The Kingdom of God

Being alone really makes me think. I'm sure many people would say that I don't sit still long enough for that to happen very often. Today when I woke up I started thinking about how to best convey to the students at HPPC that understanding the Kingdom as being "here and now." Without going into a huge theological treatise on that opinion I'm mostly trying to figure out how to convey that believing in God's present "kingdom" should have ramifications for how we live.

This fall I have come to realize that a lot of Texans worship both on Saturday and on Sunday. Sadly, it seems that most people have more passion and heart for what happens on Saturday in stadiums across Texas than what happens in Churches on Sunday. While that may sound like a negative critique it also gives me a bit of hope because it proves that people still have passion. My hope is that I can somehow translate the importance of "Kingdom Living" to this culture.

How to best do that in Highland Park? I think that there are huge opportunities to translate how we should be changed to a people that can help make those changes. I am encouraged to see some people who actually "get it" who have resources and social standing to reach out to others in this community. I am encouraged to talk to students who have a heart for Jesus which supersedes their love of the world. I am grateful for an amazing staff of leaders who's hearts are Kingdom focused and who desire to bring students into that mindset with them.

Of course outside of a reliance on Jesus these 4 talks will fail. Not fail to be funny or to have stories that draw students in and technology that makes them interesting. I can pull that all off on my own. Where they will fail though is to make a difference that is lasting. My prayer (and I hope prayers of those reading this) will be that God speaks through me to convey a message that will transform lives during this Christmas season.

I think writing transparently here is a bit cathartic and helpful as it allows me to get to a point of open honest reflection as I attempt to speak God's truth and not my own.

Comments

[Don]

Awesome post. Odd how we've both gone from LA to find ourselves in contexts where College Football is not just big 1 week a year (USC-UCLA) and even secondary to so much that week - to a context where it is THE major story for most of the year?

That whole present-future dichotomy of the kingdom is an amazing and difficult thing to wrap your mind around whether you're 16 and boy/girl crazy with hormones or 29 or 59. God Bless you as you wrestle with it!