Hey y'all, I am currently at the airport about to travel to North Africa for 2.5 weeks for work and vacation - while I am very excited for this trip, I am also nervous for a variety of reasons - I'd appreciate prayers for the following: - That I would continue to seek God and connect with Him daily, really moment by moment, even though my regular schedule will be completely thrown offf - For protection - physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual protection - I will be traveling by myself and I know that I can more vulnerable in that context. Pray that I would make good and wise decisions and resist any temptations and schemes of the evil one Thanks y'all!

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.

When the Forge Tribe leadership team invited me into their Fire Pit and then invited me to help with the Crucible, I knew I needed it not just for me, but for my family. One of the biggest challenges of my life has been learning to love my wife and raise my kids the way God calls me to. I’ve had enough mentors speak into my life to help me realize that while there are practical TTPs (tactics, techniques and procedures) involved in this, it is not primarily about TTPs. It’s about personal formation - becoming the man who God is calling me to be. If I’m living into that identity, everything else will fall into place. That’s what Forge Tribe and the Crucible is all about. My son will turn 11 this summer. He is growing up in a ruthless and toxically confused cultural concept of masculinity. I am asking God to help me model manhood for him in a way that will shape him forever. That’s one of the reasons I need the Crucible. That’s one of the reasons I desperately need a rule of life. I want him to see me joining with brothers in commitment and truth and a pattern of life defined by the rhythms of God. I want him to see this as normal, not unusual. Thank you all for helping create this community where I can continue learning to do that. Here’s a powerful article that speaks to the challenges we are up against to raising children: https://open.substack.com/pub/charper/p/bihes-and-bros?r=etv4n&utm_medium=ios

(I have been really inspired by Justin Whitmel Earley’s first book, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction and Keller's book on prayer) DAILY STEP 1 - Morning prayer: Each day, after waking up, before I do anything, I will kneel down next to my bed and offer my morning memorized prayer STEP 2 - Scripture before Phone. I will not let work/news/entertainment inform my first thoughts of the day. Holy Hour  (one of the following) Prayer (4 step model: 1. See & savor; 2. submit & confess; 3. seek; 4. step) Devotional reading Journaling Study STEP 3 - Listen, Watch & Wait, Trust & Obey (L2WTO) Throughout the day I will be on the lookout for how God is communicating to me through his Spirit who lives in me and through scripture that he calls to mind. I will listen for his voice… Watch for his intervention… Wait for his breakthrough into the mundane in simple and small yet profound ways. He is always working. The more I wake up to it and am sensitive to it, the more God conscious we will be and attuned to his work in the world. He will lead me. When he does, I will trust and obey. STEP 4 - Nightly prayer: hold hands with my wife. Thank God for his goodness. Commit our lives and our family to his care.  WEEKLY - The Temple (my body) Fitness 5x a week Intermittent fasting (18/6 eating window) No sugar during week except dessert night with family No alcohol during the week 8 hrs of sleep - Prayer call with a brother (accountability) - Sabbath Worship, rest, play, and pray - family, friends and fun No work No phone - Worship with the body of Christ MONTHLY - Guy time with son 2x - Daddy/Daughter date 2x - Date with wife 2x  - 24 hour water only fast (God, my only hope is you) - Family hospitality with a visitor ANNUAL - 40 day Crucible, 2x a year - Personal vision retreat - Dedicated family vacation

Good morning brothers! He is risen! …a few phrases come to mind this morning… Tetelestai…it is finished. He is risen…Just as he said. Behold, I am making all things new. Because of the Resurrection of our King, the worst thing is never the last thing. “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” Then Jesus explains the core message they were meant to see: “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Luke 24:46–47 So the big idea is this: Jesus did not treat the Scriptures as random moral lessons or isolated prophecies. He taught that the entire scriptural story finds its fulfillment in him—especially: • the suffering of the Messiah • the resurrection • the forgiveness of sins • the mission to the nations There is also a beautiful progression in Luke 24: • their eyes were kept from recognizing him • the Scriptures are opened • their eyes are opened • their minds are opened In other words, Jesus reveals himself through the Scriptures, and then the disciples are able to truly see. My brothers, I pray this post CRUCIBLE phase of our journey draws us deeper and deeper into God‘s word as we seek to know him and make him known. @⁨John Thompson⁩ I cannot wait to hear your teaching on the kingdom of heaven revealed through the sermon on the Mount.