Neil T. Anderson - Stomping Out the Darkness. Discover Your True Identity in Christ and Stop Putting Up with the Worlds...

1993 Neil T. Anderson and Dave Park

Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Bethany House Publishers edition published 2014

ISBN 978-1-4412-6575-3

Previously published by Regal Books

Ebook edition originally created 2011

Ebook corrections 09.29.2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, 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.

Other versions used are:

KJVKing James Version. Authorized King James Version.

NIVScripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

NLTScripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

To my wife, Grace. You are every bit of what your
name implies. No one apart from Christ has ever
loved me, accepted me and supported me the way
you have. Thank you for seeing me in Christ.

To my kids, David Adam, Ashley Ruth and
Dani Kathleen. You guys are great! Dave, thanks for
crying for the lost. Ashley, thanks for requesting,
Our God Is a Handsome Guy instead of Our God Is
an Awesome God. Dani, thanks for showing us that
even a three-year-old girl can win spiritual
conflicts! I love you and hope this book will help
you better discover who you are in Christ!

Dave Park

Neil, words like appreciate and thank you just dont cut it. Your ministry has changed my life. I am so thankful to my Lord for you. You are the man God used to help me understand my true identity and bring me to freedom in Christ. Some day, Neil, when we stand before our Lord, you will see just how God has used you in my life. Then you will know how truly thankful and appreciative I am of you. Your life and example has had a great impact on me and I see Christ in you. Grace and I are grateful to you and Joanne for your sterling testimony and walk of freedom. Its so refreshing to minister with individuals who live out what Gods Word teaches and truly model unconditional love and acceptance.

Thanks to Roger McNichols and the whole Freedom in Christ team for your prayers, support and guidance. You are so, so special to me. I truly love you and enjoy ministering with you.

Thanks to my special prayer partners: Larry and Joyce Beckner, Peg and Chapo McCabe, and Vera Beckner. Our intimate prayer times are dynamic and life-changing. Thanks for your transparency and love.

My thanks to Chub and Ruth Park, better known as Dad and Mom to me. Dad, you always told me I ought to write that down. Well, you said it enough times so that I finally did. Mom, thanks for your love and, of course, for your brownies. Thank you so much for the loving home you made for me and the continued support in my life.

Dave Park

As a young person today, you have two absorbing concerns: First, you desperately want to gain some sense of identity; second, you want to experience the freedom to really walk with God. Few people are pointing you in the right direction, back to the pages of the Bible. Only in Gods Word can you gain a sense of who you really are, and how significant and secure you are as a child of God.

I have shared many times in my speaking and writing about my own personal struggles with a poor self-image. I can say without hesitation that the realization of who I am in Christ is the single most important element in my successful walk as a Christian in ministry.

Neil and Dave have developed two much-needed books Stomping Out the Darkness and The Bondage Breaker Youth Edition that point you to the one place where you can gain your true identity and freedom. Your commitment to the Word of God and careful study will help you realize the power of your identity in Christ and help you become the spiritual person you want to be.

How wonderful it is to see resources specifically written for youth that address the real issues with which many young people are struggling. Standing against the spiritual forces of this fallen world and learning how to win the battle for the mind is a message that should not have any age limit.

Jesus promised us that we could live a victorious, abundant and free life. I believe those promises were made to young people as well. Neil and Dave show in a warm and insightful way how our God is in the business of stomping out the darkness and how Jesus Christ is the Bondage Breaker.

Stomping Out the Darkness and The Bondage Breaker Youth Edition are must-reading for every person who desires to walk free and understand the truth of who we really are in Christ.

1
WHO ARE YOU?

Our hope for growth, meaning and fulfillment as Christians is based on understanding who we are as children of God.

Its the first day of the new school year. You skid into your first class just ahead of the tardy bell and grab a seat. The teacher stands and says, I want all of you to introduce yourself to the class. Then she points a bony finger at you. Lets begin with the latest arriver. Who are you?

You answer confidently, Chris Cool (or whatever your name is).

Wrong, she replies, thats your name. Who are you?

You start to sweat. Im the student body president.

Wrong again, thats what you do.

Im an American.

No, thats where you live.

Im a Baptist.

Son, thats where you go to church.

You may also answer that youre the star quarterback on the football team or the homecoming queen or the president of the future NASA scientists club. But thats not who you are. Suppose you are seriously injured in a car accident and lose much of your physical ability or beauty or mental capacity. Would you still be you? Of course! Theres much more to you than what you look like and what you do.

In 1988, Dave Dravecky, the former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, underwent surgery for cancer on his pitching arm. The doctors thought he would never play professional baseball again. But Dave Dravecky had the heart of a lion. On August 10, 1989, he returned to the mound and won an unbelievable victory for his team.

Tragically, in his next game just five days later, his arm broke again. This time the doctors could not save it. On June 17, 1990, Dravecky checked into the hospital to have his arm and shoulder amputated.

How important was Dave Draveckys pitching arm to him? He writes:

My arm was to me what hands are to a concert pianist, what legs are to a ballerina, what feet are to a marathon runner. It was what the people cheered me for, what they paid their hard-earned money to see. It is what made me valuable, what gave me worth, at least in the eyes of the world. Then suddenly, my arm was gone.1

Was Dave Draveckys life over because he lost his arm? No! It has been radically changed, but he is still Dave Dravecky, a child of God. He realized that who he is goes far beyond his ability to throw a baseball. He continues: