There is a passage in Joshua where the Israelites are preparing to surround Jericho and Joshua sees a vision of man standing in front of him with a sword in his hand. He asks the man, “Are you with the enemy or with us?”
Tag Archives: Kingdom of God
Who was the neighbor
As I make my way through the end of the year in the daily readings, I am struck over and over by what IS in the Gospel and by what is NOT. The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 strikes that chord yet again. What is it to have eternal life? It isContinue reading “Who was the neighbor”
The way of the Father
The Kingdom of God is about flourishing. It is the abundant goodness of the Father flowing to humanity. We are to live like the Father.
I’m always left with… WOW
2 Peter 1:2-11 is an all-time favorite passage. It is majestic. It is challenging. It is a high calling. And… it is attainable. All we need to walk in this majestic calling has already been given.
The great vision of the Kingdom of God
Luke’s rendition of the Sermon (on the plain rather than mountain) is stunningly simple. The life of the Kingdom is simple and powerful. Yet… we do not live them out. It begs the question: WHY DO WE NOT TAKE THESE WORDS SERIOUSLY? Go to Luke 6:27-20.
Holy isn’t comfort
We come to the place of Christmas. We sing with gentleness, “O Holy Night.” Holy is not comfortable. It is not even predictable. We want a sweet song to sweep away our problems and lavish us in comfort. But what is holy does not avoid pain or difficulty. Holy makes way for the good, butContinue reading “Holy isn’t comfort”
Our misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God
I truly wish I could articulate better what I truly believe in the deepest part of my soul about the Kingdom of God. N.T. Wright helps me. He articulates the vision of the Kingdom in a way I understand… but then I try to repeat it… and… ugh. There is so much to “undo” inContinue reading “Our misunderstanding of the Kingdom of God”
Our misunderstanding of salvation
I have been rekindled in my thoughts concerning “salvation” the past few years. We have such a truncated version of “gospel” that we try to keep it reduced to something like, “Jesus came to save you so when you repent you can know you go to heaven when you die.”
Living in the power of the beautiful kingdom of God
One of the great lessons I’ve carried from NT Wright is to see heaven and earth in a far different relationship than what I believed growing up. Heaven is not “up there” and earth is not “down here.” They are two different dimensions of God’s good creation.
Our grand invitation
Matthew 7:13–14 (NIV)13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. I recently finished up another journey through the Sermon onContinue reading “Our grand invitation”
Apprentice 2 Jesus 