Across Church Street
Upside Down Kingdom
The grittiness of a 'Jesus is Lord' gospel.
Better said, God's kingdom is the right-side-up one. In the Beatitudes (Matt. 5), Jesus says God's favor is on the humble, the mourning, the gentle and kind, those who seek the repair of unjust systems, the merciful, the innocent, the peacemakers, and the oppressed. His kingdom consists of self-giving to God and neighbor. It's something Paul echoes in 1 Cor. 13, and details in Gal. 5. The challenge is to turn this from a religious abstraction to daily discipleship, to deny myself, take up my cross every day, and follow Jesus' lead, along with others in my church family.
Stroad
Our spiritual life will include fast and slow. But stay away from stroads.
The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. ⏤ Revelation 21:21
Streets are for local traffic. Roads are thoroughfares. Travel streets slowly enough to stop for a kid's ball, wave to a neighbor, or admire someone's landscape. Travel roads to get somewhere faster. Streets are relational, prioritizing the here and now. Roads aim for a destination. And now there's the stroad —a corruption of street and road —serving neither purpose well.
Accept It
On earth as it is in heaven.
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. — Deuteronomy 15:11
Jesus also said the poor would always be with us. So, is God saying, Just accept it and move on? World systems make poor people. Like Jesus, we accept the truth of that, but we don't accept Sin, its source. Instead, we resist and rectify all that we can until Jesus returns and finally sets everything right.
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- poverty & mercy
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- 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
- love
I practice the spiritual discipline of rescuing earthworms on paved surfaces. It's a reminder to me that I can pause what I'm doing, get a little dirty, and help. Also, that I've been given the responsibility to care.