73 :: Refuge Ranch

 

Tonight we worshiped at Refuge Ranch in Indian Land, SC. This was a Friday night church experience and the specific type of church was that of a deliverance ministry. This is a ministry that is involved in delivering people from unclean spirits and demons. So, yes - it was always important that I get to a church like this.

The definition of a deliverance ministry can be explored in greater depth at [this link].

We went with four friends to Refuge Ranch, as Beth has a unique acumen for gathering people. Everyone had an interesting experience and this proved to be a very fascinating place to visit. 

When I asked Beth for a word that described Refuge Ranch, she offered "immersive."

This church is in an event space in South Carolina. As far as I could tell, the precise place that the worship is held is not permanently Refuge Ranch's. When we made an effort to attend Refuge Ranch in the past, there was a wedding reception in the building, as an example of how this shared space is used.

Upon arrival, we were seated by ushers, a vestige of a formal side of church. But Refuge Ranch was anything but formal.

The event space was bathed in the purple light that has moved into the status of "ubiquitous" in virtually all contemporary churches. As soon as the crowd assembled, there was music from videos, not a band. This was a bit different, as most churches have a band. But the sound quality and the choice of music was excellent.

As the music blared, there were women on the stage performing with the colored flags that are increasingly a part of churches like Refuge Ranch.

The crowd got warmed up over time and then turned the corner to definitively worshiping with enthusiasm for the rest of the service. It was an excellent example of how individuals in a crowd work off of each other's enthusiasm. 

Eventually, the music stopped and we had a message from Pastor Michael Rozzell. Pastor Michael's history can be read on the Refuge Ranch website [link], but suffice it to say that it is one of radical deliverance over different phases of his life. In each of those phases, he overcame things that he would describe as spirits that occupied parts of his life and body.

Through being delivered from these spiritual things, Pastor Michael developed the deliverance ministry of Refuge Ranch.

A good part of his sermon was on current events. During the message, Pastor Michael mentioned the legitimacy of the Trump presidency, and he spoke at length about the Covid-19 vaccines. He linked the vaccine and Covid-19 to end-times prophecy - this included an exploration of the rider of the white horse in Revelations 6:

Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.

This rider of a horse is a symbolic representation of an impostor Christ, which Pastor Michael related to the Greek word "corona" and the bow he carried as depicting a shot. You can see where this was headed. His exploration of these themes included a video that spelled out the Nuremberg Code and how the current roll out of the vaccines was a violation of that international agreement.

I looked into the Greek words for "crown" that is used in Revelations, and found that "stephanos" and "diadem" are the words that are used. I also found that corona was offered as one of the words in some source data. So, there remains some ambiguity in my mind as to the words that can be unpackaged from this book of the Bible.

Revelations is by definition a very symbolic book that is subject to huge variety in terms of how people understand it.

No matter the accuracy of the translation and/or theology, I acknowledge that this was the message that Pastor Michael offered the assembled people - Covid-19 and the shot are aspects of the unfolding eschaton, which is happening right now. 

Then he moved on to the deliverance part of the event. I won't go into an in-depth description of what happened, but I will summarize it by saying that the prayer was focused on spiritual entities that occupy space in a person's life and body. The method of being delivered from such things is believed to be unison prayer and a focus on exhaling and even coughing. This was depicted as the way that a spiritual expulsion can happen, whereby a person is freed from spiritual oppression.

I had a physical manifestation in a part of my body that carries some minor health watch items, specifically my calves. They can twitch involuntarily if I am poorly hydrated and not exercising them with regularity. It was interesting to observe what they did during the deliverance part of the service.

The idea is that the attendees of the service were being cleared of spiritual oppression.

The distinction between spiritual oppression and demonic possession is a useful one to explore here. From what I understand, it is believed to be the case that a Christian who is redeemed by Christ can be spiritually oppressed by different spirits (it was mentioned that there are over three hundred Spirits of Fear), but that they cannot be possessed demonically. That ignoble state is impossible, since a believing person is protected from such things by The Blood.

To drive home the ways that spiritual oppression can enter a person's life, there was a schematic presented that depicts your ears, eyes, mouth and sexuality as likely avenues through which a destructive spiritual force can enter a person, according to the theology of Refuge Ranch.

Interesting... click on it and have a look:

The context of Refuge Ranch's corporate worship experience is that we are able to declare power over spiritual entities, as well as bind and cast out those same spiritual entities that are present in our lives and bodies.

For congregations that are of the theological tradition that Refuge Ranch is part of, this act of declaring power and binding/expelling such entities is the ultimate expression of Christian faith.

After his message and the deliverance event, which took more than an hour and a half, there was another music video. The people worshiped with an enthusiasm that they did not have at the beginning. There was a level of enthusiasm that was unmistakable from the message and deliverance. 

At the end of the service, there was corporate praying at the front. This type of prayer results in people being "slain in the spirit," a manifestation whereby a person collapses onto the ground. There is a person waiting to catch the falling individual so they don't slam onto the ground and hurt themselves.

I have not shared any photos of people laid out to preserve their privacy.

I was curious about this, so I made an effort to be present of mind (open minded) and I went forward to pray with two of the people on the stage. I actually did have this experience. The couple anointed my forehead with oil and then prayed over me. Within a minute or so, I slumped backwards into the arms of a guy who lowered me to the ground and then covered me with a satin sheet.

I stayed there for a period of time and there was an interesting bodily reaction from me while I lay on the floor. I eventually opened my eyes and saw the couple was hovering over me, praying.

What was that all about?

I don't know. I am candidly still processing it with great interest and a bit of confusion (the good kind). 

As we drove home, Beth posited it had to do with some things that she knows a great deal about, specifically on the body's vagus nerve and how human experience can link to it. It was really interesting, as it plays in the nexus between physiology, psychology and spiritual experience. And I had just had an experience where all three intersected in a way that was entirely new to me.

I can say definitively that I did not choose to fall backward. I was also not pushed, nor was there any constriction of my airways, or stomach. In short, the techniques that can be used to make people fall were not a part of my experience.

Really fascinating stuff.

We and our friends spent time in the parking lot after the service. We were catching up, but also talking through some of what we had seen and heard. Since these friends are "go to a deliverance ministry of Friday night" sort of people, all of it was very open and interested and investigative. At least a couple of the individuals have been vaccinated, so that generated some discussion, as you can imagine.

I enjoy church services that push a new boundary in me, both theologically and experientially. Refuge Ranch certainly did both.

I am glad to have had this experience and exposure.

Thanks to Refuge Ranch for a... very different and expanding experience.