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.

Woke up in the middle of the night last night. Could not go back to sleep. Been thinking about the discussion around the ruthless elimination of hurry. I haven’t dived into the book yet, but have read a number of different resources related to the same theme: moving at the pace God designed and creating space for real communion to expand our capacity to know and experience God‘s love for us and thereby become fuller conduits of that love to those he puts in our lives. This has been a huge theme of reflection for me over the last six years and has steered me on a new theological journey as I seek to understand what that means. I am always in a hurry. I’m always trying to produce more. A few years ago I read a book by Justin Whitmel Earley. He describes his transformation from frenetic an anxious pace of life that led to serious physical complications to a life of liturgy. The name of his book is The Common Rule. He describes what we are looking at here in this community together. He talks about a rule of life and living inside the rhythms God designs for us. He wrote another book called the habits of the household. Haven’t read that one yet but want to! Anyway, It had a huge impact on me and created in me a desire for more liturgy. I started studying Anglicanism and fell in love with what I learned. There’s a reason so many men in America and so many people in America are returning to Catholicism or Eastern Orthodox faith. There’s a hunger for centeredness and a connection to ancient tradition, something that is deeper and more stable than common fads and pop spirituality. We long for truth that transcends our appetites and consumer centered lives. Liturgy and a rule of life are ways to help us do that more effectively. The learning I did while creating the Legend of Messiah devotional material for The Crucible also made a huge impact on me as I reflect on God‘s design for us, why he made us, why he created time and space defined by day and night, and how he designed us. And then to think how part of his rescue was to form a nation for himself and in forming them he created a calendar with appointed times that were all designed to keep his people in rhythm with his own story. Everything about their lives centered on the story of red redemption and pointed to him at the center of everything, and help helped keep them subordinate to his purposes. As I studied, I realized that the traditions we are learning about through a rule of life and liturgy are rooted in the faith of our Jewish “older brothers.” Jesus followed those rhythms. I’m trying to learn more about what those rhythms were and what that meant for Jesus and what that means for me.

Brothers, I’ve been encouraging guys in Forge Tribe to find ways to engage with what they’re learning and share it with others. Not because anyone has it all figured out, but because there’s value in working things out together and letting others see what God is doing in you. @Sean Baker put together a study based on The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, and I just want to acknowledge that. It takes time and effort to sit with something, process it, and then share it with the group. That kind of contribution matters. It builds the culture we’re trying to create here. I’m grateful for it. If you’ve been thinking about doing something similar, this is a good example. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just real. Check it out in the classroom, and, hit him up if you wanna join in. Sean, thanks for putting this together.

The purpose and idea behind The Crucible.

We are nearing the end of the first week of the CRUCIBLE! These devotions have hit me hard, and the disciplines have exposed many of my weaknesses. In honor of the Sabbath, we intentionally relax one discipline on Sunday. Of course, our goal is not to go wild, but to intentionally enjoy something that you've abstained from throughout the week. The Sabbath was designed as sacred rest, reordering our hearts to receive God’s gifts with gratitude instead of gripping them with control. Everything we have is a gift from our Almighty God. We should reflect on that as we engage in our choice (see the GIF below for a sneak peak at @Matt Coapman praising the Lord as he gets into his hot shower). I haven't decided what I plan to relax yet. What are you going to enjoy?