Freedom Encounters (FE) is a deliverance ministry that has recently gained Considerable popularity. A deliverance ministry is one that is focused on teaching And equipping the believer to live a life of freedom that is rooted in the truths of The gospel. Freedom encounters concerns itself greatly with angelology, Demonology, and the spiritual realm. While not everything that FE teaches is in Error, there are a handful of major concerns that have become apparent upon a Thorough review of the FE Victory Over Spiritual Conflict (VOSC) curriculum. This document intends to present to the reader a survey of the material that has Informed the position taken by One Love Ministries, and is written by individuals Who have watched the entirety of the FE video curriculum, as well as those who Have observed firsthand an initial and "After Care" appointment with FE. B. Errors to be addressed: I. Foundation of Personal Revelation II. Teaching a Different Gospel III. Shifting the Responsibility for Sin off of the Individual IV. Frequent Misuse of Scripture V. Wrong Understanding of "Demonization" I. Foundation of Personal Revelation A. One area of concern is the authority FE grants to personal revelation. FE is Willing to present extra-biblical ideas as doctrine if those ideas are obtained Through personal revelation by the ministry's leaders. Indeed, FE claims to be a Ministry "centered upon the regular and expanding revelation of Holy Spirit," ("Personal Ministry" page on FE website) and asserts that "everything is not Written in the logos [the Word] between the covers of the Bible," so "we must also Be open to a rhema [utterance] word to increase our understanding" (FAQ page on FE website). Some examples of such teaching are provided; this list is not Exhaustive. 1. FE claims that "the Lord told us 'the Trinity'" is biblical proof of alters (video 29,1:00-1:25). No biblical support is provided. 2. FE claims that "the Lord never allowed [FE] to include a child over the Age of twelve when [they] prayed [for deliverance] for the parents," until October 1993. Then, "[God] agreed to pray for a thirteen year old" (video 32,18:40-19:22). This is another instance of new revelation (the Boundaries of deliverance prayers) being given exclusively to FE and Being taught as truth. 3. FE claims that the Lord Jesus went down to hell for 3 days and endured all Kinds of evil against Himself. "He was at their mercy for 3 days and every Unspeakable thing was done to Him" (video 25,17:35). Not only is there No biblical support for this, but this is in direct contradiction to Christ's Finished work on the cross and suggests that His suffering was insufficient And needed to continue. II. Teaching a Different Gospel A. An additional concerning teaching from FE is the belief that there can be Salvation for deceased ancestors by way of intercessory prayer. According to FE, This special prayer gives those who reside in Hades (allegedly a holding place for The unsaved) and have never heard about Christ an opportunity to have the gospel Preached to them. They may then respond to the gospel with faith and be ushered Into the presence of God. This prayer is a salvation that takes place after a Faithless death and comes into conflict with Luke 16:19-31, where a rich man dies And goes to Hades. The rich man requests relief from Lazarus, who is with Abraham, but Abraham denies his request, stating " between us and you there is a Great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not Be able, and that none may cross over from there to us" (16:26). This passage Shows us that it is impossible to be transferred from Hades to the presence of God, And Scripture is clear that those who die without faith in Christ die in their sin (John 8:24, Heb. 9:27). FE's teaching attempts to attribute an extended degree of Grace to God, and while He is perfectly gracious, the teaching seeks to fashion God's grace according to human reason. To teach that people may be saved after Death is foreign to the true gospel and deceptive to the client who prays this Prayer (Gal. 1:8-9). III. Shifting the Responsibility of Sin off of the Individual A. This discussion is concerned with the teachings from video 18,11:00-14:57. B. FE has an alarming tendency to shift the responsibility of personal sin away from The individual and instead accredit those sins to the work of Satan and/or demons. In video 18, FE teaches that if a believer has tried prayer, Bible reading, Discipleship, Christian books, and still struggles with sin, "if you have an Accentuated problem, that is a sign of [demonization]" (14:49). While it is Certainly enticing to believe that any long-term or ongoing struggle with sin may Simply be the work of a demon (and solvable by FE's deliverance program), Scripture makes it clear that even as believers, it is our own sinful tendencies (the "old man," in Eph. 4:17-32; see also James 1:14) that lead us away from the Lord. It is our responsibility to "[put] to death the deeds of the flesh" (Rom. 8:13), Including "the sin which so easily entangles us" (Heb. 12:1). It is incredibly Dangerous to suggest that when it comes to fighting persistent sin, the divinely Provided weapons and strategies for godly living are insufficient. These include Prayer (Phil. 4:6-7,1 Thess. 5:17), reading and studying the Word (Josh. 1:8, Ps. 1:1-3, Ps. 119:11,2 Tim. 3:16-17), church attendance and fellowship (Heb. 10:23-25,1 Pet. 4:8-10), discipleship (Titus 2:1-8), finding our identity in Christ (Rom. 8:1, Eph. 1:3,1:7-8,2:1-10), and other Christian disciplines (the listed Scripture references are far from exhaustive). It is harmful for the believer to Begin to look for victory over sin outside of the all-sufficient weapons God has Provided for us through salvation, yet by hinting at some insufficiency of these Weapons, FE subtly presents itself as the key that unlocks the fullness of the Christian life. IV. Frequent Misuse of Scripture A. FE practices a loose, sometimes careless handling of Scripture. While not always A matter of heresy, there is a danger in consistently misreading, misinterpreting, And misapplying the Word of God, especially as a teacher or ministry leader. Such A habit creates opportunities for unbiblical claims. A handful of examples are Provided. This list is not exhaustive. 1. FE cites Luke 12:52-53, teaching that division is a tactic used by Satan's Forces. Verse 51 clearly teaches that it is Jesus Himself who says He has Come to bring division (video 30,12:51). 2. FE cites Isaiah 45:11 and teaches that we are told to command God, and if We command Him according to His will, "He obeys our commands." Some translations do not use "command" in this verse. Even so, in Isaiah 45:11, God sarcastically asks if a mere man will command Him, for God is The One who "made the earth and created man upon it" - Isa. 45:11 (video 31,13:00). FE's teaching misses the point of the passage entirely. 3. FE cites John 11:44 in order to teach that we are born with "grave clothes That the enemy has put on us from birth." This verse simply refers to the Cloth Lazarus had been wrapped with, for he was dead. There are no Spiritual implications, but rather a historical recounting of ordinary details (video 27,5:22). 4. FE refers to 1 John 4 and teaches that "Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth Who Came in the Flesh" is the full, proper name of Jesus. While 1 John 4:1-3 is About testing spirits to see if they are from God, the teaching that the Above is the full name of Jesus is absent from this passage. FE teaches that This name need not be used in conversation or prayer, but only in spiritual Warfare. Further, FE says that those who would cast out demons only in The name of Jesus are "lazy." See Acts 16:18, where the apostle Paul casts Out a spirit of divination "in the name of Jesus Christ," and the spirit obeys (video 31,16:50 -17:47). In an interview with one of the founders of FE, The founder states that the name "Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth Who Came in the Flesh" was revealed to them by God (see point I above) as the One name above all names that demons must obey during spiritual warfare. Scripture clearly states in Philippians 2:9-11, "Therefore God has highly Exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name, so That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." As in 1 John 4, the name "Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth Who Came in the Flesh" is totally absent from this passage. 5. FE cites Exodus 20:5,34:7, and Deuteronomy 5:9 in order to teach the Generational Curse Principle. "Part of the goal of [FE] is to eliminate the Generational curse principle" ("Preparation Overview," p.1). These verses Reveal an important characteristic of God. While He is compassionate and Loving (Deut. 5:10), He will not leave the guilty unpunished. This Principle is vital to understanding the gospel and Christ's atoning work, Yet FE cites these passages as something that must be done away with. 6. FE points to Exodus 25 (presumably 25:10-22) in order to teach about a Diamond-shaped "hedge of protection" that can be placed around us and "filled with the blood of Jesus." This diamond shape is allegedly derived From the position of the cherubim's wings. Exodus 25:10-22 contains God's instructions to Moses concerning the building of the Ark of the Covenant. It is a stretch to infer a diamond shape from these verses, and Even more so to use this text as the basis for a spiritual hedge of protection That we can place around ourselves and fill with the blood of Jesus (video 31,21:24). V. Wrong Understanding of "Demonization" A. FE teaches that born-again, Spirit-filled Christians can have demons who dwell in And occupy the body, and even control the person. Moreover, they teach that each Born-again believer continues to be indwelt with and under the control of these Demons which enter a person at conception. Allegedly, these demons are inherited Through one's bloodline and reside in the individual until the demons are cast out And the believer is delivered. The following are a few examples of this teaching, But by no means an exhaustive list. 1. "I believe without a shadow of a doubt that Christians can have demons Indwelling them and tormenting them in various areas of their lives. We Believe this both from our study of Scripture and from our experiences With hundreds of counselees…" - (Demonization chapter - Section 3, pg 25 of VOSC booklet. Quoted from "The Deliverance Ministry" by George Birch) 2. "The Greek term for "having a demon" is daimonizomai, or "one who is Demonized." In its strictest sense, the word daimonizomai, means that one Or more demons can inhabit the person's flesh, not the spirit…. A person Who does not believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God is Classified as demon possessed. That's why we use the correct biblical Term, "demonized," when we find demons inhabiting the body of a Believer in the Lord Jesus Christ." - FAQ page 3. "The issue of how demons enter a person is rather extensive. We have Found that most come in at conception through the bloodline, because Parents were unaware there were demons to be removed." - FAQ page B. FE teaches that the word daimonizomai, which they translate as "demonized" Should apply to believers in Scripture. However, when we survey Scripture, we See this word is applied to unbelievers or used in the context of perceived false Teachers. The Scriptures below are clear about the freedom that a believer has in Jesus Christ from the indwelling, controlling occupation of the enemy. 1 John 4:4 - He who is in you is greater than he who is in the WORLD. Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and Transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have Redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 1 Cor. 6 and 2 Cor. 6 - Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit Matthew 12:43 "Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes Through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 "Then it Says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it Finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 "Then it goes and takes Along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in And live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation." A) Ask these questions of this verse: - Why is the demon able to live in this person? - What (who) is it that would prevent the spirit from returning? H. Believers can be afflicted, deceived, tempted, harassed, and troubled by demons. They cannot be indwelt, occupied, controlled, or enslaved by a demon. FE is Wrong in both their definition of the word and their application of it.
Desired outcome: Please steer clear of this ministry. They are false teachers!