Deliver Us from Evil: A Pastor’s Reluctant Encounters with the Powers of Darkness by Don Basham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In Deliver Us From Evil Don Basham tells the story of his deliverance ministry. The mindset Basham started out with would never have predicted such a career. He was irritated when a fellow minister suggested the problems he was encountering in his Pennsylvania church might have their source in:
“…a spiritual adversary. An ‘enemy in high places.’ The Bible calls him Satan…”
Basham’s reaction:
It was an effort to keep my face straight. Surely the man didn’t literally … ‘That’s the trouble with biblical literalists,’ I fumed as I roared away. A pat answer for everything so we’re saved the discomfort of thinking. The man belonged in the Middle Ages! Satan indeed! (Kindle Location 327).
The book goes on to tell how God opened his eyes to demonic activity around him and drew him into a line of work that consumed years of his life. His stories illustrate principles of how to recognize demonic oppression, how he took Jesus as his example when dealing with the demon spirits, and things he learned from his failures as well as his successes. He also addresses subjects like how demons get in, the conditions necessary for deliverance, and how to keep one’s life free from their return once the unclean spirits have been exorcised. He illustrates every teaching point with examples from his years of experience.
Basham is a gifted storyteller and this was a fascinating read. Though the book was first published in 1972, it’s as relevant today as ever for professionals (ministers, counselors) and lay people alike.
I received Deliver Us From Evil as a gift from the publisher, Chosen Books, for the purpose of writing a review. One star off for the difficulty I had reading the NetGalley Kindle review copy, where about a quarter of the sentences contained no spaces between words.
Violet Nesdoly 