cover image Stronger Than the Struggle: Uncomplicating Your Spiritual Battle

Stronger Than the Struggle: Uncomplicating Your Spiritual Battle

Havilah Cunnington. Thomas Nelson, $16.99 trade paper (224p) ISBN 978-0-7180-9419-5

Cunnington, a pastor and executive director of Christian values advocacy group Moral Revolution, shares her thoughts on how Christians should best handle spiritual uncertainties and the pressures of the devil. As a young woman, Cunnington was “living for the weekend” until an experience during a high school class trip led her to an awakening: a young girl began to scream and convulse, as if possessed by the devil, and the team leader told everyone to encircle the girl and face away from her as they prayed. Cunnington came away with the lesson that only “insiders” could fight this type of spiritual battle. To equip her readers to better understand Satan’s three objectives—steal, kill, and destroy—she shares many personal and Scriptural stories, and explains character types such as the prodigal son and the miser as examples of the work of evil. However, although she succeeds in elucidating her thoughts about Satan’s directive against humankind, the text lacks cohesion and organization. Those with a literalist interpretation of the Bible looking for fortitude against sin will find much here. [em](Jan.) [/em]