Field manual
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The 48-week campaign
Six seasons. Twelve steps. One armor. The long road is the program: weekly lessons, daily journals, battle plans, and the Watch between sessions. Start at Week 1. Boot Camp is optional underneath.
The Watch
Daily recovery operations: days standing, sentry report, night-watch tenth step, the call line, moral inventory, amends, and a gospel-shaped return when you fall. Crisis lines are one tap away. This is not a substitute for emergency care, a physician, or the church.
How to walk the week
- Read the Lesson Guide during or before your small group meeting.
- Work the Battle Plan — 3–4 short daily actions. Consistency beats intensity.
- Complete the Daily Work Journal. One focused task plus two reflection questions each day.
- Use the Daily Armor Check every morning.
- Meet with your small group ready to discuss, share, and pray.
- Keep the Watch: sentry report by day, tenth-step night watch by night.
Weekly meeting
- 15 minOpeningWorship, prayer, and Scripture reading.
- 30 minTeachingDeep theological instruction on the week’s topic.
- 45 minSmall GroupsProcessing, discussion, and accountability.
- 15 minLarge GroupSharing insights and closing prayer.
- WeekIndividual StudyDaily Armor Check, Battle Plan, and Daily Work Journal.
Theological distinctives
Imago Dei
Every person is created in the image of God and possesses inherent dignity and worth.
Total Depravity
Sin has affected every part of us; we are spiritually dead and powerless apart from Christ.
Justification by Faith
We are declared righteous before God solely by the finished work of Christ, not by our own efforts.
Sanctification
God progressively makes us holy by His Spirit as we cooperate with the ordinary means of grace.
Union with Christ
Our identity is no longer defined by our past or our struggles but by our unbreakable union with Jesus.
Spiritual Warfare
We fight not against flesh and blood but against spiritual forces; the full armor of God is essential for victory.
Twelve steps, two grammars
The traditional steps provide scaffolding. The Armor supplies living power. Where the Steps say “admit, believe, decide,” The Armory says “put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand.”
We admitted we were powerless over our addiction — that our lives had become unmanageable.
We admitted we were overpowered by the enemy, and that our lines were broken, our defenses shattered.
Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Came to believe that a Supreme Commander, a Force greater than any single warrior, could restore order to our ranks and sanity to our command.
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
Made a decision to concede command of our life and our campaign to the care of that Supreme Commander.
Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Made a searching and fearless tactical assessment of our own capabilities, our failures, and the battles we have lost.
Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Confessed to the Supreme Commander, to ourselves, and to a fellow warrior the exact nature of our betrayals and tactical errors.
Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Were entirely ready to have the Supreme Commander purge these flaws from our warrior character.
Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
Humbly besought Him to remove our defects of command and restore our tactical readiness.
Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Made a list of all comrades we have harmed or betrayed in battle, and became willing to make full amends.
Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Made direct amends to such comrades whenever possible, except when to do so would cause further harm or jeopardize the mission.
Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
Continued to take a daily assessment of our position, and when we were out of alignment, promptly corrected our course.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with the Supreme Commander, praying only for knowledge of His will for our campaign and the power to execute it.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other broken warriors, and to practice these principles in all our campaigns.
Optional on-ramp
31-Day Boot Camp
Thirty-one days through Recruit, Equip, Train, Stand, and Serve if you want a shorter formation first. Daily rhythm: briefing, Scripture, intel, drill, fieldwork, after-action report, prayer, challenge. Not required to begin the 48-week campaign.
Open Boot Camp