| From
the Church on the Hill
by D. Eric Williams Pastor, Cottonwood Community Church pastor@cottonwoodcommunitychurch.org Now then, the Christian who brings his or her life and arena of activity under the Lordship of Jesus and has God and God alone as their object of worship will be in a position to see the kingdom of God realized in their life. Everything they do is performed as a means of bringing glory to God. In their work, personal relationships, recreation, politics, creative actions and hobbies - all of this is done to bring glory to God. Everything is done according to the Scriptures. They think of others more highly than themselves. They are creative, finding solutions to problems in all facets of life. They labor to make contributions in science, education, and medicine, the industrial and cultural arts, politics and so on - in whatever way God has gifted them. Throughout, they worship God and God alone. Gone are the idols of self, wealth, power, sex, belonging, and so on. In everything, they worship God and find ways to express the reign of Christ in their life. As a result they attract others to the cause. First fellow Christians learn about the Lordship of Jesus and begin to "work hard to show the results of their salvation." Along with them, new converts to the faith are discipled in a full and rich understanding of the gospel. In this way, nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the LORD (Isaiah 11:9). Thus, it is in this life we should experience the righteousness (covenant faithfulness) peace (relationship with God) and joy (depth of love and gladness) of the kingdom of God. That is what the kingdom is about. And it is supposed to begin in this life. However, when we cut ourselves off from the Grand Adventure that began in Eden, it becomes very difficult to see exactly how we are supposed to live a life under the authority of Jesus so that his Lordship will be actualized in this realm. Indeed, many, many Christians believe such talk is heresy or at least borders on heresy. I would counter by saying that those who reject the current reign of King Jesus are the heretics. A diminished gospel that misunderstands the kingdom of God has spawned theological havoc across the board. Instead of a world changing Christianity most followers of Christ have settled for a "one person," me first religious belief. They are attracted to the "lovey-dovey" glad-handing types who are big on relationships but have nothing substantial to say about the realization of the kingdom in this life. There is nothing wrong with friendly church leaders who help people develop open and loving relationships. Indeed, it's characteristic of the kingdom. But if that's all they do they are guilty of sidelining the people of God into a self-centered, dead end religiosity. Editor’s Note: This is the column that was to run last week. Whatsoever Things Are True by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net. So this "City Slicker" was driving half lost on a country road. Anxious to learn exactly where he was, and caught in an era pre internet or GPS, he stopped to ask directions. He pulled up to the first sign of life he came across which was a farmer involved in what seemed to the city slicker a mind bending exercise. He was - pulling a calf. For the balance of you city slickers, when a calf presents breach or is coming out of the mother backwards, it is (as with humans) dangerous if only by virtue of the fact that limbs don't bend in the direction to facilitate a smooth delivery. The remedy for this is a "calf puller" which resembles a ladder splint. A portable tower if you will, complete with pulleys and winches and straps to encourage the calf from the mother. So, --- here's our hero watching an absolutely fascinating process, when the farmer asks: "Hey, you wanna give me a hand?". "You bet" exclaims the city slicker as he traverses the fence and the ankle deep mud to give assistance. After an hour and fifteen minutes of what we'll call a messy wrestling match, the calf finally arrived. The farmer wiped a tear from his eye celebrating the successful operation, and asked his new apprentice - "Well, I'll bet you never seen anything like that before, have you?". "No" pronounced the city slicker - "never". "Got any questions?" asked the farmer. "Well yea" he says - "I do. How fast was that calf goin anyhow?" Point: I weep over the Great chasm or divide on the country I love, but as in the illustration above (borrowed from an anecdote by Kent Hovind), It fascinates me how two people or groups of people can look at the same info (facts) and come to such diametrically opposed conclusions. This is due to the fact that Truth in a post modern world, is subjective. Sad. So, I weep, I am fascinated, and I am heartbroken over the hatred on display. I recall over my 62 years, times when someone was hatefully angry at me. I might offer a truthful defense like = "This is what I said"; foolishly thinking it would help, only to be met with - "Yea, that's what you said, but I know what you meant!!!!". Silly of me, I thought only God was the discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Let's turn the Spiritual Switch: My column is entitled: "Whatsoever Things are True". This is from Phil. 4:8 = "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely. whatsoever things are of good report: if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think (meditate) on these things." Oh the time I have wasted meditating on what others may or may not have said about me, may or may not have done to me, and more embarrassing, the time I spent rehearsing my response to the alleged crime. Jesus took my focus off imaginary wrongs, and put it on to Him. O that the world, our Great Country might follow along. "How fast was that calf goin anyhow?" |
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