Living in the Kingdom: One Year Anniversary
Yesterday was the One year anniversary of Living In The Kingdom my blog life. This is the very first thing I posted... I think it's good to see where I started and what the foundation is for this blogging journey I'm on.
April 4, 2005
Whatever is good...
I believe the Kingdom of God is here, and that when Jesus said "The kingdom Of God is in your midst..."(Luke 17) He was not teasing us. God created everything so everything, in it's purity, is perfect and should be celebrated. What I am out to do here is find the good, find the pure, the perfect things in life and set my mind on those things. When we talk about the Kingdom being here... now... I get excited, this means that when we feel pain here it matters. When we are sick here it matters... God is not silent in the storms of our life. His Kingdom is here, it is about partnering with Him to reconcile the world to Him and do away with whatever turned this life created to be pure and beautiful into a land drenched with death and oppression. I want us to realize that Jesus is not our ticket to heaven... He is the answer to the question the redeemer of broken lives and the way to a life worth living... HERE and NOW!
April 4, 2005
Whatever is good...
I believe the Kingdom of God is here, and that when Jesus said "The kingdom Of God is in your midst..."(Luke 17) He was not teasing us. God created everything so everything, in it's purity, is perfect and should be celebrated. What I am out to do here is find the good, find the pure, the perfect things in life and set my mind on those things. When we talk about the Kingdom being here... now... I get excited, this means that when we feel pain here it matters. When we are sick here it matters... God is not silent in the storms of our life. His Kingdom is here, it is about partnering with Him to reconcile the world to Him and do away with whatever turned this life created to be pure and beautiful into a land drenched with death and oppression. I want us to realize that Jesus is not our ticket to heaven... He is the answer to the question the redeemer of broken lives and the way to a life worth living... HERE and NOW!
Comments
loving the unloved
it seems as though we rightly desire to love those who need it. those who need it means everybody right? well i guess not those who don't love everybody. we quickly condemn the condemning, judge the judging, and hate the hating. those who are not caring for the poor are rebuked. those who are harsh to homosexuals are declared to be horrible beyond belief. those who don't tolerate sin are not tolerated for their intolerance.
shouldn't we be consistent?
maybe we should look at Jesus and acknowledge that he was harshest to those who condemned others, those who did not help the poor, and those who were self-righteous. we should follow his example right? right. just don't say we need to "love everyone unconditionally like God does" when he does things that look nothing like what you are calling this love. understand that love is not always acceptance. love is not always encouragement. love is not always nice and comfortable for the beloved. well, unless we want to say that Jesus didn't love pharisees...
any "you" in there is a general "you," not specifically you wes. i think you are great. i think you have got a great head on your shoulders and a great attitude that will make it even more possible for God to work in, on, and through you.
just wanted to let you know.
condemned in my sin,
bear
Great thoughts! I've acctually been struggling with this idea of consistancy. I think the very first place we have to start is love. So I would never call anyone "horrible beyond belief." And My hope is that I'd be tolerant toward the intolerant. But the problems come when tolerance and love cross. Problems come when tolerance means injustice. We need to be accepting, even of the biggotted, oppressive, ect. But this means we need to be angry toward oppression, biggotry, and injustice. Jesus got pretty angry toward the Pharisees. I don't think love always means being satisfied with someone's actions but it does mean being accepting of them as a person. I believe in calling out sin but I think we have chosen to call out the wrong ones in the wrong way. Notice that Jesus harshest judgement was against the religious ones.
I fully agree with your comment and if anything in my last few posts suggests something conrary to my last comment I ask that you challenge me on it. Thanks for your great comment.
-Wes
Peace, bro.
Keep it up. Go for 2 now.... even more!
Many blessings...