Here I Go Again!

We have been working around a very critical and exciting concept recently. Both Bryan and I are committed in 2008 to solidly rooting our congregation in the principles of the Kingdom. For better than three generations the church has been almost totally focused on getting people to Heaven, rather than teaching the nations.(Please refer to the Great Commission) Trouble is, there is no real commitment required in getting to Heaven. Once you've comprehended the marvelous grace work accomplished on the cross and confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior - Heaven is pretty much of a "done" deal. Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you that where I am you may be also - and if I go, I will come again." In that great promise Jesus affirms that Heaven is pretty much His responsibility. We, on the other hand, may have other responsibilities. I posit for your consideration that if we were saved solely that we could go to Heaven, then we're doing baptism all wrong. We should drown every candidate, thereby fulfilling the purpose of salvation and alleviating the suffering, struggle, and backsliding.

We are redeemed so that in us the Kingdom of God can not only be established in our sphere of influence, but expanded - into every arena of life. Jesus prayed (and taught us to pray), "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We could and well should infer from these words that it is God's purpose that His rule and order would be established in the nations of the earth; that government would be established upon Kingdom principles, that the arts would reflect His glory, that universities would extol the majesty of his creation, jurisprudence would reflect the justice and mercy of His statutes, families would model the Kingdom of God and our economy would still be on the gold standard instead of the debt standard.

After the Civil War the church began to establish seminaries where we send our best and brightest to train for the ministry so that we could get more and more people to heaven. We have essentially abandoned government, science, arts, law, philosophy, and medicine to the world. The result is that now government bans faith, science mocks faith, art blasphemes faith, philosophy denies faith, and medicine plays God. We are shocked and appalled and relegated to protesting in the streets like a bunch of malcontents.

Darkness does not exist. It is nothing more than the absence of light. If there is darkness in government it is because the light has been withdrawn. If there is darkness on the movie screen it is because those who could bring light to it are otherwise occupied. Science operates in a black hole because there is pitiful little truth offered to expose it. We are encouraging our people, especially our young people that if you don't like godless government run for office. If you don't like what's in the movie house, go to Hollywood and make edifying films. If you are offended by bad science refute the lie with truth. You can either stand on the outside and throw rocks at what you don't like or you can enter in, armed with the truth, and influence your particular sphere of influence with that truth.

Kingdom principles rightly applied would all but eradicate divorce in the Body of Christ. Divorce is ravaging the church because most of us don't see our lives, our relationships or our families in the light of the Kingdom of God. Instead, we enter into a holy union armed with worldly thinking. Kingdom principles, rightly applied, would heal marriages, restore families, unite churches, and transform communities. And, it is my humble opinion, in the process a lot more people would be set on their way to heaven.