I was a smoker for 13 years. I stopped smoking within about 10 Minutes and never had any withdrawals whatsoever. The crazy thing, I never prayed to be delivered from that. I only always said, if God wants me to stop smoking, he'll make it happen and now I can't even stand the smell of cigarettes. How wonderful is our God.
Yes me too!!!!! I loved smoking cigarettes so much that I didn’t know how I’d ever quit!! I loved every cigarette down to the very last! Finally, I got to a place in my walk with the Lord where I knew it was time and I felt an intense urging to give it up. I was nervous but I knew He had me! I quit in a single moment and never smoked again by Gods amazing grace!!! ❤️
TLDR: I have schizophrenia and have battled with it as a believer for many years. Ive had a long-standing mental illness that has plagued my life since I was 4. I went to all kinds of churches, getting prayed over by pastors, friends, councilors, healing services, deliverance ministers, the whole shebang. The illness wasn't discovered until I turned 24. People talk about mental illness in the church but that seems to only touch depression and anxiety. I got the diagnosis of Schizophrenia. My illness looks like demon possession. I hear voices, see dead people, I go into fight or flight every day of my life because I think people are trying to kill me. I hear people breaking into my house all the time and when I look to see who their, it's no one. I live in unbelievable amounts of torment every moment of every day. I've been in therapy for about 12 years of my life and the illness was never discovered by professionals or the church. No word of knowledge about this issue. I was abused by the church for a very long time. I was told I needed to 'believe more', read more scripture, pray more, worship more, repent more.... like wtf. They couldn't help me. They couldn't see that my experience was different than others. (this is a criticism of the church more than any person) I had to shut up about the symptoms I was experiencing because believers don't really like those who don't believe like them, look like them, pray like them. The prayer lines were humiliating. People would just run up to me and command satan out and yell and scream. I would curl into a ball and cry as they would get the whole congregation in on it. Nothing like being yelled at by a whole room of people :D but I digress. Wish this was an isolated event... And like a fool I would do the same thing from church to church because I wanted freedom more than the fear of being ridiculed or yelled at and humiliated. I've done everything that I thought would work. For years! I attended Bethel church a few years ago and was at least meet with compassion. People didn't judge me for my illness and made me feel welcomed. Those same churches I mentioned before who would pray for me would also blame me for not having faith for healing :p I've never met a more compassionate group of people. They would go with me to the healing rooms and would believe with me that I would be healed. I tried the Sozo route for a bit, but the underlying issue was still never identified. The Sozo route wasn't what I needed and I knew it wouldn't help to go, but went anyway. The experience wasn't negative in any way and it helped me out with some doors I left open. Sozo isnt the end all be all. I cant trust a church, program, worship set, minister, to fix all my problems. It has to be Jesus. I'm honestly just tired of the whole, it has to be a demon thing. I think that it undermines the person who suffers if the 'demon' isn't removed. If you think it's a demon do you keep praying over and over again? Well if you don't like doctors then that's all you have. It kinda isolates people who desperately want help and I think it pushes people from doctors who can help these people. I wouldn't tell a person who has cancer to stop chemotherapy and tell them they need more faith and should stop treatment. I was on antidepressants for years before my diagnosis and was told I didn't have faith if I kept taking those. I'm the rare few who got humiliated church after church and still kept going. 14 years of trying to get victory and Im still going after it. My relationship with God isn't determined by me getting healed or not.
2 take aways for me. 1) the Body needs to be more compassionate and humble about someone's struggles and avoid shame or judgment. 2) I love the fact that there are Christian mental health counselors who are able to use Biblical truth in therapeutic counseling. Praise God!
Making it more accessible to church members needs to happen. All church staff should include professional mental health and abuse counselors/therapists on staff.
A 'Christian' friend and her boyfriend did the Sozo course, and were raving how 'accurate' the prophecies were, which sounded like 'fortune telling'. Alarm bells rang when I was told the instructor asks the person at the start of the session who they want to come into the room 'Father, Son, or Holy Spirit' (like ordering God to do our biding), and the 'separation' sounded like the non-trinitarian view of God. Of course, the counsellor never told them what God would say, which was stop living together and stop having sex outside of marriage. Only 'good words' were told of health, wealth , and success. This is not from God.
Wow Melissa, as someone who is dealing with a few mental health disorders, and going to therapy this perspective from Britt really encouraged me a lot. Mental health is often misunderstood by the church which can be very hurtful and dismissive to anyone struggling with it. I would be interested in some more mental health perspectives in the future! ❤️
@Seer Class In the cases where thought patterns are involved, Christianity can play a helpful role. Pretty much in any secular setting where affirmations or other thought-related exercises and techniques are used, Christians can rely on God for healing. I think there’s a place for theology in counseling but that it starts with actually knowing what’s wrong (determined by the psychology part) and using it in combination with medication and healthy lifestyle changes where needed.
@Seer Class I agree with your point. From what I understand about christian counseling is that it is done only at the consent of the patient. And that it’s more of something that is done if the person is christian and wants that method to be incorporated into it. It’s not only “start praying” and nothing else. I agree that a lot of things require actual medical help, but that if someone loves God they should be able to have that opportunity to have someone encouraging them in their struggle because it can be really hard if at your core you want a relationship with God but then mental illness can make you lose sight of your desires.
I believe that there is mental health disorders but I think the church rejects psychology in terms of dealing with sin, such as secular psychology to deal with problems that are at its base, sin issues. Their is need for medicine at times, but keep in mind the Bible is sufficient for all issues.
@@mercyp7151 I see your points. What do you mean by mental disorders being a sin issue? Do you think that mental disorders happen because of sin? I believe Christ is sufficient for everything, yes. However I think that mental disorders are also very real and can happen despite how much the person relies on God. They are similar to sickness. I however do think there is a drastic difference between things like basic human emotion and mental health disorders. Depression is more than sadness or wallowing in sadness. Anxiety disorder is more than feeling anxious. Someone who experiences their human emotion of sadness and needs to simply seek Jesus in their emotion, is very different than someone who has clinical depression which is a medical disorder with corresponding symptoms that are more than just emotion. ❤️ I think we can seek Jesus in everything but I believe there is a drastic difference between emotion and mental disorders.
@Seer Class I agree as well. It’s a misconception that the church needs to do better on because the church at its core is supposed to be a place with open doors, and dismissing mental disorders can be a reason people turn away and it’s sad. I hope to help that to some extent in the future.
What a wonderfully thoughtful and comprehensive discussion. When I was in Word of Faith we had 'Prayer counseling': a traumatizing event that made you feel even worse after you were done. No discussion, just two or three people yammering loudly in tongues while laying heavy hands on you. It was a bonus if you threw up your 'demons'. It was nonsensical. I would go to someone like Brit in a heartbeat.
Praise God! 6 years ago Jesus delivered and healed me from 23 years of bulimia, depression and suicidal thoughts- like immediately, overnight, a miracle! I am forever changed and grateful for His gift of salvation. He delivered me from the powers of darkness and conveyed me into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Jesus loves you, too. Surrender all to Him. God bless.
I needed this to.listen and commit to follow God ....I SHOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS ... I didn't even know tricks of satan and Depression got worst....I started Fighting God and anything everyone's . FOOLISH.... Tricked
@@MultiSignlanguage Sozo is a dangerous unbiblical concept. Totally occultic. Christ is our intercessor to the Father period. Just pray honestly in the name of Jesus. You don't need some spiritual "leader" or church leader psychically guiding you through unbiblical spirit contact. Might as well just use a ouija board to fix your problems. It's totally just made up and you dont know what "spirits" you are dealing with when you stir this stuff up. The blue print of what we are to do is in the bible. Sozo really messed someone up that I know of. We are transformed by the Holy Spirit by earnestly seeking God every day.
@@zyn87 that's totally nonsense. If you've ever prayed with a spouse or brother, or pastor, this is the same thing. It's with another person. Additionally that person isn't listening for you, they're facilitating a prayer for the person to connect directly with God. That's as biblical as it gets.
If only Christians will regards humans as nothing but humans regardless of their gifts and positions, and put their total faith and allegiance to Jesus Christ, so many craziness we see in churches today will stop.
My husband has severe OCD/scrupulousity & he has been very harmed by various deliverance ministries. I do believe in supernatural healing & deliverance, but I believe there is an important role for Christian therapists & medical professionals. I think humans are complex beings that need physical, mental & spiritual healing 🙏
As a Believer who has OCD as well, I can tell you that my brain is broken. It is my thorn. The scriptures tell us that not everything is healed this side of the New Creation. Paul talks about his thorn in the side. Steven was stoned to death (and Paul was there!!!). Jesus was tortured and MURDERED and told us to expect nothing less!!! Sometimes, God’s answer to a prayer for deliverance is “no” and instead gives you strength to endure.
There's a wonderful talk by one of devoted priests /apologetics which is unfortunately in greek. I can only tell you this : thoughts, no matter how blasphemous or bad they are according to Christianity, are NOT voluntary, and you really have NO RESPONSIBILITY for them at all! He repeats, that these are direct attacks from the evil, caused by the harm it is doing through the" illness ". The ONLY WAY to get out is simply ignore them. Also, it is wrong to" make friends" or familiarize yourself with the evil so everyone should realize that he is doing exactly that when you analyze your thoughts /patterns /actions. Just remember, the devil had the audacity to try to put second thoughts EVEN to Jesus himself. Imagine that in no way those thoughts are your fault. Please don't ignore it and read that again. Progress in everything. , is not LINEAR( That's why Jesus carried his cross all the way and what matters is to always look at the light no matter the darkness. Because it doesn't matter ). Of course you're gonna have days where you're falling into the same traps. BUT IGNORING is the only way out in those cases. Every time someone analyzes the thoughts that's like thinking he can go against a giant-it is impossible. Just remember Rahab was a prostitute, Moses kllled, and Noah lied,even Peter denied Jesus. But God's love is greater😊
Another negative aspect I could see for someone who has been through a “one and done” Sozo session is that there will be expectations out on them to never struggle with that issue again since they are “healed” so they might hide their problems after that. Talk about unhealthy!!! Also they do not mention anything about the person taking responsibility for their own actions and attitudes or repenting of sin! You don’t get healed of sin! You repent of it! And you might get healed of the pain and damage from your trauma!!!
I admire how Melissa and Alan (Polite Leader) respectfully ask us to pray for whomever they just got done bashing. It’s like that old parental mantra, “this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you”
Thank you for this! I went through a SOZO session years ago. I don’t recall feeling any different afterward. In fact, I’ve spent the last 8 years actively healing from last trauma. The last year and a half or more have been in therapy to dig deep. So much of my healing in the beginning years was focused on how I viewed God just like SOZO does because I was in the NAR movement. Which is really the charasmatic/prosperity gospel/word of faith, they are all a part of it. This last year and a half in therapy my focus has changed to putting the blame where it rightfully belongs and not on God. I realized as I’m listening to this video how much the focus gets taken off of the real issue and turned into something else and essentially just shifting the blame. Thanks for doing this video!!
I switched to Mending the Soul and loved it because of my dysfunctional family and upbringing. The people who created it are humble and say they are giving you tools to heal and it’s not magic. It’s a journey with God to reveal trauma He wants and heal you and is a process. Mending the Soul admits they give you tools for you to go after you are done and use them the rest of your life. Much better approach and it is basic biblical tools they show you use to handle life and work through anything else that might come up later so you don’t have to keep running back to them for “prayer” and “guidance”
I had one session of Bethel’s Sozo, I thought it was a little “out there”. We stopped going there a few years ago, but not before our daughter graduated from Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry. We are thankful that our daughter has since realized as well that they teach a lot of non biblical ideas.
Hi Karen, my friend also graduated from that school. Could you by chance give a couple examples of non Biblical things that were taught? If not that's ok too. Thanks.
@@sarahpfeuffer1396 Grave soaking is not Biblical at all. That is the first thing that popped into my mind. Everything I have watched has been nutty and not Christian.
@@sarahpfeuffer1396 Sarah, to be frank, I see little at all that is biblical about Bethel Church. If you do a little research on the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) you will understand. I'll offer two specific criticisms: 1) There are no apostles and prophets for today in the way Bethel is teaching. And if there were prophets, they would not get prophecies wrong, and would prophesy repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Today's "prophets" are absolutely abysmal and an athema to the Word of God. 2) Having a school to teach people how to be "supernatural" is completely unbiblical as the gifts of the Spirit are distributed as the Holy Spirit determines (1 Corinthians 12:11). One doesn't learn a gift. Bethel is leading many astray with seeking signs and wonders and personal edification rather than seeking Christ and obeying His Word.
As I mentioned in a previous video, I was deeply involved in a SOZO-type ministry for years as a leader. It wasn't called SOZO, but it is was a knock-off. And today many churches have deliverance ministries based on SOZO but not called SOZO, and they use various names such as "deliverance", "inner healing" and "spiritual warfare". Most of them are based in whole or in part on theophostic counseling, meaning “God bringing to light the truth.” The danger is the fact there is an element of truth in them but they are not fully biblically sound, which both Melissa and Britt explained. They lead people into a false theology of healing and deliverance. Thank you for this video.
I had Sozo ministers who had previously had theophostic training or education. In my time with them I learned some things, but they had me accept four "angels" into my "system" of alter personalities. I thought it was a risk I needed to take. I trusted them. The male of the couple ran off with the wife of a "patient" he was counseling. The wife had committed no bad behavior. He said his told him to have a mental, spiritual and emotional affair with the other woman. I think God was telling him to do that with his original wife. He came that close to doing the right thing.
Considering that she's a continuationist and a charismatic not a hyper charismatic but just like a real one I would assume she believes that there's a real possibilities, but that bethel's way of going about it isn't biblical
I believe we are filled with the Spirit. I have also seen several demons cast out. I think the concept of being filled with fire isnt a biblical concept for a believer. Find that scripture and read the whole chapter.
We are baptized by the Holy Spirit when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. The "filling of the Holy Spirit" isn't a secondary thing or separate from salvation . . . "Speaking in tongues " is not evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Please go back and read the book of Acts again and ask the Lord to give you understanding. When they received the promised gift of the Holy Ghost at pentecost, they could speak in other tongues (tongues = languages) so they could PREACH THE GOSPEL to people who actually spoke a different language then they did, so people could be saved. I say this all in love. I just came out of a "non-denominational" church about a year ago, which I now say was just an undercover name. They taught baptism of the Holy Ghost and that there was evidence by speaking in "tongues". Which by the way anyone can learn to do by just listening to this gibberish for long enough. I was around it for over 6 years and learned how to do this too. My husband and I chose to leave this church because we did not want our children living in confusion or being taught unbiblical teaching, or things clearly taken out if context. I know, I know confusion isn't from the Lord, fear isn't from the Lord. . .but DISCERNMENT is. I don't know how many times I heard the enemy is just trying to distract you and pick you off. Hog wash! When you feel that check in your Spirit that something isn't right LISTEN to it, listen to the Holy Spirit! He speaks to us through his word (the BIBLE). So read the bible, the Lord will bring back scripture to your rememberance and speak to you this way. (Not saying he can't lead you to speak to someone or bring someone to mind to pray for or call to talk to.) God is still a God of miracles and he is still the God who heals! But we don't need to be seeking after these things because we have the Bible now! Those "powers" were for a time. I do believe God can heal through prayer, but there is no longer Paul's and Peter's walking around. There wasn't the Bible for people to read back then so the signs and wonders were the evidence. Today the evidence is the Bible. May God bless you with discernment , I pray that he would open up the eyes off your heart and lead you out of falseness. I pray that you would keep searching for the truth in God's written word and also through the testimony of your brothers and sisters in Christ who have come out of the Hyper Charismatic, Word if Faith, Prosperity Gospel, New Apostolic Reformation Church movement. I'm thankful to God for the wisdom and discernment I gained from being part of a Church menitioned above. I was involved in different ministries and my husband also. We saw and experienced a lot. Now we can teach our children and others what to watch out for. We are to seek the lost and those who need to be saved. Glory to God for his grace, mercy and unending love! ❤
@@MichaelCTruth I don't think we're filled with literal fire. Fire just seems to be a depiction of some sort of the holy spirit. Not that he's actually a flame.
Hey Melissa.. my former church that I used to go to treated Bill Johnson as a god. I recently tried to warn them but of course it wasn’t taken well. I was told not to listen to the slander going on against Bill Johnson. My former church made Bethel look like Disney Land.
Same here and our new church joined this “Confluence” of churches group and my husband and I couldn’t find ANYTHING about who and what they are or even a negative or positive review about them outside of the positive videos on their website. We were concerned and it has brought our church in a very progressive and critical race theory direction with a lot of double mindedness and double standards. Now we feel we aren’t sure what church to go to because we keep seeing good churches fall apart after several years and no one seems to see the spiritual attack coming or do anything about it once it is obvious
@@Jaxmusicgal23 I understand hopefully you’ll find a place where you are happy and will work for you. My new church I’ve been going to for almost a year I love it there my pastor is a wonderful man of God very humble and is a blessing to you. I’m so glad I found my new home church. My youth pastor I talked with him a little bit about Bill Johnson and he shares the opinion of myself. God bless you
It was the same with my old church, It was so eerie, now that I look back and are now reading and studying my bible more & gained disernment!, how there was a que to get in for Bills conference & He was treated like a God. Read the Word people! The Word is Jesus 😌😃
I've had some of the same experiences. We left a church cuz of the New Age teachings, like " Christian mystic, no hell, sozo ( I went thru a handful of those.... NEVER again! I was wondering if I opened the door to something ??? The church I left was a sister church to Bethel. No judgment, no nothing. No confronting sin ( that I'm aware of)...
I appreciate you bringing this stuff to light and explaining part of the SOZO process. I agree with some things for sure, such as, it doesn't sound right to automatically assigning part of the Godhead to the person's issue. It sounds like they are trying to fit everyone into their pre-made template. However, there's some things going through my mind as I watched this. I myself have struggled with serious social anxiety at times in my life. What I have learned is that one root issue of anxiety is lack of trust in God. This is supported in scripture as it talks about do not be anxious but pray about everything. God feeds the birds and clothes the lilies of the field so he will take care of us. Be content in all things....etc. I would have liked to see this aspect of putting our trust in God emphasized more. Is there more to SOZO that deals with deliverance? It's very biblical to cast out demons yet I feel this topic was basically left out. It was the thing I was most looking forward to hearing. In general I would have liked to hear more Bible verses. I think that when we are close to God and seeking him on a daily basis, he gives us peace and strength yet this was not really emphasized when discussing how to get healing as a good alternative to SOZO. Unless I missed it.
At a small prayer meeting once I shared some struggles I was having with my oldest son who was in kindergarten or 1st grade I believe and how he is on the autism spectrum (high functioning) and a lady there began telling me not to speak that over his life ( 🤔 ) and then asked if my father had ever abused me ( 😠😳🙄 ). I said nø and she kept digging. I said I have a great relationship with my dad but she kept trying to put a negative spin on my dad. My red flag 🚩 alert started going up and I shut down. I think I remember the people there had recently went to some prayer training trip in a different state and now I wouldn’t be surprised if it was sozo. Thing is, people can carry these damaging practices and attempt to sozo other Christians without the formal training. It can look like sozo, taste like sozo, smell like sozo just not be formally called sozo because they aren’t fully prepared and trained. It was introduced in a little place prayer meeting on a Tuesday morning.
Yikes! That’s crazy. Good thing you didn’t go along with that nonsense. I wonder how many people start to turn against their families when faced with false accusations of abuse “planted” in their minds.
Sadly this is common among some Christians... the need to fix others. It is hard to ask for prayer these days, because often you come off feeling worse than you were.. :( Last summer, I thought I might need some encouraging prayer, but instead the lady went on and on digging ad assuming that I had a bad relationship with my Dad. No. When their script is designed a certain way, they cannot think outside that box anymore...
This was well spoken. I am an inner healing and deliverance coach. Combining all areas of the human condition is so important because Human Beings are very complex and need time to heal in all areas of their life. Well done.
Melissa- I love your heart. You NEVER come off as “bashing” anybody! Anyone who thinks differently has an issue with truth. Thank you for being bold & sharing truth, though it makes some uncomfortable. I love your videos. Keep doing your thing girl!
I also went to a group of 3 people praying over me. They said they were doing Sozo over me. They told me that if God showed me something to say outloud what He showed me. I had 2 visions and God used those visions to minister emotional healing to me. They just prayed while my eyes were closed praying as well. What the enemy means for evil God turns around for good for those who love Him and are acalled according to His purpose. The Lord protected me. ~ Kathleen
Fantastic interview. I am a physician assistant who works in inpatient and consultation psychiatry and the parent of a young adult worship leader. My son is integrated into a ministry that is flirting with some beliefs about deliverance ministry, word of faith, prosperity gospel, and supernatural healing. Your videos have helped equip me with more understanding of these issues so that I can have discussions with him and help him see ways that they do not align with scripture.
17:45 She was assured this was a safe space and “nothing will leave this room.” Yet, there is a verbatim transcript... and it was published in a book. So... a lie.
Great topic of discussion and I appreciate you both handling this graciously, without coming off malicious but rather genuine and sincere to help Christians alike to examine what is being taught!
I felt depressed after my father passed away, then again (15 years later) after my mother passed away. I never saw these episodes of depression as a spiritual or clinical issue, but rather as a natural element of grief. I recognized, though, that I needed to take care of myself by getting around other people or engaging in activities that could be uplifting so that the sadness wouldn’t become a deeper issue. Some things are just a matter of good common sense.
So back before I was a Christian I had dealings in witch craft. When Britt was reading from the book about Sarah and Grace, how the "session" played out reminded me of doing past life regressions I would be lead through. I'm not saying Bethel is directly involved in witch craft... but hearing that being read really took me back to that. It's really creepy.
I think perhaps is not intentionally, but massively deceived. Many people in such churches know and love God but are deceived. I was one of them but praise God for freedom, He saved me (again!)
My husband and I went to a Sozo healing class. We got bad vibes [thats Holy Spirit discernment]. It does not matter what credentials a person does or doesn't have. The Lord will warn you. We asked God to give us wisdom. We left when the Sozo instructor had us close our eyes and go back to our mothers womb. She wanted us to stretch as if we were in the womb again. Thank you for doing this Michelle and inviting your friend to add her input. God bless you.~ Kathleen 💖
This was a great conversation. I had a mental health episode about 5 years ago where I had to get hospitalized. At the time, I was very very confused and didn't know if it was a spiritual attack or psychological disorganized thinking. After getting out of the hospital, I spoke to a few Christian friends and they recommended that I get deliverance ministry. I did not feel like that was the best approach for me so I sought out regular counseling and group therapy. I'm so so so glad I did. I think if I would have gone to a deliverance ministry I would have overspiritualized my experience and it would have been damaging for me. I would not have gotten help with having correct coping strategies in dealing with depression and anxiety if I did deliverance ministry. I'm still a work in progress but I've come a long way! Praise God!
Good choice. I know one who suffers depression and won't get help because it's spiritual attacks. Her whole sad depressing outlook on life revolves around devil attacks. Pretty nasty religion to reduce peoples lives to that.
I have an extended family member that has a mental illness (BPD) from severe childhood abuse. She went through healing ministries like “SOZO” and kept saying she had break throughs and healing, but she never really got better. Now, years later, the mental illness has really progressed and it’s pretty much to late to fix it since dementia has set in. If she’d been steered to real counseling rather than being told everything was a spirit of this or that, she might have been helped. It’s a tragedy to see the results first hand of this kind of misleading “therapy.” I am a believer and know God can transform us in amazing ways, but sometimes those transformations involve getting some real counseling and reality from the Word, not spiritual witch hunts when the problem is psychological. Sometimes that person needs to be held accountable for their actions and actively take their thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. What I observed is that the family member was never held accountable for hurting others in various ways from lying to gaslighting etc, and instead they get a free pass on abusing others because it’s just some “spirit” attached to them. So wrong. What does God do with this kind of situation where a professing Christian is abusing others as a result of their own abuse, but being told they just have an orphan spirit or some other nonsense? I think God isn’t pleased with this kind of approach because it isn’t wise or helpful and doesn’t result in obedience to God’s Word.
This is a real problem with real consequences. A church with similar beliefs "healed " my sister in law's bi-polar disorder. 4 months later, without her normal meds and support she fell victim to suicide. And yes I feel that the irresponsible unqualified 'treatment" of her mental health problem made her a victim.
I am so sorry. I lost a brother...they say this way. I wish they could have been held them legally copable, in your place. I have stopped to pray that the Lord bring you to where He only He can, along a path of true heart healing, in His gentle timing.
@@mramirez5239 thank you. I grappled with this for a long time and so did my children. But we have a wonderful faithful relationship with the Lord and He has given us peace with this.
Mental issues can be from chemical issues, previous trauma, long term stress, and other causes. Jesus may choose to deliver immediately or have you go through a healing process over long periods of time. He also gives us medication to help us along the way. Even if we need medication throughout our lives, so be it. Praise God that He loves us and wants to lighten our suffering with medication.
Although Sozo has a bigger exposure, there are many other “similar” ministries out there. They all work on the same premise. Ellel Ministries, Elijah House, Lamplighters. Very much under qualified counselors practicing pseudo psychology and passing it off as the Holy Spirit. Although I believe many of them start out well meaning, it becomes a cycle of needing more and searching for “trauma”. I’m sure many people being counseled whose lives aren’t suddenly amazing after a “deliverance” session start to imagine or invent (completely believing they are actually real) past traumas and in some cases are open to the power of suggestion in an effort to have something to heal. Thank you for this video, I’ve been to some of these deliverance sessions. They reek of superstition and lack understanding of the Cross.
You are right and I am afraid that some are so confusing and spiritually unbalanced that they may cause further spiritual, physical and psychological damage.
I’m now imagining them meeting St. Luke in person and wanting him to lay hands on them and do something crazy spiritual, only to be handed a clay tablet with local medicinal ingredients written in the classic doctor chicken scratch.
Before watching this, I never realized that so much of the "freedom ministry" that I have been through (and I'm talking more than a decade of it) was modeled after SOZO. Thank you both so, so much. This brings a lot of clarity.
Thank you. I met a girl who does SOZO last week and she refuses to look at Bethel's teaching as anything but good. She is so deceived. I may show her this.
I did a couple sozo sessions myself. back when i was very deceived..I had a “positive” experience but I really had no long lasting results. I always wondered why everyone could speak n tongues and do all these spiritual things while I couldnt. well God brought me out of all that and that has been a blessing itself.
I'm reminded of parental alienation in the examination of their practice. When a parent, mentor, gaurdian, person of influence on said child, leads the child on with detailed questions full of veiled suggestions for the child to build on. May God bless us with His discernment and wisdom. 💙✝️🙏
Grace’s anxiety over her husband’s spending, may be a subconscious fear that if she were to become poor, again, she will not have choice. And...her history of abuse with her father, was a direct result of not having choice...to stop the abuse.
Melissa, I love you and Britt!!! I was excited about this video and you two didn't disappoint! I'm really curious about biblical approaches to dealing with more debilitating mental illness like schizophrenia or any psychotic disorder. It seems with SOZO, they tend to focus on a person's "problems" with God. Another side of the pendulum is blaming the devil - possession, "casting out demons"..... If you could recommend a solid resource on any of that, I'd really appreciate it!
Thank you so much for this VITAL message and conversation. It is So encouraging to hear such a beautifully balanced way to healing. ( I do believe God loves balance, which is not always a popular word it seems in some of the more progressive circles! :) ) I have been healed through prayer in His presence and through counseling. He uses it all. I am grateful I have always said NO to Sozo when approached and have warned others I care about. Many blessings to you both and your ministry to others. I appreciate all the time and devotion you take to bring forth His Word. It's a jungle out there! :)
Such a great episode ! There should be more dialogue about the scripture/ mental health space. I’m a Christian therapist from Australia and reflect daily on these matters, particularly how prosperity/ NAR teachers prey on the psychologically vulnerable. It is so unethical, immoral ... sinful! 😞
Thank you for bringing this! As someone who was subject to well intended spiritual deliverance abuse, the conversation you just played out is necessary and needs to go even deeper. Thank you Ladies!
Hi Karen, I'm sorry to hear that you went through deliverance abuse. I'm trying to understand how people might be abused from that form of ministry, casting out demons. If you could shed any light on it for me I would appreciate it. Thank you.
So do you believe that all SOZO is bad? I recently started going to a new church and they have SOZO every week and also doing weekly meetings for recovering addicts. We started going to this church because my husband's good Christian friend used to go there. He always asked us to go to church but we made excuses. When he passed away my husband felt like we should start going to church there. This friend of ours was a faithful Christian man and had many good fruits. He struggled with leukemia from childhood and was on and off again with his health issues. His wife left him for another man when he started getting sick again. Instead of being angry he gave her the house, his car, and prayed that she found happiness. He was so kind, never cursed, and was such a good influence on my husband. Sometimes I feel so frustrated trying to find a good "home church" Because I can find bad no matter where I go. This is one of the reasons why I have struggled going to church on a regular basis. I don't think the buildings are the problem but it's more so the fact that people's hearts, minds, and souls are so far away from God's truth. I don't believe that everyone who goes to some of these places are evil.... But it's hard because there are a lot of wolves in sheep's clothing at most churches in general. I think the reason why things go bad is because people put other people up on pedestals and idolize them. I mean just reading through comments here, they even do it with you Melissa. People don't lean on the Holy Spirit and they always want people to tell them what they need to do to get right with God. This is why people need to stay focused on Jesus Christ and following him should be our final authority on everything.
I’m going to have to disagree with you- I received so much breakthrough in my mental health. I was able to confront deep rooted childhood trauma and invite Jesus into my pain. The greatest thing that happened in sozo was my connection to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I could see Him and when He spoke to me, I could hear the Word of God and tested the spirit, whether if it was from God. The fruit of this was the freedom ❤️ and I’m really grateful for this ministry.
I’m glad that happened to you but please be wary honestly there’s another story in the comments from that exact place and it’s horrible to even hear about it
How do you know who you saw was God? John 1:18 says no one has even seen God. Have you seen the reaction of people who saw an angel or the glory of God passing etc? I guess your reaction was not the same as theirs? how do you know it was God spoke to you and not your own your mind and imagination? Please check Lindsay Davis out
As an unchurched individual the Lord Jesus Christ and Him only delivered me from major depression, generalized anxiety. As I talked with Him while reading my Bible He did more internal healing. He healed my broken heart. He rescued me from a 17 year abusive marriage. Out of love and gratitude I read my Bible to get to know this God who revealed Himself to me when I wasn't looking for Him. I wanted to know who this God was that reached out to me and saved my life.
I went to Bethel several years ago (before my eyes were opened to its deception) and considered a SOZO. Thankfully, I didn't do one. Still, I came back home and was hit with panic attacks. I had to start taking anti-anxiety meds and get counseling. Took years to figure out what happened. This video has been helpful.
They clap after each thing you get 'delivered' from. This is to do something to the atmosphere. My session was done with two people. Looking back years ago, it was new age hooey
So glad yu interviewed Britt . . A trained therapist. As a Christian Social Worker and clinical therapist myself I often find it frustrating to hear Christian leaders try to explain MH issues without the knowledge of psychology, the traumatic brain, psychosocial spiritual concepts, etc. Britt did a great job explaining how human are complex and our MH issues are also complex. SOZO is full of leading questions which as Britt explained in not appropriate in the counseling profession and is very manipulative. Also the big issue is that people who receive SOZO rype counseling and their lives don't change are often blamed for their lack of results being told it's their fault due to their lack of faith. This is very damaging. I had a client in the past who experienced this and I spent multiple sessions helping to undo the damage that was done. Anyway . . Good podcast and Britt did a great job answering yur questions.
Thank you soo much for this video. Very impactful. You either need to have a mental health topic once a month or she needs her own TH-cam channel. Thank God for you both.
This was a great discussion!!! Thank you 😊 I like how this therapist said you have to find the answers yourself...the therapist can’t give you solutions!!! The great thing is, Jesus is called wonderful Counselor. He is the one who helps us look inside and self-reflect! It’s a PROCESS!!! ❤️👍
Thanks for the message. I heard a sermon that diminished Christ's work on the cross and at the same time subtlety encouraged not need help with anxiety, just take it to God. I know we take it to God yes, pray yes, but if I need anti depressants or penicillin I should take them. In fact that maybe God's way of answering my prayer. Like Paul, He may not heal me, or He may heal me in a way I didn't expect. I may suffer but 1 Peter 1:6-7 says we may suffer as necessary to purify us like gold. I love the idea of looking to Romans 12:2; renewing our minds (transformation) to discern God's will, His good pleasing and perfect will. Anyway thank you both very much :) I'll spread the message.
Did you know that there isn’t a single case of childhood cancer in Shasta County, California? One of the Bethel members got bored one day, and just “spoke” it all out of existence.
Thank you for doing this video!! I’ve heard of SOZO and wanted to do it because it sounded like a one and done healing thing (maybe shortcut to healing) but because of geographical location I haven’t been able to do it and now I’m really thankful I wasn’t able to!
What is this therapist's name? (I couldn't hear it clearly). I look forward to her having her own TH-cam channel, I think she has much to contribute and that here channel would do well
Here's my Story with SOZO. I moved back to hometown in Spokane...lots of Dysfunctional Damage so the Call to Deliverance was Strong. But l have a Sensitive Spirit and am "Shy" to Join Groups. Well l went to few Services and really liked it...was invited to a Private Prayer Group. I went and we were in this low lit small room. Like 5 of us. It was so Serious...and Boring...all l could think of was how Hungry l was and started obsessing A Big Mac! 😂 l basically Sprinted out like a Caged Tiger at the End and was too Embarrassed to go Back...
Please! I would have bolted for a cheese steak and I'm 59.! Philadelphia girl, lived in Seattle for 10 years. Blessings from your sister LeeAnn. The Holy Spirit is God. No shame or guilt for fleeing brainwashing!!!🍔☺
Something is really off here. Your so caught up with clinical doctor terms, but are poking fun at spirits being attached to psychological problems? Deliverance from demons is real.
Yes! I went through one session of "inner healing" (definitely modeled after SOZO), and I ended up having a great "experience" founded on a FALSE MEMORY! Thankfully, my God kept me from going back. It was several years later as I talked about the experience that God revealed the false memory and the truth, and I was TERRIFIED of what could have happened if God hadn't protected me.
@@immutable10 Hello. My name is Patrick Rhodes. I am interested in your comment about false memories. I have written about these for many years, published a book about curse deliverance, and currently in the preliminary stages of filming a documentary about people that have been harmed by these false teachings. I would be very interested in talking to you. Would you consider contacting me? My email is patrick.rhodes@maundymedia.com. Website is: Maundymedia.com. Thank you and God Bless.
I have read an article in which an extreme case was described. The daughter accussed her father of raping her. In the end it seem to be false memories that came by sozo ministry and took a lot of psychtry sessions to work through this. If I am wright you have to sign an agreement not to sue sozo ministry before a "deliverance" session. Is it possible that through an "prophetic" word you can plant false memories in someones mind? In your research what role did the "prophetic words" or "hearing from god" play in these sozo sessions? Thanks for the work of you both. Daniel
A prophetic word is a high-octane suggestion, and it happens on a regular basis. In the book The Myth of Repressed Memory, Elizabeth Loftus describes how “prophet” at a youth camp had a prophetic word for a girl that her father was molesting her. The father is still in prison. A high-octane suggestion is not necessary. All that is required is the understanding the “ministry” believes in repressed memories. That is enough to implant that idea, then under informal hypnoses the person can imagine they were abused.
Thank you for this video! While I do believe in spiritual warfare I definitely agree that SOZO hasn’t helped me. I went to a session and felt so much grief afterwards and a couple years later I found out that some of my issues stemmed from unforgiveness. Loved this video thank you.
Yes. It bothers me a lot. Its bugging you because there is an element of truth of the character of God but also elements of error, a distorted view of God. It’s familiar spirits.
I don’t know about sozo but I do not trust secular psychology THE HOLY SPIRIT can heal in the blink of an eye I know that for a fact. The counselor on here saying trauma can take years is not coming from a biblical perspective.
I find it interesting how similar the name Sozo is to Zozo which is considered the worst possible demon to respond with you on an Ouiga board. Any connection?
Thank you for another video Melissa! Please keep me and my hubby in you prayers. I'm sure you get asked that a ton just to be closer to Christ and fully trust He Accomplished it all. We tend to fall back in the I'm not good enough amd that spirals quickly.
Several years ago I had a friend who was involved in a SOZO Ministry and she encouraged me to go to a session because my father had been involved in freemasonry and there was also alcoholism on both sides of my family. I was also having health problems. So...I did it. I thought it couldn’t hurt. Honestly, I didnt get anything out of it.🤷🏻♀️ I think I was expecting deliverance of a healing miracle in my body and that didnt happen at that time. Anyways later, as I was pondering it all, I started thinking that as believers our sin is covered by the blood of Jesus, we have Gods Word and His Holy Spirit to convict us, counsel us and lead and guide us. So we have the tools, spirit, soul and body to be changed from glory to glory. Instantaneous deliverance/miracles can happen but it is usually a process.
I'm at 37 minutes so I don't know if you cover this toward the end but as someone who has been through different deliverance ministries and has a history of trauma, I think that ministries like SOZO made me so much worse. Why? Because I wasn't healed or fixed or whatever and I always thought this would be "the" thing or time that I would get it together but it never happened so it created shame, doubt, confusion, hopelessness, etc.... However, I was delivered of suicidal fixations miraculously during a worship concert. I was singing a song of surrender and singing it as a prayer and I totally felt it leave. It has tried to come back but I have been able to take the thoughts captive like I had not been able to previously. It was me and the Lord in worship, not a dramatic session creating emotion or anything.
A deliverance "minister" from the Phoenix deliverance ministry called me. The guy offered me free deliverance. I told him im a born again Christian. Then i asked him "if i am possessed with the Holy Spirit how can i also be possessed by a demonic spirit"? He told me"well the Holy Spirit is inside your inner man. But the demons are inside your brain". I just thanked him and told him i didnt think i would be seeing him at any point now or later. He asked me to call him if i changed my mind(coincidentally i found that a little funny since the demons are supposedly in my brain?" Weird
Thank you! Your videos have helped shed light on past events that had me scratching my head. In the early 2000s, my church had a lay-Christian counseling ministry called Self-Confrontation. I was struggling with trust in dating relationships so I went for counseling, I wanted to be better. The counselor I saw told me that I have a problem with God as a father figure. I had/still have no idea what that means. So I walked away thinking she’s crazy and not feeling any better. I wonder about the validity of Self-Confrontation as well.
Hmm my old pastor asked me if I’ve had some childhood sexual trauma and I honestly second guessed myself. I said yes even though I haven’t. Something in me told me to just agree with him. I can now see, given the background of the church, that my pastor was maybe pushing this idea onto me. I was deeply confused but I know now that’s not my story. It felt manipulative. Thanks for this video.
NT, I have studied sozo for over a decade, especially regarding false recovered memories. Yes, your Pastor asking that question of you was in fact suggestive. Actual victims of childhood sexual abuse want to forget the experience but are unable. I good place to begin is to watch TH-cam videos of Elizabeth Loftus. She is the world's leading authority on false recovered memories. One of her books is, The Myth of Repressed Memory. Another very good book is Memory Warp by Mark Pendergrast. Yet another is My Lie by Meredith Maran.
So.. consider being FREE versus tied to a couch fir 10 yrs. A counselir of 25yrs said these epic words: “ when I was a clinical counselor we talk something to death for sometimes 2 to 5 or even 10 years of repeating sessions. Once I got Sozo, I could bring Jesus into a session and he could instantly heal the person knowing exactly what needed to happen to take off the first layer of the onion for the person. Having someone be instantly healed saves them from coming back thousands of times” 1. one and done is bad for a counselors business. ($$$) 2. You don’t have to BBF your counselor since Jesus heals you instantly amd permanently.
I so appreciate this session and video! There was a situation in our church where someone wanted to introduce this ministry, and honestly, it almost split our church. The problem was though, that many people did not even understand how to express why they thought it was right or wrong. As someone who dreams of being in and/or starting a lay ministry counseling group, this was extremely sensible to see why science, talk therapy, and spiritual growth all work together and are necessary to have together. Thank you again!
I hate to be a killjoy, especially given that I have a lot of issues with Bethel myself. But as a person who did not finish a seminary based counselling program, but who has some familiarity with the theories and processes going into it, how do we Biblically justify the more "psychological" approach? Honest question. I've seen a lot of counselors, too. The first one actually took kind of a "deliverance" approach or, at least, I felt I had a literal deliverance experience (by myself, at home not in his presence.) I had no idea that I might have an issue with Satanic...oppression...but when (and I realize it's controversial so I speak with trepidation,) I was "delivered" everything did change. Not my problems but my response to them. I did forgive (in this case) my in-laws, and by extension, my husband. My walk with God was spring loaded. It wasn't a total cure. It just seemed more like I was unblocked, I could function and process more "normally". To be fair, it wasn't one and done with this counselor. I had 10 sessions with him and most of it was talk...his getting to know me...and then he introduced (by way of a book, but my deliverance experience happened before I'd read the book or even thought to ask for that kind of healing,) the book maybe 8 sessions in. I think HE was surprised at how it went down, too. Again, I know that this kind of thing is seen as sketchy at best; all i know is, "once I was blind, now I see." And though I've had lots of counselors since then (this first one died three weeks after my last session with him, or i would have gone back to him,) and as noted above, I intended to be a Christian counselor. My conclusion after all of that is...there's no good thing "man" can't pervert. And no bad situation God can't make good. But I was most helped by the counselor who saw my spiritual problem as the primary one, and I think Jesus tends that way too. My two cents. 😐
am i the only one that goes through that continues thought that wow i have a brain. i actually can hear. whoa i have lips. i have a face i can’t see these things unless i’m looking in a mirror or a an x ray. my mind is blown everyday about the mysteries of the Lord 😳
First time I witnessed Zoso, I thought nope. They tried to label me as not being able to go through a session. Without asking me. Turns out I grew up in a physical and emotional abuse household because my mother had a secret military affair and I was born of that affair. I was made her scapegoat and I couldn't be around her more than 40 minutes because I would always feel a deep sadness. Finally after her death I decided to investigate and take a DNA test. I proved the truth about the reasons why she made my life hell. After discovering the truth, I called my sister and she had known but wasnt going to say unless I told her.wow the wieght of sadness would have fell off of me if she had told me 14 yr sooner.And the father I grew up with just went along with the lies because he was afraid that she'd leave him. .. about zoso and anything else that comes out of Redding California ( Bill Johnson) is definitely new age,and false gospel. And the methods used in zoso, it makes a suggestion/ self fullfilling prophecy when the hurting individual believes the false.power of suggestion. A person's told something long enough, they began to believe it. And making father, son and holy Spirit into three persons makes them like spirit guides. Lets just get back to the word of God and look at the examples that Jesus gave us. There's always a root cause of why a person acts the way they do. God revealed three things related to my childhood and it confirmed what I knew from childhood but had stuffed it back. Your mind does that to protect ourself. Zoso also comes from an ancient belief that teaches that the mind can heal the whole person. Forgiveness is key but its not the root.need to get to the root. Zoso is dangerous and can mentally harm the individual. The mind is deceitful and cannot be trusted.
I listened the sozo team I was apart of never stated healing from anything in one session..we always explained to.people that God takes our trauma like an onion.layer at a time when God knows you are ready. And a person can have more then one sozo has needed.
I loved this video. I think honestly sozo is great, but not sozo alone. I’ve gone through my walk with past “trauma” and I’ve received counseling from my pastor, which is the main thing that helped me grow beyond my issues. And in the midst of counseling I’ve done a sozo and a program with mini sozo based counsel throughout it. The way I see it is in a way prayer, and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead in the prayer. I suppose the sozos I’ve experienced weren’t “by the book” but it helped me to get a vision of God as being on my side, which is biblical. But I agree definitely not a one stop shop healing/deliverance and definitely involves a lot of emotions, so got to be aware of that and not get wrapped up in it as your “saving grace”. (My sozos were not done with Bethel church)
If we look at Jacob, he deceived his brother and conspired against his father along with his mother. Jacob certainly had unresolved issues and would be a good candidate for a Bethel "sozo". "Sozo" in this way is yet another expression of the wrong culture of the immediate. God had a long and different "sozo" session of more than twenty years to change his heart for someone very different and continued to treat him for the rest of his life. God has the power to make changes very quickly, but our hearts resist and need time to be transformed from glory to glory through processes that are more or less long and how often painful. But the work that He started, He is powerful to finish!
My mom had a few sozos for her untreated mental illnesses and personality disorders. She ultimately began to refuse medical treatment and is now full entrenched in her paranoias, eating disorders, and completely narcissistic. I think she was truly looking for help (she also religiously bought Caroline Leaf’s products) but now she has lost herself, her faith, and her relationship with us. It’s very sad.
My husband also had sozo administered by my father and our manipulative pastor, who lead him through bad memories of his own dad. This was used as fuel to get him to cleave to my parents and the church more. It was completely spiritually abusive. He still deals with the trauma today.
This was so good & clearly explained. It is really true that in a Sozo session (been in a few) only the spiritual is addressed & they (like Britt said) tell you what your problem is. They only give you 3 possible choices (problem with Father, Son or Holy Spirit) which is ridiculous. Not every problem is demonic or has to do with your relationship with God. We are mind, body, spirit & emotions. It is gnostic thinking that the spiritual is everything & the physical means nothing. It can lead to foolish & untrue conclusions about complex problems. The sessions reinforce hyper spirituality & dependence on your next emotional “breakthrough” but not much changes. Thank you for going so in depth on this topic!
The devil is constantly bringing up my past but I just keep striving on with the Lord. Kill the flesh and take his weapon from him. and the flesh IS his weapon against us. The bible makes that very clear.
I've been going through anxiety for awhile, and I've been blaming it on spiritual causes, but now I'm starting to wonder if it's caffeine that might be causing it.
What would be a reputable deliverance ministry? My husband and I were directed to one called freedom encounters, which sounds somewhat similar. We do not want to be deceived, so if anyone could help direct us that would be awesome!
I was a smoker for 13 years. I stopped smoking within about 10 Minutes and never had any withdrawals whatsoever. The crazy thing, I never prayed to be delivered from that. I only always said, if God wants me to stop smoking, he'll make it happen and now I can't even stand the smell of cigarettes. How wonderful is our God.
That's awesome!
Yes me too!!!!! I loved smoking cigarettes so much that I didn’t know how I’d ever quit!! I loved every cigarette down to the very last! Finally, I got to a place in my walk with the Lord where I knew it was time and I felt an intense urging to give it up. I was nervous but I knew He had me! I quit in a single moment and never smoked again by Gods amazing grace!!! ❤️
I had the exact same thing happen to me, just like you said, above this!
everyone is different
Me too! No looking back to the Glory of God!
TLDR: I have schizophrenia and have battled with it as a believer for many years.
Ive had a long-standing mental illness that has plagued my life since I was 4. I went to all kinds of churches, getting prayed over by pastors, friends, councilors, healing services, deliverance ministers, the whole shebang. The illness wasn't discovered until I turned 24.
People talk about mental illness in the church but that seems to only touch depression and anxiety. I got the diagnosis of Schizophrenia. My illness looks like demon possession. I hear voices, see dead people, I go into fight or flight every day of my life because I think people are trying to kill me. I hear people breaking into my house all the time and when I look to see who their, it's no one. I live in unbelievable amounts of torment every moment of every day. I've been in therapy for about 12 years of my life and the illness was never discovered by professionals or the church. No word of knowledge about this issue. I was abused by the church for a very long time. I was told I needed to 'believe more', read more scripture, pray more, worship more, repent more.... like wtf. They couldn't help me. They couldn't see that my experience was different than others. (this is a criticism of the church more than any person) I had to shut up about the symptoms I was experiencing because believers don't really like those who don't believe like them, look like them, pray like them.
The prayer lines were humiliating. People would just run up to me and command satan out and yell and scream. I would curl into a ball and cry as they would get the whole congregation in on it. Nothing like being yelled at by a whole room of people :D but I digress. Wish this was an isolated event... And like a fool I would do the same thing from church to church because I wanted freedom more than the fear of being ridiculed or yelled at and humiliated.
I've done everything that I thought would work. For years!
I attended Bethel church a few years ago and was at least meet with compassion. People didn't judge me for my illness and made me feel welcomed. Those same churches I mentioned before who would pray for me would also blame me for not having faith for healing :p
I've never met a more compassionate group of people. They would go with me to the healing rooms and would believe with me that I would be healed. I tried the Sozo route for a bit, but the underlying issue was still never identified. The Sozo route wasn't what I needed and I knew it wouldn't help to go, but went anyway. The experience wasn't negative in any way and it helped me out with some doors I left open. Sozo isnt the end all be all. I cant trust a church, program, worship set, minister, to fix all my problems. It has to be Jesus.
I'm honestly just tired of the whole, it has to be a demon thing. I think that it undermines the person who suffers if the 'demon' isn't removed. If you think it's a demon do you keep praying over and over again? Well if you don't like doctors then that's all you have. It kinda isolates people who desperately want help and I think it pushes people from doctors who can help these people. I wouldn't tell a person who has cancer to stop chemotherapy and tell them they need more faith and should stop treatment. I was on antidepressants for years before my diagnosis and was told I didn't have faith if I kept taking those. I'm the rare few who got humiliated church after church and still kept going. 14 years of trying to get victory and Im still going after it. My relationship with God isn't determined by me getting healed or not.
2 take aways for me. 1) the Body needs to be more compassionate and humble about someone's struggles and avoid shame or judgment.
2) I love the fact that there are Christian mental health counselors who are able to use Biblical truth in therapeutic counseling. Praise God!
Making it more accessible to church members needs to happen. All church staff should include professional mental health and abuse counselors/therapists on staff.
A 'Christian' friend and her boyfriend did the Sozo course, and were raving how 'accurate' the prophecies were, which sounded like 'fortune telling'. Alarm bells rang when I was told the instructor asks the person at the start of the session who they want to come into the room 'Father, Son, or Holy Spirit' (like ordering God to do our biding), and the 'separation' sounded like the non-trinitarian view of God. Of course, the counsellor never told them what God would say, which was stop living together and stop having sex outside of marriage. Only 'good words' were told of health, wealth , and success. This is not from God.
Amen! 👍
That’s weird asking God into the room. He’s omnipotent. Not a spirit guide you call upon because you need a parking spot
Yikes
I've never liked when people say, "Let God come down."
🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ not my experience at all.
Wow Melissa, as someone who is dealing with a few mental health disorders, and going to therapy this perspective from Britt really encouraged me a lot. Mental health is often misunderstood by the church which can be very hurtful and dismissive to anyone struggling with it. I would be interested in some more mental health perspectives in the future! ❤️
@Seer Class
In the cases where thought patterns are involved, Christianity can play a helpful role. Pretty much in any secular setting where affirmations or other thought-related exercises and techniques are used, Christians can rely on God for healing. I think there’s a place for theology in counseling but that it starts with actually knowing what’s wrong (determined by the psychology part) and using it in combination with medication and healthy lifestyle changes where needed.
@Seer Class I agree with your point. From what I understand about christian counseling is that it is done only at the consent of the patient. And that it’s more of something that is done if the person is christian and wants that method to be incorporated into it. It’s not only “start praying” and nothing else. I agree that a lot of things require actual medical help, but that if someone loves God they should be able to have that opportunity to have someone encouraging them in their struggle because it can be really hard if at your core you want a relationship with God but then mental illness can make you lose sight of your desires.
I believe that there is mental health disorders but I think the church rejects psychology in terms of dealing with sin, such as secular psychology to deal with problems that are at its base, sin issues. Their is need for medicine at times, but keep in mind the Bible is sufficient for all issues.
@@mercyp7151 I see your points. What do you mean by mental disorders being a sin issue? Do you think that mental disorders happen because of sin? I believe Christ is sufficient for everything, yes. However I think that mental disorders are also very real and can happen despite how much the person relies on God. They are similar to sickness. I however do think there is a drastic difference between things like basic human emotion and mental health disorders. Depression is more than sadness or wallowing in sadness. Anxiety disorder is more than feeling anxious. Someone who experiences their human emotion of sadness and needs to simply seek Jesus in their emotion, is very different than someone who has clinical depression which is a medical disorder with corresponding symptoms that are more than just emotion. ❤️ I think we can seek Jesus in everything but I believe there is a drastic difference between emotion and mental disorders.
@Seer Class I agree as well. It’s a misconception that the church needs to do better on because the church at its core is supposed to be a place with open doors, and dismissing mental disorders can be a reason people turn away and it’s sad. I hope to help that to some extent in the future.
What a wonderfully thoughtful and comprehensive discussion. When I was in Word of Faith we had 'Prayer counseling': a traumatizing event that made you feel even worse after you were done. No discussion, just two or three people yammering loudly in tongues while laying heavy hands on you. It was a bonus if you threw up your 'demons'. It was nonsensical. I would go to someone like Brit in a heartbeat.
How awful for you!!
Praise God! 6 years ago Jesus delivered and healed me from 23 years of bulimia, depression and suicidal thoughts- like immediately, overnight, a miracle! I am forever changed and grateful for His gift of salvation. He delivered me from the powers of darkness and conveyed me into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Jesus loves you, too. Surrender all to Him. God bless.
Through a sozo session?
I needed this to.listen and commit to follow God ....I SHOULDN'T BE LIKE THIS ...
I didn't even know tricks of satan and Depression got worst....I started Fighting God and anything everyone's . FOOLISH.... Tricked
Praise Jesus for His deliverance!!! Cast out heaviness and put on the garment of praise!!! 🙏🙏🙏🙏
@@MultiSignlanguage Sozo is a dangerous unbiblical concept. Totally occultic. Christ is our intercessor to the Father period. Just pray honestly in the name of Jesus. You don't need some spiritual "leader" or church leader psychically guiding you through unbiblical spirit contact. Might as well just use a ouija board to fix your problems. It's totally just made up and you dont know what "spirits" you are dealing with when you stir this stuff up. The blue print of what we are to do is in the bible. Sozo really messed someone up that I know of. We are transformed by the Holy Spirit by earnestly seeking God every day.
@@zyn87 that's totally nonsense. If you've ever prayed with a spouse or brother, or pastor, this is the same thing. It's with another person. Additionally that person isn't listening for you, they're facilitating a prayer for the person to connect directly with God. That's as biblical as it gets.
If only Christians will regards humans as nothing but humans regardless of their gifts and positions, and put their total faith and allegiance to Jesus Christ, so many craziness we see in churches today will stop.
BOOM! (insert fire and fist bump emoji)
Well said bro , it really is that simple
“It’s ok, things won’t leave this room”.....and it’s published in a book
My thinking exactly. In a book??? What?
That's what I said.
I’m sure they asked for permission and changed the names.
@@saribrown7156 My thought as well.
Imagine this woman reading her story in this book. I would feel violated ☹️
My husband has severe OCD/scrupulousity & he has been very harmed by various deliverance ministries. I do believe in supernatural healing & deliverance, but I believe there is an important role for Christian therapists & medical professionals. I think humans are complex beings that need physical, mental & spiritual healing 🙏
As a Believer who has OCD as well, I can tell you that my brain is broken. It is my thorn. The scriptures tell us that not everything is healed this side of the New Creation. Paul talks about his thorn in the side. Steven was stoned to death (and Paul was there!!!). Jesus was tortured and MURDERED and told us to expect nothing less!!! Sometimes, God’s answer to a prayer for deliverance is “no” and instead gives you strength to endure.
There's a wonderful talk by one of devoted priests /apologetics which is unfortunately in greek. I can only tell you this : thoughts, no matter how blasphemous or bad they are according to Christianity, are NOT voluntary, and you really have NO RESPONSIBILITY for them at all! He repeats, that these are direct attacks from the evil, caused by the harm it is doing through the" illness ". The ONLY WAY to get out is simply ignore them. Also, it is wrong to" make friends" or familiarize yourself with the evil so everyone should realize that he is doing exactly that when you analyze your thoughts /patterns /actions.
Just remember, the devil had the audacity to try to put second thoughts EVEN to Jesus himself. Imagine that in no way those thoughts are your fault.
Please don't ignore it and read that again. Progress in everything. , is not LINEAR(
That's why Jesus carried his cross all the way and what matters is to always look at the light no matter the darkness. Because it doesn't matter ). Of course you're gonna have days where you're falling into the same traps. BUT IGNORING is the only way out in those cases. Every time someone analyzes the thoughts that's like thinking he can go against a giant-it is impossible.
Just remember Rahab was a prostitute, Moses kllled, and Noah lied,even Peter denied Jesus. But God's love is greater😊
I have a brain that makes me depressed and full of fear without medication, and of course, walking close to God. Praise God!
@@jonsealartist 😘😌💚
Melissa is very nice in her treatment of these false teachers. I don't have as much restraint, but I digress. Keep up the awesome work & channel!
Another negative aspect I could see for someone who has been through a “one and done” Sozo session is that there will be expectations out on them to never struggle with that issue again since they are “healed” so they might hide their problems after that. Talk about unhealthy!!! Also they do not mention anything about the person taking responsibility for their own actions and attitudes or repenting of sin! You don’t get healed of sin! You repent of it! And you might get healed of the pain and damage from your trauma!!!
Yes!! Definitely agree with the first point and went through something very similar.
I admire how Melissa and Alan (Polite Leader) respectfully ask us to pray for whomever they just got done bashing. It’s like that old parental mantra, “this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you”
Thank you for this! I went through a SOZO session years ago. I don’t recall feeling any different afterward. In fact, I’ve spent the last 8 years actively healing from last trauma. The last year and a half or more have been in therapy to dig deep. So much of my healing in the beginning years was focused on how I viewed God just like SOZO does because I was in the NAR movement. Which is really the charasmatic/prosperity gospel/word of faith, they are all a part of it. This last year and a half in therapy my focus has changed to putting the blame where it rightfully belongs and not on God. I realized as I’m listening to this video how much the focus gets taken off of the real issue and turned into something else and essentially just shifting the blame. Thanks for doing this video!!
I switched to Mending the Soul and loved it because of my dysfunctional family and upbringing. The people who created it are humble and say they are giving you tools to heal and it’s not magic. It’s a journey with God to reveal trauma He wants and heal you and is a process. Mending the Soul admits they give you tools for you to go after you are done and use them the rest of your life. Much better approach and it is basic biblical tools they show you use to handle life and work through anything else that might come up later so you don’t have to keep running back to them for “prayer” and “guidance”
@@Jaxmusicgal23 What is mending the soul? I've never heard of it, but intrigued by the name.
I had one session of Bethel’s Sozo, I thought it was a little “out there”. We stopped going there a few years ago, but not before our daughter graduated from Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry. We are thankful that our daughter has since realized as well that they teach a lot of non biblical ideas.
Hi Karen, my friend also graduated from that school. Could you by chance give a couple examples of non Biblical things that were taught? If not that's ok too. Thanks.
@@sarahpfeuffer1396
Check Mike Winger about this subject.
@@sarahpfeuffer1396 Grave soaking is not Biblical at all. That is the first thing that popped into my mind. Everything I have watched has been nutty and not Christian.
@@e.l.243 Agreed but I think he should have had stronger criticism than he did.
@@sarahpfeuffer1396 Sarah, to be frank, I see little at all that is biblical about Bethel Church. If you do a little research on the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) you will understand. I'll offer two specific criticisms: 1) There are no apostles and prophets for today in the way Bethel is teaching. And if there were prophets, they would not get prophecies wrong, and would prophesy repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Today's "prophets" are absolutely abysmal and an athema to the Word of God. 2) Having a school to teach people how to be "supernatural" is completely unbiblical as the gifts of the Spirit are distributed as the Holy Spirit determines (1 Corinthians 12:11). One doesn't learn a gift. Bethel is leading many astray with seeking signs and wonders and personal edification rather than seeking Christ and obeying His Word.
As I mentioned in a previous video, I was deeply involved in a SOZO-type ministry for years as a leader. It wasn't called SOZO, but it is was a knock-off. And today many churches have deliverance ministries based on SOZO but not called SOZO, and they use various names such as "deliverance", "inner healing" and "spiritual warfare". Most of them are based in whole or in part on theophostic counseling, meaning “God bringing to light the truth.” The danger is the fact there is an element of truth in them but they are not fully biblically sound, which both Melissa and Britt explained. They lead people into a false theology of healing and deliverance. Thank you for this video.
I had Sozo ministers who had previously had theophostic training or education.
In my time with them I learned some things, but they had me accept four "angels" into my "system" of alter personalities.
I thought it was a risk I needed to take. I trusted them. The male of the couple ran off with the wife of a "patient" he was counseling. The wife had committed no bad behavior. He said his told him to have a mental, spiritual and emotional affair with the other woman.
I think God was telling him to do that with his original wife. He came that close to doing the right thing.
Would love to know what Mellissa thinks about actual deliverance from demons and being filled with the holy spirit and fire.
Considering that she's a continuationist and a charismatic not a hyper charismatic but just like a real one I would assume she believes that there's a real possibilities, but that bethel's way of going about it isn't biblical
What do you think about it @Vhee Why ❤️
I believe we are filled with the Spirit. I have also seen several demons cast out. I think the concept of being filled with fire isnt a biblical concept for a believer. Find that scripture and read the whole chapter.
We are baptized by the Holy Spirit when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption. The "filling of the Holy Spirit" isn't a secondary thing or separate from salvation . . . "Speaking in tongues " is not evidence of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Please go back and read the book of Acts again and ask the Lord to give you understanding.
When they received the promised gift of the Holy Ghost at pentecost, they could speak in other tongues (tongues = languages) so they could PREACH THE GOSPEL to people who actually spoke a different language then they did, so people could be saved.
I say this all in love. I just came out of a "non-denominational" church about a year ago, which I now say was just an undercover name. They taught baptism of the Holy Ghost and that there was evidence by speaking in "tongues". Which by the way anyone can learn to do by just listening to this gibberish for long enough. I was around it for over 6 years and learned how to do this too. My husband and I chose to leave this church because we did not want our children living in confusion or being taught unbiblical teaching, or things clearly taken out if context. I know, I know confusion isn't from the Lord, fear isn't from the Lord. . .but DISCERNMENT is. I don't know how many times I heard the enemy is just trying to distract you and pick you off. Hog wash! When you feel that check in your Spirit that something isn't right LISTEN to it, listen to the Holy Spirit! He speaks to us through his word (the BIBLE). So read the bible, the Lord will bring back scripture to your rememberance and speak to you this way. (Not saying he can't lead you to speak to someone or bring someone to mind to pray for or call to talk to.)
God is still a God of miracles and he is still the God who heals! But we don't need to be seeking after these things because we have the Bible now! Those "powers" were for a time. I do believe God can heal through prayer, but there is no longer Paul's and Peter's walking around. There wasn't the Bible for people to read back then so the signs and wonders were the evidence. Today the evidence is the Bible.
May God bless you with discernment , I pray that he would open up the eyes off your heart and lead you out of falseness. I pray that you would keep searching for the truth in God's written word and also through the testimony of your brothers and sisters in Christ who have come out of the Hyper Charismatic, Word if Faith, Prosperity Gospel, New Apostolic Reformation Church movement.
I'm thankful to God for the wisdom and discernment I gained from being part of a Church menitioned above. I was involved in different ministries and my husband also. We saw and experienced a lot. Now we can teach our children and others what to watch out for.
We are to seek the lost and those who need to be saved. Glory to God for his grace, mercy and unending love! ❤
@@MichaelCTruth I don't think we're filled with literal fire. Fire just seems to be a depiction of some sort of the holy spirit. Not that he's actually a flame.
Hey Melissa.. my former church that I used to go to treated Bill Johnson as a god. I recently tried to warn them but of course it wasn’t taken well. I was told not to listen to the slander going on against Bill Johnson. My former church made Bethel look like Disney Land.
Same here and our new church joined this “Confluence” of churches group and my husband and I couldn’t find ANYTHING about who and what they are or even a negative or positive review about them outside of the positive videos on their website. We were concerned and it has brought our church in a very progressive and critical race theory direction with a lot of double mindedness and double standards.
Now we feel we aren’t sure what church to go to because we keep seeing good churches fall apart after several years and no one seems to see the spiritual attack coming or do anything about it once it is obvious
@@Jaxmusicgal23 I understand hopefully you’ll find a place where you are happy and will work for you. My new church I’ve been going to for almost a year I love it there my pastor is a wonderful man of God very humble and is a blessing to you. I’m so glad I found my new home church. My youth pastor I talked with him a little bit about Bill Johnson and he shares the opinion of myself. God bless you
Good grief, that sounds horrendous! Praise God this is your former church! I thought plain Word of Faith was bad...
It was the same with my old church, It was so eerie, now that I look back and are now reading and studying my bible more & gained disernment!, how there was a que to get in for Bills conference & He was treated like a God. Read the Word people! The Word is Jesus 😌😃
I've had some of the same experiences. We left a church cuz of the New Age teachings, like " Christian mystic, no hell, sozo ( I went thru a handful of those.... NEVER again! I was wondering if I opened the door to something ??? The church I left was a sister church to Bethel. No judgment, no nothing. No confronting sin ( that I'm aware of)...
I appreciate you bringing this stuff to light and explaining part of the SOZO process. I agree with some things for sure, such as, it doesn't sound right to automatically assigning part of the Godhead to the person's issue. It sounds like they are trying to fit everyone into their pre-made template. However, there's some things going through my mind as I watched this.
I myself have struggled with serious social anxiety at times in my life. What I have learned is that one root issue of anxiety is lack of trust in God. This is supported in scripture as it talks about do not be anxious but pray about everything. God feeds the birds and clothes the lilies of the field so he will take care of us. Be content in all things....etc. I would have liked to see this aspect of putting our trust in God emphasized more.
Is there more to SOZO that deals with deliverance? It's very biblical to cast out demons yet I feel this topic was basically left out. It was the thing I was most looking forward to hearing. In general I would have liked to hear more Bible verses. I think that when we are close to God and seeking him on a daily basis, he gives us peace and strength yet this was not really emphasized when discussing how to get healing as a good alternative to SOZO. Unless I missed it.
Anxiety is generally a lack of trust in God. That’s biblical. But that’s not what Sozo points you to :(
At a small prayer meeting once I shared some struggles I was having with my oldest son who was in kindergarten or 1st grade I believe and how he is on the autism spectrum (high functioning) and a lady there began telling me not to speak that over his life ( 🤔 ) and then asked if my father had ever abused me ( 😠😳🙄 ). I said nø and she kept digging. I said I have a great relationship with my dad but she kept trying to put a negative spin on my dad. My red flag 🚩 alert started going up and I shut down. I think I remember the people there had recently went to some prayer training trip in a different state and now I wouldn’t be surprised if it was sozo.
Thing is, people can carry these damaging practices and attempt to sozo other Christians without the formal training. It can look like sozo, taste like sozo, smell like sozo just not be formally called sozo because they aren’t fully prepared and trained. It was introduced in a little place prayer meeting on a Tuesday morning.
Kristy Adams, Would it happen to be in a county in Georgia south of the major airport?
Yikes! That’s crazy. Good thing you didn’t go along with that nonsense. I wonder how many people start to turn against their families when faced with false accusations of abuse “planted” in their minds.
Sadly this is common among some Christians... the need to fix others. It is hard to ask for prayer these days, because often you come off feeling worse than you were.. :( Last summer, I thought I might need some encouraging prayer, but instead the lady went on and on digging ad assuming that I had a bad relationship with my Dad. No.
When their script is designed a certain way, they cannot think outside that box anymore...
Mom By The Sea She could be speaking of “Be in Health” which is south of Atlanta in Georgia 🤷♀️🤷♀️🤷♀️
This was well spoken. I am an inner healing and deliverance coach. Combining all areas of the human condition is so important because Human Beings are very complex and need time to heal in all areas of their life. Well done.
“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28 NLT
Melissa- I love your heart. You NEVER come off as “bashing” anybody! Anyone who thinks differently has an issue with truth. Thank you for being bold & sharing truth, though it makes some uncomfortable. I love your videos. Keep doing your thing girl!
Thank you, I appreciate that encouragement! ❤️😊
@@MelissaDougherty you’re welcome beautiful sister! 💖🤗
I also went to a group of 3 people praying over me. They said they were doing Sozo over me. They told me that if God showed me something to say outloud what He showed me. I had 2 visions and God used those visions to minister emotional healing to me. They just prayed while my eyes were closed praying as well. What the enemy means for evil God turns around for good for those who love Him and are acalled according to His purpose. The Lord protected me. ~ Kathleen
Fantastic interview. I am a physician assistant who works in inpatient and consultation psychiatry and the parent of a young adult worship leader. My son is integrated into a ministry that is flirting with some beliefs about deliverance ministry, word of faith, prosperity gospel, and supernatural healing. Your videos have helped equip me with more understanding of these issues so that I can have discussions with him and help him see ways that they do not align with scripture.
*Gos bless everyone reading this* ✝️🙏😊
When you focus on health and prosperity, you are self-seeking. You are not really seeking God.
Thank you for having a TH-cam chat with the counselor. I like that. Please do it more.
17:45 She was assured this was a safe space and “nothing will leave this room.” Yet, there is a verbatim transcript... and it was published in a book.
So... a lie.
It’s at 18:38. Could not edit for some reason.
They changed her name to protect her privacy. There's a disclaimer in the book about it.
They must have asked for permission and changed her name.
Great topic of discussion and I appreciate you both handling this graciously, without coming off malicious but rather genuine and sincere to help Christians alike to examine what is being taught!
This SOZO process and "healing" sounds a GREAT deal similar to the Church of Scientology "cleansing of mind engrams", etc....
It does... I don’t have firsthand experience with either, but it does sound similar from what I’ve heard about them.
sounds like reiki healing to me
Bethel does do enneagrams......
@@psalmspeaks9826 do you have the time stamp for the part where they talked about the part that sounded like a reiki session? Former reiki master here
But it's not.
I felt depressed after my father passed away, then again (15 years later) after my mother passed away. I never saw these episodes of depression as a spiritual or clinical issue, but rather as a natural element of grief. I recognized, though, that I needed to take care of myself by getting around other people or engaging in activities that could be uplifting so that the sadness wouldn’t become a deeper issue. Some things are just a matter of good common sense.
So back before I was a Christian I had dealings in witch craft. When Britt was reading from the book about Sarah and Grace, how the "session" played out reminded me of doing past life regressions I would be lead through. I'm not saying Bethel is directly involved in witch craft... but hearing that being read really took me back to that. It's really creepy.
I think perhaps is not intentionally, but massively deceived. Many people in such churches know and love God but are deceived. I was one of them but praise God for freedom, He saved me (again!)
OMGOSH! Wow.... creepy & I must say, not totally surprising.
Great conversation! Thank you for covering this with a CURRENT Licensed Therapist !!! You are both making a HUGE difference! God bless 💗
Just saw an office near my home that’s sign said Sozo holistic ..... and I remembered this video ... hummmmm 🧐. Thank you sister!!!
My husband and I went to a Sozo healing class. We got bad vibes [thats Holy Spirit discernment]. It does not matter what credentials a person does or doesn't have. The Lord will warn you. We asked God to give us wisdom. We left when the Sozo instructor had us close our eyes and go back to our mothers womb. She wanted us to stretch as if we were in the womb again. Thank you for doing this Michelle and inviting your friend to add her input. God bless you.~ Kathleen 💖
WOW, like stretching in the womb again ??? That's out there & no thx lol !
Nothing will leave this room, except it's in a book now
This was a great conversation. I had a mental health episode about 5 years ago where I had to get hospitalized. At the time, I was very very confused and didn't know if it was a spiritual attack or psychological disorganized thinking. After getting out of the hospital, I spoke to a few Christian friends and they recommended that I get deliverance ministry. I did not feel like that was the best approach for me so I sought out regular counseling and group therapy. I'm so so so glad I did. I think if I would have gone to a deliverance ministry I would have overspiritualized my experience and it would have been damaging for me. I would not have gotten help with having correct coping strategies in dealing with depression and anxiety if I did deliverance ministry. I'm still a work in progress but I've come a long way! Praise God!
Good choice. I know one who suffers depression and won't get help because it's spiritual attacks. Her whole sad depressing outlook on life revolves around devil attacks.
Pretty nasty religion to reduce peoples lives to that.
Excellent point
I have an extended family member that has a mental illness (BPD) from severe childhood abuse. She went through healing ministries like “SOZO” and kept saying she had break throughs and healing, but she never really got better. Now, years later, the mental illness has really progressed and it’s pretty much to late to fix it since dementia has set in. If she’d been steered to real counseling rather than being told everything was a spirit of this or that, she might have been helped. It’s a tragedy to see the results first hand of this kind of misleading “therapy.” I am a believer and know God can transform us in amazing ways, but sometimes those transformations involve getting some real counseling and reality from the Word, not spiritual witch hunts when the problem is psychological. Sometimes that person needs to be held accountable for their actions and actively take their thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ. What I observed is that the family member was never held accountable for hurting others in various ways from lying to gaslighting etc, and instead they get a free pass on abusing others because it’s just some “spirit” attached to them. So wrong. What does God do with this kind of situation where a professing Christian is abusing others as a result of their own abuse, but being told they just have an orphan spirit or some other nonsense? I think God isn’t pleased with this kind of approach because it isn’t wise or helpful and doesn’t result in obedience to God’s Word.
Thanks for your observation. You have helped me a lot.
I love this video, I could talk about new age “healing” with you ladies for HOURS! Wonderful guest, excellent content as usual. Thank you!
I’ve been to a Christian counselor. I recommend this highly. God bless.
This is a real problem with real consequences. A church with similar beliefs "healed " my sister in law's bi-polar disorder. 4 months later, without her normal meds and support she fell victim to suicide. And yes I feel that the irresponsible unqualified 'treatment" of her mental health problem made her a victim.
I am so sorry. I lost a brother...they say this way. I wish they could have been held them legally copable, in your place. I have stopped to pray that the Lord bring you to where He only He can, along a path of true heart healing, in His gentle timing.
@@mramirez5239 thank you. I grappled with this for a long time and so did my children. But we have a wonderful faithful relationship with the Lord and He has given us peace with this.
That's AWFUL !! IM SO SORRY!
I’m so sorry!!
I'm so sorry! ❤️
Mental issues can be from chemical issues, previous trauma, long term stress, and other causes. Jesus may choose to deliver immediately or have you go through a healing process over long periods of time. He also gives us medication to help us along the way. Even if we need medication throughout our lives, so be it. Praise God that He loves us and wants to lighten our suffering with medication.
Although Sozo has a bigger exposure, there are many other “similar” ministries out there. They all work on the same premise. Ellel Ministries, Elijah House, Lamplighters. Very much under qualified counselors practicing pseudo psychology and passing it off as the Holy Spirit. Although I believe many of them start out well meaning, it becomes a cycle of needing more and searching for “trauma”. I’m sure many people being counseled whose lives aren’t suddenly amazing after a “deliverance” session start to imagine or invent (completely believing they are actually real) past traumas and in some cases are open to the power of suggestion in an effort to have something to heal. Thank you for this video, I’ve been to some of these deliverance sessions. They reek of superstition and lack understanding of the Cross.
You are right and I am afraid that some are so confusing and spiritually unbalanced that they may cause further spiritual, physical and psychological damage.
“Don’t go to a doctor.” What was Luke? The writer of a Gospel? I bet he hated doctors 😑
I’m now imagining them meeting St. Luke in person and wanting him to lay hands on them and do something crazy spiritual, only to be handed a clay tablet with local medicinal ingredients written in the classic doctor chicken scratch.
I’m sure he was beyond appalled 🤢😂😂😂
Before watching this, I never realized that so much of the "freedom ministry" that I have been through (and I'm talking more than a decade of it) was modeled after SOZO. Thank you both so, so much. This brings a lot of clarity.
Thank you. I met a girl who does SOZO last week and she refuses to look at Bethel's teaching as anything but good. She is so deceived. I may show her this.
I did a couple sozo sessions myself. back when i was very deceived..I had a “positive” experience but I really had no long lasting results. I always wondered why everyone could speak n tongues and do all these spiritual things while I couldnt. well God brought me out of all that and that has been a blessing itself.
I'm reminded of parental alienation in the examination of their practice. When a parent, mentor, gaurdian, person of influence on said child, leads the child on with detailed questions full of veiled suggestions for the child to build on.
May God bless us with His discernment and wisdom. 💙✝️🙏
Grace’s anxiety over her husband’s spending, may be a subconscious fear that if she were to become poor, again, she will not have choice. And...her history of abuse with her father, was a direct result of not having choice...to stop the abuse.
Melissa, I love you and Britt!!! I was excited about this video and you two didn't disappoint! I'm really curious about biblical approaches to dealing with more debilitating mental illness like schizophrenia or any psychotic disorder. It seems with SOZO, they tend to focus on a person's "problems" with God. Another side of the pendulum is blaming the devil - possession, "casting out demons"..... If you could recommend a solid resource on any of that, I'd really appreciate it!
Thank you so much for this VITAL message and conversation. It is So encouraging to hear such a beautifully balanced way to healing. ( I do believe God loves balance, which is not always a popular word it seems in some of the more progressive circles! :) ) I have been healed through prayer in His presence and through counseling. He uses it all. I am grateful I have always said NO to Sozo when approached and have warned others I care about. Many blessings to you both and your ministry to others. I appreciate all the time and devotion you take to bring forth His Word. It's a jungle out there! :)
I would never play with SOZO , the theology of Bethel is very bad . By playing with this you are inviting spiritual danger .
Such a great episode ! There should be more dialogue about the scripture/ mental health space. I’m a Christian therapist from Australia and reflect daily on these matters, particularly how prosperity/ NAR teachers prey on the psychologically vulnerable. It is so unethical, immoral ... sinful! 😞
Thank you for bringing this! As someone who was subject to well intended spiritual deliverance abuse, the conversation you just played out is necessary and needs to go even deeper. Thank you Ladies!
Hi Karen, I'm sorry to hear that you went through deliverance abuse. I'm trying to understand how people might be abused from that form of ministry, casting out demons. If you could shed any light on it for me I would appreciate it. Thank you.
So do you believe that all SOZO is bad? I recently started going to a new church and they have SOZO every week and also doing weekly meetings for recovering addicts. We started going to this church because my husband's good Christian friend used to go there. He always asked us to go to church but we made excuses. When he passed away my husband felt like we should start going to church there. This friend of ours was a faithful Christian man and had many good fruits. He struggled with leukemia from childhood and was on and off again with his health issues. His wife left him for another man when he started getting sick again. Instead of being angry he gave her the house, his car, and prayed that she found happiness. He was so kind, never cursed, and was such a good influence on my husband. Sometimes I feel so frustrated trying to find a good "home church" Because I can find bad no matter where I go. This is one of the reasons why I have struggled going to church on a regular basis. I don't think the buildings are the problem but it's more so the fact that people's hearts, minds, and souls are so far away from God's truth. I don't believe that everyone who goes to some of these places are evil.... But it's hard because there are a lot of wolves in sheep's clothing at most churches in general. I think the reason why things go bad is because people put other people up on pedestals and idolize them. I mean just reading through comments here, they even do it with you Melissa. People don't lean on the Holy Spirit and they always want people to tell them what they need to do to get right with God. This is why people need to stay focused on Jesus Christ and following him should be our final authority on everything.
I had a positive experience with sozo it helped me with unforgiveness
My experiences were sort of mixed, but I got a fair amount out of it too.
I’m going to have to disagree with you- I received so much breakthrough in my mental health. I was able to confront deep rooted childhood trauma and invite Jesus into my pain. The greatest thing that happened in sozo was my connection to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I could see Him and when He spoke to me, I could hear the Word of God and tested the spirit, whether if it was from God. The fruit of this was the freedom ❤️ and I’m really grateful for this ministry.
Kirsten McLovin I disagree 😁
I’m glad that happened to you but please be wary honestly there’s another story in the comments from that exact place and it’s horrible to even hear about it
How do you know who you saw was God? John 1:18 says no one has even seen God. Have you seen the reaction of people who saw an angel or the glory of God passing etc? I guess your reaction was not the same as theirs?
how do you know it was God spoke to you and not your own your mind and imagination? Please check Lindsay Davis out
As an unchurched individual the Lord Jesus Christ and Him only delivered me from major depression, generalized anxiety. As I talked with Him while reading my Bible He did more internal healing. He healed my broken heart. He rescued me from a 17 year abusive marriage. Out of love and gratitude I read my Bible to get to know this God who revealed Himself to me when I wasn't looking for Him. I wanted to know who this God was that reached out to me and saved my life.
From day one, I recognized my need to renew my mind to think like God thinks. And to live and love like He does.
Yassssss 💯😃✝️💪
I went to Bethel several years ago (before my eyes were opened to its deception) and considered a SOZO. Thankfully, I didn't do one. Still, I came back home and was hit with panic attacks. I had to start taking anti-anxiety meds and get counseling. Took years to figure out what happened. This video has been helpful.
They clap after each thing you get 'delivered' from. This is to do something to the atmosphere. My session was done with two people. Looking back years ago, it was new age hooey
One clap, not clapping.
@@clementinemonroe717 yep...it's witchcraft for sure
I questioned that. Sometimes it was snapping of the fingers. She said it supposedly help "set" things in my brain.
So glad yu interviewed Britt . . A trained therapist. As a Christian Social Worker and clinical therapist myself I often find it frustrating to hear Christian leaders try to explain MH issues without the knowledge of psychology, the traumatic brain, psychosocial spiritual concepts, etc. Britt did a great job explaining how human are complex and our MH issues are also complex. SOZO is full of leading questions which as Britt explained in not appropriate in the counseling profession and is very manipulative. Also the big issue is that people who receive SOZO rype counseling and their lives don't change are often blamed for their lack of results being told it's their fault due to their lack of faith. This is very damaging. I had a client in the past who experienced this and I spent multiple sessions helping to undo the damage that was done. Anyway . . Good podcast and Britt did a great job answering yur questions.
Thank you soo much for this video. Very impactful. You either need to have a mental health topic once a month or she needs her own TH-cam channel. Thank God for you both.
The Bible is the only truth that will set you free!
This was a great discussion!!! Thank you 😊 I like how this therapist said you have to find the answers yourself...the therapist can’t give you solutions!!! The great thing is, Jesus is called wonderful Counselor. He is the one who helps us look inside and self-reflect! It’s a PROCESS!!! ❤️👍
Thanks for the message. I heard a sermon that diminished Christ's work on the cross and at the same time subtlety encouraged not need help with anxiety, just take it to God. I know we take it to God yes, pray yes, but if I need anti depressants or penicillin I should take them. In fact that maybe God's way of answering my prayer. Like Paul, He may not heal me, or He may heal me in a way I didn't expect. I may suffer but 1 Peter 1:6-7 says we may suffer as necessary to purify us like gold. I love the idea of looking to Romans 12:2; renewing our minds (transformation) to discern God's will, His good pleasing and perfect will. Anyway thank you both very much :) I'll spread the message.
Did you know that there isn’t a single case of childhood cancer in Shasta County, California? One of the Bethel members got bored one day, and just “spoke” it all out of existence.
Whoa that sounds, I’m not even sure what words to use.. Is there any video or audio recording of this person saying that?
@@romitimisela1738 I was being sarcastic.
Thank you for doing this video!! I’ve heard of SOZO and wanted to do it because it sounded like a one and done healing thing (maybe shortcut to healing) but because of geographical location I haven’t been able to do it and now I’m really thankful I wasn’t able to!
What is this therapist's name? (I couldn't hear it clearly). I look forward to her having her own TH-cam channel, I think she has much to contribute and that here channel would do well
Here's my Story with SOZO. I moved back to hometown in Spokane...lots of Dysfunctional Damage so the Call to Deliverance was Strong. But l have a Sensitive Spirit and am "Shy" to Join Groups. Well l went to few Services and really liked it...was invited to a Private Prayer Group. I went and we were in this low lit small room. Like 5 of us. It was so Serious...and Boring...all l could think of was how Hungry l was and started obsessing A Big Mac! 😂 l basically Sprinted out like a Caged Tiger at the End and was too Embarrassed to go Back...
😂
That's too funny. God can use anything and anyone to help get us on the right track... even a Big Mac, apparently. 😅
God bless you ❤
Please! I would have bolted for a cheese steak and I'm 59.! Philadelphia girl, lived in Seattle for 10 years. Blessings from your sister LeeAnn. The Holy Spirit is God. No shame or guilt for fleeing brainwashing!!!🍔☺
Thank God you took it like that! God protected you. A Big Mac- lol!
Something is really off here. Your so caught up with clinical doctor terms, but are poking fun at spirits being attached to psychological problems? Deliverance from demons is real.
I wish you could do another video about the families destroyed and damage by false memories Sozo workers implant in people.
Yes! I went through one session of "inner healing" (definitely modeled after SOZO), and I ended up having a great "experience" founded on a FALSE MEMORY! Thankfully, my God kept me from going back. It was several years later as I talked about the experience that God revealed the false memory and the truth, and I was TERRIFIED of what could have happened if God hadn't protected me.
@@immutable10 Hello. My name is Patrick Rhodes. I am interested in your comment about false memories. I have written about these for many years, published a book about curse deliverance, and currently in the preliminary stages of filming a documentary about people that have been harmed by these false teachings. I would be very interested in talking to you. Would you consider contacting me? My email is patrick.rhodes@maundymedia.com. Website is: Maundymedia.com. Thank you and God Bless.
I have read an article in which an extreme case was described. The daughter accussed her father of raping her. In the end it seem to be false memories that came by sozo ministry and took a lot of psychtry sessions to work through this. If I am wright you have to sign an agreement not to sue sozo ministry before a "deliverance" session.
Is it possible that through an "prophetic" word you can plant false memories in someones mind?
In your research what role did the "prophetic words" or "hearing from god" play in these sozo sessions?
Thanks for the work of you both.
Daniel
A prophetic word is a high-octane suggestion, and it happens on a regular basis. In the book The Myth of Repressed Memory, Elizabeth Loftus describes how “prophet” at a youth camp had a prophetic word for a girl that her father was molesting her. The father is still in prison.
A high-octane suggestion is not necessary. All that is required is the understanding the “ministry” believes in repressed memories. That is enough to implant that idea, then under informal hypnoses the person can imagine they were abused.
The SOZO session at about 18:00 sounds like a seance. Like you can just ask a magic 8 ball for answers and they appear within a 55 minute appointment.
it is...very similar
Thank you for this video! While I do believe in spiritual warfare I definitely agree that SOZO hasn’t helped me. I went to a session and felt so much grief afterwards and a couple years later I found out that some of my issues stemmed from unforgiveness. Loved this video thank you.
Is anyone else somewhat bothered by the Sozo people using “Father God” so much? I’m not sure why it’s bugging me. 🤷🏼♀️
Jesus used heavenly father when he prayed..... does that help? He prayed to the Father. Has nothing to do with sozo.
Yes. It bothers me a lot. Its bugging you because there is an element of truth of the character of God but also elements of error, a distorted view of God. It’s familiar spirits.
Yes, but not as much as portraying the Holy Spirit as feminine.
Yes, it irritates me too. I don't know why.
I don’t know about sozo but I do not trust secular psychology THE HOLY SPIRIT can heal in the blink of an eye I know that for a fact. The counselor on here saying trauma can take years is not coming from a biblical perspective.
I find it interesting how similar the name Sozo is to Zozo which is considered the worst possible demon to respond with you on an Ouiga board. Any connection?
Yes
Thank you for another video Melissa! Please keep me and my hubby in you prayers. I'm sure you get asked that a ton just to be closer to Christ and fully trust He Accomplished it all. We tend to fall back in the I'm not good enough amd that spirals quickly.
Sin is the core of illness.
Jesus said, Which is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee,... Or take up thy bed and walk !!!
Several years ago I had a friend who was involved in a SOZO Ministry and she encouraged me to go to a session because my father had been involved in freemasonry and there was also alcoholism on both sides of my family. I was also having health problems. So...I did it. I thought it couldn’t hurt. Honestly, I didnt get anything out of it.🤷🏻♀️ I think I was expecting deliverance of a healing miracle in my body and that didnt happen at that time. Anyways later, as I was pondering it all, I started thinking that as believers our sin is covered by the blood of Jesus, we have Gods Word and His Holy Spirit to convict us, counsel us and lead and guide us. So we have the tools, spirit, soul and body to be changed from glory to glory. Instantaneous deliverance/miracles can happen but it is usually a process.
I'm at 37 minutes so I don't know if you cover this toward the end but as someone who has been through different deliverance ministries and has a history of trauma, I think that ministries like SOZO made me so much worse. Why? Because I wasn't healed or fixed or whatever and I always thought this would be "the" thing or time that I would get it together but it never happened so it created shame, doubt, confusion, hopelessness, etc....
However, I was delivered of suicidal fixations miraculously during a worship concert. I was singing a song of surrender and singing it as a prayer and I totally felt it leave. It has tried to come back but I have been able to take the thoughts captive like I had not been able to previously. It was me and the Lord in worship, not a dramatic session creating emotion or anything.
A deliverance "minister" from the Phoenix deliverance ministry called me. The guy offered me free deliverance. I told him im a born again Christian. Then i asked him "if i am possessed with the Holy Spirit how can i also be possessed by a demonic spirit"? He told me"well the Holy Spirit is inside your inner man. But the demons are inside your brain". I just thanked him and told him i didnt think i would be seeing him at any point now or later. He asked me to call him if i changed my mind(coincidentally i found that a little funny since the demons are supposedly in my brain?" Weird
Would you ever consider looking into TLR “The Last Reformation” movement by Torbin Sondergard.
Yes please!
Yes
Thank you! Your videos have helped shed light on past events that had me scratching my head. In the early 2000s, my church had a lay-Christian counseling ministry called Self-Confrontation. I was struggling with trust in dating relationships so I went for counseling, I wanted to be better. The counselor I saw told me that I have a problem with God as a father figure. I had/still have no idea what that means. So I walked away thinking she’s crazy and not feeling any better. I wonder about the validity of Self-Confrontation as well.
Hmm my old pastor asked me if I’ve had some childhood sexual trauma and I honestly second guessed myself. I said yes even though I haven’t. Something in me told me to just agree with him. I can now see, given the background of the church, that my pastor was maybe pushing this idea onto me. I was deeply confused but I know now that’s not my story. It felt manipulative. Thanks for this video.
NT, I have studied sozo for over a decade, especially regarding false recovered memories. Yes, your Pastor asking that question of you was in fact suggestive. Actual victims of childhood sexual abuse want to forget the experience but are unable. I good place to begin is to watch TH-cam videos of Elizabeth Loftus. She is the world's leading authority on false recovered memories. One of her books is, The Myth of Repressed Memory. Another very good book is Memory Warp by Mark Pendergrast. Yet another is My Lie by Meredith Maran.
So.. consider being FREE versus tied to a couch fir 10 yrs.
A counselir of 25yrs said these epic words: “ when I was a clinical counselor we talk something to death for sometimes 2 to 5 or even 10 years of repeating sessions. Once I got Sozo, I could bring Jesus into a session and he could instantly heal the person knowing exactly what needed to happen to take off the first layer of the onion for the person. Having someone be instantly healed saves them from coming back thousands of times”
1. one and done is bad for a counselors business. ($$$)
2. You don’t have to BBF your counselor since Jesus heals you instantly amd permanently.
I so appreciate this session and video! There was a situation in our church where someone wanted to introduce this ministry, and honestly, it almost split our church. The problem was though, that many people did not even understand how to express why they thought it was right or wrong. As someone who dreams of being in and/or starting a lay ministry counseling group, this was extremely sensible to see why science, talk therapy, and spiritual growth all work together and are necessary to have together. Thank you again!
I hate to be a killjoy, especially given that I have a lot of issues with Bethel myself. But as a person who did not finish a seminary based counselling program, but who has some familiarity with the theories and processes going into it, how do we Biblically justify the more "psychological" approach? Honest question.
I've seen a lot of counselors, too. The first one actually took kind of a "deliverance" approach or, at least, I felt I had a literal deliverance experience (by myself, at home not in his presence.) I had no idea that I might have an issue with Satanic...oppression...but when (and I realize it's controversial so I speak with trepidation,) I was "delivered" everything did change. Not my problems but my response to them. I did forgive (in this case) my in-laws, and by extension, my husband. My walk with God was spring loaded. It wasn't a total cure. It just seemed more like I was unblocked, I could function and process more "normally".
To be fair, it wasn't one and done with this counselor. I had 10 sessions with him and most of it was talk...his getting to know me...and then he introduced (by way of a book, but my deliverance experience happened before I'd read the book or even thought to ask for that kind of healing,) the book maybe 8 sessions in. I think HE was surprised at how it went down, too.
Again, I know that this kind of thing is seen as sketchy at best; all i know is, "once I was blind, now I see."
And though I've had lots of counselors since then (this first one died three weeks after my last session with him, or i would have gone back to him,) and as noted above, I intended to be a Christian counselor. My conclusion after all of that is...there's no good thing "man" can't pervert. And no bad situation God can't make good. But I was most helped by the counselor who saw my spiritual problem as the primary one, and I think Jesus tends that way too. My two cents. 😐
What you are describing is still not Sozo :)
am i the only one that goes through that continues thought that wow i have a brain. i actually can hear. whoa i have lips. i have a face i can’t see these things unless i’m looking in a mirror or a an x ray. my mind is blown everyday about the mysteries of the Lord 😳
Same here girl🙂
Yes I used to do that when I was younger. I would get mind blown just thinking about how I’m alive and human
@@NT-bz5nh I went through a phase of this in 5th or 6th grade too. I remember it so well
First time I witnessed Zoso, I thought nope. They tried to label me as not being able to go through a session. Without asking me. Turns out I grew up in a physical and emotional abuse household because my mother had a secret military affair and I was born of that affair. I was made her scapegoat and I couldn't be around her more than 40 minutes because I would always feel a deep sadness. Finally after her death I decided to investigate and take a DNA test. I proved the truth about the reasons why she made my life hell. After discovering the truth, I called my sister and she had known but wasnt going to say unless I told her.wow the wieght of sadness would have fell off of me if she had told me 14 yr sooner.And the father I grew up with just went along with the lies because he was afraid that she'd leave him. .. about zoso and anything else that comes out of Redding California ( Bill Johnson) is definitely new age,and false gospel. And the methods used in zoso, it makes a suggestion/ self fullfilling prophecy when the hurting individual believes the false.power of suggestion. A person's told something long enough, they began to believe it. And making father, son and holy Spirit into three persons makes them like spirit guides. Lets just get back to the word of God and look at the examples that Jesus gave us. There's always a root cause of why a person acts the way they do. God revealed three things related to my childhood and it confirmed what I knew from childhood but had stuffed it back. Your mind does that to protect ourself. Zoso also comes from an ancient belief that teaches that the mind can heal the whole person. Forgiveness is key but its not the root.need to get to the root. Zoso is dangerous and can mentally harm the individual. The mind is deceitful and cannot be trusted.
"sozo"
The mind of God is the Holy Spirit, our own minds are made imperfect by sin.
I met a SOZO “healer”yesterday at work. She gave me some business cards. I threw them in the garbage.
I listened the sozo team I was apart of never stated healing from anything in one session..we always explained to.people that God takes our trauma like an onion.layer at a time when God knows you are ready. And a person can have more then one sozo has needed.
I loved this video. I think honestly sozo is great, but not sozo alone. I’ve gone through my walk with past “trauma” and I’ve received counseling from my pastor, which is the main thing that helped me grow beyond my issues. And in the midst of counseling I’ve done a sozo and a program with mini sozo based counsel throughout it. The way I see it is in a way prayer, and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead in the prayer. I suppose the sozos I’ve experienced weren’t “by the book” but it helped me to get a vision of God as being on my side, which is biblical.
But I agree definitely not a one stop shop healing/deliverance and definitely involves a lot of emotions, so got to be aware of that and not get wrapped up in it as your “saving grace”. (My sozos were not done with Bethel church)
We don’t need to see stuff to know and believe that. This is actually dangerous. We can read the bible and believe what God already says there instead
If we look at Jacob, he deceived his brother and conspired against his father along with his mother. Jacob certainly had unresolved issues and would be a good candidate for a Bethel "sozo". "Sozo" in this way is yet another expression of the wrong culture of the immediate. God had a long and different "sozo" session of more than twenty years to change his heart for someone very different and continued to treat him for the rest of his life. God has the power to make changes very quickly, but our hearts resist and need time to be transformed from glory to glory through processes that are more or less long and how often painful. But the work that He started, He is powerful to finish!
My mom had a few sozos for her untreated mental illnesses and personality disorders. She ultimately began to refuse medical treatment and is now full entrenched in her paranoias, eating disorders, and completely narcissistic.
I think she was truly looking for help (she also religiously bought Caroline Leaf’s products) but now she has lost herself, her faith, and her relationship with us. It’s very sad.
My husband also had sozo administered by my father and our manipulative pastor, who lead him through bad memories of his own dad. This was used as fuel to get him to cleave to my parents and the church more.
It was completely spiritually abusive. He still deals with the trauma today.
Redding has some serious oppression on it as a city I know first hand through experience. Thank yo for sharing
This was so good & clearly explained. It is really true that in a Sozo session (been in a few) only the spiritual is addressed & they (like Britt said) tell you what your problem is. They only give you 3 possible choices (problem with Father, Son or Holy Spirit) which is ridiculous. Not every problem is demonic or has to do with your relationship with God. We are mind, body, spirit & emotions. It is gnostic thinking that the spiritual is everything & the physical means nothing. It can lead to foolish & untrue conclusions about complex problems. The sessions reinforce hyper spirituality & dependence on your next emotional “breakthrough” but not much changes. Thank you for going so in depth on this topic!
The devil is constantly bringing up my past but I just keep striving on with the Lord. Kill the flesh and take his weapon from him. and the flesh IS his weapon against us. The bible makes that very clear.
I've been going through anxiety for awhile, and I've been blaming it on spiritual causes, but now I'm starting to wonder if it's caffeine that might be causing it.
I was having a lot of anxiety bc I lacked B vitamins. I started taking Super B vitamins and magnesium and it helped.
What would be a reputable deliverance ministry? My husband and I were directed to one called freedom encounters, which sounds somewhat similar. We do not want to be deceived, so if anyone could help direct us that would be awesome!