The Kingdom is Both the Map and the Destination
E. Stanley Jones book on the kingdom of God reminds me of the book of Romans and some other of Paul’s epistles where he sets up a massive insight for the people of God click-click-clicking up the ascending side of the roller coaster and then about midway he dives headlong into practical encouragements and talk of basic living in the kingdom. By the time you hit the beginning the third section of Jones’ book you have absorbed all you need to know to take and apply the big idea to a conversation. I recommend you read it.
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Reality and Relevance are in the Kingdom
The Church, as she often is encased in institutional systems and as Christian culture, has become a cul de sac which is able to receive forgiveness, revelation, knowledge, and the Presence of God...but she seems to have no idea to what end. Being saved is less a release from and more a release into something: the kingdom of God. It is time for us as the people of God to rise up and embrace our purpose to proclaim and provide a highway into the kingdom of God.
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The Church is to Pursue the Kingdom
What follows, again, are notes generated from engaging E. Stanley Jones book, The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person. It is available at Amazon. These notes again are designed to increase our perspective on the kingdom of God. These notes have particular impact in understanding the differences in and the relationship of the Church and the kingdom of God.
Jesus is the kingdom, and the kingdom is Jesus.
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What is the STOREHOUSE?
You have heard it said: “The tithe belongs in the storehouse.” Ok, so where is that from? It is from Malachi 3:10: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” Usually, we hear that sermon once or twice a year when offerings are low at our fellowship and the leadership, or key leader, feels it necessary to remind everyone to put the money in the bank on behalf of building and staff needs. We don’t want to be cynical, but this predictable sermon has become fodder for cynicism over time and the hardest part is that we are not sure why it makes us feel the way we do. It makes us feel manipulated, but why? It makes the presenter of the argument feel as those he is selling a used car, but why? If the storehouse is equivalent to the bank account of each local fellowship, then why does this sermon make our conscience wrinkle?
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The Kingdom is the Center
Recently, I read a great book on the kingdom of God: The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person, by E. Stanley Jones, first published in 1972. It is worth buying. It stirred many thoughts as I read and I took notes on what was three dimensional to me. Some of these words might be Jones, so I must give credit where credit is due, but most are probably my reflections and summaries of thoughts that were generated as I read.
This introduction is a broad stroke intro for our imaginations about the Kingdom.
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Houses Made of Doorknobs, Part 2
In G.K. Chesterton’s words written for the Illustrated London News, “It is the great paradox of the modern world that at the very time when the world decided that people should not be coerced about their form of religion, it also decided that they should be coerced about their form of education.”
It was this statement that ignited my thoughts that began this direction of writings.
My wife and I chose to begin schooling our two boys at home a couple of years ago. It was an experimental decision for the season. It first began as a matter of creative necessity as our travel schedule would have made public school very difficult for all of us. We were not protesting our public schools, nor the fine teachers who teach in our small town, we were simply taking care of our own family’s needs. Since that time I have become keenly aware of my own personal burden to see my children educated in the ways of the Kingdom and the truth in which it wraps our world. I have come to realize that no single school teacher in a room of 30 students can impart what I have been called to impart to my own children. It has been the weight of reality on my shoulders. It has become a very personal challenge and no longer a short-term experiment.
TOM and the Goldfish Bowl, Bible-ography
BIBLE-OGRAPHY
(For some, a reference section might be a bore, but these Scripture references provided the backbone for the book, TOM and the Goldfish Bowl, and may be a valuable resource for you as you study and consider the content of the work. Enjoy)
The Kingdom as a Way
The good news of the Kingdom is preached, people are healed, baptized, and the end is prophesied.
Matt. 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
Houses Made of Doorknobs, Part 1
We have built houses out of doorknobs and it is time that we stopped.
Recently, an American reporter from the Atlantic Monthly magazine, Jeffrey Goldberg, visited Castro at his invitation to talk about the Iranian nuclear debacle, and in the course of that interview he asked Castro some expected questions but got some remarkable answers. He also went to a dolphin show, but that is unrelated, kind of. The most remarkable answer was when he asked Castro whether the Cuban model was still something worth to export, the former leader replied "the Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore." Castro, while promoting his new book at the University of Havana, tried to wriggle out of that one saying his words had been misinterpreted after the article was published, and went on to say he was really criticizing capitalism. Oh, how ridiculous.
TOM and the Goldfish Bowl, Part 3
MAKING IT PRACTICAL
In this the final section of this small book I want to be informal in my tone and direct in my approach to this question: How do we make these encouragements practical right now and apply them to our lives?
What follows are collections of activities, actions, and other practical steps towards becoming a Kingdom person. For myself, I call it “becoming a family man.” Others might call it becoming a family woman, or a family leader, or a family pioneer, or a family member ... I like them all. I have written a statement for each one in the first person so they all will be comfortable in our mouths as we read them aloud, pray them, and make our declarations. In other words, I start each action with an “I” statement so we can personalize each one.
Try them all.
Do them all at once, or spread them out over time—all the time—like I do.
Repeat until the desired affect is achieved.
TOM and the Goldfish Bowl, Part 2, C
THE KINGDOM, THE CHURCH, AND THE TRADITIONS OF MEN
THE TRADITIONS OF MEN
A Fight
Here is the section of our book where it is acceptable to use references like Catholic, Protestant, Baptist, House Church, Mega-Church, Armenian, Calvinist, The Celtic Way, Anglican, Independent Charismatic, Missional Community, Organic, Reformed, Orthodox, Progressive, Emergent, Traditional, Liturgical, Evangelical, just to name a few. These are all the creative ways we—with feet of clay and minds of dust—have chosen to identify ourselves and divide ourselves from others who are following Christ. We have given these classes formal names. These are the well-financed ways we have divided ourselves from one another.
Congratulations, Church, for creating and sustaining the multiple personality disorder that has plagued us for generations. So, how has it been working out for you?
That was rhetorical.