Christianity Today

As a license Marriage and Family Therapist, I have seen the power of the cross prayerfully applied to someone possessed with demons. When Christ is leading the process at every step, REBUKING the demons, REVEALING the root of the demons power, (Jesus says that Satan is the 'father of lies' and sin began when Eve believed a lie, Romans 1 tells us that we have exchanged the truth of God for a lie and 2 Cor. 10:3-5 to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ as the way to break strongholds).... RECONNECTING this part of the person's heart with the heart of Christ, our Wounded Healer, REPLACING it with HIS truth, HIS peace, HIS purity, HIS Spirit of surrender and forgiveness, freedom takes place in a way that is Biblical, that is holistic, that is balanced. www.straight2theheart.com is our website. While we focus on healing and freedom in Christ, not just demons, the cross provides power over all demonic strongholds, because Chrsit has already defeated the enemy (Col. 2:15).

In Zechariah 3, the Lord rebukes Satan not once, but twice, even as Joshua, the High Priest is there. In Jude 9, Michael has the angel of the Lord rebuke Satan. I find that the most Christ-centered, Cross-centered, Word-centered, Prayer-centered approach to dealing with demons is to: 1. Ask Jesus to rebuke the demons/silence the demons/set the aside, so Jesus is the one talking with the demons and interacting with the demons. If Satan didn't listen to Jesus the 1st time in Zech. 3, he may not listen to the Christian the 1st time or 10th time either. Asking Christ to deal with the demons directly avoids a lot of problems and power struggles. 2. Ask the Lord, who is our "Counselor" (Isaiah 9:6) and "Wisdom" (1 Cor. 1:30), to reveal the 'root' of t problem ie. when, where, how or what is the cause of the possession, (John 8:44; Matt. 15:18-19 etc.). This brings in the person's own will and power of choice, once Jesus has rebuked or silenced the demons.

The exorcist should be supervised by mental health professionals. that is idiotic. most mental health professionals are proficient at psychology and psychiatry but no nothing about dealing with the Devil and spiritual oppression and/or possession. The Bible clearly states that believers will cast out Demons in the Name of Jesus. This is found in Mark 16 and several other places in the NT. The sad thing is that many believe that special credentials are needed to cast out demons. All we need is to be a true bible-believing christian and to know and use the authority that we have in Jesus' name. Jesus defeated the Devil once and for all on the cross over 2000 years ago. We already have the victory, deliverance is available and all we need to do is do it in a biblically and God honoring way.

Kelley, it is good to know that a Buddhist is reading Christianity Today. I am glad that you are here. We are both interested in suffering and in enlightenment. Christians are informed by Jesus Christ. We believe that the Bible bears witness to God's revelation. As such, we turn to it in order to inform our cosmology. Yes, Jesus and his disciples cast out demons. So do practitioners of other faith traditions to include Islam and animistic religions. In Jesus' victory, we have victory both in this life and the life to come. As such, we push back against the kingdom of darkness and every manifestation of it. Along with exorcisms, we also believe in healing, forgiveness of sin, loving our neighbor, prophecy, and personal salvation. Yes, we affirm the reality of the soul and of evil. That is why we preach that Jesus came to set the captives free. I hope this helps.

So, mental illness or disease do not exist. There are these super-natural beings who can take control of humans, but we have free will? Where is free will when someone is "possessed?" Oh, and while possessed, we are completely morally responsible for something we have no control over. From a Buddhist perspective. this does not exist. Humans are in control.