Put Down Your Checklist

My guest blogger today is Joel CoResurrected Adifon.

You won't learn how to effectively heal the sick by reading your favorite revivalist's latest book or by watching his new teaching and applying his 'foolproof' principles.

You'll learn how to heal the sick by understanding there is no longer any separation between you and the man who became a life-giving Spirit.

As you spend your day breaking bread with Him and growing to trust in the fact that this Jesus believes in you, you will become acquainted with each of His intricate mannerisms – the way He talks, the way He walks, the way He cracks a joke, the way He can have a laugh at your expense without making you feel like your dignity is lowered in any way, the way that He lets you lean on His chest, on days when the world seems against you, and asks you to tell Him everything – it is from this place that we are called to minister, from a place of knowing Him.

Healing is not about us. Healing is not even about the person in front of us.

It's about Jesus.

And as cliche as the above statement sounds, I can't even tell you how easy it is to overlook this pretty important fact.

My dude and bro Caleb New shared something with me that has been absolutely undoing the way I think about ministry. He vocalized something that Holy Spirit has been teaching me, but I didn't quite have language for.

This is a paraphrase of our conversation, not a direct quote.

"When you want to pray for healing – before you do anything else, before you command, before you release, before you speak a word – ask Jesus how He wants to minister to that person. Ask Him how He would pray and what He would do. Then, quiet your heart, turn your affections towards Heaven and watch Him. Watch where He places His hands, listen to what He says over the person, feel the way He touches the brokenness. Then, do that."

Away with all our formulas and gazillion-step methods!

Away with all our efforts to do ministry without resting in His abiding presence!

Away with all our attempts to learn to function in the gifts apart from the Anointing that teachings us all things!

The Christian life is not a journey to become some super-anointed revivalist or the next big apostle-prophet-overseer-evangelist-whatchamacallit.

The Christian life is about enjoying Christ and being satisfied in an ever-unfolding relationship with Perfect Love.

A relationship has no 'method'. A relationship has no 'strategy'. A relationship has no 'mapping'. A relationship has no 'manual'.

Go take a walk with Jesus and ask Him what it was like for Him to grow up in Nazareth.

Next time you go to watch a movie, ask Him what He wants to watch.

Take Him out for a night out and ask Him what restaurant He wants to go to.

If any of these things sound silly to us, then it's clear we need more work learning to practice His presence and realizing just how tangible He really is.

When you learn to live every moment with the understanding that He's always with you, you'll have no problem asking Him what to do to make a tumor disappear or raise a dead body back to life.

Put down your checklist.

Pick up relationship.

The Father and The Porn Star

By Joel Adifon - originally published here.

This is an uncomfortable topic for many and even for myself. But I know that people out there need to read this.

For some personal reasons, right before taking a nap today, I asked Papa to show me how He feels about pornography.

I fell asleep and all of a sudden I saw myself as a tall, extremely muscled, and athletic Caucasian male.

I worked with extremely attractive, physically flawless girls and basically spent time being especially demeaning to them, calling them "bitches," "whores," and other terrible names. I would do this while the cameras were rolling and I was in scenes with them. I would continue even when filming wasn't going on.

In other words, I wasn't a very nice dude.

When we would wrap up filming for the day, I would go home and completely act as if who I was at work didn't even exist.

I had a beautiful little girl (about 3 or 4 years old) with the most beautiful golden, Rapunzel-like locks.

She would always be playing on the grass of our enormous backyard (I had a mansion in the dream) and whenever I would come from work, she would run to me and I would pick her up and twirl her around in my arms.

One day, we were both in the backyard. I was working on something and she was playing a few feet away.

I didn't notice, but there was a pile of sharp, crushed up pieces of glass near where she was playing. She was about to put her hands in it and play, which would have left them covered with cuts and contusions.

Right before she touched the glass, I happened to glance over at her.

I freaked out, yelled out her name, grabbed her and scooped her up in my arms, holding her tight to me.

"Honey," I said, "please don't play there, you'll hurt yourself and I'll be sad."

"Okay, daddy." She then ran off to go play somewhere else.

I looked at her going to make sure she was safe and all of a sudden, when I turned back to where my focus had been, the Father was standing right in front of me, staring right into my eyes.

He had pure silver hair and a silver beard, yet He looked young at the same time, with fiery, life-filled eyes.

He was smiling and His smile was filled with the most love-filled acceptance of me, yet I could see a deep sadness in it.

"Son, you really care about her don't you?"

"Yeah." I said.

"You didn't want her to get hurt, right?"

"Yeah."

"I want to show you something."

All of a sudden, I saw a scene projected onto my enormous backyard.

I saw all the girls that I normally worked with, on the grass, except they were all little girls.

I saw them running at a very fast pace for little girls.

I tried to see where they were headed and I saw a gigantic pile of broken glass with a large building sticking out if it.

The building said "Porn Industry" on it.

The Father, (He was still standing next to me watching the projection, while at the same time in it) was standing in front of the building with His hands out.

"Stop! Girls, please!" His booming voice echoed throughout the yard. "Everything that I've placed in you will be destroyed. All the dreams! All the hopes! All the innocence! STOP!"

But the girls wouldn't stop running. Some of them bumped into Him, knocking Him over.

Then, the vision faded.

The Father looked at me, with pain in His eyes and said, "In the same way that you didn't want your daughter to play in the glass, I never wanted my daughters to go into porn. My son, I don't want them to end up torn, wounded, and broken."

He looked into my eyes one last time and walked away.

The next day, I went back to work shaken up and confused.

I would do scenes with the girls, but my mind would be elsewhere. People would ask me if I was okay.

Finally, in the breakroom, I snapped.

I looked at the girls that I had so often mistreated and said, "Guys, I'm so sorry."

Some of them were getting high and just chilling and they were like, "What the f***? Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry for being such a dick to you guys and for calling you all those names. I'm sorry." I could hardly hold back tears.

They all laughed and said, "Whatever dude. It's just work." None of them were taking me seriously and that broke my heart.

There was another male pornstar in my dream (probably a demon) who knew what I was up to and came right up to me with an angry scowl on his face. He put a gun up to my chest and said, "Shut the f*** up!"

He pulled the trigger.

I immediately woke and heard Papa say very clearly, in my spirit.

"Joel, My son, this is how I feel about pornography."

Guys, my heart was heavy after this.

As a man, I have struggled with this in various seasons in my life and sometimes the battle leaves you numb.

You begin to think,

"I'm not hurting anyone."

"Papa doesn't condemn me."

It is very true that Papa doesn't condemn you or see you differently for messing up, but His heart is breaking.

He is jealous for His daughters and He loves them with an everlasting love.

If you struggle with this, like I have, ask Him to give you a revelation of His heart.

Do not try to break this by striving or because it's the "right thing to do."

If you're a girl and your significant other is looking at this stuff, do not let that make you feel less than the perfection that you already are in Papa's eyes.

Pray for him and pray for all guys who are trapped in this thing.

Lastly, if you're a girl who's in the porn industry (or thinking about it) who is somehow reading this, I just want to say something to you.

You are loved. You are beautiful. You are perfect. You are clean.

Please forgive guys like me who have used you to feel good about ourselves or to fill the emptiness inside.

You have a Father who loves you unconditionally.

He is wildly, passionately, unequivocally in love with you.

He is not the angry Zeus like figure many preachers have expounded on in their sermons.

He just wants you to be safe and whole.

Talk to Him when you feel alone. Let Him be your friend.

He will never use you or take advantage of you.

And if we ever meet someday, let me hear your story and just share mine with you.

From one human being to another.

Taking Risks

This is a promotional video for the Voice of The Apostles Conference - 2012. That conference came and went last week and lives were changed.

The video speaks to the differences we can make in the lives of others, if we're willing to take risks.

And the kingdom of God only advances to the degree it's representatives are willing to take risks.

I hope you're inspired by it

The Finished Works - Steve Peace Harmon

I hijacked this gem from a Facebook friend named Steve Peace Harmon.

"When Jesus was on the cross and He said, "It is finished", what it meant was that His ministry is over and that He got everything for us so we can do what He did to bring the Kingdom to earth. That’s why His Works are finished, and ours begins.

The Finished Work of the

 Cross simply means this. Jesus made available the authority, the Fullness, every spiritual blessing and eternal life. ‘Available’ is the key word because it provides you with the understanding that it is a ‘give and take.’ Salvation was made available to the world, but the world has to take it. The Fullness, every Spiritual blessing, and the authority were made available to the believer, but the believer has to take it if they want to see it manifested. 'Taking' just simply means 'to activate.' For instance, with authority, if the believer wants to see it manifested they actually have to Pray for sick people and cast out demons. They have to “DO Something” in order to see something manifest. It doesn’t manifest while doing nothing.

Here is a good example. I saw nobody get healed when I didn’t pray for people to get healed. I saw healing when I began to pray for healing. Sound simple to understand? If you want to see the stuff you have to “DO”. Don’t do = No results, DO = Results… I remember being prophesied over that I would see miracles happen. I believed that it was going to happen and I would wait around until it would happen. I waited 8 years without seeing a thing and I figured out that I had to actually go and pray for it. What a concept!! It’s funny. The churches who pray for healings, sees healings. The churches, who don’t pray for healings, don’t see healings. Isn’t that ironic?

Jesus Finished His work, which means your work begins. He provided everything for you at your disposal to destroy the works of the devil and to bring the Kingdom. Before the cross, you didn’t have authority over demons, and the ability to heal the sick from the fullness. Now it's available to you. You carry on the work that He was doing. What was that work? It was found in Luke 4:18-19.. "To proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The Apostles carried on that work through the book of Acts and Paul was the most zealous of all to carry on that work. Understand that this has nothing to do with attaining your salvation, righteousness and God's love. This is about the heart of God for a hurt and dying world.."

~ Steve Peace Harmon

Deliverance

This is an excerpt from my soon to be released book on healing and deliverance. 
This article was originally published as a Facebook note. The comments on it have been very insightful. If you'd like to read them and leave your own comment, you can find the note here.

Acknowledgments:

I'd like to thank my friends Tony Cossey, Tom Fischer, Cheryl Johnson-Fritz, Sherry Evans, Michael King, David McLain, Craig Adams, Matt Evans, Sue Wilke and everyone else who has taught, inspired and encouraged me to pursue a better understanding of this important subject.

In 2011, I asked God to teach me more about deliverance. I was in the midst of writing this book and I felt I didn't have much experience in deliverance to write from. I wanted to understand it better, so I would have some useful information to share. 

Be careful what you ask God for. He likes to give us things, and they seldom come wrapped in nice, neat packages. 

I'd like to take you back (briefly) to the beginning of my Christian life and show you the path I've taken to get to my present understanding of demons and deliverance.

After being saved, I lived a pretty ordinary life as an evangelical Christian. I was content to study my Bible, sit in my church pew on Sunday and occasionally witness to strangers about Jesus. To my knowledge, I’d never met anyone who was demon-possessed. I’m certain I’d never met a demon face to face. I couldn’t understand the preoccupation some people had with them.

Were these people deceived by an over-active imagination, or were demons really all around us?

And if they were, why couldn’t everyone see them?

If there was one thing I sincerely hoped had ceased with the passing of the early church, it was all this messy business about casting out demons. As with everything supernatural, at that point in my life, I was skeptical about the need for studying the behavior of demons, much less casting them out of people.

Most of the experiences we recognize as 'real' involve things that happen in the natural world. For those who confine their lives to the natural realm - angels and demons and their strange activities are seldom thought of. The happenings of that otherworldly place are mostly ignored.

The problem with demons is that most of us can’t see them and for most of us, seeing is believing. Our society has conditioned us to label anyone claiming to see things we don’t as suffering from hallucinations. And yet, isn't it interesting how often Jesus dealt with demons and those who were harassed by them?

Demons are disembodied spirits. They don't possess a physical body, as we do, but a spiritual one. They interact both in the spirit world and in the natural. But because they have no physical body, their ability to interact in the natural world is limited. Their movements are a bit like the wind. Just as you can see the wind’s effect, but not the wind itself, demons have an effect that can be seen and heard, but demons themselves, are invisible to the natural eye. The fact that a demon has no physical body compels them to attach to a physical body that is available for use in the physical world.

In 2009, I had a dream that revealed something about demons I didn't know. As I walked the hallways of a hospital, I looked into one patient room after another and saw a black presence in each room. I knew the presence was a demon of sickness. Although I don’t see demons like this while I’m awake, God revealed an important truth to me; sickness is perpetrated by demons and demons are more prevalent than I suspected.

The ability to sense the presence of demons is not available to most of us for a reason. That reason is illustrated in the following story, told by a friend who is a seer. A seer is someone who receives revelation from God in the form of visions and dreams. (See 1 Sam. 9:9)

My friend and his six year old granddaughter, who is also a seer, were riding in the car, when the girl saw an elderly woman hunched over, pushing a shopping cart. The girl noticed that the woman had many demons clinging to her, making it appear as if her hunched over condition was due to the weight of the demons. She asked if they could turn the car around and help the poor woman.

If we were able to see demons clinging to people everywhere we went, but had no power to do anything about them, it might drive us to the brink of insanity. This might surprise you, but if you could see into the spirit world, you would see spirit beings (both good and evil) literally everywhere you looked. But because God is merciful, He hides demonic activity from those who don’t need to see it. The ability to discern the presence of spirits is a gift from God given on a need to know basis. (1 Cor. 12:10) Most of us don’t need to know about demonic activity because we aren't engaged in warfare against them.

God has a calling for everyone. Each calling has different assignments. Some of those assignments may require us to battle demons. You are free to accept or reject the call of God on your life. That decision requires you to make a choice about whether you want to engage in this type of warfare or not. If the call involves battling demons, you’ll be given the ability to recognize their presence.

My introduction to the world of the demonic actually began many years ago, when out of curiosity, I started interviewing patients who reported hearing voices. For years, whenever I transported a patient with a mental health problem, particularly if they were diagnosed with schizophrenia or psychosis, I asked if they heard voices and what the voices told them. I would then ask if they knew who the voices were.

The answers surprised me at first, but about 80% said the voices belonged to demons. Many said that at some point the voice had revealed its identity. These people had no reason to lie about their experiences. The likelihood that all of them were wrong seemed unlikely. I had to consider the possibility that maybe I was wrong. After interviewing hundreds of patients, I began to understand that demons were more active than I realized.

My Experiences

I’d like to share a few personal stories about my interactions with demons.

One day on my drive home from work, I had an open eyed vision. Most of the visions I have are with my eyes closed, but this vision was different. I saw into the spirit with my eyes wide open, while I was driving my car. In the vision, I saw myself responding to a call at Tacoma General Hospital to transport a young woman who was demon - possessed. She was in the emergency department in room number 4. I transported her to St. Joseph’s mental health unit.

The next day at work, I responded to a call to Tacoma General Hospital to transport a young woman to St Joseph’s mental health unit. She was in room 4 in the emergency department. She had no history of mental illness and was being treated for what the doctor called “acute psychosis’. According to her mother, she experienced a sudden change in behavior. For some reason she became obsessed with telling everyone about God, angels, demons, Satan, the approaching judgment, and the torment of hell. Her ‘witnessing’ about these things was random and had no continuity of thought. The only recent change that might have contributed to her behavior was that she admitted that her boyfriend had convinced her to smoke marijuana for the first time.

This poor woman had come under the control of a spirit of religion. Evil spirits have specialties, which we’ll discuss shortly. I have to assume that her experimentation with marijuana was the thing that opened the door for the evil spirit to come into her life, since no other explanation was available and the timing of the two events seemed too precise to be a coincidence.

I transported another woman who suffered the same symptoms. This woman was a middle aged Christian. We were called to her church to transport her for a mental health evaluation after she suddenly began ranting about God, Satan, angels, demons, the coming judgment and the torment of hell. Once again, her statements were completely random and without continuity of thought. This time I recognized that she was under the influence of a religious spirit, so I attempted to cast it out of her. The more I commanded the spirit to leave, the louder her witnessing became. The yelling became so loud that it concerned my EMT partner and since I was making no progress I gave up.

I've prayed with my son frequently for healing of aches and pains, particularly during the swimming season. One day he came home with a partial separation of the AC joint in his shoulder, which caused a lot of pain. We prayed and it was healed. Weeks later he told me about a pain he had in the middle of his back. I commanded it to leave and he immediately felt better. But the following day it returned. I was curious, so before commanding it to leave, I closed my eyes to see if God would reveal anything and sure enough, I saw my son standing before me with a black creature about 12 inches in diameter attached to the middle of his back. The pain was caused by a demon. I commanded the demon to leave and after it did, I commanded the pain to leave. It left and didn't return.

While working in Tacoma, my EMT partner was healed at least a dozen times in the two years we worked together. He has size 14 shoes and loves to run. I guess that’s not a great combination, unless you’re a newbie to healing who needs practice. In the two years we worked together, he was healed of headaches, neck pain, back pain, knee pain, a nasty injury to his hand and numerous other injuries. One day he was complaining of knee pain that was bad enough to make him walk with a limp. I began to command the knee to be healed as usual, but nothing happened. After 4 or 5 tries, it wouldn't budge. That surprised me, since knee pain usually responds quickly to this approach. Then it dawned on me…I didn't command the spirit of pain to leave.

When I take the time to ask God to show me what we're up against, He frequently shows me some kind of demon. Because I saw demons so often, I developed a routine of commanding a spirit of pain or sickness to leave. But this time, I didn't. So I commanded the spirit of pain to leave. Next I commanded his knee to be healed. He felt heat all around his knee and in a few minutes it was healed.

One day I transported a young woman from a fitness club who was hysterical. It took a lot of reassuring to get her calm enough to tell us what her problem was. My partner and I put her in the ambulance and did an extensive interview.

We learned that for the past year, she'd been hearing voices in her head. There were at least two different voices, possibly more. The voice that she heard most often was a male voice that continually threatened her. The threats involved killing her sister.  The second voice sounded exactly like her sister. Often while the male voice was threatening to kill her sister, she heard the second voice screaming in terror as if her sister was being killed. The main voice that she heard also performed sex acts on her. I referred her to a friend who had a deliverance ministry, since I knew virtually nothing about deliverance at the time.

On a recent trip to Australia, a group of us were praying with people for various conditions. I was praying with a woman who wanted to be healed of diabetes. Shortly after I began praying, she reported pain that she didn't have before. I've learned that when pain manifests suddenly, it's a good indication that there is a spirit that needs to be removed. The pain was in her back, near her left shoulder blade. I commanded the spirit to leave and the pain moved higher in her back, near the top of her shoulder. I explained to the group what was happening and a few of them joined us in prayer. We commanded the spirit to leave. It moved to her other shoulder and the pain became worse. We continued commanding the spirit to leave and eventually, it departed. This same woman had just prayed for someone else who had received a remarkable healing of back pain and muscle damage to her leg. And all the while, she had a demon herself and didn't know it.

When praying with someone, if they suddenly experience pain they didn't have before, or if a present sensation of pain moves to another part of the body or becomes worse, it's a sure sign that an evil spirit is at work.

Why does this happen?

Because the spirit is attempting to frighten its host. The spirit wants to create enough fear in the mind of its host that they will ask us to stop praying with them, thinking we're only making things worse. My advice in these cases is to tell them there is a spirit present and the increased pain is a tactic it's using to frighten them. Ask if you may continue and reassure them the pain will eventually leave.

Soon enough, my education about demons would become personal. One evening I was praying for my wife to be healed of neck pain, which was so severe it left her in tears at bedtime. I’d been praying over her for months, to no avail. That night I did something foolish, which you should never do. In desperation, I asked God to put her afflictions on me, if it would take away her pain. I went to sleep and had a dream. In the dream I was looking for something I couldn't find. This is a classic dream that God gives to people who are searching for answers.

I awoke from the dream and a few seconds later I felt something like a net being spread over me. Seconds later, I realized that I couldn’t move my arms or legs. All I could do was roll a bit from side to side. As this was happening, I also became aware that my voice was being taken away from me. I tried to speak but no words came out. All I could do was mumble incomprehensibly. I was aware that what had gripped me in this paralysis was a demon. As my voice left, I tried to say, “Get out, in the name of Jesus”, but I could only mumble. My rolling back and forth woke up my wife, who heard me mumbling. She immediately knew it was a demon that had overpowered me and began praying in tongues. She then commanded the demon to leave. A few seconds later my voice returned and the paralysis left. We later learned that this particular demon is called the 'shrike' demon. The big mistake I made was in asking God to put my wife's afflictions on me. In doing so, I gave the enemy permission to attack me and the shrike spirit was happy to pay me a visit, since I had opened a door. Never ask God to give you the afflictions of someone else. Never make deals with the enemy and never under any circumstances invite sickness or affliction into your life.

All of these stories are merely to illustrate one thing; demons are real and the more you become involved with them, the more they become involved with you. I never suspected how often or how savagely they can attack us. They can and do attack Christians. They come in many different varieties and they can do different things. Many of us have been taught that the only way a demon can interact with a human is for it to “possess” our body and assume control over us. Demonic possession has been popularized in movies and books, but the truth about demons and how they interact is far subtler.

Demonic "Possession"

Contrary to popular belief, demons rarely take complete control of an individual. The English Bible descriptions of people being "demon-possessed" are a mistranslation. The term “demon-possessed” isn't found in the Greek text of the New Testament. Instead, three other terms are used. Some passages say ‘to have a demon’. Others say, ‘to be in a demon’. The most common term is ‘demonized.’ These terms mean essentially the same thing and are used interchangeably in the account of the man with the demon named ‘Legion’ (see Matthew 8:28-34; Mk. 5:1-20; Lk. 8:26-39). None of these terms indicates total ownership or control of an individual. They simply mean the person is in some way affected by a demon.

All of the examples from the Bible involving demonic attack describe people harassed in some way but not completely overpowered or controlled. The single exception is the case of ‘Legion’. This is because it takes many demons to completely possess a human. Demons have limited abilities and one demon alone can only attack its host in a particular area. A single demon, acting alone cannot take complete control of a human.

In the account of the boy with seizures that the disciples couldn't cure, Jesus made an interesting comment about the nature of demons. When the disciples were not able to heal the boy they asked why:

“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.  However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Mt. 17:19-21)

Jesus said the kind of demon they encountered did not come out except by prayer and fasting, implying that there are different types of demons. Some teachers dispute this, saying that when Jesus said 'this kind' He wasn't referring to 'kinds' of demons, but rather the 'kind' of unbelief the disciples had.

The word that is translated kind in this verse is the Greek word γένος (genos) from which we get the English word ‘genealogy’. This word describes differentiation between related varieties of living beings – specifically between families, races, tribes or nations. It is unreasonable to think He was describing different families or races of unbelief. He must have meant that there are different families or races of demons and the one they encountered was somehow different.

If you’re curious to know how this demon was different from others, consider this: Mark’s account mentions that the demon caused the boy to be deaf and mute. Matthew notes that it caused him to have seizures. Both accounts mention only one spirit. This is the only spirit mentioned in the Bible that caused more than one type of physical affliction. It was indeed a different type of spirit. (Compare Mt. 17:15 and Mk. 9:25) 

Demons Specialize

God’s creativity is seen in all of nature. No two snowflakes are identical, and no two people are exactly alike. The same is true for demons. They are unique and they all have certain weaknesses, strengths and abilities. Each demon is a specialist in one or more areas, bringing its own brand of affliction to man. This differentiation or specialization is what Jesus was referring to. Some demons specialize in physical affliction, as with the woman who had been crippled by a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years (Lk. 13:11), or the deaf and dumb spirit that also caused seizures, which we just mentioned.

Some demons specialize in emotional trauma, like the spirit that terrorized King Saul with what might be diagnosed today as anxiety attacks. (1Sam. 18:10)

Some specialize in divination, as was the case with the spirit Paul cast from the woman who followed him for many days. (Acts 16:17-18)

James and John became influenced by a spirit of murder, when they suggested they should call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritan city that did not receive Jesus. Hearing their idea, Jesus rebuked them, saying, “You do not know what spirit you are of.” (See Lk. 9:54-55) The Lord told them they had become influenced by an evil spirit, which planted this foolish idea in the minds.

When we look at the words Jesus used when referring to the way the spirit influenced them, the phrase that is translated 'are of' is the Greek word ἐστέ, (este) which could better be translated ‘belong to’. The phrase ‘belong to’ carries the connotation that one thing has taken possession of another. Jesus said His disciples ‘belonged to’ (or were possessed by) this demon, even if it was only momentarily.

Another example of demonic influence of a disciple of Jesus is found in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew. Jesus asked the disciples, “Whom do men say that I am?” Peter confessed that He was the Messiah – the Son of God. Jesus commended him saying that His Father had revealed this truth to him. (Mt. 16:16) Later, Jesus began to teach that He would be handed over to the Jews, killed and raised on the third day. Peter rebuked Him, saying these things could never happen. Jesus said: “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Mt. 16:22-23)

Why did Jesus refer to Peter as Satan? Because Peter, like James and John had briefly come under the influence of an evil spirit, allowing the enemy to plant thoughts in his mind. Jesus was speaking to the evil spirit behind Peter’s words. If you don’t believe that disciples of Jesus can have demons, here are examples of three disciples who did and they were the three that Jesus trusted most.

As we've seen with other accounts of demonic attack, the evil spirits did not exert complete control over them, but only influenced them in its area of specialty. Each of these people remained in control of their mental faculties, apart from the demon’s area of specialization. Though Saul suffered anxiety, he had no physical ailments. The woman, who was physically crippled by a demon, had no mental or emotional infirmity. Peter, James and John did not manifest demonic activity or physical illness, neither did the woman with the spirit of divination. Each still retained their own identity and did not exhibit signs of complete control by the evil spirit.

The man with ‘Legion’ was a different story. He had lost control of both his mind and body. He was unable to dress himself and couldn't control his own actions, even when put in chains. He could not refrain from self-mutilation (Mk. 5:5). He wandered into isolation, and refused the company of family and friends. When he was asked his name, he couldn't recall it. He took on the identity of the demons that had overpowered him, taking the name ‘Legion’.

As to whether believers can be possessed or harassed by demons, as we've just seen, even Peter, James and John were subject to demonic influence. Jesus himself was attacked and harassed a number of times by Satan. It is unbiblical to believe that anyone is immune from demonic attack. The issue isn't whether a Christian can be influenced or possessed, but rather to what degree can we and how does it happen?

Demonic Access

Paul warned believers in Ephesus not to allow Satan to use their anger against them:

 “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold...” (Eph. 4:26-27 NIV).

In this verse the word for foothold is the Greek word τόπος (topos) from which we derive the word ‘topography’. This word can describe either a place of occupancy or an opportunity to carry out an action. It is a semi-permanent stronghold in a person’s life that serves as a home for evil spirits, which gives them an opportunity to exert influence over us. Interestingly, Paul’s point that anger provides a foothold for the enemy is demonstrated in the case of James and John. The demon that influenced them was able to do so because they became angry at the Samaritans. Their anger was the foothold the enemy needed to gain influence over them.

Demonic Homes

Let’s look at what Jesus taught about how demons operate. In Luke chapter 11, He explained the behavior of demons after casting a mute spirit from a man. Some who witnessed it had accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. He refuted their reasoning and revealed the truth about how He overpowered the evil spirit and cast it out:

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils…When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell.” (Lk. 11:22-23, 24-26)

Jesus likened an evil spirit to a strongman who is armored and keeps his home. (Note that demons see our bodies as their homes.) He went on to say that when one who is stronger comes, he removes the demon’s armor, evicts him from the place that he calls home and divides his goods. The ‘goods’ he spoke of are the areas of the person's life that are held in bondage by the demon’s specialization. This might be a physical illness or emotional affliction. He said that once removed, the demon may return to its home later if it remains intact.

There is a widely taught doctrine concerning this passage that needs to be de-bunked. I was taught that when a person is delivered from a demon, they need to be filled with the Holy Spirit immediately, because if they aren't, the demon will return. This sounds logical, and the idea of demons returning is certainly illustrated in this passage, but if you look closely, there is no suggestion that the presence of the Holy Spirit prevents demons from returning. The Holy Spirit isn't mentioned anywhere in this passage.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is always our goal. But many Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit are in need of deliverance and that need often follows them to their grave. In the last year alone, I've prayed with hundreds of Christians for various problems and most of them had an evil spirit of one kind or another had to be removed before their healing could be completed.

In the passage we discussed above, Paul said that anger provided a foothold for the enemy. Anger is a sin that must be dealt with if we are to remain free of demonic influence. But it isn't the only one. Others are rebellion, unforgiveness, bitterness, lust, pride, greed, and the list goes on. Each of these attitudes can allow a place for the enemy to gain a foothold and for a demon to influence us if it specializes in that area.

I had sought healing for chronic neck pain for a long time. I would receive prayer and the pain would leave temporarily, only to return. One day, a woman praying for me asked if I had anger toward anyone. God showed me in a vision, a person I had been angry with for a long time. I knew that I needed to let go of the anger I had toward them. When I released the anger to God, the pain in my neck immediately left and never returned.

The anger I held onto served as a foothold for the enemy. When someone would pray with me for healing, the spirit of pain would leave, only to return because it still had a ‘home’ in my life through anger. The solution came when I realized that even though I didn't value this person very highly, God did. That truth destroyed the foothold of the enemy. I no longer had a right to be angry and I forgave him and repented of the anger. This destroyed the evil spirit’s ‘home’. When the spirit tried to come back it had no place to return to.

Now let’s look at a more in depth problem. Some strongholds are rooted in emotional damage that happens when we are children. Pornography and lust are known to be rooted in a lack of love. If a person grows up feeling unloved, there's a good chance they’ll turn to pornography or lust to fulfill the need that was never met by their parents or family. An unmet need to be loved can create a bondage to pornography, which serves as a demonic home that attracts demons specializing in lust, pornography, and perversion. Knowing they have a home, demons take up residence here. First we must address the root cause, which in this case is a lack of love.

In order to remove the demon’s home, the individual must understand how much they are loved and accepted by their heavenly Father. The awareness of God’s love destroys the unmet need for love and acceptance. This paves the way for them to renounce and repent of their bondage to lust or pornography. Once this is done, the spirit of lust or pornography can be safely removed since its home has been destroyed.

Most root causes can be dealt with in this manner. The process is to identify the root cause, which is often something the person did not receive at a crucial point in their life. Once the deficiency is found, replace what is missing with the truth from God’s heart about that issue. Assist them in embracing God’s truth on the matter, repenting of any attitudes that stemmed from the root cause, then remove any evil spirits that operate in that area of specialty.

Let’s look at one more passage where Jesus dealt with demonic oppression:

“Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God." (Lk. 13:10-13)

In this passage there are two things we should note. First, the woman was bound by a spirit of infirmity, which afflicted her physical body, causing her to be bent over. Jesus discerned the spirit’s presence and exercised authority over it. In this case, He didn't confront the demon. He simply said, "You are set free from your infirmity” and the demon left. After the woman was freed from the demon, He laid His hands on her and healed her deformed body. We can see that she still needed physical healing after the spirit left because she was still bent over. We should not assume that healing has occurred because we've cast a spirit out. After the spirit is removed, the person may still require physical healing.

Demonic Manifestation

I don't have much experience with demons manifesting in bizarre ways. But I tend to keep things low - key when I deal with them and maybe that's why they don't put on a show. Evil spirits seem to come into our lives secretly and without a lot of fanfare, but sometimes when leaving, they try to go out with a bang. I think it's wise to give them as little opportunity as possible to draw attention to themselves when being removed.

When I'm praying with people, even when removing demons, I speak in a very quiet tone of voice. This may be due to the fact that instead of churches, I do most of my ministry in hospitals and nursing homes. In these settings, I can't very well go around yelling at the top of my lungs, commanding demons to leave. I don't think it's necessary to yell and scream at them. If the demons try to rant and rave, tell them to be quiet.

I've heard people teach that you need to know a demon's name before you can make it leave. That hasn't been my experience and I haven't found this taught anywhere in the Bible. I do try to discern their area of specialty (pain, sickness, fear, lust, ect.) but I'm not certain you even need this information to make them go away. When you discern their presence command them to leave. It may not be a bad idea to assume a demon is present and tell it to leave, even if you don't discern one is present. For me, commanding demons to leave has almost become a kind of protocol.

Dealing with demons was just another task that Jesus gave the disciples. Along with healing the sick, raising the dead and proclaiming the kingdom of God, they frequently cast out demons. In most of the passages we've studied so far, deliverance was as commonly mentioned as healing the sick. In several places, healing did not take place until a demon was first evicted. It's no different today. Many people cannot be healed without deliverance. In order to walk in the fullness of God’s commission we must become competent in delivering people from demonic oppression.

Re-arming The Saints

A few weeks ago I had a dream:

In the dream, people received a six digit numerical code. (No - it wasn't the mark of the Beast) The code specified what type of body parts a person would receive while they were being assembled. The codes that had been assigned to some people were incorrect. I was involved in the assembly process. The people I worked on had received the wrong code and as a result, the wrong type of arms. Based on what I knew about their calling, gifting and the types of arms available, I had to re-arm all of them.

The dream seems to be referring to my calling as one of "arming" the body of Christ. When I think of "arms" I often think of weapons, equipping and training. The usual context of that language is in equipping the body of Christ for ministry. (See Eph. 4:11-12)

In the dream, there was a problem. The code was a six digit code, which probably represents a number given by man. People had been assigned the wrong codes and as a result received the wrong arms. I would interpret that as an error on the part of leaders in arming the saints and misidentifying their calling.  My job was to remove the arms they had and give them the ones they needed.

The dream is a revelation on correcting others - particularly in the area of ministry. This is a strange subject for me, since I gave up on correcting others years ago. While I enjoy teaching those who are willing to learn, I don't enjoy correcting people. But this dream is definitely a call to make corrections in others. And I don't think it's just for me. I believe this is a word for others who are similarly called to train and equip the saints.

I'm not certain about how leaders have misidentified the calling of people, but I have a hunch. It's common for us to want others to walk in the same type of calling that we do. What father doesn't want his son to take up the family business?

The value we place on something is personal, yet we tend to project our values onto others. Pastors desire to train and equip more pastors. The same is true for evangelists and prophets. I suspect that herein lies the problem.

I once knew a man who pastored a small church. In talking with others who knew him, it became obvious that he was called as an evangelist and apostle, but he wasn't walking out that calling. He was miserable in the role of pastor. He got excited and energized every time he traveled outside the US and operated as an evangelist, yet he never fully embraced that calling and instead, accepted the pastoral role he'd been given.

This man's ministry is an example of how we tend to fall into the habit of operating in things we're really not called to. There are many reason why we do it - mostly out of convenience or following the traditions of men.

The solution proposed in the dream was to re-arm people based on what was known about their true calling, their true gifting and what arms were available to them.

It's been my experience that before we can effectively correct others, we must have a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Yes, we can speak correction to anyone we want, and many of us do, but correction from strangers is almost never heeded. That type of correction bears no fruit and often creates bitterness, mistrust and resentment.

Having a relationship of mutual trust and respect with someone allows us to speak words of correction in a way that it can be received. And it's only when correction is received that it bears fruit.

The calling and gifting of others are matters that require God's counsel. Once we've established a relationship of trust, we can ask God what areas of ministry a person is called to and what type of gifts they have that will help them operate in their calling.

Arming them for their calling is a matter of understanding how the weapons of warfare function and how they aide us in operating in our calling.

If a friend is called as a prophet, we would do well to encourage them to spend time developing the ability to see visions, receive words of knowledge and words of wisdom, since prophets are people of revelation. These weapons (arms) help them walk out their calling.

If a person is called as an evangelist, we might help them become trained in healing and miracles, since healing and evangelism make a powerful combination.

Leaders who are able to correctly discern the gifting, calling and weaponry of others and who can successfully correct them are an invaluable resource to the body of Christ.

Ian Clayton on Transrelocation

Ian Clayton is a pioneer in walking out the supernatural life of the kingdom of God. One of the things he's experienced often is spiritual transportation. He has traveled frequently both in the spirit and in his physical body to different locations. In the podcast below, he shares his observations on this fascinating subject.

Click on the Podcast below Ian's picture to hear the message.

Related messages:
Traveling In The Spirit

When God's Kids Grow Up

As I mowed the grass in the sweltering heat, I thought about my spiritual discontent.

Again.

I watched a video last night featuring Greg Hawkins, the executive pastor of  Willow Creek church, who discussed the trend of committed, born-again Christians leaving traditional churches in large numbers. Wanting to know what was behind it all, pollsters like George Barna have been collecting data from studies and have reached several conclusions - one of which I'll discuss in this message.

The most startling fact uncovered is that most of the people who are leaving the church are not lukewarm, marginal Christians, but those who are the most committed to living for Jesus. The sold-out, on- fire children of God are seeking greener pastures in which to rest.

Five years ago - this revelation would have shocked me. But today, it confirms what I've seen happening among my friends and it sheds light on what I've experienced in my own life.

In 2008, when I first began having dreams - many of them took place in church buildings. I'd dream about praying for people to be healed or I'd be prophesying at a church service. At that time, my wife and I attended an AG church regularly. The church dreams didn't last long. The church we attended had a lot of problems and God called us to meet with people in different locations and soon, my dreams took on a different setting.

The church dreams ended and instead I was praying with people in ambulances, stores, streets and hospitals. Literally anywhere but in a church building. I knew God was calling us out of that setting, and into the community at large, but we had a hard time giving up our church life.

Over the years, my wife and I have tried to find a church to attend, but haven't been successful. We don't have an ax to grind against the institutional church. Yes, we see a number of problems with the traditional church scene, but we also see some positive things that a traditional church setting can provide. We just can't find one that meets our  particular needs. One of the problems is that we seem to have outgrown most churches and the things they teach.

Most churches are great at helping new believers become rooted and grounded in the truth of scripture. While some folks may be content to study the bible their entire lives, others require a bit more diversity. Some churches have nothing to offer beyond basic bible teaching. So when a church successfully nurtures it's members into maturity and they require training and equipping beyond the basics, where do they go?

Many believers today have discovered their identity in Christ and are fully capable of teaching with authority and operating in the power of God. They're not beginners any more. They're seasoned veterans. As their numbers have grown - it's become apparent (to me at least) that the manifestation of the sons and daughters of God spoken of in Scripture may finally be here. God's kids have grown up. And unfortunately for church leaders -  they've nearly worked themselves out of a job.

The body of Christ now needs advanced training and equipping and leaders are late in responding to that need. A few (Bill Johnson for example) have seen the need and developed advanced curricula. To their credit, Bethel has made their school of supernatural ministry curriculum available to others, but a better approach would be for local fellowships to develop and implement their own.

The need for more challenging instruction might explain the boom in conference attendance. Many people find that two or three days of immersion in worship and advanced teaching is more helpful than digesting weekly sermons.

The present challenge to leaders is to recognize the need for advanced training and equipping and ask God for the resources and insights on how those needs can be met. If the needs of the sheep are not met, they'll continue to head for the exit sign.

Here's the interview with Greg Hawkins:

Jesse's Story

This is the testimony of Jesse Snow, a Facebook friend who agreed to let me post the story of his introduction to the supernatural life. The original message can be found on his Facebook page here. 

One day during the summer of 2010 I was checking my email and opened the latest update from Intentional Gatherings, my brother Aaron's non-profit organization. The email was talking about a new project that I.G. was starting to get involved with called Student CPx (Church Planting Experience). SCPx is basically a week long training for college students to plant simple churches on their college campuses and reach the world around them with the love of Jesus.

This email included a testimony from one of the recent SCPx's, which are held all over the nation. I read about how God healed the injuries of several football players after a student and one of the leaders prayed for them. This was completely foreign to me, but I loved it.

A few weeks later I was down in Austin, Texas with my brother Samuel visiting Aaron, his wife Morgan, and their baby girl Eliza. While I was there Aaron and I had a conversation about things he had been learning lately. He explained to me what it meant to pray "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." He explained that Jesus told his disciples to declare "The kingdom of heaven is near" and that when the kingdom of heaven comes supernatural things happen - like people getting healed. There is no sickness or disease in heaven, and according to Jesus' model prayer God doesn't want it to exist on earth either.

I thought that I ought to go to a SCPx before moving to Hawaii in late July. Aaron encouraged me to do so too. The next one was in San Diego and Aaron was already scheduled to be on leadership. We flew out to be there the week of July 19 - 23, 2010.

Student CPx

This week in San Diego is really where it all began. The event was hosted by Origins, a campus ministry at UCSD led by Brian and Cecilee Orme. There I met a group of (mostly) college students who truly lived together in community as a real spiritual family. Eric Waterbury came down from Sacramento to be one of the speakers and shared with us his personal testimony and teach us about spiritual family and identity in Christ. Brian Orme, Eric Waterbury, Brad McCoy, Erik Fish, Pam Arlund, and Neil Cole all came to speak. All of these leaders are simply incredible and if I go into depth on any of them this note will be way too long. They have all had a tremendous impact on my life. The first two days were all about identity in Christ - knowing who you are and whose you are. Knowing the love that God has for you and finding your value in Him and nothing else. This is something I will spend the rest of my life uncovering.

The next part of the training was on healing and deliverance taught by Brian Orme. Brian shared some amazing testimonies and taught us about the authority we have. Once again, this was all brand new to me and I was eager to learn as much as I could. I was asking him about it and he gave me a simple challenge: "Pray for 200 people [to be healed]. If you don't see anyone healed after the 200th person, then its not for you. But I guarantee you won't make it to 200 before people start getting healed."

That was exactly the type of prompting I needed. I needed something measurable, something I could grasp. Those words stayed in my mind long after the week was over. I had always wanted the power to heal people, even before I knew it was possible. I grew up obsessed with superheroes and superpowers. Then 20 years into my life somebody told me I had some, and I haven't been the same since.

Back to the week of SCPx. This week was my introduction to the supernatural. That week was the first time I saw people speaking in tongues (and they weren't crazy people, they were of a sound mind and passionately in love with God and humanity), the first time I saw people "drunk in the Spirit" (I'm sorry if that offends you, its just terminology people use, but it is a biblical manifestation, please ask me about it), the first time I saw prophetic dreams come true before my eyes, and the first time I saw a miracle of healing. It was also where I received the gift of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues for the first time (see my note "One-Year Anniversary," this is another idea that offends people but is absolutely biblical).


A Dream Come True (literally)
On one of the days we were sent out to do a "treasure hunt." I had never heard of that before, but it is basically a method of evangelism. It starts by asking the Holy Spirit for clues about certain people that He wants to speak to. The clues can be names of locations, clothing/appearance, etc. After you write down enough clues your group sets out to find those people. When you find the people whom the Holy Spirit was telling you about, you tell them about how you're on a treasure hunt and they are the treasure (God's treasure). You show them the description of them that you had written down and share God's love for them and why He sent you to them. If they have any need you give to them whatever you can (money, food, healing, prophetic word, encouragement, direction, whatever).

We started in groups of 3 (ours was Caryn Werner, Erik Bagley, and me) and prayed to receive words of knowledge from the Holy Spirit (see 1 Cor. 12). I had never had a vision, received a WoK, or anything like that before, so I just kind of went with it and let Caryn and Eric write down all the "clues." We set out and found the people that they had written descriptions of, which was pretty cool in itself, but the coolest thing that happened was when we were finished.

You see, at the beginning of the day, Erik told us to let him know if we saw a girl with a fish on her shirt. He explained that he had had a dream 3 nights ago when he was still in Redding, CA (where he was a student at the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry). In that dream God showed him that he would soon meet a girl with a fish on her shirt. That girl would have back pain because one of her legs would be shorter than the other. I thought, "that's interesting."

Then at the end of our treasure hunt we were just hanging out when a girl walked by us. When Erik saw her he immediately left us and went to talk with the girl. When I saw them talking I immediately went to see if this was the girl. I walked up to them, looked at Erik, looked at the girl, looked at her shirt, which had a fish on it, and thought, "Noooo way." They were just having a normal conversation and then Erik asked her if she ever got back pain. She responded yes, that it ran in her family. He asked if she knew whether her legs were even in length or if she'd ever had that checked, because uneven legs cause back pain. She didn't know, so he asked her if she would mind sitting down to check.

We went over to a place where she could sit and Erik held her feet with her legs straight out in front of her. Her right leg was noticeably shorter than her left by about an inch or inch and a half. Erik spoke to her leg and told it to grow out in Jesus' name, then we watched it obey (see Mark 11:23). That was pretty exciting to say the least. Not only did I watch everything he told me about his dream come true, I saw a miracle for the first time of my life. She stood up, walked around and felt totally different and free of her back pain.

This girl had already told us she was getting involved witchcraft, but instead of shoving religion down her throat, Erik just introduced her to Jesus. Then he got to tell her how much Jesus loves and cares about her. He cares about every aspect of her life, even an inch difference between the way her legs grew and the way he designed them to be, even her back pain. I'd like to point out that God didn't say, "renounce witchcraft," "believe," or "repent" before he would heal her, he just showed her his kindness. Its His kindness that leads us to change (Rom. 2:4).


God Smells
One of the nights that week we were all gathered in our regular nightly meeting room to worship God. We praised Him in song and many sang songs of love in angelic languages (1 Cor. 13:1). I heard the most beautiful languages I had ever heard that night. Many were overwhelmed with the supernatural peace and joy of the Holy Spirit, what people call "drunk in the Spirit," and were laughing almost uncontrollably for hours straight. They had felt a touch of God's infinite love for them and couldn't help but be excessively happy.

Not long after a few girls next to me started getting really drunk, a scent manifested in that spot where we were. It was a sweet fragrance, and since we were in a closed room I looked around to see if anyone had opened perfume or something. No one had, and the scent, which I could now clearly distinguish as the smell of wine, only grew stronger and filled the room. I would have been really confused if I hadn't already been introduced to the supernatural, and if I hadn't heard a hint of such a manifestation earlier that week when Caryn mentioned that she had "smelled God" (which I thought was the craziest thing I had ever heard). I was still analyzing all this in my head and trying to come up with a logical explanation when Brian Orme came over to us. He leaned in and cleverly joked, "that's the best wine tasting you've ever been to, huh?" I realized that the scent was a sign the Holy Spirit gave us to confirm the word when Jesus spoke of "the new wine." The Holy Spirit is the new wine, and we are the new wine skins.


My First Miracle
I think it might have been Wednesday night when we were sent into the city to heal the sick. We went in groups and prayed for a man with a broken leg, he thanked us and then said he had to go into the restaurant for dinner. We didn't see anything happen, but we were still feeling pretty free and joyful. We didn't see anyone else that night who needed physical healing but did minister to some other people.

Once again, we were finished doing what we were doing and all just hanging out on the sidewalk at the end of the night waiting to be picked up. Courtney and I were sitting on some stairs with a girl named Sky with us who was visiting from China. I was telling Sky about the girl whose leg had grown out and she was pretty shocked. Courtney said, "Have you ever checked if you have a short leg?" (turns out its actually a pretty common thing). Sky put both her legs out straight and sure enough one was short. I looked at Courtney as if expecting her to do it, but she just told me to do it (she had already done it many times before and was wise enough to give me the opportunity to experience it firsthand).

So I held Sky's feet, closed my eyes (I was afraid nothing would happen so didn't want to look), and started telling the right leg to grow out. I still had my eyes closed when I heard Sky start exclaiming, "Ah! My leg stretched! I felt my leg stretch!" I opened my eyes and she was freaking out (in a good way). But now instead of being even, her right leg was an inch longer than her left leg, which confused me. Thank God Courtney was there! She just said "that happens sometimes, just grow the left one out now to match!" So I did the same thing and her left leg grew out an inch. Both legs were now even and she stood up about an inch taller than before! Later in the car I heard Sky very excitedly telling her mom over the phone in China what had just happened. She was still freaking out and was nearly brought to tears. I was pretty excited too!


My Own Personal Prayer Language
I think it was Wednesday or Thursday night of that week when we were in that same room we had been meeting each night to worship. Brian stood up and started talking, but I had no idea what he was talking about at first. He said, "When I first heard about this I thought, 'There's more? Of course I want more.'" He said to stand up if if we hadn't been baptized in the Holy Spirit yet and wanted to. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I did know that anything that was of God, I wanted. I knew there was more and I wanted it.

I still didn't know what "it" was though. He taught us, "Its not just going to happen by itself, you have to choose to speak it out." A group of five or so people gathered around each of us who were standing and put their hands on us. They started praying in tongues aloud and every now and then one of them would tell me an instruction from God, like, "Don't over think it, just receive." I just stood there for a few minutes with my mind reeling. I had no idea what to do, how to "listen," or how to "receive." I knew I was supposed to "speak it out" but I had no idea what to speak out. Eric Waterbury was directly in front of me, and he told me to just start thanking God aloud. So I thanked God for everything I could think of, which at that time, didn't take very long (not because there wasn't an innumerable amount of things that God could've been thanked for, but because of my spiritual immaturity). After a minute or two I couldn't think of anything else and stopped speaking.

I was listening to Eric speaking in his prayer language and remembered what Brian said, that I had to speak it out. I decided to just move my tongue in my mouth and immediately it started dancing around in my mouth. That's the only way I know how to describe it. Then I decided to stop and it did. Then I started again and it started dancing again. So I figured I should speak it out now, though I was still timid and it was little more than a whisper. Fortunately the room was filled with people speaking in tongues so when I spoke out I didn't feel like all the attention was on me. I spoke for a few minutes and then we finished. As soon as we did, Caryn and Courtney Werner were like, "Did you feel that!?" "Yeah, electricity shot up our arms as soon as you started speaking!" I thought that was pretty cool, but I had still never felt anything like that before and didn't then.

Immediately doubts started coming at me about what just happened. It felt too easy, too natural, like it was something I could have done my whole life. Caryn helped explain to me in the few minutes we had and told me how I could test it myself. She said just count while speaking in tongues and you'll realize that its not your mind producing it, its your spirit, because your mind can still count and do everything else. I tried and realized I could think, count, and later realized that I could read and write and do anything while speaking in tongues. My mind is absolutely not involved at all besides choosing when to start and when to stop. "The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church" (1 Cor. 14:4). "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also" (1 Cor. 14:14-15).

I hadn't yet learned these things though, so I was still struggling with doubt. It just seemed too easy and like something I could have done all along (later I looked back and realized that in the past I was never able to speak in tongues if I tried, for instance when I tried to fake speaking a foreign language it would not be fluent or sound real at all). So the next day when I talked to Erik Fish about it, he told me about his experience and showed me every chapter in the Book of Acts where it happened. He really encouraged me and solidified the truth of this for me.


Back Home
The last couple days of SCPx included awesome teaching from Brad McCoy (on prophecy), Erik Fish (on the origin of SCPx), Pam Arlund (on missions), and Neil Cole (on simple church, discipleship, and how "that stuff can't get on me"). They all also shared lots of amazing testimonies of God's supernatural works. I can't thank any of the leaders enough for what they do and the impact they've had on me: Aaron Snow, Eric Waterbury, Brian Orme, Brad McCoy, Erik Fish, Pam Arlund, Neil Cole, and Eric Bagley (even though he wasn't an official leader, he was still a leader and really impacted me, not just because of the prophetic dream and miracle, but the spirit of love and peace that he carried).

When I got back home I had less than a week left before I would move to Hawaii on July 29, 2010. I told my parents and my brothers almost all of what I had experienced. My brother Samuel went to the next SCPx in Austin about a month later and had amazing supernatural encounters too.

On Dying Young

This message is likely to meet with disagreement from many of my friends. I would ask that you read the message all the way through and consider it thoughtfully and prayerfully before coming to a conclusion on the matter. I would be glad to discuss your thoughts in the comments section.

The body of Christ has held two opposing views on the forces at work when people die at a young age. Some believe that God has a purpose for "taking" people in their youth, and these reasons often remain a mystery. Most of my friends who have discovered the resurrection power of God would disagree. They believe that we're all entitled to a long, prosperous life. They hold the view that it is only at the hands of the enemy that anyone dies at a young age.

Twelve months ago, I would have agreed with my friends.  When the sacred cow was finally barbecued that said God has reasons for people to die in their youth, we all rejoiced.  In the circles I travel in, the new dominant view is that it is never God's will for anyone to die at a young age.

I've spent a lot of time reviewing near-death testimonies and reading accounts from people who have gone into the heavens. And my perspective on the issue has been changing. The subject we're discussing is emotionally charged and full of conflicting views. Patience is required to sort these things out, so bear with me as I shed a bit of light on the different issues involved.

The argument for a long physical life is made by those who see promises of longevity in scripture. I've searched the bible and haven't found an explicit guarantee of longevity anywhere in scripture. I believe it is God's desire for us to have a long life, which is to say that He always wants us to live in such a way that our years on the earth would be fruitful and many. But I believe that some of our own choices frustrate those plans.

If you believe in determinism, this idea will probably be objectionable to you, for determinism teaches that our own actions cannot thwart the plans of God if He has sovereignly ordained us to live a certain number of years. I personally reject determinism. I believe that our own choices must be accounted for in the grand scheme of things and we can either frustrate or cooperate with His plans by the choices we make.

I believe it is God's desire that everyone would have a long, abundant and blessed life. God is good and He has nothing but our best interest in mind in everything He does. It is actually this principle (our best interest) that I believe is at work when people die at a young age. Allow me to explain what I mean by this.

The human perspective on life tends to focus on things that happen in the dimension of time and space. The temporal things of this world are the things we think about most often and value the most highly. One of the things is our own physical life and our experiences in this world.

When someone dies at a young age, we tend to view it as a tragedy. We consider all the things the departed person might have done if they had lived longer. We're saddened by the fact that they won't accomplish the wonderful things the rest of us will. We mourn the love they'll never know, the victories they'll miss out on and all the things of this physical life that we feel everyone deserves to experience. We value the temporal experiences of this earth rather highly.

It is our temporal perspective that clouds our understanding of life and death and obscures our ability to see how they are viewed from heaven.

I've been reading the book The Spiritual World by Peter Tan. I've also been watching video interviews with Katt Kerr. Both have received extraordinary revelations about the spirit world. Their testimonies have caused me to re-evaluate many of my beliefs about life and death.

I began to question the idea of a guarantee of long life shortly after I began praying for the sick. I had prayed at the bedside of a number of terminal cancer patients, and in visions, I often saw clear indications that the person's time on earth was up. Jesus was taking them home and there was nothing I could do to change it. While my friends in the healing community insisted that we had an obligation to heal everyone, I began to see things from heaven's perspective.

I've watched many interviews with people who have had near - death experiences. In some cases, the Lord would show them the things they would endure if they returned to earth then asked if they wanted to remain in heaven or return to their physical body. If a person chose to remain in heaven, their testimony, for obvious reasons, would never be recorded. But many chose to return, in spite of the difficulties they would face. And that begs the question - what purpose does God have for allowing people to decide their own fate concerning their physical life and death?

Katt Kerr has been taken into heaven hundreds of times to witness different things and reveal them to us, back here on earth. She's attended the homecoming of many departed saints and made an interesting observation about them. When we step into eternity for good - all of heaven throws a party for us. The "death" of our physical body is celebrated with extreme joy and celebration by everyone in heaven. There is no mourning, no weeping or sadness like we have here on earth. In heaven, the death of our physical body means it's party time.

She said that we all get to watch our own memorial service on earth. Nearly everyone who watches their own sad, somber funeral makes the same comment. They wish their friends and relatives on earth were as joyous as the saints and angels were in heaven. Our physical death, from the perspective of heaven, is a reason to rejoice - not to mourn and cry, regardless of the age of the individual.

Peter Tan reports that there are things going on the realm of the spirit that most of us haven't considered. Tan describes millions of different planes, spheres, and dimensions of existence in the spiritual world, each of which serves a unique purpose in the greater plan of God. As we step out of our physical body into the spirit world, we're taken to one of the realms of eternity. If you are a Christian, you'd call it heaven. Though in fact, there are many realms of heaven, each one containing a different aspect of God's glory for us to to become familiar with.

In eternity, we spend time exploring and being transformed into the perfect image of Christ by all the different levels of God's glory that we're exposed to. And yes, there is time in eternity - though it's quite different from how we understand time in this dimension.

The plan of God for each of us is to be transformed (sanctified) into the perfect image of Christ. (See 1 Thess 4:3) That transformation happens in many ways throughout the entirety of our existence, both on earth and in eternity. God is always interested in our transformation into the image of His son. This is the overarching concern behind everything He allows to come into our lives.

Nothing ever supersedes this imperative.

There are many experiences here on earth,which provide opportunities for spiritual growth and transformation. Some are revelatory; others involve overcoming adversity or persecution, but all develop Christ-like character in our spirit-man.

There are other experiences that can cause us to regress backward in our spiritual development. In them, our spiritual light diminishes with each passing day. Some people may go through so many negative spiritual experiences after returning to earth, they end up worse off (spiritually) than if they had remained in eternity.

All the positive and negative experiences that affect our spiritual development are considered when God decides if an individual will remain in heaven or return to earth. Physical age is not one of the major factors considered.

When a person dies, regardless of  their physical age, God examines all the possible outcomes of their continued life on earth and their transition into eternity. He evaluates their potential for spiritual growth in both settings. His decision to allow them to remain in eternity or return to earth is based on His knowledge of all these factors. In some cases, the results of living in eternity and on earth may be so similar that He will allow the individual to decide their own fate.

If  the individual has a chance to grow spiritually by returning to earth, they're usually sent back. But if they have little chance for spiritual growth on earth - they usually remain in heaven, where they'll continue the process of transformation.

Over the course of my career, I've probably interviewed more than 100 people who have had near death experiences. Nearly all of them remember being told "it wasn't their time". Nearly all were explicitly told they had more to accomplish before their time on earth was over. I believe the "something more" is the development of greater Christ- like character in their life.

It's almost time to wrap this up, so I'll close with this final thought:

When a loved one experiences physical death - the biblical response is to pray for resurrection. (Matt 10:8) We pray for resurrection because we don't know if they're going to remain in eternity or return to earth. If they need to return, our prayers enforce God's will for them to return. In situations involving resurrection, it's wise to ask God for a specific revelation of His will so that we might pray in accordance with it.


I'll post a instructional message in the next few weeks on how and when to raise the dead.

'till then....