Where's the Kingdom?
"...the kingdom of God is in your midst.” — Luke 17:21b
Where do you place God's kingdom? Is it somewhere out there in the universe or beyond it? Is it in the future? Is it in the world, an improving world being gradually sanctified? Is it in America on behalf of the world? Or is it in the Church, Christ's body, exiled in the world? Your answer to this question will greatly influence your life, evangelism, discipleship, and ministry.
Don't Love The World
Do not love the world or anything in the world. — 1 John 2:15
God so loved the world that he gave his first and his best. Jesus came not to condemn the world but to save it. Shouldn't we go and do likewise? To untangle an apparent contradiction, we have to distinguish between the world system and the people trapped in it. We reject the system and its patterns, but we can only love people who have so far missed The Way of escape.
Know That You Know
We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. — 1 John 2:3
I say it a lot: knowing God is eternal life. Eternal life is knowing God. To know that you know is not about certainty; it's about being in a relationship. And coming to know implies a deepening relationship. Set certainty aside and look for evidence. This kind of relationship with God will be expressed in allegiance and transformation.
- love
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- poverty & compassion
- imagination & creativity
- technology & ai
- knowing God
- human dignity
- faith & trust
- incarnation & cross
- kingdom of God
- community
- reconciliation
- spiritual formation
- epistemology
- prayer
- gratitude
- culture
- creation & nature
- discipleship
The God of the Bible looks like Jesus, the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. It would be just like him to go to the cross.