 by kevin SeguinI call it "Salt-Seasoned Faith" but what do I mean by that? Some might jump to the well-known directive from Jesus for Christians to "Be the salt of the earth" (Matt 5:13) and "not lose your saltiness" (Luke 14:34 and Mark 9:50). Not a bad reference but in fact, for me, salt-seasoned faith is less about what Jesus said in the Gospels and more about what Paul said in Colossians: "Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." (Colossians 4:5-6 ESV emphasis mine.) If there's one thing the North American church can do better, it's relate to people outside the church. Historically, and especially during my life, we have done an awful job of believing and holding to Biblical truth while simultaneously being loving, winsome, hospitable and gracious witnesses to God's gift of grace and forgiveness found in His son. In my own experience, I've found that churches that tend to excel at one of these things, also tend to fail at the other. I'm painting in broad strokes now, but again, in my own experience, churches that tend to excel in good doctrine are usually pretty exclusive and abrasive to outsiders while churches that are really great at making outsiders feel welcomed tend to be pretty horrible at theology and doctrine. Again, broad strokes, but if you've been around the "Church" block a couple of times, this likely isn't news to you. Here's my question: "Why can't we do both well?" Why can't we be good at theology AND good at loving people? I love the image Paul uses. This idea of being only "seasoned" in salt. Not to much, not to little. When I read this text, I see the salt here as being the message we Christians bring in our interactions with people who are outside the church. It's the Gospel, in a word. How we communicate the Gospel matters. It matters because the Gospel is offensive enough by itself and it is much easier to push someone away from it than draw them in to it. An over-salted meal is often unpalatable. When my wife and I were first married I decided to pan fry her steak for dinner, I over salted it with the wrong kind of salt and ruined the steaks. So bad was the taste in her mouth that I still take flak over it more than six years later! Too much salt leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Too little salt, too little seasoning can do just as much damage. I won't go back to a restaurant that serves bland food any more than my wife will let me pan-fry steaks. The same is true of our faith. Too much salt leaves a bad taste and not enough is bland and worthless. So what are we to do? I love the Gospel I love Jesus, and I even love the church. I want desperately to see the North American church walk away from the way we have been historically been presenting the Gospel, as simply a way to clean up your life. The gospel and our shared faith within it is so much more than simple moralism. Having a faith that is "Salt-seasoned" is about recognizing that people who aren't believers aren't going to live like us; that they won't have the same values as we do. It's about tolerating that, dare I say it's about being ok with that. Sinners sin; that shouldn't surprise those of us sinners who have been saved by grace. I've said it before, and I'll say it as clearly as I can here: I don't care how non-Christians behave until they become Christians, and neither should you. Paul talks about walking in wisdom toward and among outsiders and making the best use of our time. The best use of our time isn't nit-picking their behaviour to make them look more like the kind of sinner we are, it's being gracious, loving, accepting even! Elsewhere Paul talks about outsiders being slaves to sin. Slaves don't have a choice. Isn't in inherently un-loving to expect a slave to act in a way he's not permitted to act and then chastise him for not acting that way? Expecting someone who doesn't worship Jesus to act a certain way because Jesus or even the Bible says so is like asking me to start following the tenets of Scientology. I won't do it, because I don't care. Food for thought: Jesus hung out with sinners so much it affected his public image and perception. Modern, Western Christianity asks sinners to conform to our rules before they can hang out with us...I don't know about you, but that's way too much salt for my taste.  As a Biblical conservative, a cultural Liberal, a husband, a dad, and a pastor, Kevin wants to see the church act differently in the world. Kevin has a big passion in ministry for seeing how believers can bring the Gospel into the world around them while pursuing the lost art of winsomeness. It is what fuels him and drives him to write. Engaging culture with the truth of the Gospel in a way that is winsome, wise, and as Colossians 4:6 directs us: “seasoned with salt.” It’s my hope that what I say here helps you not only in your own faith, but helps you share it more effectively and fruitfully.
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 by steven mccurdyI need to repent. It’s no secret that I practice my faith in a different way than most people. I’ve come to realize my faith is more meaningful when I am free to disassemble and rebuild. It feels more authentic when I can abandon any theology at any time. It is liberating. I am happy to burn it all down and worship in the ashes. I’m comfortable in the process of demolishing and reconstructing. It is a profoundly destructive process, but it is a way I can cope with the intricacies of religion, faith and the human experience. It helps me make sense of things that just don't make sense. I think this is better way to find truth, but I’ve come to realize that not everyone thinks like I do. I understand that many people have built intricate systems of faith to help them make sense of God and life. It is comforting to have certainty about their situation; it brings them hope. I understand that. I can’t blame them for that. The religious systems that we build are often necessary, even if they are frequently misguided. They are attempts to reach upwards toward God and, on some level, we need to feel that our striving helps. In the end these are feeble attempts, but they can help us understand the nature of the God that created and sustains the entire universe. I’ve been on a journey from being spiritually and culturally agnostic, into conservative Christianity only to find myself shifting to the left. I’ve methodically deconstructed many of my beliefs because it helps me understand God. But, I’ve been guilty of trying to make everyone else see things the way I see them. I’ve written aggressive and controversial things in an attempt to start a dialogue that I thought would be subversive. That failed. It is normal and acceptable that people will dig in their heels as we try to drag them from their comfort zones. They weren't ready, and they may never be. I have to fine with that. That is part of my journey. Because I found authenticity in spiritual deconstruction I thought other people would too. I tried to light a fire under other people’s faith systems. I never intended to completely destroy their faith, I just wanted them to experience the freedom that I felt. I can't do that anymore. That's spiritual arson. My faith has been reborn in refining fire and it is my hope that others will experience that too. I wanted my writing to be helpful, however, I now realize it's not my job to take people to the foundations of their faith. I don’t have that authority. I still think it is imperative that we discuss the important topics and we must also retain a level of confidence in our own beliefs. I don’t, however, feel it is necessary—or beneficial—to coerce people into ideologies they aren't ready or willing to consider. Rather, it is worthwhile to use discourse as a means to help influence people into a more refined and irenic perception of their own and other people’s beliefs. Truth is important but the path that we walk to get there is often just as important. It matters how we use our influence. So, I apologize if my offhand comments on faith have impacted you negatively. If my criticism of prosperity gospel, Calvinism, biblical inerrancy or young earth creationism has cut too deeply, I ask for forgiveness. I now know that most people believe these things for the right reasons. I don't think you are ignorant or intentionally deceptive. I realize that we are all just doing our best to understand this damaged world using our own fallible human experience as a guide. I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t continue to write about my faith, even the difficult parts. I will continue to pose questions with confidence, but without any expectation. I will only write for myself, as a way to challenge and refine my own beliefs. I will use my writing as a way to express my own thoughts, doubts and fears. I have no doubt that my writing will continue to be misguided, potentially destructive and offensive but I think it also has the potential to bring hope to those that, like me, don’t find security in certainty (not that there is anything wrong with that). My challenge now is to accept that all ideologies are born out of specific, well groomed worldviews. I need to realize that, ultimately, people don't have as much choice in the theologies they believe as we would assume. I must not try to destroy other people's ideologies only to implant my own. Rather, I need to appreciate our differences and celebrate our similarities, as we sharpen each other like iron sharpens iron. Maybe that is a challenge for you as well?  I write about my story. The story about how I became a pro-life (womb to grave) liberal, confident arminian, reluctant charismatic, cautious progressive creationist, tentative conditionalist, utterly wretched without Christ, corporate complementarian (individually egalitarian), clueless pre-millenialist, and most importantly, a follower of Christ. I am a blue collar tradesman. I am a victim of post-modern society probably due to my secular upbringing
I serve on the editorial team of boldcupofcoffee.com, I am married to a wonderful woman and have a son and a daughter. They are the very best of me.  by anthony portilloThere was a season of ministry that I, for some time, considered my "wilderness season." The idea had a negative connotation to it, as I felt like I was just going through the motions and not really seeing any growth. My perspective was clearly jaded. I looked at growth in terms of numerical success and ministry invitations so when those things weren't happening I felt unsuccessful. It's interesting to me how our perspectives can shape our views of ourselves and our world. I had a very performance-oriented perspective. I was still trying to work for God as if I owed Him this debt I'd never be able to pay. When it came to studying the Bible I would study to prepare for a sermon but not for devotion. I witnessed to people out of obligation and not out of love. I gave because I thought that I had to, not because I wanted to. It's no wonder I would look at this season as a "wilderness." My perspective had me thinking I was in the wilderness in which the Israelites spent 40 years wandering. All of my wandering and striving to please God was based on my own effort, void of real connection to Him. It was tiring, it felt like a slow death just constantly trying to do more, be more, give more. Much like the Israelites, I had totally missed the heart of God. All that He desired from me was relationship. God, in His goodness, didn't allow me to stay in this place of striving and struggling. One day I felt Holy Spirit say to me "you're living in the wrong wilderness!" In that moment the LORD directed me to Jesus’ journey through the wilderness. This was a bit of an "AHA!" moment for me but it was also a profound moment in my relationship with the LORD. You see, Jesus went into the wilderness because He was led there by the Spirit. It was in this place that Jesus developed His own relationship with God that would prepare Him for what lay ahead. It was in the wilderness that Jesus learned how not to depend on His own strength, He learned to trust God, He learned to resist temptation. This wasn't a place of punishment it was a place of preparation. The LORD was showing me that He didn't have me in that season to suffer but to prepare. To show me His goodness, to speak life and identity into me, and to develop me through a deeply connected relationship with Him. No longer do I feel like I owe God, I'm His son. No longer do I study the Bible for sermons, I study out of desire to know Him more. I don't witness to anyone anymore, instead I just love people everywhere I go. I don't give because I'm obligated, I give because it's not mine in the first place. God gives us resources so we can be a channel to bless others. I don't say this to boast about myself or my relationship with God but to encourage you that these seasons of preparation are paramount to producing long term fruit. I can't stress enough that I am not more special than you! We are His children and His desire is to grow us and bring us to a deeper place of love and connectedness that breaks us free from the performance mindset and brings us into the liberty of sonship! A friend recently said to me, "before you fire something from a slingshot, you have to pull it backwards." The farther you pull back, the more power propels the object you're firing. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness until a whole generation had died off. Jesus came out of the wilderness in the power of Holy Spirit and changed the world. That same power is available to all of us! We can change the world but if we don't embrace the process we won't get very far. If you're in a wilderness season of your own I want to encourage you to embrace it. Let your weakness become His strength, let your uncertainty become trust in His plans for your life, let your temptations become the victories that further secure your identity in Him! When He fires the slingshot there's no limit to where you can go.  Anthony currently serves as a co-host on The Alliance Podcast at boldcupofcoffee.com and founding pastor at Thrive Church as well as a public speaker and author.
Anthony had a 15 year love affair with heroin addiction and spent time in prison, but an encounter with God, one night, radically changed his life. Since that evening Anthony has had a desire and passion to serve the LORD and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom wherever he goes. Using Biblical insight, his experience, and street knowledge, he is able to reach people in the darker places of society. Anthony and his wife Tanya currently serve as Senior Leaders of Thrive Church. He is a gifted preacher and teacher with a desire is to build people up into their destinies, living a supernatural lifestyle, and manifesting the Kingdom of God in their everyday lives.  by ken booneMy prophetic word for 2016 is that the “Moves” of God will become “Movements“. I believe many of us experienced Moves of God in the previous year and even prior to 2015 our lives were moved by the activity of God that has led us to what is about to occur. The dictionary defines a “Move” as a “change from one state, opinion, sphere, or activity to another.” God has been strategically Moving us in order to position us to fulfill His divine purpose in our lives. Some of us have experienced to the letter the very definition of the word Move. Our opinions have changed, we have shifted from one sphere of influence to another, our spiritual state has been transformed, and the desires that drive our activities have been completely rearranged. The fact is that God has Moved us. He has moved us to this point in our history with Him to enable us to make history for Him. The Moves of God in our lives are about to become Movements. The word “Movement” is defined as “a group of people working together to advance their shared ideas.” Not only has God Moved on our lives but He has also Moved on the lives of others that we are connected to. God is bringing together individuals who have been Moved by Him in order to form Movements. Strategic alliances have been formed between those who have experienced similar Moves so that they will Move as one. This Movement will be powerful because so many will Move together they will become an unstoppable force. The gates of hell will be dramatically pushed back and destroyed in regions where it was never thought possible. There will be pockets of revival that become regions of revival as people join together as one. Entire cities will be filled with joy as they experience the full impact of the Movement of God. The gospel of the Kingdom will be advanced more effectively than ever before as Moves become Movements. “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” Ecc 4:12 NLT.  Ken Boone currently serves as a co-host on The Alliance Podcast at boldcupofcoffee.com and founding pastor at Alabaster House as well as a public speaker, travelling equipper and writer.
Ken and his wife Christa are the proud parents of four children. They have been married for more than 15 years. And have been in the ministry for more than 17 years, They have dedicated their lives to preaching the "Gospel of the Kingdom", and to living a life in partnership with Holy Spirit. Their desire is to see believers equipped to live a lifestyle that brings the realities of Heaven to the world that we live in, to see the culture of the Kingdom of God replace the cultures around us. And to fulfill the mandate from Jesus to: "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, freely you have received freely give."  by Jeffrey mcconnellThere are few things that I find as satisfying as reading a good book or watching a morally challenging movie. Maybe it’s a good thriller that displays the ongoing struggle between good and evil, or the classic western portrayal of the sheriff who cannot be corrupted with any bribe but instead possesses within himself a divine mission to instil justice, save the helpless, and satisfy vengeance upon the lawless. I have a tendency to crave the just cause of a hero putting the hard hearted evil villain in his rightful place, even if that place is a grave. I am a proud conservative Calvinist, Baptist, and evangelical fundamentalist (I don’t mind the term) who is at serious odds with both the political and religious left. In light of my background information it may then seem rather strange to some that I am also a pacifist. I suppose it's time for me to explain. What is pacifism anyways? Secular stances on pacifism roughly state that all forms of violence, war, and/or killing is unethical and is to be resisted. Many unfortunately see all pacifism in this light and many pacifist Christians unfortunately hold to this view. I however disagree for the simple fact that in the Old Covenant violence, war, and imprecatory writings harmoniously coincided with the will of God in that particular covenant (Deut 20:16-17; 1 Sam 2:6; 2 Sam 17:14; Jer 13:14, 19:7; Hab 1:5-7). Since Christ, we have been released or freed from the law and He brought about the end of the law (Rom 10:4), rendering it outdated and obsolete (Heb 8:13). Now we look to Christ and His apostles of the new covenant for teaching and wisdom. With this emphasis between the nature and understanding of the old and new covenants as being pivotal I tend to call my position “covenantal pacifism”, and would then define my understanding of biblical pacifism as the theological and ethical conviction that violence is incompatible within the new covenant Christian faith. Pacifism is therefore related specifically to the church era. When I tell people of my position for peace the responses arise immediately. What about a Christian’s use of self-defense against a murderer coming into your home, or enlisting as a soldier, or staging a career in the police force? What about our participation in just wars, or sports such as football, MMA, and boxing? These are all great questions however space fails me to write on all these issues at the moment. For now let us remember to let the scripture lead us to the truth giving us the final say on our ethics and work out the practical details later. So briefly, I want to lay out the scriptures and arguments that support this specific type of pacifistic understanding.
Its unfortunate that the conversation of pacifism is fringe and avoided. The view that was once almost universally believed in the church has now come to produce war in the church; ironic isn’t it? The subject of pacifism ends up doing the very thing that it sets out to avoid. I do not think that this needs to be true among the mature in the context of a healthy discussion. Despite our positions in this discussion we can all agree that as Christians we are called to seek the rich depths of God’s oracles for answers, for peaceful resolutions in conflict, for tools of reconciliation, and ultimately ask the age-old question: how should I live?  Jeffrey McConnell is a former atheist turned devoted Christian, husband, father, and former lay apologist writer for gotquestions.org. He currently resides in Leduc Alberta attending Grace Life Church in Edmonton, with his wife Nikki and three children Austin, Elias, and Macie. You can contact Jeff at: jamcconn@gmail.com and check out The Beaten Sword: A Covenant of Peace
 by robert dodmanSo here is the irony of this article; I was encouraged to write it because of my response to the original article Where are all the Encouragers. It is a good read and it brings up an important point. As an added bonus in the comments you can read my original response and the conversation that followed. The focus of that conversation was that we are all encouragers. Encouragement is a big topic, and I don’t think anyone can truly search it from top to bottom. I have thought about it for 6 months since the idea was raised, and at first, when I thought about writing this, I felt as though there would not be much to go on outside the original text and boy was I wrong. Encouragement is as simple as saying thank you and as complex as a lifelong relationship: the process may simply be placing one brick on another or building the Taj Mahal. As an example of how encouragement can take different forms, my brother needed some encouragement and all I could do was show up give him a hug and listen; no slogans, no words, no preaching. In another instance of encouragement, the conversation was extremely word heavy and the other person listened intently to all that was said. Another thing about encouragement is that it doesn’t have to be all flowery and kind words that build you up. Sometimes it can be words—that in other contexts—would seem mean or insensitive but is actually encouragement. For example I had a friend of mine tell me “You are not allowed to be sad.” How rude! Didn’t they know what I was going through? Don’t they care? Of course they did. In this circumstance, they needed to speak like this because what I needed to hear, in this immediate moment, was: 1- this was only temporary, 2- Joy is my strength, 3- That they viewed me as a reliable and calm person. When I understood this, it became a huge encouragement to me. Well what is encouragement anyway? The best way I can think of to define it is “to embolden one to action or continued action, specifically when they have the ability to do so”. The first part of this definition is generally what you would find in most dictionaries and the latter part is what I have added. I added this because it is a cruel and disheartening thing when you are expected to do something that you are not capable of completing. Similar to being told to sit in the corner of a round room, to truly encourage there has to be an ability to follow through with the encouragement otherwise it is a fruitless endeavor. Coaches encourage athletes to do what the coach knows they are capable of. Coaches push athletes past their limits to do what seemed impossible but always had the potential for. So according to this definition I started to think through examples from my life and the Bible: especially through Psalms and Proverbs, and the parables of Jesus. Then it jumped out at me that the Bible as a whole is encouragement in one form or another! Right from the first words spoken to man “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it,” To the very last words of Jesus in Revelation 22:20: “Surely I come quickly”. Entire Books of the Bible are encouragement in one form or another. Psalms and Proverbs are ‘happy’ books, Ecclesiastes not so much but still encouraging, Isaiah and Jeremiah have warnings and judgment but still encourage Israel to repent and return to God. The whole history of Israel in the Old Testament is encouragement, in itself, when we realize that God does not forsake those he loves. In the New Testament the gruesome torture and death of our Lord and Saviour is part of the greater narrative of encouragement that God would himself dies for us and is raised from the grave to ensure that we have a place with him in Heaven. Then Paul’s letters are pure encouragement to repent, to grow, and not grow weary. Philemon is a short but powerful letter which seems to be specifically encouragement. Revelation, the last and most difficult to understand, is itself ultimately encouraging, God is Victorious! I could keep going but I hope you see the point. There is no course, doctorate, training, or experience that will make you into a master encourager. There is no perfect formula either. Between the Bible and what life has taught us we see that encouragement comes in many forms. Sometimes it is obvious and sometimes it is hidden in what might seem harsh at first. Saying thank you to the Sunday school worker and looking them in the eye as you do goes a long way. Maybe encouragement is contacting a teacher or mentor, an old friend or a youth leader that impacted your life and sharing how you appreciate what they did for you. Tell your parents that despite their errors you love them and are grateful for them. Listening to a young child’s story even though they are rambling on and on. It is all encouragement. Encouragement is not about having the exact right words—or any words at all—it’s about being there for someone who needs encouragement because we all need encouragement. Thanks for Reading.  Robert is a down to earth blue collar worker who thinks deeply about the things of life faith. He loves Jesus, loves his church and loves people. He is a loving husband and farther of two boys.
 BY ANTHONY PORTILLO There’s a lot of talk about “Hyper-Grace” and the supposed dangers of preaching too much grace. The supposed danger of this message is that it gives people a license to sin and get away with it. I’d like to suggest that there is no kind of grace but “Hyper-Grace” and it has nothing to do with giving license to sin, but everything to do with setting captives free! If you’ve followed my writing or heard my testimony, you probably have some background on where I come from. If not, (Shameless Plug) you can read it here in my book Sink or Swim http://goo.gl/UsxldI. Long story short, I discovered heroin at the age of 13 and maintained an active relationship with it for the better part of a decade and a half. It led me to rehabs, mental hospitals, and prison. When I first had an actual encounter with grace, I was in a prison cafeteria wearing a yellow jumpsuit serving a one-year sentence for my 3rd DUI in 2 years. That day, I experienced something I had never experienced before. Acceptance, love, and forgiveness. A junkie kid who couldn’t care less about himself or others. A drug dealer, a hustler, a con artist, I was called a lot of things but a child of God wasn’t one of them. Forgiveness wasn’t something I had a grid for nor was freedom. I was a slave! A slave to addiction, a slave to my own devices, a slave to my emotions. But in that moment I felt free. You see, the only kind of grace I know is “Hyper-Grace”! Grace extended to a sinner like me, a willing participant in the destruction of lives, not just my own but others. What do you suppose was my response to that experience? Would experiencing the grace of God in the way that I did make me feel like God was okay with how I was living? Did God just give me permission to sin all I wanted with the assurance that grace abounds where sin abounds? NO! Actually, the response was quite the opposite! Paul, the apostle, told the Galatian church “it’s for freedom that Christ has set us free”. That freedom wasn’t freedom TO sin, it was freedom FROM sin! It wasn’t a license to do whatever we wanted and get away with it, it was a promise that if we do make a mistake that mistake no longer defines who we are. No longer are we slaves but we are free! Sin doesn’t have us in bondage anymore and that is good news! Does that mean we will always get it right? Of course not! We won’t always get it right but when we slip, grace meets us there. When we experience the freedom found in the love of God, it doesn’t cause us to sin on purpose. It shows us how valuable we are to God that He would make provision for forgiveness before the sin even entered our mind. There is not a sin that you’ve committed or will commit that isn’t forgiven. When we understand how valuable we are to God, we will see value in ourselves and we will begin to take ownership of our freedom in Christ. When we value ourselves and our relationship with the LORD we won’t seek to find loopholes to do what we want. We will desire to honor that relationship in all that we do and sin will decrease and decrease. That is freedom! Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed! Live free today!  Anthony had a 15 year love affair with heroin addiction and spent time in prison, but an encounter with God, one night, radically changed his life. Since that evening Anthony has had a desire and passion to serve the LORD and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom wherever he goes. Using Biblical insight, his experience, and street knowledge, he is able to reach people in the darker places of society. Anthony and his wife Tanya currently serve as Senior Leaders of Thrive Church and is the co-host of The Alliance Podcast. He is a gifted preacher and teacher with a desire is to build people up into their destinies, living a supernatural lifestyle, and manifesting the Kingdom of God in their everyday lives. You can connect with him personally or learn more about his ministry and his book at anthonyportillo.org.
 BY ANTHONY PORTILLODeep down we all want acceptance, we all desire to be significant. We tend to adjust our identities, put on masks, or pretend to be someone we’re not in order to fit in. It seems much easier to change who we are than to deal with rejection and insignificance. I believe we can get free! I believe we can see significant victory in this area. A story that comes to mind from Scripture is the story of David. We mostly know him as King of Israel, a man after God’s own heart, a warrior and a worshipper. However, that’s not the whole story David had to face other giants before he ever stood in front of Goliath. It was those small victories that led David to a place of absolute trust in the goodness of God. David tells us that he was conceived in iniquity. Some have used this statement to say that we are all born sinful, I do not think this to be the case. I believe David was giving us insight into his internal life, into his struggles with rejection and insignificance. When the prophet comes to town to anoint one of Jesse’s sons, Jesse didn’t even have David prepare for the ceremony. Jesse had already decided that there was no way that David could have been the one to be king of Israel. God had other plans, not only was David anointed king of Israel in front of the very people who had rejected him, he was anointed in a way that broke the rules. David’s brothers had been washed and prepared for the coming of the prophet, David was in the field tending his sheep. He was pulled from his shepherding duties and brought before the prophet unclean! He wasn’t prepared, he wasn’t consecrated, he probably smelled like sheep. In the lead up to the epic showdown with the giant Goliath, we get some more intel about some of the battles David faced. Saul, the king had disqualified David because of his youth, assuming David would surely meet a gruesome end. But David proclaimed that he was not afraid, he had faced and already defeated a lion and a bear in defence of his sheep! Why would he ever be afraid of this uncircumcised Philistine? The rejection that David experienced in his youth led him to grow closer to the LORD, in turn securing his identity and strengthening his faith in ways that prepared him for the battles that he would face. David lived in an Old Covenant but had a New Covenant mindset. He knew that victory was never dependent on him, but on the God whom he served. David’s intimacy with the Father led him to pen these words “The LORD is my Shepard, I shall not want!” David knew who he was and whose he was! Don’t let the enemies of rejection and insignificance steal your destiny. You are a king! You are a giant slayer! Every victory prepares us for the next battle but here’s the best news of it all…. The battle is already won! You are not fighting for victory, you are fighting from it!  Anthony had a 15 year love affair with heroin addiction and spent time in prison, but an encounter with God, one night, radically changed his life. Since that evening Anthony has had a desire and passion to serve the LORD and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom wherever he goes. Using Biblical insight, his experience, and street knowledge, he is able to reach people in the darker places of society. Anthony and his wife Tanya currently serve as Senior Leaders of Thrive Church and is the co-host of The Alliance Podcast. He is a gifted preacher and teacher with a desire is to build people up into their destinies, living a supernatural lifestyle, and manifesting the Kingdom of God in their everyday lives. You can connect with him personally or learn more about his ministry and his book at anthonyportillo.org.
 BY ANTHONY PORTILLOI recently saw a picture that said “the words you speak become the house you live in”. I love the way this is worded because it so rings true within our experience. It speaks to the power we have in influencing not only our surroundings but also our interior life and ultimately our destiny. Life and death rest in the power of the tongue, success and failure, healing and destruction, the list goes on. Our words have power to create and to dismantle. It is vital that we take responsibility for our words and for the shaping of the atmosphere around us. Ultimately we attract that which we produce. If we are constantly negative and defeatist, our experience will more often than not reinforce our outlook on life. Contrast that with a positive outlook and again we will find reinforcement. Think about this, how many times have you asked someone how they were doing, or for that matter, been asked yourself and the response was “not too bad”? Basically what’s being communicated is you’re doing bad! You have accepted defeat and you are communicated said defeat. How do you think your day will go carrying that mindset? Probably bad! I am aware that some of us have pain and hurt from our past that makes it hard for us to see ourselves differently. I know some of us struggle with low self worth and feelings of unimportance but I challenge you to change your mind! I challenge you to deny that voice influence in your life and change your declaration. Only when we learn to love ourselves can we truly learn to love other. If your words have created an awful house to live in, I say it’s time to tear that sucker down and rebuild! You are valuable, you have a purpose, you are worthy to be loved. The only thing standing in the way is you! I’m not one to promote a fake it until you make it type attitude but sometimes it takes what it takes. You have more power than you think and any step in the right direction is a step toward freedom from the prisons we create around ourselves! I challenge you to change your declaration! Rebuild the house around you! Take the reins of your destiny, take control of your future, and build the house of your dreams!  Anthony had a 15 year love affair with heroin addiction and spent time in prison, but an encounter with God, one night, radically changed his life. Since that evening Anthony has had a desire and passion to serve the LORD and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom wherever he goes. Using Biblical insight, his experience, and street knowledge, he is able to reach people in the darker places of society. Anthony and his wife Tanya currently serve as Senior Leaders of Thrive Church and is the co-host of The Alliance Podcast. He is a gifted preacher and teacher with a desire is to build people up into their destinies, living a supernatural lifestyle, and manifesting the Kingdom of God in their everyday lives. You can connect with him personally or learn more about his ministry and his book at anthonyportillo.org.
 by anthony portilloFathering is a core value of the Kingdom culture. The Kingdom thrives through community and legacy. God identifies Himself generationally as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is a high-value principle that extends the LORD’s work beyond just our own personal reach. Fathering is essential to combat the orphan spirit. It is key to bringing restoration, healing, and wholeness to those operating outside of authority and accountability. A key to prosperous fathering in the Kingdom is how well we model sonship. The apostle Paul demonstrates this in his personal relationships with his spiritual sons Timothy and Titus as well as the churches under his apostolic authority. He exhorted the Corinthians to follow his example as he followed Christ. Paul’s success was a direct result of the revelation of his sonship through Christ. Paul modelled secure identity in Christ, to those under his leadership and outside the church. His confidence rested not in Himself but in the power of God that operated in him and through him, thus displaying power and authority, honesty and integrity, confidence and vulnerability, devotion and consecration completely sourced in communion with God. As men of God, Kingdom leaders and laypeople alike, let us display this core value. Let us build each other up in the faith, let us invest in the generations that would come after us, imparting the revelation of sonship to those in relationship with us. Whether an apostle, prophet, evangelist, or average Joe the call of all men in the Kingdom is to reproduce and make disciples. Let us be imitators of God and leave a lasting legacy that will impact the generations.  Anthony had a 15 year love affair with heroin addiction and spent time in prison, but an encounter with God, one night, radically changed his life. Since that evening Anthony has had a desire and passion to serve the LORD and spread the Gospel of the Kingdom wherever he goes. Using Biblical insight, his experience, and street knowledge, he is able to reach people in the darker places of society. Anthony and his wife Tanya currently serve as Senior Leaders of Thrive Church and is the co-host of The Alliance Podcast. He is a gifted preacher and teacher with a desire is to build people up into their destinies, living a supernatural lifestyle, and manifesting the Kingdom of God in their everyday lives. You can connect with him personally or learn more about his ministry and his book at anthonyportillo.org.
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