Published by Baker Publishing Group, Chosen on September 23, 2025
Genres: Non-Fiction, Christian Life, Leadership
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Spiritual and Practical Help to Live Free from Emotional Manipulation and Control
· Gain practical tools to recognize intimidation and control
· Learn how to break the power of emotional control over your life
· Discover new levels of mental and emotional well-beingAre you frustrated by a demanding relationship? Confused about someone's motives? Questioning your sanity? Battling feelings of insecurity and the need to please? You're in the trenches of emotional manipulation. And you're not alone.
With penetrating insight, biblical teaching, and practical application, prophetic voice and apostolic leader Ryan LeStrange exposes this overlooked and misunderstood area of spiritual warfare we all face. Revealing what emotional manipulation is and how it operates, LeStrange equips you with the spiritual and practical tools you need to
· discern the covert tactics of intimidation, control, and manipulation
· experience relief from manipulative influences and situations
· shut down the attacks designed to infiltrate your mind
· break the power of emotional control over your life
· discover new levels of mental and emotional well-beingHere is your battle plan to break free from the grip of emotional and spiritual manipulation--and discover a healthy pathway forward into the plans and purposes God has for you.
This is the most bizarre Christian living book I have ever read. If I had seen the full-length description quoted above, that would have raised some red flags. However, I read a shorter summary, so I expected this to be a normal guide to confronting emotional manipulation from a Christian perspective. Instead, I ended up with a book written by a self-proclaimed prophet and apostle who believes he has special authority and power not granted to regular Christians, and who believes that people who emotionally manipulate others are witches.
Manipulation as Witchcraft?
To make this book broadly marketable, the title and description refer to emotional manipulation, but LeStrange refers to it as “emotional witchcraft” throughout this book. He claims that anyone who acts manipulative is engaging with dark spiritual powers to control you, and he offers no justification for this wild assumption. LeStrange explains what emotional manipulation is and shows that Scripture condemns the use of witchcraft, but he never explains why he is conflating these two issues.
It makes no sense. Why is someone a witch if they are manipulating you? Someone can do rude, selfish, and controlling things just because they’re a sinful and flawed human being. Why does that kind of bad behavior mean that someone is wielding dark powers over you? When I discussed this with my brother, he said that the author’s claim probably flows from a law of attraction mindset, in which a person believes that saying something aloud can speak it into existence. The witch accusation is most likely due to the author believing that someone’s words contain the spiritual power to create evil and bondage.
Fringe Beliefs
It is clear throughout Exposing Emotional Manipulation that the author believes in the law of attraction, even though he might not call it that. These ideas appear throughout the book, and the final chapter is full of “decrees” to speak things into existence. This includes statements like, “I walk in unusual levels of prosperity, because uncommon wisdom brings favor and success in my life.” Even in the section with scripted prayers, LeStrange guides the reader to claim future hopes as current fact. This includes the prayer, “I thank you, Lord, that I walk in maturity in all my relationships, in the name of Jesus.” Wow. You keep telling yourself that!
Even in the practical parts of the book that focus on recognizing and responding to manipulators, the author’s fringe views pervade everything, as he blends together select pieces of Christianity with New Age concepts. He uses all kinds of poorly defined jargon, and he puts a significant emphasis on receiving special revelation from God outside of Scripture. This is dangerous for many reasons. Claiming prophecy and special revelation can be its own form of manipulation in spiritual contexts, especially if someone feels authorized to claim that anyone who disagrees with or opposes them is engaging in witchcraft!
Even though LeStrange quotes Scripture throughout this book, he regularly takes it out of context, or he will build upon a passage to claim additional things that it never said. For example, when he mentions the Bible’s prohibition on sex outside of marriage, LeStrange quotes 1 Corinthians 6:16-18, but then he says out of nowhere that when you have sex with someone outside of marriage, “the demonic influences of all that person’s previous partners can gain access to parts of your soul.” There is nothing in the Bible that teaches that! Absolutely nothing!
Claims of Apostleship
As I mentioned before, LeStrange claims to be a prophet and an apostle. This is probably why he thinks you should just take his word for things, without him having to explain or justify his bizarre claims. Most Christians reserve the word “apostle” to refer to the disciples and Paul, who received their authority directly from Jesus and were commissioned by him after his resurrection. However, people in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement believe in a resurgence of modern-day apostles and prophets. When LeStrange calls himself an apostle, this isn’t another word for being a pastor or a minister. He is claiming a special level of access to God, and a high level of divine authority over other Christians, which he isn’t afraid to monetize.
In fact, if you visit LeStrange’s website, the central button on the home page invites, “Click here to align with our apostolic network.” That link redirects you to another website, where church leaders can sign up to receive an “apostolic alignment/covering” from LeStrange, as well as access to Zoom teachings, a conference, and other resources. You can sign up for $47 a month, or you can go for the $450 annual plan. Church leaders can also apply to bring their congregation under LeStrange’s apostolic powers after they have paid for an individual membership for six months to a year.
Conclusion
Exposing Emotional Manipulation is the worst, most unhinged Christian living book I have ever read, because it is more about the author’s weird philosophies than actual Christian living. Even though there are glimmers of truth and helpful moments, the book’s positive attributes are still cloaked in the language and worldview of the author’s fringe beliefs. He does very little to justify and explain his views when they diverge from Scripture, and he takes Bible verses out of context while also talking up the value of discernment. It appears that to him, discernment is mainly about your internal feelings or perceived unique revelation from God, rather than the ability to think things through or examine the disconnect between what a supposed apostle says and what the Bible actually teaches.
If someone would like to learn more about the New Apostolic Reformation and related beliefs, I would recommend the book Counterfeit Kingdomby Holly Pivec and
When I started Exposing Emotional Manipulation, I wished that I could just say, “This is not for me,” setting it aside and declining to review it. However, I believe that I have a duty to the public and to God to explain why this book is not biblical and is potentially dangerous. I am concerned both by the content of the book and the author’s claims to apostleship. This book can be especially harmful because LeStrange uses the Bible and uses Christian language while promoting ideas that aren’t reflected in Scripture, and I feel a duty to warn people away from this.