Though many do not like to talk about it, death is a part of man’s existence. As Christians, we should be dead to the old man and alive to God and Kingdom Living. Anyway, Death is something that everyone will have to face, naturally speaking. Yet, the Christian has hope in Christ that when we depart from this life, we will live again forever with Him. However, numerous individuals live without any regard for their eternal destination.  The Christian has to be on the watch. This is demonstrated in paying attention your lifestyle, manner, and conduct.

There are Christians who live as if there is no standard of living for them after they have received Christ. Each of these groups of people are not prepared for their date with destiny; that is, the moment that they will stand before the judgment seat of God and of Christ.

Because of the sure promises of scripture, we must all prepare (watch) to meet Christ at His return or at our departure from this life. Therefore, we want to give three things that we can do to be prepared for our entrance into eternity.

1. Clothe Ourselves - In the scriptures, righteousness and good morals are likened unto clothing. We must make sure we are clothed with the attributes of proper Christian character and conduct.

For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. Isaiah 59:17 (KJV)

2. Clean Ourselves – We must make sure that we are open with God about our weakness so that He can forgive us and cleanse us. Then, with His help, we must turn from thoughts and deeds that do not please Him.

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil. Isaiah 1:16 (KJV)

3. Clock Ourselves - To clock means to keep track of time. In order for us to be prepared for our eternal destination, we must be aware of the times that we are living in. In addition, we must know that we will only live for a specified length of time on this earth. Therefore, we must live with this in mind, which should help us to prepare ourselves continually.

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans 13:11 (KJV)

The Christian can be assured of His eternal salvation, but he must not take it for granted. Christ came to save us from our sins, which enables us to overcome them while we live. This prepares us for eternal life in the kingdom. Live  in expectation of the kingdom. Are you watching?

Well, there you have it. For more topics of interest, I have included this and more information in my inspirational series entitled, “Is There A Word From the Lord? – Book III” which is available at Kingdom Builders Publishing.

“Dominionism, Dominion Theology, Christian Reconstructionism, Theocratic Dominionism, Kingdom Now theology, and Theonomy are interrelated Christian belief systems that are followed by members from a wide range of conservative Protestant denominations. They are not in themselves denominations or faith groups.

These belief systems find a voice in Christian Reconstructionism — a political movement to convert the United States — and eventually the entire earth — into a theocracy in which dissenters, adulterers, sexually active homosexuals, some sexually active bisexuals, witches, sorcerers, etc. would be exterminated.” (emphasis on dissenters added by me) 

So reads the opening overview from the religioustolerance.org website. 

Having been raised in a church with a history in the restoration movement, I was never exposed to dominion theology. Recently, however, I developed a friendship with someone from a reformed background who holds at least one of these views. I say one because these different flavors of dominion theology are not yet unified (heaven help us if they ever do pull together). Finding a universal definition for this movement is akin to trying to nail down Jell-O. And yet they share enough common elements to make all of them dangerous. Anyway, I was disturbed by much of what my friend said regarding Christian Reconstructionism so I decided to dig deeper. From what I found out in my research so far, I was justified in being troubled by this theology. 

One of the things I found disturbing was their belief that much of the Bible that I hold to be prophetic with a future fulfillment already came to pass in 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem. But to hold this belief, they must relegate other scripture that I believe is literal to a symbolic interpretation (like Revelation). Another example would be the coming physical destruction of earth [2 Peter 3:10]. They believe they are going to present a purified earth to the coming King. On the contrary, I believe that when Jesus comes back the world will be so sinful that it has to be destroyed, like Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s differences like this that leave much of the NT laying on their cutting room floor.

Reconstructionists also have a marked preference for OT law over NT grace, which pushes Jesus too far in the background for my taste. Their desire to expand the list of capital crimes also puts them at odds with the Jesus who refused to condemn a prostitute. It seems incredibly arrogant to me that these people think they are going to usher in the kingdom with the Law, something the Jews were unable to do, though they were about as zealous as it gets. Indeed, did not God send his son, Jesus, to accomplish what the Law could not? Why on earth would anyone want to go back to using a system that was merely a precursor to a more excellent way? It’s also extremely naïve to think that the nation known as Islam is ever going to be peacefully brought under the rule of Christian Reconstructionism.

Now I believe that the kingdom was partially established here on earth by Jesus, but I do not believe it will be fulfilled by man’s efforts to “Christianize” our social institutions. These dominion advocates are highly educated, maybe to the point that they are too smart for their own good, as the old saying goes. Being a simple monk, I tend to take things at face value. So when Jesus says the end won’t come until the gospel is preached throughout the world, I believe it! [Matthew 24:14] He said nothing about trying to take back territory from the prince of this world. The NT has many verses that make a clear distinction between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven. It also is clear which one we belong to and are to labor for. Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world, which begs the question, why get distracted from our mission of spreading the gospel by laboring in the institutions of a worldly kingdom that is controlled by the prince of darkness and destined for destruction? 

I hold no hope that these reconstruction efforts will succeed in the real mission of the church, which is to make true disciples. And yet, all across America, pastors proclaim from their pulpits that it’s our civic responsibility to be involved in the political process. Well, Christians put their man, George W. Bush, in office on his promise that he would overturn Roe v. Wade. See how well that went? Instead, he started and got us embroiled in an unjust and totally unnecessary war in Iraq. Our cowboy swagger has turned most of the rest of the world against us. So even if Reconstructionists somehow manage to accomplish their mission in America, do they really think the rest of the world is just going to jump on board? Besides, how genuine can a conversion be if it comes down to a choice between life or death. Here’s why I think it could come to that if these people get into power. 

In an assessment of Reconstructionism from the aforementioned article, John Beardsley wrote, “… the Puritans were the direct forerunners of today’s Kingdom/ Dominion / Reconstructionist heresy…” Not only did the Puritans slaughter Native Americans who failed to convert, they hanged Mary Dyer (a former Puritan who became a Quaker) for repeatedly defying a law banning Quakers from the colony. She is one of the executed Quakers known as the Boston martyrs. If this is what we can expect from the neo-Reconstructionists, our society should be greatly concerned, and that includes Christians who don’t agree with their approach. That’s because these dominion folks are highly critical of evangelical and fundamentalist Christians. It doesn’t matter to them how many souls are won for the Lord because unless you support their agenda, you’re brand of Christianity is seen as not only a failure but a hindrance to their mission.

I’ve read some of their writings and they come across with the smugness of those who believe they are of the intellectual elite and anyone who disagrees with them is a mental midget. If fact, I just read in Christian Reconstruction where Gary North says that their confidence is based on their belief that they have won the intellectual battle because they have managed to get over a hundred books and scholarly journals into print. Well, if all it takes is shear volume to win a debate then I suppose I should believe all my neighbor says, because every time we converse I get buried by his BS. Duh! Even a 5^th grader could see through that lame logic. I hate to break it to Mr. North but even if they have accomplished that (which I doubt), winning an argument does not necessarily mean that the winning idea is the best idea, or even the right one. Intellectually, the Titanic was unsinkable. Someone just forgot to tell the iceberg!

Do not be deceived by these modern-day Pharisees!

Members of the Warwickshire Youth Parliament have been invited to sit in on a Police meeting this Wednesday, in an attempt to give young people a better understanding of police work.
The youth representatives have been elected through UKYP (United Kingdom Youth Parliament) open days where, potential candidates between the ages of 11-18 from the local area are chosen as to represent their age group. Depending on the amount of young people in any given area, that area may have more or less representatives. Warwickshire currently has 6 Youth Parliament members, elected after participating in a UKYP open day.
Prior to the meeting, the Youth representatives will be interviewing the Police Authority Chair, Ian Francis and Deputy Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, Andy Parker, who said that “Gaining the views of young people can only assist Warwickshire Police in further protecting communities.”

By Ryan Brailsford

Sources: www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk

A massive flood of junk has inundated Cindy’s magical world, and she needs your help to save the Flooded Kingdom! Cindy has found the Miracle Mirror in the castle, and will travel throughout the land using this mysterious item to clean up the mess. Help bring Cindy’s world back to its former beauty! Addicting Match 3 gameplay, impressive power-ups, and clever minigames await in Cindy’s Travels: Flooded Kingdom!

Addicting gameplay

Cute graphics

Help Cindy save the day!

System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP/Vista

CPU: 1.0 GHz

RAM: 256 MB

DirectX: 7.0

Hard Drive: 86 MB

It Takes Just A second To Say Thanks,

It Takes Longer To The Work On This.

Cindy’s Travels: Flooded Kingdom

It’s All About Jesus!

Spirit of Prophecy Bulletin

THE TRUMPET by Bill Burns — November 23, 2009:

The Lord says to you today, have you heard My Word? Have you heard My exhortation? Rise up My people. Gather yourselves up and dig for the waters of this season. Dig for the anointing that you have lost. Dig new wells of great and strong anointing, for indeed the anointing will bring the glory and the presence of My kingdom upon your life. Dig and drink. Sing to the well. Dig and drink. Dig and do not stop. Are you thirsty? Then dig. Are you thirsty? Then take a drink. For you will find that there is a river of life that flows through My kingdom where trees are planted. Therein lies the mystery and the secret of the promise of My living water. So I say today let all dryness be gone. You have walked through the valley of the shadow of death; you have walked through the wilderness; you have walked through the dry places, but now you are coming to the place of living water where springs bubble up out of the depth of My kingdom. Therefore, I say unto you, dig and drink. As you drink, life will again enter in to your temple. As you drink, wellness will again come. As you drink the powers of darkness will leave. As you drink the glory of the kingdom will manifest in you, and you will become strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. So, I say, drink. It is the season for the digging of the wells in the pattern and the type of those that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob dug. Use your faith as a shovel and dig and drink, says the Lord.

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns — Nov. 23, 2009:

Beloved, refuse to allow the voice of the enemy to bring discouragement and keep you from fulfilling your destiny in Me, says the Lord. I have called and chosen you to manifest My kingdom in this time and in this generation. You live in a critical age where darkness abounds, but My grace and truth abound even more. I will empower you to do the impossible, because with Me all things are possible. Only believe!

Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

One may have awakened to the sound of the alarm going off at 3:00 AM.   One went into a different bathroom. One began to confess one’s sins.  After one finished, one may have read the Spirit of Prophecy Bulletin.  One may have thought that the messages were powerful.

One may have Grabbed one’s Bible, book and chair and went back into one’s chosen place to worship this morning.

One may have sung songs of praise, prayed for the sick and spoke in tongues.  One may have asked the Lord to lead one to passages of scripture.  One may have been led to a passage in Isaiah, one may not remember where.  One may have been led to Zephaniah 1 and Luke 8:48.

One just sat there afterwards waiting for one’s time to be over.  One may have felt discouraged.  One may have many reasons to be overjoyed, yet one may have been worrying about situations and circumstances.  One may have prayed.  Thank you Jesus, one may believe it’s already answered, in Jesus’ name.

One may have left one’s pryer closet and logged onto the website and prayed for outstanding prayer requests.

I wanted to clarify a couple things about my last post.  I want to start by stating a couple of ABSOLUTES that I follow in my life.  I try my best to approach these ‘absolutes’ with the heart and mind like a child would have.

#1. God is Good! Nahum 1:7

#2. He is able to do more than I would ever dare to ask or hope. Ephesians 3:20

#3. Jesus said that we could ask anything…ANYTHING!…in His name and it would be given.

I don’t know why people who follow Jesus, who have faith for healing, and who pray for healing don’t receive it sometimes.  I don’t have that answer.  But, because of the 3 things I stated above I refuse to say that it was because God didn’t want them to have it.

In all honesty, God can do anything He wants.  If He wants me to have cancer, and He wants me to die because of that cancer, then who am I to question God.  But, I refuse to believe that might be the case because that type of belief gives me room to not pursue with all of my heart that which Jesus paid for on the cross.

I personally believe that God doesn’t want anyone to have cancer, the same way He wants everyone to be saved…yet, people are still perishing and will go to Hell.  Why do people still get cancer and die when prayed for? Why are people still going to go to hell? I don’t have those answers.

It’s like I’m a gambling man.  I’m going to go all in on the side that I have the best chance of winning…in this example, getting healed.  Matthew 11:12 talks about taking the Kingdom by force, and faithful praying is forceful!!

Yes, we all have to die.  God Himself limited us to 120 years.  But, why do we accept cancer and other diseases that cause insurmountable amounts of suffering, as okay ways to die.  I am sure that these diseases will continue to take the lives of faithful followers of Christ.  But, just because it claims one life doesn’t give us the right to pray for ‘whatever God wants to do.’ God did what He wanted to do.  He came to earth and paid for all iniquities and transgressions.  And, then He left us in charge to go out and claim what He paid for.  WE OWE HIM WHAT HE PAID FOR.  He is not here to claim it, it is up to us.

How would you like to pay for a car in full by emptying your bank account, but, due to circumstances, the only way you get to enjoy the car is if your friend picks it up for you.  All they have to do is go to the dealership, ask for the keys to your car, and drive it home to you…but, they never even went to the dealership because they thought you might not want it…WHAT? You paid for it up front and in cash, but you might not want it.  That’s crazy!…C-R-A-Z-Y!!!

Again, I don’t have the answers to all of the hard questions.  And, I’m not trying to search out those answers.  I will just stick to the absolute truths in the Bible.  Due to the busyness of the world, I have a hard enough time going after the Truth with all of my heart, so I don’t have time to waste throwing in my own ‘what-ifs’ and ‘it didn’t work that way for them.’

Right now, there is a friend of my wife’s family who is a younger man (45-55 yrs old) who has been told he has  just a few months to live because of cancer.  He has a two children I think, and both are still in high school. I will never agree with the thinking that Jesus paid for all iniquities except his, and that God wants him to leave this world with two children whom he is still raising. I can’t!   His name is Kevin.  Kevin’s life may very well depend on my faith to live.  Please join with us in praying for his miraculous healing!!

As Seth spoke these affirmations to himself, suddenly the Kingdom became dark. It was as if someone had blown out a candle. Seth took another deep breath to keep the panic from rising in his chest again.

Miriam jumped up from the rock she’d been sitting on. “This is my favorite part.” She stared at the sky where hundreds of thousands of stars seemed to wink back at her. Seth stared at the stars with Miriam with his mouth open in awe of their magnitude.

Then, a bright light flashed through the sky. Seth held up his shield to protect his eyes. When the light became bearable, Seth peeked over his shield and saw a miraculous sight.

Large white beings–which he had not seen since his first day in the Kingdom–lined the sky. They stood in rows, like a traditional army formation.

But Seth noticed immediately that the angels were not the source of the light. In front of the formation stood the Prince. He was dressed in white and carried a large sword. Light radiated from his skin and lit up the entire sky.

Glory, was all Seth could think.

The Prince held up his sword and, as if on cue, the angels began harmoniously chanting. “Glory to the Most High! Glory to the Most High!” Despite its simplicity, the chant could only be described as beautiful. Anna and Miriam both swayed to the angels’ rhythm, closed their eyes, and nodded their heads in agreement.

As they continued chanting, Seth, for a moment, took his eyes off of the wondrous sight of the angels because something else caught his eye. He saw large beings, just like the angels, cloaked in black. They wore hoods over their heads and their large red eyes shined from underneath the hood. In front of them was an even larger being. It too wore black but the hood of its cloak was pulled back revealing its scaly, snake-like head. It looked around at those watching from below. Chills traveled down Seth’s spine as the dark being made eye contact with him for a moment before turning its attention back on the Prince. It raised its sword and the dark angels began to chant, “Great is our King! Praise be to Lucifer!”

“Lucifer!” Seth exclaimed. He rushed over to where Anna was sitting and whispered, “That’s the devil?”

Anna nodded.

“He looks different than I imagined. No red horns or a tail.”

Miriam, who had been listening, burst into laughter. “No one ever thinks he looks the way that he should. That never ceases to humor me.”

They all turned their attention back to the showdown in the sky. Each side continued shouting their own chants. The combination of sounds created a wild cacophony that vibrated against their metal helmets.

Seth’s instinct was to start taking off his helmet so he could cover his ears. As soon as he brought his hands to the helmet, Anna was standing in front of him.

“No!” she yelled above the noise.

The chanting grew louder.

“Are you crazy?” Miriam tried to yell. At this point, Seth was trying to read their lips.

“Do not take this off,” Anna mouthed.

Seth, confused, was left wanting a reason as to why he couldn’t remove his helmet as Anna return to the rock on which she’d been sitting. However, his attention was quickly diverted to a change in the scene in the sky.

Both sides stopped their chants and faced off in silence. The Other King slowly lifted his sword toward the Prince and let out an all-around inhuman yell that grated against the eardrums of those below. The minions of the Other King immediately swept in and launched an attack against the Kingdom Angels.

The Angels met the minions in the middle and the battle officially began. Each side seemed to emit different lights. The angels had a bright white aura that surrounded them. When their swords collided with those of the Other Kingdom, a bright green light flashed from the supernatural metal. The minions, whom Seth had by now decided had to be demons, emitted various shades of black and gray. When their swords met the angels’ swords, a flash of red spouted up into the air.

Seth watched the magnificent–and colorful–scene with his mouth open. Anna watched Seth with a smile, relishing her Kingdom buddy’s first battle.

As he watched the battle, that familiar peace settled over him. The Prince must  be near. He thought this while breathing in the tranquility in the air. Seth took a quick survey of his surroundings, and sure enough the Prince was walking toward someone whose back was turned. At this point, Seth also noticed a stirring, like a tickle, in his gut similar to the feeling he had when he got his assignment.

The Prince was now talking to the person whose back faced Seth. Then, the person turned around and Seth felt confused and amazed at what he saw. The person was a woman. Well, at least Seth thought she was a woman. He had a hard time focusing his eyes on her because it seemed as though she was constantly moving. The skin on her face glistened and Seth could feel a heat radiating from her. She wore armor similar to the citizens’, except she did not wear a helmet.

Seth walked over and sat next to Anna. “Who is that?” he mouthed as the battle raged on above them.

“The Prime Minister,” Anna responded.

Seth looked back over to where the Prime Minister and the Prince had been standing. And he saw that a crowd of children had formed around the Prince. He picked up one of the smallest and gently tossed her into the air. The others pulled on his pant legs and called his name, “Jesus.” Seth was surprised that they used his name so simply and openly. The Prince smiled and gave out hugs freely. They giggled together and sat on the grass as the Prince began to tell a story.

Seth was so caught up in watching the Prince with the children that he did not notice someone come and sit next to him.

“Hello Seth,” the Prime Minister said simply. She didn’t yell, she didn’t have to scream, she just talked. She spoke in a way that made Seth feel as though she was speaking into his soul.

He turned and tried to look at the Prime Minister. Again, he had trouble focusing his eyes on her.

She took his face in her hands and looked directly into his eyes. But somehow, Seth knew that she wasn’t looking at his eyes. She was looking at his heart.

“Let me in, Seth. I can protect you and guide you away from trouble. Let me in. I love you.”

I want to, Seth thought. But how?

“Trust me,” she said, hearing his thoughts. “Use your sword to know me. Be willing and I’ll be there, always.”

With that, she stood up and walked back to where the Prince was laughing with the children. Her words rang in Seth’s ears. Be willing. He knew he had to want the Prime Minister to work on his heart. He also realize that he needed to know the Constitution, his sword. He opened the book to the index in the back and looked up “fear.” Several verses fell under that heading.

“Hey, Miriam, where’s that passage you said earlier about fear?”

Miriam, who had been watching the battle intensly, reluctantly tore her eyes away. “Psalm 27. It’s my favorite Psalm.”

As Seth fumbled with his Constitution trying to find Psalm 27, the Prince stood and looked into the distance in the direction of Kingdom High. Anna and Miriam followed his gaze and saw bright lights of all colors shooting into the air. Blues and yellows, purples and reds. The sound of music and singing traveled faintly to their ears. Anna nudged Seth and nodded toward the lights.

“What’s that?” he asked. They still couldn’t hear each other over the battle but they had become pretty good at reading lips.

“It’s praise,” Miriam responded.

“Praise is often the most powerful and wonderful during a battle or storm,” Anna explained. With that, she ran back into the firehouse. After a couple minutes, she ran back out with her hands full. She passed around tambourines, maracas, small cymbals, a few handbells, and some bongos. She kept a tambourine for herself , handed one to Miriam, and gave Seth a bongo. Miriam and Anna, both practiced praisers, immediately began playing their tambourines and danced around to their own rhythms. Seth watched as lights of all different shades began shooting up like fireworks from the crowd as more people began praising. Random shouts of “Hallelujah!” “Hosanna” “Praise Him!” and “Jesus” filled the air.

It was contagious. Seth soon found himself bopping his head and banging on the bongos Anna had given him. “Hallelujah!” he yelled, bursting with happiness.

He took a moment to look up at the sky and saw that the Kingdom’s Angels were soundly beating the demons of the Other Kingdom. Anna danced over toward him. “Don’t stop. Praise defeats the enemy!” She began to sing a song and never stopped dancing. Seth went back to praising and kept an eye on the battle. The Prince and the Prime Minister both had joined the angels and their skill was evident. The Prime Minister especially moved with grace and skillfully wielded her sword. Despite seeing her at work in the battle, Seth could also almost physically feel her in his heart giving him peace and strengthening his faith. With that realization, he sang a little louder.

Suddenly, Seth felt something small and light bounce off the back of his breastplate. He ignored it and kept on praising. Then, he felt a series of small things hit his helmet. He spun around quickly and was surprised to see Lilah hiding behind some bushes with a handful of pebbles. She hurriedly motioned for him to come to her.

He slowly walked toward Lilah glancing over his shoulder at Anna and Miriam, who were still dancing with their backs to him. When he reached her behind the bushes, she sat on the ground cross-legged and looked up at him with a smile. It was at this moment that Seth realized Lilah wasn’t wearing a helmet.

“Where’s your helmet?”

“We don’t need them here,” she responded.

“Really?”

“Yes, take yours off so you can hear me better.”

Seth paused for a moment. Something in his gut said he shouldn’t remove his helmet. But Lilah seemed fine. So, he sat down, slowly removed his helmet, and began to sit it down next to him.

As soon as his helmet hi the ground, he heard his name being called by a raspy but oddly soothing voice. “Seth, come to me, Seth.” It was the same voice Seth had heard right before his car crashed.

“Do you hear that?” Seth asked Lilah.

Lilah nodded her head. “Just listen.”

“Does your King say he loves you?” the voice asked.

“Yes, of course. I’m his son and he loves me.”

“What is love, Seth?”

Seth hesitated, unsure of how to answer.

“Is love full of rules and rituals?”

“No.” Seth said firmly.

“I love you, Seth. And unlike the King you call your own, I will give you antyhing you want. That’s love. I’ll give you your every desire.”

“Who are you?”

“Simply someone who wants to be the love of your life.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to be your King. Come to me.”

“If you come to him,” Lilah spoke softly, “you can have me.”

Seth’s eyes widened at the proposition. He knew something wasn’t right but still he felt a pull toward Lilah and the voice.

He then felt his helmet slamming down on his head. The pull was gone immediately. He turned and saw Anna motioning for him to stand up. Seth quickly stood and held Anna’s hand.

She began to shout into the atmosphere. “We shall worship the Lord our God and him only shall we serve! You can’t have him!”

She glared at Lilah, who smiled calmly. “My King wants us to love our enemies, but I’m going to need some time on this one.” With that, she walked away pulling Seth along behind her.

When they rejoined the group of citizens, who were still praising, Seth heard that raspy voice yelling, “Pull back! Retreat!”

Seth looked up at the sky and saw that the Angels had destroyed over half of the demonic forces. The hooded beings pulled back and flew toward the mountains. A cheer erupted from the crowd.

The battle was over and the Kingdom, naturally, had won.

Can you handle the test of favour?

Or the test of prosperity?

The gospel promises neither, in a certain way, that makes the humility of Christ essential to your being as the hand of God guides His people to transform the world from the inside.

If the society we live in is described as a fridge, you can quickly realise just how easy it is to be swept along by whatever the ‘whole’ chooses. If you put anything in a fridge it matches the temperature with not effort of the item. Even if you put a boiling pot of water in the fridge, it will have power over it to change the temperature to the fridge.
As soon as the door closes the process begins.

This is what it means to be Christian:

In all it’s fullness, you are committed to Jesus and his mission. You are committed to a body of believers. You are sent from them and plugged into them.

If a water boiler is placed into a fridge, still plugged in, the fridge is suddenly found in a dilemma. The final stage is to unplug the fridge so that the surroundings of the water boiler become hot.

The task becomes the need to find where society is plugged in and pull it. Pull the plug.

This is where prosperity and favour find their place. Moving easily among the powers, still plugged into church, so that the cities of the world are transformed.

Who’s up to it?

     As we approach the end of the year I was forced to analyze whether or not I had achieved the goals that I had set for myself and the beginning of the year.  Unfortunately I came up short which is very frustrating since last year I did very well in this area.  However, therein may be the problem.  Could it be that my success in completing last years goals have caused me to let down my guard for the year 2009?  I believe so.  Don’t get me wrong there are a few smaller goals that I set for this year and did very well in achieving them.  Enrolling in pilates, learning to swim and most of all becoming more involved in my personal writing.  I submitted two articles over the summer for publication.  A huge step for me.  But there is one goal that still alludes me.  So the question is do I continue and work towards this goal in the coming year or leave it uncompleted here in 2009? 

     Personally I really don’t think the latter is an option.  I would have liked to be beyond this point in order to focus on other goals for 2010.  So although it may be required of me to put forth more effort next year, God willing, I believe it will be worth it.  So tell me…  What are your goals for the coming year?  Isn’t it time to give it some serious consideration?

“The thoughts of the [steadily] diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone who is impatient and hasty hastens only to want.” 

Proverbs 21:5 Amplified Bible

(Above: a light tower at the end of a peer in Manistee, Michigan – photographer unknown)

The Immutable Kingdom – Part 74

By Scott A. Klaft

In Time Of War… continued:   In The South

On the opposite side of many of Garfield’s skirmishes was a young scout who would eventually become one of the more effective preachers of Restoration principles. T. B. Larimore reported for duty to the Confederate Army in the first year of the war under the command of Colonel McClellan at Knoxville, Kentucky. Much of his involvement is well documented. He was part of the retreat to Corinth, Mississippi, and he was on scout duty in the Sequatchie valley when captured by the Union forces.

At Franklin College, W.D. Carnes frantically struggled to keep the discussion of war out of the classroom. Unfortunately, it was when President Lincoln first issued the call for volunteers to invade the south that almost the whole student body left to join the Confederate forces. Carnes was forced to close the school.

The brethren, in what was considered “the west” (Arkansas and Missouri), were severely conflicted over the war. Missouri first held the southern point of view, but the Governor was dismissed and the state legislature voted pro-Union. Arkansas was not thus persuaded. Nevertheless, the general population of these states thought they were so far to the west and out of reach from the North that warfare would never reach them. In this, they were sadly and badly mistaken. When the war came, it came with its full fury as it did in every other place it touched.

William Baxter was the president of the school in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He tried, to the best of his ability, to keep the war discussions to a minimum. The school, at its opening, had high hopes of prosperity. Nearly all of the students were of the brotherhood practicing Restoration principles, but the student body was now divided in political sentiment. Fort Sumter fell, Lincoln called for volunteers, and many of the young men announced their intentions to enlist – some to the Union armies, some to the Confederacy. Most of them would never hear the echoing sound of the last gun firing at the end of the war. Most of them were left silent on the grounds of battle all the way from Prairie Grove to Gettysburg.

The college at Fayetteville was taken over frequently by both armies, but after the long battle at Prairie Grove, the entire city became a makeshift hospital for Union and Confederate forces alike. Baxter remained, witnessing the cries of agony from the young men, riddled with led from opposing muskets. Doctors were forced to amputate limbs without the use of anesthesia or antiseptic, and the terrifying screams of pain shook Baxter to his foundations. The dead bodies of soldiers lined the streets, waiting for workers to have time to bury them all. The bodies of young men known to be members of the church were brought to the church building. It was heart wrenching to see grieving mothers cry and kiss the cold, lifeless faces of their sons.

Many members of the church fought and died in both Northern and Southern Armies. Each tragic loss for either side was an even greater loss for the cause of Christianity. The Lord only knows what good might have come from their lives spent, not in futile bloodshed against their own countrymen, but rather preaching the soul-saving Gospel, insisting on the principles of restoring the ancient order.

Nothing would be gained by listing all the dead whose names once graced the membership rosters of the churches of Christ and who gave their influence for the advance of His kingdom. Most of their names would remain unrecognized by us. There were some, however, whose names we may indeed recognize. For instance, at the battle of Pea Ridge in Arkansas, none other than the son of one of the earliest of restoration initiators, Barton Stone, named after his father, Barton W. Stone, lead a regiment of Texas Rangers.

This regiment had a Chaplain among them, B. F. Hall. Once a highly respected preacher, after moving to Texas, Hall would never again hold the influence he once wielded, and for good reason. As Baxter had opportunity to observe for himself, Hall had changed greatly, and in a way wholly unexpected.

(Continued Next Week)

As one who loves liturgy, I am excited that tomorrow is Christ the King Sunday.  It is a time to celebrate God’s reign, the incarnation and lordship of Jesus.  It is so holy, I can’t help but to sing: “All hail the power of Jesus’ name…bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him Lord of all!”

One of the texts for Christ the King Sunday is Revelation 1:4-8, in which John, the exiled author, envisioned “the ruler of the kings of the earth.”  This expresses the simple, eternal truth that God is God and humanity is not.  There is only one ruler of all the earth; humans are mere characters in the larger drama of God’s unfolding history.  The irony is that in this history the powerful are made weak and the weak are made strong.

Consider the Exodus story.  Murderous and cowardly Moses told the mighty Pharaoh to let God’s people—those powerless slave people—go.  Predictably, Pharaoh asked which god Moses represented, for Pharaoh’s universe was one in which many gods existed.  Even Pharaoh was a god!  Moses simply spoke the truth: Pharaoh was not in charge; he was a no-god.

In the gospels, a peasant from Nazareth confronted the most powerful empire in his day.  By parable and miracle, Jesus humbled both the Jewish and Roman aristocracy by reminding them that, in spite of all of their authority, God was still in charge.  Jesus’ treasonous kingdom message was what ultimately got him killed, but Jesus’ resurrection only proved that God was God and Rome was not.

Our nation has a predisposition towards liberty.  When King George III fastened his grip on thirteen colonies so long ago, a band of brave patriots cried, “Give me liberty or give me death.” We are still skeptical of kings and kingdoms, and we do not like lords telling us what to do.

We have been without a king for so long, we forget what it’s like to have one.   A lord is antithetical to liberty, so trying to celebrate Christ the King Sunday is like trying to speak a foreign language—we call Christ lord but we can’t remember precisely what that means.

We fail to understand that when we call Christ King, it means that he is lord over every aspect of who we are and what we do.  In Christ Jesus we gain true liberty because he frees us from our lust for power and our endless selfish wants.

Calling Christ Lord also gives us a divine responsibility.  In Revelation John wrote that Jesus “made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father.”  We are royal priests who have a unique role and who are attentive to the will of the King.  Priests also remind those who try to usurp the King that they are not in charge.  It takes courage to speak truth to power, even if it rubs against popular politics.

We are also heralds who declare that Jesus will reclaim all of creation for himself one day.  This season two movies, “2012” and “The Road,” will address end-of-the-world themes.  Myth and popcorn can make people have the false sense that an apocalypse is something of mere fiction; Revelation shocks us with the reality that there will be an end and that Christ will usher in a new heaven and earth.

Christ the King Sunday is an important day, a time to stop trying to do things our way instead of God’s way.  “Come, Thou Almighty King, help us Thy name to sing, help us to praise:  Father, all glorious, o’er all victorious, come and reign over us, Ancient of Days!”

God is on the move like never before!

How many of you know that the Kingdom of God is growing faster than anything else on the planet. Faster than any religion, any cult, anything.

His kingdom is coming, and it’s coming now.

There are 175,000 new believers on the planet, everyday!

How is this happening?
Its an “all-saints movement.” Every person is being empowered!! No longer a one man show, that day is over and we are a new generation.

There is however one thing that wars against this movement…

Religion.
Religion disempowers and disqualifies.

With religion, nothing is ever quite enough. Religion says to do more, to jump higher… But we can’t ever jump high enough. Religion is never satisfied.

And so you see the man’s whose ‘made it.’ The man on the platform. A real guy. He’s up there, you’re down here. Buts he’s made it. Somehow, he must’ve jumped high enough.

And we live in this false reality that says ‘Gods not moving in my life, but he’s moving in his life. So I can just live my life and be content to know that someone made it, someone found a way to jumped high enough.’

But that is absolutely not what Jesus came to do or to say. That is not the model that He came to leave.

When we couldn’t jump high enough, Jesus by His grace, just lifted us up.

Our minds are being changed! There’s no difference between the ‘guy up there’ and me.

We think the guy God uses is perfect, set apart, and untouchable.
But that’s not the story of the gospel!
Jesus came on the scene in a highly religious time and He just started pulling ordinary men out of the crowd! Drop outs, outcasts, sinners.

And they messed up, they betrayed, they lied, they failed. But they did the works of Jesus. Because of His grace.
And like them, you have been empowered—You can make a difference in your world! Because of the power of God.

**Anything that is not empowering you, boot it out of your life.

Jesus was so into empowering. He empowers people! He lifts them up to be more than what they were.
He was into making disciples. He was duplicating himself.

You could never measure up to God’s standard of doing what Jesus did. I could never measure up. So just get rid of the standard!

Just believe! Believe that what He has said about you is true. Believe that your are sons and daughters. Temples of the Holy Spirit!

It’s not just for a ‘chosen few.’ It’s a chosen…generation!  (1Pet 2:9)

Jesus closes the gap between pew and platform.

That’s why it’s the Gospel… The Good News!

Listen to the empowering voices in your life. The voices that say you can… Nothing is impossible… Go for it! Just believe!

We’ve been lifted up to the highest place. Seated in heavenly places w Christ.
And when people ask “how’d you get up there? Next to Christ? In such a high place..”
We can confidently respond. “by grace!”

[1 Jn 4:17] “As Christ is, so are we in this world”

We have been born of the Spirit. We can be confident in the presence of God, why?
Because as He is, so are we in this world.

WOW! That’s GOOD NEWS!!

[Spoken by: Mike Peters]

And don’t forget to check out our Podcast of the message! [click here]

Jesus spoke in parables and sometimes I wonder why not just plain talk but that doubt was clarified in v11 where he said that the secrets of the kingdom of God are revealed to those God chooses to reveal it to and not to those who God chooses not to. Today’s parable seems so obvious and I would wonder why some people dint get it but as I read it again, I realized that to understand it, one first needs to understand God’s will for our own lives. This parable was spoken in the spiritual sense and has to do with what God commanded us to do in Matthew 28:19-20 when he gave us the great commission. He commanded us to go and share the good news of salvation through his own death and resurrection and the new hope that we have of knowing where we are headed beyond this physical body.

As servants of God, our primary calling is to serve God and not ourselves. After we are saved, our new lives are not to be lived for our old selves but for our maker and creator who saved us from certain death and the fires of hell. For this great blessing, we are called to go out and share this great news of forgiveness and hope which is free to all men. A serious challenge we face with this commission is our minds which makes us wonder how we can share the good news because we may not be good speakers like Moses, worry about loosing friends when we talk things that they don’t appreciate, etc. However, we need to realize that God saved us not because of anything we did but because he wanted to bless us and we need to go out and shamelessly share this same good news and not worry about the result because that is God’s work. Are you willing to stand us for your savior? If yes, do it shamelessly for the Lord and if no, seek God’s help to know how you can serve him.

Vineet

Bridge Over Calm Waters

Forward – by George Eldon Ladd
Introduction – by Oswald J. Smith	Chatper 5- The Life of the Kingdom
Chatper 1- What is the Kingdom of God	Chatper 6- The Righteousness of the Kingdom
Chatper 2- The Kingdom is Tomorrow	Chatper 7- The Demand of the Kingdom
Chatper 3- The Kingdom is Today	Chatper 8- The Kingdom, Israel and the Church
Chatper 4- The Mystery of the Kingdom	Chatper 9- When will the Kingdom Come?

“…so how do we go about creating kingdom communities?”

It’s interesting looking at the history of the church-planting movement over the last couple of decades. It seems that many planters have gone out to build new church communities in order to simply “grow” in numerical terms. This has usually been the result of an unsaid partnership between church-planting and church-growth paradigms. However, such a measurement of growth (numbers) is not necessarily what the Kingdom of God is about (Jesus, after all, said the kingdom looked like daily bread and forgiven debt, not packed out Colosseums).

The question above (italics) was one that I asked a friend of mine in a phone conversation about a week ago. Not happy with the idea of simply starting new churches believing this would not necessarily lead to the kingdom coming to the world, my thinking was that we needed to create kingdom communities. These would look different to “churches” in their lack of institutional structure and more organic organisation, as well as their existence being about God’s mission, not institutional survival.

But in reflecting on that conversation, I’d missed a simple reality.

Jesus didn’t come to start new communities, but to fix already existing ones.

(Thank you Richard Horsley for this thought… for those reading this, go and read “Jesus & Empire”). When reading the Gospels it seems apparent to me that Jesus didn’t necessarily seek to start a new group (much less a new religion). Rather he went about helping already existing communities to live in loyalty to the Kingdom of God within the context of the oppressive Roman Empire. By doing so these communities would be restored and would be economically and socially sustainable. We can see this in Jesus’ preaching, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount, which in my humble view is a Kingdom ethic of communal living.

That new Christian communities sprung up after Jesus’ Ascension was not a demonstration of what Jesus had necessarily intended, but of what was necessary to live kingdom lives in Roman cities in which loyalty to any kingdom other than that of Caesar’s would be punished.

So is creating a new community wrong, or bad? Not necessarily, but a question we must ask is how is a new community being created? Is it contrived, or is it happening naturally? The truth is that genuine community always happens naturally, and coerced community creation is a preliminary sign of a limited life span.

A problem that can arise in church-planting  is that we create new communities which we expect new people to join, even though for many people joining a new community can be an incredibly uncomfortable, painful and undesirable process (interesting that we expect people to go through this process, but we hardly ever engage their communities…).

What if we concentrated less on trying to make new communities and spent more effort, as Jesus did, on engaging the already existing communities in our world, bringing change and renewal to them? (This is the model of the Incarnation after all – Jesus came to us, not the other way around…). The Kingdom of God was never meant to be confined to being mediated by the Church (though the Church may be a vehicle for the kingdom), but rather the kingdom can come to earth (as in heaven) by any means God utilises. Indeed, when the kingdom comes it does not primarily look like new communities, but rather it looks like restored conditions in already existing communities, such as social needs being met (daily bread) and economic issues being resolved (forgiveness of debts).

So “mission” is not necessarily about creating new kingdom communities (and it is certainly not about starting more church services), even though kingdom-based churches may well result from what I am saying (as opposed to church-based kingdom). Perhaps, then, my question to my friend should have been…

“… so how do we go about bringing the kingdom to already existing communities?”

We are called to engage already existing communities...

MCA

“…Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” – Numbers 12:8

Miriam and Aaron had a problem. They didn’t like Moses’ wife. So they decided, “Hey, God has spoken through us. Moses isn’t the only person who hears from God around here. We don’t like the way he does things, so we’ll just handle it from here on our own.” Sound familiar? They knew they were leaders. They knew that God had used them to speak prophetically to the people. But what they didn’t know was that they were in direct violation of God’s protocol.

Protocol is a code of conduct; it involves the customs and regulations dealing with diplomatic formality, precedence, and etiquette. In other words, protocol is the way we are supposed to conduct ourselves. There is a right way to approach God, leadership, and our fellow man. A violation of these protocols results in allowing the spirit of strife loose in our lives.

God came down in a cloud and chastised Miriam and Aaron. Yes, it was true that God spoke to His prophets through dreams and visions, but God spoke with Moses face-to-face. God asked the jealous siblings, “What were you thinking? Moses is the one I have appointed as leader. Why did you think you could speak against my leadership? Do you think I won’t do anything about that?” And He did…Miriam was instantly struck leprous.

Aaron repented for their insubordination, and Miriam was healed after a time of confinement outside the camp. But watch what happened next. In the 13th chapter of Numbers, Moses sends the 12 spies into the Promised Land to bring back a report. We know what happened…ten of them brought back an evil report and the whole nation of Israel rebelled against God, resulting in forty years of wandering and death in the wilderness. Where did that come from? It came from a violation of protocol. The people had been complaining about their leadership from the time they left Egypt. Even their leaders began to complain about Moses. Their words and actions were in violation of God’s protocol.

We must watch our words and our attitudes towards others. If we don’t guard our hearts and our mouths, we open the door to strife. If we break protocol by speaking against leadership, whether it is in the home, the workplace, the community, or in church, then we open the door for strife to destroy us and those around us. Let’s purpose in our hearts to do as the Bible commands: to love and pray for one another and for those in rulership over us. When we DO the Word, we close the door to the spirit of strife in our lives.

It seems logical – obvious even – that in a world where so many struggle with anxiety and dissatisfaction we would set our sights on something lower.  We would probably never say “lower”… perhaps we would instead say something like more realistic, attainable or doable.

Like never before our culture is harried and anxious with unnecessary demands and frivolous, if self imposed, pressures.  We take and eat and drink and hoard and somewhere in our depths are erected towers of discontent; monuments to how much seek and how little we are satiated.

In response we aim lower.

Instead of truth, we live for exaggerations and bents.  Instead of brotherhood, acquaintanceship.  Instead of hard work, whatever doesn’t get me fired.  Instead of love, lust.

Perhaps if we seek contentment in lesser things, it won’t be so hard to find peace.

Right?

The words of Christ make a fool of such wisdom.  The people in our world who find ultimate satisfaction are not those who aim lower, accept less, settle…  Jesus says those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied.

But righteousness is beyond our grasp, isn’t it?  We say Jesus came to us and we find our rigtheousness in Him.  We say that must be what He is talking about when He demands that we be perfect.  But again and again there is this call for our righteousness.  Yes, a righteousness founded upon Jesus, but a righteousness still pursued and advanced and lived out in our lives even with Jesus.  Our salvation, it seems in the Scriptures, is just the beginning.

Our anxiety, our worry, He says, will be taken care of as we pursue – as we seek – His Kingdom and His righteousness before anything else.

Jesus seems to be indicating that our reason for being dissatisfied or anxious is not because we aim too high… but because we don’t aim high enough.

Did you get that?!

If we want to find the contentment, peace and satisfaction promised in Christ Jesus, we must pursue righteousness and allow His Spirit to work in our lives.

Let us not go forward with simply managing our sin (see Dallas Willard’s concept of “sin management”) or living lives of confession that never move us into transformation.  We need to grab hold of His promises and realize we have been set free from sin and set free for righteousness.

In the very places where we are dissatisfied, we need to hunger, thirst and pursue righteousness.  Where in your life are you dissatisfied?