Lone Survivor: From Hell Week to Holy Ground

Written By Paul McDonald

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Navy SEAL training meets spiritual warfare in this raw discussion of Lone Survivor. Paul McDonald & Rory Lawrence explore brotherhood, identity in Christ, and never giving up the fight. Heavy topics, honest conversation, practical wisdom.

The Quotes

  • In this movie, we see a reality that we don’t often see.

  • It’s not trying, it’s training.

  • Life has a way of pushing you to the break.

  • The warfare doesn’t blow up your life. You do.

  • You’re never out of the fight.

  • Following Jesus has given me a lot of pain. Not because of him, but because I’m willing to go the distance with him.

  • Perseverance is the most godly character you can have.

 Themes

  • Brotherhood

    • Trials/Training- the intent is to purge the weaknesses

    • Leaving it all in the fight

  • Becoming a spiritual “frogman” – a man who is at home in both the spiritual world and the physical world

  • A bell to quit and a bell to celebrate

Resources

  • The Dangerous Man Podcast

  • “These men of the special forces have had other options in their lives, other paths, easier paths they could have taken. But they took the hardest path, that narrow causeway that is not for the sunshine patriot. They took the one for the supreme patriot, the one that may require them to lay down their lives for the United States of America. The one that is suitable only for those who want to serve their country so bad, nothing else matters.” - From Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

  • “Because you are about to experience a very searching and painful test. Each one of you is going to find out what you are really made of. And every step of the way, you will be faced with a choice. Do I give in to the pain and the cold, or do I go on? It will always be up to you. There’s no quotas, no numbers. We don’t decide who passes. You do. But I’ll be there on Friday when Hell Week ends, and I hope to shake the hand of each and every one of you.” - From Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

  • “I didn't think that any of the ones who quit were in much worse shape than they had been 12 hours before. They might have been a bit more tired, but we had done nothing new. It was all part of our tried and tested routines. And in my view, they had acted in total defiance of the advice handed to us by Captain McGuire. They weren't completing each task as it came, living for the day. They had allowed themselves to live in dread of the pain and anguish to come. And he'd told us never to do that, just to take it hour by hour and forget the future. Keep going until you're secured. You get a guy like that, a legendary US Navy SEAL and war hero. I think you ought to pay attention to his words. He earned the right to say them and he's giving you his experience." - From Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

  • “Gentlemen, for the rest of your lives there will be setbacks. But they won’t affect you like they will affect other people. Because you have done something very few are ever called upon to achieve. This week will live with you for all of your lives. Not one of you will ever forget it. And it means one thing above all else. If you can take Hell Week and beat it, you can do any damn thing in the world.” - From Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

  • “Every Navy SEAL is supremely confident, because we’re indoctrinated with a belief in victory at all costs; a conviction that no earthly force can withstand our thunderous assault on the battlefield. We’re invincible, right? Unstoppable. That’s what I believed to the depths of my spirit on the day they pinned the Trident on my chest. I still believe it. And I always will.” - From Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell

  • “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell[a] is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” - Matthew 7:13-14 (NLT)

  • “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NLT)

  • “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” - Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

  • “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” - Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)

  • “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” - James 1:2-4 (NLT)

  • “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, 'Wow! What a ride!' - Hunter S. Thompson

  • “I can do it all through the one who makes me who I am” - Philippians 4:13

Questions

  • When have you wanted to ring the bell, and what kept you from giving up?

  • When have you done something God asked you to, and it went sideways?

  • When have you gotten isolated when overwhelmed?

  • Who do you need to share your struggles with?

  • What does it look like to die to your self?

  • What does it mean to lean in to the pain?

  • How do you enter glory with an empty clip?

  • What does it mean to give it all to Jesus?

More info

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Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).

Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock.

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