Christian Book Notes

McGuire, Kristine.  Escaping the Cauldron:  What You Should Know About the Occult.  Lulu Publishing, 2010.  188 pp.  $15.99.  Purchase at Amazon.

Introduction

Kristine has a wonderful testimony of God’s grace and mercy in her life that deals directly with the contents of Escaping the Cauldron.  She currently serves alongside her husband Thom in their ministry–Big Fish Ministries.  She serves as a biblical counselor and is working towards becoming a marriage mentor through the American Association of Christian Counselors.  You can find much more about Kristine at her personal website.

Summary

Part biography and part biblical study, Escaping the Cauldron offers Kristine testimony of how God saved her from a “Christian” occultic lifestyle.  Kristine looks at everything from ghost hunting to spirit guides.  Each chapter is short and riveting to the point that you will want to know more about the particular topic of the occult she is discussing.

The essence of the book is found in two chapters at the end of the book. The first of these two chapters is entitle Spiritual Warfare.  In this chapter, we discover that the occult is the tangible evidence we have of the demonic side of the war that continues on in the world around us.  The second chapter is entitled “How Should Christians Respond?” Both of these chapters bring the entire book to a close as the reader, having just been introduced with an “insider’s” perspective of the occult, with a biblical understanding of what is taking place in the world around us today.  Shoot, it could be happening in your own home and you not be aware of it!

Review

I greatly appreciated the numerous Scripture references to support her claims against the occult and for a biblical worldview.  All too often, Christian writers will claim that the Bible says something but will not substantiate it with biblical passages.  That cannot be said of Kristine.

The second element I greatly appreciated was Kristine’s willingness to be so open about her past.  It is actually a frightening experience to read about the realities of what is happening today.  Kristine has winsomely challenged many misconceptions held about these “safe” demonic practices.  Having “been there, done that,” Kristine’s mission is to help as many others too not go down the roads she has traveled.  For that, we all should be thankful.

Recommendation

Obviously, if you know someone that is messing around with witchcraft and ghost hunting and the like, then you need to read this book.  Still, this book is not just for those who know someone involved in the occult.  This book is meant to equip the saints to recognize the occultic practices in order to 1) avoid them, and 2) help those you know avoid them.  If you are involved in some form of children’s or youth ministry, this book needs to be on your shelf…and it needs to be read.  It is very easy to turn a blind eye to these things because of our ignorance of their practices.  Kristine has written Escaping the Cauldron to educate us on the things we do not know we need to know.