Book by Kortje, David Your Personal Battle Plan A Study Guide for The Unseen War By David Kortje AuthorHouse Copyright © 2009 David Kortje All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4490-4151-9 Contents Chapter 1 The Red Pill........................xiiChapter 2 Gerry...............................6Chapter 3 Paradigm............................14Chapter 4 No Ordinary Guy.....................24Chapter 5 Flesh...............................34Chapter 6 Light...............................46Chapter 7 Ears................................58Chapter 8 Together............................68Chapter 9 Surrender...........................78Chapter 10 Wounds..............................88Chapter 11 Retreat.............................98Chapter 12 Boot Camp...........................108Chapter 13 Casualties..........................118Chapter 14 Why.................................128 Chapter One The Red Pill You are about to enter into the most real thing that you have ever known. Much of what you thought you knew to be true will be challenged in the light of the Scriptures. If you have been beat up, torn down, and spit out, this study will offer context to those battles, as well as hope for walking through them and past them. If you are content with Sunday school, potlucks, and an occasional "Praise the Lord," this guide will honestly try to disrupt all of that-not that they are bad in themselves, but as a warrior you are called to so much more. If you are an experienced soldier in God's army, this battle plan will help provide clarity and direction as you engage in this great adventure. So I invite you to "take the red pill and enter the world of the Matrix- the world of fighting for your life." Let's begin this with a quick reflection on your life up to this day. Surely everything in your life hasn't been a bed of roses. Share a time in your life when circumstances caused things not to work out the way you had planned. With so much coming at me most of the time, I seldom have time to reflect about why bad things happen at all. I mean, my goodness, just this past week a storm flooded part of our property, our sump pump went out, an argument broke out among friends, another friend called to report in tears that his wife was leaving him, my motorcycle broke down, and I still haven't picked out a gift for Mother's Day tomorrow. Life seems to rush in on us at one hundred and eighty miles per hour, leaving us feeling dazed and confused about what all is exactly happening. So what about you? Have you ever thought about your life in the context of warfare? Why do you think we tend to minimize that aspect of life? Messages from the King Do you tend to view the battles that you fight daily as hassles mainly, perhaps frustrations, but "hardly the stuff of Saving Private Ryan"? Why do you think that is? Jesus entered our world as a baby-born in a manger, of all things ... hardly the picture of power and authority and certainly not the way that I would take over enemy territory. What do you think about the analogy of Jesus' entry into our world as an invasion? Does that change your perspective of what Christianity is all about? Okay, we all know that Jesus rose from that grave on Easter morning. He declares in Revelation, "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades" (Rev. 1:18). If Jesus has already defeated Satan, what do you think the battle is about today? In Matthew 10, as Jesus is sending His disciples out on their first field training exercise, He gives them some interesting instructions. He says, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matt.10:34). Why do you think Jesus said, "Do not suppose"? What were they "supposing"? Why do you think He gave this warning the very first time He sent them out? Chapter Two Gerry The other shape, If shape it might be call'd that shape had none Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb, Or substance might be call'd that shadow seem'd, For each seem'd either; black it stood as Night, Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell, And shook a dreadful Dart; what seem'd his head The likeness of a Kingly Crown had on. Satan was now at hand,... -John Milton Paradise Lost, Book II, Line 667-675 So let's start this chapter with some poetry. I am captivated by this quote from Paradise Lost . Milton does such a tremendous job of illustrating what cannot be described here: the very essence of evil, Satan. Don't rush this. Spend some time reading and rereading this bit of poetry, and then comment on it. What is John Milton saying about Satan? What does he look like, or what are his qualities? Why do you think Milton saw a crown on his head? Messages from the King In the book I describe a time in my childhood when I ran into a bully. Eric Johnson is the fictitious name that I give to him, but it was a real in