Proverbs

Win Your War Endorsement – Robert and Debbie Morris

We’re in an all-out war with an enemy who wants to destroy us. Whenever we’re being attacked, it’s important to remember that we don’t wage war against flesh and blood—we’re in a spiritual battle. That’s why we’re so glad our dear friends Mark and Grace Driscoll have written Win Your War, a book that looks at spiritual warfare through the eyes of a married couple. In it they help you see the practical and biblical nature of spiritual warfare in your relation- ship with God, self, others, and the church. If you want to better understand how to access the power of the Holy Spirit to defeat the enemy, we encourage you to read this book.
—Robert and Debbie Morris
Founding Lead Senior Pastor and Executive Women’s Pastor, Gateway Church
Best-Selling Author, The Blessed Life, Frequency, and Beyond Blessed

Win Your War Foreword – Michael Heiser

As a biblical scholar I’m prone to only read scholarly works produced under peer review and highbrow academic publishers. The focus of my own work for both the academy and the person in the pew has largely been the supernatural worldview of the Bible. Consequently, when I was approached by Mark to read the manuscript of Win Your War, I was drawn out of my scholarly bubble by the twofold goal he and his wife, Grace, sought to accomplish in the book: to convince Christians that they need to embrace the reality of the supernatural world and to process every area of the Christian life (every personal “war”) in accord with that belief.
The implication, of course, is that being conformed to the image of Christ involves more than the daily struggle to turn from self-destructive behavior, character flaws, and human evil. It also means believing that there are intelligent evil forces at work that not only impede the process of our growth in becoming more like Jesus but seek to manipulate our thinking and behavior to undermine our joy and usefulness to God. In short, God has enemies, and His enemies are our enemies—and they are not passive.
This may sound odd to some readers. How does it make sense to tell Christians that they need to embrace the supernatural? Don’t Christians believe in God, that Jesus was God in the flesh, and that God the Holy Spirit resides within? Don’t they believe what happened on the cross super- naturally resulted in the forgiveness of sin and everlasting life to all who believe that God sent Jesus for those purposes?
The answer put forth by Mark and Grace is straightforward. For many Christians, belief in the supernatural ends with the points of doctrine noted above. Affirming the reality of intelligent evil the way it is portrayed in the Bible—where supernatural agents of darkness actively participate in misdirecting our thoughts and behavior to self-destruction, unbelief, and apathy—isn’t on the table for many Christians in the modern Western world, driven by “enlightened” rationalism.
The unfortunate reality is that many Christians are selectively super- natural in their outlook, a stance that not only denies biblical authority on a range of ideas but anesthetizes believers as to what’s really happening to them and their churches on social, cultural, and geopolitical levels. Most believers don’t realize that demons occupy a low status in the pecking order of supernatural darkness. It’s no accident that the Book of Daniel includes supernatural intelligences in the operations of empires (Daniel 10’s “princes”). It’s also no coincidence that Paul’s vocabulary for intelligent evil (rulers, principalities, powers, thrones, etc.) follows suit—the terms are common ones for geographical dominion.
This is not to endorse a cartoonish view of spiritual warfare, a term that has become a buzzword in certain circles of Christianity. Mark and Grace are not finding demons under every rock (nor every church, corporate, or governmental board). While they refer to some truly strange supernatural incidents in their lives, they are quite clear from the outset that Win Your War is not about baptizing Hollywood’s portrayals of the supernatural. Biblically speaking (and when we discuss supernatural darkness, we should indeed be speaking biblically), spiritual warfare should not be defined as soliciting angels, engaging in shouting matches with supernatural powers, or blaming our failures on demons. Rather, spiritual warfare is fundamentally about the conflict between two kingdoms, a conflict within and without for every true Christian, whether he or she discerns that or not. Followers of Jesus win their spiritual war when they spread the gospel, protect the gospel against false teaching, and live out the gospel by becoming more conformed to the loving, sacrificial character of Jesus.
Not surprisingly, these things are encapsulated in the last words of Jesus before He ascended to heaven (Matt. 28:18–20). It follows, then, that these are the things the supernatural powers of darkness fear, for they grow the kingdom of God and are the catalyst for the Lord’s return. As the apostle Paul so eloquently noted, when the gospel spreads to the nations, the moment of the kingdom’s consummation draws closer (Rom. 11:25–27; cf. Gal 3:7–9, 26–29). Believers weren’t tasked by Jesus with “ghost-busting” in His name. We are instead supposed to be making disciples of all nations. But doing that requires each of us to be a useful and effective believer. The powers of supernatural darkness are on the clock, and they know it. We must win our spiritual war to do our part. This is why we face supernatural opposition.
Win Your War is a pastoral plea that needs to take hold in the hearts and minds of serious believers in every church that preaches the gospel. My hope is that Win Your War will prod readers toward realizing that the powers of darkness are real and that they work to influence our thinking and behavior to distract us from fulfilling—and enjoying—our lives in Christ and our kingdom tasks.
—Dr. Michael S. Heiser
PhD, Hebrew Bible and Semitic Studies
Executive Director, Awakening School of Theology and Ministry
Author, The Unseen Realm, Angels, and Supernatural

Win Your War Foreword – Jimmy Evans

As a young believer I knew nothing about spiritual warfare. And that is the exact state the devil wanted for me. His dream is for people to be completely ignorant of his evil intent for them and his specific schemes to defeat them and keep them in bondage. Since the Garden of Eden, when the devil took the form of a serpent, stealth has been his greatest advantage. It allows him to wreak havoc on innocent people without ever being suspected as the agent of harm.
And that is exactly what he did in my life and marriage. We were under assault and had no idea what was happening. But an event occurred that exposed the enemy’s hand in our lives. My wife, Karen, and I had a good marriage and had actually experienced a miraculous healing in our relation- ship several years before this particular event.
But one day we started fighting. It just happened, and there really wasn’t any specific reason for it. We were just irritated by each other’s words and actions and our nerves were on edge when we were around each other. This went on for over a week, and it was escalating. Finally, one Wednesday evening around 6:00 p.m., Karen informed me that we needed to get ready to go to our Bible study, which we went to every week. It started at 7:00 p.m., and she didn’t want to be late.
Out of spite I told her I wasn’t going to go. I did it just to irritate her and get back at her, and it worked. She left the house angrily and went to the Bible study without me. Bob and Sarah Key were the leaders of the group, and they were wonderful people. Karen was at their home that night for several hours and then returned home.
I was sitting in the living room when Karen walked in. Her countenance and spirit were completely different than when she had left. She came into the room and sat across from me and said, “I need to tell you what happened at Bible study tonight.” I replied, “OK, what happened?”
She said calmly, “Tonight Sarah Key told me that we had been on her heart all week when she was praying. And she told me that the Lord had showed her a vision of a lion’s head in our living room, roaring, and it was here to destroy our marriage. She said it was a demonic spirit and we needed to hold hands and bind it and command it to leave in the name of Jesus.”
Nothing like this had ever happened to us before. But as Karen spoke, I knew it was true. It was like the Lord was drawing back a drape and let- ting us see what was happening in the realm of the spirit we were ignorant of before. For the first time ever, I held my wife’s hand and we prayed and bound the devil over our marriage and our home. It was a very simple prayer. I said, “Satan, in Jesus’ name we bind you over our marriage and our home. We command you to leave us and never come back. Amen.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the atmosphere in our marriage and home was completely different. Tension was replaced by peace. Anger was replaced by affection. We had experienced an awakening, and our marriage would never be the same again.
In sharing this story, I’m not suggesting that every problem in marriage or life is the devil’s fault. We have to learn many skills and spiritual les- sons on many levels to be successful in life and love. But what I am saying is the devil is real, he is evil, and he is our personal enemy. We must learn to overcome him if we are going to live free, fulfilled, and victorious lives.
Mark and Grace Driscoll are two of my favorite people. I have so much love and respect for them. You can be assured as you read this powerful book that they live these truths out every day in their lives, marriage, family, and relationship with God. They are mature, victorious believers who have the authority to teach on this subject.
As I read through the pages of this book, I thought how I wished I could have read this as a young believer. It would have been such an incredible help then, but it is still a blessing to me today. There are so many rich truths and spiritual insights in this book. Mark and Grace have a unique ability to share deep biblical truths in a very practical manner.
Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave to give us the ability to live an overcoming life of freedom and victory. And that is what this book will help equip you to do. This book is about helping all of us realize our destinies in the Lord and win every war against the enemy!
—Jimmy Evans
Senior Pastor of Gateway Church
Founder and CEO of MarriageToday
Senior Elder of Trinity Fellowship Church, Amarillo, Texas

Win Your War Foreword – R.T. Kendall

The book you are about to read is very unusual. In fact I know of no book quite like it. You will find it easy to read; it will grip you from the beginning. But you may not be prepared for it. And yet if you are a Christian, you will be edified and thankful for a book like this. If you are not a Christian but are open to what is reliable and trustworthy, this could be the instrument that will change your life—forever.

I met Mark and Grace Driscoll in Dallas for the first time a year ago. Various Christian leaders wanted us to meet. They said that Mark and I had a lot in common—being Word and Spirit men: Reformed in theology but open to the immediate and direct work of the Holy Spirit. I knew about Mark’s ministry in Seattle, Washington, and that he moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Mark and Grace flew to Dallas to meet with me and others. I listened to Mark as he recounted what he and Grace had been through in recent years. Seldom have I run across a couple who have suffered as they have. I was stunned by Mark’s candor and transparency. I will never forget the look of utter devotion on Grace’s face as she sat next to her husband as he answered our questions. There is nothing more painful than the with- holding of vindication. And yet God is at the bottom of such—which Mark and Grace know full well.

It is precisely their suffering that has prepared them for the making of the book you are about to read. This book was not written in an ivory tower—separate from the real world—as some are known to be. Mark and Grace have lived through what they write about. It is quite theological but immensely practical.You will be confronted with strong truth but blessed with simple and clear ways such truth can be applied in your life.

I have learned a lot from this book. I used to think I would write a book one day on angels and demons. But that is one aspiration I will permanently drop! Their book is better than I could have written.

Satan has one of two wishes for all people, namely, that either you would not believe in his existence at all or you would go overboard and give him undue attention. This book strikes a prudent balance between these extremes. You will come away with the conviction that the demonic world is very real—yes, but you will learn that the power of the blood of Jesus Christ is infinitely greater than Satan’s lies. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). But what impressed me even more is the sense of sin and a realistic view of human nature that emerge throughout the book. This book puts to rest any notion of the goodness of man—a worldview that has too long deceived humankind.

Win Your War is a team effort. Mark and Grace have given us a book that will enable you to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. But not in your own strength. It is because Christ overcame Satan at the cross!

—R. T. Kendall
DPhil, Oxford University
DD, Trevecca Nazarene University
Senior Pastor of Westminster Chapel for Twenty-Five Years
Author of More Than Sixty Books, Including Total Forgiveness