Newsletter

Vol. I Number 4

3/01/00

Where are the Deliverance Churches?

            Often the beginner in deliverance is overcome with waves of doubt and unbelief by the enemy. A common tactic of the enemy is to say, "This can't be of God or more churches would be practicing it." Or, " Why haven't I heard of this ministry before?" As a Senior Pastor with 25 years of experience in the ministry of deliverance I can explain some very common sense answers to this type of questioning and also encourage further consideration to those who feel called to minister in the area of deliverance.

            If you could survey the Pastors around the world, you would hear a common response to feeling greatly under trained in how to minister deliverance to their Church. The next thing they would say is they would feel under supported in the battle field.

            Deliverance is not taught in our Christian schools today for Leaders to learn and advance to a place of being qualified to handle this ministry. Deliverance is a school of mentoring. A school of the Spirit. They are resigned to trial & error practices which destroy many on the battlefield before they learn proper practices. Or, they turn to the growing number of published books by supposedly experts in the field. Who if researched, you would find the vast majority of author's don't minister deliverance or even have a church which practices deliverance. Their agenda is to "make a living in the public speaking and writing field." Often their writings are untested and unproven theories, taken from someone else's books and they haven't any real experience in ministering one on one with people as Jesus did. This should be the readers first question when reading a book. Where is the author's credentials? The Apostle Paul gave proof of his calling by saying that, ‘Ye are our epistle ...known and read of all men.'

            Ask the question, Who have they delivered? Would you let any one perform open heart surgery on you if they had never performed the operation before? There assurance to you as of having "read all the books" would seem very shallow compared to your need. The damage that an unskilled and untrained physician could do to a person sends waves of horrifying thoughts about the outcome of an operation. And yet Christians can be so gullible to believe, that just because someone has written a book, they "must be" an expert on the subject. It is amazing that as I travel the world I consistently hear people say they are experts in this field as they've read all of the books. Not wanting to appear ignorant or unschooled they comment, ‘Oh I know all about deliverance.'

            This is not entirely the fault of the pastors who are untrained as they are severally limited in places to receive such training. But it would be a greater service to the church if they only ministered in the areas they are trained in as more damage can be done trying to be all things to all people. (So that they don't loss any members.)

            Another great miscalculation by prospective leaders is lack of personal deliverance. If they were not blessed with the opportunity to serve and grow up in a deliverance church then they lacked the  needed exposure of deliverance to purge out those hidden areas of the enemy. Areas that surface later on in the ministers life causing burnout or even worse, a sin that destroys the whole congregation. We call those, walking time bombs. A few simple questions towards your potential leader  as to what have they received deliverance from, or what strongholds have they overcame can give great insight into their qualifications to minister to you. But the miscued drive to get to the mission field, because of a lost and dying world–the cry of the bound tormented and afflicted, cause many to leap into the water unprepared. While trying to rescue the drowning they fall victim to the perils of the rescue attempt. The lack of training on how to use a simple life preserver and how not to allow their victim to get a desperate strangle hold usually causes both to perish.

            The length of training time for spiritual warfare is largely underestimated by many due to mis-application of scriptures. Such as just speaking the word. Remember that even the disciples who had the extra benefit of learning first hand from Jesus, were stumped on occasion with the speak and it's done method. Consider that the training for many of God's General's in the Bible took years to complete. Moses, Joshua, Gideon & Paul. One would be more accurate to describe ministering deliverance to the training of a Doctor. Many aspire to become doctors and finish the needed schooling to become one. But if they wanted to become a brain surgeon it would require even more training on top of what they already had acquired. A great majority of ministers would not or can not stop a ministry already in motion to go get another four years of training. Demons entangle themselves into the emotional framework of many and the needed ministry deals with the very souls of people which is a far greater responsibility than what even a brain surgeon encounters.

            In the previous generation of deliverance, my Pastor and the majority of other deliverance leaders at that time felt that if they could just get the Pastors to start praying deliverance for their congregations then deliverance would sweep the world. After 20 years it became evident that it wasn't working. The fallout rate of the visited churches ran close to 100% within 3 years. (The term of a hireling who flees when the wolf comes.) It became evident that the only way a "deliverance church" would survive was to raise up new leaders from the ranks of those who had spent the necessary years getting their own personal deliverance. As young men began to receive deliverance, they began to become qualified to minister. Scripture backs this up with the teaching of the wine skins. Jesus taught that new wine could not be poured into an old wine skin as it would only tear it in two. Better to leave the old wine skin alone, doing what it has been doing all along, and start with a fresh wine skin with the "New Wine of deliverance."  This practice of starting from the ground up with new deliverance churches has greatly increased the odds of survival. But much slower. The results are that we now have many places lasting way past the previous 3 year barrier. This is not to be interpreted as trying to start a new denomination, but trying instead to establish a place where churches could send their members to get the necessary ministry that they are not equipped to do. Any carpenter will tell you it is much easier to start a building from a new foundation that trying to remodel the old one.

            The book of Acts carries a warning to stay clear of vagabond exorcists. Ministers that are more wanderers than servants of God. Their good hearted efforts generally result in more damage to God's people by encouraging then to get into the battle and then leaving them isolated and deflated as they ‘move on to the next meeting.' You wouldn't leave a case of dynamite in your children's hands until you were absolutely sure they wouldn't harm themselves or friends. And yet the vagabond exorcist in essence is doing this with spiritual powers. For this reason when I to establish a new church, there has to be a commitment to nurse them through the next 4-6 years to it to survive. A responsibility that the vagabonds do not want. They cry, that's too slow! I respond with, according to who's timetable? Who would you prefer to go to war with 10 fully trained and experienced soldiers or 5000 rapid advanced weekend warriors.

            I don't question the heart motives of the deliverance televangelist. But I do disagree with the method of trying to set people free without having a place to send them. That is, a church that can minister the necessary teaching of the word of God to establish and ground people so they can maintain and hold their deliverance. That kind of work is hard, laborious, and often unrewarding here on earth. This can't help but raise the question, What are their heart motives? To be seen and Heard? To become the pope of their own empire? To be recognized as important? Has their financial machine grown so large that they have to compromise and spend more time trying to keep afloat than praying deliverance for God's people? Or are they like Jesus, who cares for the one, the single tormented sheep.

            The subject of ‘Where are the deliverance Churches?', is a continual ache in my heart for God's people. People who sincerely want help, but are lead astray by well meaning untrained leaders, and for the many leaders that do call for help, but are unwilling to take the time needed to become trained.  The ideal way is for them to step down go back to school, to attend an established deliverance church for 3-4 years. But I find with many the thought of working to sustain themselves while in deliverance school is to horrifying to consider, even though that length of time would put them way ahead in the ministry, preparing and grounding them for the onslaught that is sure to come. Every branch of military places it's recruits in a boot camp environment for the necessary training. God's army is no exception. But all to often God's recruits want to begin at the position of General instead of private, mistaking the difference between power and authority.

            There are no simple answers for this dilemma of the called but untrained, and don't know where to go to get it situation. Pray with us for God to raise up new leaders. Be wise in your choice of where you receive ministry. If we can be of help please contact us. For those who are completely without a local place of ministry, there are other options that we can provide such as training workshops, the monthly tape ministry, and long distant membership. This provides spiritual covering for the isolated. (Not to be used as a facade for the rebellious / lone ranger.) But for those who do not have a local body and desire to be under proper authority and covering as they minister deliverance.

            Until next time, may God bless.

            Pastor Monty Mulkey

            West Coast Church of Deliverance

            International Association of Deliverance Churches

            Your questions and comments are welcomed:

                        churchwccd@aol.com

                        Web: www.wccd.com