Spirit-filled believers are reaping the fruit from a century of evangelistic fervor. Where do we go from here?

The church’s center of gravity is changing. According to The Expansion of Christianity by missiologist Timothy Yates, in 1900, most Christians were in the “sending countries” of Europe and North America. One hundred years later, in a proportion as high as 60-40, the balance has shifted to sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Pacific–Christendom’s new center of gravity.

Yates also points out in his book that more than half of the world’s 2 billion Christians are found in what were traditionally regarded as “mission fields.” And the inhabitants of these mission fields are now being sent out as missionaries themselves.

The signs of growth worldwide indicate that today’s Spirit-filled believers, in particular, are reaping the fruit of the evangelistic fervor of their forebears. Consider some statistics from Patrick Johnstone’s Operation World:

In Latin America, the Pentecostal/charismatic movement is challenging the hegemony of the Catholic Church and now accounts for 28 percent of the world’s Pentecostals.

In sub-Saharan Africa’s growing African Independent Church (AIC) movement, Spirit-filled expressions of indigenous Christianity are the norm, making Christianity the dominant religion of that region.

From China’s burgeoning unregistered churches to the exploding congregations of South Korea, many of Asia’s 130 million evangelicals would identify themselves as Pentecostal or charismatic.

NEW CHALLENGES

The expansion of the Pentecostal/ charismatic church worldwide may be attributed in part to the social context in which it has often sprouted. As Samuel Escobar explains in his book The New Global Mission, Pentecostalism has grown most rapidly among the socially marginalized and economically impoverished–sectors often overlooked in the church.

But he further notes, “After more than a century of existence and a process of institutionalization, several old Pentecostal churches are now middle or upper class in composition, thanks to the social mobility made possible by conversion experiences.”

In a recent interview with Ministries Today, Grant McClung agreed, suggesting that the movement has become “more sophisticated.” “This may become a problem unless we catch more of the early spirit of the ‘missionaries with a one-way ticket,’” he says, referring to the age when missionaries left for the field with no plans–or resources–to return home.

McClung, the author of Globalbeliever.com and Azusa Street and Beyond, is field director for the Church of God Europe, overseeing the areas of Western Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. He is also associate professor of missions and church growth at the Church of God Theological Seminary in Cleveland, Tennessee.

While the missionaries of the 19th and early 20th centuries confronted disease, primitive conditions and geographical inaccessibility, the challenges of today are often more intangible.

David Shibley, founder and president of Global Advance, contends that militant Islam, postmodernism and universalism pose as the three major worldviews at odds with the gospel. “While Communism is not the threat it once was, the philosophy behind it is still alive and kicking,” he adds. “This is the challenge of materialism–a worldview that places great value on material things and little value on spiritual things.”

However, even in light of challenges such as these, one fact must be noted: the healthiest and most vibrant sectors of Christendom are those suffering the greatest economic, political and social upheaval.

As Howard Foltz, professor of global evangelization at Regent University School of Divinity, notes, the growth of the church in countries such as China (the largest Communist nation in the world) and Indonesia (the largest Islamic nation in the world) is staggering. “Wherever there is persecution and hostility toward the gospel, the church is growing faster because of it,” he contends.

NEW MODELS

Missiologists argue that this unprecedented growth must be faced with a willingness on the part of the Western church to adjust traditional models of missions.

“Missions is no longer seen as solely the task of the Western church,” Shibley says, noting that, as of the 1990s, more missionaries were deployed from non-Western nations than from Western nations. “It is the privilege of the worldwide church.”

The implication of these statistics is that, although the need still exists for pioneer missionaries and church planters, tomorrow’s missionaries will be “partners” rather than “parents.” Foltz notes, the “controller/director” model that dominated missions from the Colonial era to the late 20th century is being replaced by a “servant/trainer” model.

It is widely accepted that indigenous evangelists are more effective at reaching a culture than are outsiders. However, Western missions agencies have often been reluctant to release the reigns and allow the national church to be self-supporting, self-propagating and self-theologizing.

While there is always the real possibility that an indigenous church will end up looking a lot different than the typical Western counterpart, the importance of a culturally authentic expression of the gospel cannot be understated.

“Too often, because American churches have had the financial resources, we have been too controlling overseas,” McClung explains. “We need to set up new patterns of partnership with non-Western evangelists and missionaries in a final team effort to penetrate the darkness and finish the Commission we were given.”

TECHNOLOGY

From the advent of the modern printing press–which many attribute to spawning the Protestant Reformation—to today’s World Wide Web and satellite broadcasts, advancing technology has introduced new methods for completing the Great Commission.

For instance, David Shibley points out that perhaps the greatest 20th century evangelistic tool arrived in the form of the JESUS film, which has resulted in more than 176 million conversions.

But technology’s benefits can be deceptive at best and dangerous at worst. As Howard Foltz contends, “It is irrelevant to put typical Western teaching on the Web and send it around the globe thinking that it will relate to people in the 162 countries of the world–let alone the 12,000 people groups.”

Television, radio, books and the Internet may end up doing more harm than good if they merely export a Western version of Christianity, without allowing theology to sprout and be cultivated in an indigenous context.

David Shibley notes that–whether using the printing press or the satellite—Christians from Martin Luther to Billy Graham have harnessed technology to spread the gospel.

However, citing the increasing global presence of Internet cafes and the educational opportunities that computers afford, he suggests that technology may more effectively be harnessed to serve the goals of training and discipleship.

But Shibley ultimately questions the suggestion that high-tech gadgetry will ever replace human contact. “The gospel will always remain relational at its roots,” he says. “It takes breathing humans interacting with other breathing humans to experience the power of the resurrected Christ.”

Additionally, Foltz notes that the notion that radio, television or Web broadcasts alone will reach unevangelized sectors of the globe is faulty.

“Just having the potential audience does not mean that they’re listening,” he contends. “And just because they’re listening doesn’t mean they understand.”

THE AMERICAN SCENE

The growth of the church overseas often begs the question, “What will become of the United States?” The overall cultural decline and lack of growth in many churches juxtaposed with a burgeoning demand for Christian books, music, television and movies presents a conundrum for the American evangelist.

Scott Hinkle, an evangelist based in Phoenix, suggests that the booming Christian subculture is no indication of substantive revival. “It merely reflects the trends of our culture and society,” says the president of Soulwinners International, a ministry that trains people for evangelism. “We are inundated by information on every level, but it doesn’t mean that we’re being transformed at our roots–at our hearts.”

Some believe that the evangelistic fervor of the Pentecostal/charismatic movement has waned. “Many people finance missions overseas,” says James Davis, an Assemblies of God evangelist and president of the Global Pastors Network. “But merely giving is not the end result of what God has called us to be and to do. We are not gaining lost ground.”

And some question whether the church is really even digging deep to finance reaching the lost–let alone participating. “Only 2 percent of most churches’ revenue goes to evangelism,” Hinkle says. “We’ve become a ‘remote control’ society. If I pray and send a check, I’ve done the job.”

However, evangelists such as Davis and Hinkle are optimistic when they observe new trends toward cooperation among American churches. “Fences are falling, territorialism is dying, partnership is flourishing,” Davis says. “But this will pose a greater challenge for the evangelist to find a place, a function.”

Although they admit that the public perception of the evangelist has taken a beating in recent years, both Hinkle and Davis point out that the stereotype of flamboyance and shady morals applied to evangelists can just as often be assigned to pastors.

“Because some evangelists are more in the media, we tend to remember their failures more than those of local pastors,” Davis says. “But the impact of a pastor falling is greater than that of an evangelist–it’s closer to home.”

Hinkle agrees and traces the stereotype to a lack of accountability that has sometimes characterized evangelists’ ministries. “I’ve made it my practice to be a part of a local church,” says Hinkle, who bases his ministry at Phoenix First Assembly and holds credentials with Christ for the Nations Institute.

Davis encourages evangelists to pursue relationships that will offer accountability. “There needs to be guidelines and standards,” he says. “And evangelists should stay away from the latest gimmicks and tricks of the trade.”

THE UNFINISHED TASK

A 2002 study conducted by the U.S. Center for World Mission (USCWM) acknowledged the global growth of the Christian faith, but confirmed two key concerns:

The first is the growth of Islam as compared to that of the church. While strongly committed Christian groups (referred to in the study as “Great Commission Christians”) are growing at a rate of 1.44 percent worldwide, Islam is expanding at 2.11 percent.

The second is the imbalance of resources devoted to evangelizing nominal Christians versus unreached people groups. Seventy-four percent of Protestant-missionary funds are supporting workers laboring among nominal Christian groups, versus 11 percent among Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus; 8 percent among tribal people; 4 percent among the nonreligious; 2 percent among Chinese folk religions and 1 percent among Jews.

As Howard Foltz notes, there is enough money to support the church, feed the hungry and expand the kingdom exponentially … if the majority of Christians would merely tithe. Foltz cites George Barna’s notoriously depressing 2003 stewardship study that indicated only 9 percent of evangelicals tithe.

It could be argued that Christians feel a lack of confidence when giving–wondering how much of their hard-earned money is actually going to evangelizing the unreached and how much is being spent on propping up institutional structures in the Western world.

For instance, the USCWM study notes that the church spends more money dealing with “ecclesiastical crime” than is spent on foreign missions—$18 billion, versus $17 billion. And the $17 billion spent on missions is only .001 percent of the Christian church’s total annual income of $15.5 trillion.

But, lest we labor under the assumption that money is the fuel of missions, the facts suggest that a commitment to spread the gospel often overcomes a seeming lack of resources. Take, for instance, two nations that have come to the forefront in sending missionaries worldwide: Nigeria and South Korea.

With an average annual income of $280 per person (.9 percent of the income per person in the United States), most Nigerian believers are challenged to keep food on the table, yet, in Operation World, Patrick Johnstone estimates that 3,700 Nigerian missionaries are working in more than 50 countries.

Or, consider that South Korean believers, with an average income of $10,550 per person (34 percent of the income per person in the United States), are currently supporting more than 12,000 missionaries in 156 countries.

USCWM further confirms that if money were the key to converting unbelievers, the United States would be a veritable hotbed of revival: While an average of $1,400 is spent to reach every new convert in Mozambique, it takes $1.5 million to convert and baptize one American.

The passion and initiative for global evangelism embraced by the global church are indications that the unfinished task of the Great Commission will be accomplished. But Western believers must adopt a spirit of flexibility and humility, building long-term partnerships and practicing servanthood.

As Foltz notes, the goal of a missionary should always be analogous to that of a farmer. “Dig deep, plough a straight furrow, go far,” he says. “Don’t think merely about sowing the seed–think about the harvest.”

SIDEBAR: Three Tasks for the 21st Century

How your church can participate in the Great Commission.

A Holistic Message: More than ever, the church has an opportunity to alleviate human suffering. As David Shibley, founder and president of Global Advance, explains, “The gospel must be communicated as a ‘three-fold’ chord: proclamation, humanitarian works done in Jesus’ name and demonstrations of the power of the risen Christ.”

For instance, numerous opportunities exist for Western churches to partner with the church overseas through organizations such as World Relief (WR), the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals.

Recently, WR (www.worldrelief.org) has channeled extensive resources to churches in sub-Saharan Africa, where–in the nations of Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho and Botswana—the organization estimates that 40 percent of the population are infected with AIDS.

“Only a change in the way people live can turn the tide,” WR’s president, Clive Calver, contends. “Behavioral change at the grass-roots level is the only hope for Africa’s embattled communities. Only the church can play a unique and leading role in turning the tide of despair.”

Passing the Torch: As missionary models shift, the Western church must not only evangelize the unreached, but it must also equip indigenous leaders to do so. David Shibley notes that “the quickest, most cost-effective and culturally relevant way to fulfill the Great Commission is to equip national pastors and other ministry leaders–especially in developing countries.”

To do this, however, the vast resources and educational wealth of the Western church must be redirected to prepare future generations of church leaders in the global church. Organizations such as Shibley’s Global Advance (www.globaladvance.org) provide on-site training to pastors and leaders in areas where ministerial education is otherwise inaccessible.

Opportunities abound for the Western church to participate in such ventures by providing educational materials for national pastors or by sending leaders overseas to equip pastors and ministers. Organizations such as Global Pastors Network (www.globalpastors network.org) and International School of Ministry (www.isom.org) specialize in harnessing Internet and electronic curriculum technology to train pastors in areas where formal theological education is nonexistent.

The World Next Door: According to the 2000 U.S. Census, more than 11 percent of the population is foreign-born. Churches in growing urban areas are presented with immense opportunities for reaching out to immigrants through teaching English, job placement and assistance in finding housing.

Often, those ministering among immigrants in the United States find them more open toward a presentation of the gospel than they would be on their home turfs. Additionally, increasing political and religious oppression in some nations has brought asylum-seekers to the United States from nations where traditional missionary activity is illegal.

As James Davis, an Assemblies of God evangelist and president of the Global Pastors Network, notes, future evangelistic efforts in the United States may demand the same level of flexibility and sensitivity required of foreign missionaries–and a greater commitment to diversity on the part of the local church. “By 2050, Hispanics will be the majority ethnic group in the United States,” he says. “The church must be intentional about crossing these bridges.

by Matt Green
from Ministry Today magazine
July/Aug 2004

How two highly-motivated cultists revived my interest in personal evangelism.

It was somewhere in the midst of our discussion of blood transfusions, the personhood of the Holy Spirit and the war in Iraq that my heart broke for the two neatly-dressed gentlemen at my front door.

My budding friendship with several members of the Watchtower Society (aka Jehovah’s Witnesses) has drawn me away from my chores many a Saturday into the convoluted world of their cult. I’m beginning to wonder why they keep coming back to my door–I’m showing no signs of softening my position, and neither are they.

But these guys are making me ask myself some interesting questions. Mostly about why I’m home doing laundry and mowing my lawn while they’re pounding the pavement spreading their version of “the good news.”

It’s easy for me to chalk their misguided zeal up to some form of demonic deception or rabid legalism. But what if they’re telling the truth when they say they care about my soul? Their heretical theology and intrusive evangelistic tactics aside, JWs have an uncanny way of reminding the church why we’re here: for the sake of the lost.

I find it easy to slip into the “virtual Christianity” that Reinhard Bonnke describes–sending a check, saying a prayer and leaving the rest to the experts. But ultimately the responsibility for taking the gospel to the ends of the earth rests in the hands of each of us.

As you will read in this issue of Ministries Today, this task remains unaccomplished, but the tools and opportunities we’ve been given for completing it have never been more diverse and exciting. It’s as though God is saying to us: “Here you are. It’s not going to be any easier. But I want to make sure every saint has an opportunity to speak, and every sinner has a chance to hear.”

Not too many of us find this a particularly enjoyable task, and we’re amazed by soul-winners for whom evangelism comes so naturally. But my weekend visitors have reawakened me to the exhilaration of sharing my own experience of knowing and loving the Creator of the universe. It’s just too bad it took two highly-motivated cultists to revive my interest in personal evangelism.

Perhaps, that’s why our gracious God is bringing the “ends of the earth” to our doorstep, in the form of immigrants, refugees, international students, the secular marketplace and, yes, even the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

He’s hoping we will rediscover the joy of making His mission our mission: to seek and to save that which was lost.

Opportunity is knocking. Will we answer the door?

by Matt Green
from Ministry Today magazine
July/Aug 2004

In the murky world of deliverance ministry, opinions may vary but one principle is key: discernment.

It was intended to bring a young boy freedom, but it ultimately led to his death. On Friday night August 22, 2003, in a Milwaukee strip mall, several people gathered around Terrance Cottrell, an 8-year-old autistic child. Fervent in their intentions, yet misled in their methods, members of the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith laid hands on Terrance and began to pray that God would deliver him from the evil spirits that they believed were behind his condition.

Two hours later, little Terrance lay dead, wrapped in a sweat-soaked sheet, while his mother and several church members frantically attempted to revive him. The coroner’s report: suffocation.

The boy’s mother, Patricia Cooper, later told investigators that the minister had held Terrance on the floor, with one hand on the boy’s head and with his knee pressed into the boy’s chest. The mother and another woman had each held one of his legs, while a third woman lay across his torso.

The disturbing nature of this tragedy has led many to question the methods of those who practice deliverance ministry. Will there come a time when legitimate exorcisms are viewed by the secular world in the same way the snake-handling sessions of the early 20th century were?

Because of an irresponsible few, will legal limitations be placed on churches that only wish to follow the biblical model of freeing people from demonic influence?

DAZED AND CONFUSED

“This boy’s death is a wake-up call,” says Kim Daniels, author of Clean House, Strong House: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Warfare, Demonic Strongholds and Deliverance (Charisma House). The pastor of Spoken Word Ministries, in Jacksonville, Florida, believes that undisciplined deliverance ministry could lead to public examination and eventual prohibition of that which is desperately needed in the church: “The enemy wants to put a bullet in us and make us back up.”

Deliverance minister Eddie Smith thinks that in too many situations passion has outweighed discernment, and the results have been disastrous. Co-founder (with his wife, Alice) of the U.S. Center for Prayer in Houston, the Southern Baptist has been involved in deliverance ministry for more than 30 years.

The facts would indicate that Smith’s concerns reflect a growing crisis. A September 2001 ABC News online report by Oliver Libaw, titled “Exorcism in America,” highlighted several notable exorcisms-gone-bad:

• In 1995, Pentecostal ministers in San Francisco pummeled a woman to death, attempting to drive out demons.
  
• In 1997, a Korean Christian woman was trampled to death in Glendale, California, in an exorcism.
  
• In 1997, a 5-year-old girl died after being forced to swallow a mixture of ammonia and vinegar, in an attempt to drive out an evil spirit.
  
• In 1998, a 17-year-old girl in Sayville, New York, was suffocated with a plastic bag, while her mother tried to destroy a demon inside her.
  

While clearly isolated events, these tragedies reveal an ongoing state of confusion in the church regarding who the devil is, what he does and how he can be stopped.

This is confirmed by the Barna Research Group (BRG), which recently noted that six out of 10 Americans (59 percent) reject the existence of Satan, indicating that he is merely “a symbol of evil.” As BRG notes, the rejection of Satan’s existence seems to conflict with the fact that a slight majority (54 percent) also contends that “a human being can be under the control or the influence of spiritual forces such as demons.”

Similarly, American media culture reflects a simultaneous obsession with and resistance to all things supernatural.

Where else can one tune in to TV programs devoted to a modern-day version of necromancy–discerning messages from “the other side”–sitcoms which assume that both demons and angels walk the earth and interact with its inhabitants or straight-faced explanations of how aliens built the pyramids?

Within a few channels, however, one might find equally earnest programs attempting to debunk the resurrection of Christ, the existence of a creator God or the possibility of divine healing.

Much of this confusion likely finds its root in the challenges of explaining the unexplained–answering general questions such as, “How do I understand those things that science can’t explain?” and specific questions such as, “Where do mental illness and demonic influence intersect?”

DIAGNOSING DEMONS

For everyone involved in deliverance ministry, there is a different opinion of how Satan manifests himself and where the line should be drawn between psychological disorders and demonization.

“We’re diagnosing what we should be casting out,” Kim Daniels says. She believes that the pendulum has swung too far to the side of psychology. “We have redefined things,” Daniels suggests of such conditions as epilepsy and autism. “Jesus said the boy with fits was demon-possessed, but we’ve got another name for it.”

Daniels describes her ministry to a woman suffering from panic attacks: “This was very real. Her symptoms were real. Her diagnosis was real.” However, Daniels addressed the problem from a spiritual perspective, pulling the woman out of bed, speaking words of encouragement to her and rebuking the lies that she believes led to the condition.

After several weeks of continued ministry, Daniels says the woman was perfectly normal. “Confirmation is the fruit,” she says. “God wants to show us what the problem is and what to do with it.”

Similarly, Eddie Smith believes that many psychological disorders are demonic in origin. He contends that clinical diagnoses are often merely smoke screens for a lack of spiritual understanding on the part of the physician. “Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is actually multiple personality deception,” Smith says.

He argues that emotional or physical trauma in a person’s life can lead to the entrance of demonic spirits that manifest themselves as distinct personalities. “The soul splinters into multiple pieces to deal with it,” Smith explains. “Evil spirits attach themselves to the soul, resulting in what is called MPD.”

In contrast, Linda Mintle, a marriage and family therapist, believes that deliverance is often seen as an easy fix for biochemical problems. “Whenever I have any mental health case, I consider the organic, chemical etiology, as well as the spiritual,” she says. “To do one and not the other is equivalent to malpractice.”

“We are too quick to attribute issues of mental illness to demonic influence, when there are perfectly legitimate–and medically provable–reasons for the disorders,” says Mintle, who holds a Ph.D. in urban health and clinical psychology.

“To attribute [autism] to demons is ignorant and arrogant, in my mind,” she says. “Do I believe in deliverance? Absolutely. But do I think deliverance is applied to circumstances that aren’t demonic-based? Yes.”

Mintle believes that such conditions are clearly linked to physiological disorders. “Autism, for example, is a pervasive developmental disorder, believed to be inherited and related to irregular brain structure,” she says.

Like Mintle, some involved in deliverance ministry address mental illness in much the same way they would physical illness. “All of these diseases are diagnosable,” says Wayde Goodall, the pastor of First Assembly in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a church that provides a professional counseling center for people struggling with issues such as homosexuality, drug addiction and depression.

A trained counselor, Goodall notes that the similarity in symptoms of demonic activity and mental illness require acute discernment, and there is no default setting for dealing with them. “When we do an interview with someone struggling with mental illness, we often discover that they’ve been involved in the occult–even Christians,” he says. “Behaviors such as this can be a breeding ground for demonic activity.”

“However, if we say that everyone who has a mental problem is demon-possessed, we are going to eliminate our ability to reach them for Christ,” Goodall says. “You can cast all the demons you want out of a schizophrenic, and they’ll still be schizophrenic.”

THE STRONG MAN

Confronting Satan was a key aspect of Jesus’ ministry, as He invaded spiritual territory inhabited by evil forces and established His kingdom on earth. However, Jesus’ method of casting out demons was characterized by the same simplicity that marked His healings–a firm command, a gentle touch and a candid word of instruction.

Apart from Jesus’ and the apostles’ example, however, an often-frustrating lack of specific biblical instructions for deliverance ministry has led to a divergence of opinion on how, exactly, demons should be cast out.

Few in deliverance ministry would claim that their methods and theology are derived strictly from Scripture. “Sometimes we let our experience determine our theology,” Eddie Smith admits. “But it’s better than letting our lack of experience determine our theology.”

And the Smiths’ experiences are often strange enough to make the stodgiest scholar rethink his doctrine: a beautiful Latvian woman expelling demons through flatulence, an American pastor’s son with Tourette’s syndrome, a woman with 197 personalities.

They have traveled to locales as exotic as Pakistan and as mundane as their hometown of Houston. But the problems are the same: unforgiveness, rejection, witchcraft, and so on.

Deliverance ministers sometimes hang large sections of their theology on tenuous threads of Scripture. For instance, the Smith’s interpret the “strong man” mentioned in Matthew 12:29 as a powerful evil spirit who controls lesser spirits in a demonized person. They identify this understanding of the “strong man” as one of the key facets of their ministry.

However, most biblical scholars, observing the immediate context of the passage, believe the verse is an allusion to Isaiah 49:24-25, that the “strong man” refers to Satan and that the one robbing his house is Jesus.

Smith admits that, although the passage is not specifically referring to demonized individuals, it is analogous to the way evil spirits operate. “I see its practical outworking,” he says. “It reflects a principle that I think Jesus is talking about here.”

Similarly, Kim Daniels attributes many issues in her deliverance ministry to two key factors, or “big dogs,” as she calls them: sympathetic magic and charismatic witchcraft. “If I’m praying for a child, and it’s crying, ‘Mommy, no, I’m hurting.’ That’s the demon playing on my emotions–sympathetic magic.”

While Daniels admits that there is no direct reference to sympathetic magic in Scripture, she says: “Everything can’t be put to Scripture. It’s got to be rhema [a specific word], not logos [a general word]. Napoleon sailed across the water, but you can’t find that in the Word.”

“When you continue to operate in the gifts of the Spirit without the power of God, that’s charismatic witchcraft,” Daniels says. “Praying for people when you’re mad at them, praying with the wrong heart–you’ll tap into the wrong spirit. The spirit of God leaves, but the gift isn’t going anywhere.”

Daniels argues for her understanding of charismatic witchcraft from Romans 11:29: “For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable” (NIV). However, this is a passage typically believed to be referring to God’s eternal choice of Israel as His people.

Her experiences with witches, warlocks and other occult practitioners have shaped much of Daniels’ understanding of the spirit realm. She also attributes knowledge to special revelations that God has shown her.

For instance, she describes a vision she had where she saw a praying mantis standing over a city. Daniels discovered that the word “mantis” means divinator, and she believes that the vision describes “intercessors praying divinating prayers.” Whether they are believers or not, Daniels believes that people can tap into the spirit world, where they can gain supernatural information.

Wayde Goodall, on the other hand, tends to be a minimalist in his interpretation of texts related to demonic activity. “Jesus is referred to 250 times in the book of Acts. The devil is only mentioned four times,” he says. “Clearly, the early church’s obsession was Jesus, not the devil.”

Goodall cautions against formulating elaborate theology and methods from isolated passages of Scripture. While he admits that the Bible offers scant instructions for carrying out deliverance, Goodall contends, “Acts gives us all we need to run on, without adding to it.”

Of course, some would argue that counselors such as Goodall depart from the Scriptures by relying too heavily on the research of secular experts on psychology. Goodall admits that this is a possibility. “But the Word of God draws us to all truth, so if any secular book contradicts the Bible, the book is wrong,” he says. “Anything that we learn in secular universities and colleges needs to be balanced by the Word of God.”

After all, he adds, “‘Counselor,’ or parakletos, is the name given the Holy Spirit. How a Christian becomes aware of demonic issues and the discerning of the two is through listening to the Holy Spirit, the gift of discernment in their life and knowing what the Word says.”

AREAS OF AGREEMENT

In spite of the variety of opinions, most in deliverance ministry agree that discernment is key, casting out demons is not a cure-all and a steady walk with Christ will remedy many of the problems attributed to the devil and his minions.

For instance, Kim Daniels argues that deliverance has become a crutch for people who don’t want to invest the effort to become disciples. “You can’t use deliverance like a revolving door or a gas station,” she says. “I’ve been preaching on victorious living lately, because I saw the same people coming to the altars every time–hooked on milk and not teaching. That’s putrid in God’s nostrils.”

Deliverance should not be difficult, Eddie Smith says. “The Holy Spirit knows the will of the Father,” he explains. “So we ask Him to put His finger on whatever He wants us to deal with, rather than trying to stir things up ourselves.”

Smith believes that too many deliverance ministries complicate matters by focusing on goals other than bringing God glory. “God’s not here for us, we’re here for Him. The majority of people who do deliverance are people-centered and need-driven. The most important thing for them is to get people free,” he explains. “The purpose of deliverance is not just for freedom. It’s for God’s glory.”

Wayde Goodall questions why deliverance ministry must become a practice only for the elite in the kingdom. “I don’t scream or yell. It doesn’t take a really long time,” he says. “I trust God and the authority of His Word.” However, Goodall admits that some situations require additional preparation in prayer and fasting.

Daniels agrees. “It’s not spooky or scary,” she says. One’s spiritual discernment will be sharpened through time with God. As Daniels says: “It ain’t Greek, and it ain’t Hebrew. But I guess it takes an ex-prostitute and drug addict to see it.”

After 500 years, the wall of Wartburg Castle is still stained where Martin Luther reportedly threw an inkwell at the devil. Spiritual warfare is nothing new, but many would argue that it’s time to re-evaluate how deliverance ministry is carried out

by Matt Green
from Ministry Today magazine
Mar/Apr 2004