by steve | Sep 23, 2022 | Just Life, Kingdom Living
I’m back. Recently I finished a Summer Social Media Sabbatical and am returning to the blog. So how was the break, Steve? Well, I’m glad you asked. The first few weeks were hard. However, the disconnect soon became a healthy flow of life. Now, as I’m back in the regular rhythms, I’m finding that my distractions, especially seasons of getting hot and bothered by politics, have simmered down quite a bit. It’s freeing. I can focus more easily.
I know some are called to the political arena. In the Bible, we see this of Joseph in Genesis and of Daniel, the prophet. But I don’t believe I’m either equipped or called personally to politics. More importantly, this unplugged season reminded me of what I know internally; the Kingdom of God rules above the realms of humanity, and there will indeed be a day of reckoning.
The Kingdom of God? It’s something quite mysterious and profound. Indeed, it’s more than casual Christianity. Clearly, it is beyond a religion of mere sin management. It is infinitely more. Jesus used this terminology as a central building block in his teaching. Yes, he came deliberately to give his life as a ransom for many. However, his preeminent proclamation is a wholly transformed reality.
In his first public teaching, Jesus declared with authority: “The time has come the kingdom of God is at hand, Repent and Believe the Good News.” (Mark 1:15). The original grammar of that statement is in the perfect tense, implying something that has happened and is continuing to happen. The title, Kingdom of God, is used some 75 times in the New Testament with the highest concentration being in Luke, who wrote to Gentiles. The secondary term, the Kingdom of Heaven, is only used 34 times in the New Testament, with 31 of those occasions being in Matthew, who wrote to Hebrews, showing them that Jesus was the prophesized Messiah.
Is there more than a history lesson here? There is more than you can imagine. Yes, this mysterious Kingdom that Jesus spoke of is a present reality and a future hope. The Kingdom is not one of flesh and blood or the politics of Jerusalem. It is a current reality wherever his children work his will out today. In Luke 17:21, Jesus described it as being within you. There is also the reality of the future, fulfilled Kingdom of his second coming.
Beyond the reality of God’s will being executed by his people in the here and now, the Kingdom also demonstrates the truth that God is still moving in His sovereign providence above the affairs of humanity. Even this morning, in my regular Bible reading, I noted that “the Lord had determined to frustrate the good advice” of the enemies of King David, and thus they failed to overthrow God’s plan. There is a mysterious ebb and flow of our free will and God’s providential path toward the fulfillment of everything. Daniel observes that God “deposes kings and raises up others” while Jesus confronted Pilate, who thought he had charge over him, that he “would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
There is hope because God is still on the throne today. Yes, on the one hand, I live as a responsible citizen, as Romans 13 teaches me. But, on the other, I know my higher allegiance is above, and it is from there that my ultimate redemption comes. This dual existence calls me to stand for Jesus regardless of what earthly and temporal authorities do. It also comforts me to know God will have the final say when the curtain of eternity falls upon all.
I am not the first in history to wrestle with this reality and often think of the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was hung at Flossenbuerg concentration camp just a month before the conclusion of World War II in Europe. Scripture does teach us that we are to obey the laws of the land unless they specifically contradict God’s will. However, I am rarely forced to disobey God in the West and in America. While governance has and may oppose Christ, I am not prohibited from preaching Christ.
The answer is to remember what I say I believe. The call, above worldly citizenship, is living out the Kingdom of God in the here and now. While it’s easy to type this today, I know there will be occasions when I am tempted to lose focus. I may need the help and prayers of friends. I may need your help. But I know this Kingdom is true. That’s why I named this blog kingdomology back in 2009, and I hope this will be a challenge and encouragement to you as well.
Is this an area where you wrestle?
by steve | Jun 24, 2022 | Just Life, Kingdom Living
I was just under four years old in 1973 when the US Supreme Court ruled on Roe v Wade mandating the legality of abortion in all 50 states. Since that landmark decision, the American landscape and culture have witnessed over 63 million reported abortion cases. Yet, during that same time, countless followers of Christ have been praying and working to help women with unplanned pregnancies find a better option than the termination of their child. They have worked for hope.
Today the High Court has reversed this ruling. Since a politically motivated leak of the initial decision last month, we have experienced a tsunami of media outpouring and emotion. I, too, have had to sit with my thoughts and feelings and the surrounding ramifications. Yes, the emotions are high right now. But what are the simple facts when we take a deep breath and calm down to think through the issues rationally? One thing is clear; the ultimate answer is much deeper than the legal opinion of nine human judges. So while I could write a tome on today’s announcement, here are six quick truths below the media hype.
1. The Legal Truth.
Despite the avalanche of liberal media, the overturning of Roe v Wade will not outlaw abortion in the land but instead send the issue back to the states. I won’t get bogged down in legal discussion here as others who are more versed in this area have already done so, and those looking for honest research can find them.
2. The Scientific Truth.
The crux of the matter is defining the object of abortion. While many proponents of abortion will refer to the baby as a mere fetus, the basic science dictates that this is a human being. Several years ago, I came across the work of Dr. Jerome Lejeune of France, an expert in genetics. In 1959 he discovered the genetic cause of Downs Syndrome and was hailed for his work early on. However, once Dr. Legeune furthered the conclusions of his findings, that the logical progression is that life begins at conception, he began to experience a cold shoulder from his colleagues because of the implications of what abortion truly is. The simple reality is that the object of abortion is not the mere excising of tissue but the termination of a living human being. With advances in ultrasound technology and other science, the evidence is clear. This is life.
3. The Moral Truth.
If the science is evident in the data that this is life, we are forced to move into the moral category. What we know of God is that we are created in His image. David affirms that it was God that “formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14 ESV) Without trying to be harsh purposefully, the reality is that abortion is the taking of innocent life. The Biblical and legal term for this act is murder. I will unpack this a bit more in point 6 below. But part of the issue here is how our present culture looks at children and humanity in general. We no longer see people as being created in the image of God but rather as property to be arranged for convenience.
4. The Grace Truth.
Grace is something that I sorely need in my life and continue, and will always, praise God for his grace on me. Jesus died on the cross for my sin and rose again. I need HIS grace. We need to know that this same grace is available to women who have had abortions and to men who have been involved in decisions for abortion. David repented of his murder of Uriah to cover up the affair with Bathsheba and received grace and restoration. Paul repented of his murder of Stephen for preaching the gospel and not only received grace and restoration but a new call on his life.
5. The Hope Truth.
HOPE is the operative word here. One reason women go into an abortion clinic is that they feel cornered and without hope. But there is hope. There is hope for the baby and hope for the mother. Care-Net is one such ministry of hope that Debi and I, along with our local church, support regularly. It is one thing to speak against abortion. It is another to get involved in loving these women and their babies and helping them find hope and purpose at this unexpected fork in the road. This message of hope is not something new but found back in the early church and seen in the times of the Roman Empire when followers of Christ would rescue unwanted babies who were left in trash heaps.
6. The Heart Truth.
The mere changing of legal structures will not alter a nation’s makeup in the immediacy any more than Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, or the conclusion of the Civil War changed the hearts of racists in 1865. In short, slavery was abolished, but some white people still cursed black people and hated those who supported the freedom of blacks. In our present debate, the struggle is spiritual, as it was then and always will be at the root. It is a spiritual wrestling match to see that every human has value. But this reality is not easily seen by those with an atheistic and humanistic worldview who do not believe that these unborn children are human. The core cause for this blindness is a hard heart. Thus the real issue is one of a heart awakening and revival.
We need more than righteous laws of the land; we need the mending of broken hearts that can only come through Jesus Christ. In describing this eternal struggle, Jesus stated that: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
Jesus has healed, changed, and continues to change my heart. That is the answer that I continue to pray toward. Yes, I believe that this is a good day in the ongoing history of the United States. However, I firmly believe that we must do more; we must acknowledge our sin and repent, walk in His grace, and love and pray for those who continue to see no evil in abortion. The answer is in Real Revival, which first begins in me and then spreads to the hearts of those around me.
by steve | Apr 1, 2017 | Just Life, Kingdom Living, Social
Like many Americans I’ve been frustrated by the attitudes and actions of my fellow citizens since Donald Trump was elected and took office. But yet my somberness is not the same as the political angst being flooded throughout the media waves and coffee houses across the land. My frustration has to do with the body of Christ. (more…)
by steve | Sep 2, 2016 | Just Life, Social
I needed this. As of last night I came off of my self-imposed Political Fast for the month of August, and honestly I’m not sure I want to go back. By a political fast I mean that I purposefully stayed away from reading anything or listening to anything having to do with the present political races of Hillary and Trump. Really the whole system as well. Sure I was tempted a few times and know that at least once I started down that road of “just to see” what the story behind the latest headline was. But I didn’t fall prey to the calling and got through August with pretty much no political writ, radio, or video. I think I’m healthier for it and not certain I want to go back to my old norm.
This is not to say that I no longer have political thinking. I am not saying that I no longer believer that some politics and laws are just bad. This is not to say that I no longer believe that some candidates are way off and therefore they will be advocating systems and laws which will hurt people.
Yes, I still intellectually and morally believe there is a clear right and wrong. Some candidates get that and others do not. But I also believe that the attention to these issues in the political sphere is no longer as high on my emotional radar screen as they once were. I always knew that the Kingdom of God is the bigger picture. It’s just taken my emotions a while to catch up. While some of these political and legal issues are indeed important; they are just not the “most important.”
So after 31 days of political and social media fasting, I’ve arrived at four things that I do know for sure and four things I plan to do. (more…)
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