kingdom^(13/8)

Steps to interactive gratitude

Step 1) Gratitude from me to God Take a moment right now and prayerfully ask the Spirit to help you remember a moment of gratitude. This memory can be anything that comes to your mind. It can be something simple that happened during the day or a theme you have encountered many times. When something comes to mind, take time to write down what you are thankful for in a conversational manner with God.…

Doing right things can lead to wrong things when our relational circuits are off

Our solution to solving problems with our [relational circuits] off is to do the right thing rather than restore relationships. Doing many right things with your [relational circuits] off can lead to doing very wrong things when it comes to restoring relationships in the Kingdom of God.

The apostles burden is kingdom expansion

One might think that the apostle is burdened for the lost, but that’s only a part of it. Apostles are dominated by a burden for the expansion of the kingdom of God and are passionate to see the glory of God cover the earth like the seas. The first order of business, therefore, is kingdom expansion–not just geographically, but crossing societal frontiers into marginalized groups where Christ is not named.

Surrender is an act of defiance

I tend to be allergic to the word “surrender.” I don’t think I’ve ever joined in singing that old hymn “I Surrender All.” It’s my own hang-up–whatever–but I’ve been meditating on Jesus' victory over the powers of darkness through his surrender unto death and it occurred to me that surrender isn’t always a passive thing. Perhaps sometimes it’s passive, but it’s also sometimes militant. Surrender of myself to the Lord is an act of defiance.…

Treason has ever been our greatest foe

In all the long wars with the Dark Tower treason has ever been our greatest foe. (Gandalf explaining to the Council why he closely held his dread that Bilbo had found the Ring of Power, that the news might slip into the Enemy’s hand.)

Great teaching helps a people to see a wider horizon

Great teaching helps a people to take a long view, to see a wider horizon. Boromir sees only Minas Tirith; he is representative of the great majority of people who are staunchly committed to their own tribe but have little capacity for understanding the bigger picture. If an advantage for their own group appears, it must be a gift from God; so goes the logic.

Suffering undertaken for a higher cause

θλῖψις can be translated “apocalypic suffering” because it refers to the affliction suffered by the servants of God in the ongoing conflict with the “world rulers of this present darkness” as Ephesians calls them (6:12). This is not ordinary suffering that comes willy-nilly to everyone. This is suffering that is voluntarily undertaken for the sake of a higher cause. The entire Ring saga could be described as a tale of apocalyptic affliction endured so that the united kingdom [βασιλεία] of Arnor and Gondor can be restored to its rightful ruler.…

The now and not yet

Life in the now-and-not-yet-kingdom can be an emotional teeter-totter between the “now” and the “not yet.” When I review world history from the past 2,000 years, there’s little evidence for a triumphalist view of the Kingdom’s spread throughout the earth. Cycles of violence and oppression continue without abatement from the days of Noah to the hour of Ukraine’s invasion. The United State’s self-image of type of Promised Land is unmistakably stained with the blood of Native Americans and Africans alike.…

Acts was written to trace the expansion of the kingdom

Acts wasn’t written to demonstrate how to plant a church. Rather, the book of Acts was written to trace the expansion of the Kingdom: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (NIV, Acts 1:8)

Evangelism is a team sport

Evangelism isn’t done by yourself. Jesus sent folks out by pairs. It’s not enough to say we’re doing it together just because the entire congregation has a commitment to evangelism; we actually need to do evangelism together. a strong team will mitigate nearly every disaster that can befall a planter train your team for your absence by taking them everywhere discipleship done biblically is always in community

Evangelism is not a winners game

Some Christian circles say the goal of evangelism is to “win” people to Jesus. There are two concepts floating below this word. First, the evangelism usage of “win” refers to persuasion. It’s related to the adjective “winsome,” which describes a person who excels at convincing others. In this way, “win” is a sales term. You might hear the term used in the same way in your local sales department who are “winning” customers/contracts.…

Find the peaceful people

There’s a subtle mantra that underlies sharing Jesus. It goes something like, “If you love someone, you won’t stop trying until they trust in Jesus.” Joy in Jesus is a gift worth sharing, and you’re love for others will produce sadness when they disregard the chance to share your joy. But more often this mantra bears guilt that you haven’t done enough. Enough sharing the gospel; “Do they understand my message?…

Lone converts are a liability

The mission to share with individuals reflects our cultural value for autonomy, but this is a weakness. To be introduced to Jesus, even to be swayed enough to give some allegiance to Him, then to leave the individual to figure out the rest is wrong. Better evangelists follow up with interested folks and may meet with them or take them to a church, but they tend to see their work as complete once the person professes faith in Jesus.…

Allegiance to Jesus is communal

Christians, even those in a highly individualistic culture, recognize the communal nature of our allegiance to Jesus when we advocate for church attendance. When we don’t see a friend in church for a month, we become concerned for their faith. We understand that intentionally meeting together strengthens our allegiance and the loss of community weakens us. But individualistic cultures like the United States underrepresent how crucial community is to our allegiance to Jesus.…

Obedience is not Jesus' first priority

This note was taken in exasperation with my children as I reflected on the passage, “Unless you become like this little child, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” When Jesus said the kingdom belongs to those who are like children, he didn’t mean obedience. I mean, have you tried to get a child to obey you? In fact, obedience seems low on God’s priority list.…

Genetic repair in the new creation

What if the righting of the world in Jesus' return is related to genetic repair? If present in our DNA are the fragments of our ancestors, and some ancestors enjoy features which we have since lost, what would humanity be like if all or most positive features were transfused into a single body? What if a human had the smell of a bloodhound, the hearing of a dolphin, and the vision of an octopus?…

Why was Jesus angry at the Pharisees?

What if Jesus' anger at religious authorities was not primarily that they were teaching false information, but that the outcome of their flawed teaching was an unjust society? What if Jesus cared more about the shape of society than theological accuracy, but recognized that one flows into the other?

Kingdom manifesto

How does Jesus' Kingdom community organize? Is the Sunday gathering primary? What are ‘micro’ groups? These are the sort of questions that keep me up into the wee hours of the morning. Will you join me in an exercise to loosely structure a Kingdom community? Definitions First, what the heck is ‘Kingdom community’? Don’t you just mean church? Certain words have baggage from long practice. Church attendees agree that the church building !…

Your kingdom come

What does it mean to pray, “[let] your Kingdom come?” These famous words, couched in the most repeated prayer in history, come from Jesus' answer to his disciples' request, “Teach us to pray.” Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation. One of the central requests Jesus taught his disciples to pray is “your Kingdom come.…

Generosity builds kingdom equity

💬 Someone in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.' But he said to him, 'Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?' And he said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' And he told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, "…

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe[1] by the word of his power[2].…