Book
Review for "THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL"
by Tom Mack
The core of Christianity has been a battle for the
souls of men. The Bible is very clear on that subject. Unfortunately,
much of the Christian world has elected to accept man’s study
of the soul (called psychology) to the effective abandonment of Biblical
principles.
Man’s study of the soul has always carried with it two major errors:
1) a denial of evil as a driving force in the world, and 2) that the
soul is nothing more than a physical extension of the human mind. When
much of the Christian world accepted these false premises, they were
obliged to minimize the role of evil in the world. When they minimized
the role of evil in the world, they by default, allowed these evil forces
to work within their organizations virtually unchecked. The people who
are part of these organizations became spiritual merchandise both in
the hands of the elitist clergy, and the devils these leaders refuse
to acknowledge.
These denials on the part of the “professional clergy” make
for an interesting paradox. While they insist upon denying the principles
of Scripture, they have no problem using the principles of modern psychology
to identify and treat people in denial over their various sins. The
hypocrisy of this situation has created total confusion for people seeking
help for their problems.
Since many churches routinely deny the full reality of evil, they have
become powerless to deal with the personal problems within their congregations.
The pastors, unable to deal with the problems on their own, are obliged
to refer their congregation’s problems to professional psychologists
and/or psychiatrists. The people often discover, after a few visits,
that person to be nothing more than a nominal Christian. The advice
they receive bears no relationship to biblical principles. The confusion
the people initially felt becomes frustration as they hide their problems
and “do the best that they can.”
Out of this disastrous background has arisen a rare, new breed of Christian
Counselor: one who dares to believe and use the Bible as the cornerstone
of his or her counseling, and one who knows the power of Jesus Christ.
Veteran counselor Rayola Kelley has emerged as one of these courageous
few with her book The Battle for the Soul.
Written from her notes after being on the battlefield for years, Kelley
has brought new insight to both those seeking help and those wanting
to help others. If you are looking for an “ivory tower”
textbook on the soul, this book is not for you. Instead, this book is
based upon real cases straight out of her files.
The practicality starts right at the beginning of her book. Unlike her
“professional clergy” counterparts, Kelley has no problem
ascertaining the full reality of evil. She has even fewer problems identifying
the source of evil. Most importantly, she knows that Jesus Christ has
overcome evil and will help us to overcome evil as well.
One of the strongest attributes of this book is the fact that Kelley
does not settle for identifying problems. She gives solutions and explanations
about how to solve the problems she identifies. The first section is
a case in point. Instead of just criticizing preachers and ministries
for missing the mark in dealing with the wiles of the devil, she offers
concrete solutions based upon a solid scriptural foundation.
Kelley correctly points out that much of what many preachers do in “reaching
the world for Jesus Christ” is nothing more than grandstanding
and pride. Like Saddam Hussein before the Gulf War of 1991, all his
prideful boasting about the war being the “mother of all battles”
and calling for a “Jihad” proved useless when the Iraqi
Army was faced with a superior enemy.
Kelley points out that most Christians are no different than that Iraqi
Army. These unfortunate people are sent out to “reach the world
for Jesus Christ” based upon the eloquence of their leader’s
rhetoric. When they return home, battered and bruised, they find little
comfort or support from their leaders because preachers and their “ministries”
consider Christian counseling nothing more than an extension of their
“preaching ministry.”
Their counselees become victims because the preacher does little or
nothing to address their personal issues. Most preachers instead, use
their “counseling sessions” as an opportunity to restate
their pulpit rhetoric. The preacher may feel vindicated, but the counselee
leaves the preacher’s office victimized and confused about their
faith.
Kelley believes that most of these people who were sent out to “reach
the world for Jesus Christ” are not any different than that Iraqi
Army. They were improperly trained for their task and totally unprepared
for the enemy they were sent out to face. As a result, they either become
captives of the enemy or return to the church dazed and confused about
what happened to them. When they turn to their leaders for help, they
are ostracized and humiliated for their failures. It takes a long time
for many of them to seek real help apart from their church’s denominational
structures. The new breed of Christian Counselor often offers the only
real help these people receive.
It is exactly this kind of person that Battle for the Soul deals with.
Kelley uses the second section of her book to identify the problems
she sees continually in her ministry. Her first discussion covers the
problems people have with delusions and reality. Obviously, this is
not a new subject, but Kelley’s approach is not cold and clinical
as Dr. Sigmund Freud and his counterparts. Rather than treating delusions
as a sickness that is barely treatable, Kelley considers these altered
realities to be sin. By identifying these problems as sin, she is able
to evaluate how evil can use these problems to alter their counselee’s
thinking and ability to reason.
After Kelley has shown us the problems she faces with those she has
ministered to, she takes the current Church world to task for their
failure to identify and deal with these problems. Unlike many current
critics of the Church, Kelley then maps out a plan for churches to become
victorious and truly help their people. Unlike the current church system,
she has no problem identifying how evil undercuts and neutralizes the
work of Christ. Here she also begins to show us that the soul is indeed
separate and distinct from the physical world.
Kelley’s final section covers several problems she encounters
in her counseling ministry. By establishing the reality of evil and
the viability of the soul as separate from the physical world, she can
tackle some of the tough topics such as witchcraft, curses and the “wrong
laying on of hands.” Again, she does more than identify problems.
She offers concrete solutions that have worked in her counseling sessions.
When you read The Battle for the Soul, do not expect to read it in one
sitting. It will require several readings to get the meat out of this
book. That makes the money the reader pays for the book a great value.
Kelley also has a workbook which a reader can use in conjunction with
the book. They are an excellent value compared to the psycho-babble
found in so many Christian books of today.
Both the book and the workbook may be ordered by calling toll-free 1-866-381-BOOK
(2665) or you may order online at http://xulonpress.com, under the subsection
“Christian Living.”
To learn more about Rayola Kelley’s ministry, check out her website
at http://gentleshepherd.com for additional articles and for times and
locations of Rayola Kelley’s Hidden Manna seminars.
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