Bondage Breaker

Neil T. Anderson

Description

Featuring a new introduction by Neil T. Anderson, this freshly re-covered edition of his bestselling book The Bondage Breaker (more than 1.2 million copies sold) leads readers away from the shadows and shackles in their lives and toward the freedom that comes when theyrealize they have the right to be freeconfront the power of Satanfight the temptation to do it their waytrade deception for graceaffirm their identity in ChristNeil Anderson ultimately helps people break negative thought patterns, control irrational feelings, and break out of the bondage of sinful behavior. Those struggling will discover how to embrace the promise of Jesus to win the spiritual battles that confront them.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Reference

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
• Date de parution: 15 décembre 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736931281
• Langue: English

Extrait

NEIL T. ANDERSON
T H E
B O N D A G E
B R E A K E R

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )

Verses marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All emphasis in Scripture quotations has been added by the author.

Cover by Terry Dugan Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Cover photo istockphoto/abzee

The names of certain persons mentioned in this book have been changed in order to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

THE BONDAGE BREAKER Copyright 1990/1993/2000 by Neil T. Anderson Published by Harvest House Publishers Eugene, Oregon 97402 www.harvesthousepublishers.com

THE BONDAGE BREAKER is a registered trademark of The Hawkins Children s LLC. Harvest House Publishers, Inc., is the exclusive licensee of the federally registered trademark THE BONDAGE BREAKER.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Anderson, Neil T., 1942-
The bondage breaker / Neil T. Anderson.-2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-1814-5
ISBN-10: 0-7369-1814-0
1. Spiritual warfare. 2. Anderson, Neil T., 1942- I. Title.
BV4509.5 .A523 2000
235 .4-dc21 00-022238

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 / LB / 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments
A Word from Neil
Free at Last!
Part One: Take Courage!
1. You Don t Have to Live in the Shadows
2. Finding Your Way in the World
3. You Have Every Right to Be Free
4. You Can Win the Battle for Your Mind
5. Confronting the Rebel Prince
6. Jesus Has You Covered
Part Two: Stand Firm!
7. Manipulating Spirits
8. The Lure of Knowledge and Power
9. Tempted to Do It Your Way
10. Accused by the Father of Lies
11. The Danger of Deception
12. The Danger of Losing Control
Part Three: Walk Free!
13. Steps to Freedom in Christ
14. Helping Others Find Freedom in Christ

A Final Encouragement
Appendix: Further Help!
Confidential Personal Inventory
The Effectiveness of the Steps to Freedom in Christ
Notes
Topical Reference
About the Author
About Freedom in Christ Ministries
Books and Resources from Neil T. Anderson, Discipleship Counseling Ministries, and Freedom in Christ Ministries
To Jerry and Sally Friesen No two people have been more helpful to me. You are my partners in ministry. Thank you for believing in me and committing yourself so faithfully to Freedom in Christ Ministries. I love you both.
Acknowledgments
No person helps me more in the area of my message than my dear colleague Dr. Robert Saucy. I am fully aware of my need to be accountable to others, not just for moral reasons, but for credibility of the message and the integrity of the ministry. Bob, you have been my rudder (and sometimes my anchor when I was tempted to proceed without due reflection) in the sea of spiritual conflicts. I m indebted to you, and so is the body of Christ. It was a privilege to coauthor God s Power at Work in You with you. It helped to crystallize my thinking on sanctification.
I also want to thank Dr. Bruce Ware, Dr. Millard Erickson, and Dr. Bruce Demarest, who graciously agreed to read five of my books related to this subject. They have offered important suggestions to help me refine the message of freedom in Christ.
I want to acknowledge all the good people who shared their lives with me. I was privileged to see God set you free in Christ. There were many emotional moments remembering the pain and torment you suffered. I have learned from every one of you as you shared your spiritual journeys with me. How wonderful to see God demonstrate His sufficient grace in your lives!
Carolina, a Talbot School of Theology student, put the original content of the manuscript on disk, and Ed Stewart helped immensely with the first edition. The editorial crew at Harvest House has been very helpful and supportive-as they have been with all my books.
A Word from Neil
In 1982 I left the pastorate to teach at Talbot School of Theology. I went there knowing there were people in our church who had problems I didn t have answers for. I would teach and preach God s Word the best I could, but I really didn t see much change in the lives of the faithful people who attended regularly. I believed with all my heart that Jesus was the answer and that the truth of His Word would set people free, but I really didn t know how.
At the seminary I asked permission to teach a masters of theology elective on resolving personal and spiritual conflicts. I felt like I was a first-grader instructing preschoolers. At the same time, God was directing hurting people to me for counseling. I turned a major corner when I started to realize that none of these professing Christians knew who they were in Christ. It was as if they were totally ignorant of their spiritual heritage. (I have since found that to be true all over the world.) If the Holy Spirit was testifying with their spirits that they were children of God (Romans 8:16), why weren t they sensing it?
I turned another significant corner when I discovered the spiritual battle that is going on for our minds and learned why it is so important to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. During those ten wonderful years at Talbot I also discovered that Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor, that He desires to set captives free and bind up the brokenhearted, and that what enables victims to submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7) is essentially a process of repentance.
I was searching for a wholistic answer, rooted in God s Word, centered on Christ and usable for all Christians everywhere. The tool that resulted is called the Steps to Freedom in Christ, which is now being used all over the world. All this study and research was for my second doctorate from Talbot, and this book- The Bondage Breaker -was my dissertation.
The Steps to Freedom in Christ are in this book, and you can work through them on your own, because Jesus truly is the Wonderful Counselor. May the Good Lord enable you to read and comprehend this book, and may it draw you closer to Jesus in a liberating and life-changing way.

-Neil T. Anderson
Free at Last!
A FEW YEARS AGO I was speaking in a Southern California church on the subject of the New Age movement. My text was 1 Timothy 4:1: The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. After my message I was surrounded at the front of the sanctuary by hurting people.
Sitting about halfway back in the sanctuary was a 22-year-old woman who had been weeping uncontrollably since the service ended. Several people had tried to comfort her, but she wouldn t allow anyone to get near her. Finally a church staff member cut through the crowd around me and said, I m sorry, folks, but we need Dr. Anderson back here right away.
As I approached the young woman, I could hear her sobbing, He understands! He understands! We were able to get her out of the sanctuary and into a private office. After she calmed down, I scheduled an appointment with her for the next week.
When Nancy arrived for her appointment, her face was marked by ugly, open scratch wounds. I ve been scratching myself like this ever since last week, and I can t control it, she admitted sheepishly.
Nancy described her horrible childhood, which included an abusive father and a grandmother who identified herself as a black witch. When I was three years old I received my guardians-spirit guides, she continued. They were my companions, telling me how to live and what to say. I never questioned whether having spirit guides was anything but normal until my mother took me to Sunday school. Then I began to suspect that my spirit guides might not be good for me. When I asked my parents about it, my father beat me. I never asked again!
In order to cope with the increasing torment that her spirit guides brought to her life, Nancy resorted to rigid personal discipline. In her high school years she trusted Christ as her Savior. But instead of leaving, her guardians continued to harass her.
After high school Nancy turned to the epitome of discipline: the Marines. Determined to become the toughest of the lady leathernecks, she won awards for her discipline. But her spiritual torment kept pushing her mind and emotions to the edge. She refused to tell anyone about her mental battle for fear that she would be labeled insane. Finally the pressure overcame her, and she snapped. Nancy quietly accepted a medical discharge and retreated to a lonely existence of inner turmoil and pain. This was Nancy s condition when she came to church and heard me talk about deceiving spirits.
Finally someone understands me! Nancy concluded tearfully.
Would you like to get rid of your spirit guides? I asked.
There was a long pause. Will they really leave, or will I go home and be thrashed by them again?
You will be free, I assured her.
Two hours later Nancy was free-and was hugging us with an openness she had never known before. Now I can have people over to my house! she exclaimed joyfully.
The Reality of the Dark Side
There was time when I t