Straight 2 the Heart Ministries: An Interview with Director Paul Conneff

5 April 2011 | Rachel Davies

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Paul Conneff, an Adventist pastor and marriage and family therapist, has developed a ministry dedicated to praying people free from guilt, anger and addictive behaviors. Spectrum asked Paul what makes his ministry both unique and effective.

RD: What is at the heart of "Straight to the Heart Ministries"? What is your spiritual and theological philosophy, and how do you embody it practically?

PC: Our passion is moving Christians from information about the gospel, to transformation through the prophecies emphasizing Christ as our “Suffering Messiah.” Many Christians accept Christ as their savior based on the traditional gospel most of us have been taught, but continue to live in a cycle of sin and forgiveness, rarely experiencing freedom and victory. Contrast these two gospels in the graph below:

The traditional gospel we share as good news:

Jesus’ gospel based on him fulfilling prophecies as the “suffering messiah:”

An emphasize on the teaching of Scripture over an experience of transformation

1. Christ died for our sins

2. We repent

3. We accept Him as Savior & Lord

4. We receive forgiveness

5. We receive eternal life and a cycle of sin and forgiveness

An emphasis on Jesus as the healer, in addition to the traditional gospel we usually share

“The Sovereign Lord has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor:

1. To heal the broken hearted,

2. To set the captives free,

3. To walk us out of our prison of darkness or blindness (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18, emphasis added).

“Healing the broken hearted and setting the captives free,” to “go and make disciples” (Luke 4:18; Matt. 28:19), is the heartbeat of our ministry because healing and discipleship was the heartbeat of Jesus’ ministry.

During a training session I sometimes ask whether the church focuses more on healing or teaching. There is often a “pregnant pause” before the answer is given: “teaching.” Why do we reverse Jesus’ method of ministering to people and then wonder why it’s so hard to win people to him?[1]

The prophets, gospel writers, apostles and the author of Hebrews made Jesus’ coming as the “Suffering Messiah” an important feature of their writing.“The Son of Man must suffer many things… he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life…. The captain of our salvation was made perfect through suffering” (emphasis added).[2]

Why would Jesus choose to fulfill prophecy by suffering abandonment, betrayal, physical and verbal violation, shame, humiliation, attacks, and the temptation to numb his pain and sense of being forsaken by his Father? So that we would know that he knows everything we’ve gone through.[3] Jesus embraced all our sins and our suffering, earning the right to “heal us and set us free.”[4]

In our ministry training, we focus on Acts 6:4, where the disciples emphasized “prayer and the ministry of the Word.” We, also, want God’s Word to go through our minds and hearts as we spend quality time at the throne of grace during times of prayer.[5] As this happens, we can experience freedom in our lives through a personal relationship with a “rubber meets the road Jesus” who identifies with us, heals us and sets us free.

RD: When, how, and why did your ministry begin?

PC: Straight 2 the Heart Ministries began when I started working as a pastor in church settings, seeing girls who had been sexually abused, teens cutting themselves, divorces, affairs, anger, alcohol, etc. I noticed that many lifelong Christians had never experienced freedom or purpose in their lives, and I realized that I did not know how to help people work through their pain and brokenness.

So I began asking the Lord how his cross made a difference in the midst of all the messiness and brokenness of life. His response was that he wanted to begin with me. I just wanted to help others, but he kept insisting that we begin with the brokenness in my own heart. Eventually he won out, enabling me to receive prayer ministry for myself.

Over time, I began to write out Jesus’ experiences of suffering from Gethsemane to Calvary on the whiteboard in my office. As people began to connect with Jesus where he was abandoned, betrayed and abused, etc., hearts softened time and time again.

In 1992 I presented the “Suffering Messiah” as an important part of Jesus’ gospel at the National Association Of Christian Recovery. “Christ and him crucified” has continued forming the foundation of my ministry. As a licensed marriage and family therapist, I believe that prayer is the greatest power on earth because it connects us to “Christ the Wonderful Counselor” (Isaiah 9:6; 1 Cor. 1:30).

RD: What kind of people do you help and how do you help them? Do they come to you or do you find them?

PC: Many people, including non-Christians, discover us through word of mouth after someone has shared with them that there really is hope for healing and freedom. When a person experiences the good news of the gospel, that person usually wants to talk about it.

I’m doing a training for a Pregnancy Choice group because someone shared with the leaders how her husband had gained freedom from a twenty-year addiction to pornography and they want to help girls coming into their ministry who have been sexually abused, abandoned, etc. That man is now ministering to other men as well. Others hear me present during weekend prayer and discipleship trainings at churches.

RD: What specifically is the role of prayer in your ministry?

PC: Straight 2 the Heart believes that prayer is two-way communication with God, where we learn to hear his “still small voice.”[6]

The Desires Of Ages affirms Straight 2 the Heart’s main theme, emphasizing the importance of spending time “each day in contemplation of the life of Christ…grasping each scene, especially the closing ones” (emphasis added).

During times of prayer, we ask God to “search our heart and try our thoughts”[7] so he can reveal the negative messages we have learned to believe about ourselves.[8] We also ask God to reveal where in our painful experiences Christ has identified with us, where he was tempted in a similar way during his ministry on earth. This connects his heart with our wounded hearts so that his messages of grace and truth can transform us.

RD: You've spent twenty years in pastoral ministry. What influence has your time in church ministry had on Straight 2 the Heart Ministries?

PC: Seeing all the pain, brokenness and lack of purpose among church members, as well as discovering how many Christians are filled with much “head knowledge” but little “heart knowledge” has motivated me to devote myself full time to this ministry.

It seems like we’ve put the “cart before the horse” by focusing on knowledge about end time prophecy while not knowing the prophecies Jesus fulfilled by becoming the “Suffering Messiah” (even though, according to Jesus, these earlier prophecies are the foundation of all the scriptures, [Luke 24:25-27; 44-46]).

RD: What kinds of training and resources do you offer to pastors and others?

PC: We offer five-day training sessions for pastors and church members, weekend training sessions at churches and a three month discipleship process, with our “Pure Power – Pure Passion” resources.

We have all kinds of struggle and brokenness in our churches. Our passion is to equip local churches so they can have discipleship teams breaking open the “Bread of Life,” to those in need, multiplying more members into ministry.

RD: How can people learn more about Straight to the Heart Ministries?

They can start by browsing our website: www.straight2theheart.com. We have a 120-page prayer syllabus with sample prayers and forty pages of frequently asked questions, audio presentations, etc., available on our website: www.straight2theheart.com/resources.

____________

Read Paul Conneff's Spectrum article, The Prayer of Forgiveness, here: http://spectrummagazine.org/article/paul-conneff/2011/04/05/prayer-forgiveness

[1] Ministry Of Healing p. 143

[2] Luke 9:22; Heb. 2:10; see also Isaiah 53; Luke 24:25-27; 44-46; Heb. 17-18; 4:15-16, Isaiah 53 etc.

[3] Heb. 2:17-18; 4:15

[4] Luke 4:18; Mal. 4:2

[5] Heb. 8:10; 10:16; Rom. 12:2

[6] 1 Kings 19:12; Psalm 46:10; John 10:2-4, 14, 16

[7] Psalm 139:23, 24

[8] John 8:44; 16:9; Rom. 1:25

Tim - Clement - Tue, 04/05/2011 - 14:28

Great stuff Rachel and Paul.

Paul you ask the question:

So that we would know that he knows everything we’ve gone through.

I agree this is an important part of it, but I do not think this goes far enough. Jesus calls us to emulate him in his suffering . His suffering was redemptive, and if we unite our suffering with his, our suffering can be redemptive too, both for us and for others.

Is this idea of joining our suffering with Christ's (as St Paul talks about in Col 1:24), something that you have experienced in your work at all?

Tim

Tim - Clement
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Graeme Sharrock - Tue, 04/05/2011 - 19:44

I greatly admire the kind of work done by clinicians who can meet people in their suffering and need.

I'd like to know more. .. and probably readers would also.

That's where I run into a lacuna....

Both the essay and website lack any grounding information about Paul Conneff's ministry. Where are Paul and his team located in the physical world? What communities do they work with? Maybe it is all there somewhere in that 120 page presentation ?

Graeme

Trevor3130 - Tue, 04/05/2011 - 20:17

Graeme, the 'clinician' title is reserved in this part of the world for practitioners with a license to lay on hands, even in the most intimate and unchaperoned settings. Maybe you didn't mean to go that far, but if it's a common misunderstanding in SdA circles, it may explain "Pastor" Wayne Bent.
Trevor

Rachel Davies - Wed, 04/06/2011 - 00:34

Hi Tim,

I agree that our suffering can be redemptive if we unite it with Christ's. I think that's good theology. But we have to be careful not to take the short step from there to pursuing or prolonging suffering in order to "be like Christ." Here's a link to part one of a four-part Easter series I wrote and posted last year on the subject (there are links to the following three articles). The cross is bleak without the resurrection, but the resurrection is impossible without the cross. http://spectrummagazine.org/article/spirituality/2010/04/02/fridays-fast/

Joselito Coo - Wed, 04/06/2011 - 06:14

How is this different from so-called "deliverance ministries"? If I understood what Graeme was getting at regarding the physical location of Straight 2 the Heart ministry, in light of its pre-occupation with the spiritual, may I ask, do they (Paul and his team) at least consider the possibility they may be dealing with conditions that may initially require evaluation by a professional clinician?

Graeme Sharrock - Wed, 04/06/2011 - 21:36

Trevor states, "the 'clinician' title is reserved in this part of the world for practitioners with a license to lay on hands...."

==============

What is your part of the world? What is a license to lay on hands? ...intimate and unchaperoned settings? Who is Pastor Wayne bent?

Pls don't make this topic even more obscure but explain yourself clearly.

Graeme

Graeme Sharrock - Wed, 04/06/2011 - 21:52

OK I checked out the Wayne Bent allusion on Wiki... a deluded cult leader. But so what? What is the connection to Paul Conneff's ministry?

Graeme

Trevor3130 - Thu, 04/07/2011 - 04:40

An earlier comment of mine, re "seeing girls who had been sexually abused" has disappeared. So, Graeme, it may be better to go further via off-line means.

Herb - Thu, 04/07/2011 - 20:09

Surely a delight to see Rachel and Paul focusing on Paul's exceptional pastoral career in several locations. His CD videos are most informative and compelling. I have known Paul for more than 25 years when I knew him as his college president. Every since, his calm, measured, emotionally mature relationship with young and old is most gratifying. Nothing esoteric or mystical, nothing that requires years of study--Paul just let's the Bible frame his healing ministry. The essense is Paul's understanding of the Great Controversy theme and how that conflict affects everyone, at every age level. Cheers, Herb

Joselito Coo - Fri, 04/08/2011 - 06:42

Quote from the interview:

If there's nothing "mystical" about the method described above, I'm just curious how the process of healing is operationalized within the biblical framework of Jesus' ministry and the Great Controversy theme resulting in the desired transformation and victory. Briefly and simply: how does it work?

Rachel Davies - Mon, 04/11/2011 - 04:44

Paul's ministry is not based out of any main office, but travels wherever he goes. Right now he is in Western Washington, but at the end of this month his ministry will be "moving" to the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area.

Paul would like to address your comment, Joselito. He says,

"The one comment on the need for professional evaluation is important.

1. I am a licensed marriage and family therapist, so I'm a professional with a license to evaluate concerns and diagnosis.

2. I refer people for professional evaluation, including going into treatment centers when there is severe depression, post partum depression, etc., so medical doctors can evaluate the person and provide support.

3. In my training:
a. I let people know that we need to refer people to doctors if they have any questions.
b. In my consent form, I tell the person receiving prayer that that he or she needs to stay on any medications, and that he or she is committing to this, and will not make any changes without direct consultation with their doctor or psychiatrist.

I strongly encourage cooperation with the medical professionals and I expect it if I am going to pray with a person. It is important that we do not assume that prayer heals everything. That is one of the fallacies of the 'deliverance' ministries. They can actually tell someone who is bi-polar to stop taking their lithium if they really trust in God... and that if they have enough faith to throw away the lithium, God will then heal them. This is malpractice of the worst kind and it makes Christian's look like idiots, creating a negative witness within the medical community."

Joselito Coo - Mon, 04/11/2011 - 06:58

Thank you, Paul and Rachel, for responding to my concerns. That Paul is a licensed marriage and family therapist means he has received additional formal training, beyond what most pastors get in the seminary. Of interest is how the result of your therapy, of making a connection between the particular sins with which we are tempted and Jesus' victory over the same, compares with the confessional in Roman Catholic practice.

Elaine Nelson - Mon, 04/11/2011 - 08:35

"The essense is Paul's understanding of the Great Controversy theme and how that conflict affects everyone, at every age level."

How is that theme interwoven into all situations, and at every age level? As a licensed MFC, how does that work with a very dysfunctional family? How can this G.C. theme be a function to understanding one's personal, even personality problems? It seems that some people have become obsessed with this theme and that recognizing and accepting it answers all of life questions; IOW, it is similar to one medicine cures every ill known to mankind. It is NOT a remedy, but only a particular way of seeing the world, and there are many ways of viewing the world, not simply one.

Elaine

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