Once upon a time, when I was many years younger and many pounds lighter, I had some talent for track and loved the sport.  One of my minor heroes in life has been an Englishman named Roger Bannister. When Roger was young, he was severely burned in a fire. Doctors told his parents that he would probably never walk again. Not only did he walk but he also began to run. Not only did he run, but also he became a world-class runner in college. Bannister competed  during an era when running a mile in under four-minutes was a dream that seemed impossible. In fact, doctors and scientists believed that the human body was not capable of such speed over that distance and believed that anyone who actually broke the mark would suffer irreparable damage to his body. Fortunately, Bannister did not “follow the science” in the matter.

On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister did what most believed was impossible. He ran the mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.   Within three years, sixteen other individuals had broken the four-minute barrier. So what happened? Did mankind suddenly make a spontaneous, evolutionary jump? No, a change in perception made the difference. When one man broke the barrier, others suddenly believed that they could do so as well. Through the centuries, psychological barriers have proven to be more formidable that physical barriers.

Jesus said, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours^” (Mk. 11:2-24).

Often, we believe that great changes are made when large numbers of people begin to act or think in certain ways. But every movement has been given impetus by one person who did what others  believed they could not do. God is looking for those individuals, men and women, who will step out and do what others have believed to be impossible. When they do, other believers will follow.

There have been seasons in the church when miracles were the norm.  Certainly in the first century church, the gifts of the Spirit propelled the church into great seasons of revival.  Some of the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12-14 were, of course, prophecy, healings, miracles, tongues, interpretation of tongues, words of knowledge, etc.  On top  of that, dreams and visions seem to have been standard fare in the church.

There have been others seasons when God healed in amazing sways through revivalists in the 1800’s and 1900’s in England and America.  Each time a season of the miraculous sprang up, atheists and agnostics along with “educated and dignified” believers were quick to write off such happenings as foolishness, superstition, and emotionalism.  The Pharisees in the first century did the same and even went as far as to credit the devil with the miracles, instead of God.

Over the last 300 years, the American and European church has, for the most part, denied the miraculous intervention of God and called those who claimed to heal and prophecy frauds and con men.

However, In the past 50 years, a new generation of believers has embraced the supernatural once again and claims healings, prophecies, tongues, miracles, dreams, visions, and even the raising of the dead.  Of course, orthodox believers and intellectuals in the church still deny the reality of such things other than as a deception from the enemy.

But, I am convinced that  in the heart of every believer is a secret longing to see God do now what he did throughout the scriptures.  We long to see the glory of God demonstrated in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Many believers long to see it, but are afraid to believe because the paragons of their faith  have told them that God no longer works in those ways.

I believe God wants an army of spiritual Roger Bannisters who will believe that God is the same today as he has always been and, as he was always willing to display his power on behalf of his people, he still is.  I know that in many churches, if just one they knew were too break the miracle barrier, others would believe it possible and soon would break the barrier with him or her

Of course, there is risk in standing up for the supernatural move of God.  You might be distrusted.  You might be ridiculed.  You might be strongly encouraged not to “mislead the faithful” with such ideas.  On the other hand, you might just break the four minute barrier and open the door to an amazing move of God in your own circle  of influence.

For those of us who want to believe God for miracles, the challenge is typically not whether we believe he can do such things, but that he will.  I met a man a couple of years ago that had moved away to become part of a church where a great number of miracles were reported on a regular basis.  After being there a year or two, he moved back to our area.  I asked him how the experience had changed him.  He said the real change for him was that he now expected God to move in miraculous ways, rather than just hoping he would.

If we need that transformation in our own lives, we don’t have to move away but we may need to take some trips to actually see men and women “breaking the four minute mile” so that our own barriers of unbelief can be shattered.

In the track world, a four minute mile is no longer considered impossible, but is simply a measure of any “decent runner.”  Wouldn’t it be amazing, if the church no longer considered the miraculous move of God to be impossible, but simply considered it to the the measure of any “decent church?”

The story of David illustrates the principle. As y of course, ou recall, Israel and Philistia had gone to war. Each army encamped along the hillsides on either side of a valley. Each day, a nine foot “giant” named Goliath would come out to challenge the army of Israel calling for someone to step out and face him man to man. Every day for forty days, Goliath issued the challenge. Not one man would take him up on his dare. Clearly, the entire army of Israel believed that defeating Goliath was impossible.

Then one afternoon, David was sent by his father Jessie to check on his brothers and to see how the battle was going. David witnessed Goliath’s taunts and offered to face the giant himself. He offered because he believed that God makes all things possible. Although the experienced soldiers in the army of Israel tried to convince David that he could not win against such an imposing figure, David ignored them and the rest is history. David charged Goliath was a sling and dropped the giant with one stone. He then proceeded to take Goliath’s own sword and cut off his head for good measure. Suddenly, the entire Israeli army that had shown no taste for battle for forty days charged the Philistine army and won a great victory. When one man, by faith, broke a spiritual barrier others had considered impossible, they suddenly had faith for their own victory.

Later, David gathered a number of men around him that were referred to as David’s mighty men. These thirty or so men accomplished great, almost impossible deeds on their own including one of them killing a large Egyptian about the size of Goliath (See 2 Sam. 23, 1 Chron.11-12). I suspect that David’s faith and his willingness to do what others would not do inspired those who followed him.

I believe, God is looking for “Davids” and “spiritual Roger Bannisters” in every generation who, by faith, will do what Jesus did and even greater things. When one does, others will suddenly have the faith and a whole generation will follow. We should ask God to make us that person for our family, our church, our fellowship and the kingdom of God. Faith is about breaking psychological barriers that reason against what God says is true and possible. Jesus walked on water by faith. He stilled storms by faith. He healed the sick raised the dead in the same way. He asks us to believe that through him we can shatter barriers. When by faith and tenacity one believer breaks the barrier, others will quickly follow. So what is your four-minute mile? What spiritual barrier will you overcome so that others will follow? Ask God to show you.

When you get into the business of helping people deal with their brokenness through counseling, prayer, and deliverance, you are never more like Jesus.  However, there is a side effect to going down that road.  As you choose to help people deal with their wounds and their pasts, more and more broken folks will show up in your life. Broken people know broken people, and if you are caring and helpful, they will send others your way. Undoubtedly, God will be entrusting some of these individuals to you so that you can dispense his grace in their lives.

Let me warn you, however, that Satan will also deposit some of these folks in your life.  Those individuals will have the uncanny ability to suck the life out of you for months and months and distract you from some very important things that God has ordained for you.  Many of us that are drawn to healing ministries have a spiritual gift of mercy and compassion.  That’s the way it should be. But sometimes, that mercy gift morphs into a “rescuer” theme that develops in our lives and we can find ourselves in bondage to a mindset that feels responsible for the well-being of every victim or broken person we encounter.

In itself, being a rescuer is very Christ-like. After all, Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  That sounds like rescue work.  I would agree, but Jesus also set some very healthy boundaries around his rescue missions. You should as well. He displayed some of those when he went to the Pool of Bethesda and asked the lame man, “Do you want to be healed?”  Whenever we are working with broken people, that is a question we need to keep in mind. The truth is that not everyone wants to be healed, although everyone says they do.  Some do want to be healed but do not want to do any work to get to that place.  They want you to heal them and then want you to take up their mat and carry it for them.

Over the years, in our ministry at Mid-Cities, we have settled on a position that clearly states, “If you want to change, you have to do the work.”  Our belief is that when it comes to healing and freedom, God won’t do the work for us but he is more than happy to do it with us.  When Israel finally made it to Canaan, God could have cleared the land of Israel’s enemies with one sweep of his hand. He could have sent plagues, a band of destroying angels, or displayed any number of other supernatural acts to drive the tribes from the land.  Instead, he required Israel to go to battle.  He would lead them and assure their victories, but they still had to endure the hardships of warfare.  They had to face the enemy, check their faith, and swing the sword.  In doing so, their character was refined and their relationship with God was enhanced.

People who want their lives to be transformed have to fight some battles.  Our job is to equip them to fight and, at times, fight along with them. But our goal should be to equip them to engage with God and defeat the enemy on a daily basis or simply make better choices in the future.  Those who fall into the trap of becoming a rescuer tend to make the individuals they are rescuing dependent on them  – their wisdom, their gifts, and their resources. Part of the trap may be that the cycle may feel good to the rescuer because he or she see is making a difference in the life of a person and also because he or she enjoys the gratitude and admiration of those they are rescuing.  However, they are not teaching them to fight and they are not teaching them to depend on Jesus.  Everyone needs to be rescued from time to time, but when being rescued becomes a lifestyle for broken people, there is something wrong.

My wife Susan has a very wise saying when it comes to ministry to broken people. She says, “If you are doing more work than they are, something is wrong.” What you notice about Jesus is that his compassion met people where they were, but he did not leave them there.  He didn’t beg people to follow him or stay in one place long to make sure people followed through on his prescriptions for life. He pointed them to God, gave them godly counsel, got them started and then let them be responsible for their next steps.

There are those who truly want to change and are ready to do the work.  Invest in them.  There are others who want you to fix them and their life, but won’t do their part. They want God to magically change their hearts, their minds, and their circumstances while they sit and watch. God doesn’t work that way and neither should we. Let that person contact you when he or she is actually ready to do the work.  Others don’t really want to change, but simply love the attention and care they get as person after person pours into them without seeing much progress. That person needs to repent. And still others, want you to take away their pain but don’t want to give up some sin in their lives that has created the pain. They simply want you to rescue them from the consequences of their actions without changing their behaviors or choices. These too need to repent.

When you have begun to minister to a person who needs healing and freedom, you may have to carry most of the load initially. But that person should soon begin to make progress.  He should be engaged in the fight.   She should be in the word and in prayer.  That person should also make your appointments on time and consistently and must be willing to start aligning his or her life with God’s word and his commands.

Too often, our mercy gift kicks in and we keep meeting, keep rescuing, keep rescheduling for weeks and months because we feel responsible to “save the person.”  It is often necessary to remember that Jesus is their Savior, not us. Too often we enable irresponsible behavior and allow them to continue to see themselves as helpless victims who always need a hero to rescue them from the dragons in their lives.  Too often we keep them from experiencing the very consequences that would have been their best teachers.  God does not require that we fix broken people.  That is his job.  Our job is to give them godly counsel, point them to Jesus, and equip them to live as children of the king if they are motivated to do so.  We are to be responsible to them, but not for them.

As hard as it is, there are times when we just have to cut someone loose to whom we have tied ourselves because we realize we are trying to plant God’s seed in poor soil. No real fruit is being produced. The soil may improve over time, but for the moment, there are better investments for the wisdom, experience, mercy, and gifts God has entrusted to your stewardship.

I think we need to see ourselves as mentors or coaches rather than rescuers.  As we enter into a mentoring or coaching relationship with a broken person, we need to kindly and gently set expectations for growth and the work they need to be doing in order for authentic change to take place. That person should know that our goal is to make him/her dependent on Jesus, not on us and for them to become mature in their faith.  Growth and change will be an expectation in order for us to continue to disciple them. If it becomes apparent that you are working with a person who does not want to change or is not ready to change, you can still love them but you don’t have to pour into them.  We are certainly not requiring perfection.  After all, Jesus had to display a great deal of patience with the twelve who often seemed like spiritual knuckleheads, but they were on a growth trajectory and their hearts truly desired to be men who pleased the Master. I also suspect Jesus has had to be patient with us and give us second chances. But if the person you are pouring into is not displaying change or doing the work over a period of time, you may need to invest in someone else.

I’m not really writing this to instruct you in mentoring, as much as I am wanting to encourage you to avoid the rescuertrap and to even give you permission to cut yourself loose from unfruitful relationships that are keeping you from investing in other relationships that will bear great fruit and give you life rather than sucking life from you.  Remember, God sends some people your way, but so does Satan. A wise person will learn to discern who wants to be healed and who truly doesn’t.

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.” The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.” Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed  (Jn.4:46-53).

This is a familiar story from the Gospel of John.  Jesus had grown up in Nazareth as the son of a carpenter.  Nazareth and was less than 20 miles from the Sea of Galilee and less than four miles from Cana. He performed hundreds of miracles in the region of Galilee, the northern province of Israel in which the Sea of Galilee rests.  Many of those were in Capernaum, a small city on the northwest shore of Galilee. Two notable miracles were seen in Cana. The story above describes the second notable miracle in Cana where Jesus had earlier turned water into wine.

The background is important here because in Mark 6 we are told that Jesus had returned to Nazareth after performing a number of miracles in Jerusalem and other towns in the region.  Even though they had heard about his miracles, we are told that he could do none in Nazareth because of their unbelief.  Familiarity was their problem.  They had watched Jesus grow up in the shop of his father Joseph and could not see him as a prophet or the Messiah, but only as the carpenter’s son. In their minds he could never be more than that.  Sometimes we need to get away from our old friends and family for us to take on our new identity in Christ because their inability to see us as a different person sometimes gets in the way of our ability to see ourselves as a different person.

In contrast, John tells us about a royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum and near death some 16 miles from Cana. Jesus had already performed miracles in Capernaum so we can assume that when the official’s son became gravely ill, hearing that Jesus was back in Galilee, he  went after Jesus.  Perhaps, he went on horseback or walked, but his mission was to find Jesus and take him back to Capernaum to heal his son.

After finding Jesus and pleading with him to return to Capernaum to heal his son. Jesus simply told him “You may go.  Your son will live.”  The remarkable statement in John is, “The man took Jesus at his word and departed.” That is the core of faith.  Faith is taking God as Father, Son, or Spirit at his word and acting on it. Too many of us, myself included, tend to analyze the words of Jesus and then add our own “except when” or “except for me.”  We tend to add footnotes that add qualifications to his words or his promises when he simply wants us to take him at his word.  The minute we qualify his statement or add a disclaimer, the enemy has won.

I’m not saying that we should not be honest about our struggles to believe. Most of us believe Jesus totally in some areas of our lives but in other areas we are the man who cried out, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” Perhaps, the dividing line is defined by those promises on which we take action and those on which we want to give it some more thought. The royal official didn’t continue to coax Jesus to come with him. When Jesus told him his son would live, he headed home.  The remaining question seemed to be whether Jesus was given a revelation as a prophet that his son would eventually overcome his illness or whether Jesus had the power and authority to direct healing from a distance. When the official heard that the fever left his son at the same time Jesus had declared that he would live, the question was answered.  Surely Jesus was more than a prophet because even the great prophets of the Old Testament had to be present for healing to occur.

What promises do we say we believe but hesitate to take action on?  Which promises do we believe for others, but not ourselves?  What promises do we say we believe but then add qualifiers for when the promise might be true?  Those are the questions we need to ask ourselves so we can address those areas of our lives for which we need more faith.   Then we can mediate more on the promise, pray for a greater gift of faith from the Holy Spirit, listen to the testimony of others, and choose to take action on the promise even while a small cloud of uncertainty may still hover above our heads. Our goal is to bring our requests to Jesus, take Jesus at his word when we receive a promise, and then depart believing that it is done. That is the faith that moves mountains.

If you have ever seen many of the Hollywood depictions of Jesus in years gone by, you might notice a common thread that runs through most of them.  In most of these movies that span decades, Jesus always seems to be somewhat sad or somber and is barely affected by what is going on around him.  Philip Yancey called this the Prozac Jesuswho had little emotional reaction to the world around him, as if he were perpetually medicated.  I suppose the film directors thought that demeanor made him look spiritual or “other worldly.”  One of my favorite depictions, however, was the Gospel of Matthew with Bruce Marchiano. First of all, Marchiano looked Jewish instead of being tall with blond hair and blue eyes.  But more than that, he was emotional.  He was alive and animated. When someone hurt, he hurt with that person.  When someone laughed, he laughed.  When someone was healed, he was just as excited as the person who suddenly saw colors and shapes for the first time.

I like that because when we see someone set free or healed, we get excited.  I love to see someone experience Jesus in that way.  What we need to remember is that it is important for individuals to experience Jesus rather than simply experiencing healing or the one through whom Jesus healed the person.

When it comes to healing, I believe that the more we point people to Jesus, the more healings we will see.  Paul declared, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom.1:16). There is power in the gospel and the gospel directs our faith to the one who heals.

Healing is obviously a great evangelistic tool. We always hear reports about great revivals in third world countries where hundreds or thousands are healed and come to Jesus, but healing should be even more available to God’s people than to the lost in those nations.  Faith is the currency of heaven and faith resides in believers.  Spiritual gifts were given to build up the body of Christ including the gifts of healing. The psalmist declares that God forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases (Psm.103:3).  Speaking of Jesus, Isaiah wrote, “Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed” (Isa.53:4-5).  Isaiah is clear that Jesus died and bore not only our sins, but our infirmities and diseases as well. James also promises healing to God’s people.  “Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed” (Ja.5:14-16).

I think that sometimes we believe God is more willing to heal the lost, so that they might come to Jesus, than he is willing to heal the saved.  But the principle is that God’s gifts are reserved for his people first and, then, for those outside the family. We are told, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Gal.6:10).  Remember when the Gentile woman came to Jesus asking for him to cast a demon from her daughter? His reply was that he was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel and that is wasn’t right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs (Matt.15).  Of course, she replied that even the dogs get the crumbs and, because of her faith, Jesus healed the daughter.  The point is, however, that God reserves his gifts first for his children like any good father.

As the gospel is shared and people are pointed to Jesus, faith has the opportunity to rise in that person and as they accept Jesus, the gift of healing becomes more available to them that before because it is part of our New Covenant with God.  A fair question then is, “Why does it seem that more unbelievers are healed in great crusades than believers in churches?”  I believe it is because, by and large, we have not taught the full gospel to the church.  The gospel should promise not only the forgiveness of sins, but the healing of infirmities and sickness as well since Jesus bore all of that on the cross for his people.  Strictly speaking, we should believe in healing every bit as much as forgiveness. Both are promised as a result of the sacrifice of Messiah. A biblical study of “salvation” indicates that salvation does not just provide blessings after the funeral but on this side of the grave as well and includes not only forgiveness but provision, protection, freedom, and healing.

The power of the gospel is that it produces faith for all the things the blood of Christ purchases for us.  Pointing people to Jesus – his love, his sacrifice, and his intercession – is a great prelude to healing.  So…as we get excited about healing or any of the other gifts, we should not forget the giver of the gifts but clearly point people to him before they ever unwrap what he is giving them.

Deliverance and Discipleship

As he approached his departure to the Father’s right hand, Jesus gave a directive to his followers.  He declared that he had been given all authority in heaven and on earth.  As a result, he had the right to command those who follow him to go into all the world and make disciples of both people and nations.

Ultimately, all that we do should be an identifiable element of making disciples.  Spiritual warfare is the element that produces freedom from spiritual bondage so that those who have been set free can make progress in their walk with Jesus. Deliverance or healing is not a stand alone event but part of our effort to disciple a person.  It is extremely important to realize that if the other elements of discipleship are not established in the life of the believer (faith, identity, prayer, repentance, time with the Lord, and so forth), those who receive healing and deliverance will quickly lose what they have received. Jesus warned, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first (Lk.11:24-26).

The man was set free from a demon but the vacancy was not filled with the things of God that are the elements of discipleship. Since a spiritual vacuum remained, the unclean spirit was able to return along with others. The man was then worse off than before he experienced deliverance. Because of that, we must be concerned with fully “discipling” those to whom we minister healing and deliverance.

That process is referenced in John 21 as Jesus asked Peter to affirm his love for him three times – the number of times Peter had denied him.  As Peter professed his love, Jesus charged him to care for the flock of the Chief Shepherd as evidence of that love. He responded to Peter’s responses by saying, “Feed my lambs…Lead my sheep…Feed my sheep.”  In a recent trip to Israel on a study tour, our guide explained that shepherds in Israel will rise early when new lambs have been born to carry them, speak to them, and examine the lamb the for weaknesses that will need attention as the lamb develops.  The shepherd bonds to the lamb, imprints his voice on the lamb, and becomes acquainted with the weaknesses of the little one for whom he will be responsible.  He then will lead the flock into places of protection and nurture and will make sure that they receive their “daily bread” of fresh grass and water. That is the process of discipleship and we are to see to it that those we bring to the Lord or set free in the Lord will receive the care and feeding they need with some special attention given to their weaknesses.

The process takes time.  It will be inconvenient.  It will even be frustrating.  But it is the life of a shepherd and that is what it means to make disciples. “Drive by” deliverance and “on the spot”  healing can be dangerous if we don’t disciple the individual or connect him or her to those who will continue to help that person grow in the Lord. As we continue to press into the realm of spiritual warfare, we must always remember it is not an end in itself but a step in the call to make disciples.

Occasionally, I have people ask why only a few churches have any kind of defined Freedom Ministry to help their people move past old wounds, broken hearts, addictions, depression, and demonic affliction. The core of our freedom ministry is Free Indeed, which is an eight-week class built around small group dynamics as well as teaching followed by an all day experience we call Freedom Weekend that activates everything we have talked about and prayed about for eight weeks.

Twice a year we offer a class on Sunday and another on Wednesday.  We typically have 40-45 participants in each class so that on Freedom Weekend we are ministering to around 90 people.  Each spring we offer a Wednesday only class.  We have been offering this format for about eight years and every class fills up every time so that close to two hundred people go through Free Indeed each year. On average, about 30% are people from the community – Baptists, Methodists, Church of Christ, Catholic, Bible Church, Episcopalian, and other community churches. They nearly all wonder why their church doesn’t offer something similar to what we do because it seems basic to the life of a believer.

I wonder that also.  After all, Jesus came to heal the brokenhearted and to set captives free (Isa. 61, Luke 4). We consistently see more life change in eight weeks than most of our participants have experienced in ten years. This isn’t because we have discovered some revelatory approach to discipleship.  I believe that all the principles and perspectives taught in Free Indeed should be categorized as Christianity 101. They are the foundational principles of our faith when you take Paul’s admonition seriously that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces. Paul clearly states that yet few churches equip their people for spiritual warfare.

We believe that Jesus came to empower his church with divine weapons that can overcome the past, deep wounds, and demonic affliction. Victory over those issues produces significant transformation in weeks or months rather than decades.  However, what we consistently find is that most believers have no expectation of significant change in their lives beyond forgiveness.  Some of the lack of expectation is due to the fact that their churches have preached a gospel without power.  After becoming Christians, they found that their faith seemed to have no power to overcome deep wounds from their past, addictions in the present, depression, suicidal impulses, etc.  Where those reached serious proportions, their church referred them to counselors or clinics in the community that were often secular.  The message is that Jesus has no help for serious issues beyond some simple encouragement and a prayer.  When secular therapy does not give them victory over their issue, they lose all expectation for significant transformation this side of heaven.  Our first goal in Free Indeed is to rebuild an expectation that God is in the business of radical life change and he can and wants to do it for you.

Secondly, we maintain a perspective that, in most cases, hindrances to growth and change exist more in the spiritual realm than in the emotional or psychological realm of the individual.  We move into the realm of curses, generational sins, our identity in Christ, and demonic affliction in order to remove what seem to be immovable barriers to healing and freedom.  Secular therapy does not touch the spiritual realm nor employ divine weapons so issues are managed, at best, rather than overcome.  Churches that don’t acknowledge these realities or teach about them keep their people from experiencing the power of the kingdom that Jesus demonstrated. They tend to produce a form of godliness while denying the power of the kingdom.  Decades of silence and avoidance of real spiritual warfare has allowed a huge accumulation of spiritual junk in the souls and family lines of God’s people.

When God’s people know who they are, when they are armed with an expectation for power, and armed with basic spiritual weapons to be used against the enemy, radical transformation can happen in weeks or months rather than decades.  We have seen it over and over again in our church.  Other churches that have developed Freedom Ministries in different forms report the same thing.

So why do few churches offer ministries that have such an impact?  One reason, of course, is a theology that doesn’t allow for the miraculous power of God operating in the life of individuals today.  That same theology does not recognize the impact of the spiritual realm in the lives of God’s people. When the expectation of miracles ceases, so does the faith for them and the loss of power from the church. Transformation takes supernatural power. No power, no transformation.

I think a second reason that many churches do not have Freedom Ministries is fear…especially on the part of senior pastors. Let’s be honest, by nature many senior pastors are high on control and freedom ministries, by their nature, deal with elements that are somewhat unpredictable. Many senior pastors fear that these ministries will get weird and hurt their church or people in their church.  In addition, extreme people are often attracted to these ministries and can make others uncomfortable.  The answer, however, is not to avoid ministries that can heal and free large numbers of believers, but rather to embrace such a ministry, mainstream it, and train leaders to be effective without being weird.  They in turn train others to be effective without being weird and to train them to be submitted to church leadership. We are glad to train other churches to do what we do and I’m sure other Freedom Ministries are willing to do the same.  Avoidance is not the answer but sound theological and practical training is the answer.

Does ministry in this arena get weird?  It depends on what you call weird. Demons manifesting in people and being cast out with a scream seems weird until you realize it is the norm in spiritual warfare.  It doesn’t have to get out of hand, but it doesn’t mirror tidy little church services on Sunday.  I agree that church services are not the place for these things to happen, but they need to happen somewhere. If you cannot tolerate the ragged or unexpected, then you will not be involved in spiritual warfare, but neither will your people find freedom and transformation.  Every believer should be equipped to break the power of the enemy. That alone would transform churches and communities.  I hope your church has a freedom ministry of some kind or will develop one soon.  We would be glad to help, but more than that, the Holy Spirit is quite willing to help.

When I first became a follower of Jesus in my early 20’s, I lived with the impression that all the neat, clean people that sat on the pews around me on Sunday mornings were sinless, happy, and healthy people who lived worry free lives of contentment. However, after decades of serving in churches, I can say unequivocally that my impression was wrong.

If we are honest, a great many believers today are saved but remain in bondage to sin, addiction, shame, and a host of other hindrances to their walk. The truth is that other than church attendance and having their sins forgiven, a large percentage of believers differ little from the people they work with or go to school with who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them. Divorce rates in the church rival divorce rates in the culture at large. Christian teens seem to have little power over the cultural pressure to drink, experiment with drugs, or to be sexually active. A significant number of believers live on antidepressants, tolerate marriages dominated by anger and rage, live with bitterness toward the past, and are crippled by an overpowering sense of unworthiness and rejection. In short, they continue to live out their lives in emotional brokenness and bondage.

I’m not scolding these believers for not being “the Christians they should be.” Through the years, I have struggled with many of those issues as well. These believers are desperately looking for freedom and healing, but for the most part have not been able to gain victory over the issues that rob them of the joy and peace they long for.

Jesus declared that he came that his people might have life and have it to the full – abundant life. He also declared that he came to bind up the brokenhearted and set captives free. For many believers, there is a huge gap between the promises and the reality. Why? We can say with confidence that the shortfall is not on the part of Jesus for Jesus has done everything perfectly.

The truth is that, in many cases, these men and women have not been shown by their churches how to access the freedom and healing that Jesus promises. The majority of churches in America, offer their people the forgiveness purchased by the cross but not the healing and freedom. When confronted with brokenness and bondage, they send the children of God out into the world to find solutions. They are left to seek healing and freedom from those who often do not believe the core values of our faith or even that God exists.

Even when they are referred to “Christian counselors,” those good men and women have nearly always been trained to use the weapons of the world rather than divine weapons. There is something terribly wrong with that picture. Doing so implies that Jesus has no answers for the emotional suffering of his people, so we must look elsewhere. The weapons of the world can help but cannot go far enough for real victory. They tend to provide “coping skills” rather than lasting freedom.

A gospel that only gets us to a place of forgiveness, but does not radically change us through the healing and freedom that is ours in Christ is not the gospel that Jesus preached. When Jesus preached the gospel, there was always a demonstration of life-changing power with it. Paul pointed to this truth when he said, “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life” (Phil. 2:14-16).

Stars stand out in stark contrast to the darkness around them. Jesus himself declared that his followers were to be the light of the world. Those who wear the name of Christ should stand out in the crowd by their sheer “differentness” and have a testimony of his powerful work in their lives. Jesus spoke of being “born again,” not as figurative language for trying harder, but as a reality where something real and essential has been altered in everyone who comes to him. After a short while, that essential difference should become apparent, not a as a reflection of our efforts but as a reflection of the power of God working in us and Christ being formed in us.

If the world can provide the healing and freedom that Jesus promised his people, then much of what Jesus paid for with this suffering and death was unnecessary. Paul clearly stated that the wars we truly fight, must be fought with divine weapons rather than the weapons or strategies of the world (2 Cor. 10:4, Eph.6). Most churches have little idea about fighting in the Spirit and little access to those weapons. Therefore, their people continue to struggle with emotional brokenness and bondage.

We need a shift. We need to be willing to say that what we have been doing is lacking. We need to be willing to say that we have meant well but have missed something important in the scriptures because our fruit does not yet rival the fruit we see in the New Testament. My hope is that many senior pastors and elders will begin to ask for more, seek more, and risk more so that their people have access to everything Jesus purchased for them. The power of Jesus is immense and its impact should be profound and visable. Our people should stand out from the world and walk in victory over the things that burden most of the earth. It is not that we will be trouble free, but that the trouble will come from without rather than from within where Jesus lives – and that makes all the difference.

I keep encountering good Christian people that simply do not believe that Christians can be oppressed or afflicted by demons. For my first 20 years of ministry, I also held that position. I had not been convinced of that through study but simply came to that conclusion because we never talked about it or considered it. It wasn’t considered an issue, so I assumed that it wasn’t an issue.

However, in retrospect our people suffered because of my ignorance of the spiritual realm. People who loved Jesus spent years unable to gain victory over painful issues in their lives – depression, anxiety, anger, sorrow, and a bevy of addictions common in American culture. I just helped a church in another state with their first Freedom Weekend. There were several participants in their sixties and seventies. They received healing and deliverance from issues that had plagued them for decades stemming from childhood abuse. That was wonderful but how much better if they had received that healing and freedom fifty years ago.

When we begin to talk about Christians needing deliverance the objection is often raised that Christians do not need deliverance. The argument is offered that believers cannot be possessed by demons since: (1) We belong to God, (2) He that is in us is greater than he that is in the world, and since Satan has been defeated by Christ, he cannot exert any power over a follower of Jesus. (3) The Holy Spirit lives within us and would not coexist with the demonic in “His temple” (1 Cor.6:19). A few others give room to the idea that demons might tempt believers externally but could certainly not be “in us” or attach themselves to us because of the reasons listed above. All of these objections are worthy of consideration.

First of all, those who say Christians can be demonized and those who say they cannot, must both acknowledge that their positions are not based on direct statements from scripture. Nowhere does scripture clearly state that demons can enter into believers nor does it say they cannot. So, conclusions drawn from an accumulation of evidence and experience may be the best either side can offer. I simply want to suggest some things for your consideration, if you struggle with the concept of Christians needing deliverance.

Secondly, we need to clarify the term “demon possession.” That is not a biblical term and I do not believe Christians can be possessed by Satan as that term implies ownership. Obviously, Christians have been bought by the blood of Christ. They have been purchased by His sacrifice and so are “possessed” or “owned” by God. The idea of “demon possession” also implies that individuals are totally controlled by demons to the extent that they can no longer exercise their own will in any area of their life. I have never met a Christian in that condition.

However, I have met many Christians who seem unable to exercise their will in certain areas of their lives at certain times. They suffer from emotional torment (depression, unrelenting grief, anxiety, self-loathing, feelings of rejection, shame, unworthiness, etc.), compulsions, addictions, rage, fear, lust, and a host of other sin or tormenting issues that they cannot seem to overcome.

Those believers usually hate the sin or the torment, feel shame about it, pray against it, receive counseling for it, attend weekly support groups, take medications to control it, and still experience no victory or lasting freedom in that area of their lives. Their best hope is to manage the sin, addiction, or emotional condition but have long given up getting victory over it. We are left with only a few options to explain these situations:

• Christ is either not sufficient or not willing to heal us and set us free from emotional brokenness or bondage even though Isaiah 61 and Luke 4 declare that has come to heal the broken hearted and set captives free.
• Those individuals haven’t worked long enough or hard enough to overcome the issues in their lives or simply lack the faith to believe God for those things.
• Those individuals really don’t want to be healed and set free.
• God has decided to leave those areas of sin and brokenness to secular doctors, psychologists, and pharmaceutical companies.
• If demons are present, it is because these people really aren’t saved and do not have the Spirit of God living within them.
• The demonic is exercising control over a part of their life from time to time (or most of the time) so that therapies in the natural realm and ordinary spiritual practices are not sufficient. Deliverance and divine weapons are needed.

As Christians, we must reject the idea that Jesus is not sufficient or willing or that God ordained that our only hope for healing and freedom is in doctors and psychologists – most of whom are secular. The world should be coming to us for answers rather than us going to the world. We should also reject the idea that sanctification and overcoming sin in our lives is all about our effort and hard work. Certainly we have a part in the process, but we are clearly told that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against spiritual powers (Eph. 6:12). We are also instructed to employ “divine weapons” (2 Cor.10:3-5), which are necessary to tear down strongholds in the lives of believers.

There are certainly some who are not truly saved and some who do not want to be set free. But I also believe that many who love God and hate sin are oppressed, afflicted, and tormented by demons that have attached themselves to the believer or “entered into” that person to take up residence. That condition is better termed demonization (affliction, oppression, harassment, torment) rather than possession. Salvation is not an issue in these cases but our effectiveness, spiritual maturity, the work of the Spirit in us, etc. are greatly hindered.

Demonization does not cost us our salvation but does greatly minimize our sanctification. In most cases, a demonized person is only out of control in one area of his or her life while functioning normally in all the others. However, that one area can create a great deal of pain and chaos for those individuals and their families.

The believer’s ability to continue to function in other areas of his or her life is what keeps us from looking deeper and, perhaps, seeking answers in the spiritual realm. Satan is a good strategist. He keeps attacks toned down so that we are hindered but still feel that something in the natural realm is the cause and that something in the natural realm can still provide a solution. So we seek more meds, more counseling, more dietary solutions, more of whatever science and medicine offers. I’m not saying that we should never use what science and medicine provides. I believe they are a grace from God for a fallen world but if the issue is demonic, those things will have limited benefits. Our conviction that our problems and solutions are grounded in the natural realm is what keeps the stronghold a secret and what continues to give Satan power in the life of the individual.

Our people look to the natural realm because the church has taught them to do so. The majority of churches do not teach on the spiritual life and battles in the spiritual realm nor do they access the powers of heaven for solutions. They teach that Jesus came to forgive our sins and help us to live a moral life so we can go to heaven but help for the rest of life’s big struggles must come from the world. What a deception. Jesus came to give us abundant life and victory over the enemy. We don’t have all the answers yet for healing and world peace, but those answers exist in heaven and our job is to keep stepping into the realm of spiritual warfare, healing world peace, and aggressive prayer until the Holy Spirit downloads the answers. It is only a matter of time of we ask and then the world will see the glory of God like never before.

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life. Philippians 2:14-16

I recently visited with a young woman who grew up in church, loves the Lord, hosts a small group Bible study in her home, but continues to struggle with overwhelming feelings of fear and condemnation. She lamented that the churches in her area were “powerless to help people like her.” In many ways she had no more freedom in her life than the unsaved men and women in her community.

If we are honest, many believers today are saved but remain in bondage to sin, addiction, shame, fear, and a host of other hindrances to their walk. The truth is that other than church attendance, a very large number of believers feel and act just like the people they work with or go to school with who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them. Divorce rates in the church rival divorce rates in the culture at large. Christian teens seem to have little power over the cultural pressure to drink, experiment with drugs, or to be sexually active. A significant number of believers live on antidepressants, tolerate marriages dominated by anger and rage, live with bitterness toward people in their past, and are crippled by an overpowering sense of unworthiness and rejection.

I’m not scolding these believers for not being “the Christians they should be” because I have struggled with many of those issues as well. These believers are desperately looking for freedom, but in many cases have not been shown by their churches how to access the freedom and healing that Jesus promises.

A gospel that only gets us to a place of forgiveness but does not radically free us and change us so that we stand out in contrast to our culture is not the gospel that Jesus preached. Paul pointed to this truth in the text from Philippians quoted above.   Stars stand out in stark contrast to the darkness like the sun’s brilliant corona as it shines around a total eclipse. Jesus himself declared that his followers were to be the light of the world. Those who wear the name of Christ should stand out in the crowd by their sheer “differentness.”

Jesus spoke of being “born again” not as figurative language for trying harder or simply starting over with a clean sheet, but as a reality where something real and essential has been altered in everyone who comes to him. Scripture tells us that before Jesus came into our lives we were dead in our trespasses and sins and living under the dominion of darkness. We were in bondage to sin whether we knew it or not. Satan literally owned us. But in Christ, all things become new. Jesus declared that he came to heal broken hearts and set captives free. Those promises are for this world not just the world to come. After all, the same power that raised Jesus from the grave operates within us. The Spirit of God who has constant access to the mind of God lives within us and is willing to download the knowledge and creativity of heaven to those who ask for it. Because we have “the mind of Christ,” we should be the smartest, most creative, most resourceful, and most optimistic people on the planet in very noticeable ways.

When the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us, an incredible potential for radical change is released. The door to our prison cell is unlocked and opened wide. The question is whether we will walk through that door into a radically new life or voluntarily stay in our familiar environment. Many Christians stay because they are unaware of the open door because it is only perceived by faith. They are also unaware of the destiny and power Christ offers them to set them free and transform their lives.

Satan’s first goal is to keep us from coming to Christ. His second goal is to make us ineffective. One of the enemy’s most effective strategies is to convince a believer that he is the same person he always was and will always be even after coming to Christ. Satan peddles the lie that the only difference between the saved and unsaved person is that the saved has his or her sins forgiven. Otherwises, we are still as powerless and broken as the unsaved around us. If he can’t keep us from accepting Jesus, the next best thing is to convince us that we will only experience the power, healing, and blessings of heaven after our funeral. Until then, we will simply struggle and do the best we can while our life plays out like a sad country song. That is not what Jesus has in mind on the cross. That is not the abundant life.

After coming to Christ, the essential difference between those with the Spirit of Christ living in them and those without the Spirit should soon become apparent, not as a reflection of our efforts but as a reflection of the power of God working in us. The fact that so many believers blend in perfectly with the world around them reveals that something is amiss. Speaking of Jesus, John tells us, “In him was life and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4). There was a measure and quality of life in Jesus that was unmistakable. It stood out and drew men to him. With Christ in us, we should exude the same life. That life comes through the power that heals and sets men free (Isa.61:1-4) and the power that transforms us into the image of Christ. A powerless gospel will not take us there.

Paul gave a stern warning to the church at Galatia regarding the gospel of Jesus Christ. He declared, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal.1:6-8). Paul was concerned about a gospel that included salvation by works but an incomplete gospel also borders on being another gospel. To teach forgiveness only, without the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, leaves believers vulnerable to the oppression and affliction of the enemy.

Whenever Jesus and his followers preached the gospel, they immediately healed the sick, cast our demons, cleanse lepers, and raised the dead on more than one occasion. That power was not just a demonstration that they were speaking for God, but it was also necessary for those accepting Christ to be released to meet their full potential in Him. Much of the church is reclaiming the power of the Holy Spirit but that realization has not yet made it to the majority of churches or believers in America. My hope is that a time will soon come in which no one will have to say that the churches in his or her area seem powerless to help, “for the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power” (1 Cor. 4:20). I also hope that you will be a clear voice in the Kingdom of God for all that Jesus purchased on the cross for all those who follow him.

Deliverance is a powerful tool for setting people free from the grip of the enemy. Not only is it powerful but it is essential. However, at times we may tend to overemphasize deliverance in the process of spiritual transformation. That is understandable because many of us have seen radical and dramatic transformation in believers in a very short time as a result of deliverance. It becomes problematic, however, when we begin to see deliverance as the cure-all for every issue. In some ways we begin to think of it as the quick-fix for people who are stuck or loosing ground in their spiritual progress, but demonization is only one barrier in an array of barriers that can stall out the process of discipleship and transformation.

Deliverance will not make a person spiritually mature but will remove the resistance so that individuals can then begin to grow spiritually as they should. At the end of Free Indeed, our ministry for healing and freedom, we always remind our participants that completing the eight weeks of study and the weekend of activation is not the end but rather the beginning of their growth and maturity.

Discipleship is the process of becoming like Jesus. It is a lifelong endeavor that can be punctuated by significant events where huge growth spurts occur but then we must always settle back into the process. In transformation, there is always a price to be paid by the individual who wants to be changed. That price is a consistent lifestyle of coming into the presence of God through multiple expressions of ancient spiritual disciplines: daily time in the word, prayer, meditation, confession, repentance, thanksgiving, worship, service, listening to God, solitude, memorization, journaling, authenticity, and so forth. We often say that getting free is the first battle. Staying free is the second. The implementation of these spiritual disciplines is what keeps us free.

We are such an instant society that we have come to expect instant spiritual maturity through a weekend conference, an impartation, deliverance, a prophetic word, and so forth. I think all of those things are amazing and I will be the first in line for an impartation, but they can’t replace the work of partnering with God on a daily basis in the change we desire.

Too often we pray for inner healing or cast out a demon without making sure the person we have ministered to is pursuing the Lord on a daily basis and filling themselves with the things of the Spirit. Sometimes we don’t even make sure that the person has repented of the very sin the demon was attached to or has forgiven hurtful people in his/her past. In our hurry to help, we may be setting them up for a worse condition because we haven’t helped them lay the foundation that they will need to maintain their freedom and grow in the Lord.

Paul commands us, “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:17-18). The verb tense of the word translated as “filled” is progressive which means to be continually filled with the Spirit. When you are filled with the Spirit there is not much room for the devil. A great deal of being Spirit-filled is about being filled with the things of the Spirit which are to be found in spiritual disciplines. It is by “doing the work” that we get in spiritual shape. The work brings us into the presence of God and the transforming power of the Spirit. The work lays new neural pathways that are in agreement with God and diminish the old pathways that agreed with Satan so that our brains are renewed while our minds are being renewed spiritually.

So, as you minister healing and deliverance or give impartations and prophetic words, remember that the person you are ministering to will need to pay a price for continued freedom and spiritual growth. If they are not willing to pay the price of drawing close to God daily, they will most likely lose the ground they have gained and maybe end up worse than they were before their freedom. As those who minister in this arena it is essential that we too pay the cost of freedom in our lives each day.

Philip Yancey once said that the real temptation presented to Jesus in the wilderness by Satan, was the temptation of gaining a crown without the cross. Satan offered Jesus shortcuts without suffering to establish his kingdom on the earth once more. Ultimately, there are no shortcuts. It was true for Jesus and it is true for his people. Crucifying the flesh is a daily demand if we are to be consistent with our spiritual disciplines. Neither the flesh nor the enemy want us spending time with God. But for those who reject the “shortcuts” there is certainly a crown after the cross.