Todd's Restoration; Emails to MorningStar Ministries

Well, it's been more than two years since I laid out the case against Todd being restored to ministry (and three since the so-called restoration began), knowing full well it would fall on death ears at MorningStar Ministries, but my hope was to persuade the larger Body of Christ to no longer follow this charlatan.  

Now again, too be clear, restoration to the Body of Christ and restoration to ministry are two entirely different and separate events.  Of course, due to the fact that Mr. Bentley is still living in an adulterous relationship (his second marriage) one has to wonder if restoration to the Body has really even occurred never mind restoration to ministry. Since my last post, I have been in contact with Rick Joyner via email, to which to date, none have been replied to directly, but rather have been answered in part through the video updates and special bulletins.  My first email was a response to the video update on Todd being restored to "local" ministry.


Hello Rick,

So Todd has been restored to local ministry?  Does the Bible make a distinction between local and national?  I am assuming he has been restored to the Body of Christ, first and foremost, yet that has not been mentioned or addressed.  Shouldn't one be FULLY restored to the Body before being allowed to minister to the Body?

Yes, we are to restore a brother who has fallen into sin (Galatians 6:1), but should he be restored to ministry?  Restored to the Body and restored to ministry are two entirely different things.  Are there not things that now disqualify Todd from ministry?  If not, what to do with I Timothy 3 & Titus 1, or have you received revelation from God that contradicts what the Bible says?  

I would be interested in hearing from you as there are those in my church family who believe they have been given direction from Todd's ministering at a recent conference at MorningStar, but I fail to see how it was from the LORD, when the Bible says that one such as Todd should not be leading any kind of ministry in the Body, which leads me to believe that it may not be GOD who is directing him, as was clearly the case in Lakeland.  

If you disagree with my last statement, you have to ask yourself a question.  If it was GOD through the Holy Spirit directing Todd in Lakeland, then who was it who exposed Todd?  Your answer to this question is key to whether or not you are really of God as well.  I will give you a hint; Patricia King got it wrong, and exposed herself as not being of the one true GOD.  I will be looking forward to your answer.

Your Brother-in-Christ,

Michael T Peabody

Stratford, CT

Now some may be asking... Isn't this a little harsh?  But again, the Bible makes it very clear that God doesn't use someone who harbors sin in their heart. (Proverbs 28:9, Psalm 66:18, Isaiah 59:2, I Peter 3:7, John 9:31)  Can someone repent and be used by God? Absolutely!  However, considering the fact that the then girl friend of Todd was with him during the Lakeland revival, it's hard to see how he could have truly repented and have been clean in front of God.  

As for the Patricia King reference.  Sometime after Lakeland exploded, she proclaimed that it was the devil who exposed Todd because of the great success he was having with the revival.  Really Pat?  The devil who brought to light what was hidden in darkness... Hmmm, seems to me she's got that one a little backwards.  Scripture is pretty clear who brings things that are in darkness to light, and it ain't God's fallen angel...

A couple of months later, after the first of Rick's "Special Bulletins" concerning the restoration, I sought the chance to communicate with him once again.

Hello again Pastor Rick,

First I want to that you for the 'special bulletin' updates on Todd, I think these will be a better tool than the videos, as you can go back to make sure you are not repeating things, which happened quite frequently on the videos, and frankly which happen quite frequently in conversations, which the videos really were just that.  We can be much more precise with the written word than shooting from the hip any day.  

Of all the questions I asked in my last email to you, you did seem to cover one part, that of Todd not being an elder.  To which I agree; I don't believe I or anyone else who is against Todd being restored to ministry believes that the passages of Timothy and Titus referring to elders applies to Todd.  However, I DO believe that the references in Timothy and Titus visa vie OVERSEERS does apply to Todd.  Typically, overseers are seen as the priests, pastors, reverends, i.e. shepherds of the church (you for one, are an overseer in your role @ Morningstar).  When someone is in the position of leadership in ministry of any kind in the church, that person is an overseer.  Todd, being the head of FreshFire USA, would qualify him as an overseer.  The bible clearly disqualifies him for such a position in the church, and although FreshFire is not a church in the typical sense that we define church today, it is an assembly of God's people none the less.  Certainly any church as we do define church today that allows him a place at their table of overseers, is going against God's Word as well.  I have written two pieces on Todd's restoration on my blog, you are free to go and view them if you wish.  http://abondservantofjesuschrist.blogspot.com   The titles tell it all, and I back up what I say with Scripture. 

 Maybe once more is disclosed on your 'special bulletin' pages, you will be able to count me among those converted in the future, but for now I am firmly ensconced in the camp that believes that Todd's restoration to ministry goes against Scripture.  I pray for his restoration to the Body of Christ, as I do for all who are outside of the Body, and I believe he is in the capable hands of God's men to accomplish this glorious end, but as Clint Eastwood once famously said "A mans got to know his limitations", and as such, Todd being restored to ministry would be a disservice to the Church.

Your Brother-in-Christ

Michael T. Peabody

Stratford, CT

P.S.  A question I had for you in my first email did not get answered, and I believe it to be of the utmost importance in trusting that you and your ministry is capable of truly discerning what is of God, and what is not.  As I had said before, Patricia King got it wrong and I count her as one of the pretenders and not partakers of the Kingdom, much as I do any and all women heading ministries that are not solely dedicated to teaching other women (think of the titular head of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Shori for one).  The question, more simply put, was; Who exposed Todd in Lakeland?  Was it God, or was it the devil?

I think this go-round I was a bit more congenial, wouldn't you say?  The fact of the matter is Rick himself saw Todd as an overseer in the earlier videos (a point I go a little more in depth in the following email).  In some of those videos, they (Todd & Rick) give great importance to establishing a doctrine on divorce and re-marriage, saying that it would be a crucial step in the restoration process.  My hope was that when they looked at every nook and cranny in the Bible to establish this doctrine, they would come to the clear conclusion that Todd needed to "put away" his second wife for the sake of his salvation, never mind re-establishing his ministry.  But alas, to date, the doctrine has never surfaced and not only is Todd restored to local ministry, but to worldwide ministry as evidenced by his Fresh Fire USA website (more on that in a moment).  Oh and by the way, the last two emails were a bit less than congenial.  The first,,,

Hello Rick,

I emailed you a while back about the rush to restore Todd back into 'local' ministry (as if God sees a difference) without first being fully restored to the Body.  I am sure I rightly assumed that he was, and I shared with you my concern of him being restored back to ministry.  You have stated all along that you believe that to be fully restored means back to his former position, but I have disagreed with that assessment from the beginning.  Although we can be forgiven for any sin (except the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit), the consequences of that sin are not necessarily removed.  Hence, my emphasis placed on Todd not being restored to his ministry because he is no longer qualified to be an OVERSEER has been my biggest objection. An objection you do not agree with as he clearly has been re-established as the head of his own ministry,  Fresh Fire, USA.  Your response to questions like mine was that Todd was not an elder so those passages did not apply here, but you failed to see him as an overseer, which those passages would then clearly disqualify him.  But you yourself actually agreed with me in a previous video that indeed he was in leadership (ie. an overseer) ("Defining the Issues"; April 15, 2009).  So what prompted the change?

To refresh your memory, I decided to transcribe the relevant portion of the video. "We do have higher standards, much higher standards, Scripturally, for leaders.  ANY who are going to be in leadership, you've got a different standard in Timothy and Titus and we really need to look at these things."  You briefly mentioned confusion about being and elder and evangelist, then returned to the main point, "I believe in (the case of) leadership, if you're going to represent God, you are going to have to live by the highest standards, not the lowest, so we want to take a real hard look at this."  At this point your emphasis was clearly on Todd visa vie leadership and not eldership.  In your update letter however, you only mentioned that Todd was not an elder, so that those passages didn't apply to him, but even you saw that the passages on overseers DID apply to him.  So it seems, you have sacrificed God's clear word in order to restore Todd to his former position, which wasn't even necessary.  Now I am playing the devil's advocate here but, if Todd were to be brought under your leadership as an evangelist of Morning Star Ministries and not the head of his own ministry, Fresh Fire, USA, this could no longer be an issue to your detractors like myself.  However, you have chosen a different route for all the world to see, and for that, I will pray for your soul.

The second key point I have is the case of the missing doctrine.  As it has been nearly two years since the restoration process began, I went back to see when the doctrine of divorce and re-marriage was first mentioned, since this really has to be the defining 'line in the sand' as to how you came to the conclusion that Todd should or could be restored to ministry.  You have already put the cart before the horse in bringing Todd back into ministry at any level without first completing the doctrine, which you yourself put a lot of importance on in the same video I mentioned above. So you actually have been found in conflict with your own statements twice in moving forward with Todd's ministry restoration.

Case in point:  It was Todd who mentioned in the previous video to the one I mentioned above ('Overcoming Shame and Grief'; April 7, 2009)  that he had no position on divorce and re-marriage; "I don't have a doctrine on divorce and re-marriage.  You know, it's happened; 50% of the church has been divorced and re-married, doesn't make it right, I'm not going to say it makes it wrong, you know, but it is what it is."  To which you responded immediately to Todd that you were formulating a doctrine on divorce and re-marriage because it was important to do so.  In the April 15th video you stressed the importance of having such a doctrine and being sure it aligns with Scripture and God's will.  Some quotes from you; "God hates divorce"; on vows "God keeps His Word; and if we are going to represent Him, we have to keep our word, our word is our bond" (which you also mentioned in the March 18, 2009 video).  Also in the April 15th video it seemed that you had come under some criticism about being lazze faire about the whole issue, and when reading Todd's word for word response here, you can see clearly why people were upset.  But if it were so important, why would it not be completed before Todd was put back into ministry?  The only answer can be that it wasn't, that it was simply a ruse to quell the anger of the people at the time, and you were hoping that it would be swept under the rug given enough time before you put Todd back to his former position.  You have done so without regard to Biblical standards or even your own standards that you set for yourself in this process.

In that same video, you asked the question; "Did the flesh rule?...the flesh ruling instead of the spirit, that's a serious issue".  Ironically, you answered that question in a previous video (Rick Answers F.A.Q's #1, March 13, 2009) when you told of the time before Todd showed up at Morning Star to begin the process.  Speaking of Todd, you said "He didn't feel like he could stay pure, didn't feel like they could stay pure if they didn't get married, and it was a real issue, and I gave an ambiguous answer..."  What was the rush?  The flesh was clearly ruling over the spirit, a serious issue by your own words and the result was what?  Biblically, even if Todd had not started the relationship with Jessa before the divorce as had been rumored, he is still living in sin because he is married to her (Matthew 19.9).  It doesn't say 'sleeps with' another woman, but rather marries another.  Now we know that this decision to marry was a flesh-ruling decision, not a spirit-led one so the only way Todd can truly repent of this is sin is to annul the marriage.  Anything short of annulling is not true repentance.  Repentance means that you turn from your sin; so how can Todd truly repent while still being married to Jessa? 

So what have we learned?  We learned that you have restored Todd to the Body of Christ without truly repenting of his sin.  We learned that you have begun to restore him to ministry as an overseer of his own ministry against the clear Biblical standards that you yourself have said that those in leadership must be held to.  Finally, we learned that your doctrine on divorce and re-marriage is a farce because it still does not exist after two years and even if it would find the light of day in the near future it would still be a farce because it would have to justify your rush to put Todd back in ministry.  

I will be praying for you and Todd to see the light, but alas like homosexuals who flock to denominations like The Episcopal Church, in you Todd has found someone who condones his sin, so if he is told he has nothing more to do, why would he continue to seek?  It is you, more than Todd, who should fear the judgment to come over this.  You, by your own words, know better, but for some reason decided to take a different path.  It is you, Rick Joyner, that needs to get on his face before God and ask for forgiveness for what you have done and how you have handled this situation.  May God have mercy on your soul.

A Brother-in-Christ,

Michael

Yep, not very congenial. However, I said what needed to be said.  It may not have been the politest way possible, but Rick needed to be called out for his lapses in judgment and a stern warning for his own sake was necessary to awake him from his slumber.  That's all any of us outside of the walls of MorningStar can do.  I'm pretty sure if someone inside said what had to be said like I did, they would have ended up on the outside looking in as well.

Finally, back in the beginning of the process there was a third member of this restoration team.  Obviously Rick was one, Bill Johnson from Redding, CA was another, and Jack Deere, a noted Biblical scholar.  But Jack was not seen much after the early days of the restoration (I believe he only appeared in the first video).  To this point (when I sent the email below) Jack had not even been referenced for over two years!  The subject of the email read, "Todd's Restoration: what ever happened to Jack Deere?

Jack was supposed to be a part of this restoration but we have not seen hide nor hair of him here, why is that?  Did Jack, when he saw how this was going, knowing that he would be risking his reputation as a true Biblical scholar, back out and run for the hills?  Just wondering...

Rick has since posted a third "Special Bulletin" update on his site in which he says: 

"Because we know in part, see in part, and even prophesy in part, I would never claim to have the whole answer to something as significant as this terrible enemy that divorce is. I do claim to have some of the answers, and they may be some of the most important ones for stopping this terrible plague. Again, I cannot present them in one Bulletin, but I will attempt to present them systematically over the rest of this year. I’m also quite sure that some of these answers have never been considered by most Christians, and they may seem shocking at first, but they are soundly biblical. I think if you read them with openness, you will see the wisdom in them. 

     I am convinced that the most devastating mistake the church has made in regard to marriage has been to substitute the traditions of men for the commandments of God. Much of what is taught about Christian marriage is based more on human idealism than biblical truth, and though it may sound good and reasonable—its effect has been devastating. Some of God’s wisdom also seems foolish to men at first, but if we are teachable and humble before the Lord, I think He will open our eyes to
what actually works. This leads to a very important question I will address in the next Special Bulletin on Todd’s restoration."

Of course, follow up bulletins to this from over a year ago, have yet to see the light of day.  Conclusion; the light of day would not be very pleasing or kind to his attempts at twisting Scripture to the point of it being unrecognizable as anything from the Scriptures!

So as Todd's magical mystery tour goes global in the coming months ( see for yourselves @ www.freshfireusa.com ) and it seems as though there are miracles and signs and wonders abounding; think of this quote from Jesus himself in The Gospels and where we may be in world history...

From Mark 13:22-23 (as well as Matthew 24:24-25)

"For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time."