Takle - The Truth About Lies and Lies About Truth (revised)

The Truth About Lies and Lies About Truth

A Fresh New Look at the Cunning of Evil
and the Means for Our Transformation

Copyright 2008, 2016 David Takle, All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced or copied in any manner without the written consent of the author.

Cover photo is the property of iStockPhoto, used by permission.

Front cover designed by Brian Takle.

First Edition 2008 ISBN 0-9674357-9-4 (Pasadena: Shepherd's House, Inc.)

Revised Edition 2017 ISBN 978-0-9890069-5-8 (NC: KFM)

Kindle Format 2017 ISBN 978-0-9890069-6-5 (NC: KFM)

Published by Kingdom Formation Ministries

High Point, NC

www.KingdomFormation.org

Unless otherwise noted, scripture references are taken from the NIV the Holy Bible, New International Version, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 1996 by International Bible Society, Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

NASB quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 19741, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, used by permission.

NRSV quotations are from The New Revised Standard Edition of the Bible, Copyright 1946, 1952, and 1971, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Ive been waiting for someone to approach spiritual formation, recovery and inner healing in an integrated way. This is it! In doing so, David Takle has described how interactive life with God grows and results in transformation into Christ-likeness.

-- Jan Johnson

Retreat speaker and author of Invitation to the Jesus Life

A superb presentation about the healing power of truth. One of the beauties of this book is witnessing the author's own personal journey towards transformation. David talks with you, not at you, while at the same time challenging you to come and be made whole. His sincerity, wisdom, and practical applications will show you, his reader, how you, too, can live in the truth that will set you free.

Todd Oakley

Lead Pastor Gate City Vineyard Church,

Area Leader Vineyard Mid-Atlantic Region

David Takle knocks the ball out of the park with this insightful book about the insidious power of lies not the kind of lies that we all recognize as false but the deeply held internal assumptions about how life works and who we are that seem true, yet have malformed our soul. No one escapes.

These often hidden lies have warped our souls making it hard to believe that we are truly beloved children of a good God. The nagging sense that we will fail, that we are not good enough, that we will never have the love we long for are all rooted in these kinds of lies. David not only succinctly describes the problem but he provides the solution, experientially engaging with God so we can receive his forgiveness, let go of self recrimination, and let him restore our whole heart.

This book is a must read for all who seek to grow in intimacy with God. If you apply the wisdom within, it will change your life.

Elizabeth Stalcup, Ph.D.

Executive Director of Healing Center International

Many years ago when I was a teenage boy and at the beginning of my spiritual journey, I left the safety of my liturgical church family to go and listen to an elderly English preacher. I dont recall the texts used in his preaching, but I do remember how his words touched something deep in my heart. He said, Be careful what you believe, because what you believe rules you, meaning that all of us make decisions and interact with God and others in accordance with our own internalized values and beliefs, no matter how much those beliefs may or may not agree with how God views things. While these words have had a life-long impact on my life, initially I was left primarily on my own and then eventually in community with dear Christian friends, to seek and develop an experiential relationship with God that could heal many of the bumps, bruises, and wounding in life that had resulted in my own wrong believing, and over many years eventually replaced many of my distorted beliefs with his truth.

As I read The Truth About Lies and Lies About Truth, I found myself reflecting on this journey with the predominant thought of, Boy do I wish Id had this book forty years ago! It really would have eliminated much of the trial and error in my own spiritual formation. In this book, David Takle does a masterful and thorough job of describing the problem of deception and how it results in our spiritual malformation, as well as the power of beliefs and how they drive our lives. But then he offers incredibly practical solutions, which leads to an experiential relationship with the Spirit of Truth. This relationship with the Spirit of Truth causes the exposing of deception, the alignment of our beliefs with his truth and results in being transformed into the image and mind of Christ. In my mind, this book and study should be a must for anyone who is serious about Christian discipleship.

The Rev. Canon Andrew Miller, LCSW

Founder of HeartSync Ministries

( for comments by Dallas Willard , see the Preface to the Revised Edition )

A must read I love this book and recommend it highly.

Reader in Lawrenceville NJ

I am better as a Christian and as a person for reading this book.

Reader in Boston, MA

One of the best pieces of writing and wisdom that has ever come to the Body of Christ.

Reader in Spring Hill, TN

A really terrific book for anyone who doesn't understand why it's so hard to be as good as they want to be; why they react so often with fear/anger/defensiveness in situations; why they don't live in the joy and victory that they expected in the Christian life.

M. P. (Amazon review)

A wonderful book hard to put down. I plan to reread this book, it was so good!

Kindle reader (Amazon review)

The concepts and information in this book will stick with me the rest of my life..

R. K. (Amazon review)

I love it! This is a book that I will read over and over again.

Amazon review

This is one of the most profound books I have ever read. It is a must read for every Christian who wants to walk in freedom and victory.

S. R.

Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

(Prov.4:23)

For Jan

In many ways this book has been a lifetime in the making, and there is no way that it would have been possible but for a long list of people who have helped me come to know the inestimable value of truth. Because of that, I cannot name them all here. However, there are a few who stand out, to whom I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Jay McGown comes to mind here, whom God brought to me at a very desperate moment in my life to mentor me for nearly eight months in 1970. His best gift to me, and there were many, was the understanding that my search for truth had only begun and that God had many things yet to teach me. He was more right than I ever imagined. Wherever you are, Jay, thank you for caring and for the mark you left on my life.

I need to mention the people of We Care, who taught me by example that truth was relational and experiential, and not just a thing of the mind. More recently, the teachings of Ed Smith paved a way for the power of truth to set me free me from the depression that had held me in bondage all my life. His understanding of the cunning of evil solidified much of what I had suspected to be true about lies and deception. And from 1999 to the present, the writings and teaching of Dallas Willard have had a profound impact on both my understanding and my experience of the Christian life. His wisdom and insight are in many ways evident throughout this book.