In reading The Barbarian Way, I discovered that there is a military tactic used by the Special Forces described as HALO.  HALO stands for “high altitude low opening”.  In order to place soldiers in the midst of the battle or behind enemy lines the military developed this tactic.  Since the getting picked off in the air was such a threat, the plane would fly at very high altitudes 25,000 feet or greater and the soldiers would not deploy their parachutes until they were about 2,000 feet about the ground.  This allowed the plane to go undetected and the soldiers to minimize the risk of being picked off in the air.

Erwin McManus the author of the book believes this describes what happens to us when we sell out to Christ.  The Bible states that we are lifted up with Christ but we also know that God strategically places us here on earth to engage in a battle for his kingdom.  He points out that in the conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus emphasized that we were born from above.

This was just one of many great insights I gleaned from this short little book.  I really enjoy books like The Barbarian Way that make you feel like you have unearthed some buried treasure on every page.