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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
The generally agreed-upon definition of "deliverance ministry" will usually focus on the casting out of demons or spirits in an attempt to solve problems related to specific demons. For example, a ...
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Ezekiel Kimosop
While I do not doubt that casting out demons is a mandate given to believers to execute, I do not believe that the deliverance ministry propagated by a section of charismatics is biblical. Nowhere in Scripture have we been commanded to carry out deliverance services and ministries among believers. Jesus cast out demons when he came across such need in his missionary work but those who have been liberated by Christ do not require such services. A true believer can never be demon possessed or hit by charms or spells from Satan and his agents because the blood of Jesus repels all demonic arsenal from our lives (Ephesians 6:10-16) What we see today in the name of deliverance ministry is a growing theology that falsely holds that every believer must be delivered from this or that power, chief among which are the so called generational curses, invocations through ancestral spirits and other demonic powers as claimed by the advocates of these theology. The teachings have become popular in a number of African countries where the teachers mix African traditional beliefs with biblical teachings, resulting in a concoction of doctrines that are extra biblical. Some teachers of the deliverance theology teach doctrines that appear to belittle and countermand the finished works of Christ at Calvary and elevate the so called power and anointing of their preachers above God's grace and even to cultic levels. This is a dangerous set of teachings that border on divination and sorcery. They insist that believers must undergo deliverance sessions in their lives in order to deal with what they call foundational curses so as to free them completely. They misinterpret genuine life conditions in terms of satanic influences even where there is apparently none. They also argue that poverty is the result of satanic control yet nowhere is it taught in Scripture. Christians will not necessary access all the material things this world has to offer and poverty is not necessary a sign of demonic or spiritual bondage or curse. Jesus declared in John 8:36 that he whom the Son shall make free is free indeed. What greater works will the so called deliverance ministers accomplish if Jesus did not finish it all at Calvary? Are they greater than Christ? I do not believe that any true believer needs any further deliverance than that which Christ has purchased through his blood. We should walk in obedience to His Word and obey His Spirit in order to experience true victory over all powers of darkness. The Bible declares in 1 John 4:4 that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. We have the greatest force behind us whose power cannot be challenged even by the most powerful nuclear arsenal in the world. This is King Jesus who reigns in us and with us in the Heavenly realms and in whom we have access to God's divine heritage as His adopted sons and to whom we forever belong (Romans 8) I believe every believer whose life has been totally yielded to Christ does not need any ritual to demonstrate his total freedom other than the public evidence of his faith through obedient living and total dependence on Christ's leadership and the control of the Holy Spirit. Any theology that denies this liberty in Christ is counterfeit and should be rejected by all Bible believing Christians whose lives have been transformed by Jesus. We do not need any further works of salvation or deliverance and neither will any such works count compared to what Jesus has already accomplished in our lives. The deliverance ministry should be restricted to outreach works of the church among the lost and those dwelling in the kingdom of darkness and should never be a tool to be used in the church to confuse believers whose lives have been firmly anchored in Christ.
Toni House
Deliverance ministries, thank the Lord, exist because it has become really "taboo" to speak of casting out spirits and exorcisms, even though they were a part of the ministry that Jesus left to his apostles. They were given basic instructions, they can be cast out through faith, prayer and fasting. Jesus ministry is full of casting out demons. Unfortunately the church of today does not incorporate this practice into their ministry anymore and I think part of it comes with the fact with the boom in the psychiatric field. Its too easy to label someone with with a mental illness. That's a shame. Did the devil stop working? No, especially with the rise in witchcraft and dark arts. There are probably a lot more people who need deliverance ministries.
Onyekachi Ekwueme
Deliverance is casting out devils and enthrone our Lord Jesus Christ in the life of the individual. Every sin has it's root to satan and the fallen angels who rebelled in heaven with him. Jesus Christ taught us that there cannot be any vacuum in the life of anybody. A Christian would be carrying God in himself and would not need ceremonial or procedural casting of demonic spirit in order to complete the work of salvation, while unredeemed professing "Christian" require deliverance from the powers of darkness. Baby Christian who is yet to understand the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to him can be deceived and drawn back to satan so he needs Godly counsel to live a holy and righteous life. Deliverance Ministry need not be a separate ministry for whom The Lord Jesus Christ has given power to preach the gospel and make disciples for Him. Deliverance is a tool to bring people to Jesus Christ and the delivered is to exercise Jesus power over demons to bring others to our Lord Jesus Christ. The issue is that there are many people in the church who are yet to come to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are many people who confuse Christianity with morality and self righteousness. When Jesus Christ reign in ones life, the difference would be clear, one would be sure one is delivered.
Janice Lunch
Deliverance ministries rely on demons giving them information. Demons lie, so why would you rely on them? We are not to focus on demons in any way, we are to think on good things. We are to study the Bible and to know how to walk by faith and knowing God's ways and that is through the Bible. Too much Is going on in the church that are new age practices that call for demons to torment you. Soaking prayer, contemplative prayer, laying on of hands, asking for more of the presence of God. Too much mystic type practices going on and that causes demon activity. The kundalini spirit has come into the church. We are to renounce and repent, and the Lord delivers if need be. During the apostles' time it was different, as it was to begin the foundation of the church. It also was to show who Jesus was to Israel by casting out demons and signs and wonders. Jesus should be the focus not demons. There should not be specialized ministries because Jesus is our advocate. We are only to have a relationship with him and know his ways. The Bible is the spoken truth and the Holy Spirit helps us to see it, not other practices.
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