Who says any of that on that stage is from GOD?
I wouldn't.
Read up Maria Woodworth Etter some Oscarr. She was an evangelist here in America and had an amazing healing anointing for 45 years or more. Testimonies from numerous people who received healing through her ministry are all in her books.
Pay attention to the old saints, not the recent ones who came on the scene with all this flamboyancy that had nothing to do with scripture.
I agree about the lack of real Holy Spirit power on the Benny Hinn stage and the other prominent Word Faith preachers.
I have Maria woodworth Etter's book, and loved reading every bit of it. She certainly had a remarkable ministry. It is interesting that she lost 5 of her six children through sickness and was what started her really seeking God for the answer. It is also interesting that those who had powerful ministry went through intense personal suffering in their lives. Kathryn Kuhlman is another example of someone experiencing distressing personal issues that no doubt caused her to seek the Lord in a way that others who didn't go through the same.
I think that those who feel free to criticise women like her, and others like Oral Roberts (who was healed of terminal TB) have made very superficial research on these people, and have never read their biographies. As a matter of interest, I have come to think that the lack of medical evidence for many of the healings through Mrs Woodworth Etter, Kathryn Kuhlman and Oral Roberts, was because believers had no confidence in the medical profession, and many believed it was a sin to consult a doctor.
Paul was no exception. He went through intense suffering and paid an enormous personal price to have the ministry he had. There are many who would love to emulate these ministries, but are not willing to go through the same suffering. It is no wonder that they fall short.
I have a friend in the 1960s named Walter Cantrell, who was Smith Wigglesworth's pianist for his 1922 and 1927 New Zealand meetings. He had many wonderful stories to tell about things that happened during those meetings. When I was in the Wellington AOG there was a woman in her 90s who spoke about Smith Wigglesworth as if it was yesterday for her. These were people who were there and saw things first hand. Quite different to more modern critics who read some newspaper clippings of articles written by unconverted reporters who have never spoken to any of the eye witnesses. If anyone told Walter Cantrell that Smith Wigglesworth was a fake, he would laugh that person right out the door! And if any said the same to the 90 year old, she would immediately show them the door!
Todd Bentley is an idiot who found out some questionable stuff about Smith Wigglesworth hitting people and kicking a baby across the stage. He heard about those things as the result of Chinese whispers, and had never read what Wigglesworth himself said about those events. He never threw that baby off the stage, The baby slid across the stage and was totally healed and was not at all hurt by the episode. He never punched people really hard to cause further injury, and many were instantly healed. Bentley hits and kicks people who don't get healed. That is the difference.
So I don't go by much what modern critics say about these old saints, because the saints are not here to defend themselves. I don't believe that any of those whom I mentioned here would lie about these things, so I give them the benefit of the doubt.
It is interesting that when he died, Oral Roberts did not have a big bank account, and he lived in an ordinary condo like everyone else. Of course his critics tend to miss that important bit of information.
Anyway, that is my response to your post. Cheers.
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