In This Month's Report:
* Editorial - Peter Wagner's Personal Report of Lakeland Outpouring
* Feedback - 'Christian Thuggery'
* June Events - Outpouring in New Jersey
* June Ministry - Impacting the Northeast and Beyond
* News and Resources - 2000 Year Old 'Jesus Tree' Sprouts
* Products - Four Exciting Resources (see link below)
* Partnership - Invest in God's Program for the Northeast of America
* God Thoughts - Breathing Down Your Neck

We would love to hear from you; please send us your feedback today. Don’t forget the ever-popular 'GOD THOUGHTS' at the end of this report. Enjoy! JB

Note from Jeff: This month, I am including C. Peter Wagner's personal report of the Apostolic Alignment Service that I was a part of on June 23rd in Lakeland, Florida. This was originally sent to The Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team assembled by Dr. Peter Wagner, members of which are listed below - Jeff Beacham.

To: Lakeland Outpouring Apostolic Team: Chuck Pierce, Dutch Sheets, Lee Grady, Steve Strang, Ché Ahn, Jeff Beacham, David Cannistraci, Joseph Askins, Bill Johnson, John Arnott

Subject: Personal Report of Lakeland Outpouring - C. Peter Wagner, June 25, 2008

As all of you know, what I believe to be God-orchestrated circumstances over the past three weeks or so have brought me mainstream into The Lakeland Outpouring and the controversies surrounding it.

I am writing this from Lakeland. The night before last, Doris and I attended the meeting in the tent along with 10,000 others, the largest crowd yet since meeting in the tent. It was the 82nd day of the Outpouring. Todd Bentley used his speaking time in giving the most detailed testimony so far of the “dark night of the soul” that he experienced for 18 months of 2005-2007. It was a very remarkable and transparent confession of his pride during the ten years previously and details of the wilderness that God took him through to break the pride. He was very clear about his lack of discipline, his emotions out of control, his rejection of God, his dislike of reading scripture, public meltdown on the platform, memories of childhood rejection, loneliness, sexual abuse, his marriage on the brink of divorce, etc. He was so burnt out, he cried four hours per day for 21 days straight.

When it was over, God restored everything related to his staff, his marriage, his ministry, and his newly-refined personal character. This was a very remarkable and touching presentation. There was no hint of victimization or wanting a pity party. It was a confession of his own sin and the consequences he paid for disobedience. Doris and I were very touched by this, and we were thankful to God for a window on Todd’s character that we didn’t expect to be so wide open to us.

Let me remind you that Doris and I have been very close to other similar outpourings, especially the John Wimber signs & wonders phenomenon of the late 70s and 80s as well as the Argentine Revival of the 80s and 90s. We believe we have paid our dues in terms of the ability to discern truth from error and also in receiving severe and often painful criticism for some of the judgments we made in supporting those two movements. As we observed and participated in the meeting in the tent, we became very nostalgic about Wimber and Argentina, even noting some physical resemblance between Todd and Wimber. His accuracy in words of knowledge reminded us of both John Wimber in the past and Robert Henderson in the present. The worship time was similar to the worship we experience in Freedom Church in Colorado Springs, except on a larger and more exuberant scale. We saw or felt nothing that would cross the lines we have previously experienced in high-profile revival. We have learned that God-driven revival is often messy, tending to pull some out of their religious comfort zones, but at the same time opening gates for new seasons of the movement of God.

All this was in preparation for last night, June 23rd, when we held a ceremony of apostolic alignment for Todd Bentley... who would be aligned with Ché Ahn, Bill Johnson and John Arnott, representing Revival Alliance, who would then commission him as the evangelist to lead The Lakeland Outpouring. A few of us met with Todd personally before the service, and we found him to be a wonderful individual. Doris and I had never met him before. I explained to him what the ceremony would be like, and he agreed. I thought that it was interesting when he wanted to change one thing I had written in this document, because I could then run a quiet test of his humility and his respect for authority. Keep in mind that this was Todd’s ministry and Todd’s meeting. However, he had delegated the leadership of the ceremony to me. I suggested that his change was not wise, and he immediately accepted my decision. We were on the same page! In fact, we like each other!

The scenario was that I took the podium and called around me Todd, Ché, Bill and John. I then called to the platform a number of apostles whom I had chosen to stand behind us: Stephen Strader of Lakeland, FL, Karl Strader of Lakeland, FL, Jeff Beacham of Sydney, Australia, Rick Joyner of Ft. Mill, SC, Doris Wagner of Colorado Springs, CO, Sharon Stone of Burton, England, Paco Garcia of Chiclana, Spain, Clarice Fluitt of Monroe, LA, Richard Maiden of Scottsdale, AZ, Michael Maiden of Phoenix, AZ, Joshua Fowler of Orlando, FL, Barry Boucher of Ottawa, Canada, and Wesley Campbell of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Unfortunately, Bishop Bill Hamon had to cancel because of a travel problem. I then read the paper I am attaching and, despite several requests, I even desisted from telling a joke! When I finished, I handed the microphone to Ché and he was in charge.

Ché, Bill and John laid on hands and anointed Todd with a special new “Be Revived” oil that Chuck Pierce (who was in Africa) sent for the event. Todd went down under the power of the Spirit and the three prophesied over him, commissioning him as the evangelist to lead The Lakeland Outpouring. Then, most of the backup apostles prayed and prophesied as well. The power of the Holy Spirit was so heavy on that event that you could almost have cut it with a knife!

It was quite evident to those present that this was a groundbreaking event. A serious public problem had been growing in the body of Christ revolving around concerns about Lakeland from respected leaders. Even “schism” had been mentioned frequently. Because of the extensive media coverage through GOD TV, it was much more than a private or a trivial matter. Something was called for to set things in order, and this is the stated role of apostles. We are now in a place in what I see as the Second Apostolic Age that apostles can agree publicly to bring alignment. The seventeen apostles involved in this event represented three distinct apostolic streams: ICA (10 were ICA members), Revival Alliance, and MorningStar. Even though we are not networked formally, we believe in and support each other, and we stand together when a crisis such as this one comes along. I may be wrong, but I cannot recall an event of this nature in the recent history of the Church.

There was a notable prophetic dimension accompanying the event. Around a month ago, Bob Jones prophesied that on June 22nd, the outpouring would increase so much that it would appear that the revival would really begin at that time. Of course no one knew that June 23rd, the day after June 22nd, would be the date of Todd’s apostolic alignment which could well be the event to release increased spiritual power. Parenthetically, both June 22nd and June 23rd broke previous attendance records in the 10,000-seat tent. #

"Thank you for the FMI article on Florida (FMI Report, May 2008). I appreciate your sincere honesty in talking about what you experienced down there. I don't know why there always has to be thuggery from other Christians when it comes to a move of God or not a move. Why can't we look at things the way they did in Acts: if this is a move of God, then no one will stop it. We seem to want to beat everyone up, without seeing or experiencing things for ourselves and then judging from scripture what is right or wrong. Look forward to hearing from you. Blessings, Pastor Craig"

"Dear Jeff, My wife and I were in Lakeland on Monday (June 23rd), and she saw you on the platform. It is so exciting to see what God is doing. I have never been in such a worship service. My wife had gone down in the very beginning of the revival, and brought it back to the church. Since then, we have never been the same. No more agendas, just a freedom in the Holy Ghost. God bless you, Pastor Sam"
 

Special Worship Outpouring, Healing Impartation and Prophecy Meeting Brings Holy Fire to New Jersey - By Jeff Beacham - Last night's special Worship Outpouring, Healing Impartation and Prophecy Meeting was probably the most powerful meeting I've ever been a part of in my ministry. We planned this event on three days' notice. People came from all around NJ and as far away as Long Island to The Church of Grace and Peace, Toms River, NJ, FMI's home base.

The presence and power of God in the worship and ministry time was incredible. I flowed out of worship into a time of exhortation, addressing some of the concerns regarding The Lakeland Outpouring.

Emails from people not in favor of what is happening in Florida have been flying around the internet with links to You Tube. These excerpts are like sound bites, not adequate to tell the whole story. They are like judging a person's whole life by looking at one day. People have been making judgments on that basis, and that can be very dangerous!

There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. Even John the Baptist had questions over who Jesus was. Even Jesus asked ‘Why….?’ However, if the prophetic movement has sometimes gotten into the extreme, it’s as much the fault of the apostolic stream for not caring enough to keep them anchored. Last Monday's Apostolic Alignment Service (see above) was an effort to help remedy this situation.

Pastor Margaret Clark from Plainsboro testified how grateful she was for the healing anointing that raised her up from her deathbed (read her testimony here).

This was followed by a strong time of healing impartation. After this, worship leader Adam Panepinto took us back into a time of prophetic worship that welcomed God's presence in such a tangible way that when I released the people to go home, they didn't leave! Most stayed for another hour or so lingering in His Presence.

We will be letting everyone know soon when the next Outpouring service will be.