What it is...
Living in godly excellence and corporate unity as a forerunner community with a vision for the great harvest. It is deliberately freeing ourselves from the things which weigh us down so that we may pursue a deeper life in God and partner with him in the Great Commission. It is a life of sacrifice, living in the experience of a God with a glad heart who is lovesick for His people; and, it is the means of becoming a community that can impact those coming to the knowledge of God in the context of end-time events.
What it isn't...
A legalistic adherence to a set of prescribed disci-plines of the flesh in order to be credited with righteousness. It is not living one’s life attempt-ing to get God’s attention or to make Him like us more.
What it looks like...
A lifestyle of ministering to the Lord with prayer, worship, and fasting, and involves embracing values of simplicity, justice, and providing for the poor. It is a lifestyle of voluntary sacrifice in view of the coming glory of the kingdom of God.
We are dedicated...
To lifestyles of prayer, intercessory worship, Bible study, fasting, giving, and evangelism in a context of excellence, diligence, and accountability. We are committed to managing our lives with deliberate thoughtfulness according to the exhortation and examples set forth in the Scriptures.
We desire...
To continually mature as a prophetic community of believers posturing ourselves to be a habitation for the presence of the Lord.
Our goal...
Is to be equipped and supernaturally empowered through embracing a forerunner lifestyle to wholeheartedly proclaim Jesus as Bridegroom, King, and Judge, with clarity and authority as we allow the Holy Spirit to enlarge our hearts in the these realities.
Why do it?
Living deliberately positions our hearts to receive divine impartation through the knowledge that we already have God’s attention and He is burning with desire to commune and partner with us. Our response is to free ourselves of distraction and hindrances in order to experience a greater measure of His heart toward us even as we continue to responsibly meet life’s challenges.
Proclaiming with authority the adherence to a fasted lifestyle, which can only be done as we live in fasting, prayer, simplicity, embracing the poor (which is justice) and silence when accused. (Isaiah 58:1-14; Luke 12:33-36; 1 Peter 2:21-23)
Through a fasted lifestyle, our hearts are enlarged to make a dwelling place for the Living Word. This is a means of entering into the revelation of Jesus as Bridegroom, King, and Judge. This revelation unlocks our hearts and places our affections in the age to come, and we are enabled to enter into the ‘tremble, rejoice, and kiss the Son’ aspect of the Bride.(Matthew 25:1-13, 6:19-21; Psalm 2:11-12)
Extravagant wasting of our lives at the feet of Jesus with Mary of Bethany as our example; making a responsible and deliberate choice to pour out our time and treasure at His feet. (Matthew 26:6-13)
Acquiring a burning heart as we enter into the contemplative reality of Mary of Bethany.(Luke 10:38-42)
Cultivate the Anna anointing to minister to the Lord with prayer and fasting night and day in the temple.(Luke 2:36-37)
Gaining revelation and understanding in both the knowledge of God and the knowledge of the signs of the times.(Ephesians 1:17-19; Proverbs 2:1-5; 1 Chronicles 12:32)
Putting away the flesh and living in joyful godliness and holiness according to the principles of the apostle Paul. We desire to make our souls a beautiful, fragrant, enclosed garden for the pleasure of the Lord.(1 Corinthians 9:24-27; Song of Solomon 4:12-5:1)
Living responsibly with what we are given in view of the judgment seat of Christ.(Matthew 25:14-29; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Psalm 39:4-5)
Making ourselves available for the Lord’s use to run with Him in ministry unhindered by tempo-ral attachments.(Song of Solomon 2:10, 3:8)
Embracing weakness as a means of entering into divine strength and protection in times of intense spiritual warfare. The voluntary weaknesses of fasting, giving, and prayer unlock our hearts to love and bring us face to face with our human weakness in the context of the pres-ence of God. It is then that fear is removed and our weakness is replaced with His strength.(2 Corinthians 12:7-10; 1 John 4:18; Philippians 4:13)
Make a plan and continue it. Even if the attainment of your goals is less than what you had hoped, continue to honor and work with your plan without being discouraged. Your attainment will always lag behind your goals, but this is no reason for discouragement; it simply means you are challenging yourself.
Continually evaluate your goals. Take time to dream about the way you would like your spiritu-al life to be. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you grace in the areas in which your attainment of measurable goals is weak. Don’t be afraid to dream about living a more disciplined life. The Lord delights to impart grace for this.
Challenge yourself to dream about things you would like to accomplish in the kingdom. Begin to set goals and implement the first steps to accomplishing them. Whether it be playing an instrument, developing teaching on forerunner themes, speaking, or writing, pursue excellence in the things that the Lord has laid on your heart. This will prevent a feeling of aimlessness and frustration due to lack of focus in our lives.
Keep the marathon pace concept in mind. The Lord desires to impart to us as we spend loving hours in prayer and meditation on His word. But this impartation is not given that we may merely learn a message. It is given so that we may become the message by the sover-eign power of the Holy Spirit. This transformation take time. Therefore, we must settle into a marathon pace which will allow us to keep the first and second commandments in their proper places in our lives as we allow the Holy Spirit to complete His work.
Schedule times of beneficial recreation. Strive to make your times of recreational and social activities good, clean fun, without compromising your conscience or convictions. Our desire is to cultivate a continual heart connection with the Lord, and we should avoid activities that hinder our ability to engage our hearts with our First Love.