Seth Pierce | October 27, 2026 | Interviews
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| Tim Maddox, the Adventist Exorcist |
Just over a year ago, I wrote a piece on demonology that possessed its readers, capturing the attention of some and exercising the patience of others. It was a news article on the work of Adventist missionary and deliverance minister, Tim Maddocks. While the article received a variety of responses, my intent was to explore current shifts in thought on a subject that may seem sensational to those in a Western context, but is very real to people in other parts of the world.
The recent surge of spiritual warfare rhetoric within American politics, the presence of exorcists in the news, and the annual claim of demonic activity around the Halloween season indicates that, even in the West, demonology is something many grapple with. Because of that ongoing interest, I reached out to Maddocks who graciously agreed to be interviewed on his work.
What follows is a good faith conversation on a challenging spiritual subject. And while the title of this interview uses the term “exorcism” for familiarity’s sake, that word fits better within Catholicism and Orthodox traditions, whereas Protestants lean toward the term “deliverance.” Deliverance ministries gained traction in the 60s alongside the charismatic movement then entering mainstream Christianity in the US. Adventist missionaries, due to a lack of resources within the church, relied on many resources by non-Adventist charismatics. Today deliverance ministries are part of many missionary experiences, as well as a key element in charismatic traditions.
Seth Pierce: How have you seen this conversation evolve over the last couple of decades? Why do you feel it is relevant now, and what do you believe is the cause of reluctance to approach this subject in the church?
Tim Maddocks: As I am based in Southeast Asia and have been pretty much focused on Cambodia, the conversation has not really evolved because I have taught most of the Bible workers, some of who are now ordained pastors, and it was just accepted as a normal part of ministry. I have been speaking on this topic in the USA and Europe only since 2024, and interest has been great. I believe this to be because many have been silent in the church, not knowing who they could turn to.
There are many stories of deliverance gone horribly wrong, beginning with the seven sons of Sceva mentioned in Acts 19. This creates a fear in people which they would rather not confess, so instead a doctrine that deliverance should not be done is created to hide the fear aspect.
It is true that demons can attack Christians who have not sincerely dealt with sin in their lives. Pastors and lay people that are hiding sins, like watching pornography, will not confess their sins publicly as a reason for not wanting to be involved in deliverance. But they probably know this to be an issue should they get involved, and it could lead to public exposure by demons of their private sins. The doctrine that sin cannot be overcome till Jesus comes is also problematic, as this excuses people for not being prepared to deal with demons. Last Generation Theology, which states that sin can and should be overcome prior to the close of probation, offers the solution to the fear of being attacked by demons.
Part of the tension with the previous piece I wrote for SPECTRUM revolved around Christians being possessed. Can you share more on that subject?
Today in the Adventist Church, there are many Laodicean members who are content to deal with the big sins in their lives and leave the little sins of intemperance, selfishness, deception, etc, for Jesus to deal with when he comes. I personally believe that by the time the close of probation comes about, God’s people should, through the indwelling presence of Jesus, have gained victory over all sin in their lives.
One value of the teaching preparation for spiritual warfare is that it highlights the need to be walking the righteous life by being in Christ and having Christ in us. Many are looking to the external appearing of Christ to attain God’s character, but Christ himself said in John 15 that if we want to bear fruit we must be joined to him as the branch is joined to the vine.
I believe, based on Revelation 12:17, that the devil is out to make war with “the remnant … which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (KJV). The accuser of the brethren, Satan, is happy to use any sin in a Christian’s life as an excuse for harassment or possession.
The story of the young woman with the phone in my book, is an illustration of this. Among all my students she appeared to be the most righteous, but she opened a door by secretly defying a school rule. For Satan, that was excuse enough to possess her. I guess the story could go something like this. Satan asks God to possess her. God says she is mine. Satan points out that she is knowingly breaking a school rule therefore she is on Satan’s side. How is God going to argue against that?
I know this sounds as if it borders on legalism and this level of holiness could cause many to give up faith because they think there is too much in their lives to overcome. This could be true if righteousness by faith is not clearly understood. For me, righteousness by faith can be clearly explained by using Galatians 2:20 (Self is dead, but Christ lives in me), Ephesians 6:10 (Be strong in the Lord), Galatians 3:27 (put on Christ), and Matthew 11:29 (take my yoke upon you; here Jesus is saying let’s work on sin in the life together). As a church we have failed to adopt righteousness by faith as a practice and therefore we avoid spiritual warfare knowing our vulnerability.
You noted that the document created in 1983 by the Biblical Research Institute was a reaction to some of the deliverance ministries emerging in the 70s and that those who created it likely had no field experience. Would it be helpful to approach this subject again, and if there were a conference or symposium, how would you design it?
To some degree this was done in 2018 when the document Finding Freedom in Jesus was produced. But while published by Andrews, it is not an official statement by the church.
What I am seeing happening as I am speaking and writing on this subject is that Satan has already begun to fight back from different angles to undermine what I believe to be a solid biblical teaching. To do this he is encouraging extreme thinking from both sides: those who are seeing demons in everyone for all sorts of reasons and those who believe the ministry is of the devil. I also believe that Satan is trying to discredit the ministry by sending his possessed agents to disrupt, bringing discredit to the ministry.
Having said all that, myself, David Ng, and Conrad Vine, who have had quite a bit of publicity in this area in the past year and half, have maybe brought this ministry back into discussion by many in the church, and therefore it needs to be re-evaluated by the church.
Due to a lack of material from Adventists, many of our missionaries had to lean on Pentecostal authors like C. Peter Wagner, Charles Kraft, and Derik Prince. Can you share how they have been helpful in shaping your perspective on deliverance?
I read from Wagner and Kraft back in the 90s, and later, in the early 2000’s, a book by Vaughn Allen given to me by Dr. [Bruce] Bauer. I remember finding useful tools and scriptural justification in Wagner and Kraft’s writings for being involved in deliverance ministry. There were practices that I found odd, like putting demons in a box while the problem in a person’s life was dealt with. Initially I began dialoguing with demons following Wagner and Kraft’s lead, asking the demon’s name, and what rights it had to be possessing a person. Thankfully Dr. Bruce Bauer counselled me against such practices. The lack of material from Adventist authors left me in a place where I had only the scriptural accounts—which are necessarily brief—and these evangelical books to learn from. I have made many mistakes along the way, and my deliverance practices may still have problems. God in his graciousness honors my willingness to work with him in healing the broken hearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, the recovery of sight to the blind—spiritually—and setting at liberty those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18,19).
It is my hope that my book, Fallen Angels, will help many avoid the pitfalls that I fell into simply because I did not have a good Adventist source that was based on actual experience. I mentioned Vaughn Allen’s book, Victory on the Battle Field. This was given to me when I was already involved in deliverance. I found this book to be extreme, seeing demons of all kinds of things, like sugar and, I believe, chocolate cake. Maybe there is a demon of intemperance and/or gluttony, but such labels as “demon of sugar” sensationalize demons and I do not believe are helpful or in most cases accurate.
Arguably the most uncomfortable story you share in the book is your own experience of sexual temptation in the mission field. What safeguards do you recommend for missionaries to guard against this kind of experience?
Firstly, awareness that attempted Satanic sabotage of a missionary’s mission is very likely to occur and may come from many angles. I think that sexual temptation leading to fall is by far the most common attack I have seen over the past 41 years of mission service, but attacks may come in many forms.
An obvious safe guard beyond awareness is not placing oneself in a position of vulnerability. Certainly with deliverance it is not wise to work with the opposite sex alone, although having said that, there are times when I have because of the necessity of the situation. But it would be easy for demons to bring untrue charges against someone and even though nothing nefarious happened, the allegations without witnesses could destroy the work.
In your experience, how do you discern whether what’s happening is primarily a natural temptation, or whether it’s being intensified or manipulated by something spiritual?
I am inclined to believe that demons are constantly sowing in our minds, but doing it in such a way as to convince us the thoughts are ours. If we fall into a habit of obeying these seeds of temptation, then it can be that the demons no longer sow the seeds, as a self starting behaviour has now developed. I think it safer to assume demons are behind the temptation because with this mindset we recognise that the problem is bigger than we can handle alone, so we need to go to Jesus for victory.
It is true that many are quick to jump on the medical bandwagon and look for the worst possible cause. This is also true in the spiritual world. Whether medical or spiritual the danger is convincing yourself of a false reality and then falling prey to consequences of self deception.
I think prayerfully taking the middle ground is the safest option, not thinking the worst, while not ruling out that possibility.
People who live in a world that acknowledges supernatural presence are used to seeing it and have less fear of it than those who have not been exposed. In Cambodia the need to take psychiatric medicine is seen as a serious, maybe incurable, illness, and therefore has some stigma attached. On the other hand, demon possession is something that for the majority is transitory and may even be looked upon as a privilege, depending on the circumstances.
As a result, there appears to be little fear of demon possession and little stigma involved with being possessed. In the West, psychiatric medicine is the norm for much of society and is accepted and not feared, even sought after. Whereas demon possession is something relegated to movies and maybe psychiatric hospitals with padded cells, and therefore is feared. I believe in making people aware of the options and seeking the wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit to get an accurate diagnosis where possible.
Your book discusses a very specific part of your ministry with stories gathered over decades. One possible impression people could have is that you cast out devils every day. In reality, how many of these encounters would you say you experience in a year?
Until the last 12 months it has been maybe three or four cases a year in the 1990s up to about 2010. After that far fewer, as I had trained others in how to deal with the problem and so I was not called upon for help. In the last 12 months there have been quite a number of cases and hundreds of hours of counselling. I would much rather help a person have the tools to self deliver from harassment or demon possession, which is possible if the person is not under the direct control of the demons. A bonus of this is that the person, once having used the basic tools to get free themselves, is then equipped to help others.
You have shared that after your Little Light Studios interview, you were contacted by around 200 individuals seeking counsel and help. Was that primarily in North America or was it from all over the world?
People from all over the world have contacted me, SDA and Christian. People from many different denominations. It would seem the majority of requests for help have come from people of African origin, either having been born in Africa or born in the Caribbean, or in the United States. The majority of those of African origin are familiar with African witchcraft and many have reported being involved in ceremonies, especially during childhood.
Until my recent series at Jesus For Asia and the release of the book Fallen Angels, the majority of people contacting me were not Adventist. This has now shifted and the majority of people seeking help are active members in the Adventist Church. With the majority of Adventists who have sought help, they have been turned away by their pastor/elders because their church leaders are not equipped to deal with the confronting problems. I continue to get at least one request each week for help from people around the world.
If someone feels they are experiencing harassment, oppression, or possession, and there is no help around, what can they do?
I recommend that firstly they ask that the Holy Spirit reveal any unconfessed sin in their lives. With each confessed sin, repent and ask that the blood of Jesus be applied to cancel any demonic rights that the sin has granted. Repeat this until the Holy Spirit stops revealing unconfessed sins.
Should the harassment continue, rebuke the demons in an audible, authoritative voice, commanding them with the authority and power of Jesus to depart from you and to never return.
If the demons have control of you and you are unable to speak out loud, resist the devil in your mind, repeatedly calling on Jesus to deliver you. Repeat this until you are able to speak the words out loud. To prevent reinfection, develop a quality devotional life with God, make a conscious effort to flee from sin by fleeing to Christ when sin knocks at the mind’s door. Live in an attitude of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.
Where can people find helpful resources if their clergy are not available for this type of spiritual counseling? And where can concerned clergy go to get more knowledge?
I firstly recommend the booking Finding Freedom in Jesus. I also recommend David Ng’s book, His Victory is Ours and obviously my own book, Fallen Angels, the latter two being available on Amazon. In addition I direct people to Dr. Conrad Vine’s series on YouTube, David Ng’s five part series, and my six part series on the Jesus for Asia YouTube channel.
Thank you for sharing your time and perspective.
This subject of deliverance continues to create controversy. Shortly after our interview, Tim sent me a video series by Adventist pastor Daniel Gomez, critiquing the deliverance ministries of those mentioned in this article. The theology and practice of deliverance will continue to be debated. What cannot be debated is the fact that spiritual worldviews that involve demons, deliverance, and spiritual warfare are a reality for many people. While many ministries in this area, such as Tim’s, share testimonies of healing, I have also been contacted by people with stories of spiritual abuse from other deliverance ministries. Ignoring these realities, and the conversations, especially in a church with a Great Controversy framework, risks misinformation and malpractice. May we be delivered from the fear of having difficult conversations.
Image: SPECTRUM; Photo: @tim.maddocks.376/YouTube
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