We have a strong group of men verbally committed to The Ascent, but now we need to turn those commitments into action. The Ascent begins September 14, and time is running out. If you have said yes, make it official and sign up in Skool. If you are building a Fire Team, please do not stop with a group text or a verbal commitment. Use the Invite Engine on the Forge Tribe website to invite your men. This gets them into Skool and onto the communication list so they receive everything they need before we begin. Here is what I am asking you to do today: 1. Sign up for Forge Tribe in Skool. 2. Use the Invite Engine to send the official invitation to every man on your Fire Team. 3. Follow up and make sure each man completes the process. We have something special coming together, but a verbal yes is only the beginning. Let’s commit, gather our men, and get ready to climb. Sign up in Skool: https://www.skool.com/forgetribe Invite your Fire Team: https://www.forgetribe.me/pages/the-ascent#build-your-fire-team

Brothers, The Ascent is not a lecture series. It is 40 days spent slowly, deliberately, in the words of Jesus in Matthew 5 through 7, the clearest picture He ever gave us of what it means to actually live like Him. A journal matters here because this teaching is not meant to be heard once and forgotten. It is meant to be wrestled with. Write down what convicts you. Track what changes in you. Bring your questions to your Fire Team instead of losing them by the next morning. The journal is not a keepsake. It is a tool for formation. We want to put one in your hands before September 14. Just tell us where to send it: Claim Your Journal → And if you have a Fire Team forming, bring the rest of your brothers in: Invite Your Fire Team →

A few men have asked whether The Ascent is another intense round of disciplines like the Crucible. It is not. The Crucible was designed to strip away distractions, confront comfort, and establish discipline. The Ascent is a different kind of work. For 40 days, we will walk through the Sermon on the Mount and put the words of Jesus into practice. This is not about completing a crazy checklist. It is about learning to build your life on the rock. Each week has three simple anchors: • A Sabbath to rest, worship, and receive • A Fire Pit gathering with your team • One practical challenge that puts Jesus’ teaching into action Here is what the work looks like: Week 1: Practice Mercy Do one concrete act of mercy for someone who cannot repay you. Week 2: Repair Your Witness Make right one place where your life has not matched your faith. Week 3: Make Peace Take one faithful step toward reconciliation, truth, or forgiveness. Week 4: Give in Secret Meet a need without being known. Let the Father see. Week 5: Seek First With Your Money Cancel one unnecessary purchase and give that money away. Week 6: Draft Your Rule of Life Leave with a simple plan for obedience, shared with your team. The Ascent will challenge you, but it is not meant to be a grind. It is about slowing down, listening to Jesus, and doing what He says alongside men you know and trust. This is not extra homework. This is the work. The Ascent begins September 14. We are asking each man to build a Fire Team of 3 to 5 men he already knows and trusts. Invite your brothers, form your team, and register together. Learn more, build your Fire Team, and sign up here: https://www.forgetribe.me/pages/the-ascent#build-your-fire-team Share the link below: https://www.videoask.com/f14pw9j9b

Men, The Ascent begins September 14. This is our next 40-day challenge, and we are going up the mountain with Jesus. For 40 days, we are walking through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ clearest teaching on what life in the Kingdom actually looks like. This is not just another Bible study. This is formation. Jesus steps onto the mountain and confronts everything we chase, fear, worship, hide, and call strength. He flips our view of the Kingdom upside down. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Love your enemies. Pray in secret. Fast without performing. Do not store up treasures on earth. Do not be anxious. Seek first the Kingdom. That is the road we are walking for The Ascent. And we are not meant to walk it alone. So here is the charge: Start building your fire team now. Who are the two to four men you know, like, and trust? Who are your ride or dies? Who are the men you want beside you as you follow Jesus? Who are the men you are willing to open Scripture with, pray with, tell the truth with, and surrender with? Start there. Forge Tribe is not trying to administratively manufacture brotherhood. We are not saying, “Come join our friend group.” The invitation is not just to enter our brotherhood. The invitation is to bring the gospel into yours. If The Crucible meant something to you, do not just consume what God gave you. Steward it. Invite somebody. And do not just invite men who will participate. Invite men who will invite men. Invite men who can gather their own two to four guys and bring the gospel into their brotherhood too. That is the heart of this. 2 Corinthians says, “For the love of Christ controls us.” It says we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. That is not abstract. That is not just for pastors or missionaries. That is your actual life. Your friends. Your brothers. Your roommates. Your coworkers. Your unit. Your golf group. The men God has already placed near you.

We had a strong first session with Dr. Dave Ruth this morning. The conversation centered on biblical forgiveness, the danger of passivity, and the difference between simply avoiding pain and actually dealing with it before God. A few of the biggest takeaways: Forgiveness is not pretending the hurt did not happen. It is refusing to let that hurt continue to control your heart. Passivity can look like strength. Ignoring conflict, compartmentalizing pain, or convincing ourselves we have “moved on” may actually be a way of avoiding what God is asking us to face. Biblical strength is not hardness or control. It is power submitted to God. We also spent time clarifying the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness can begin in your own heart. Reconciliation takes two people and may not always be possible, even when it remains the goal. This was an honest, direct conversation rooted in Scripture, and next week Dave will begin moving more specifically into the process of forgiveness. We meet again Saturday, August 8, at 0700 ET on Google Meet. The link is on the Skool calendar. You do not need to have attended the first session to join us. Bring your Bible, come ready to engage, and invite another man who may need this conversation.