God describes Himself as gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. God is good and by nature, in a good mood.
The message, ministry, and sacrifice of Jesus perfectly reveal the nature of God as a good Father.
God is a good Father; we can trust Him regardless of our circumstances.
Enemies come to steal and kill, but Jesus came to destroy demonic works and give us abundant life.
God's goodness is extravagant. As we remember and retell what He has done through our testimonies, faith is created that He is able and eager to do it again.
God is for us; He chose to redeem us from our sin.
God is not mad at us.
God’s desire is to prosper us in every area of our lives: physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and vocationally.
Jesus is our model. He healed all of the sick He encountered and never said sickness was from God. In the new covenant, God does not generally use sickness to teach lessons, build character or punish people.
We live with the practical conviction that God wants to save and heal everyone.
God will never take His purposes or His gifts from our lives.
We are God's masterpieces. His process and pruning are always meant to reveal our true identity and release us into fullness of life.
God hears and always responds to our prayers.
We cannot do whatever we want and expect God to always bless us. God remains the ultimate judge of every human being.
God is hurt by our sinful actions and will lovingly confront us if and when we sin.
Despite God’s goodness and love, some people will still choose hell over heaven.
The life of a believer is not free from trials or persecution.
Every believer is responsible for stewarding and growing the gifts and talents God has given to each of us.
In His goodness, God doesn’t always respond to our prayers in the way or timing we expect.
Jesus has won the absolute victory! We are forgiven and freed from the enemy's power of sin, sickness, lies, and torment. Now we live in the power of righteousness, healing, truth, and joy!
We are adopted as royalty into God’s family and commanded to help others be reconciled with Father and come home.
We are simultaneously joyful servants, trusted friends, and beloved children of our Lord.
We are new creations, not merely sinners saved by grace, but saints who have been given His righteousness so we can partner with our Father God.
We become new creations when we are born again in Christ. When we resist sin, we are not fighting against our old nature but instead are cooperating with our new selves in Him. We are both sanctified and embracing sanctification. We are not working for victory, but rather from His victory.
We no longer live under shame or condemnation because it has been lifted off of us by His grace.
Freedom, blessing, and abundant life are available to us now.
God doesn’t remember our sins nor hold them against us, therefore we are not defined by our past.
We have been given authority and access to God’s resources for the sake of the world.
We are citizens of another Kingdom and live from heaven towards earth.
Our new normal is to hunger and thirst for His righteousness to be revealed in the earth.
One way to renew our minds and establish new habits of the heart and mind is by believing and declaring His truth and promises.
We can grow in our ministry and gifts through the laying on of hands and receiving impartation from other believers.
Even though we are royalty in Christ, we still serve wholeheartedly because we follow the Servant-King!
Although each of us is made holy in Christ, we are all still in the process of growing into His fullness as we seek after Him.
Sin has consequences. We take it seriously because God takes it seriously. We take responsibility for our sin and are quick to repent and reconcile with those that our sin has affected.
We may not always do whatever we want because our actions affect our relationship with God and His plans in this world.
We feel godly conviction when we sin.
We are not Jesus; Jesus is God the Son, distinct from creation.
We joyfully experience the astounding, undeserved love of God and His ongoing power to transform us. His transforming love and power are inseparable from one another.
God scandalously loves His lost creation and extends grace to us, empowering believers to love Him and others at a higher standard than the law.
Deeply experiencing grace teaches us about righteousness, which empowers us to overcome sin and failure. The Father’s love keeps us from focusing on sin or hiding in shame if we fail.
God’s grace breaks the mentality that says “I am a powerless victim of circumstances” and creates a new identity that declares, “In Christ, I am a victorious overcomer, no matter the situation.”
Our old self is dead–crucified with Christ. We are free and empowered to live in His righteousness and share in His sufferings
God is always loving and is passionate about fulfilling His purposes for our lives.
God has given us joy that is greater than any circumstances that we face.
We grow into Christ-like, spiritual maturity when we allow His love and power to transform us.
We partner with the Holy Spirit and fellow believers to be changed and led into personal transformation.
God has given us access to unlimited resources so that we can do His good works and change the world.
God’s grace empowers us to be unique, to dream, and to create with Him.
None of us has attained perfection and there is still room for us all to grow.
We may still be tempted by old sinful habits, but we recognize that these temptations have nothing to do with our identities.
We are never content with sin remaining in our lives.
We co-labor with Jesus so that He gets His full reward.
We choose daily to live in the fullness of His abundant grace.
There is a hell and not everyone will choose salvation.
Our desires need to be submitted to the will of God.
Our physical bodies are a blessing, declared good by God in the beginning and restored to holiness through Christ.
We have a responsibility to steward and manage the grace, resources, and gifts that we have been given.
Our first ministry is to God. As we behold Him, we are moved to worship with joyous passion.
God delights in us and has always desired to be with us. We focus on His presence because we have discovered that He is focused on us.
Purposefully cultivating a hunger for God’s manifest presence and an openness to experiencing the Holy Spirit deepens our friendship with God and our awareness that we carry His presence for the sake of the world.
As a lifestyle, we practice recognizing God’s presence while we minister to others, attempting to say what He is saying and do what He is doing.
We worship and have fellowship with God throughout the day in all aspects of life, such as prayer, the Word, creativity, music, nature, family, work, and friendships.
God has made us a dwelling place for His Spirit.
As we draw near to God, He draws near to us.
The Holy Spirit’s presence motivates us towards love and towards changing the world.
We are called to behold God face to face, allowing nothing to come between Him and us. As we do this, we are transformed into the image of Christ.
Connected to God, we are filled with joy and peace and are empowered to take risks to extend the Kingdom.
Every part of a Christian’s life is sacred and meant to be holy. We do not live with the false mindset that life is divided into the “sacred” or the “secular.” Rather, God values and is involved in every area of our lives. The Holy Spirit lives in us, so everything we do and everywhere we go is sacred.
Being focused on His presence doesn’t mean Christians should spend all their time in private worship, disconnected from the rest of life.
Not everything supernatural is from God; we must use our discernment.
Physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit are not an indicator of our spiritual maturity.
God’s presence is just as much at work in the secular world as it is inside the Church.
The Holy Spirit leads us into a Presence-focused lifestyle, not a self-focused lifestyle.
We are adopted into God’s family, so we intentionally create family and community wherever we go.
We think like healthy family members and do what’s best for the whole environment, mutually submitting to one another in love and not being selfish.
In covenant relationships, we purposely grow our capacity to trust and be trusted as we empower and confront one another in order to live out who we truly are.
We are loyal, which is demonstrated most radically when people fail. We do not punish and abandon those who fail to save face or show we hate sin, but instead we are committed to helping them be restored.
God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit have brought us into their intimacy and family. From their love and wisdom, we build healthy families and communities.
Jesus explicitly created us to live in community; people are most alive when planted in a healthy family of believers.
The way we love people is a direct reflection of our love for God.
Love for ourselves, which springs from God’s great love for us, is vital in truly caring for others and creating healthy families.
We draw from the Holy Spirit’s gifts and graces in the whole family of God, not just from those in leadership.
We value and honor each other, even when we disagree.
We do nothing out of selfish ambition or gain. Instead, we intentionally partner with others to seek mutual benefit in everything we do.
We are responsible to speak up with loving confrontation when others in the family of God sin, based on the truth that, as a new creation in Christ, they are too amazing to be behaving that way.
Forgiveness is our standard; everyone is given the opportunity to rebuild trust in the community.
We believe in God’s design and instruction that loving, life-long marriage between a man and a woman is the healthiest and, ultimately, only structure upon which to build a stable, thriving society.
Not all Christian communities are demonstrating healthy relationships.
People who have experienced broken marriages and/or families are not disqualified from greatness, as Jesus is more than able to forgive and restore them into healthy, holy families and communities.
We recognize that it is possible for someone to behave their way out of the community, so sometimes it is unwise and unsafe for a community to extend grace at the same level that God does.
The goal of Scripture is to bring us into a relationship with the Author and transform us into His likeness.
As God encounters us in His Word, faith is released into our lives. Studying God’s truth empowers us to believe in who He is, who we are, and how He wants us to live.
The primary lens through which we interpret the Bible is the person, life, and redemptive work of Jesus, because He is the most complete revelation of who God is and what God cares about.
The Bible is the source of infallible truth and authority by which we judge all insight and prophetic revelation.
The Bible should lead us into an ever-growing relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Bible is infallible, but our interpretation of it might not be.
Through relationship with the Holy Spirit and a Spirit-filled community, we seek to accurately interpret and apply the Bible, which helps to guard against deception and misapplication.
We come alive and are transformed as we study, hear, and act on God’s words spoken to us in a particular moment.
As we are in Christ, we are participating in the fulfillment of the promises that God gave us in Scripture.
When we declare God’s words, we partner with Him in transforming the world.
We need to keep listening and keep asking God questions because He can reveal more truth over time.
God is never boxed in by our current understanding of His Word.
Studying the Word and experiencing God’s presence should never be separated from one another.
It is possible for a Christian to be deceived.
We should always judge and evaluate an interpretation of Scripture.
The devil can use Scripture in an attempt to deceive a Christian.
Every word in the Bible should be applied with proper interpretation.
God wants to communicate with His family. It is important for us to actively listen for His voice and experience the variety of ways that He communicates.
Scripture calls us to earnestly desire the gift of prophecy, which is to speak on God’s behalf to strengthen, encourage, and comfort people. We desire to say what the Father is saying to help people grow in their identity and discover their God-given purpose and value.
Prophecy is not one-way communication. It involves two people hearing from God: the one who gives the prophetic word and the one who receives it. With the Holy Spirit, Scripture, and our community, we judge the spirit and accuracy of the words we give and receive. Holding on to what is good, we let go of what is not.
The Bible is the ultimate, authoritative revelation unlike any other; nothing will be added to it. Therefore, prophecy should never contradict properly interpreted Scripture.
God speaks to us in a variety of ways. We do not make major life decisions solely on the basis of a prophetic word, devoid of other sources of God’s leading and communication, such as prayer, Scripture, counsel from mature leaders, covenant relationships, personal desires, etc.
God is perfect, but He has chosen to partner with imperfect people to build the Kingdom. Like other spiritual gifts, such as teaching, leading, and serving, we do not always prophesy perfectly. We sometimes make mistakes, and this is why we need to judge the words.
As with all spiritual gifts, the gift of prophecy is not given to us fully developed. We are responsible to grow and develop our gifts to their full potential by stepping out in faith, taking risks, and partnering with God.
God often speaks to us in the language of our own mind and spirit. Therefore, the voice of the Lord often sounds like us but is smarter than us. We practice to discern His voice with confidence.
In the Old Testament the prophet is judged, but in the New Testament the prophetic word is judged. The Old Testament expectation that all prophecy should be 100% accurate has been modified under the New Covenant. The New Testament Church is commanded to test everything and hold on to what is good. In the Old Testament, the Spirit was only upon the prophet. Now, the Holy Spirit resides in every believer, enabling us to say, “You got that wrong,” instead of, “You are a false prophet.”
Giving inaccurate words of edification and encouragement does not make someone a false prophet. In the New Testament, false prophets are largely defined as people who teach wrong doctrine, produce bad fruit, and perform signs and wonders designed to deceive.
Prophecy should always be delivered with humility and love, never for self-promotion or selfish ambition. If we give an inaccurate word or do so with a wrong heart, we take responsibility for our mistake, repent, and reconcile with those affected.
Prophecy is a three-part process of revelation, interpretation, and application. Just like Scripture, prophecy can be misunderstood, misinterpreted, or poorly applied.
We do not force prophecy to be fulfilled out of season. Rather, we wait in faith for His timing and His way, co-laboring with God as needed.
There is sometimes a mystery to prophecy and it’s timing. Some prophetic words are beyond anything we’ve ever thought or imagined, and can only be understood in hindsight, so we hold on to them for a later time.
We don’t always prophesy perfectly.
No one person has full revelation or understanding. Therefore, we should submit revelation for feedback from the Christian community.
We are accountable for the prophetic words that we give and are committed to growing in accuracy.
Prophetic words are not the only way to know the heart and will of God.
As trusted children, we do not have to check with God on everything we do, like what clothes to wear or what street to walk down. However, He does sometimes have ideas about these things which can lead us to an adventure.
Prophets and prophecy do not have to look or feel weird to be from God.
It is still important for us to learn from biblically-sound teachers and to study Scripture.
Jesus promised that signs would follow believers and they would do even greater works than He.
We owe the world an opportunity to experience the power of God and an invitation to salvation because Jesus sent us into the world, just as the Father sent Him, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Nothing is impossible with God. Therefore, no person or situation is beyond His ability to bring complete restoration.
We believe all can be healed because Jesus demonstrated the Father’s will in healing all the sick and demonized He encountered.
Miracles did not stop with Jesus and the apostles.
The Cross of Jesus does not simply make us good people; it creates a new kind of people who walk in His power and are naturally supernatural.
The Holy Spirit gives every believer the supernatural power to witness and release miracles, signs, and wonders.
Love should be our primary motivation when we take risks to release the power of God’s Kingdom into the lives of others.
We walk as sons and daughters of God, revealing our Father’s goodness and calling others to repentance.
Our new normal is to live a Spirit-led life and assist in establishing God’s Kingdom on earth.
Injustice and works of darkness are an opportunity for God's supernatural love and power to move through us.
The Father wants us to live in the fullness of the Kingdom, which means that we are to be persistent in prayer, waiting in faith for the Kingdom to break into every situation.
We celebrate every victory, great and small, believing that every testimony of what Jesus has done creates faith and releases hope that He will do it again. In this way, a testimony is a prophecy of what Jesus is willing and able to do right now.
We are not Jesus.
We do not pursue a relationship with God just so we can perform signs and wonders.
Miracles are an expression of the love and power of God, not an indication that we are more important in the Kingdom.
If, in our passion and enthusiasm to minister, we accidentally hurt or dishonor someone, we are quick to take responsibility and humbly apologize.
We do not have to strive for the grace needed to operate in signs and wonders.
The risks we take when ministering do not always result in the expected outcome.
We will experience resistance to the Gospel and persecution as we seek to follow Christ.
God is big and victorious. The devil is small and defeated. We are in a battle, but the outcome is not in doubt!
We believe and live the prayer, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” Therefore, we partner with the King in natural and supernatural ways to establish mercy, justice, and righteousness until He comes.
As believers, we are all in full-time ministry as God advances His Kingdom into every area of society. Our work and efforts both inside and outside of the Church are sacred and valuable acts of worship to God.
Although we will experience resistance and conflict as the Kingdom advances, we expect the culture to be changed as people come to salvation and take their places in God’s purpose for the world.
We focus on the good that God is doing in the world and live with contagious hope and joy.
Jesus has already won; we pray and minister from the power of His victory over darkness.
We recognize that God’s Spirit is at work everywhere in the world and we partner with Him so people are reconciled to Him.
We seek Heaven’s answers for earthly problems and take practical risks in faith to see the answers realized in our world.
We discover our gifts and excel in them in order to best serve society and its leaders, so we all may prosper.
We bless and pray for people who persecute us as we seek to bring Heaven to earth.
One of the ways we transform the world is by agreeing with and declaring the Good News of the Kingdom.
We live to make the world better for future generations that we may never see.
Even though we live with hope, we do not deny the existence of difficult or painful circumstances.
The enemy will try to resist us and we will experience opposition and persecution.
We cannot change the world by human strength and ability alone.
While we hope that everyone will be reconciled to God, sadly, not all will respond to the invitation to come home to the Father.
God desires to prosper and bless leaders in society so that society itself will be a blessing.
We do not have to be at the highest point of influence in society to bring Kingdom changes.
A lifestyle of servanthood is often the means by which we gain greater favor and influence in society.
Some aspects of the Kingdom that we are pursuing may not be witnessed in our lifetime, but rather in the lives of our children’s children.
Christ died to set us free from sin, death, fear, and shame in order to establish us in freedom so that we can live and love as God’s glorious children.
Freedom is very personal, but it is not self-centered. We have been given freedom so we may present ourselves to the Lord as a willing sacrifice, surrendered and ready to serve.
Freedom and responsibility are inseparable. We experience true freedom as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit to produce the fruit of self-control and use our freedom to bless others.
We are responsible for partnering with the Holy Spirit to continually develop the foundation of our character so our character can support our growing influence and anointing.
Environments of freedom, responsibility, and empowerment enable people to live holy, healthy, bold, creative lives.
Freedom is very valuable to God. He demonstrated this when He placed a sinful choice in the garden of Eden. Therefore, it is not our goal to remove sinful choices from people, instead call them to freely love God and choose His righteousness.
Usually our dreams are too small. God has big purposes for us to extend His Kingdom. As we submit our lives to Him and become excited about seeing His dreams fulfilled, we are free to dream big dreams for our lives with Him.
The Holy Spirit internally motivates us towards freedom, purity, and integrity.
In our freedom, if we sin or make mistakes, we must take responsibility for our actions, repent, and reconcile with those affected.
When we are tempted to compromise our character and sin, we overcome by drawing from the power of the Holy Spirit and from our true identities as sons and daughters of God.
We have God-given needs, and we honor Him when we meet these needs in ways consistent with His heart or when we freely and sacrificially lay them down, by His grace.
Freedom is not free—it cost God the death of His son. This truth motivates us to protect and value our freedom for the precious gift that it is.
As God’s children, servants, and friends, we are not free to do whatever we want; rather, we moderate our freedom to protect our connection with Him and one another.
In our freedom, we still live lives that are submitted to the Lord.
Perseverance is absolutely necessary to see dreams fulfilled.
Life is not about us getting everything we want. Instead, we use our freedom to love.
We are called to serve others and, in doing so, sometimes have to do things we do not feel like doing.
Honor recognizes and affirms that every person is valuable and powerful. We are made in God’s image; He died to restore us to relationship with Him, therefore we are significant.
Honor recognizes and celebrates the best in people in spite of our differences. We respond to people based on their God-given identity and the honor in our hearts, not their behavior or self-definition.
Honor is demonstrated through consistent respect in word and action toward those we lead, follow, love and disagree with. While honor avoids controlling others, it also lovingly confronts, limits, and disciplines when necessary.
The level of honor we have for a person directly affects our ability to receive from them.
We love people even if we do not receive anything from them in return.
We regularly ask God to help us see the people in our lives as He does and to encourage them with the truths He tells us about them.
We recognize where other people fit in the body of Christ, celebrate their individuality, and make room for their gifts to be expressed.
We love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
We honor the future generations and desire to see them prosper and do greater things than we have done.
Some people need to belong before they believe. Rather than judge people outside the church, we love, serve, and speak life to them, hoping that they will soon embrace the truth of Father’s love.
It is a mistake to give honor to those in leadership but not to those in our everyday lives.
If our brothers or sisters sin, we help them to find the root cause of their behavior so that they can be restored to wholeness.
When necessary, we confront our brothers and sisters and call them to live up to the standard of their true identity.
Though all are equally loved by God, we are not equally empowered by God or the community. Within God’s design of authority, there are different levels of favor and position. The body of Christ is most effective when we embrace this truth while maintaining mutual honor for one another.
Those in leadership should not use their authority to be destructive, manipulative, or controlling.
We honor others in every situation, not just when and where it’s convenient.
We do not always have to agree with everyone or have the same opinions.
People can choose to behave their way out of relationship and connection with us.
God is extravagantly generous and our generosity is a response and reflection of Him. He is a good Father who gives good gifts to His children.
The thread of God’s generosity weaves through His creation, covenants, Israel’s economics, the Gospel, and the Kingdom as He consistently models that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
God has blessed us in every way so that we can be generous in every way to advance the gospel. Joyfully giving our time, affection, talents, and money attracts God’s attention, draws heaven’s blessings, produces transformation and enables Him to trust us with the true riches of the Kingdom.
Generosity confronts our poverty mentality, changing the way we interact with the world. No longer anxious because we mistakenly believe provision is scarce, we are confident that God multiplies resources and is eager to rescue and prosper people.
Generosity releases joy, blessing, and favor into our lives. As we give, it will be given to us pressed down, shaken together, and running over!
Generosity is an expression of our trust in God’s provision, a declaration that our treasure is truly in heaven. As I take care of His priorities, He will look after mine.
Generosity is a mindset. The poorest person on earth can live generously. Even if we don’t have many resources, we always have something to give.
We do not only give out of our abundance or convenience. Sacrifice is vital to a lifestyle of generosity. The Lord notices when our giving is costly to us.
Generosity should permeate our marriages, families, businesses, communities, and benefit generations yet to come.
We honor the future generations and desire to see them prosper and do greater things than we have done.
God promised Israel a “land flowing with milk and honey.” Though we do not give just to receive, God is a rewarder and wants to bless us materially as well as spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
As seen throughout history, generosity is essential for the healing and development of the nations. God is attracted to generosity in believers and unbelievers alike.
Generosity creates unity.
Generosity causes people to be thankful and is an opportunity for others to encounter the Lord’s goodness.
The Lord celebrates generosity to the poor and fellow Christians as a gift to Himself. A generous heart cares for the widow and orphan, the marginalized and hurting.
Being poor, middle-class, or rich is neither a virtue nor a sin. Christians should cooperate with the Holy Spirit according to their situation, assignment, season of life, and/or calling. Some might be in poverty, needing the Kingdom’s generous breakthrough just to survive; some may live simply, needing and creating little wealth, yet still thriving; while others may create and steward wealth to live and give generously and foster society, establishing the poor, creating work and abundance, producing a legacy that benefits themselves, society, and the Kingdom.
Money is not evil but the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. So we do not love it but rather use it to build His Kingdom. It is a tool, and in human hands can be a blessing or a curse. It should never be our master, but it is powerful servant.
The motivation for giving is more important than what we give. We don’t give out of a sense of guilt or manipulation, nor to impress or control God or His people.
As always, we carefully follow the Holy Spirit’s voice while learning generosity. We do not give impulsively, but rather ask the Father what He thinks about each situation.
Our generosity should not be at the expense of others. Being generous while consistently not repaying debt or paying bills is not true generosity, but rather presumption, as we are giving away the money promised to another.
Generosity is often expressed in secret, though it doesn’t have to be in order to bring glory to God.
Generosity is a form of honor that we can extend to both the poor and the wealthy.
The Church is the bride of Christ and she will successfully fulfill His great commission to make disciples of all nations, which means the nations will experience transformation.
We work to leave a legacy and inheritance for future generations, just as previous generations have done for us. While anticipating Christ’s glorious return, we simply do not know when He will come, which should inspire us to have a long-term earthly vision.
We are not looking to escape the world but to see Christ’s victory manifested in individuals and nations, even in the face of resistance and conflict.
The Church is called to overcome in all circumstances; in times of suffering and persecution, but also in times of prosperity and great influence.
The Church, both local and global, may not be glorious yet, but the Lord has promised She will be. So we love and serve our Church into becoming the glorious bride she was created to be.
We are called to be the light of the world, not the light of the Church.
We seek to disciple individuals, families, cities, and nations because the Kingdom of this world has become and is becoming, the Kingdom of our God.
We have been given responsibility and supernatural power to bring about transformation; therefore, we refuse to have a mindset that empowers the devil and disempowers the Church.
We remember and thank God for what He has done, knowing He is more than able to do it again.
God promised Israel a “land flowing with milk and honey.” Though we do not give just to receive, God is a rewarder and wants to bless us materially as well as spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
We serve and encourage leaders in society, whether or not they are believers, and work with them to build communities of honor, health, and wholeness.
We put our trust in God, not in the prosperity and power of governments.
We see every obstacle as an opportunity for Christ to bring answers..
Prophetic words concerning leadership and government should be consistent with God’s mission to seek and save the lost and should flow from a heart of love, hope, and empathy, rather than wrath and judgement.
We equip believers to live a naturally supernatural lifestyle so that they can bring transformation to their areas of influence.
God is already at work in the darkest places and nations of the world.
The Kingdom is always expanding into new areas of influence in the world.
We are not giving up on the world and just waiting to go to Heaven.
We do not need to become like the world in order to powerfully influence it.
Not everyone will be enthusiastic about the Kingdom being established. We must be prepared to experience resistance, rejection, and persecution.
