Evangelical's bestseller is a must-read for members of Mexican drug cartel

"If we can reawaken that fierce quality in a man, hook it up to a higher purpose, release the warrior within, then the boy can grow up and become truly masculine," Eldredge wrote. "A man must have a battle to fight, a great mission to his life that involves and yet transcends even home and family."

Eldredge did not find the misuse of his text to be unusual, saying that such has "been true of ideas, language, books and movements all throughout history." People have always attempted to "shroud and try to cloak or distort their practices by draping it in religious language," he said.

Eldredge said he has had mixed feelings about the group's use of his book. "You know, at first I was shocked and angry," he said. "But after I had thought about it, I thought that I'm delighted that 'Wild at Heart' has found itself into their cult because hopefully it will bring change."

La Familia couples Eldredge's book with Moreno González's self-published bible, "Pensamientos" (Thoughts), a collection of aphorisms, evangelical-style self-help sayings, and insurrectionary mottos. "Pensamientos" reveals a man who sees himself as the leader of a group of warriors on a divine mission, a theme that arises in Eldredge's book.

"Hello friends, fellow Christians. We are beginning an arduous, but very interesting, task: the building of consciousness," Moreno González says in his book. "Today, we need to prepare to defend our ideals so that our struggle will bear fruit [and] organize so as to go down the best path, perhaps not the easiest, but the one that can offer the best results."

Eldredge emphasized that the danger is not in his book but in its improper exploitation. "A knife in the hand of the surgeon can save your life," he said. "A knife in the hand of a violent criminal can end it."

"The evil is not 'Wild at Heart,' " Eldredge said. "The evil is the distortion of it."

-- Religion News Service