Post by ogre on Jul 20, 2016 3:13:52 GMT
Since Deliverance ministries have made there way back onto my radar,
I think that I will address them now…. proceed with caution…..
My first experience with Deliverance wasn’t exactly a good one. I had left the magik paths and been following Jesus for about six years at the time. During a brief stay in Massachusetts a gentleman who heard my background insisted that I needed to have a demon of witchcraft cast out. Keep in mind that I hadn’t noticed any critters hanging around and since I am a Christian, being possessed wasn’t something I was concerned with. Anyway, he started praying in ‘tongues’ over me and the check in my spirit was the second clue that something wasn’t right…. and it wasn’t with me. I don’t doubt that he was sincere. I know that he was sincerely wrong.
That was a rather tame episode compared to what some folks go through. Deliverance runs everywhere between fairly calm and violently abusive. Just as Deliverance Ministers run from sincere believers to opportunistic predators. I freely admit that my sampling is comprised of the experiences of former witches, but somehow I find it difficult to believe that there is much difference within the population at large.
Pretty much without exception, The Deliverance Minister will maintain that God has called him/her to this ministry. Okay; I don’t have an insurmountable problem with that assertion. However, I do want to see scriptural justification for the things that they are saying and doing. After all, I can do so for my position on the matter. Clue- it’s at the end of the book of Mark.
More on that later.
There is another issue at play here. Actually two, but they are fairly interconnected so I will bring them up together. First there seems to be this need make a complex method to explain and ‘do’ deliverance. They want the demon’s name and position in the spiritual pecking order for starters. Some get so caught up that they try to learn all they can about demons and share that ‘knowledge’. Scriptures please.
Anyway, that has led over the years, to the Deliverance Industries complete with ‘how-to’ books and larger books about demons of all kinds. Real and imagined. These tend to remind me more of books on magik than anything biblical. It makes sense though, because if it is complicated it leads to more books to sell, etc.
Now, back to my views on ‘deliverance':
Is it real? yes.
Is it the business of a small group of Christians? No.
You see, when it gets back to the Bible, any Christian can rebuke a demon. Some are harder to get rid of than others, and we are advised to fast and pray for dealing with those.
Basically, I don’t see Deliverance or more broadly, Spiritual warfare, to be special ministries at all. We are here to introduce people to Jesus. Healings, miracles, deliverance etc, are almost incidental to that as we keep our focus on winning souls to Jesus.
Ye ole ExWitch, just keeping it real.
ancientcrossroads.org/?p=126
I think that I will address them now…. proceed with caution…..
My first experience with Deliverance wasn’t exactly a good one. I had left the magik paths and been following Jesus for about six years at the time. During a brief stay in Massachusetts a gentleman who heard my background insisted that I needed to have a demon of witchcraft cast out. Keep in mind that I hadn’t noticed any critters hanging around and since I am a Christian, being possessed wasn’t something I was concerned with. Anyway, he started praying in ‘tongues’ over me and the check in my spirit was the second clue that something wasn’t right…. and it wasn’t with me. I don’t doubt that he was sincere. I know that he was sincerely wrong.
That was a rather tame episode compared to what some folks go through. Deliverance runs everywhere between fairly calm and violently abusive. Just as Deliverance Ministers run from sincere believers to opportunistic predators. I freely admit that my sampling is comprised of the experiences of former witches, but somehow I find it difficult to believe that there is much difference within the population at large.
Pretty much without exception, The Deliverance Minister will maintain that God has called him/her to this ministry. Okay; I don’t have an insurmountable problem with that assertion. However, I do want to see scriptural justification for the things that they are saying and doing. After all, I can do so for my position on the matter. Clue- it’s at the end of the book of Mark.
More on that later.
There is another issue at play here. Actually two, but they are fairly interconnected so I will bring them up together. First there seems to be this need make a complex method to explain and ‘do’ deliverance. They want the demon’s name and position in the spiritual pecking order for starters. Some get so caught up that they try to learn all they can about demons and share that ‘knowledge’. Scriptures please.
Anyway, that has led over the years, to the Deliverance Industries complete with ‘how-to’ books and larger books about demons of all kinds. Real and imagined. These tend to remind me more of books on magik than anything biblical. It makes sense though, because if it is complicated it leads to more books to sell, etc.
Now, back to my views on ‘deliverance':
Is it real? yes.
Is it the business of a small group of Christians? No.
You see, when it gets back to the Bible, any Christian can rebuke a demon. Some are harder to get rid of than others, and we are advised to fast and pray for dealing with those.
Basically, I don’t see Deliverance or more broadly, Spiritual warfare, to be special ministries at all. We are here to introduce people to Jesus. Healings, miracles, deliverance etc, are almost incidental to that as we keep our focus on winning souls to Jesus.
Ye ole ExWitch, just keeping it real.
ancientcrossroads.org/?p=126
