Foreword & Introduction ...

Take a good long look in the mirror and realize one thing; whether you are going to heaven or not, the guy looking back at you will be the reason why.  What is more, many around you may share your fate whether on golden streets in the perfection for which you were intended, or outside the gates, fallen, miserable, and only waiting for the death you deserve.  In this too you will bear responsibility.  The only enemy you face in your quest for eternity is staring back at you in the mirror.  You and therefore I are the enemy.

Christians have lost sight of the most fundamental doctrine of the Bible; what it means to be saved.  For years we have forsaken the doctrine of surrender to Christ and have tried unsuccessfully to do the work only He can do in our lives.  We sin, and we promise not to again, we strive, we fight, we pray, and ultimately we lose our fights.  It is not our lack of faith, or the inability of our God that stands in our way.  It is our obsession that we remain in control of our quest for perfection.  We are our own worst enemy.

To reform this thinking we must go back to the beginning and re-examine why we are here, and what God originally intended for us.  We must understand better the nature of evil, where it comes from, and how we are finally going to be rid of it.  Only then can we face the tough questions that fill our world and our experiences in day to day life.  If we are going to properly represent Christ we must remember it is we alone who are our enemy, and we alone who must die daily in order to experience real victory. 

This volume is intended to provide a pathway for Christians to re-insert Christ into our lives in a life altering way.  It is time we abandon the language of religion and begin experiencing the tangible power of God in our lives.  If our God is real, then our experience must also be real; or we are all just a bunch of fakers.  Instead, let us take hold of our God as Jacob once did in the black of night when the weight of the world was upon his shoulders.  Instead of wrestling with the Lord, let us surrender to Him, and hold tightly to Him until we see His blessing lived out in our lives.  Let us stop being the enemy and find a way to call ourselves His friends.