Lakeland Revival in Florida

Revival in Lakeland, FL
By Steve Strang
May 7, 2008

The latest outbreak of revival is
apparently in Lakeland, Florida. It started with meetings with Todd
Bentley on April 2 at Ignited Church pastored by my long-time friend Steve
Strader. I’ve know Steve since I was in the 9th grade and he was in the 6th
grade when his father Karl Strader came to pastor the church my family attended
in Lakeland.

As I’ve covered the move of the Holy
Spirit for the last three decades, I know that anytime there is a genuine move
of God, it is guaranteed that certain people will automatically
oppose it.

These people oppose any move of God that is beyond their own
religious experience. The sad thing is that some times they will have some
valid criticisms that people like me tend to discount because they are so
negative.

When I attended the
meeting I was excited to see the level of enthusiasm among those who
attended. People waited in lines for hours to get a seat at the civic center in
Lakeland, a venue that seats about 7,000. There seemed to be about 6,000 there
that night and I was told that at the baseball stadium over the previous
weekend there were 12,000. The meetings are broadcasted live on the Internet on
the Ignited Church’s website, http://www.ignitedchurch.com, and
also on GodTV which is also broadcasting the services daily from 7 to 11 p.m.
EST.

There was great praise and worship
that night for about an hour and 15 minutes. Then there were
testimonies, Todd Bentley shared and there was ministry of various types that
took place. There was a lot of humility exhibited in the service that I
attended.

There were also words of knowledge including that there would be an
outbreak of revival in Holland, Germany and Ireland. Todd
Bentley called for delegations from those countries that had flown
over for the revival to come forward. There were about a dozen from each
country and they seemed to be mightily touched by God when Todd prayed for them.Todd
Bentley is from Canada. Most of
the people in his ministry team have come down from Canada. Many of
them are
from the biker culture. While I had never met Todd Bentley nor heard
him
minister, I was a little surprised to see that he was covered with
tattoos – which is much more acceptable in his generation than in mine.

Nevertheless he ministered with
power. When I was asked later on to describe the service I heard myself
saying rather extemporaneously that the first part of the service with worship
reminded me of the worship at the Brownsville revival and Todd’s style of
ministry reminded me of a “Benny Hinn with tattoos.” A couple
people I’ve said that to have found it rather funny and have also found it
a helpful word picture.

It’s too early to really tell the
long-term effect of this revival. My report today is neither criticism nor an
affirmation. I have not had an opportunity to research any of the miracles or
even to talk personally with Todd Bentley.

However, the people I saw at the
meetings seemed genuinely hungry for a move of God. Like many, I’m also hungry
for a move of God and I’m glad to see this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. I’m
glad to see the excitement that has been generated – not only in Lakeland, but
in various parts of the country.