For example, you might have a chronic headache, but the main issue could be a brain tumor. To fix the presenting problem of headaches, you must first address the main issue of the tumor.

Set Free’s Dean Vander Mey says the same principle applies to spiritual freedom ministry.

“Anxiety, dissatisfaction in relationships, fear – those are the presenting issues. Well, what’s the core issue?” Vander Mey says.

“Take anxiety [for example.] Anxiety is the sin of being in control instead of letting God be in control. It’s having fear of the unknown instead of trusting God, who knows everything.”

The main issue often results from what you’re allowing into your mind. “Our minds are conditioned by the world around us instead of the Kingdom of God and His truth,” Vander Mey explains.

During freedom appointments, believers trained by Set Free help people address spiritual main issues using God’s Word. Learn more about that here.

“We help people from all over the world, actually,” Vander Mey says. “We have Zoom calls, and we’ll spend a day taking them through a freedom appointment. We are also encouraging churches to be trained.”

Scripture offers a remedy for every malady known to man. Romans 12:2 urges believers to be renewed by transforming their minds. “Meditating on His truth [will have] an effect on our minds,” Vander Mey says.

(Graphic courtesy Set Free Ministries)

“If we don’t take the time to meditate on God’s Word, there’s going to be fear and anxiety instead of love, joy, and peace in our relationship with our Heavenly Father.”

Consider joining Set Free’s prayer team here.

“We love intercessory prayer. We need it,” Vander Mey says. “We have, I think, 150 people on our prayer team right now, but we need more because we’re doing so much more globally now and nationally.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Nappy/Unsplash.

For Dean Vander Mey of Set Free, the trend comes as no surprise. He says: “America is not doing so well. We’re one of the sickest nations on planet Earth. But you have to realize that we’re also very spiritually sick.”

Many mainstream approaches focus only on physical and psychological care, often overlooking the spiritual dimension. Vander Mey explains:

“People don’t even know what’s happening to them. They don’t even connect the spiritual dimension to what’s happening to them emotionally and physically.”

(Photo courtesy of Fa Barboza via Unsplash)

From a biblical perspective, there is a whole-person view of health found in Scripture:

“If you look at a biblical worldview, 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, ‘May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless for the coming of the Lord.’ So a biblical worldview would include a spiritual dimension and mental health,” explains Vander Mey.

He adds that people who recognize the spiritual dimension and follow biblical guidance can “put on the armor of God” (Eph. 6:10-18) for protection. Those who don’t may be more vulnerable.

“Because of the spiritual effects,” he says, “it’s affecting our soul, which is our mind, will and emotion, and now it’s affecting our body.”

The spiritual dimension involves the soul and the burdens it carries — sin, as well as guilt, anger, unforgiveness, and shame. But Vander Mey says God’s desire is for people to be free:

“The Lord doesn’t want us carrying sin even one day, because it’s going to be a heavy burden,” he says.

The process of soul healing begins with reconciliation with God. “Let us cut off the sin that so easily entangles us. Let’s get rid of all the heavy weights that hinder us!” says Vander Mey. It includes recognizing the burden, confessing it, and receiving forgiveness and help.

Vander Mey adds that following through on a New Year’s mental-health resolution can include daily time with God — confessing when needed, and receiving His help as part of an ongoing journey of healing.

“It’s very important that before we even lay our head down, that we forgive those people that day that may have hurt us, so that we can have a clean slate with God before we even go to bed,” he says.

Set Free addresses these issues through its Freedom Appointment, which is open to anyone. You can find more information about this opportunity here.

For more help or to learn about Set Free’s approach, visit their website.

Header photo courtesy of Maximilien T’Scharner via Unsplash.

“The main thing we do at Set Free is freedom appointments and helping people to find their freedom in Christ. We do that all over the world in a variety of settings,” Set Free’s Jason Taylor says.

Despair is readily apparent in a place like India. Millions of discarded kids fill orphanages to overflow, while petty crime and corruption crowd prison cells.

An army of volunteers, trained by Set Free, is helping people in both settings leave despair behind. Learn more here.

With more than half of India’s population living in poverty, many parents abandon their children instead of attempting to care for them, according to the International Learning Movement (ILM).
(Photo courtesy of Yash Sharma/Pexels)

“A big part of what we’re doing is training both church leaders and lay leaders to lead others through a freedom appointment,” Taylor says.

“We are taking the Steps to Freedom model and replicating that in as many languages as possible so that people can have it in their own language.”

A recent trip brought Taylor and his team face-to-face with some of the children helped by Set Free partners. The team’s arrival proved timely.

“Just before we got there, we heard that the well for this orphanage had literally gone dry,” Taylor says.

“We were able to help fund the redrilling of that well so the 1,300 kids could have clean water.”

Open doors

Meanwhile, another Gospel opportunity lies just across the border in Myanmar, home to the world’s longest-running civil war. Nearly 75 years of conflict between the government and armed ethnic groups have ingrained trauma into the national psyche.

After traveling to India, Taylor and others met with Free Burma Rangers in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to discuss a possible partnership. Watch a free documentary about the work of Free Burma Rangers here.

“They are going in and freeing the oppressed physically, so that they can ultimately be set free spiritually, but we have to get [people] to a safe place first before that scan actually take place,” Taylor explains.

Pray for discernment as believers in both groups seek God’s will. Pray that hurting souls will find freedom in Christ.

Pray also for a new opportunity in Pakistan. “There is a ministry there called The Lord’s Home; we’re looking to meet with their executive director in the coming weeks, and possibly take a trip there in early 2026,” Taylor says.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Kuntal Biswas/Pexels.

“Christians – who believe in Jesus Christ, who are to have nothing to do with fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them – should we be involved? I would say the answer is probably not,” Set Free’s Dean Vander Mey says.

Halloween: a history

Halloween’s pagan roots date back approximately two thousand years to Ireland, where ancient Celts wore costumes to ward off evil spirits. Known then as Samhain, October 31 was a night when spirits were believed to roam the world of the living.

(Photo courtesy of Annie Spratt/Unsplash)

In an effort to ‘Christianize’ Samhain during the eighth century, “Pope Gregory [III] established All Saints Day on November 1, and the night before became known as All Hallows’ Eve, which eventually became Halloween,” Vander Mey says.

“Many of these old pagan practices continued, and they took on new forms.”

As centuries passed, Halloween never lost its ties to supernatural darkness. Today, some occult members celebrate Halloween as a ‘high holiday.’

Believers who have come to Christ out of an occult background often share warnings about the controversial festival:

“Halloween is steeped in demonic rituals. People think it’s innocent, but the origins are rooted in the worship of the dead and spirits. We can’t compromise by changing it into a Christian holiday.”

Vander Mey adds, “Let’s not mess around with things that began as pagan worship, because that’s what Halloween depicts: death and darkness.”

Halloween and spiritual warfare

If history does not sway believers, they might consider Halloween from a spiritual warfare perspective.

In the cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan, there are only two sides – light and dark. Which side are you on?

(Photo courtesy of Andreas Lischka/Pixabay)

“There’s an invisible war going on, according to the Bible, that’s taking place until Jesus Christ returns,” Vander Mey says, citing Ephesians 6:10-18 and Revelation 12:7-12.

“It doesn’t matter if you believe that or not; when God says this is true, then you can know it’s true.”

Jesus defeated Satan in the war in heaven and ultimately at Calvary. However, our daily choices do not always reflect that victory. Contact Set Free to learn more about spiritual warfare and its impact on your life.

“Millions of people have no idea, no concept, that there’s a spiritual war raging over them that is affecting them, spiritually, emotionally, or physically. They are not trained in that reality, so they go to doctors and psychologists, and they say, ‘I need help,’” Vander Mey says.

“Most of those clinicians or doctors prescribe medication, and that’s their solution. Many times, medication is not going to be the final solution – even though it might help numb some of the pain – but the real solution is dealing with the sin that’s been covered over.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Nick Fewings/Unsplash.

According to Pete Noor of Set Free Ministries, spiritual bondage is stifling discipleship in churches across America. And unless something changes, sermons will keep hitting walls instead of hearts.

Noor says, “I wonder how many preachers are coming up with these wonderful sermons and wonderful teachings — [yet] what percentage of their congregation is able to even take in what they are preaching because they’re not free yet? They are bound by some lie or sin that they believe. Until they’re free, they can’t take things in.

“You can only disciple a captive as far as he or she can stretch the chains.”

(Photo courtesy of Terren Hurst/Unsplash)

Set Free Ministries helps individuals find spiritual freedom through Christ. Now, they’re turning their focus toward churches — partnering with pastors to equip congregations with a tool called the Freedom in Christ course.

“What would happen if more and more churches got more and more of their congregants set free first?” Noor asks. “Then their messages, I believe, that are being preached would be so much more clearly understood and applied.”

The Freedom in Christ course is an 11-session journey centered on discovering identity in Christ and breaking free from spiritual lies and sin. Part way through the course is the “Freedom Appointment.”

Noor explains that the Freedom Appointment in this context takes place in a small group setting. “They’ll have group prayers and group declarations together. But then individuals split off into private areas where they can quietly pray to God for Him to continue to reveal to me areas in my life where I’m out of line…so that I can confess, renounce, and repent…. Then they come back together as a group and finalize that step, then go to the next step.”

The idea isn’t new — Freedom in Christ Ministries developed the Freedom in Christ course for churches in Europe and “it’s been effective,” says Noor. “So we’re thinking that this should work very well in the United States as well.”

(Photo courtesy of Jon Tyson/Unsplash)

Set Free is already working with several congregations. Noor says, “We would be happy to talk to more churches. They can contact us for more information. At Set Free, we’d be happy to talk to them, share our experiences, and maybe put them in contact with the resource.”

Click here to contact Set Free about the Freedom in Christ course for churches!

“Pray that the Holy Spirit would continue opening up the eyes of churches so they can understand the freedom that’s available to them and the beauty of walking out of their identity in Christ… and that we can continue to help more and more people find freedom in Christ.”

Header photo courtesy of Vlad Shalaginov/Unsplash.

As described in Isaiah 59:2, Satan can effectively cut believers off from the Lord by tempting them to sin. Set Free equips Christians to wage war using God’s weapons.

“We want the ground to be revealed through a freedom appointment so that we can take back that ground from the enemy and walk in freedom,” Set Free’s Pete Noor says.

Set Free volunteers walk believers through the process of a freedom appointment using so-called “rules and tools.” More about that here.

“We use seven steps that Dr. [Neil] Anderson developed. Each one addresses an area where we may have given ground to the enemy because we’ve broken the rules set forth in Scripture,” Noor says.

(Photo courtesy of Alex Shute/Unsplash)

For example, “Scripture says, ‘In your anger, do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,” Noor says.

“So there’s a rule, but what if you are hanging on to a lot of anger and bitterness? You give the enemy the right to have a place of operation within you, which can manifest itself in different ways. But the tool for getting rid of any torment because of breaking this rule is to forgive.”

How to maintain spiritual freedom

An aftercare program called “Walking Free” helps people maintain their spiritual freedom. More about that here. Using two Freedom In Christ Ministries courses, Noor and his team help believers understand their identity in Christ and the fullness of God’s grace.

“We have recipients come up and go, ‘Pete, I’ve been going to church all my life, and I’ve never heard any of this before,’” Noor says.

“One of the gentlemen, he’s a rough and tough guy, he just came up and hugged me. He said, ‘Pete, this has absolutely changed my life.’”

Another woman who attended the Walking Free program with her husband and son wrote:

Our family has gone through a lot of hard times, and this Walking Free program and Set Free Ministries have absolutely helped us through this, and we are now living out of hope and joy. You have made all the difference in our lives through this very difficult time.

Praise God for what He’s doing through the Walking Free program. Pray that believers will grow in Christ as they learn how to “go and sin no more.”

“The Holy Spirit is working in people’s lives unlike it’s ever worked in their lives before, or at least unlike they’ve ever been able to comprehend before,” Noor says.

“People have gone through freedom appointments; they now have freedom. We are teaching them identity, and now it’s sinking in. We’re teaching them how to walk by the Spirit and creating a heart-focused community.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Tony Lomas/Unsplash.

Just last week, the Iran Internet Freedom Act, a bipartisan bill, was introduced in the US Senate. The bill would allocate funds to support secure internet service in Iran — especially for human rights defenders and marginalized groups — noting the importance of internet access for Iranian freedoms.

Mike Ansari with Heart4Iran says, “The Iranian regime’s enforcement of very strict Islamic laws and Sharia highlights the lack of religious freedom in the country.

(Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

“The government dictates religious practices, and its citizens, especially women, they really cannot even express their own faith or beliefs. The repression extends beyond Islam. Christians, Bahais, and other minority religious groups also face persecution, arrest, and imprisonment.

“So religious freedom in Iran is curtailed by both law and social norms that the ayatollahs and the ruling elite are trying to force upon people where, if you do not conform, then you are going to be facing severe penalties.”

Ultimately, Iranians need Jesus. “The Gospel proclaims that Jesus came to liberate humanity from sin and restore a right relationship with our Father,” says Ansari.

“This message is a powerful message that, in its own context, applies to people that are oppressed and denied their fundamental rights as it promises a freedom that transcends earthly circumstances.”

Pray Iranians know spiritual freedom in Christ.

Ansari encourages, “We need to also pray for change of hearts. Pray for those people who are subjecting average Iranian people to oppression that they might come to know and love the Lord and and the justice of Christ.”

Learn more about Heart4Iran’s ministry here, reaching Iranians with Gospel hope.

Header photo of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (Photo courtesy of Khamenei.ir, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=150832367)

Vander Mey says, “Freedom appointment is a one-day spiritual house cleaning in dealing with all the things that affect our relationship with our Heavenly Father.”

The 7-step process addresses the most common areas of life where Christians experience spiritual attacks and temptations. It was originally developed over 25 years ago to help Christians preparing for pastoral leadership, but it is now available for anyone seeking spiritual freedom and healing.

The appointment applies the biblical principles of confession and repentance. For example, James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” In each freedom appointment, two volunteers lead and pray with a person through the spiritual barriers that may separate him or her from God.

“We go to the doctor once a year to see how our bodies are doing,” says Vander Mey. “Why don’t we do that with our spiritual health?”

In recent years, Set Free has seen increasing requests for freedom appointments. The ministry has multiplied its volunteers four times to respond to the rising needs, expanding from 20 to 80 people trained to facilitate freedom appointments. Vander Mey says Set Free volunteers have already surpassed the total appointments completed last year.

“There’s a lot of hurting people right now all over the world. Depression, anger, anxiety… It’s all ramped up. Probably since 2020, it’s hit all-time highs,” Vander Mey says.

“We have a volunteer army who have experienced their own freedom, and they want to give back.”

Request your own freedom appointment or learn how to help others to be set free by visiting SetFreeMin.org.

Set Free follows the model set by Jesus when he declares in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and…to set the oppressed free.”

Vander Mey says, “We have to go back to the original mission of Jesus and the heart of God and searching for the lost and bringing back strays. I think that’s the heart of the gospel.”

Header photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries on Facebook.

Dave McIntyre with Set Free Global, a division of Set Free, says of the general Christian population, “We are very ignorant about how spiritual warfare is conducted in a biblical way.”

McIntyre says believers’ and church leaders’ understanding of spiritual warfare typically falls into two camps. “One side has a very unbiblical worldview [and] believes that Satan is a spiritual concept of moral evil,” he explains.

“People are entrenched in a very secular, nonbiblical worldview that believes the spiritual realm is some far-off place; it’s kind of ethereal and unreal. Then, there’s the other side, which goes hog wild into all kinds of unbiblical teaching regarding spiritual warfare.”

(Graphic courtesy of Set Free)

For example, in many African nations, “They’ve been steeped in witchcraft for generations; it is their worldview, and they are deathly afraid of the enemy,” McIntyre says.

“They don’t know how to fight, and the pastors are the first ones to call for help.”

Unfortunately, the pastors don’t always know how to fight either. That’s where Set Free Global steps in to help. McIntyre is developing a virtual training program that will lead to in-person workshops. Pray the program can be completed and implemented quickly.

“That is what I’m all about this year: trying to get everything we do and teach in an electronic format that I can send anywhere in the world,” McIntyre says. “Pray that the enemy will not be able to interfere with this training process.”

Header image depicts armor used in physical warfare. Ephesians 6:10-20 describes the armor needed for spiritual warfare. (Photo courtesy of awsloley/Pixabay)

“Pastors are seeing the devastation firsthand, and they’ll ask us, ‘How does this work? What do I need to teach? How should we focus our ministry to lead people in[to] spiritual freedom and fight in the spiritual battle?’” McIntyre says.

“Often, these principles are not being taught in the seminary.”

McIntyre speaks from personal experience. “I went through seminary. They didn’t prepare me at all for spiritual warfare; many seminaries don’t, and that’s where it needs to be done,” he says.

“Missions agencies need to prepare their candidates for the field where the spiritual battle is very real.”

An African pastor speaks to his congregation.
(Photo courtesy of Set Free)

That’s why McIntyre wants to present Set Free’s biblical material in seminaries and the pastors’ conferences that frequently request Set Free speakers. Learn more about Set Free’s approach here.

Every principle outlined in Set Free’s spiritual warfare manifesto comes directly from Scripture.

“We’re talking straightforward stuff: repenting of the sin that we have in our lives, forgiving the people who have wronged us, understanding humility before the Lord,” McIntyre says.

James 4:7 is an overlooked yet critical key to victory. “‘Submit yourself therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ – That’s not something we’re supposed to know. It’s something we’re supposed to do,” McIntyre says.

Pray that doors will open in seminaries worldwide so Set Free Global can teach Christian leaders about spiritual warfare.

“Satan has invested an awful lot worldwide to destroy people and to destroy the Church. This is a time for us to take back ground,” McIntyre says.

Header image is a representative photo depicting a small church in eastern Africa. Photo courtesy of Rohan Reddy/Unsplash.