(Part 2) Best spiritual warfare books according to redditors

No personal experience, but her the best books I have read on the subject. They mainly describe the events surrounding the possession and are CREEPY AS HELL TRUE.

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Sacrament-Modern-Day-Possession-Exorcism-ebook/dp/B000WPXTJW

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QX074Q/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Also, a recent case of demonic possession diagnosed by American doctor skeptic Richard Gallagher, a trusted, respected man. He's writing a book, but the details are available online. I thought it was worth the 99 cents to download the New Oxford Review paper he wrote...great read...very creepy.

Puritans on Spiritual Warfare:

Sin doth not only still abide in us, but is still acting, still labouring to bring forth the deeds of the flesh. When sin lets us alone we may let sin alone; but as sin is never less quiet than when it seems to be most quiet, and its waters are for the most part deep when they are still, so ought our contrivances against it to be vigorous at all times and in all conditions, even where there is least suspicion. Sin doth not only abide in us, but “the law of the members is still rebelling against the law of the mind,” Rom. vii. 23; and “the spirit that dwells in us lusteth to envy,” James iv. 5. It is always in continual work; “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” Gal. v. 17; lust is still tempting and conceiving sin, James i. 14; in every moral action it is always either inclining to evil, or hindering from that which is good, or disframing the spirit from communion with God. ~ The Mortification of Sin by John Owen

 

JI Packer:

he Puritans’ battles against the spiritual and climatic wildernesses in which God set them produced a virility of character, undaunted and unsinkable, rising above discouragement and fears, for which the true precedents and models are men like Moses, and Nehemiah, and Peter after Pentecost, and the apostle Paul.
Spiritual warfare made the Puritans what they were. They accepted conflict as their calling, seeing themselves as their Lord’s soldier-pilgrims, just as in Bunyan’s allegory, and not expecting to be able to advance a single step without opposition of one sort or another. Wrote John Geree, in his tract ‘The Character of an Old English Puritane or Noncomformist (1646)’: ‘His whole life he accounted a warfare, wherein Christ was his captain, his arms, praiers and tears. The Crosse his Banner and his word [motto] Vincit qui patitur [he who suffers conquers]. ~ JI Packer 'Why We Need the Puritans'

 

Beeke:
6. Puritan writings explain true spirituality. The Puritans stress the spirituality of the law, spiritual warfare against indwelling sin, the childlike fear of God, the wonder of grace, the art of meditation, the dreadfulness of hell, and the glories of heaven. If you want to live deep as a Christian, read Oliver Heywood’s Heart Treasure. Read the Puritans devotionally, and then pray to be like them. Ask questions such as: Am I, like the Puritans, thirsting to glorify the Triune God? Am I motivated by biblical truth and biblical fire? Do I share their view of the vital necessity of conversion and of being clothed with the righteousness of Christ? Do I follow them as far as they followed Christ? - Beeke, Why Should You Read the Puritans

 

Spurgeon on Prayer & Spiritual Warfare
http://www.kurthutchison.com/demons.html
Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices ~Thomas Brooks

 

Can we please get past this ridiculous falsity that Reformed Christians reject spiritual warfare? It's dismissive, relies on assumption and generalizations, and is completely unfounded in any sort of reality,

My mom has had this book ever since I was a kid. It seriously claims that analyzing handwriting is a devious form of witchcraft.

>How did the whole “Satanic panic” around tabletop gaming and collectible card games gather so much steam?

The short summary is that spiritual warfare became a growing fad from the late 80s through the late 90s. Basically the public went from "Satan can't really do much to believers" to "Oh my goodness, Satan is behind every single rock" during that time period. I was a member of a charismatic church in the mid-90s so I saw a lot of the hyperactive spiritual warfare practice of the day. You ain't done spiritual warfare until you get a in a prayer line with anointing oil in a parking lot and claim ground from Satan through territorial spiritual warfare :P

It would probably be a full essay worth of writing to document all of this, but basically authors like Peter Wagner and Derek Prince on the charismatic side and M.F. Unger, Mark Bubeck on the more conservative side set the theological tone which awakened the public to the reality of spiritual warfare. The popular practice was also largely informed by books like Frank Peretti's This Present Darkness which captures pretty nicely what it was like to be a believer in those times.

We Christians tend to overreact to new truths once discovered, so you saw a whole bunch of nonsense as people expanded their practical theology to include the reality of the demonic. And that's why you saw it blow up the way it did.

The topic is not addressed in the Bible.

The phrase "Jezebel spirit" is not a new one. Google Books finds uses of the phrase going back to the 19th century. Generally, it has been used to refer to a certain kind of attitude or harmful environment, with the Jezebel mentioned in I and II Kings as an illustrative example.

The usage you have come across seems to have originated with Francis Frangipane's 1994 book The Jezebel Spirit (Amazon link). Others then fleshed the idea out; it looks to be an effective way to sell books.

If someone wants to warn you of an unhelpful attitude, with Jezebel as an example, then fine. But if we start saying that this spirit has such & such name and such & such role in Satan's hierarchy, then we are either making stuff up, or taking our cues from someone else who is making stuff up.

"There is a God"

I had him as a professor for a US History course and he was brilliant and fascinating. Turns out his PhD is in history and philosophy. He acknowledges in the beginning of the book that he has a flaw of occasionally being combative (and he gets that way a couple times in the book) but the overall thing was quite fascinating.

The book is written towards an LDS audience, so I don't know how well it translates into generic Christianity, but it made some incredibly fascinating arguments that changed how I understood Christianity in general and he seems to be pretty well read in a lot of atheist arguments, so my assumption is that he isn't attacking a straw man.

I wish I could be more familiar with this particular area of philosophy so I could assess how good of a book it is or not and the strength of its arguments. All I know is that, for me at least, it's up there with Mere Christianity for best Christian literature that I have read in a long time.

hint: its because he is God

I’m praying for you that you get delivered. A few great books that have helped me immensely are:

Repentance Cleansing Your Generational Bloodline https://www.amazon.com/dp/0620680563/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_Ri5dBbSKYEPW9

And

Operating in the Courts of Heaven https://www.amazon.com/dp/0899854818/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_Qk5dBbYJJVP3C

Both books blessed me immensely! Praying that you receive powerful deliverance and that it sets your life on a new path. Also there are ministries for deliverance. Ask and Pray to Jesus that He would lead you to someone who can minister to you in this way. I’ll am praying for a radical shift in your life!!

I think a big factor is that there's a spectrum of Islamism. Not all Islamists are like ISIS. The Muslim Brotherhood has been around for a long time, and is one of the most powerful Islamist groups, especially in Egypt. It's not only anti-western sentiment, but the west has repeatedly supported Islamists against the left in the Middle east.

>why haven't other groups that would oppose the western influence in the middle east and north Africa such as communists or perhaps secular ultra nationalists gained the amount of support today that the Islamists have?

Several main problems that the leftists face in the Middle East;

1)They have repeatedly been sabotaged by the west. Mosaddegh in Iran and Nasser in Egypt are the best examples. The west (even Israel) has repeatedly supported Sunni Islamists to posture against the leftists in the region. Sunni Islamism is primarily concerned with an "internal cleansing" to rid the Arab world of secular "kafiris" and other infidels that stray from an orthodox interpretation of Islam.

2)They have a bad legacy of totalitarianism from leaders like Saddam and Bashar.

3)Leftist ideologies are almost exclusively secular, which is a huge problem with the current status quo in Islam. Even the more democratic governments in the region have a heavy Muslim influence in the government. There is an ongoing struggle over Islamic identity in much of the Muslim world, and heated disagreement over if traditional Islam is compatible with a democracy, and if democracy is desirable.

Here's a couple books you might find interesting, you might be able to find PDF versions online.

1 Solid.

2 Great book.

3 Another great book.

4 And another.

When I was a young boy, my grandmother gave me the book "Stairway to Hell" it's full of comics like that.

First, thanks for responding. I understand this is a deeply held belief for many, and it's easier to downvote and move on rather than address the issues. I appreciate your not doing that.

> So, belief in spiritual warfare? Sure there are consequences, but there is no concern whatsoever for them to me--they don't in any way handicap my contribution to the world.

If that's true, I'm very glad. However, that does not change the fact that there are many people of the more Pentecostal/Christian Dominionist persuasions particularly where it does measurably harm them. Some of them are important people in my life.

There are a number of ways to think about spiritual warfare, and the one that I had in mind here was the views surrounding the "strategic level spiritual warfare" movement clarified by C. Peter Wagner and brought to most people's attention in Frank Peretti's work "This Present Darkness".

This is not the traditional view of spiritual warfare, is not taught in the bible and seems quite antithetical to the "kingdom theology" that (at least to me) seems to make the most sense of Jesus's message, and is certainly not what he or anyone else in the New Testament spends the most time talking about. None the less, this view has caught on like wildfire in certain parts of American evangelical Christianity, particularly the more pentecostal parts.

If you'd like a view of this mode of thinking about spiritual warfare from a quite conservative Christian, this book is a good start.

He quotes 2 Cor. 10:4-5, and
claims that:

> ... the battle is in the mind, and is based on the individuals choice between God and truth, or Satan and lies. Thus, the Biblical perspective on spiritual warfare has nothing to do with combating evil powers in the Spirit realm but in using the word of God to cast down every thought or imagination which "exhalteth itself against the knowledge of God".

Large portions of the book are available on google books if you're not familiar with strategic level spiritual warfare, or why even someone conservative enough to go way out of their way to make a dig at evolution thinks it's a harmful mistake.

Searching google will also turn up numerous recent articles, books, and news stories about the movement. It's real, it's large, it's hurting people, and it's worth addressing.

I think it's important to start by pointing out that it's not often that God will speak to us in a way that is very convenient to us (ie. audible replies to our prayers, visions/dreams, a prophet/messenger/angel explaining they've been sent by God to share something with us, specifically). I'm definitely not saying these things can't happen because they most certainly do; it's not the main way they happen though.

I don't think it's a coincidence the Bible is called the Word of God though. God has revealed literally everything we need to know about Him within Scripture (not to be confused with everything we want to know): He teaches us about His character, His plans and promises, the way we should view ourselves/others/Him, and so much more.

With all that said, the best way to hear from Him is to be actively seeking in prayer and through reading the Bible. I promise you'll find verses that seem to speak to your exact situation. If you've never read a book of the Bible through before, I would suggest starting with the Gospel of John.

If you feel like your prayer life is still suffering, or you just want to go deeper still, I would highly recommend The Kneeling Christian. The original is by an "Unknown Christian," but the one I linked appears to be the same text, and the digital version is free to download. It's a book we've been working through at our church this year, and it's changed the way my wife and I pray and how we look at prayer.

I don't know what your attitude toward prayer has been, but I think the most important thing to remember is that we should not be entering into prayer with the expectations that our prayers will not be answered.

James 1:5-8
>^5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ^6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ^7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ^8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Psalm 5:3
>In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.

I apologize for my long-windedness, but I hope I've provided both encouragement and insight here. I'll be praying that you receive the response you're looking for from God, that your faith in Him be restored and strengthened.

Here's a really good book along those lines, looking at all the different ways through history God has interacted with humanity. My friend had a copy of it from when he went to seminary.

Yeah, I'll be honest - I simply don't know. The best comment I have heard on it is from a charismatic view that's probably a bit of a stretch for this group. It essentially goes like this:

At certain times in history the Spirit is working so powerfully and His presence is so evident that grieving or quenching in that context could result in what we see in Scripture. One of the reasons we don't see this degree of the "presence of God" is because we aren't radically surrendered and desperate for God's hand. The case example they would use would be the Welsh Revival in which it essentially ended in very short order as soon as the minsters stopped giving God the glory due His name (as documented in a book called "The War on the Saints" - note, this is secondhand, I haven't read this book).

Not sure where I stand on the above, but there it is!

If you want to explore this question, I'd heartily recommend Reviving Old Scratch: Demons and the Devil for Doubters and the Disenchanted. It's a look at Satan and spiritual warfare by a Christian who believes in science, etc. but who is also charitable towards the more charismatic forms of Christianity. I think it does a good job helping Christians engage with the concept of spiritual warfare without feeling like they need to check their brain at the door to do so.

Here's a link to my favorite of her books. Perhaps you can find a library copy if being is not an option.

https://www.amazon.com/Rules-Engagement-Cindy-Trimm/dp/1599793407/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1599793407&pd_rd_r=6de61d50-f3fe-11e8-9210-63444ea1c1fb&pd_rd_w=9ZIuL&pd_rd_wg=thZGO&pf_rd_i=mobile-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=57b46099-d750-4d74-83ee-63ad64b310a4&pf_rd_r=36GX4AE3G6DPJCQTP6NM&pf_rd_s=mobile-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=36GX4AE3G6DPJCQTP6NM

I'm also going to get you a link to a YouTube video that has helped a lot of people.

Oooooo shoot.... you say nut job, I say important public fiqure. I mean who else is to keep us safe from demonic rape! And I know that she's making a difference since Kimberly Daniels is a sought-after conference speaker and preacher. She is the founder of Kimberly Daniels Ministries International (kimberlydaniels.com), Spoken Word Ministries—the church she pastors in Jacksonville, Fla., with her husband, Ardell—A Child of the King Learning Center and Word Bible College. Kim is a recognized prophetic voice as well as the author of several books, including Prayers That Bring Change. people! Hello.....

She's the founder of Kimberly Daniels Ministries International (kimberlydaniels.com), once again I am willing to bet this women is making a KILLING no pun intended 0.o serving this tripe to idiot masses. God I need to get in on the act, thing is I just can't act that well. So she preaches as a PROPHET. I bet God told her to make $$$$$ to fight Satan. You can't write this shit up....... books and videos and self help guides and tithing and speaker fees. DAMM!

look inside it here

There are a number of books that concern aliens, UFOs, and abduction from a scriptural point of view that have been published over the years. I don't personally recall any of these from the 1990s, but perhaps it's an earlier publication of one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Intrusion-Updated-Expanded-Bates/dp/0890514356

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Abduction-UFOs-Bible-Prophecy/dp/1556304056

>I always thought it was important to know what "the other side" is up to, and to be able to identify occultism in mainstream society.

You should be very very careful when researching the occult. Even the desire to understand more can be exploited by Satan. Always be strong in prayer and fasting when dealing with the occult. I would advise you not to become too enthralled by it, but the Bible also says we should not be ignorant of Satan's devices. (2 Corinthians 2:11) You must find a safe middle-ground.

If you truly do have a desire to understand the occult, you may enjoy [this book.] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Kingdom-Occult-Walter-Martin/dp/1418516449/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404837105&sr=8-1&keywords=kingdom+of+the+occult)