Part I of this article was posted last month.

          Whereas last month�s article dealt with the seemingly positive aspects of this Inner Healing model, this month I will focus on a few of the concerns that I have. This will be done within the context that no model is perfect or God�s revealed final �formula�, so it needs to be balanced by other models and concerns in the Body of Christ.

          One of the areas that I have some difficulties with in the Theophostic model is Ed Smith�s tendency to enter into a dialogue with spirits in order to try to find out clues about the lies a person believes. He acknowledges that they are liars by nature, that their only power is in deception and illusion, that everything they say must be taken with a grain of salt, and that sometimes they are more a nuisance than a help. Yet he still enters into a dialogue with them commanding them to tell the truth (to be fair it is worth noting that others in some deliverance circles also do this). I�m not so sure, either, that it�s OK to dialogue with them regarding what right they have to not leave after having been commanded to do so. Jesus did ask �Legion� its� name, though this was the exception rather than the rule. It is probably much wiser to just ask Jesus to reveal these things.

         In a seminar I was at 5 years ago, Smith taught on commanding spirits to let him talk to their ruling authority (again which some deliverance circles also do). The one thing I have not heard of others� doing, is his tendency to command that he speak with the spirit that ruling authority reports to outside of the person�s body. He sometimes even commands that he speak to Satan himself because he is at the top of the chain of command. Examples of his speaking to and with Satan were disrespectful, demanding and rude at best, and tainted with arrogance and pride at worst (I suspect that this tainting may be a rubbing off of things from fallen angels as a result of engaging and dialoguing with them). I do not believe that this is biblical in any way, shape or form and that it is very dangerous to think that we will not be touched, tainted or subtly drawn into wrong attitudes or practices by engaging in this. I believe he risks having all the good things in his model tainted by these spiritual powers by doing this. Fallen angels are more intelligent than we are and have been refining their schemes for thousands of years. We dare not have conversations with or debate them.

          Scripture (Jude 9) says that even the archangel Michael dared not bring a reviling accusation against Satan, but only said �the Lord rebuke you� when disputing over Moses� body. To think that we can go beyond this with Satan seems foolishness to me. It is unbiblical and asking for trouble. Leanne Payne believes that we risk becoming a landing platform or channel for territorial spirits or principalities by leaving our proper sphere of influence and trying to function on planes of battle belonging only to God and His angels (page 208-216 of �Restoring the Christian Soul�). Payne calls it practicing the presence of the powers of darkness.

          To his credit, Smith is putting much effort into applying this model to DID/SRA. This however, is an area where his dialoguing with spirits/fallen angels is likely to have magnified consequences due to increased opportunities for things to become �tainted�.

          I imagine that Ed Smith has heard all of this from many over the last 5 years. Hopefully he has heeded this and it is no longer a part of what he is open to integrating in this model.

         The other thing that I don�t agree with in this model is Smith�s drawing back from seeing �believed lies� as being sins of unbelief, as the Kylstra Inner Healing model does. Smith does, however, believe that defense and coping mechanisms are sins, because they are acts of rejecting God�s healing grace by relying on our own self preservation and efforts towards wholeness. For some reason he does not also see the lies we have been tempted to believe, and thereafter chosen to believe by our will (often unconsciously), as also fitting into this category. Like these �believed lies�, much of our defense and coping mechanisms are also unconscious. This seems to somehow minimize the depths of sin in us by totally relegating these �believed lies� to others� actions or sins against or around us. I believe this model risks becoming very �technique-ie� in some ways by placing �believed lies� totally beyond the necessity of the blood, cross and forgiveness of Jesus.

         I do believe that this is probably a very good and helpful model in many ways. I also believe, however, that there are some fairly serious oversights which could easily lead to much more serious problems that will be very difficult to discern and divide out. I have learned through painful experience that whenever things in Christian circles become �revealed formulas� beyond outside input or concerns, then it�s time to exit stage left, run for the hills and get out of the way. Hopefully the Theophostic model is not headed in this direction.

       Ordering the Theophostic manual can be done through their web site link &/or phone number listed in our web site under Resources/Books/Inner Healing.

books on Inner Healing

a brief description of Inner Healing

Other articles by Steve & Heidi Cadman-Neu