The response to our announcement that Todd had begun a restoration process was even greater than expected. It seems that not only is Todd’s restoration of great interest, but restoration in general is too. That is encouraging. This Special Bulletin is about much more than Todd, and it touches on some issues that may be the most important for Christians to examine in these times.
Before continuing, I would like to share briefly on some of what we’re facing. For months, there was a large and increasing demand for Todd to make some kind of statement about what happened. When he did, there was an outcry for him to stop, though the overwhelming response was to please continue. Others were demanding an apology from Todd. His apology on the video bulletin we posted was not scripted and was appreciated by most, but there was also a vitriolic response from some. We know some are not going to like anything we do, and we can’t address every question, but we do want to tackle the big and important ones with as much depth and candor as possible. We do not mind the controversy because we think it is making many address and consider important issues. Thanks for the concern that many of you have expressed, but we are okay with this and are not offended by it.
Also, doctrinally, I have received many brilliant, insightful and biblically- based communications about what we’re doing or should be doing. For every one of these that takes a certain position, I almost certainly receive those that take the exact opposite view just as brilliantly, with biblical references to back up their position. Often I think they’re both right! We do see in part and know in part, but I don’t think anyone has the whole picture, which includes me and our whole team. That’s why I appreciate all of these and try to learn from them. However, it’s a process in which we’re learning deep things about almost daily. Therefore, I cannot answer even a fraction of the emails and communications I’m getting, but they are appreciated, and as much as possible, considered.
There is also a whole lot of misinformation circulating about this issue, and many assumptions made about what is happening now that simply are not true. Those who are patient will have many of their concerns and questions answered, but we just cannot deal with all of them at once. However, we have no illusions about convincing everyone or causing everyone to change their positions, but it is forcing many to examine some basic issues and doctrines, which do need to be examined. That’s one reason why I think Todd has the gift of being so controversial.
Again, we are not going through this process thinking that we have all the answers, but we do have some, and we believe we must have the rest. We must have a victory in the body of Christ over some of these ultimate issues.
The Big Picture
Restoration is actually the most basic theme the Bible, and is the theme of all but four chapters in the Bible—the first two and the last two. In the third chapter of Genesis, there is the Fall, and after that the entire Bible is devoted to the redemption, reconciliation, and restoration of man and the earth from the Fall. In the last two chapters of Revelation, this restoration has been completed.
In this age as well as the next, restoration is the most basic purpose of God. The church is called to be the vehicle through which it is ushered in and will rule with Christ through this process in the next age. Yet it seems very few churches have a plan or are even willing to attempt restoring fallen members, much less leaders. It seems that most do not even understand what the process of restoration is, which is truly remarkable.
Of course, some have sought the grace and empowering of God for this and have reaped greatly by this pursuit. It does touch the basic issues on the heart of God, which is what the cross was all about. This is certainly an important and timely issue for us to confront, and it is not likely that we will really believe our gospel of redemption until we get it right.
From the responses we received from our first Bulletin and the videos, we see just how wide the chasm in the body of Christ is over this issue. This exposure of such division is an opportunity to address it and possibly heal some deep divisions in the church. I am not concerned about this causing division because it is obvious the division is already there.
We are told in the Scriptures that the foundation of the Lord’s throne is righteousness and justice, and this issue touches some very basic issues of righteousness and justice. It also touches on one of the worst plagues and crises in the church today—divorce, which the Lord Himself said that He hates. If He feels that strongly about something, we need to know why. For this reason, we are taking our time and trying to walk through this with great care. In some ways, it seems like we are trying to find our way through a minefield. While most seem to be cheering us on, some are throwing grenades at us. We knew this would come with touching something this important, and it has only increased our resolve, but if at times we seem to be ducking some things—we are!
Where We Are
We must face the issue of divorce and not cover it up or pretend that it does not exist. It is one of the worst and most damaging problems in the church today, as well as the world. It is at the root of many of our most devastating social ills, including the immorality, perversion, and violence. Neither the church nor civilization can last long if the present level of this crisis continues, but it is not continuing—it’s getting worse.
The toll in suffering and backsliding, or falling away from the Lord, caused by divorce is not only a great tragedy, but with the times we’re in, will exacerbate significantly if we do not address this now. Regardless of perception, immorality is not the number one cause of divorce, but financial problems are. With the increasing financial crisis, the pressure on couples is increasing fast.
However, the church does have the ultimate answers to human problems. It is now time to be proactive in facing the crisis, with a resolve to see a complete victory over this terrible enemy.
It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of all Christian marriages will end in divorce, and nearly 50 percent of all Christians in the church have been divorced. It is also estimated that more than 50 percent of all Christians are no longer in a local church. One of the major reasons for this is the shame and/or shunning that they have suffered because of divorce. This is likely the single biggest and most crippling wound in the body of Christ today.
There may not be anyone in the church whose lives have not been negatively impacted by a divorce in their family. It is easy to see why the Lord hates divorce. My primary questions now are:
What is causing this plague of divorce in the church?
What must we do to stop this plague?
How can we see those who have been wounded by divorce get healed?
This plague and every other one can be stopped. We can prevail against every gate of hell that has been opened in the church. Our goal is not just to see a standard raised against this flood, but to reverse it and see all who have been wounded by it healed so that they become healers.
If you have been deeply wounded by divorce, you can be healed and become a healer of others. It is by the Lord’s stripes that we are healed. The same principle is true for us, and we can receive authority for healing others in the same place where we were wounded. All who have suffered from divorce can actually become an army of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration, which will bring healing and deliverance to the church and our land.
For this we not only welcome, but would love to have anyone who has been through a divorce in our churches. We view you as a potential soldier in one of the important battles of our time, and we believe you can be mightily used by the Lord. We want to be sure you have been healed of your wounds, and if you caused the divorce through your own failures, of course we want to know that you have repented and been restored to the righteousness and justice that is the foundation of the Lord’s government. We will work with you to help you get there if needed. We consider this an honor to do.
The Causes
Tolstoy began one of his classic novels Anna Karenina with a profound insight into this problem when he wrote, “Happy families are alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” What makes happy families is very simple, but the causes of unhappy relationships can be varied and complicated. One reason I am thankful to be working with Todd is because of the complexity of his situation. Few things have driven me to seek a deeper understanding of some basic human problems, as well as God’s solution to them. We knew it was a minefield and that the risk was great, but I for one am excited to try to find a way through it because it will make a way for many others who are desperate for that way.
Now back to Tolstoy. The recipe for a happy family is the same—to love God and love one another. That is the ultimate answer. When you apply this, we begin to understand what Paul meant in Romans 14:17, “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” “Eating and drinking,” speaks of worldly pleasures, but they will never lead to true peace or true joy. Righteousness, or doing what is right in the sight of the Lord, is the only foundation for true peace and true joy. The righteousness of God is founded upon loving Him above all else and then loving one another.
Jesus summed up the whole law in these two commandments because if we keep them, we will keep the whole law of God. If you love God above all else, we will never worship anything else. If we love others, we will never hurt them, steal from them, envy them, and so on. This is the core value of all righteousness, but we also need to address His justice, which is the second key pillar of what His throne, or authority, is based on.
Recent studies on happiness revealed that our possessions actually have zero impact on our happiness. This study also found that the happiest people on the earth tended to be the poor who lived the most simple lives. Those who lived simple lives also had the strongest relationships, which of course, are built on love for one another. Many “successful” people have stated that they would give up all of their success to have their families back. This includes many who have become “successful” in ministry. A diversion from the core values of righteousness into complex and intricate ambitions is a cause of many breakdowns in relationships.
Doing what is right in the sight of the Lord should be a primary drive in our lives because we love Him above all things. We may all know this is the first commandment. We may also know and love the great discourse on love in I Corinthians 13, which makes it clear that all of our religious devotion and performance is worthless without love. However, it seems that very few actually pursue loving God above all things, which alone can enable us to love one another as we should.
If loving God is the first and most important commandment, then the true definition of a successful human life would be one that loves God above anything else. If this is true of us, then serving Him, pleasing Him, and knowing Him better would be the chief pursuits of our lives. Failure to love God above all else and to pursue growing in our love for Him, is the root cause of every human problem, including divorce.
We can have the best teaching, even memorize all of the Scriptures on marriage, divorce, truth, righteousness, and unrighteousness, but if you do not love God, we will probably fall, or if we don’t fall to the sin, we will fall to something worse—self-righteousness.
I have been warning Christians for thirty years about how the idealistic and legalistic teachings on marriage were going to destroy Christian marriages. I sounded this warning because I was given it by the Lord, who also told me to watch those who wrote the books or gave these teachings. Almost all of them have now been through at least one divorce. When I started giving this warning, evangelical Christian marriages that failed were a tiny percentage. Now half of all Christian marriages are ending in divorce. This cannot be allowed to continue.
Both those who are idealistic or legalistic often have sincere desires for protecting God’s people and for seeing a holy bride kept for the King. If Satan cannot stop someone, he often gets behind them and pushes them too far, and that is the case with many of these. Others are reacting out of wounds that their own loved ones have suffered. Even so, there is a ditch on either side of the path of life. One is lawlessness and the other is legalism. Lawlessness is not the answer to legalism, and legalism is not the answer to lawlessness, but we must find the path of life that is between these two ditches.
Personally, and as a ministry, we have resolved that if we are going to lean in the direction of either of these that it would be in the direction of freedom and grace. At times, I do think we have leaned too far and maybe too close now. That’s why I have some close friends who I know lean pretty far in the other direction, and I greatly appreciate them!
I was also persuaded more than thirty years ago that being in the ministry can be one of the most difficult places to get closer to God. It should not be this way, but it is because of the modern form that ministry has taken. This is a generalization and is certainly not true of all, but it can be the most deadly trap of all.
I have asked Todd several times what he thinks caused his divorce, and he has given the same reply each time, referring back to how he got married when he was nineteen, entered full-time ministry, and became married more to the ministry than to his wife. This can happen in ministry, or with any profession, job, hobby, or anything else that becomes an affection that eclipses our love for God, and one another. Ministry can actually be an idol that we start to worship in place of God. We need to understand how and why this happens if we are going to avoid it.
One issue that seems to be a focal point in our seeking to restore Todd is how wroth some leaders are to this very idea that Todd could actually be restored to ministry after what he has done. Not surprisingly, most of these seem to be the same ones who were critics of the Lakeland Revival or to Todd’s ministry before that. I don’t want to marginalize their concerns regardless of their previous or present positions, and I consider that most of these are sincerely concerned for the sake of righteousness and/or not causing many more to stumble by thinking too casually about divorce. These concerns I share. However, we need to also consider how much of this concern is also rooted in a flawed perception of what ministry is supposed to be. To many, it is a profession rather than a calling and viewed as a means of self-promotion or self-fulfillment rather than the sacrifice it is supposed to be.
I do consider that God’s redemption, reconciliation, and restoration are meant to be total. I went into this process of Todd’s restoration to see him fully restored to ministry in the truest sense of the word—a life of sacrifice, of taking up the cross daily to do the will of the Lord—not just building a big or famous presence in the church or the world. However, I also recognize that Todd has that characteristic, which is also an anointing, to attract multitudes. This is also part of what makes people either love or hate him, with very few being indifferent. That is not going to go away, but it will likely increase.
One advantage of the extraordinary attention Todd draws is the huge number of people, especially those who have suffered a divorce, who have been given hope that if Todd can be restored and be useful to the Lord, so can they. Some of these really made terrible mistakes, for which they are now sorry, but they have not found forgiveness or restoration from the church. Todd’s very public failures have broadcast to many that there is hope.
However, restoration is hard. The one-thousand year reign of Christ over the earth is for the purpose of restoring it to its original purpose—to be the paradise it was created to be. However, it will take one thousand years to accomplish this under the best Leadership there could ever be. Restoration is hard, but it is worth it.
Now, let’s look a bit more deeply into how ministry can be a distraction that can keep us from God, and be perverted into a means of self-promotion, rather than the life of the cross that it is supposed to be.
After the Fall, the curse on man was on his job—that by the sweat of his brow he would bring forth fruit from the earth. The curse on the woman was connected to relationship and family—that it would be through much pain that she would bear children. The reason for this is that man’s identity tends to be in his job, and a woman’s identity tends to be in her relationships. A man will feel like a failure if he is failing at his job more than he might if he is failing at a relationship, including his relationship to God. A woman will tend to feel a failure if the relationships are not doing well more than if her work is not going well.
These are generalizations, and therefore are not always true. Todd still cannot understand why his former wife did not seem to appreciate his success in ministry. She married Todd, not the ministry, and the ministry was causing increasing problems in the relationship, which was more important to her and would be to most women. At the same time, Todd obviously felt unappreciated for all that he was accomplishing, and this can be a dangerous open door to inappropriate affection from others who might seem to appreciate that kind of success more.
Women have it right—relationships are more important than what we accomplish. Who we are is more important than what we do. This is true with God and with our families. However, it can actually help a relationship for the wife and family to show appreciation for the accomplishments of their men. If the identity of the man is so wrapped up in what he accomplishes, feeling his wife does not appreciate what he does, he will feel rejected. This often drives men to try to accomplish even more, or they will start staying longer and longer at work because they feel more appreciated there. This is a trap, and it is one that Todd fell into. If it had not been the ministry, it likely would have been something else he was trying to accomplish.
The way a man and woman become one in marriage is not by the man becoming a woman, or the woman becoming a man, but by the fitting together of their diverse gifts and personalities. Most men need to work hard to make their relationships more valuable than what they accomplish in their professions or their callings. Again, as Paul expressed so articulately in I Corinthians 13, it does not matter what we accomplish if we do not have love, and that love is for our relationships—to God first and then to one another.
Most marriages do not fail overnight, but the failure is actually years in the making. There is a constant eroding of affection, and divisions grow wider. When this happens, a man will often become a workaholic, devoting himself more and more to his job where he feels appreciated. When a woman is not appreciated, she will often close her heart toward her husband to protect herself from further rejection or hurt.
When I went to speak at a Fresh Fire Conference several years ago, I could not believe all that Todd was doing. They were putting together more than a dozen crusades in Africa a year, and about as many conferences in the U.S. and Canada. They also had a school, church, were publishing, and were even producing music CDs. When I heard a couple of years afterward that he had experienced a meltdown and burnout, I was amazed it had taken so long at the pace he was trying to keep.
I know that all of the activity above sounds like MorningStar, as we too have all of these aspects to ministry and a few more. However, we are not putting on crusades in Africa, but rather are sending speakers to crusades or conferences that others are hosting. There is a huge difference. When we previously hosted conferences in hotels, even ones in Charlotte where our headquarters were, one conference would take most of the wind out of our staff for up to three months. It is different now that we’re having conferences in our own facility. As stated, Fresh Fire was moving from city to city in the U.S. and Canada and on top of that putting together large crusades in Africa. I still marvel at the stamina of Todd and his team for what they did over those few years, but God made our bodies and minds to need rest.
The rest of God is the special place where we draw near to Him and get to know Him. It is very easy to get so busy working for God that we don’t spend much time with Him. That is the recipe for spiritual disaster, which will lead to every kind of disaster.
I really appreciated the zeal around Fresh Fire, especially during times of such lukewarmness in the church in general. However, there was an increasing cost in relationships with the added workload. After Todd hit the wall with burnout, he then fell to an emotional attachment to a staff member. There was no physical relationship, and the girl did not return even the emotional attraction. When Todd went to his leadership team about what he was feeling, they immediately sent the girl away. Todd, trying to be open, then went to his wife to confess this attraction. Todd was trying to be transparent, but he is convinced that this was what killed what was left of his relationship to his wife.
Todd often called this attraction “an affair,” but it was not one. There was no physical adultery or even physical contact with the girl. However, Todd said that he knows he would have entered into such a relationship if she had been willing, and therefore, he felt that he needed to repent of it as if it had been an affair. I can appreciate Todd feeling this way. Because of the way rumors spread and grow, many still think that Todd had an actual affair several years ago, when in fact he did not.
There is much other misinformation circulating about Todd. Some is coming from what appears to be reliable sources, and just about all of it Todd has been willing to accept. He wants to take full responsibility for his marriage failure, and just about anything else he is being blamed for. Even though that might make my job easier, that is not justice, and it can hurt those who hold to false accusations as much as it can hurt Todd in the future. If we are going to deal in truth, we need to address what is true, not what may be a perception.
Understanding vs. Justifying
Please understand that when I spend a lot of time trying to express what or why something happened, it is not in any way to justify it, but for the purpose of possibly helping others avoid the same traps.
The burnout Todd experienced resulted in him fighting deep depression for more than a year. When I was with him during that time, he related that he had not felt anything for so long, not even for the Lord. He was just void of feeling. Extreme is fashionable with the youth today, and probably one reason why so many of the youth are attracted to Todd is because he is the poster boy for extreme. He does not do anything part way, and during this time Todd fell into some extreme and fleshly behavior. He became addicted to tattoos, and just about covered himself in them. He started watching unseemly horror movies and on several occasions got drunk.
Many people emailed me with stories or experiences with Todd during these periods, but Todd had already told me everything. He was not trying to hide anything but was trying to help me help him. Transparency is not a problem that Todd has. I also think Todd tries to fully own his transgressions as soon as he sees them, and tries to repent the best that he can. I don’t want to make excuses for them either, because God does not forgive excuses, but He forgives sin when it is confessed and repented of, which means to turn away from it. However, though I have never experienced depression for more than a few hours, it is terrible. You can be in the most wonderful place, with the most wonderful people, and want to die. Todd was in a deep depression that he could not climb out of during that time. He was desperately trying to feel something, and then anything. We have all probably seen children who will do something wrong just to get their parent’s attention, even though it hurts. This is common among gifted people who almost all battle serious depression.
Again, this is not to justify any of Todd’s behavior, which he is not trying to do either, but overseeing those with Todd’s nature and gifts needs to be understood, and I think very few do. Immediately after one of Elijah’s biggest victories in which he called fire down from heaven on Mt. Carmel and was able to rid Israel of hundreds of false prophets and false priests, he fell into such a depression that he asked the Lord to take his life. Possibly everyone who has ever walked in extraordinary anointing has experienced this, but few seem to understand it or are able to get free of it. If you’ve experienced it, you know it is very hard to endure for just a few hours. To think of enduring it for days or months is almost incomprehensible.
I can’t imagine what it was like for Todd’s wife or staff as he endured eighteen months of this, but they’re all saints in my book. As I said, Todd feels that he should take full responsibility for his marriage failure and other failures, and I don’t think I’ve heard him saying anything negative about his wife or anyone but himself. Todd has not tried to blame the depression, or what he calls “the dark night of the soul” on anyone, but he has expressed a few times that he cried for help but no one knew how to help him. That’s understandable as almost no one seems to understand this, even if they’ve been through it. I think it is another one of those answers we must find.
Right now about all I can do for someone in this situation is tell them what Winston Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” As we are told in Psalm 126:6, “He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed, shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.” When this comes on you, one of the best things to do is just keep going and you will come out of it, and usually within a few hours or at most days. Some of the greatest prophets and preachers of all time have experienced extended periods of this.
However, coming out of such depression is wonderful. It feels so good when you emerge from depression that it is amazing how you start to appreciate even the little joys in life so much that the big joys are almost overwhelming. When Todd started coming out, it was understandable that he wanted to just minister to people all the time, but even God took one day off after working six. When we violate God’s law of rest, we are in for a fall. That is literally why the Lord had Israel carried into bondage into Babylon, so that the land could have its Sabbaths. They stayed in bondage for seventy years to make up for the seventy Sabbaths the land had missed. If you violate this law, you will eventually fall into bondage just like Israel did. When the outpouring broke out in Lakeland, Todd went more than 120 days without a break. When he started taking a break from the meetings in Lakeland, it was usually to go preach somewhere else. When Todd went home at night, he did not have much peace, but was fighting the after-meeting depression and with his wife as their relationship continued to break down. That is a sure recipe for disaster, and it came quickly.
I’m not implying this is the whole reason for Todd’s marriage failure, or the reason for any other transgressions, but it was a big factor. Working like this is pride. To think we can go that long without rest when even God rested after six days is pride. It’s a pride that implies we are the ones holding the universe up—in the work of God that is a definite recipe for disaster. It’s happened to him twice now, and the consequences this time are worse than the first.
That is one reason why I have not put any timeframe for Todd’s restoration. Neither have I given Todd a twelve-step plan for restoration. These can have their place, but a fundamental issue has been a failure to rest in the Lord, which results in us taking yokes we cannot bear and is a root cause for most burnout in ministry.
After Lakeland and the breakup of his marriage, Todd spiraled down even further into a deep hopelessness. Many had told him he would be out of ministry for years, and some implied his ministry was over. That was really all Todd had at that time. I’m not saying this was right, but it was a fact. He had nothing else that he thought was valuable for others, and it was basically his reason for existence. When I talked to him and told him he could be restored, he started coming out of the hopelessness immediately.
When I told Todd that I did not put a timeframe on how long or short this would be, no doubt he felt this meant that he could be restored much quicker than others had been telling him. I only said I did not know how long it would take, but when it was done it was done. This no doubt increased his hope, and I wanted it to. The hopelessness he had fallen into was deadly. However, now the opposite is working on him. Because I have not put a time limit on it, he’s starting to worry that it could actually take longer. That is a possibility too. When the job is done, it will be done. This is now forcing Todd to trust and rest in the Lord even more and to find his hope and his identity in the Lord.
I know the reasons why some put time limits for people to be out of ministry if they have had a moral failure. They can have good reasons for this, but I do not see that anywhere in Scripture. I felt that the Lord showed me that this is an affront to Him. As we are exhorted in II Peter 3:8-9, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” The Lord can do in one day what we think should take a thousand years, and the reverse is also true—He can take a thousand years to do what we want done today!
I make no apology for the fact that we are seeking to restore Todd to ministry. I would like to see it done as quickly as possible, but only if it is done right. I understand that many think it is the wrong signal to send to put someone back in the pulpit right after divorcing their wife or husband. However, it is also the wrong message to send out that people are disqualified if they’ve had such a failure in their lives. That is an affront to the cross too and belittles its power to redeem. I also don’t think the Lord likes to be put in some of the time boxes we come up with for Him.
One common theme we also face a lot with Todd’s situation is the desire on the part of many for him to be punished for what he did. They would never call it that, but it is in fact what they want. Granted, he deserves it, as we all do, but that too is an affront to the cross and to the justice of God. The justice of God is that Jesus was already punished for everything Todd has done, or we have done, and for us to be punished for it too would not be just. Discipline in the Lord is never for punishment, but it is for our salvation and deliverance.
The biggest trial in Todd’s life right now is to just rest in God and love Him. There is a reason why we’re told in Hebrews to “labor therefore to enter into that rest” (see Hebrews 4:11 KJV). It’s hard work to learn to rest! But if you’re disappointed and demanding to know the twelve-point process we will be using to help restore Todd, you’ll just have to wait like he is.
Because I have not done this, many have jumped to all kinds of conclusions, most of which are far from the truth. One of the first things the Lord said to me about Todd’s situation was that He was going to use it to expose a lot of foolishness because “fools rush to judgment.” Impatience is not a fruit of the Spirit.
However, the encouragement to me is how many are expressing such incredible grace, mercy, and patience. As we are told, we will reap what we sow, so if we want to receive mercy, we need to sow it every chance we get. If we want to receive grace, we need to sow grace every chance we get. Even so, our grace and mercy must not go to the other extreme of unsanctified mercy, which is giving mercy to the things which God has under judgment. That is why I try to listen to all sides, but by this, I also sometimes end up offending people on all sides. I can’t worry too much about that, but just try to please the One who gave me this job.
I hope this is helpful, as your responses to us have been. We have many other great questions about this that are valid and important, but I cannot deal with them all at once. Later, I hope to address most of the questions.
Special Note
Also, many assumed after the last Special Bulletin that the request for contributions to support Todd indicated that he was already back in ministry. Not so. Many had expressed the desire to support him through this process, so we were just giving a way for this to be done. I have asked Todd to spend some time working on the infrastructure of his new ministry so that when he is restored to ministry it is on the best possible foundation.
Thanks to all who are wanting to stand by him in this way. The wise invest in people, and the wise way to invest is to “buy low and sell high.” You get a much better return when you invest in people when they’re down. The ones who invested in King David when he was living in a cave, looking like he had no hope for a future, became the royalty and mighty men of Israel. I have no doubt that Todd will be back in a greater way than ever, on a more solid foundation, much more aware of where the traps are, but more than anything, leaning on the Lord.
