July 13, 2008

I shared a meal with a friend last night and then sat outside through scattered showers listening to him talk about all that God is doing in his place in the Kingdom. I've been studying the Kingdom lately and it is beautiful. It is not the Church and it is not us it is God's domain and yet we are a part of it and ultimately get to rule in it. It's crazy to think about really.

Jay works in the hip-hop and rock music community bringing the Kingdom. He shared with me how God is planting small services around the country that are led by ex-gangsters who saw a dead end in their lives and a new beginning in a relationship with Jesus. Memphis, Atlanta, Tampa and a West Coast movement all underway and all underground. Groups of 15 or more coming together out of the hip-hop community just to worship in a way they understand. They've come with drugs in their backpacks, skateboards in hand and ended up flushing them down the toilet and crossing the border into the Kingdom.

These things are happening all over the place. This was just something I became more aware of. Everywhere I look I see signs of life in the Kingdom. Too often we take a defensive posture and think of our place in this world as something we have to protect and defend rather than something we must give away and harmonize with. If we can get the fact into our hearts that the Kingdom wins and our destiny is settled we'll be better off. Whatever our circumstance it is but temporary. Life has ebbs and flows but we live on and in that living we bring the Kingdom if we are in Christ and alert enough to know what's going on.

Ponder this: You live on the border between two Kingdoms. We, the body of Christ or the Church live there. We're a welcome center and a mighty fortress. Incursions into our territory should be met with an aggressive backlash against the Kingdom of Darkness. Not only should the casualties be severe and devastating to evil but we should be looking at lands lost for centuries. Strongholds that need to be reclaimed for the Kingdom of Heaven. We're not tiny little nobodies anymore. The Work of Christ redeemed us and gave us the power of Heaven to back us up in life.

I'm excited about what comes next. I know gas prices are high and the mortgage industry is collapsing. Perhaps we haven't seen the end of the recession and that's just here in the United States. Everyone is looking for a way to protect themselves and an alternative to the way they've been living because it's not working. What better time than to invest in things that cannot be market driven? Relationships, people, goodness, missions, love, Kingdom work. It's time to wrap our minds around who we really are and forget about the rest. God is in control. We are safe no matter what it looks like. We are in the Kingdom. We are in His domain. As Imogen Heap says, "It couldn't be any more beautiful.....I can't take it in."

Onward Comrades,

Brian