Our modern culture elevates happiness as the ideal state of mind, and sees grief as an interruption and an enemy to be fought – or worse, as a sign of weakness. But Christian mourning is born from a place of longing for heaven, a deep ache to see the world restored and all that is wrong made right again. It is as much an expression of hope as of sorrow.

In our present culture, self-sufficiency is considered a virtue. But in the Kingdom of God, it is quite the opposite. Those who rely only on themselves will never see lasting spiritual growth, but those who cry out to God for help will be strengthened and find grace, peace, and joy as the grip of the world fades away.

The future fullness of the Kingdom of God is invading the present through us, His servants. We bear witness to the Kingdom’s coming by embodying the Sermon on the Mount as a community. It’s not something that can be understood from the outside, but something that must be entered and experienced to understand – and to live in this place of God’s rule and reign, we set our sights on Jesus and choose to follow Him!

Rhythms of intentionality are how we practice faithfulness to God’s word, and learn to live in the abundant life He has for us. They set up a framework for us to live life grounded in the Spirit, growing in faith, transformed and energized by the grace of God.

The spirit and the flesh are in constant struggle within us, and it is a war we cannot win through sheer willpower. Instead of focusing on fighting sin only, we should learn to lean on the spirit and crucify (deny) the flesh. Confession and fasting are two ways in which we feed the spirit and exercise true freedom, and diminish the power our flesh holds over us.

The purpose of self-examination is to see where your thoughts, heart, emotions, goals, fears, desires and hopes are placed, to show you where in your life you may be going off-track or where the enemy is attacking you, and to invite you to bring your burdens before God and to let Him do His work in you. 

The purpose of self-examination is to see where your thoughts, heart, emotions, goals, fears, desires and hopes are placed, to show you where in your life you may be going off-track or where the enemy is attacking you, and to invite you to bring your burdens before God and to let Him do His work in you. 

When we intercede for one another in prayer we have the honor of participating in love and service,and we find closeness with God. It is easy for the disappointments and feelings of “God, I don’t understand” to cause us to accept a passive prayer life, but if we believe and seek for God’s power in our house, we will see His hand in the mountains and in the valleys, and perhaps see miracles even in our disappointments.