Now Free: Unlocking the mysteries of Satan

Stephen McCracken

https://vyrso.com/product/26489/unlocking-the-mysteries-of-satan

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Daniel Yoder

Thanks for pointing this out.

Bruce Dunning

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/530364#Comment_530364

Thanks. Note that this is an "Ebook short".

Martin Grainger Dean

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/530369#Comment_530369

Thanks for the tip. Martin.

JoshInRI

This is actually not a bad little book. The author has written the following (a sample for you)

God is continually looking down at you in disappointment or even disgust. He is incredulous that you could be so unfaithful, selfish, and sinful. It’s a small wonder he hasn’t turned his back on you. He’s probably lining you up for a crushing punishment of some kind.
Christians are dangerous and cannot be trusted. Opening up to them would be extremely foolish. They’re just waiting for a chance to judge you ferociously. You have to tell them what they want to hear and never let them know how badly you’re messing up.
The Bible may have some good points, but obviously you can’t believe it completely. Internal contradictions, questionable miracle stories, and faulty historical and scientific claims show this book to be fallible like any other book written by humans. In fact, you can’t really know which parts to take literally.
Your efforts to serve God by sharing your faith are doomed to failure. First, nobody wants to hear this, and they will feel offended when you bring it up. Besides, your incompetence makes it even less likely that anyone would listen; the person will probably come up with advanced questions you can’t answer, and not only will you look stupid, but you’ll also make Jesus look stupid. You’d be better off waiting until you’re more prepared.
When you feel depressed and far from God, the only solution is to get alone by yourself for a good while. You don’t need to go hang out with Christians as much as you need to relax and maybe surf the Net.
You don’t have to go crazy with this area of sin. Just a sample, just a reminder, just a taste, could hardly do any harm. You’re not going to give yourself over; you’re just going to get close enough to remember what it’s like.
In your fleshly state of mind, it would be pointless to go to a fellowship meeting or other place where you’ll need to give out spiritually. If you go, you’re just going to be bringing others down. You’d better get your head together before going back.
It looks like this moral problem you have is never going to change. You might as well decide how you’re going to manage your existence as a lifelong screw-up in this area. God has already shown he isn’t going to help, so give it up.
Prayer isn’t working. It’s probably because of your lack of faith, or maybe God refuses to answer because you’re so irregular in prayer. Maybe he just doesn’t care. Whatever the case, it feels more and more ridiculous to go on pretending you believe in this.
There was that time when God was blessing your life, but that was a long time ago. Something has gone terribly wrong; you can’t feel his presence like you could then. He doesn’t bless you like he did then. It could well be that you’ve been dealt out of the game. God has moved on to others who are more deserving.
If you keep listening to this talk about surrendering all for God, you’re going to miss incredible opportunities that may never come again. Your career is going to suffer irreversibly. You’re going to miss the love of your life. You’re going to become a fanatic and a weirdo. You’re on the verge of robbing yourself of real happiness. You’ve got to take a more moderate position in spiritual matters. We’re not talking about denying God here, just more sense of balance in life.
So what if you hate that sister in Christ? She’s got it coming, and no sane person could possibly react any other way. Besides, you’re not saying you would never forgive her. You can think about it when she comes to grovel and finally acknowledge what she’s done.
If you keep serving so regularly, you’re going to be all used up! Start looking out for yourself—you don’t want to burn out.
It’s one thing to talk about trusting God, but you’re facing real dangers here. Don’t be stupid! Of course God wants you to take measures to secure your future. You’re not in some fantasy world—this is real life! You’ve got to start taking life into your own hands.
Your plan to go and admonish your friend about an area of sin is unwise. First, who do you think you are? Is your life so pure that you should go around trying to set others straight? Isn’t that a little arrogant? Who’s casting the first stone here? Besides, if you think about it, you’ll see abundant evidence that he’ll never listen anyway—he’ll probably retaliate, maybe even dangerously. Look, people have to move at their own pace, and if God wanted him to see this he would make it clear himself. If someone should go and say something, aren’t there plenty of others who would be way more capable than you? Maybe you should just mind your own business.
If only you had done what you really wanted to do in that situation a year ago, you’d probably be having the time of your life right now. You’re listening to all this legalism and you’re not being true to yourself. If you keep this up, you’re going to ruin your life.
God probably has decided already what’s going to happen in this ministry situation, so it doesn’t matter what you do. Who do you think you are, anyway, arrogantly thinking you could make a difference?
This kind of person probably won’t respond to words. You should just witness with your life, and meanwhile you can pray. Only God can bring someone to faith. If you go shooting your mouth off, it almost certainly will make matters worse.
It sure is annoying to see how these Christians just do what everybody expects. There’s terrific groupthink going on here. I can’t see someone as authentic as you conforming that way to the expectations of others.
If you keep pushing your boyfriend away during your make-outs, he’s going to think you don’t really like him. He’d have no problem finding a girl who would never push him away.^[1]

^[1] Dennis McCallum, Unlocking the Mysteries of Satan (ebook Short) (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2011).