Have you been to boot camp?

Greetings good brothers in Christ! Did you re-enlist into the today, yesterday, and will you tomorrow. What!? you say. At 19, I remember my first night in Marine Corps boot camp at the Marine Corp Recruit Depot (MCRD) in San Diego. Went to be scared in my rack in a metal quonset hut with a concrete floor - along with 99 other guys. We were all individuals, rebels. Then the morning reveille at 4:00 AM with a really loud trumpet and 3 pretty serious drill instructors. Their strategy; break you down to nothing and build you up again. —- And in 12 weeks we were whipped into shape, from undisciplined to self-discipline, with self-respect and a new and (and for most of us a first time) genuine respect for authority, and an MOS - military occupational specialty and a foundational understanding of the Marine Corps core values: honor courage and commitment. Values for life and especially essential in combat.

So what about our spiritual boot camp? Well there really has not been one - for the most part in our American Christian history, with some exceptions, but almost none within the church. Fortunately, today there are a growing number of programs which are addressing this issue; such as Exodus 90, Into the Breach, That Man Is You, and a growing list of others.

The Heroic Brotherhood is dedicated to forging men with strong core values , and bold faith in Jesus our king , the Captain of our Salvation (see Hebrew 2:10 NKJ). Our desire is to build each other up in the essential virtues for men of God; love, hope, humility, courage and service - and to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he installs “spiritual rebar" in our spiritual backbones. men like the sons of Issachar, who in answering King David’s call, “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

Let’s anticipate the new beginning the morrow brings each night we lay ourselve to sleep. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

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