The Apostle C. Peter Speaks

Charisma Magazine, not my favorite source of news or commentary, featured an article, Leaders Commission Todd Bentley at ‘Lakeland Outpouring’, in which C. Peter Wagner, longtime professor at Fuller Seminary, writer on church growth and missions, theological godfather of the Vineyard Movement, and now spokesman for a growing "apostolic" movement, led a group of fellow apostle/leaders in commissioning Todd Bentley as an "evangelist." This move was made because Bentley's ministry in Lakeland, FL, has been so unusual and uneven that charismatic and Pentecostal leaders there have been worried, with some publicly repudiating him. The step places Bentley under Wagner's apostolic authority and supposedly creates more accountability for what he teaches.

I only highlight this because of the sadness I feel over Wagner's self-description as an apostle and his authoritative pronouncements as an apostle in this situation. The fact that one of his companions was John Arnott, pastor of Airport Christian Fellowship (a church removed from the Vineyard fellowship and home of last decade's "barking" revival), confirms to me that Wagner's well meaning passion for seeing the Holy Spirit work has overtaken any sense of discernment he may have once possessed. I have always disagreed with Wagner's views on spiritual power, but I respected his scholarship and his earnestness for kingdom growth. Now I fear his valuable contributions are only past tense.