by Chris Boersma Smith | Jul 3, 2018 | 5 Gospel Keys, Deliverance, Empowering and Freeing Choices, Faith and Repentance, Forgiving and Forgiveness, Freedom, Healing, Holy Spirit, Individual Prayer Ministry, Unbound
After more than 50 Unbound sessions, our 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ team has seen the Lord do amazing healing and deliverance. Yet not everyone who comes for Unbound ministry gets set free, as they were hoping, or they don’t Stay Free, doing what’s needed to hold onto their freedom. Prayer, preparation, and personal responsibility help first or second-time Unbound recipients get the best possible results.
What can you hope for with Unbound ministry? The majority of those we’ve prayed with have received freedom for which they’ve been very grateful, if not astounded! We’ve seen healing physically, mentally, and emotionally, as well as spiritually. Relationships have improved. Self-loathing and self-criticism have been curtailed. Depression and anxiety have yielded to peace and trust. Shame and guilt have been overcome! Always, a lot of forgiveness happens, which can be miraculous even if that were the only outcome! On the other hand, we’ve shared some disappointment when forgiveness and relief are the “only” fruits of a ministry session. So we’ve thought about what makes the difference.
I’ve needed more than one ministry session myself. The first time I experienced deliverance and freedom, I’d prepared my Need to Forgive List very thoroughly and I did receive an amazing feeling of freedom and healing of relationships. But I hadn’t yet heard of or read Unbound and there were important behaviors, attitudes, and past occult experiences that I didn’t know to bring to the session. A year later, after having studied the book and attended two Freedom in Christ Conferences, I was set free of deeper emotional pain (at a short session during a conference). The more I learn, the more often I use the 5 Keys on my own and turn to my teammates, too. Freedom is a process, and there is always more to receive—addressing new material that comes up with deeper reflection and/or sharing parts of our story that we hadn’t brought up before.
Our Unbound team rarely says No to a request for ministry, but we sometimes feel prompted to say Later. We review requests for ministry and pray to discern if the timing is right, and if there’s a good fit between the person and members of the team. At times the Holy Spirit alerts us that an individual’s unusual situation or experiences call for a prayer leader with expertise we don’t have. Scheduling is complex; our team members are volunteers with jobs and commitments that affect our availability, so appointment times and staffing are not conducive to scheduling exactly as some people request. We urge those seeking ministry to pray and trust that the Holy Spirit is at work in the intake process to influence the timing and the composition of the prayer team that will minister to you, often for reasons only God knows for sure. We trust that the Lord orchestrates it all.
Before you make a prayer request, ask the Lord if now is the time — if you’ll have time to prepare, who’s in your life to support you, and whether you’re ready to take personal responsibility, possibly give up some unhealthy choices, and follow through. Motivation is another factor: why do you want to make an appointment? Have you learned enough about Unbound to be making an informed request? Are you being drawn to it prayerfully?
If you’re looking for ongoing support from us because you don’t have Christian friends with whom you can share your faith and struggles, it’s probably not the time for Unbound in your life. Unbound teams are not in a position to offer ongoing support. Rachel Lozano explains that the enemy’s desire is to isolate people, so Unbound encourages everyone to first find healthy, loving Christian fellowship. We are not created to live alone but in relationship, and once we become free, we need relationship to stay free.
Abe Lincoln said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” The proportion of prep time to ministry time is generally significantly higher in successful Unbound sessions!
Preparation begins with reading Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance by Neal Lozano, available at the St. Dominic’s Parish Office, at Heart of Father Ministries in book or MP3 form, and at online suppliers. Ideally, you’ll have attended a Freedom in Christ Conference or Live Free! or read the first half of Unbound even before requesting ministry, so you know about the Five Keys and how they work in a session.
Once you have an appointment, re-read the first seven chapters of Unbound prayerfully, marking up the book or taking notes. Notice what stories stand out to you, which you relate to, or the description of dark influences you’d previously thought were “just part of who I am” or that “sound like the way it was in my family.” Ask the Lord to give you personal insights. We provide Preparing for Ministry – Personal Reflections to guide you in preparing. If you’d like to go deeper, or if you’ve had a previous session and didn’t get the freedom you hoped for, we offer Deep Reflection Questions. Don’t leave your prep to a few days before your session. You’ll benefit from using these Reflection documents over the course of at least several days.
We know that it’s the Holy Spirit and the prayer recipient who actually do the work during ministry sessions. The prayer ministers are trained to come alongside and coach you through it, but God and you are the key players!
Your freedom depends on YOU — Freedom is God’s will for all His children; but God has laid out how to attain it, and it’s your choice as to whether you will do what it takes to Become Free, and then to Live Free and Stay Free. If you’ve taken on the identity as someone possessed or if you’re involved in the occult, you’ll need to be ready to let that go. You are NOT powerless over evil spirits, but if you believe you are, you will be. You may have been victimized, but you won’t stay a VICTIM if you’re willing during your session to renounce the victim spirit and take back the authority and power you’ve given away or had taken from you. You’ll need to be open to repent of your sin, to stop making excuses, and to stop blaming others. “For each will have to bear his own load” ~Galatians 6:5 (NIV).
The preparation process and the ministry itself help with all of this. But it’s very important for you to count on yourself. Prayer and diligent preparation, your words during the session, and your belief are the most important factors. We provide guidance, resources, experience, trained listening and coaching, prayer and love, but you are ultimately going to need to surrender to the Lord, trust the Lord, open yourself to the Lord, repent, forgive, and renounce, believing that the Lord will do for you what Jesus promised:
“Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing” — healing the sick, driving out demons, and setting free the oppressed —”and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” ~John 14:12.
After your session we’ll talk to you about how to win the continuing battle for your mind. Again, you’ll need to pray and to take responsibility, learning from a talk we recommend and applying the described techniques to Stay Free. This is why we sign our emails with the whole process: Become Free, Live Free, Stay Free, and then we hope you’ll also decide to give back by serving others, which we call Give Free!
by Chris Boersma Smith | Jun 18, 2018 | Deliverance, Freedom, Healing, Holy Spirit, Transformational Breakthroughs, Unbound
I’d like to invite laity and clergy to read this post from Heart of the Father Ministries, which has trained our 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ team and spread the awesome ministry of Unbound across the states, provinces, and nations! Please check out this post and pray for the ministry!
http://www.heartofthefather.com/resources/blog/opportunities-for-new-growth
For an individual Unbound ministry session at St. Dominic’s, please visit our Unbound Ministry page to learn more, and submit your request for a private appointment.
by Chris Boersma Smith | Jun 2, 2018 | Empowering and Freeing Choices, Encouragement and Inspiration, Holy Spirit
I used to get lost everywhere! I recently got surcharged by Uber because I called for a ride in the middle of a long city block and when a text directed me to a Meeting Point, I couldn’t read the map to determine whether to go up or down the street or cross it; I was late locating the car and had to pay extra. Earlier that week, I gave my friend Francie a ride from one unfamiliar town to another, to fetch her car out of Service. I don’t normally have passengers in my little Audi, and I get places using my built-in navigator, whom I affectionately call Nelson. As we drove the ten miles, Nelson gave verbal and visual directions.
“Can you turn that thing down?” Francie asked.
“Not without pulling off the road,” I said. “The volume control is too complicated to adjust while driving, and I feel much safer driving with it on so I can anticipate my next moves.”
Francie (who recently got her first cellphone) sighed in disbelief, but we had a good conversation despite Nelson’s occasional interruptions, and we reached our destination safely and efficiently.
After dropping off Francie, I continued on my two-hour drive home. I was praying the rosary, using a CD. A reflection on the mystery of the Wedding Feast at Cana ended with Mary’s words about Jesus after the wine ran out, “Do whatever he tells you.” Immediately, I realized how much my GPS is like God, and how I do whatever “he” tells me! The voice I rely on for the best directions in life (as opposed to they roadways) is the Holy Spirit! I’m not afraid of getting lost when the GPS or Holy Spirit is loud enough for me to hear its wise guidance. I can set the frequency of the GPS’ directions and I like them often when I’m in unfamiliar areas, less frequently on my well-traveled paths—I’m eager for the Holy Spirit’s input almost continuously. I rely on GPS and Spirit’s guidance and only feel secure driving or moving through life when they are on — even if I know the way. Omniscient, the Holy Spirit knows the ups and downs of life; likewise, the GPS has real-time information on hazards, detours, road closures, and can save me time and frustration when I obey and avoid those impediments. I have faith in the GPS and the Holy Spirit. I trust both of them more than I trust myself, so I yield to them in humility. Having the GPS on as I drive alone is similar to living in a state of unceasing prayer, sometimes with words, sometimes moving forward silently while subtly aware of a guiding presence and heavenly wisdom!
Even if you have a gift for finding your way around roads and strange cities, I pray that this comparison might help you as It’s helped me to really sense the benefits of yielding to the guidance that the Lord offers us constantly if we will just tune in, listen, and obey! If God’s will and/or guidance have been eluding you, how about praying that God would broadcast to you with greater volume and/or nudge you to turn on this amazing instrument of Love, Wisdom, Power, and Guidance—the Holy Spirit? God delights in us and wants nothing more than to help our lives to head in the best direction . . . though it’s our choice whether to follow or not.
by Chris Boersma Smith | Feb 12, 2018 | 5 Gospel Keys, Book Recommendations, Deliverance, Encouragement and Inspiration, Freedom, Holy Spirit, Individual Prayer Ministry, Unbound
Understanding How We Can Coooperate with God’s Plans
I recently listened to Experiencing God by Henry and Richard Blackaby and Claude King. This inspirational book is about the blessings and miraculous outcomes that come from:
- discovering where the Father is working;
- listening to how we might be called to minister alongside Him;
- confirming our call with the Word of God, the church, godly counsel, and circumstances; and
- acting on it in faith — that is, before all the “proof” lines up.
Interestingly, the authors point out that the call may not align with what we thought were our gifts or charisms! They convinced me of that with so many Biblical examples of people being called to areas where they lacked what seemed needed for the task—so then others seeing what God did through them would know the glory and success belonged to God and not to His servant!
God Is Using UNBOUND in Mighty Ways
It is absolutely clear that the Father is working through UNBOUND Ministry, the simple but powerful deliverance and healing prayer model that uses the 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ described by Neal Lozano in
Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance. Those individuals who’ve been serving in our 5 Keys team’s UNBOUND sessions have seen healing and deliverance over and over again! (For example, see our
Testimonies.) Neal Lozano estimates that over 100,000 people were set free through UNBOUND last year. At St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco, we have seen the Holy Spirit grow our team and bring about our priests’ enthusiastic encouragement and participation. They will even present talks at our
Live Free! UNBOUND Seminar on March 17th, 2018 (click to register — it’s free but donations will be requested that day).
Our Team Members Hear the Call to Minister Alongside God
Each one of our prayer team members knows or believes s/he has received the personal call to serve God’s people through this ministry. S/he’s received training and made him- or herself available to pray with those in need. Yesterday’s Gospel was about compassion for the marginalized, those in most need, and when we listen to the stories people bring to their sessions, and guide them through the 5 keys, we know we are serving those in dire need! We are obeying the Gospel! Prayer team members have also experienced receiving UNBOUND prayer themselves. They have read and studied the subject on their own. Five team members traveled to Philadelphia to attend and International UNBOUND Leadership Conference. Most have participated as a small Christian community, too, as we develop as a team and support one another.
Setting the Captives Free Is a Calling that Aligns with the Word!
As for confirming that the calling to serve in UNBOUND Ministry lines up with the Word of God: recent readings (like James 1:5-6) have emphasized asking for wisdom with faith that God will give it to us, because that’s His will and His promise! Openness to the Holy Spirit and the Wisdom the Holy Spirit imparts as we pray with people are essential to our ministry. As a team, we have been amazed at how the Spirit has used team members for great blessings despite our own shortcomings, especially when we acknowledge that it isn’t US that makes anything happen: we are inadequate and weak on our own but strongly used by the Lord as His humble servants! We are only expected to do what we can and leave the rest to God — that’s how the wall of Jericho fell, and that’s how people are set free!
There have been so many healings and deliverances from demons in recent weeks’ Gospels–indeed, in Mark 6, everyone who came and touched Jesus’ cloak was healed! We can’t literally touch His cloak, but we can do better than that — through the Eucharist we have him touch us from the inside, living in us. I am excited to remember that of those who came to Jesus with expectant faith, belief, confidence, and hope — ALL were healed! Psalm 37:5 says “Commit to the Lord your way; trust him, and he will act.”
Is This Ministry One for You to Act On?
Of course, more prayer and time in the Word can clarify whether the call is for you personally. If you need to discern more about your personal calling, please keep doing that; our team’s trainers can meet with you to help you on that (after April 7th).
If You Feel Called to Receive UNBOUND Ministry . . .
Here are your near-term options:
A. Make an individual appointment:
- Submit a Request for Individual Prayer Ministry on our website.
- We will respond and present some preparation guidelines and possible appointment times, usually for a two-hour session within two to four weeks, so you have time to prepare.
- Obtain a copy of Unbound by Neal Lozano (for sale at the St. Dominic’s Parish Office, Heart of the Father, or Amazon), and read the first half.
- Prepare and come see what the Lord will do for you!
B. Take advantage of our March and April events:
- Register for Live Free! UNBOUND Conference, a full-day seminar on March 17, 2018, that will help you understand the prayer model and begin your preparation.
- Sign up at Live Free! for a one-hour individual session on Saturday, April 7, 2018 (or, if those are booked up quickly at the event or you’d like a longer session or a different day, make an individual appointment, as described above).
by Chris Boersma Smith | Jul 26, 2017 | Encouragement and Inspiration, Gratitude, Holy Spirit, Pentecost Experiences
The Call Went Out
Two years ago, Pope Francis called charismatics around the world to travel to Rome to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and Pentecost. (This means that of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, he invited roughly 120 million Catholics whose lives have been touched by a fundamental experience of the love of God being poured into their hearts by an extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit, as better explained here.) The Pope and the other presenters at the Jubilee all reminded us we were there in response to a calling, and they exhorted us to return home, boldly bearing witness, testifying to what God has done in our lives through the Holy Spirit!
Inspiring Talks and Huge Masses
At talks the first day, we heard how to grow our charisms (supernatural gifts) and were urged to “go beyond” like Phillip performing miracles among the Samaritans and Peter and Paul laying hands on believers baptized in water but not yet baptized in the Holy Spirit. [See Acts 8:15-17.]
The next morning we attended a conversational ecumenical symposium where we heard the story of Cardinal Borgolio attending a prayer meeting at which the future Pope Francis asked to receive prayer for baptism in the Holy Spirit! We asked questions and the panelists engaged in storytelling, so we felt like insiders, which reinforced the value of personal witnessing.
Donna MacKay and Chris Smith with beautifully dressed Congolese women we met at the symposium.
From 3 until 11 pm that day, at an ancient chariot-racing stadium, with tens of thousands of pilgrims from 128 countries, we attended Mass concelebrated by about 200 charismatic priests and 50 bishops (at an altar as filled as the night before at St. John Lateran Basilica). I’ve never been so happy that I love languages and have absorbed more Latin than I’d imagined, as well as still understanding a lot of Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Italian. I was incredibly grateful that I could understand much of what was said or sung in its own language, though I was lost with German and Swahili!
In the Presence of Pope Francis
Back at the Circus Maximus the next day, awaiting the Pope’s arrival, the heat of the sun and fire of the Holy Spirit electrified the crowd! The holiness and universality of the kairos celebration transported us to new heights. We heard detailed testimony from Patti Gallagher Mansfield and David Magnin, the first two to experience the “dynamite” release of Holy Spirit at the Duquesne University retreat where the Catholic Charismatic Renewal began. Others at the 1967 retreat also experienced a personal Pentecost. From there, the Renewal began spreading like wildfire, surprising the Pentecostals who addressed us; they couldn’t believe Catholics were experiencing the same fullness of the Spirit as they did, and that the Catholic Church respected it before Protestant leadership did!
A few hours after this pep rally for God began, the enormous crowd rose in acclimation and excitement as huge screens revealed the Pope approaching the stage. His flowing white garments stood out in a sea of colors — flags from many nations, bright African fabrics proclaiming the wearers’ faith, banners, hats and scarves waving — and the Pope not surrounded by dozens of bodyguards and men in black clerics, but rather, to our delight, flanked on both sides by lay women: the President of International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, and Patti Mansfield. Many of the laity, especially women, were moved to tears, as was I.
With the Pope seated center stage, the Preacher to the Papal Household and various Pentecostal Christians addressed the Jubilee crowd. Stressing unity and reconciled diversity, at one point the thousands shouted together: “Jesus is Lord!” Then, “God raised him from the dead,” and in response to “What does that make us? — “REDEEMED!” — repeated in one language after another.
Then to the song “Spirit of the Living God,” the Holy Father extended his hands over us and prayed for the Spirit to fall afresh on us. Bliss!
When Pope Francis gave his meditation, radio transmissions provided translations. Great joy erupted when he said:
- Either the Christian experiences joy in his or her heart, or there’s something wrong!
- Baptism in the Holy Spirit, praise, and serving one another are inseparable.
- This charismatic renewal, what he calls a “current of grace,” is for ALL the Church, not just for some!
Pope Francis thanked all who’ve entered this current of grace for what we’ve given the Church, and he emphasized that the Church relies on us. He directed us to share Baptism in the Holy Spirit with ALL Christians, praise God ceaselessly, serve in unity, and bear witness to lives transformed by the Holy Spirit. We felt One in the Spirit. If you’d like to hear his talk, in Italian, click here! Spontaneous dancing could be seen everywhere — religious, laity, pilgrims all – previously unacquainted brothers and sisters hugging and exchanging high fives!
Pentecost Celebration at St. Peter’s Square
The following day at St. Peter’s Square, rejoicing continued in a glorious Pentecost Mass. We were blessed to stand within a few feet as the Pope passed by, sharing his joy with the crowd under a cerulean Roman sky!
Click here for a quick video clip.
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About the Author
Chris and her husband in St. Peter’s Basilica after a tour of the Vatican Museum
This was written by Chris Boersma Smith, one of 24 pilgrims on the tour sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco Catholic Charismatic Renewal — www.SFSpirit.com — led by Fr. Raymund Reyes and coordinated by Letty Ramos. A spiritual director and 5 Keys to Freedom in Christ UNBOUND Prayer Team leader who was baptized in the Holy Spirit during Confession in 1989, Chris gratefully reports that the pilgrimage did indeed release greater zeal and boldness in her! It’s already bearing juicy fruit in her San Francisco parish—St. Dominic’s—whose mission is to radiate the Joy of the Gospel in the Heart of the City.
by Chris Boersma Smith | Jun 20, 2017 | Creative Expression, Empowering and Freeing Choices, Encouragement and Inspiration, Holy Spirit, Overcoming Obstacles, Pentecost Experiences, Transformational Breakthroughs
I was the oldest of five siblings and responsibility was so impressed upon me that my shoulders became a luggage rack. Try as I might — and occasionally do — I can’t shirk responsibility. Still, I know that this weight of the world isn’t really mine to bear alone. I can ask for help from family and friends or even get online assistance. I can also yoke myself to Jesus who promises to take burdens upon himself and lighten my load [Mt. 11:30]. I can turn to the Serenity Prayer and wisely accept things I cannot change, putting down some burdens as a result. But what difference does our attitude toward responsibility make when it comes to creativity? For one thing, putting down or sharing burdens frees up time and energy that could be put to creative use.
Also, whether you already carry huge responsibility or you chronically avoid it, the fear of responsibility can sometimes subconsciously sabotage your creativity or productivity. If you fear responsibility, you may avoid completing goals through procrastination (another way fear rears its head). Or you may repeatedly quit when you’re ahead but not yet at the finish line.
Let’s say you have a big creative idea, a vision you’d like to see manifested. If you’re typically very responsible, you may plan or start but then set aside your big creative vision as you handle a series of smaller responsibilities you “must” attend to, telling yourself you “can’t” put in the time or effort to move forward on the big creative idea. Or you may think you already have so many responsibilities on your plate that you can’t take on one more thing (not wanting to admit that perhaps you need to let go of something else).
Indeed, responsibility can be both an outright block in the form of excuses for attending to lower priorities as well as a fear that impedes your creative progress. I must admit that I’m easily caught in the former, and that there may be less conscious component of the latter . . . because how could a responsible person like I’ve been all my life fear the responsibility that might come with creative success?
Because we were all divinely meant to be creative in some way, each of us has the responsibility to carry out our mission. Christians have just celebrated Pentecost, reminding us that we are summoned to live all our lives “in the Spirit” [Rom. 8:9, Gal. 5:16,25]. We are to get out of the fear that keeps us waiting in the Upper Room; we are to get out there and live big and bold, doing what God’s called us to do. We are to get up and act without fear, not to push off onto others what we can do and are called to do, and not to leave our light hidden away where no one can see it [Mt. 17:7, Mt. 5:15]. So yes, sometimes doing our creative thing means responsibility. In this post-Pentecost time, how about praying for the Spirit’s guidance and the power of the Spirit to do what you’re being called to do, relying on gifts and fruits of the Spirit like fortitude and perserverance.
It also means using our personal gifts and talents and our unique circumstances that add meaning and beauty, serve and uplift the world. When that comes from the heart, it feels more like play and joy than like work and burden. So we need to get over the notion that creative success means increased responsibility and stop sabotaging creativity to protect our so-called freedom from increased responsibility. When we prioritize our writing, music, art, crafts, dance, performance, hospitality, entrepreneurship, leadership, ministry or service — whatever our calling involves — the creative triumphs we experience will lighten the weight we may perceive responsibility to be. And there’s tremendous freedom in knowing you’re doing what you are here to do!
Awareness is very powerful. Just realizing what your attitudes are towards responsibilities, big and small, informs your decision making, giving you the power to decide from a place that is more conscious, more considered, more intentional. It creates momentum and it empowers you to walk out your purposes.
Visualize feeling lightness and relaxation and creative success all together — even if just for a few seconds or just a tiny bit more than you usually do. Invite Jesus and the Holy Spirit to be present as you close your eyes and breathe with that visualization. Pray to experience the combination of lightness and relaxation, joy and creative success. And then during your creative process lighten up as needed for breaks and self-care. Perhaps add some uplifting music in the background as you work or create. Give thanks as you use your “bodyguard energy” to resist excuses to back away from your creativity, even or especially when the alternative activities come justified in your mind as “handling other responsibilities.” As you do that, you grow your ability to be responsible not just for the quotidian obligations of your household or job but, more than that, for creative causes ordained by the Great Creator and entrusted to you for completion. This is highly spiritual and transformative, which is good for you and for others.
Each successful step you take along a spiritually blessed creative path will encourage and uplift you and others and will be worth the responsibility taken to move forward. If you’d like help in overcoming obstacles and journeying on the spiritual path, perhaps you might pray about and consider signing up for an Unbound prayer session and then getting some spiritual direction.
