The joy of the Lord is not something peripheral or optional. Rather, the Bible tells us, “The joy of the Lord is our strength;” connoting that without it, we are weak and defenseless against the devil’s schemes. This posture is integral for kingdom life—even something God requires because childlike joy expresses our gratitude for what God has done and our eager expectancy of what He will do.

Across the nation, families are feeling the desire to leave urban and suburban settings and move toward a land-based lifestyle. This message is a call to action, an appeal to take responsibility for our families, a challenge to become the city on a hill that Christ intended for the church to be.

When God wanted to demonstrate to all principalities and powers His manifold wisdom, He created the Church. This is an institution that surpasses all unity, love and power of any other, not by coercion, but through the power of truth and love. This is only possible through the energizing power of the Holy Spirit, active in each member of the fitly framed temple. Yet each member only contains a measure

History is filled with egregious examples of those who rejected Biblical patterns and doctrine by incorporating Greek thinking and government into Church doctrine. These misguided men did not set-out to destroy the church, but since they lacked discipleship, they led the church on a dangerous course that robbed it of its power and defaced God’s reputation in the world. This leads us to a question: how do we accept correction?