Review: Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance

April 2, 2026April 1, 2026 / rtrube54 / Leave a comment

Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance

Spiritual Warfare and Deliverance, Harold Ristau. Baker Books (ISBN: 9781540904393) 2025.

Summary: A biblical and pastoral account of how demons oppress and possess and how ministers may exorcise them.

I suspect that there are some who would deny the reality of the spiritual forces that are the subject of this book. And likewise, there are many who read the accounts of encounters with demons in the New Testament and attribute these to mental illness or other brain disorders. What most will not say plainly is that this infers that Jesus was mistaken as well. For that reason alone, I am willing to give Harold Ristau a hearing. Ristau has been a missionary, military chaplain, and pastor as well as holding a doctoral degree.

He recognizes the skepticism concerning demons and himself argues caution that we go to neither the skeptical extreme or the one that finds a demon lurking behind every bush. However, he has encountered this personal form of evil not only in mission settings but increasingly in the West. He attributes this to openness to the occult and mindfulness and meditative practices as well as drug use.

After addressing the issue of skepticism, he narrates a situation of delivering a person from a demon including the time-tested steps he took, the attempts of the demon to attack him psychologically, the deliverance of the person in the name of Jesus, and aftercare, which included psychological counseling as well as Christian discipleship in a local church community.

From here Ristau offers instruction on what demons are and how from scripture and church history to deal with demons. He identifies kinds and symptoms of demonism. For example, demonism can manifest in physical or spiritual possession, secret knowledge, supernatural power, and strange or beastly behavior, among other things. He addresses assessment, including ruling out psychological conditions. Rather than racing in with an “I’ve got to do something right now” mentality, he argues that this is the work for ordained pastors in the context and with the support of the church in prayer.

He then walks through “How to Exorcise a Demon” including a rite of exorcism. However a discerning mind bathed in scripture and attentive in prayer, and watchful for demonic devices is vital. He further elaborates good aftercare practices including self-care for the minister.

Finally, Ristau concludes with an exposition of Ephesians 6:10-20, addressing spiritual warfare, and the armor God has provided us. His purpose, as he concludes is that we be both prepared and fear not.

What I appreciate about Ristau’s approach is that he is frank, clear and practical, rather than sensationalistic. The cases he offers underscore both his argument for the reality of the demonic, and the practice of deliverance. He roots spiritual authority in Christ and his Word without swagger. He believes this is just part of good pastoral work while emphasizing careful preparation and not acting alone.

If Ristau’s assessment concerning rising demonic oppression and possession is accurate (and I’m inclined to believe he is right), this is crucial instruction. And, when practiced well, it offers the hope of flourishing under Christ rather than languishing under the Enemy for many.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.

Review: The Reformed Pastor

January 14, 2026January 13, 2026 / rtrube54 / Leave a comment

The Reformed Pastor

The Reformed Pastor (Puritan Paperbacks), Richard Baxter. Banner of Truth Trust (ISBN: 9780851511917) 1974 (first published in 1656).

Summary: On pastoral care, beginning with care of oneself, and then of the people, emphasizing catechesis through visitation.

In the mid-1600’s, Richard Baxter was vicar of a church in Kidderminster, England. He took a town that was pretty rough around the edges and taught them to follow Christ as a godly people. Surrounding ministers in Worcestershire asked him to give a series of talks about his ministry in 1656. This book was the result of those messages and served as a handbook for generations of pastors who want to be diligent shepherds of their people.

The outline of the book reveals why this has been such a helpful guide. Firstly, Baxter stresses the importance of oversight of oneself before oversight of others. He is concerned that pastors have truly been converted and know the grace of God in their lives. Furthermore, he urges them to persevere in those exercises that keep grace “lively.” He would have them practice what they proclaim, and avoid the sins against which they preach. He argues for the importance of this oversight recognizing both the importance of working out one’s own salvation. Likewise, there are the vulnerabilities of our own fallen nature as well as the greater temptations of public ministry.

Secondly, he teaches on the nature and manner of the pastor’s oversight. He extends this to all the flock. It seems he has a parish or locality in mind. He includes seeking the conversion of those who do not believe, including those under conviction of sin. Then he addresses building up those who believe, including families and especially the sick. Oversight also means reproving those engaged in some form of sin, and leading the church in discipline of those who refuse to turn from sin. Throughout, his focus must be on the salvation of his people, and those things most necessary for them to enjoy all the riches of that salvation. He commends a series of attributes that set a high bar for all pastors: simplicity, humility, seriousness, love, patience, reverence, spirituality, and a deep sense of one’s insufficiency for this work and dependence on Christ.

Thirdly, he turns to how pastors may neglect their ministry. He speaks of laziness in preparation and study, indifference to the needy, and being caught up in material things. He also condemns neglect of the unity and peace of the church. Previously, he has encouraged unity with other ministers. Pastors are not to be fractious!

Finally, the latter half of the book turns to a major focus, the catechesis of people through visitation in homes. As important as he considers preaching, he argues that much of the work of seeing Christ formed in people occurs through this personal work. He personally set aside two days for this work weekly. Baxter begins by listing seventeen benefits of this work from conversion of the lost to better knowing the spiritual state of one’s people to revealing the true nature of the ministerial office.

He takes time to address objections and difficulties. One is that there are too few ministers to do this well in many situations. However, he does not see lay leadership as an answer for this apart from heads of families with their own families. Then he offers a detailed set of directions on both the content of their catechism and the “flow” of a pastoral visit.

While our language may differ at points from his and our culture may differ from the parish culture of Kidderminster, I think there is much any pastor or person involved in ministry. First is the importance of attending to one’s own spiritual life and the qualities of godly ministers. Second is the importance of evangelism. Have people experienced a genuine work of grace or are they just socialized Christians? Thirdly, Baxter raises the vital importance of catechesis, and the reality that pulpit ministry alone will not accomplish this. It may not be through extensive visitation, but some other structure. Today, the lack of Christian formation is evident in aberrant beliefs from Christian nationalism to syncretic/eclectic faiths. Fourthly, there is the issue of knowing one’s people. Wendell Berry has suggested that farmers shouldn’t farm more land than what they can steward well. Perhaps the same might be true in churches.

Many have commended the re-reading of Baxter periodically and I think this worthwhile. But I’d also commend those like Eugene Peterson who have also thought deeply about the integrity of pastoral ministry, something deeply needed in our time. Given so many scandals, regular self-examination, mutual care with other pastors, and hopefully, the humbling sense of our insufficiency apart from Christ, are all things to be commended.

Review: McGowan’s Call

November 24, 2020November 24, 2020 / rtrube54 / 3 Comments

McGowan’s Call, Rob Smith. Huron, OH: Drinian Press, 2007.

Summary: A collection of short stories and a novella tracing the ministry of a pastor from a small Ohio river town to a suburb of Dayton.

The life of a minister is probably one of the least understood of any occupation, or, in the language of this book, a call. The author was a minister for thirty-one years in the southern Ohio settings of this book. One has a sense of an inside glimpse into the life of a minister–sought in spiritual crises, often triangulated in church governance fights, always struggling with the congruence between the face he must present in public and his private life.

The book consists of several short stories set in an early ministerial assignment in Hatteras, a small industrial town on the Ohio River. The novella at the center of the book and concluding stories are set in a Dayton suburb and a much larger church–a typical career arc of an effective pastor.

The book opens with Davis McGowan’s arrival in Hatteras, and encounters with a homeless man in “a game of mutual respect between a local and an import.” Another story describes the loss of daughter who looked much like his own daughter in a tornado, and the small comfort he could offer with his presence and prayers. That weekend he goes to find his own solace on his boat.

The guy at the bait shop seemed truly disgusted that I would come to play on my boat when lives had been lost. I couldn’t argue. It was on my mind, too.
Rob Smith, p. 24

This tension between public and private, who McGowan is and who he is expected to be runs through these stories.

“False Witness” is the novella at the center of this book. It centers around the death of Angie Fornesby, wife of Barker Fornesby, a rising executive. She was undergoing cancer treatments, promising at least a number of years where she would enjoy a quality of life. It was a bit tricky because she was also diabetic. In fact, that is what killed her, an overdose of insulin. Since both Barker and son Matt were trained and skilled in administering doses, this ruled out an accident. Barker’s not exactly forthcoming. He doesn’t readily produce an insulin log. An alert prosecutor also has picked up on a number of interactions between Barker and a hospital nurse. Davis had given an initial statement to investigators right after Angie’s death. Slater, the prosecutor, thinks he has enough to take a murder case to the grand jury. They subpoena McGowan, asking about his interactions with Angie. Not sure of what really happened but seeing where this was going, and the impact it could have on Matt, he gives false testimony that gets Barker Fornesby off. He discovers in the concluding story that he has made a lasting enemy in Slater.

In the same concluding story is one of the most finely written passages in the book, a description of a pastor living the call. McGowan has been called to be with a couple whose unborn child has died in utero. After a stillbirth is induced, McGowan holds the dead child, named Joshua, and speaks of how much his parents would have loved him. Then he goes to them.

“I held Joshua and called him by name,” he said.
Becky looked to Chad and then back to McGowan. “Was it awful.”
“He was beautiful,” said Davis.
“Am I silly, Dr. McGowan, to want to see him?” Davis glanced at Chad.
. . .
“You felt Joshua inside, and that little kick made you both think about the future in another way. Now that he’s gone, none of that will happen in quite the same way. You’ve lost a lot.”
Rob Smith, pp. 161-162.

This is the noble, heart-wrenching work pastors around the world pursue daily, unappreciated until one is on the receiving end of that care. Much of it is unseen by most congregants, who are critical of sermon styles and have unreal expectations of the spirituality of these very human people, while also expecting them to fix the toilets in the building.

McGowan is neither unworldly saint nor worldly hypocrite. He loves to sail, loves his wife, and pursues his call with integrity while struggling with the tensions between public expectations and his sense of self. He is one who’d rather dress up in old jeans and hang around with the youth group than hob-nob with socialites. He wrestles with the ambiguities of doing what is right and merciful when it isn’t strictly the letter of the law. He incurs enmity when he does so.

Rob Smith has truly created an interesting character in a profession we often discount. He no doubt draws upon his own experiences to explore what it looks like to care faithfully for a group to which one is called, the beauty and the pain that goes along with this. There is an understated beauty in this writing that doesn’t overwhelm with spiritual profundity but draws one through the unpretentious decency of McGowan. And if you haven’t gotten enough of McGowan in this volume, there are three more: McGowan’s Retreat, McGowan’s Return, and McGowan’s Pass.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Review: As Kingfishers Catch Fire

September 27, 2017September 26, 2017 / rtrube54 / 4 Comments

As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Eugene H. Peterson. Colorado Springs: Waterbrook, 2017.

Summary: A collection of 49 of Peterson’s sermons grouped into seven sections, focused on lives congruent with the teaching of scripture.

I’ve been a follower of the writing of Eugene Peterson since I heard him speak on the parables of Jesus after a very successful conference, where he warned us of the dangers that may come with success. He is a person who repeatedly has challenged me to look beyond the obvious, the “glittering images,” to the bedrock realities of keeping company with Jesus.

This is a kind of valedictory book, that Peterson has described as his last book, bringing together preaching over the course of his pastoral work into a collection of 49 of his sermons. He groups these is seven groups of seven organized around “preaching in the company of…Moses, David, Isaiah, Solomon, Peter, Paul, and John of Patmos.” Each section is preceded by a brief introduction about the one being kept company with in that part.

A theme which ties this collection together in his mind is congruence, particularly between our faith as articulated in Holy Scripture, and the ways we live out that faith. Peterson explains this further in introducing the collection:

“The Christian life is the lifelong practice of attending to the details of congruence–congruence between ends and means, congruence between what we do and the way we do it, congruence between what is written in Scripture and our living out what is written, congruence between a ship and its prow, congruence between preaching and living, congruence between the sermon and what is lived in both preacher and congregation, the congruence of the Word made flesh in Jesus with what is lived in our flesh.”

I find it almost impossible to summarize all the good I found in this collection without writing a very long review. What is compelling in these sermons is the joining of thoughtful engagement with the biblical text, thoughtful reflection on life, and unforced connections between the two. One sermon that caught my attention was “Train Up a Child” from Proverbs 22:6. After observing that the word we translate as “train” literally means “to rub the gums of a newborn child with oil before it begins to suck its mother’s breast” (scripture is so earthy!), he discusses the implications of this warm, intimate act of helping a child get started right in life. He writes,

“Some people have a box labeled ‘Sunday school,’ where training takes place for an hour every week. There is another box labeled for parents that is consulted occasionally when there is misbehavior. One of the most visible boxes these days is child psychology, which is fairly expensive, but at least you know the person working out of that box knows a lot more than you do, which relieves you of some of the responsibility.

“All these boxes are useful from time to time, but they have little to do with what is involved in the biblical proverb. The proverb doesn’t come from a box but out of a life lived. It has little to do with advice giving, counseling, or analyzing. Rather it is initiated through personal example and caring. It means that every time you engage in an act of faith in Christ, you are training another person. Every time you love another in obedience to Christ’s command, you are educating someone else. Every time you forgive someone because Christ forgave you, you are assisting materially in the Christian growth of that person. Every time you hope because Christ has promised his help, you are opening up new possibilities of growth in another person.”

Each sermon probably takes ten to fifteen minutes to read, but gives you plenty to reflect on for the next half hour, the next day, even the next week. Peterson writes at the beginning of the book his attempts to fit into his denominations expectations of him to motivate people to grow their church, to cast vision, and how this just didn’t fit his sense of pastoral calling. What we are given instead is transcripts of addresses of a pastor bringing out in plain language the meaning of texts, and considerations of what it means to live them out in everyday life. We are also given examples of how this may be done from Genesis to Revelation, from Moses to John of Patmos. These 49 sermons cover much of canonical scripture and begin to help us see how the Word of God written may become indeed, the Word of God for us.

This book has been caught up in controversy. At the time of its publication, Peterson gave what was meant to be a kind of “valedictory” interview, during which the interviewer, with his own agenda, pursued a line of questioning about Peterson’s views and pastoral practice around LGBT issues. After the article came out, Peterson, facing bookstores pulling his books, issued a “clarification.” In the end, no one was particularly happy. I question the interviewer’s judgment of pursuing his line of questioning in what was a kind of valedictory interview. I wish Peterson had responded differently or not at all, particularly because his answers and later clarifications might have discouraged people from discovering a treasure. I think it better that this book serve as his “valedictory address.” For me, it not only summed up his life and ministry, but modeled the skillful work of the diligent pastor in preaching week by week. We need more models like this.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher via Edelweiss. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.