INTRODUCTION
"Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee."
(Proverbs 4:25)
GOD DESIGNED THE HUMAN BODY WITH EYES IN THE FRONT OF OUR HEAD. IT WAS ALWAYS HIS CLEAR INTENTION THAT WE ARE FOCUSED ON WHAT IS AHEAD, AND NOT ON WHAT IS BEHIND US.
Years ago, the Lord impressed this important truth upon me with this particular verse. With eyes open, we look ahead so we can properly move forward, and with eyelids closed in an attitude of prayer, our focus is still to be on what is in front, and not on what is behind. Scripture records Jesus' own blunt and uncompromising teaching on this issue:
"And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
(Luke 9:62)
This is such a basic Biblical truth, but one which is now being challenged and overturned by a practice called SOZO, another "must-have" American Charismatic import which is taking the Church by storm here in the UK. We really do need to have a closer look at this phenomenon.
BETHEL CHURCH: A SAGA OF SOZO, GRAVE-SUCKING, GOLD DUST AND GLORY CLOUDS...
SOZO (Greek for saved, healed, delivered) is essentially the practice of (supposed) "inner healing and deliverance" and emanates from that epicentre of counterfeit Christianity, Bethel Church in Redding, California, feted by the foolish for its gold dust, angel feathers and "glory cloud" manifestations. At hyper-Charismatic Bethel, absolutely anything goes, from the weird and the whacky to the downright disturbingly occultic. Their slogan is, 'On Earth as it is in Heaven' but these photographs should surely convince any TRUE follower of the Faith that Bethel is far more a reflection of HELL than of Heaven!
Above, we have Beni Johnson, a Senior Pastor at Bethel and wife of leader Bill Johnson, engaging in "GRAVE-SUCKING" at C.S. Lewis's grave in Oxford. Never heard of "grave-sucking?" It is the practice - which can only be properly described as sick and Satanic! - of supposedly soaking up the perceived "anointing" of the deceased through physical contact with their graves! I kid you not! Necromancy is quite "normal" for Bethelites! Here's a group of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry students on a Mission Trip to Moriah Chapel in Loughor, South Wales, sucking up Evan Roberts' "anointing" from his grave! Enough to make him turn in it, if he was actually there!
From writers to revivalists, no late well-known man or woman of ministry - no matter how correct or how questionable that ministry might have been in reality - can expect to have the resting place of their mortal remains undisturbed by these ghastly, impartation-seeking, mantle-grabbing, ghoulishly foolish grave-suckers.
Unsurprisingly, they have a great predilection for sucking at the graves of (in)famous "Christian" healers like John G. Lake, Aimee Semple McPherson and John Alexander Dowie. An emphasis on healing is, of course, a prized central plank of Charismania, and I trust that the above underlines just how far Bethel, Redding has strayed from both Truth and sanity in its perverted, experiential and utterly fleshly approach to the things of God.
BETHEL SOZO, 528 Hz TUNING FORKS, A SNEAKY BLUE GENIE AND FREUDIAN FOLLY...
SOZO is a product of Bethel. Just that very fact in itself should set loud alarm bells ringing in the brain of a true believer that it is something to be given a very wide berth! If, on the other hand, you've sent your brain on a long vacation to a distant land and packed up any last shreds of discernment in an old kit bag, and you're into things like fire tunnels, 528 Hz tuning forks, prophetic art and waking up sleeping angels, then SOZO should present no problem at all to you...
SOZO is another example of Bethel's approach to healing. Healing as they see it, that is. Not necessarily the way God sees it, but why should a little insignificant detail like that get in the way? After all, they have a quite remarkable insight into the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, do they not? Just consider this quote, if you will, from the lips of Bethel Senior Worship Pastor, Jenn Johnson (who just happens to be Bill and Beni's daughter-in-law):
BETHEL CHURCH: A SAGA OF SOZO, GRAVE-SUCKING, GOLD DUST AND GLORY CLOUDS...
SOZO (Greek for saved, healed, delivered) is essentially the practice of (supposed) "inner healing and deliverance" and emanates from that epicentre of counterfeit Christianity, Bethel Church in Redding, California, feted by the foolish for its gold dust, angel feathers and "glory cloud" manifestations. At hyper-Charismatic Bethel, absolutely anything goes, from the weird and the whacky to the downright disturbingly occultic. Their slogan is, 'On Earth as it is in Heaven' but these photographs should surely convince any TRUE follower of the Faith that Bethel is far more a reflection of HELL than of Heaven!
Above, we have Beni Johnson, a Senior Pastor at Bethel and wife of leader Bill Johnson, engaging in "GRAVE-SUCKING" at C.S. Lewis's grave in Oxford. Never heard of "grave-sucking?" It is the practice - which can only be properly described as sick and Satanic! - of supposedly soaking up the perceived "anointing" of the deceased through physical contact with their graves! I kid you not! Necromancy is quite "normal" for Bethelites! Here's a group of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry students on a Mission Trip to Moriah Chapel in Loughor, South Wales, sucking up Evan Roberts' "anointing" from his grave! Enough to make him turn in it, if he was actually there!
From writers to revivalists, no late well-known man or woman of ministry - no matter how correct or how questionable that ministry might have been in reality - can expect to have the resting place of their mortal remains undisturbed by these ghastly, impartation-seeking, mantle-grabbing, ghoulishly foolish grave-suckers.
Unsurprisingly, they have a great predilection for sucking at the graves of (in)famous "Christian" healers like John G. Lake, Aimee Semple McPherson and John Alexander Dowie. An emphasis on healing is, of course, a prized central plank of Charismania, and I trust that the above underlines just how far Bethel, Redding has strayed from both Truth and sanity in its perverted, experiential and utterly fleshly approach to the things of God.
BETHEL SOZO, 528 Hz TUNING FORKS, A SNEAKY BLUE GENIE AND FREUDIAN FOLLY...
SOZO is a product of Bethel. Just that very fact in itself should set loud alarm bells ringing in the brain of a true believer that it is something to be given a very wide berth! If, on the other hand, you've sent your brain on a long vacation to a distant land and packed up any last shreds of discernment in an old kit bag, and you're into things like fire tunnels, 528 Hz tuning forks, prophetic art and waking up sleeping angels, then SOZO should present no problem at all to you...
SOZO is another example of Bethel's approach to healing. Healing as they see it, that is. Not necessarily the way God sees it, but why should a little insignificant detail like that get in the way? After all, they have a quite remarkable insight into the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, do they not? Just consider this quote, if you will, from the lips of Bethel Senior Worship Pastor, Jenn Johnson (who just happens to be Bill and Beni's daughter-in-law):
"I view the Holy Spirit like the genie from Aladdin. And He's blue... And He's funny, and He's sneaky..."
(Jenn Johnson)
Hmmm. Well, what can you say to that? We might venture to inform Jenn that a genie is a djinni, a supernatural creature of Islamic belief, created by Allah and frequently mentioned in the Qur'an. (But never once in the Bible). Or that this particular cartoon character is a creation of 33rd. Degree (Luciferian) Freemason Walt Disney's fantasy factory. But somehow I don't think she'd want to listen. Wrong type of information for itching ears. As Scripture warns concerning the Last Days:
So the Third Person of the Trinity as painted here (blue!) by a Bethel leader is just waiting for us to let Him out of His lamp and grant us our wishes. Like a SOZO session, perhaps. Some inner healing and deliverance. That is to say, the healing of and deliverance from bad memories and negative emotions. So we can move forward. By going back. Back to hurts of the past, so they can be dealt with. One wee problem here though. As was emphasized at the start of this article, IT'S LOOKING THE WRONG WAY! And to cap it all, it's also very subtly QUESTIONING THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE CROSS! Does not the Word of God unequivocally declare:
"And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
(2 Timothy 4:4)
So the Third Person of the Trinity as painted here (blue!) by a Bethel leader is just waiting for us to let Him out of His lamp and grant us our wishes. Like a SOZO session, perhaps. Some inner healing and deliverance. That is to say, the healing of and deliverance from bad memories and negative emotions. So we can move forward. By going back. Back to hurts of the past, so they can be dealt with. One wee problem here though. As was emphasized at the start of this article, IT'S LOOKING THE WRONG WAY! And to cap it all, it's also very subtly QUESTIONING THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE CROSS! Does not the Word of God unequivocally declare:
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
(2 Corinthians 5:17)
This quite clearly teaches that when a person becomes a born-again believer, EVERYTHING in his or her past has been dealt with, once and for all. NOTHING remains to be addressed at a later stage in one's Christian walk. The Cross of our Lord is absolutely and utterly sufficient to wipe the slate completely clean. No ifs. No buts. The NEW creature NEVER needs to re-visit the OLD creature, for healing or anything else! The butterfly spreads its wings and flies. Its experiences as a caterpillar are left far behind. It has become a new creature. And so it is with us.
Did not Jesus Himself teach concerning such things:
"No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."
(Matthew 9:16-17)
Let's say it as it is. SOZO is founded on a LIE. It is simply a side-tracking and self-focused DECEPTION! It is, when all is said and done, a re-packaged "Christianity-compatible" form of Freudian psychoanalysis. It has zero basis or sanction in Scripture, but rather, as we have seen, it flies in the face of correct Biblical teaching, being a complete contradiction of what the WORD unambiguously declares. It muddles up the very meaning of salvation and sanctification, taking a person down a muddy path that is littered with very real dangers, like the use of visualization, an openness to suggestion and leading in thoughts and perceptions, and False Memory Syndrome. Not least, whilst claiming to be Holy Spirit-led, its occultic methodology can actually open doors for false spirits to take full advantage of. A former SOZO minister, who through the grace of God came to see it for what it is, succinctly defines the practice thus:
DISCLAIMER DOCUMENTS, SUBTLE SIMONY AND SYMPTOMS OF 'LOT'S WIFE SYNDROME'
In the name of healing things supposedly hindering one's personal connection to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, such a connection can actually be seriously undermined and damaged. Relationships with others can similarly be very adversely affected, due to the apparent re-surfacing of buried memories of hurts and abuses which may never have actually happened! In this context, it is most noteworthy that Bethel Sozo UK strongly recommends that participating churches have applicants for SOZO ministry to sign a legally binding waiver, viz:
CONCLUSION
SOZO is a sad symptom of what we might perhaps call 'Lot's Wife Syndrome.' Looking the wrong way!
SOZO makes you look THREE wrong ways:
1) Backwards rather than forwards.
2) Inwards rather than outwards.
3) To the methods of men rather than the Cross of Christ.
The Christian walk is a matter of where we're going TO, not where we're coming FROM! Running the race to receive the prize means aiming single-mindedly at the finishing line in front of us, not back-tracking past the starting-blocks and even the changing-rooms, to where we sat at the kitchen table eating our morning cornflakes! If we're to follow faithfully where the Lord leads, we're to look ahead. To Him. Always.
"What is being taught as inner healing/healing of memories is nothing but basic sorcery, which is an attempt to manipulate reality in the past, present, or future, and denies God's omnipotence by implying that He needs our "creative visualization" in order to apply effectively His forgiveness and healing, while simultaneously, sets us up as gods who can, through prescribed rituals, use Him and His power as our tools. In fact, inner healing/healing of memories is nothing but "Christianized psychoanalysis" that uses the power of suggestion to solve so-called problems, which the technique itself has many times created."
DISCLAIMER DOCUMENTS, SUBTLE SIMONY AND SYMPTOMS OF 'LOT'S WIFE SYNDROME'
In the name of healing things supposedly hindering one's personal connection to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, such a connection can actually be seriously undermined and damaged. Relationships with others can similarly be very adversely affected, due to the apparent re-surfacing of buried memories of hurts and abuses which may never have actually happened! In this context, it is most noteworthy that Bethel Sozo UK strongly recommends that participating churches have applicants for SOZO ministry to sign a legally binding waiver, viz:
"I (name) _ do hereby release the Bethel Sozo Ministry of (Insert Name of your church) and its volunteers from any liability for any harm, resulting from my voluntarily receiving of the sozo ministry on this and subsequent visits."
Wow! These are undoubtedly people with great faith in God and in their marvelous methods of "inner healing and deliverance" - NOT! Yes, friend, you might just be harmed rather than healed, but don't even think of blaming the SOZO Team - you did sign a disclaimer, did you not?
Interestingly and revealingly, the downloadable "suggested template" for the application form itself, as found on Bethel Sozo UK's website, contains the following, in bold print:
"In order for us to resource and develop this ministry there is a suggested donation of £15-£30, if you are able."
And again, in their general overview of SOZO, the point is emphasized:
"There is a suggested donation per session which can be sent in with the application and release form, or the donation can be brought the day you have a ministry session."
(Source: http://www.bethelsozo.org.uk/sozo)
This is actually an extremely subtle form of SIMONY. Let us note that all God's gifting is free, and cannot be bought. The term comes of course from Simon Magus, who tried to do just such a thing and incurred the righteous wrath of the Apostle Peter. (See Acts Chapter 8). Is anyone seriously NOT going to cough up the "SUGGESTED DONATION?" Fact is, money changes hands in order to receive this "Christian ministry." Dress it up as you will, but the bottom line is that it's still SIMONY. Just in disguise.
N.B. Individual participating churches may be found to be much less inhibited in such matters, and to have set their own costs and conditions. For example, Bath City Church's application is far less subtle than Bethel Sozo UK's own suggested template for the form as quoted above, containing as it does the following terse clause:
N.B. Individual participating churches may be found to be much less inhibited in such matters, and to have set their own costs and conditions. For example, Bath City Church's application is far less subtle than Bethel Sozo UK's own suggested template for the form as quoted above, containing as it does the following terse clause:
"Please note that there is a cost of £35 attached to this ministry. Please contact us in advance if payment is a problem, otherwise please ensure payment is included with this application. We regret that on-line applications and payment on the day cannot be accepted."
CONCLUSION
SOZO is a sad symptom of what we might perhaps call 'Lot's Wife Syndrome.' Looking the wrong way!
SOZO makes you look THREE wrong ways:
1) Backwards rather than forwards.
2) Inwards rather than outwards.
3) To the methods of men rather than the Cross of Christ.
The Christian walk is a matter of where we're going TO, not where we're coming FROM! Running the race to receive the prize means aiming single-mindedly at the finishing line in front of us, not back-tracking past the starting-blocks and even the changing-rooms, to where we sat at the kitchen table eating our morning cornflakes! If we're to follow faithfully where the Lord leads, we're to look ahead. To Him. Always.
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
(Proverbs 14:12)
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
(Colossians 2:8)
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."
(Colossians 2:8)
Some further recommended reading on SOZO:
https://mkayla.wordpress.com/category/sozo-3/
(The very informative blog of an ex-SOZO minister who came to see it for what it is).
http://bethelsozo.blogspot.co.uk/
(Helpful, indexed site of the Bethel Sozo Research Group)
http://www.thebereancall.org/content/march-2014-extra
("Climbing Up Another Way" - an excellent discerning article on SOZO practice)
http://closingstages.net/2012/07/31/victims-of-johnsons-sozo-ministry-speak-out/
(Stark testimonies of persons damaged by SOZO)
(Helpful, indexed site of the Bethel Sozo Research Group)
http://www.thebereancall.org/content/march-2014-extra
("Climbing Up Another Way" - an excellent discerning article on SOZO practice)
http://closingstages.net/2012/07/31/victims-of-johnsons-sozo-ministry-speak-out/
(Stark testimonies of persons damaged by SOZO)
