Two Conversations

I had two conversations today, each one with old friends.  In each conversation we started out talking about the condition the world is in and moved on to the condition of the church.  This brought us to some of the reactions that are going around the church to the condition of the world - things like natural disasters, the state of the economy, the breakdown of the family, and the rise of brokenness in our society.  I came away from both of these conversations with renewed dedication to principles that have been a part of my Christian walk for a long time.  The first principle is that Jesus did not come preaching the gospel of salvation.  Instead He came preaching the Kingdom of God.  Don't get me wrong.  Salvation is vital.  Without it you can't even enter in to the Kingdom of God.  Without salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit you live in the natural mind and you don't understand the things of God at all.  But salvation brings transformation, or rebirth, with a purpose.  That purpose is greater than just to keep us from going to hell.  That purpose is to establish in us, and eventually in those with whom we have relationship, a new power and vision for life.  Salvation gives us eternal life - the life of God Himself.  It enables us to be a part of God's process of establishing His Kingdom on the earth.  I don't pretend to know all the theology or all the details.  I'm still learning after 40 years.

In addition to being transformed by salvation (becoming a new creation) it is a door that leads us into the mind and heart of God.  It is there that we are transformed from glory to glory.  It is there that our minds are renewed to be like His.  It is there that we are empowered to do the things that we've been commissioned to do, such as being light in the darkness and healing the wounds of the broken and sick, and spreading the good news of the Kingdom around the world.

One of my friends is constantly saying, "Prayer is not the destination.  It's the path that gets you there."  Likewise, salvation is not the destination.  It's the first step into the Kingdom of God.  The Bible is full of scriptures that stand beneath this truth - Christ in you, the hope of glory.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  You will do greater things than even I (Jesus).  Go unto all nations.

One of my favorite scriptures is the Lord's prayer.  It actually should be called the disciples' prayer because He gave it to them when they asked Him how to pray.  I especially like "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth (not on earth) as it has already been done in Heaven." This scripture tells me I can focus anything and everything I do on carrying out both God's personal will for my life and His more corporate expression for me as part of His church.

The road to greatness is in being a great servant, just like Jesus, who came as a servant for all. It also means that, like Paul said, real life is found in looking out for the interests and needs of others, not just ourselves.  That includes the church.  If a local church is only concerned in building itself up on money or reputation of any type, the members will find an emptiness in their gathering together that will eventually spell the demise of the church no matter how large or successful it appears to be.  On the other hand, one or two people walking along the road who see a wounded man in the ditch and stop and pour oil in his wounds and take him to get medical care and missed a church service in the process will go to sleep that night knowing that they have extended the Kingdom of God just a little bit farther in the earth.  Just like we are all sinners saved by grace, we are all Kingdom builders empowered by God's love and mercy in His desire to redeem His creation.

So my two conversations today led me one step closer to the conviction that God is more interested in what we do from our hearts as a response to His salvation than in what we do out of obligation or self interest.  Even if we don't gain public recognition, much of what is unseen on earth is applauded in Heaven.

We have moved!

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Cinco de Mayo Festival Outreach

We had a wonderful opportunity "fall into our laps." Transformation Net and the National Day of Prayer folks had originally obtained the small park across from the capitol to do a prayer and lunch outreach to the community on Saturday May 9. Turns out we were right next to the Cinco de May celebration! God has a sense of humor. So with some quick thinking on Phil Eberhart's part, we got in touch with Jude DelHierro (Confluence Ministries) and he contacted Pastor Arturo Vargas from the Hispanic Alliance and Teresa Johnston from KLVZ. Fifteen area churches worked together to serve the community downtown on that day.

National Day of Prayer

“This is a prayer meeting. All I care about is that God shows up and a few people show up to tell him how wonderful he is.”

He did and we did on Thursday May 7 at the Colorado state capitol. Several hundred people from various walks of life showed up to worship and pray for our nation and our culture. We had activities on the capitol steps and at Lincoln Park below. Clouds that hovered above the capitol had unusual colors and shapes – enough so that people were commenting on it at some of the evening gatherings. We had reports of someone accepting Jesus as savior, people receiving prayer for deliverance, ministries connecting with one another. A good day in the Kingdom. I believe it also set the stage for the outreach at the Cinco de Mayo festival that weekend and for the March of Glory that will be taking place in the same vicinity in July.