Another view of the Kingdom

If my last blog seemed a bit harsh... lets look at it this way. Have you ever read the Bible, looked around and thought, something's not right? When Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell all he had and give it to the poor, did you actually think that is what he expects many rich people to do if they are going to enter the kingdom of heaven? I do. I really think that Jesus meant what he said about a number of topics. My thought, my thrust is that life is suppose to change drastically once we enter the Kingdom of God. Our value systems and our choices should reflect a different attitude.

Now I am a realist, in that I understand that for many people this is a process. One isn't automatically aligned with the values of the Kingdom from the first confession of faith, but I do think that there needs to be regular, measurable progress. Now I am not about to say that we all need to become like the Amish, Mennonites or other strict religious orders, but I am suggesting that we should be different from the culture around us. We should stick out a bit. We should react differently to things that happen, but we shouldn't become all religious and think we are so much better than everyone else but we shouldn't be agreeable with many of the sinful attitudes and actions either. I know I am talking in generalities at this point, but I hope to address some specific topics in the future.

A mentor of mine was heard to say once, "We should never underestimate our ability to deceive ourselves." I pray that I am not self-deceived, but I know that I have been in the past. So, the point of this is -- we may think we know how things are suppose to work, but often we are so wrong its not funny. We judge things based upon the paradigms (if you will, a set of rules for making sense of the world around us) that we live in. We see life to work a certain way and so we expect God's Kingdom to work that way too. Well, that is the upshot of it all - The Kingdom doesn't play by the worlds rules or our rules.

 What the world says is wisdom, is foolishness in God's sight. The Kingdom of God is Topsy-Turvy from how the world system works. Its hard to explain, but things we think are important like riches and fame, just aren't important to our King. He cares about our hearts and how we treat everyone else. He wants us to love our neighbors, the down trodden and even our enemies. Instead of fleeing from adversity, He wants us to embrace it and even rejoice in it. Its okay for his subjects to be oppressed by others, but its never okay for his subjects to oppress others. Our King doesn't care about national boundaries, but He does want to see the boundaries of the Kingdom of Light expand and overtake and overthrow the kingdom of darkness. His language is the language of all men. He doesn't care what language our mouths speak as long as we glorify Him and speak out His Love, Grace and Truth.

To some of you this may seem like nonsense, but to great men like Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr., the Gospel - these values and ways of living were/are the dynamite that can and has transformed the world. It's time more of us grasped this truth, and began to take Jesus at his Word, instead of turning His teaching into mere illustrations and irrelevant dogma. The message of the Cross and the Message of the Kingdom of God is just as relevant to day as it was some 2000 years ago.

Okay enough preaching for today.

There is one God, and one Way to Him, through the person of Jesus Christ. I make no apologies for this assertion. It is the truth (the absolute immutable truth) that I try to live by. I admit to you now that I don't have it all right, but I am pursuing this Kingdom as if it were rare treasure. And I am going to share what I learn with anyone who is willing to listen.

Be blessed and may you experience the Joy of serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords as I am.

In Him,
Alan