“You have permanently come (perfect tense) to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22a).
We have already arrived at the celestial city of Jerusalem. For it is not written that "we will come" or that "we may come," but rather that we have already come—and that permanently, since the Greek perfect tense is used there! How can this be? Because it is also written that we have already died, and our life has been permanently hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). And yes, the perfect tense is used there as well! Hallelujah! For though we are physically in this present world, we are also spiritually seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). Therefore, as Christians, we are commanded to seek the things above where Christ is, seated at the Father's right hand (Colossians 3:1-2). We are not earth-dwellers like those seen in Revelation (Revelation 13:8), but we are dwellers of Heaven. For truly, we are presently citizens of His heavenly kingdom (Philippians 3:20)—and our names are already written there (Luke 10:20).
Reminder: The Greek perfect tense speaks of a completed past action with ongoing, permanent results. The Blue Letter Bible app or website is great for learning these truths, especially if you are like me and have no formal training or form of higher education. In fact, I dropped out of high school and had an early speech impediment, yet by God's grace, I now teach, write, and even publicly (in person) speak. All the glory is His, and I'm thankful for His patience with me!
From yesterday*
I appreciate all of you supporting the hot zone. Thank you for being here.
How do you think this is all going to end?
If you have wondered why Russia is losing so many men and Ukraine is not, this will help explain it. Russia is sending men into the front lines where they are killed by drone operators from Ukraine who are hundreds of miles away from the front lines.
According to Jesus, it's the intent of our hearts behind our good deeds that determines whether the Father will reward us. It’s humbling to think that if we practice righteousness for the glory of Him, instead of hypocritically, to be seen by men, we will be rewarded (Matthew 6:1). If we give to those in need secretly, seeking no praise from others, we will be rewarded (Matthew 6:2-4). If we pray to the Father out of sincere, loving devotion, and not to receive human admiration, we will be rewarded (Matthew 6:5-6). If we fast for the sake of God's kingdom, and not for the attention of people, we will be rewarded (Matthew 6:16-18). Throughout the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals to us how we can store up our riches in Heaven, “where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-21).
Hey there are there any Hotzonians who were joining Chuck’s Lives back in 2023? This is a bit of an obscure and silly question. I was watching the ‘Iran Tried to Destroy Israel. It backfired.’ Live from 3 days ago when Chuck was showing some of his early reporting footage after Oct. 7.
Does anyone remember the cheese flavoured soda and what brand? I think it was savoury cheese not cheesecake flavour! I believe at the time he was staying at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, doing a Live on the balcony. He did not like the drink at all but it stayed in my mind ever since! And his obsession with ‘the beeper guy’ in his van, in the carpark down below. It really made me laugh. That quirky sense of humour is priceless, no other war correspondents I’ve heard talk about obsure things like that!
It’s been 1000 days since the war began. Who would have thought much of the world would go so nuts over the tiny nation of Israel just trying to exist and defend itself. I just want to...
"For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 'This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it'" (Psalm 132:13–14).
There will be many cities, both in Christ's earthly kingdom and in the new and eternal state of God, but there will always be one city of the Living God: the city of Jerusalem, or the New Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 21:2).
Likewise, there is only one chosen and treasured people—one royal nation of priests and kings—who will have the privilege of living with God in Zion (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:10).
They are God's covenantal people of all generations! For we, as Christians, are now saints by the blood of Christ and are part of God's household alongside the Patriarchs (Ephesians 2:19); therefore, Jerusalem will also be our home forever and ever (Revelation 21:3).
However, the kings of other nations and peoples will have to travel to Mount Zion and enter the gates of Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:3) in order to worship and...
Join us for our next live call with Chuck!
Chuck is about to start his week with the Frontier Forge Institute, mentoring young men, and is ready to hear your questions.
Write your questions down below, and let us know if you'll be able to join!
When Hamas announced this week that it would dissolve the civilian body responsible for governing Gaza, the news was quickly portrayed as a major step toward peace. After nearly two decades of controlling the territory, the terrorist organization appeared to be relinquishing authority, leading many observers to wonder whether the war had finally reached a genuine turning point.
That interpretation, however, overlooks one critical fact: Hamas is giving up the responsibility of governing Gaza, but it is not giving up the military power that allowed it to seize and hold the territory in the first place.
The organization has announced that it will dissolve the Government Emergency Committee, the administrative body that has overseen civilian affairs since Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007. Under the current proposal, those responsibilities would be transferred to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, a group composed primarily of Palestinian technocrats who are not formally affiliated with Hamas. While that may sound like meaningful political reform, it does little to address the central issue that continues to drive the conflict.
Hey, it's a free country. They're your kids, so you can ruin them however you want.
But the rest of us have to live with them too. And we're frustrated by what we see: weak, pasty little boys, some of whom are still that way long past the date they start shaving. They've learned well what you've taught them — to be careful. To avoid risk. To sit quietly on the couch like a cute little toy poodle and stay far away from anything that makes them uncomfortable.
Just play your video game and don't make too much noise, kid. That's a good boy.
Never mind that boy will someday need to provide for himself and others. Never mind that the world won't be as sensitive to his fears and preferences as you have been.
Never mind that somewhere, outside the safe little cocoon of comfort you've built in your air-conditioned, HEPA-filtered home, there are boys who sleep in the dirt every night, go days without eating, and do hard manual labor in the harshest conditions — and for them, it's not even hardship. It's just life. And those boys are being taught to despise everything America stands for.
They're being taught we're decadent. They're right.
They're being taught we're immoral. And we are.
They know we're raising weak sons and promiscuous daughters. And they fully intend to one day destroy our culture and replace it with their own.
This is not a hypothetical. I've seen these young men, from Syria to Afghanistan to North Africa. They don't love America. They desire her. And they'll come and ravage her if we let them.
Like it or not, our sons may one day have to go toe to toe with those hardscrabble boys who grew up with nothing. When that day comes, will your pudgy, pasty-faced little prince win that fight?
Not every boy will grow up to be a warrior. But some boys must. It's essential that America turns out enough hard men to defend our way of life. Your safe, comfortable, Netflix-and-chardonnay existence depends on it.
Old warriors like me are getting used up. We're getting too broken to hold the line forever. We need more young men who are tough, capable, and morally straight. Is your boy one of those — or is he too busy with Minecraft and manga to become the man America needs him to be? Let me be very frank: raised the way most boys are raised today, he'll be a liability.
Boys were made for manhood. Men are meant to protect, provide, and fiercely love those under their care. It's a tough job. Whether or not he ever meets America's enemies, as I have, on the field of battle, he'll still need to be tough. The job of father, husband, and provider demands a mental — and sometimes physical — toughness your son may never acquire if you don't take him off the Cheeto diet and make him uncomfortable.
Good parenting comes down to this: the constructive application of misery in a young man's life to produce character. If you think the job is to keep your son far from anything dangerous, keep him comfy, and make sure he has plenty of fun, you're part of the problem.
Give a young man controlled doses of stress. Let him operate without a net once in a while. Let him learn to be afraid — then teach him he can face that fear and conquer it. Give him purposeful work. Give him discipline, and plenty of it. Don't let him set the agenda. Somebody has to prepare him to lead.
The problem is, most fathers know this in their gut and still don't have the tools, the time, or the tribe to pull it off alone. A boy needs more than one good man in his corner. He needs a place built to forge him.
That's what we're building. And that's where you come in.
The Frontier Forge Institute exists to do one thing: turn out good men. Men of faith, capable with their hands, useful in a crisis, and grounded in something bigger than themselves. We've proven the model in the field. Now we have a chance to give it a permanent home — and to scale it from a week into a full year.
There's a building in Mount Hope, West Virginia called the Eisenhower Building — the former U.S. Mine Safety and Health Academy. The federal government put it up in 1958 to train the nation's mine-safety instructors, and they built it to a standard nobody can afford to build to today: block and brick, room after room, made to house and teach hundreds of students at a time.
It's 34,000 square feet. 64 classrooms. A cavernous garage that's practically begging to become a working trades shop. It sits right next to a disused football stadium that makes a ready-made PT field, and it's minutes from the Summit Bechtel Reserve, where the Boy Scouts bring tens of thousands of young people every year. It was practically built for what God has put on our hearts to do.
It listed at $690,000 two years ago. We can acquire it today for under $300,000. That window will not stay open forever.
Once we own it, that building becomes the Appalachian Leadership & Training Academy — a one-year residential program for motivated young men straight out of high school, modeled on proven academies like the International ALERT Academy in Big Sandy, Texas.
A young man arrives the fall after graduation and spends twelve months living, working, worshiping, and training alongside mentors of proven character. He leaves with three things:
Godly wisdom. A full year immersed in Scripture, discipleship, and the daily habits of a man of character. That's the foundation. Everything else is built on it.
First-responder skills. Real, certifiable training in emergency medicine, rescue, and readiness — so he can run toward trouble and serve his neighbors instead of filming it.
A marketable trade. Hands-on mastery of a skill — electrical, plumbing, welding, HVAC, automotive — so he walks out with a livelihood in his hands and can support a family for life.
Faith deepened. Body hardened. A certification and a trade. That's the kind of man this country is starving for, and this building is where we'll forge him.
The goal was never a building. The goal is to build men. But the building is where it begins — we have to own the property before any of the rest of it can happen. Every gift moves us closer to the deed, and to the first young man who walks through those doors.
Our goal is $350,000 to acquire the campus and open the doors. We've already got the first $50,000 in hand. We need people who understand what's at stake to help us cover the rest — now, while the price is low and the door is open.
The Frontier Forge Institute is a program of the James Megellas Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3). Your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
See the building, the plan, and how to give here: frontierforge.org/vision
You can keep raising muffins if you want. We are going to forge men. Come help.
"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." — 1 Corinthians 16:13
