“A Path to Follow”
Process, Principles and Purpose
Transformation Prayer Ministry is understood within the framework of its three components: 1) Process –the protocol followed and what happens in a ministry session, 2) Principles -explanation for what happens in a ministry session, and 3) Purpose –the reason we do TPM. We realize that some people may have differences of opinion about certain aspects of the Principles and Purpose since these areas contain some of our particular theology, neurological theories, and personal opinions, etc.
What we propose with the Principles and Purpose of TPM is our best attempt at explaining what TPM is and how it works. Though we believe that what we offer in these areas has value, is biblical and beneficial, we also realize that not all members of the Body of Christ may agree on all points.
Even if you do not agree on all points pertaining to the Principles and Purpose, you can still effectively apply the Process of TPM. The Process itself is not an ideology or theology, but rather only a system of questions to help a person identify the lies they believe. Embrace what you can with the Principles and Purpose, but follow the TPM Process exactly as it is taught.
Should you not fully agree with all that is taught about the Principles and Purpose of TPM, you can still identify what you are doing as TPM as long as what you are doing completely follows the TPM Process protocol. However, if you augment, add questions, skip areas, divert from exact protocol, etc., when applying the TPM Process, then please DO NOT call what you are doing “Transformation Prayer Ministry.”
Click here for more information about using the name Transformation Prayer Ministry.
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Repetition is By Design.
The supplemental articles and videos posted here are categorized into four basic groups. The first three make up the three primary components of Transformation Prayer Ministry:
1) TPM PROCESS —Information needed for facilitating a TPM session. Protocol for doing a ministry session —Questions asked, and “BOX” locations, Solutions and Anger
2) TPM PRINCIPLES —Foundation concepts that support why we do what we do in a ministry session.
3) TPM PURPOSE —Reason we do TPM at all.
4) GENERAL OVERVIEW —GENERAL grouping of subjects not pertaining to the Process, Principles or Purpose.
You can begin your journey in any of the four categories since you will probably move back and forth along the way. If you are new to TPM you can CLICK HERE to first read through some introductory articles and videos. If you are most interested in the application of this ministry model then the PROCESS section is where this is discussed. However, you will soon discover that the PRINCIPLES and PURPOSE lay the foundation stones for the PROCESS and are vitally important for reaping the most benefit.
BONUS INFORMATION: There is MUCH valuable information in the “COMMENT” sections found at the bottom of each article. When questions are raised this is where they will be addressed.
NOTE: Due to the recent cyber attacks on the Internet, you are strongly encouraged to print out all of these articles and create your own “Training Manual.” If the Internet becomes unavailable for any reason you will have no access to this training.
Look for the PRINT FRIENDLY Button on each page to print to hard copy.
Hello,
Am I understanding correctly that the above training is a starting point that will be part of the eventual complete training? If so, when is the projected release time of the collective training material?
You are correct in your understanding. All of the articles and videos posted in the SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING section of this website are preparing you for the full training to be released later. It is to your advantage to read every article many times so that you are well equipped.
As far as time frame for releasing the new training, we are working literally every day preparing it. It is a “mammoth” task and will far superseded anything that we have offered before. We will release it as it is ready. Pray for our endurance. The good news is that it will cost you nothing. However, we are asking for people committed to this ministry to join us in the mission of taking TPM to the world.
I am very grateful for what you are doing, and what you continue to do. I open my computer every morning and look for any new stuff from your web sight. For the most part you have answered most if not will the questions I had. Today’s entries have answered questions I did not yet have, thank you….
In Him
Harold
We have been around since 2001. The Holy Spirit has transformed our lives and hundreds and hundreds more as we have ministered TPM over the years. Thanks so much for your ongoing work to refine and expand this ministry to reach the nations. We are both so grateful for God using you and your willingness to listen and adapt to his leading so many times and are looking forward to what is to come. We also remember your struggles to get the 2005 and 2007 versions out and how much pressure you were under. It was well worth our wait at those times. And will be this time also. Take care. Get some sleep. Blessings.
Ed
I have been asked, as a member of our Community Care Team at my church; because they know I’ve been through and certified in TPM, to give a short overview of TPM and demonstrate what a TPM session looks like to our CCT. There is so much information and so in depth I am a little overwhelmed at how to put all of this in a short 30 minute session. What input, suggestions, and help can you give me as I try to navigate this opportunity to share with others what TPM looks like. Thanks for your help
Hello. I would like to know if you or anyone from your team does the training as in a conference or seminar that I can enrol in?
If we want to disciple someone or even teach about TPM to my church or small group which of the above articles and or videos should I use? And in what order? Have you considered putting out tests that we could give those we’re training to see if they are getting it?
What is presently posted on this website are articles and videos that will later supplement the full training. The fuller training will be interactive allowing the student to participate in his training. These articles and videos will be linked to then fuller training to be released later. However, in the meantime these articles and videos will prepare the student for what is coming. It will be to his advantage to learn what is posted here and to learn it WELL. No one remembers more than about 12-15% of what they read, hear or see one time through. We hope that the serious student –the one who desires to be the “sharpest” tool he or she can be in God’s hand– will revisit these posts over and again.
The fuller training will have a built in way to test what the student is learning as well as chart his progress. As far as a path to follow, we have listed the articles in both a chronological order (most recent to older) and in a logical order or “Path to Follow.” When you log on to the site and select the “SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING” tab, you will be given these two options. If you are studying as a group then choosing the “Path to Follow” option will probably be best. If you are wanting to read what is the most recent posting, then select the chronological option.
Much is coming, but much is still to be done. Pray for our endurance as well as the funds to accomplish this. Your consideration in becoming a recurring donor is very appreciated.
Ed,
New to your site, but love it! I have heard some of the “constructive criticism” and just want to encourage you and your son. Love your heart and all that you are doing. Such a refreshing and needed ministry 🙂
Thank you so much for this page! It felt a bit overwhelming without it. I printed the links and am crossing each off as I get through them. By dating them I will be able to tell what is new, as you add them.
What you are doing is a good way to keep track. However, please know that we are adding new articles and videos almost weekly, and going back and making revisions and sometimes major changes to what is there, sometimes daily. This work is a project in progress. Whenever we make a change or an addition we will note it with either the words; “VIDEO ADDED [date]” or “UPDATED [date].” So it is important that you go back to this “Study Path” menu page at least weekly to be sure that you have not missed something.
Also, we encourage you (as well as all who are working through this SUPPLEMENTAL TRAINING, to apply yourselves to become the “expert” in TPM. If you only read an article one time, you will at best remembered maybe 12-15% of what you read. Read and re-read all that is here over and again. Watch the videos multiple times.
The new training format being developed now, will not be like the old; that is, watching a set of DVD video sessions and reading a manual. The new will be a journey and an experience. We will not be giving the student a “Certificate of Completion” since just reading and watching something one time is not completing the training. Completion is when it is mastered. However, we fully plan to keep adding and improving the training in real time, so mastery is relative.
Our desire is that people become a highly effective tool in the hand of God while ministering with others. And even more importantly, that they will personally develop a lifestyle and frame of reference that encourages their participation in the work that God is doing in refining their faith, renewing their minds and transforming their lives.
Can we do TPM with a nonbeliever? If so, would it be done the same way?
TPM is being used all around the world with unbelievers with wonderful results being reported. There is no reason to do anything differently than what is done with a believer. However, we must remember that mind renewal is replacing the lies believed with the truth and not salvation. The unbeliever can believe the truth (“…even the demons believe and tremble…” James 2:19), but knowing the truth is not the same as salvation and regeneration. However, when a lost person tastes the goodness of the Lord he will probably become much more receptive in receiving the Gospel. Many people have reported that they use TPM as a “bridge” for evangelism in non-Christian countries.
Some people have suggested that God would not speak to an unbeliever. However, the Lord spoke to Saul (before he became Paul the Apostle.) God also talks to Satan himself. It would seem that if He has no issue talking with Satan, He would talk with unbelievers as well. Jesus (who was God in the flesh) carried on regular conversation with the Scribes and Pharisees. There is little support for the lost not being able to hear from God.
There are no live seminars scheduled at this time. However, anything that is held in the future will be announced to those who have prescribed for receiving emails from us, and on this website. In the meantime, read the articles that are freely posted here and know that the full training will becoming in the future as it is developed.
We will try to craft an article in the future that you might use. In the meantime the articles that are posted now can be helpful. Also, print out those that are more general and hand them out. There are several that are designed for new people.
Glad to hear this. Keep checking this site as we will continually post new information. Also pray for our endurance as we work daily on the fuller training and pray that God will raise up people who have benefited from TPM to partner with us as we labor to make this happen. We cannot do what we are doing without the financial support from the TPM community.
If the majority of your training is going to be with videos, may I strongly suggest you caption them? I’ve only seen a few so far, but they had no captions.
The Deaf community has many members who are believers, and who still struggle with inner pain and deception. Without captions, these videos are utterly useless to them.
As long as you’re re-doing the entire training anyway, please consider accessibility as you continue publishing your training videos. Thank you.
About 50% of the training will be video, but you are so right about the deaf community of believers. The same is true for the blind in relationship to the written text. However, what you are receiving right now on the website is not the final training. We are posting parts and pieces as we complete them. The articles and videos now available on the website will be a part of the final training, but the format and ordering will be much different. Once we have finished editing all the many hours of video, writing the text, creating the tests, designing activities, and animations, then all of these different aspects of the training will be brought together as a complete learning instrument. At that time we will hopefully have people who are willing to transcribe all the videos so that we can provide the text with the videos. This is a Hugh project and has already taken a full year to get where we are in production. This particular stage of the development is being done solely by Joshua and myself since we are the ones who have to make the decisions that are being made. Once the training is complete we will be enlisting others to transcribe the videos, create the translations, and other labor intensive projects. Pray that we will endure.
Will ya’ll be put up a video of one or two sessions with a willing participant. I learn much better by seeing and hearing the material and then compare and study the material. thank you Micky
The final training will have many demonstration videos as well as practice activities that will allow you to practice before you work with a real person. What is posted now are articles to help you make the transition to the final training. We will be posting some more videos soon. Some of these have role play sessions in them that will be helpful.
Dear Ed Smith & Family:
Thank you SO very much for surrendering to God and being obedient to God all these years by saying “yes” to God’s creative will for you. By submitting to God and becoming operationally active, with the gifts and talents bestowed upon you in the Kingdom of God, you have been a HUGE blessing, not only to the entire world, but also to this Disciple who has been mightily transformed by your ministry.
Dear Ed and Joshua,
My wife and I have been facilitating TPM and doing training since 2002, so our experience is extensive. We finally set aside time to review all of the new training materials on your website and have a few questions so that we may proceed from a big-picture perspective. We have done training with about 20 small groups over the years, and have facilitated ministry with about 75 people per year.
Questions: 1) What is your view of how training should take place–pen and paper plus videos in a group, online, other? 2) Can the videos be downloaded? 3) Is there a best-case sequence for training? We have people waiting on us for training.
We think the map is easy to understand and will be easy to use. As former educators for 32 years, we love the boxes. We are always looking for training that is educationally sound.
Looking forward to hearing from you. Blessings. (830-370-4470)
The new training is a work in progress. We are basically posting the information as it is being completed. The final format for the training will not look like what you have now, since what you are seeing are the “nuts and bolts” and only parts and pieces of what is to come.
Soon we will start posting some of the practical application components of the training. There will be practice modules where the student will “do” a session. We will post actual live sessions that will allow interaction from the student as well. The final training will not be a “start here” and “finish there” approach to learning. Too many people have the mind set of, “I read the book and watched the video series so I have completed the training.” This is never the truth. If completing the training means I remember everything perfectly and can administer flawlessly, maybe so. However, this has not been what we have observed from those who “completed” the earlier training.
People typically retain about 12-15% of what they read, hear or watch. We want people to become well equipped, in not just the process of the ministry, but also the principles and purpose as well. TPM has been misunderstood to be a pain reduction/management ministry far too long. The NEW TPM is about equipping people for their life journey so that they may intentionally and purposefully participate with God in His work of refining their faith, renewing their minds, and transforming their lives. TPM is for the entire Body of Christ, not just those who are not performing as well as the others.
We no longer have ministry facilitators and ministry recipients, but rather Mentoring Facilitators and Mentees who are journeying together in a discipling partnership. We desire that people being trained in TPM will view the training in this fashion. As long as people view TPM as a ministry for hurting emotional wounded people, then 98% of the church body will never even look in its direction. Also, those in pain will stop seeking ministry once their pain becomes tolerable and manageable. TPM is about mind renewal and a life long journey with God into freedom.
Until the full training is complete, you will have to be a little creative about how you train others. Of course everyone can and should go online and read the articles for themselves. They can also be discussed as a group. The videos can be watched individually or projected upon to a screen and viewed as a group. Practice is easy. You can break up into groups of two and role play over and over. People need to reach the place where they have all the questions fully memorized and the process becomes natural.
The two most difficult areas people will encounter is knowing where they are on the MAP, and being able to identify a solution when it shows up. The only cure for this is practice, practice and then more practice.
Encourage your team to overkill on reading the articles and watching the videos again and again. One time through will never do. They need to become masters of the information and the process.
One of the main changes is training the Mentoring Facilitator to view his or her role as a mentor, as opposed to just a facilitator of a process. I spend no less than 40-50% of the time in every session teaching, reminding, going over the principles, explaining the process, and etc. I use every session as a teaching moment and take what happens in the session to bring further understanding.
My goal in each session is NOT to make sure the person gets free of a lie or two, but rather that they become a disciple equipped for his or journey. The people that I presently do weekly ministry are all becoming well proficient in the process and doing it on their own between sessions. I am becoming less and less needed as time moves on. They have all their lives to work on getting free from the lies they believe. It is more important that they are equipped to do the work that awaits them.
Hope this helps.
More is coming soon.
Ed
The Bible speaks of the value of spiritual warfare. What place does it have in a Christian’s life if excluded from TPM?
We have discovered that when spiritual warfare is brought into a TPM session that it distracts from what needs to happen. Since the devil cannot keep a person from choosing to move forward, expose belief or hear from the Spirit, then there is no need to give it any attention during a the ministry session.
Demons are notorious for providing solutions to our lie-based pain, so when they show up in a session this is usually what they are doing. Reading the articles dealing with “solutions” will benefit. I have not had to address any demons in the ministry sessions that I facilitate for well over a decade, and I am seeing much continual success.
As far as your question concerning “what place spiritual warfare plays in the Christian’s life,” you will need to answer this for yourself. I personally believe that he was defeated 2000 years ago and all he has left is deception. Deception is only powerful when it is believed. I encourage people to identify their lie-based belief and pay little or no attention to what the devil is doing. We need to be “sober and alert”, but not because he might harm us, but only that each of us are susceptible to his schemes. He is very limited in what he may do since “…He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.” (1 Jo. 5:18) We need to be knowledgeable of how he operates and resist his “schemes”, but never fear anything that he could actually do, because he cannot touch us. As the Apostle Paul declared, “no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11) Not being ignorant and operating in the truth seems to be the best warfare we can do.
Besides this, all that is needed to send the devil on his way is “submit to God and to resist” (Jam. 4:7) The post-resurrection scriptures do not teach us to engage him face-to-face on any level. I am finishing a 1200 page book on “Dealing with the Devil Without Dealing with the Devil.” I cannot say when it will be finished, but I hope to address many issues with it.