Ascent from Darkness: How Satan's Soldier Became God's Warrior

Ascent from Darkness: How Satan's Soldier Became God's Warrior

His assignment from Satan was to kill Pastor Craig Groeschel. Today he sits on the front row of that pastor’s church. For twenty years of his life, Michael Leehan lived and worked for Satan. At age 33, he made a decision to serve the darkness that he felt had consumed his life, but instead of making things easier, it began a steeper downward spiral replete with ritualistic cuttings, blood sacrifices, jail time, job loss, estrangement from his friends and family, and actual murderous assignments from Satan himself. Ascent from Darkness relates Michael’s gripping, real-life encounters, enslavement to the powers of darkness, and miraculous emancipation from the clutches of the Enemy. For anyone who has ever struggled with spiritual warfare, addiction, depression, or hopelessness, Michael’s story is a bold reminder of the redemptive truth of the gospel that anyone―even a soldier of Satan―can be transformed and used for the glory of God. Now a servant of Christ, Michael exhibits the power of God’s relentless love and offers readers the chance to experience their own ascent into God’s glorious light. Michael Leehan is an evangelist and minister, but he's also finally a free man. Once enslaved to the dark forces of this world he now lives each day in devotion and service to God through Solus Christus Ministries, a nonprofit organization that offers hope and redemption through the power of God's love, truth, and knowledge of his Word. This is his first book. ASCENT FROM DARKNESS HOW SATAN'S SOLDIER BECAME GOD'S WARRIOR By MICHAEL LEEHAN Thomas Nelson Copyright © 2011 Michael Leehan All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-8499-4703-2 Contents Acknowledgments........................................................xiAuthor's Note..........................................................xiiiChapter 1: The Early Years.............................................1Chapter 2: Turning to the Dark Side....................................19Chapter 3: Submission to Evil..........................................39Chapter 4: Trained to Deceive..........................................53Chapter 5: The Jailhouse Way...........................................67Chapter 6: Deeper into Satanism........................................93Chapter 7: Black Shadows...............................................115Chapter 8: The Battle Intensifies......................................133Chapter 9: A Mission of Murder.........................................145Chapter 10: Near the End...............................................171Chapter 11: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide............................191Chapter 12: From Darkness to Light.....................................199Epilogue: The Road Home................................................219Appendix: Surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses.....................227 Chapter One THE EARLY YEARS For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. —Ephesians 2:10 January 12, 1976 Edmond, Oklahoma My best friend, Eldon Felch, had an apartment a few miles from my work, so when I got off around 5 p.m., I headed over to his place to hang out and knock back a few beers. I had four hours to kill before Eldon got back from his job at a local grocery store, so I did what many other nineteen-year-old boys would do: I polished off a six-pack. Waiting until 9 p.m. for Eldon to show up seemed like an eternity, so I walked down to a local 7-Eleven to pick up another six-pack. As I walked to the store, pain began shooting up my left knee. I'd injured my knee playing football in a sandlot game, and my knee was wrecked. I'd had three surgeries already and needed another, so I had a bottle of pain meds handy. Popping pills to manage the pain in my bad knee had become routine; I had been doing so for about two years now. I must have looked older, or the cashiers didn't really care, since neither of the attendants working that night asked for my ID. I took my purchased six-pack, left the store, and walked back to Eldon's apartment. The frigid January weather didn't help my aching knee one bit, so when I got back to Eldon's, I popped three pills—a full day's dosage—and washed it down with a fresh Budweiser. I opened the last beer in my second six-pack around 8 p.m. and contemplated another trip to 7-Eleven. I checked my stash of pain pills and noticed I had ten pills left. I popped two more to brace myself for the long walk and the frigid night air. I lingered, sipping my last beer, waiting for the pills to kick in. My knee hurt, but the pain I was most trying to dull was the emotional pain of a recent breakup with a girl I was in love with. Still lying on the couch, I took my last sip of beer. When I reached for my bottle of pills, it was empty. I don't remember taking those , I thought. I tried to get up, but my legs felt heavy. I lay back on the tan couch and looked around the room. The TV was on, but