I've taken a week off from blogging. It wasn't really planned. Some of it was work related.
But most of it was my struggle to deal with the Lakeland / Bent Leader nonsense that has been well laid out by Dan Edelen, (here and here and updated here), Grace (here and here - and another here - update), Brother Maynard (here and here), Jared Wilson, Michael Spencer, Lyn Hallewell, Barb @ A Former Leader, and a particularly great post from Ed Stetzer (who is beginning to rival Darryl Dash for my "most gracious blogger" line). The iMonk also points to this very good post from Nate Spencer. (Must be one of Michael's long lost kin. At least, that's what Nate's writing would suggest.)
Here's what I described Lakeland as in a post called Manifestations of Consumer Church back in June:
...the circus has come to Lakeland, Florida. This circus features the Tattooed Man, an Angel named Emma, another angel who apparently used to do the circuit with William Branham, a re-enactment of that famous old spiritual "Drop kick me Jesus through the Goal Post of Life" and more. (Now, why does it remind me of this story?) Like most circuses, the best seats come at an increased price - and if you want more, you'll just have to pay more. Must be God's new economy?!.
Folks, forgive me, but this too is just consumer church. Granted of a decidedly more bizarre and, perhaps, more sinister nature. It's all about me and my needs/wants/desires - about what I can get from Santa God.
And it is both indicative and an indictment of the church in the west. [emphasis added]
I wish I had gone with my original instinct and first draft of that post and more clearly identified that circus as frighteningly similar to the one in Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, although, perhaps the title of the Tiny Toons Adventures spoof, Something Stupid This Way Comes, would have been more appropriate. (Note that the Stetzer post linked above is titled, Evangelical Gullibility.)
Let me further add, there are a number of respectable charismatic leaders and bloggers who came out with positive responses to Lakeland. They are strangely silent now.
I'll have more to say about all of this in a later post.
UPDATE: My buddy, Mike Todd, points to the Vancouver Sun's Doug Todd (no relation) and his Bent Leader coverage.
UPDATE 2: Here's another well-reasoned post from the Sheeple Blog. (Wish I could remember who pointed to this.)
UPDATE 3: Read one of my favourite bloggers, David Wayne, in Ten Things I Think I Think about The Spirit World and Spiritual Warfare. It's the first of a series.
UPDATE 4: Note the updates to Grace and Dan Edelen's blogs noted in the first paragraph.
