Same old scam?

Charity | Even some Pentecostals are skeptical of Todd Bentley’s tent revival | Rusty Leonard and Warren Cole Smith

Canadian Todd Bentley doesn't look much like a minister. The 32-year-old has body piercings and tattoos on his arms and neck, and he often dresses in black.

But a minister of the gospel he is, or claims to be—and those claims have become the real story of a series of meetings Bentley is holding in Lakeland, Fla.

Bentley's British Columbia-based Fresh Fire Ministries arrived in Lakeland on April 2 for five days of revival meetings at a local church. These services would be broadcast on God TV, a satellite network with a worldwide viewership.

The services were different in another way, Bentley claims: God showed up in a powerful way. A New York public relations firm was quickly hired to send out press releases claiming "documented healings," and God TV relentlessly plugged its broadcasts of the services.