial account. Everyone agrees with each other as to what happened, although the conclusion is still not good enough. They are saying Paul Cain lied, the leaders including Todd Bentley know he lied, Todd Bentley knew Cain lied but hushed it up, and Paul Cain was wrong to do it. All Paul’s fault – blame it on the drunken senile gay underdog. But do not publically undermine anything – keep it as quiet as possible but keep Steve Strange happy and explain it away by putting it all on Cain. But this response is still not good enough for the reasons before mentioned. Because even if  the above account were 100% true, and Todd Bentley ’out of integrity’ would not allow Paul Cain back on the stage, it still was not good enough. The damage had been done and needed corrected. I said on this site post:

“So Rick Joyner NOW claims (because of all the hoo hah) that Todd Bentley would not let Paul Cain back  on the platform because he lied? So very easy to say that, when all the back slapping and all that was to be said by Paul Cain about Todd Bentley and the revival has already  been said, isn’t it?  So easy when there has been a public outcry after the fact, to try to cover your tracks, isn’t it? How do we even know Cain was supposed to come ‘back’ on the platform anyway?

Furthermore, even if the above is true, the fact is, these public lies were not publically retracted – as they should have been immediately   at the time. At best they were covered up. Unless you happen to know these were lies, you would be none the wiser today. That’s still a whopping big lie and Todd Bentley still allowed it. It completely lacks integrity.”

So that was  the state of play. Then we have something else thrown into the equation – a new version of events. The leaders of the revival probably realised that their first version was not good enough too, as although all the blame was put on Paul it still raised doubts in some peoples’ minds.  Todd Bentley is still left looking bad for not publically correcting Cain, and for allowhing him to speak in the first place, and some folk will put two and two together and figure, Well, if Paul Cain lied about that, maybe he has lied many times before, and other of these prophets lie too…. or better still  What spirit are these prophets really speaking by?

An article in Charisma Magazine   (online) dated 13th May, 4 days after Rick Joyner’s statement, and 6 days after Strang’s blog entry,  brings out a damage limitating account, which contradicts the first few accounts completely. And this new version comes out of the mouth of none other than Stephen Strader (do we really need to go into here the lies and fraud dogging the Strader family?). And it is published in no other than the magazine of Steve Strang, Strader’s long time friend. And Steve Strang, even knowing full well (by his own admission on his blog) that this new account was not true, allows it to be published! This version – if believed – (but it cannot be believed because of the other accounts, and also this article only covers ONE lie not two) leaves Paul Cain and Todd Bentley both in the clear. The conclusion does not raise any questions in anybody’s minds as to discernment or integrity or spirits they speak by, as it was all just a big misunderstanding. Perfect, if it was true.

“Paul Cain stirred controversy last week when he made comments before thousands of worshippers in Lakeland, Fla., that seemed to deny his past moral failings. The prominent 78-year-old prophetic minister told a crowd at a revival meeting in Lakeland that “allegations” and rumors circulating about him were not true.

But a senior spokesperson affiliated with what’s dubbed the Florida Outpouring told Charisma  that Cain was not denying his sins, but instead was attempting to refute any perception that he had not repented of them.

The comments made many wonder whether, in alluding to his past, Cain was withdrawing his confession from three years ago, when he publicly acknowledged his failings involving alcoholism and homosexuality.

“It was unfortunate that Paul said something [May 4] that has now been misunderstood,” said Stephen Strader, senior pastor at Ignited Church, a converted storefront on the north side of Lakeland that traveling evangelist Todd Bentley quickly outgrew after revival broke out on April 2.

“Initial reaction to Cain’s statements caused many to believe he was denying [his past sin],” Strader said. “But Paul was referring to the rumors that he had not been restored and had not gone through a restoration process. It was just totally misunderstood.”  {End times note: was his prophecy he has been celibate all his life equally misunderstood?)

Strader believes Cain’s restoration could be genuine. “Whether or not we agree with the group that restored him is irrelevant. He feels he’s been restored. Many people feel he’s been restored. We simply invited Paul to be present for when we replayed his prophecy from 1999.”

That prophecy, according to Cain’s Web site, involved a vision he had in 1999 where he saw “stadiums being filled in the last days” in Florida. Cain said astonishing miracles would take place and that the impact would eventually be felt globally.

“It would be presumptuous for us to say that this is it, but there is every indication that this is it,” Strader said of the prophecy. More than 10,000 people attended meetings each evening last weekend in Lakeland. Venues have included an arena, an open field and a stadium.

“This is day 41 and we are now fulfilling that prophecy, not because we wanted to, but because we’ve had to,” he said. “We did not plan to go to a stadium. It never even crossed our mind to go to a stadium. We were forced into a stadium because there wasn’t a large enough facility available to us.

“The only thing Paul was invited for was to honor him, honor the gift. We love Paul. He was not invited as a speaker. We honored the man, honored his years of service, and that was it. We did not restore him to ministry or anything.”

Though he did not respond to Charisma’s  attempt to seek further clarification, the following statement was posted on Cain’s Web site: “The allegations that Paul was referring to on Sunday in Florida as being untrue were simply allegations that he was unrepentant. Paul has repented of any wrongdoing publicly and has been fully forgiven and restored.”

Strader told Charisma  Cain had a stroke shortly after the incident last week, but is reportedly stable and recovering.”

So there we go, poor old Paul Cain, so misunderstood and perhaps a bit dottery with old age and sick. We should feel sorry for him if anything. All cleared up now. Nobody’s lied or been wrong after all. Everyone in the clear!

A lovely account – if it were true. It cannot be true because of what had already been published by several witnesses – including his own testimony to his best friend! And also like I said, it does not cover the second lie which was even more important anyway.

There seems to be a lot of covering up going on. All the accounts cannot be true! Someone high up is lying – or they all   are, as certain new prophets and apostles and their associates are known to do. I guess they see it as damage limitation, but to me, this just proves what I have asserted all along, that they are a corrupt bunch who lacking fear of God intentionally lie. There’s a lot of money to be made in this much hyped revival.

Update, Ist June, yet another version of events here More lies and contradictions

Here’s some more recent examples of lies from this bunch and their associates: Strange Manifestations on website  and here did Churck Pierce predict earthquake? and here third wave is here   not to forget here: faking it  and here gemstones fraud