Sozo Bits

I seemed to have positive results with Sozo in the beginning.  But as time went on, I got worse and worse and worse.  I remember one session in particular.  Everything seemed to go fine—–until I got home.  It was as if I was in a bedazzled state of mind, as if I couldn’t differienciate between the past and the present.   In fact, I was becoming more and more stuck in the past…..  God’s word says to put the hand to the plow and not look back.  Look what happened to Lot’s wife when she couldn’t quit looking back.  And that’s what I was becoming “a pillar of salt” from so many tears shed over the past, rather than letting by-gones be by-gones.
I was not denying myself, taking up the cross and following Jesus.  Instead I was wanting to lay my problems down, not at the feet of Jesus, but at the feet of self-proclaimed “seers” who promised to have all the answers that would set me free, but brought me into bondage.  Because the sessions would start me on a downward spiral where I would be wallowing in my own self-absorbtion and self-pity, while unknowingly following their guru version of Jesus who only exists within New Age circles. 

And that is what Sozo is, New Age with a “Christian twist,” where the whole focus is on self-esteem, rather than humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God. But the Bible warns that “in the last days perilous times will come, men will be LOVERS OF THEMSELVES…….  Sounds like psycho therapeutic, sozo self-esteem boosting doesn’t it?    hmm.
With such a heavy emphasis on man-centered, false doctrines, participants are subtely led to believe that these sessions are the answer to everything and the answer to everyone elses problems too, rather than the gospel.  The result?  They begin to subtely pressure others they know to go thru the sessions too. 

That also happened to me.  My family and friends even tell me now that I would come off as being extremely arrogant, as if I had reached a higher “spiritual level” than them, especially any who had never been “sozoed.” And honestly, looking back—I can see why they thought that.  I’m so ashamed of that now. For one, it was actually a “higher spiritual level of deception.” 

I was also starting to develop hatred toward my abusers, due to the sessions extreme emphasis on self-pity over all the abuse I went thru. Although the sozo counselor would lead me to verbally forgive the abusers, it would never stick.  For saying it and even praying it, isn’t what enables us forgive others—it’s the gospel—period. But sozo is not about the gospel.

One of the biggest deceptions of inner healing ministries is the  doctrine that there are “unconverted areas of the mind,” or  “parts” of us that aren’t saved yet, while some parts supposedly are—-that’s insane!! Their unbiblical replacement for true sanctification can literally drive participants insane as  they go thru sessions.  My article on Shabar, an  advanced form of Sozo, which is the next level of Sozo deception, goes deeper into this.  

The bottom line is that Sozo was never enough.  I had to keep getting those “spiritual highs” and all that “special” attention, for Sozo leads to developing a victim mentality.  And as a result, I became spiritually dependent upon people instead of God.  I began to constantly call the sozo team for their “prophetic insight” rather than going directly to God thru prayer and His word.  But after all, they had the “latest” word (spare me).

God alone has the final word—–and it stands the test of time.  Sozo counseling doesn’t.

Proverbs 19:21—“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.”