I have been a Christian for about 36 years and have throroughly enjoyed my life adventure with God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). God is infinite and there is no end to knowing him so there is always more to discover. God loves to reveal new things to us, and at the moment it seems to me that God is revealing an "old truth" to his church - that is that we need to "seek first the kingdom".
My adventure into this new revelation (for me anyway) started about 4 years ago when I suddenly realised that I didn't fully believe all that the Bible teaches - that sounds like a shocking statement, but the realisation stirred a fresh hunger in me for a fully Biblical lifestyle.
John 14 v 12 states that anyone who has faith in Jesus will do the works that Jesus did, and not only that but even greater things. Over the years I had been taught that this was not possible and so my expectation and faith fell short of what the Bible says. But suddenly I saw someone who did believe this verse was true, not only believing it but demonstrating the reality of it through miracles, healings etc etc. I had to find out more and thus began an exciting and challenging journey, not only for myself but also for North Kent Community Church as we seek to do the works of Jesus and even greater things.
I realised that I had been living below the full level of the gospel of Jesus; this good news is even better than I had understood before in that Jesus not only forgave my sins and filled me with the Holy spirit but he also raised me up to be seated with him in heavenly places. I can live from a heavenly perspective with heaven's resources. This makes all things possible.
I also came to realise more fully that Jesus lived on earth as a human being filled with the Holy Spirit and it was in that capacity that he performed his miracles etc. He is God, but lived on earth as a man whilst retaining his deity.
These realisations have opened my eyes to the possibility of my life being an expression of the Kingdom of Heaven just as Jesus was. Some people ask me, "What is the Kingdom of Heaven?" My answer now is that it is simply "a reflection of the King of Heaven".
My aim is to reflect Jesus more and more effectively through my life.
Monday 30 May 2011
Friday 20 May 2011
Kingdom Culture
Kim and I were on holiday in Italy recently and we had the opportunity to spend 3 days in Rome. I have wanted to go there since I was at school studying Latin and Roman History (I didn't study much other history it seemed!).
It was an amazing time, standing in the place of at least 2,000 years of history; walking in the Roman Forum and on the Palatine Hill, looking around the Colosseum, visiting a church with 4th century church beneath it and below that a Pagan temple amidst Roman buildings.
The buildings are staggering and to people from other parts of the world around 100 AD a visit to Rome could have been an overwhelming experience. Imagine going from a relatively primitive setting to one where you are surrounded by opulence, colour, magnificent architecture etc etc - no wonder the idea of becoming a Roman citizen was appealing, and it was this appeal that helped Rome spread its culture and influence around a large part of the world. In its day Rome must have been an awe inspiring place.
As I thought about it, I was inspired by the way that one small place had affected much of the planet, not only 2,000 years ago but also today - the Roman Culture and language has impacted so many things.
It made me think about the parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13 and Mark 4 - the Kingdom of God is like the smallest seed that grows to become the largest of all the garden plants providing shelter for many things. As we focus on developing a Kingdom of God/Heaven culture amongst us, although it may start small it will grow into the biggest thing we have known providing shelter for many.
Transforming from a primarily church focussed culture to a Kingdom Culture is quite some transition, but I believe the more we see it with clarity the more we will realise it is the "pearl of great price" that has the capacity to transform the world around us for generations to come. The language of the Kingdom can affect the way we communicate in amazing ways, and I believe it will enable us to communicate far more effectively to all, just as Jesus did. I believe more people will want to become citizens of Heaven when they see the Kingdom of Heaven demonstrated before them.
How do we make this transition? I will try to start looking at that question over the next few weeks on this blog.
It was an amazing time, standing in the place of at least 2,000 years of history; walking in the Roman Forum and on the Palatine Hill, looking around the Colosseum, visiting a church with 4th century church beneath it and below that a Pagan temple amidst Roman buildings.
The buildings are staggering and to people from other parts of the world around 100 AD a visit to Rome could have been an overwhelming experience. Imagine going from a relatively primitive setting to one where you are surrounded by opulence, colour, magnificent architecture etc etc - no wonder the idea of becoming a Roman citizen was appealing, and it was this appeal that helped Rome spread its culture and influence around a large part of the world. In its day Rome must have been an awe inspiring place.
As I thought about it, I was inspired by the way that one small place had affected much of the planet, not only 2,000 years ago but also today - the Roman Culture and language has impacted so many things.
It made me think about the parable of the mustard seed in Matthew 13 and Mark 4 - the Kingdom of God is like the smallest seed that grows to become the largest of all the garden plants providing shelter for many things. As we focus on developing a Kingdom of God/Heaven culture amongst us, although it may start small it will grow into the biggest thing we have known providing shelter for many.
Transforming from a primarily church focussed culture to a Kingdom Culture is quite some transition, but I believe the more we see it with clarity the more we will realise it is the "pearl of great price" that has the capacity to transform the world around us for generations to come. The language of the Kingdom can affect the way we communicate in amazing ways, and I believe it will enable us to communicate far more effectively to all, just as Jesus did. I believe more people will want to become citizens of Heaven when they see the Kingdom of Heaven demonstrated before them.
How do we make this transition? I will try to start looking at that question over the next few weeks on this blog.
Tuesday 3 May 2011
Creating a community of love and power
Last Sunday (1st May) I spoke at NKCC's Sunday morning meeting about creating a community of love and power. As I studied the 3 most obvious passages in the Bible about spiritual gifts it became very clear to me that these gifts are placed firmly in the context of a loving church community that was reaching out to others with God's love and power.
Jesus came to demonstrate this to the world - his love was demonstrated not only on the cross but in his daily interaction with people, healing their diseases and setting them free from affliction.
At NKCC we are working to increasingly develop this culture of love and power amongst us and through us to others. We want to dismantle any structures of loveless power or powerless love that exist amongst us and replace them with Jesus' model of love demonstrated.
The NKCC messages are available at www.nkcc.org.uk under audio downloads.
Jesus came to demonstrate this to the world - his love was demonstrated not only on the cross but in his daily interaction with people, healing their diseases and setting them free from affliction.
At NKCC we are working to increasingly develop this culture of love and power amongst us and through us to others. We want to dismantle any structures of loveless power or powerless love that exist amongst us and replace them with Jesus' model of love demonstrated.
The NKCC messages are available at www.nkcc.org.uk under audio downloads.
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