Realizing the importance of training, God has established different systems to accomplish the task. Undoubtedly we are a spiritual training center, producing disciples that follow in the footsteps of our Master. For the children we have our own school, Tribal Academy, taking them from preschool to young adulthood when they are fully integrated into the ranks of God's army. For those who join past school age, a wealth of teaching is available, including anointed messages over the pulpit, printed materials, and regular personal instruction. In God's army every soldier is also a teacher, showing by living example what serious discipleship is about. In either case God is continually teaching, training, and refining His people into the obedient disciples, the aggressive soldiers, He desires them to be. This is not something to be taken lightly, for whether you zealously cooperate with God's training program, or approach it with half-hearted, apathetic laziness, your attitude will determine the length of your stay. God has no place for those who refuse to be trained. They are worthless in His eyes and will eventually be removed.
It was the Aggressive Vision that burned in the hearts of the martyrs. It was the Aggressive Vision that burned in the hearts of countless missionaries down through the ages as they willingly gave their lives in service of our King. True to our calling, we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus wheresoever He may lead. We deny ourselves by subordinating and submitting our desires and ambitions to the will of God, the ultimate intention being to make His will our will. A strict determination to deny ourselves unnecessary excess and frivolous extravagance keeps us free from the cruel bondage of materialism. Constantly reminding ourselves that all we have belongs to Him, we pick up our cross and embrace the privilege to sacrifice and suffer for the one who suffered unspeakable cruelty and pain for us. We are comforted that Jesus will never put on us more than we can bear, and that in the end, all things will work together for good to those who love and obey the Lord. We follow Him as we allow our paths to be chosen and our steps ordered by His will.
As our hearts become one with the Master, we are filled with a deep concern for the ocean of lost humanity surrounding us. We are sobered by the fact that Hell will be the final destination for many we meet during the course of our lives. As disciples we know it is not God's desire that any should perish. With this realization comes the understanding that we have been entrusted with the sacred duty of bringing the gospel, the means of salvation, to a lost and dying world. Souls are perishing, locked into eternal damnation, and we have the key that can set them free. What a privilege!