Category: Kingdom Progress

A Kingdom Perspective on the Pandemic–Part 2

Pain is an unwelcome friend.

Nobody likes it when it shows up, but it often is the alarm that tells us something else is wrong.

Without it we may not got to the doctor before it is too late, and we wouldn’t know to pull our hand out of the fire, or to stop running on a bad knee.

Pandemics are a sharp, undeniable pain we cannot ignore.

They are an alarm for a problem we have learned to live with in ordinary times.

Between 250,000 and 500,000 people around the world die each year from the flu, but somehow we have decided that is acceptable. The sad reality is that the pain hasn’t been bad enough yet to focus the full attention of humanity on solving the problem of this part of nature’s rebellion against God and man. Continue reading “A Kingdom Perspective on the Pandemic–Part 2”

A Kingdom Perspective on the Pandemic–Part I

Christians have responded in different ways to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some have made their response an issue of faith, as if Christians full of faith have never died from an illness.

Others have simply adopted the current political opinion of their preferred political part, contending on side the pandemic is a crises overblown by the media to attack President Trump, or on the other that it is a disaster brought on by President Trump’s incompetence.

None of these response are helpful, and none are particularly Christian. Continue reading “A Kingdom Perspective on the Pandemic–Part I”

Six Kingdom Questions: Part 4

throne-of-godWhen is the kingdom of God?

The answer is found in Old Testament prophecy, confirmed by Jesus, and reconfirmed by the Apostle Paul.

In around 600 BC, Daniel interpreted a dream of Babylonian ruler, Nebuchednezzar.

Daniel said the dream concerned four kingdoms.

The first was the Babylonian Empire, which Daniel said would be followed by a second (the Medo-Persian Empire) and a third kingdom (the Greek Empire).

It was in the days of the fourth kingdom though (the Roman Empire), that Daniel said, “In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom and that kingdom will never be destroyed.” Daniel 2:44.  That means that God established the kingdom of God on earth sometime between 27 B.C. (the beginning of the Roman Empire) and 476 A.D. (its end).  Continue reading “Six Kingdom Questions: Part 4”

Same-Sex Marriage, America, and the Kingdom—3

lgbt_american_flags

Same-sex marriage is here for the present in America.

The question is where does it go from here?

There are at least four possibilities for America.

One possibility is that same-sex marriage becomes generally accepted and those who oppose it become more isolated and marginalized. Along with that will come other consequences.  The Apostle Paul will be labeled a homophobe and the Old Testament considered largely irrelevant–how can a God who gives his nation homophobic laws be considered relevant in a society that accepts same-sex marriage as normative? Continue reading “Same-Sex Marriage, America, and the Kingdom—3”

Same-Sex Marriage, America, and the Kingdom—2

lgbt_american_flagsIn the previous post I attempted to provide some perspective following the Supreme Court’s recent decision on same-sex marriage.

Still, I suspect there are those who agree with my assessment from a Kingdom perspective but are devastated by the belief that by this Supreme Court decision America has crossed a line and is no longer a Christian nation.

I don’t see the Obergefell decision as a turning point but a confirmation. America has not been a Christian nation—if there is such a thing—for a very long time. Continue reading “Same-Sex Marriage, America, and the Kingdom—2”