2 Thoughts From Yesterday’s NPB

I blogged yesterday on the National Prayer Breakfast, which I had the privilege to attend.

But I had two more thoughts I wanted to mention from the event.

The first was Eric Metaxes’s theme that there is a difference between being phony religious and knowing Jesus.

Metaxes told of his journey and how he rejected Christianity in college. He realized later what he rejected was the hypocrisy and judgmental moralism of phony religious people, not true Christianity.

Metaxes rightly noted that Jesus was the enemy of phony religion. That’s why Jesus was so tough on the Pharisees and so beloved by sinners. This is a great point to remember when sharing the Gospel with non-Christians. Continue reading “2 Thoughts From Yesterday’s NPB”

Report From National Prayer Breakfast

For those of you looking for real time tweets on @kingdomtweets from the National Prayer Breakfast this morning, I apologize.

My guess is the Secret Service disrupted digital data communications for security reasons, as I could not access Twitter or even send a text, even though I had five bars (which is a rare occurrence for an AT&T customer).

This was my first NPB, and I expected a universalist-leaning, civil religion-promoting sterile affair. What I experienced was something very different.

The NPB was hosted by Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who spoke about their relationship with the Lord and the importance of demonstrating the love of Jesus to the world.

Each speaker offered something inspiring or God-honoring. The former Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi read from 2 Chronicles 1:8-12 and spoke of how true wisdom is birthed out of humility. It was as insightful a reading of this passage as I’ve ever heard from any preacher. Continue reading “Report From National Prayer Breakfast”

Jesus On Politics

When the scribes and the chief priests asked Jesus whether they should pay taxes to the Roman empire, it was not an unimportant question, even though their motive was sinister.

Even the most religious Jews believed the kingdom of God would manifest as an earthly kingdom. Consequently, my guess is they believed the Roman Empire’s subjugation of Israel was an obstacle to the realization of the promised kingdom.

The requirement that Israelites pay taxes to this pagan nation that was, seemingly, preventing Israel from fulfilling its prophesied destiny would have been particularly offensive.

Their question to Jesus was intended to put Him on the horns of a dilemma: by denying their religiously-inspired nationalism or taking a publicly rebellious attitude toward the Roman Empire.
Continue reading “Jesus On Politics”

3 Principles In Choosing a Political Candidate

Americans are trying to decide who they want to be President for the next four years.

While non-Christians have the luxury of voting purely in their own financial or other self-serving interest, Christians, at least theoretically, should take a broader view of the decision.

Perhaps you are one of those Christians, and you found this blog because you were surfing the Internet looking for guidance.

I won’t be so audacious as to tell you for whom to vote, but I can, with some confidence, give you some Biblical principles to apply in helping you reach your decision.

Continue reading “3 Principles In Choosing a Political Candidate”

This Week @ GSB

This should be an interesting week.

The wife and I were invited to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., scheduled for February 2, 2012.

We are leaving for Washington Wednesday to attend a related event and will be staying through the week to see the sights.

So, my plan for the week is to blog on politics and the breakfast and to tweet @kingdomtweets throughout the week.

I will not be presenting you a partisan perspective. That stuff comes a dime a dozen and is stale as a 3-day old doughnut.

Continue reading “This Week @ GSB”