The Faith 6 of 6: The Great Proposal
Posted by Anonymous | | Posted On Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 11:56 PM
"The important thing to remember is Christ will return" (Colson).
Here's a dose of real life: this world is moving towards urban living. In the near future, nearly 80% of the population will be in cities compared to just 2% a century ago. We've all heard statistics suggesting that _________ (insert random percentage here) of stats are untrue. Still, this should serve the purpose to alarm you. It means things are changing and relatively quickly at that. We've got work to do!
The Great Proposal makes sense of all reality. Christianity has the greatest hope of changing the world. People will keep seeking truth and transcendence. The beauty of it all? It fits! The end fits human needs just as well as the journey does (the end does, in fact, justify the means here people). People have a desperate need for justice, a desperate need for the scales to be balanced. Think of South America...the people there turned to Pentacostalism and evangelism because it worked!
Backtracking to the opening quote, He's gonna return. The Kingdom will come in all its fullness, and guess what. Satan. Yeah, he's outta here. Fo sho. Forever.
Church (the body...not the building) has been in expectation that He will return. Now, that's a wonderful sentiment. To some degree, we (the church) need to be living in the now (anyone else hearing Edna from The Incredibles, "You have to live in the now dahling."?). We cannot be hung up on WHEN He's coming. He's coming. Keep living in anticipation of His return; otherwise, we are left predisposed to slack off until we have a better idea when to start pumping out those good works in His name. So...why not just strive for it all the time and have it be more of a living the Christian life attitude where it's more natural to just serve God rather than an "oh crap! I've really sucked at being an honest Christian" sort of mindset?
At the final balance of the scales (final justice), people will be satisfied.
Shalom- we will live in perfect peace and harmony. Heaven on Earth will be witnessed as He will pitch His tent around us.
Acts 17 focuses on how Paul delivered his message to wise men of Athens from Mars Hill (also the name of a mega church). Only a few people actually followed him. Still, the flag there is flown half staff on Good Friday and is full again by Easter Sunday. Why is that important? HE MADE AN IMPACT.
We should be practicing the Joy of Orthodoxy according to Colson. This means we should believe the same thing the people comprising the First Century Church gave their lives for.
Christians have always fought for human dignity. It has succeeded in winning people over. Capitalism. Democracy. The Scientific Method. God's Creation is meant to be explored and fought for.
Revelation 1:1-3 represents a dual blessing. The Jesus in Matthew was a loving servant as compared to the Jesus in Revelation as the Lion of Judah coming back for His people. Thanks Cody for sharing this sentiment from your favorite biblical book. It represents something to, again, be anticipated and not feared.
Ask us questions if you've got 'em. Thanks for reading!
Blessings,
Kevin
Here's a dose of real life: this world is moving towards urban living. In the near future, nearly 80% of the population will be in cities compared to just 2% a century ago. We've all heard statistics suggesting that _________ (insert random percentage here) of stats are untrue. Still, this should serve the purpose to alarm you. It means things are changing and relatively quickly at that. We've got work to do!
The Great Proposal makes sense of all reality. Christianity has the greatest hope of changing the world. People will keep seeking truth and transcendence. The beauty of it all? It fits! The end fits human needs just as well as the journey does (the end does, in fact, justify the means here people). People have a desperate need for justice, a desperate need for the scales to be balanced. Think of South America...the people there turned to Pentacostalism and evangelism because it worked!
Backtracking to the opening quote, He's gonna return. The Kingdom will come in all its fullness, and guess what. Satan. Yeah, he's outta here. Fo sho. Forever.
Church (the body...not the building) has been in expectation that He will return. Now, that's a wonderful sentiment. To some degree, we (the church) need to be living in the now (anyone else hearing Edna from The Incredibles, "You have to live in the now dahling."?). We cannot be hung up on WHEN He's coming. He's coming. Keep living in anticipation of His return; otherwise, we are left predisposed to slack off until we have a better idea when to start pumping out those good works in His name. So...why not just strive for it all the time and have it be more of a living the Christian life attitude where it's more natural to just serve God rather than an "oh crap! I've really sucked at being an honest Christian" sort of mindset?
At the final balance of the scales (final justice), people will be satisfied.
Shalom- we will live in perfect peace and harmony. Heaven on Earth will be witnessed as He will pitch His tent around us.
Acts 17 focuses on how Paul delivered his message to wise men of Athens from Mars Hill (also the name of a mega church). Only a few people actually followed him. Still, the flag there is flown half staff on Good Friday and is full again by Easter Sunday. Why is that important? HE MADE AN IMPACT.
We should be practicing the Joy of Orthodoxy according to Colson. This means we should believe the same thing the people comprising the First Century Church gave their lives for.
Christians have always fought for human dignity. It has succeeded in winning people over. Capitalism. Democracy. The Scientific Method. God's Creation is meant to be explored and fought for.
Revelation 1:1-3 represents a dual blessing. The Jesus in Matthew was a loving servant as compared to the Jesus in Revelation as the Lion of Judah coming back for His people. Thanks Cody for sharing this sentiment from your favorite biblical book. It represents something to, again, be anticipated and not feared.
Ask us questions if you've got 'em. Thanks for reading!
Blessings,
Kevin
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