It’s a curious thing, watching a televised revival meeting—that ever controversial offspring of Pentecost—brought to you live in the confines of your own home.

Or it was anyway, until our DirecTV went on the fritz earlier this summer, depriving me of God TV’s nightly coverage of the “Florida Outpouring” in Lakeland, which has now taken its place alongside the “Toronto Blessing” and “Pensacola Outpouring” as a bona-fide revival of historical dimensions in recent decades.

(While it might seem unfair that Florida gets poured upon twice, perhaps divine mercy would have it so for a state whose reputation rests mainly upon its senior citizens and amusement parks.)

They say there are many kinds of Christians, but I bet we could divide the lot of us into two: those who would watch a revival on television—or anything else for that matter on a channel that dubs itself God TV—and those who wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot remote control. In our house there’s one of each, i.e., my wife and me, and for better or worse, since the revival started in April I had grown accustomed to tuning in semi-regularly for shorter or longer periods of time before going to bed.

Led by Todd Bentley, a young Canadian evangelist whose multiple piercings and tattoos make for an instant litmus test of just how truly you look not on the outward appearance, but upon the heart, the Florida Outpouring began as a five-day visit by his ministry team, Fresh Fire Ministries, to Ignited Church in Lakeland. But as the healings and testimonies dwarfed even the best expectations for such a routine engagement, Bentley and the leaders of Ignited realized they might have something much larger on their hands. Soon five days became five weeks, with tens of thousands of people flocking to Florida daily from all corners of the globe, and millions more watching vía television and the internet.

I kept watching the revival in those first weeks like one watches a car wreck. Certainly there’s a common thread of trauma between the two spectacles. But I’d like to think it’s more akin to watching a car wreck in reverse: to see the pieces of a shattered life, a broken heart, or mangled faith made whole again.

Granted the major claims were something to swallow: tumors gone, paralyses overcome, deaf ears opened by a child simply putting her hands to the TV screen. And let’s not even mention those reports of the dead raised.

But there’s the catch. Because supposedly Jesus said, according to John 14:12, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.”

Well? Did he or didn’t he? Do we or don’t we? If you grew up in the kind of church that I did, where healings are more the business of medicine and personal crises more a matter for therapy than corporate prayer, you probably have about as much first-hand experience with these “greater works” as I do. Not that we grant instant validity to a Todd Bentley or anyone else in his position, of course. But we’re curious. And not a little bit repressed.

So most nights I turned on the television. Then the television failed.

That was back in June. It took us a while to get the satellite guy out to our apartment to fix the problem. But when the dish was up and running again, I noticed that coverage in Lakeland had diminished somewhat from its nightly basis. And when I sat down this morning to make my deadline for the blog, a brief spate of research on Bentley and Lakeland led me to the news of trouble in his marriage, and a disheartening statement from the Board of Directors at Fresh Fire Ministries which acknowledged “new information revealing that Todd Bentley has entered into an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff.”

Mute might be a fitting word to describe my reaction, and I still haven’t fully processed it as this was only twelve hours ago. But after 144 days since the Florida Outpouring began, tomorrow will be Bentley’s last. The revival goes on without him, as does the televised coverage of it.

I’ll probably tune in now and then, but much better than God TV on DirecTV would be the real thing directly. Why shouldn’t the living room be an upper room?