For the last few weeks, we've been talking at church about the kingdom of God -- what it means, what it looks like, how we should be involved in it today, what it will be in the future.
I spent some time yesterday and today in southern Iowa visiting some friends.. yay! It was good to take just a little time to get away. I like those low-stress breaks from the normalness of life. I see these friends working hard to build their lives, with the future in front of them sometimes bright, sometimes not so much, but I'm excited for them that they have dreams, and I'm praying for them that their dreams will come true.
On the drive down and back, I was listening to the audio book of "Crazy Love". I believe Pastor Kory mentioned it in the Kingdom of God class, so I wanted to refresh my memory on it -- it's a good listen, and I'm sure a good read too. The author first reminds us of God's majesty - the awesomeness and glory and creativity that is so true of our God. He then goes on to discuss how so many of us who call ourselves Christians forget those awesome attributes all the time, and live out our lukewarm lives without much vision of God's plan winding its way in and through our days and years -- we just try to live out our "American Dream."
But like the author of that book, and like Pastor Kory talks about with the Kingdom of God, I believe God is calling us to more. God is calling us to get uncomfortable, take risks, and do our part in "bringing the Kingdom". It's an open discussion what that looks like, and definitely something that we need to think and pray about individually. But.. I think the first step is.. get excited! If you are a Christian, and you believe God is active, then you have a role to play in God's activity on earth. I'm not going to try and dictate what that means, but my thought tonight is that it should have some element of excitement for us, and more and more so as we understand God and His plans better and better.
Last thought: I did some DDR tonight and played a song "Into My Dream" by the group Lagoona. Listen to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpFjijw8Eqs Now, disclaimer: not a Christian song, probably not a Christian band. But I like the song, and I decided I'm going to use the lyrics to consider God's excitement for bringing His Kingdom to our lives and to this earth. Actually, it's not the words themselves -- since it's a sort of love song or song of togetherness, it fits but sorta coarsely. My real point is that the song is about one being inviting another to join in a common vision of a bright future. And I think that jives with what God is seeking for each of us in this world. God is building something, and wants us to be a part of it. It should be exciting. If it isn't exciting, maybe we are enamored by 1000 other lesser things that are "shiny" but are really just temporary stupid distractions. Something to think about.
Post a Comment