Showing posts with label spiritualbondage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritualbondage. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

A spiritual journey in poetry from despair to hope

How the Demons Leave: Escape from the Unseen Dungeons by Peter Okonkwo is book two in a three-book series. I enjoyed book 1, A Cry for Mercy: Escape from the Unseen Dungeons, voiced from the perspective of a narrator struggling under spiritual bondage. The front end of How the Demons Leave is a lament for justice with a heart-wrenching prayer for help as the narrator struggles with failures of life that have tormented him for years, accompanied by feelings of injustice at the lack of rewards for his hard work.

 

 

How the Demons Leave

The narrative changes when he moves toward faith as a resolution to his torment and recognizes he is under the influence of spiritual forces out to destroy his life. When he “runs to the Savior of the world, […] the only man who can save me,” the tone changes to seeking answers. He asks, “How can I be delivered from this long-time curse?”

 

His spiritual journey leads him to the answer. “You must be born again.”

 

Cry for Mercy
 

A Cry for Mercy

 

Okonkwo’s thought-provoking poetry looks at the role of faith as a cure for spiritual blindness. When the narrator gains spiritual sight, he understands how demons influenced his life, robbed him of success, and left him stranded in stagnation and hardship. When God answers his prayer, he feels a proverbial weight lifted and witnesses an angel loosening chains from his body and deliverance from the demons of stagnation.

 

In chapter one, the narrator of How the Demons Leave starts in deep despair and pessimism. This book chronicles his spiritual journey and discusses struggles with lack of success, hopelessness, injustice, and morality as he deals with contradictions and impulses that God uses to draw him to faith. This book is easy to read, and I recommend it to people looking for encouragement amid discouraging circumstances. The one thing I did not like about the book is that the narrator’s thoughts at one point sounded like the prosperity gospel promoting a name-it-claim-it philosophy that distorts the truth and embraces the false teaching that our thoughts control reality, instead of praising the power of God for his renewed mind and way of thinking

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As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer. I received a free review copy of this book and have not received compensation for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

Peter Okonkwo

 

About the Author Peter Okonkwo

Peter Okonkwo is a Nigerian writer, fatalist, publisher, editor, literary critic, spiritual philosopher, soon–to–be–novelist of Etean’s Destiny, and a certified orator from the Friendship Leadership Institute of Nigeria.

He is the author of six poetry collections: Ecstasy of the Dead; Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom; Whose Fault, Kismet or Impediment? and Escape from the Unseen Dungeons book series, (A Cry for Mercy, How the Demons Leave, and I Saw the Light)

Peter is gifted with the aptitude to explore and demystify certain difficult life issues through his thought–provoking, raw–arresting transcendent poetry. His works has been featured in notable literary magazines and newspaper, including the Australian Plumwood Mountain Journal, The Lagos Review, Ngiga Review, Hope Newspaper, among many others.

Peter is the host of the P. English Literature YouTube channel, where he reviews books and conducts interviews with authors around the world. His show has featured over 250 literature works from authors across the globe

 

 

Friday, March 3, 2023

Poetry that touches the heart of spiritual struggle

A Cry for Mercy: Escape from the Unseen Dungeons by Peter Okonkwo is written from the perspective of a narrator struggling under spiritual bondage. The desperate cries to God touch on emotional and spiritual experiences with failure, loss, and despair. It reminds me of Job as he underwent trials that stripped him of family, wealth, and health. It raises the question of whether it is possible for man to grow to love God for himself and find fundamental contentment in life regardless of circumstances as the narrator questions his fate and grapples with sin in his life. He feels forgotten, speaks of his hopelessness, and calls to the Creator to come and give him something.

Cry for Mercy by Peter Okonkwo
 

“Is it not in your hands?

The key to my fortune, and fate?

How long shall you keep me

In the dungeon of despair?

I need a change I am fed up

With my present status.”

 

This poetic journey follows the narrator's wrestling with guilt as he sheds many tears “in the dungeons” of bondage as he seeks forgiveness. Amid his struggles, he seeks to blame something else for his plight. His flesh, obstacles in his way, the spiritual forces of darkness, and more as he wonders about his fortune, fate, and destiny. He questions whether he has mistakenly offended fortune and begs the Creator to plead with his fate to grant him comfort from his sorrows. But he feels forgotten and questions why the Creator is silent about all his trouble.

 

Cry for Mercy

 

Book Review: A Cry for Mercy

The poetry within the pages of A Cry for Mercy: Escape from the Unseen Dungeons by Peter Okonkwo echoes with cries for help from a dark place. It reflects human suffering and the journey to transcend it. It pulsates with moral energy, anger, spiritual insights, and distressed reflections. The cries for mercy are heart-wrenching and well-written as the narrator seeks divine intervention. As book 1 in this series, it paints a picture of the start of his spiritual journey. It draws the reader in with words that reflect exhaustion, tears, and a dearth of hope. The struggle is real and leads to the question many ask. What is my purpose on earth? I recommend this book to people who enjoy meditative lyric poetry lamenting the broader theme of the struggles of life, lack of reward for hard work, and the obstacles of life that prevent the good fortune they believe is promised them.

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As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer. I received a free review copy of this book and have not received compensation for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 


About the Author Peter Okonkwo

Peter Okonkwo is a Nigerian writer, fatalist, publisher, editor, literary critic, spiritual philosopher, soon–to–be–novelist of Etean’s Destiny, and a certified orator from the Friendship Leadership Institute of Nigeria.

He is the author of six poetry collections: Ecstasy of the Dead; Fate, In the Dungeon of Doom; Whose Fault, Kismet or Impediment? and Escape from the Unseen Dungeons book series, (A Cry for Mercy, How the Demons Leave, and I Saw the Light)

Peter is gifted with the aptitude to explore and demystify certain difficult life issues through his thought–provoking, raw–arresting transcendent poetry. His works has been featured in notable literary magazines and newspaper, including the Australian Plumwood Mountain Journal, The Lagos Review, Ngiga Review, Hope Newspaper, among many others.

Peter is the host of the P. English Literature YouTube channel, where he reviews books and conducts interviews with authors around the world. His show has featured over 250 literature works from authors across the globe