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Bible Class: Defining the Kingdom of Heaven (God)

May 12, 2010, by 2 comments

Bible Class Audio May 23, 2010 “Kingdom of God (Part 2)

Bible Class Audio May 16, 2010 “Kingdom of God (Part 1)

“From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17 (TNIV)

1.  A Central Theme of Jesus Teachings

The Kingdom of heaven is a central theme in the teachings of Jesus throughout his ministry.  It’s difficult to gain the deeper faith and understanding from his message without understanding the kingdom message first.

As you discover the depth to which the kingdom of God message is infused into the preaching of Jesus and the Apostles you have to wonder where in our church history was that message lost?  If it was so central to the original message, why did we water it down?

“It may be said that the teaching of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God represents his whole teaching. It is the main, determinative subject of all his discourse. His ethics were ethics of the Kingdom; his theology was theology of the Kingdom; his teaching regarding himself cannot be understood apart from his interpretation of the Kingdom of God” (Dr. F. C. Grant, from “The Gospel of the Kingdom,” Biblical World, 50, pp. 121-191).

The gospel  (good news) message is still preached proudly, something from which we can never stray.  Jesus is the salvation for the world, He is the final sacrifice for sins, He was crucified and buried in a tomb, He was triumphant over death, He is the mediator of the new covenant.  What has been lost I’m afraid is the rest of the story, that Jesus has redeemed us into the Kingdom of God.  As Jesus said,

“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached…” (Luke 16:16 TNIV) Read more →

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Motivation 3.0 for the Christian Leader

February 24, 2010, by No comments yet

I grew up in a time when church frequently included special gospel meetings that featured a guest preacher imploring nightly over the course of a week to get right and reap the rewards of heaven or certainly go to hell. We were encouraged to invite our friends and neighbors where every night the message and volume would escalate until a satisfactory number had responded to avoid the punishment of hell. Unfortunately, the fear motivated responses rarely resulted in life-long change, many left the church quickly never to return.

As I read Daniel Pink’s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us it struck me that we have built a church, family, and work culture based on an inferior motivational model. In a sense, our churches are stuck in a 20th century when such practices were the norm, but fall short with today’s generation. Because we were raised in this environment most of today’s leaders are just modeling what we know.

Pink presents a compelling case for a deeper method of personal, peer, and subordinate motivation. He contends that human motivation has evolved from a basic needs model, to a “carrot and stick” model, and as he proposes, a more stable intrinsic motivation model. In modern vernacular he labels these models in the style of a progressive human operating system upgrade: Motivation 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0.

Read more →

Seeing God Clearly

November 8, 2009, by No comments yet

Picture God in your mind…

If you’re like most of the people I’ve asked, you probably thought of some combination of a man in a gray beard floating in the clouds or a scowling judge glaring down from his judgment bench.  Both are wrong.  God has a presence in the world today, and how we see Him determines how we see ourselves and others.

When the Spirit of God descended into the Temple built by King Solomon the power was so great the priests couldn’t perform their ceremony (I Kings 8).  There was no doubt that God was present and the temple would be the dwelling place for God among His people.  In those days the temple was the center of the Israelites life and worship.  Their lives revolved around the presence of God in the Most Holy Place.  Then…

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NIV

Jesus is the Son of God, is God, and was His physical presence on this earth.  Jesus said, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself” (NIV).  He became the center of life and worship drawing everyone to Him.  From the moment Christ was crucified and the temple was torn in two everything changed.  God is no longer contained in one building or one group of people.  (John 12:32, Mark15:38)

Through Christ’s death and resurrection God is once again present in His temple, the center of life and worship.  Believers are God’s temple. We are His dwelling place through His Spirit.   When we clearly see God it will change how we see ourselves and how we see others.  (1 Corinthians 3:16-17, 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16)

  1. When we see the Spirit of God dwelling in ourselves it focuses our worship, actions and lives.  (1 John 3:9-10)
  2. When we see God in fellow Christians we are able to unconditionally love each other deeply (1 Peter 1:22, 4:8; 1 John 3:16-18)
  3. When Christians see God in each other we can join in unity and the body of Christ is lifted up to “draw all men to [Himself].” (Ephesians 2:18-22, 4:12-13)
  4. When Christians are built together as the temple of God we become God’s workers in His plan of redemption. (Ephesians 2:6-10)

How we see God determines how we see ourselves and others.  How we see ourselves and others determines how, through the unity of the Spirit, the work of God is accomplished.

We have work to do…