Friday, October 21, 2011

Mark Driscoll speaking to demons: "I want to know who all is involved here and what we're dealing with."

Posted by Christine Pack and Cathy Mathews



According to the video above, Mark Driscoll has embraced a dangerous false teaching in which Christians are taught what amounts to hand-to-hand combat with demons. This bizarre teaching was once confined to the hyper-charismatic denominations but has now invaded mainstream evangelical Christianity. (Incidentally, this teaching is also pervasive in C. Peter Wagner's New Apostolic Reformation.) This teaching instructs that Christians are authorized by God to deal directly with so-called territorial demons, in which a Christian must "reclaim" dominion over a territory (spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, etc.) that has been given over to demons due to personal sin. A recently published book (by Karl Payne) that is endorsed by Mark Driscoll might give us some insight into how and why Driscoll thinks the demon world should be directly engaged. From the publisher's notes:
"Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization and Deliverance is a transferable, step-by-step training manual on spiritual warfare. It focuses on clarifying and explaining "how to's" for recognizing and resolving attacks from the world, the flesh and the devil." (online source, Amazon)
Mark Driscoll's endorsement of Karl Payne's Spiritual Warfare book:






From the Appendices, Spiritual Warfare: Christians, Demonization and Deliverance (pp 240-242)




























On a personal note, my sister and I both have had first-hand experience with so called Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance Ministries, having both been personally involved with these ministries as very new Christians. We will be writing more on this in upcoming posts, but suffice it to say, we both came out of those experiences strongly committed to warning others about the unbiblical nature of such ministries.

While we both recognize and affirm that there IS a spiritual battle raging all around us in the unseen realm, we strongly disagree with those who believe and teach that the Bible instructs us to engage demons directly, as Mark Driscoll is discussing in the video above.

At the end of this article are a number of resources which were extremely beneficial in helping both me and my sister form a more biblical worldview. Coming out of the occult as we both did, we were virtually sitting ducks for deliverance ministries. Although we were true, born again Christians, realizing how much occultic stuff we had done - and at the same time having a very high view of God and not wanting to sin against Him - rendered us very vulnerable to suggestions to get rid of past curses, generational sin, etc. through unbiblical binding/loosing and deliverance ministries. These ministries, however, instead of helping us, led us into darkness and despair.

More to come on this....

 ADDITIONAL RESOURCES 

 Radio Series 

Spiritual Warfare According to the Warfare Worldview - Part 1, presented by Bob DeWaay & Dick Kuffel
C. Peter Wagner, Bob Larson, Greg Boyd and others teach a worldview in which the well-being of Christians depends on interactions between spirits and humans. They claim there is a spiritual legal system that must be uncovered and used to fight the spirits.

Spiritual Warfare According to the Warfare Worldview - Part 2, presented by Bob DeWaay & Dick Kuffel
We examine the claims of proponents of the warfare worldview that suggest we need to gain information from shamans, New Agers, and even demons themselves in order to do battle with spirits. They create a spiritual technology based on secret information.

Spiritual Warfare According to the Warfare Worldview - Part 3, presented by Bob DeWaay &  Dick Kuffel
C. Peter Wagner says that we need to use "relatively new spiritual technology" based on information not found in the Bible. He says that we need to take this secret information and do "field tests" in the world of the spirits.

Spiritual Warfare According to the Warfare Worldview - Part 4, presented by Bob DeWaay & Dick Kuffel
In this final message, we summarize the claims of the warfare worldview and show that the only logical conclusion one can come to from that perspective is that he or she is cursed and it is hopeless. We give the alternative.

False Spiritual Warfare Teachings - Part 1, presented by Bob DeWaay & Dick Kuffel
This program examines the claims of those who teach that Adam gave world dominion to Satan and that the church has to get it back through unbiblical spiritual warfare techniques. We show the dangers of dominion theology.

False Spiritual Warfare Teachings - Part 2, presented by Bob DeWaay & Dick Kuffel
This program examines shows how unbiblical spiritual warfare teachings deny God's sovereignty over all things. We show that denying God's sovereignty leads to many unbiblical errors and creates confusion in the minds of Christians.

The Bondage Makers - Part 1, presented by Bob DeWaay & Dick Kuffel
Pastor Bob offers a frank discussion of the years he spent in deliverance ministry during the 1970's, the problems with such ministries, and how God helped him out of his errors. He explains the differences between the warfare and providential worldviews.

The Bondage Makers - Part 2, presented by Bob DeWaay & Dick Kuffel
Pastor Bob offers a frank discussion of the years he spent in deliverance ministry during the 1970's, the problems with such ministries, and how God helped him out of his errors. He explains the differences between the warfare and providential worldviews.

 Articles 

False Spiritual Warfare Teachings: How the Church Becomes Pagan

How Deliverance Ministries Lead People to Bondage: A Warning Against the Warfare Worldview

The Dishonoring of God in Popular Spiritual Warfare Teaching: Refuting the Bad Theology Espoused by Spiritual Warfare Teachers

Binding and Loosing, Part 1: False Spiritual Warfare Teachings

Binding and Loosing, Part 2: False Spiritual Warfare Teachings

Generational Curses: Biblical Answers to Questions Raised by the phrase "visit the inquities to the third and fourth generation"