"Ascent from Darkness", by Michael Leehan

In my experience there are three broad categories of books. The first category is the crummy book – the one you wish you hadn’t wasted time on. The second is the good book – one that stirs the mind and conversation. But then there’s a third, one I consider the phenomenal book. It’s the book one doesn’t merely read, but consumes and devours. It’s one I can’t stop reading or put down easily.

“Ascent from Darkness” falls in that category of phenomenal books. It’s a book that I wish was longer, and one that I will never regret reading. I read it cover-to-cover in four days, and loved every page of it.

The author, Michael Leehan, was a full-fledged Satanist for twenty years of his life after making a deal with the devil when he was in his early twenties. Leehan describes his descent into evil darkness, channeling, blood/animal sacrifice, possession, etc. throughout the majority of the book. The experience of just reading his testimony was mind-blowing and eye-opening!

One of the most painful statements in the entire book came when Leehan was mere hours away from his self-appointed time to commit suicide. While still in bondage, he included this scathing opinion of the Church in his one last plea to God for help: “I can tell You another thing if You are there; Your followers suck! They lie and they are hypocrites. In a moment they quote Scripture and fornicate. They speak Your words, and then they lie to each other. They come to church hours after they lust for their neighbor and commit sin. They say they serve You but are inwardly evil. They profess You, but their eyes and hearts are consumed by this world” (p.209).

The last quarter of the book details the process – a long, painful, difficult one – Leehan endured while seeking deliverance. We Americans have seen Hollywood’s rendition of exorcisms performed by sweaty priests as they fling holy water on the afflicted. But that wasn’t Leehan’s case. He agonized several years on the road to freedom.

God skillfully directed godly men and women in Leehan’s life-path, Christ-followers who prayed with/for him and relentlessly loved him to Christ. Today, Leehan is a free man in Christ, and he shares his radical testimony with the world how his life was miraculously changed by the power of God!

RATING: There are not enough stars in the 5-star system for this book. If so, I’d give it more! It’s a must-read and a must-share!


DISCLAIMER: I received this book free of charge from Thomas Nelson Publishers (Booksneeze) in exchange for my unbiased review. I was not promised reward, nor was I threatened or coerced in any way in order to solicit a positive review. All opinions are mine.

"Our Last Great Hope", by Ronnie Floyd

SYNOPSIS: You know it when you read it. You know, that book that is absolutely timely in getting into your hands. That was “Our Last Great Hope” for me. So, maybe I liked it with a little extra measure because I as ready for it. That said, I really liked this book, and I think Ronnie Floyd did an outstanding job in writing this one.


The premise of “Our Last Great Hope” is that the world is running on empty and has lost hope. But “the fulfillment of the great commission is our last great hope.” (p. xxvii) What would our world, our society, or cities – heck, our churches – look like if Evangelical Christians took the command of Jesus to “go and make disciples” seriously?

What would happen if you prayed daily for God to put people in your life who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ? What if you prepared yourself daily in reading/study of God’s word? What if you talked Jesus every day with your children? It’s likely we would see a far different place than we see before us today.

Ronnie Floyd inspires readers not just to THINK missionally, but to ACT missionally. He suggests several practical, simple – yet sometimes bold – ways we can take the hope of Jesus Christ to a dark, lost world. And it all starts with you and me. “…don’t sit around and wait until we feel supernatural leading…The Great Commission is always God’s will” (p.113).

DISLIKES:  The one and only disagreement (and I am truly reluctant to call it a “dislike” in my heading) I have with Floyd is one aspect he suggests. “I believe that perhaps the most strategic solution to the challenge of the Great Commission lies in churches that do not yet exist…In a typical American city, we need many thousands of new churches” (p.67). With the abundance of churches in America – sometimes even multiple churches on one street alone, depending on the city – one of the LAST things I think we need is MORE churches.

Instead, what I think we need more of – and this is one other point Floyd stresses throughout the book – is missions-minded Evangelicals whose aim it is to take the gospel into their own world, if not further. I simply don’t think more churches is what we need, especially when we see more and more close each day because Americans like to “church hop”; and the ones that remain in existence do so primarily through “births among existing members” without “plans to go out and make disciples” (p.134).

CONCLUDING ‘HAT TIP’:  The most powerful statement comes near the end of the book, when Floyd says, “Today’s churches are easy to criticize, easy to ridicule, because too many of them are fruitless and fearful. They have meetings, members, programs, and fancy websites. But if there is no Spirit-driven boldness, no dynamic growth, no weekly pattern of people coming to Christ, then the world has no respect for them” (p. 209)

RATING:  What else can I say? 5 stars and 2 thumbs up for Ronnie Floyd’s, “Our Last Great Hope”. Well done, brother! Pick one up today and be inspired to share the gospel with your world.


DISCLAIMER: I was given this book free of charge by Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for my unbiased review of it. All opinions in this review are mine. I have not been threatened, coerced, or promised kickbacks in return for providing a positive review.