Back from the Abyss

By Arthur W. Stuckey

Spiritual gifts and afflictions are mysterious and unknown, and therefore people can’t help but wonder and be intrigued by them. However, Back from the Abyss offers much more than insight into spiritual gifts and afflictions. By reading this book with an open mind, readers will gain extraordinary insight into a variety of spiritual matters.

Back from the Abyss includes a prophetic element to help us understand the times in which we live. Mass shootings, pandemics, inflation and climate change - what does it all mean? Are we living in the last days? As turmoil in our world increases so does interest in end time prophecy. A recent Google search for end time prophecy yielded over 100,000,000 results. Readers of Back from the Abyss will learn the real cause of apostasy and turmoil in this present age, and even get a prophetic glimpse of the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664283091

Arthur W. Stuckey

Although Arthur W. Stuckey became a Christian at the age of eight, by his teenage years he rebelled hard against God. He turned to drugs, alcohol, and the occult. But God never let go. God took drastic measures to save this prodigal son—even by allowing demons to torment and afflict him. At sixteen, Art spent the summer in Dallas, Texas, where his spiritual gift of discernment was revealed. This gift gives him heightened sensitivity to the presence of spirits and the ability to distinguish between the Holy Spirit and evil spirits. God gave Art this gift, knowing the combination of gift and affliction would become a powerful deterrent to sin in his life, and uniquely qualify him to write Back from the Abyss.

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Copyright © 2022 Arthur W. Stuckey.

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This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis © copyright 1942 CS Lewis Pte Ltd.

Extract reprinted with permission.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8308-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8310-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8309-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022920423

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/22/2022

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1The Past: Far from the Peaceful Shore

Chapter 2Spiritual Gifts: For the Common Good

Chapter 3The Paradox: A Demon-Afflicted Christian?

Chapter 4Of Affliction: Made to Be Broken

Chapter 5The Demonic: What Is Your Name?

Chapter 6Close Encounters of the Spiritual Kind

Chapter 7About Christianity: Our Heavenly Reward

Chapter 8Miscellaneous Thoughts: The Kitchen Sink

Chapter 9A Transformation: Renewing of the Mind

Chapter 10The Future: Our Blessed Hope

My Favorite Psalm

Afterword

About the Author

To the lonely and afflicted.

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.

—Proverbs 29:18

We are a free people because we live according to what we know is right or wrong. If truth is taken from us, then Right and Wrong are taken from us as well. If we don’t know Right and Wrong, then we can’t, we won’t control ourselves, but will look to someone else to bring order through brute force and raw power. We will be controlled by a tyrant, and we will no longer be free—and don’t count on that tyrant to be kind or merciful. He has no sense of Right and Wrong, either, and will do to us whatever he wants.

—Nightmare Academy (The Veritas Project, vol. 2), Frank Peretti

Introduction

You shouldn’t read this book, unless you want answers to the following questions:

• Are evil spirits real?

• Is the anti-Christ in the world?

• Are we living in the last days?

• Can a Christian be demon possessed?

• Will Jesus Christ soon return to earth?

If you would like answers to these questions and more, Back from the Abyss is a book for you. By reading this book with an open mind, you will gain extraordinary insight into spiritual matters.

God works in mysterious ways. Back from the Abyss will take your understanding of that concept to a whole new level!

Chapter 1

The Past: Far from the

Peaceful Shore

Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good.

—Psalm 25:7

M y name is Arthur Stuckey, but most people call me Art. I was born in Alaska in the mid 1960s, where from 1962 to 1966 my parents taught Cup’ig Native American children for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. I have two older brothers, an older sister whom my parents adopted, and one younger sister. We moved from Alaska to California in 1966.

I had a difficult upbringing, to say the least. I grew up stubborn, selfish, mischievous, disobedient, rebellious, and overly sensitive. Those traits followed me into adulthood and got me into plenty of trouble. I did what I wanted, without considering what consequences might arise. If only I’d known how severe those consequences would be. Had I foreseen the torment my actions would bring, I would have made very different choices in life.

My Early Religious Experience

I grew up in a Christian home—sort of. We believed in God and went to church, but I’m not sure any of us really understood what it meant to be born again. Some good Christian people attended my family’s church, but I witnessed some hypocrisy there as well. At least two of the former pastors had extramarital affairs before getting divorced. This didn’t exactly bolster my estimation of religion.

The mood at that church often felt somber. Our subdued worship services consisted of singing traditional hymns out of old hymnals. I love many of those old hymns, but (being a rocker at heart) my preference is for upbeat contemporary praise and worship music.

It’s an understatement to say I found the sermons tedious. I’d frequently take pencils meant for filling out offering envelopes and doodle on church bulletins to pass the time. I’d often daydream, occasionally dozing off. I once fell asleep, pitched forward, and hit my head on the wooden pew in front of me. You talk about embarrassing!

I’m not bashing church or Christians. There are many excellent churches out there, as well as many genuine Christians. I’ve been in enough churches to know there are good (and not so good) churches in every Christian faith tradition.

My parents took me to a church service in a nearby city when I was eight years old. The pastor spoke about salvation. When we returned home, I asked my father about salvation. He sat me down and led me in a prayer, and I asked Jesus into my heart. Afterward, my father told me I’d been saved. Sometime later, I was baptized in my family’s home church. Even though I clearly didn’t understand the significance of what I’d done, God heard and answered my prayer. He placed his Spirit within me, where he’s remained ever since.

I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll

In my early teens, I began my lifelong love affair with rock ‘n’ roll music. I remember hearing Stairway to Heaven, by Led Zeppelin, for the first time. I also remember buying my first record, an album by the hard rock band Kiss, with money I’d earned from a paper route. I bought it more for its shock value (to my parents) than for the music itself.

My friends and I formed a garage band, playing both covers and originals. I couldn’t play an instrument so I became the singer. My singing skills at the time left much to be desired, but we had fun making noise in my parents’ garage.

I began writing song lyrics, and over the years, I’ve written dozens of songs. Our garage band didn’t last long, but I continued to sing and write, and I’ve been a part of a number of projects since then. I taught myself to play some guitar and program drum-machine tracks. Over the years, I’ve purchased a variety of music and recording gear, so I have everything I need to make basic multitrack recordings. Music is just a hobby for me, but it’s something I enjoy.

I still love rock ‘n’ roll; I doubt that will ever change. I listen to Christian music as well. Some of the songs I’ve written have Christian lyrics, and some secular. I don’t believe rock ‘n’ roll, or any other genre of music, is inherently evil. It’s the lyrics that either glorify God or glorify sin. I’m sure there’ll be rock concerts in heaven, along with every other style of music. Those concerts will be free and more amazing than anything we’ve seen or heard on earth.

Maybe it’s my ego, but I’ve always felt people who are negatively influenced by music are somewhat weak-minded. I’ll concede that some rock ‘n’ roll has a rebellious spirit about it. Nevertheless, music is a gift from God designed to make our spirits soar, giving us a foretaste of what heaven will be like.

I’ve known people who’ve gotten rid of their secular music collections after feeling convicted by the Holy Spirit. I respect that. If the Holy Spirit convicted me regarding secular music, I’d do the same. So far, that hasn’t happened. Certain songs do grieve my spirit. If a song like that comes on the radio, I change the station.

As I grow older, I find myself listening to Christian music more often. Why only listen to secular music when there’s so much good Christian music out there? I’ve recently become a fan of Skillet, a Christian rock band that’s become extremely popular, even among secular listeners.

A Wayward Teenager

Regrettably, I was also in my early teens when I began viewing pornography. My neighbor, who was a year or so older than me, often showed me his collection of pornographic magazines. He gave me pictures of nude women, which I brought home and hid in my bedroom.

I started going to parties, where I experimented with drugs and alcohol. I went from being an honor student in seventh grade to failing nearly all my classes in eighth grade. I no longer cared about school and often cut class to get high instead. This pattern continued all through high school.

Kicked out of regular high school, I was sent to a remedial/continuation high school. The principal asked me to leave school when I turned eighteen because I was an adult and far from attaining sufficient credits to graduate. Although enrolled in high school for four years, I never made it past ninth grade. The fact I failed in school, even though my parents were well-known teachers in a small community, must have been humiliating for them.

Drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana and cigarettes on a regular basis, I lived recklessly and rebelliously. I believed Christianity was uncool. I occasionally used hard drugs, like cocaine or speed, but I never became addicted for a couple of reasons. One, I usually couldn’t afford them. And two, I was what you’d call a lightweight. In other words, I got very high on very little.

I frequently stayed out all night without informing my parents of my whereabouts. Once, I threw a party at my parents’ house while they were away. I got drunk and passed out. The guests (almost none of whom were actually my friends) trashed my parents’ home. My parents deserved better.

My behavior in those days is still a source of shame to me. It’s difficult for me to think about my past, much less