Men, how did you answer that question? Most of you answered, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, “Yes, I love my wife.” But do you? Any whiff of kingdom in your family must begin with this first of the two irreplaceable kingdom pillars we have discussed—a husband’s agape love for his wife. Those who lead must do so from this foundation. My contention is that most men don’t really know what it means to “love your wife.” When Paul commands us in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands,…
I know that the ideas we have discussed concerning the biblical roles of men and women in the kingdom of God are often jarring to many of today’s Christians. They have not heard them at church nor observed them in the culture. They sound as though they come from Mars, or at least they are a part of a bye-gone, outdated time and would be crippling and oppressive to today’s believers, so they are often ignored. However, even though the culture has changed, men…
In the postwar WWII years of the 50’s and 60’s the world was recovering from the emergency measures that war demands—women making up a majority of the workforce. That necessity had temporarily trashed the centuries-old custom of women being full time homemakers, and now, postwar, they were free again to return to that biblical family custom. Some (but not all) did that very thing. I was in high school and college during those years, and the majority of female students at Oklahoma University looked…
“And do not be conformed to this world (to think in terms of its system of “good and evil;” i.e., independence—“I’ve got this”) but be transformed by the renewing of your minds (to think instead, constantly, in terms of faith—“I trust my Father in this”) Romans 12:2. We have discussed at great length in these postings the implications of this new way of thinking (living by faith instead of by making “good decisions”—obedience to the law). I believe there is no bigger challenge today…
While seated at my desk, computer opened before me, I suddenly “felt it!” For the first time since my fall on November 7, I felt the urge and the desire to begin a new blog posting. Trying to follow my mantra of knowing what God wants me to do by what coincides with what I want to do, I am now starting to write. I have been thinking of ideas and topics for weeks but this is the first time I have wanted to…
We are discovering that even leadership in the upside-down, inside-out, backwards world that is the Kingdom of God, is completely contrary to what we consider normal. So, the obvious question I must ask myself is, even though I may never have seen myself as a leader, or wanted to be a preacher or have anyone following me, “Am I a leader in the Kingdom of God?” The answer is a resounding “Yes!” Remember, all mankind—both male and female—are called to bear God’s image, rule…
Some 40 years ago I heard a man make a comment in a message I have never forgotten and that would become a cornerstone in my growing understanding of the kingdom of God: “The most important issue in the universe is, ‘Who is in charge?’” On a national basis, all wars are ultimately fought over this question. Who determines what we do on this piece of real estate we live on? Personally, disagreements, fights, and all conflicts occur because someone doesn’t get his way;…
The commission to rule over the earth was delegated directly to us by Jesus Christ, from His seat at God’s right hand in Heaven, at the Ascension. So what? A casual Christian may think that this is just a grandiose, pie-in-the-sky, theological idea without a practical, divine strategy to actually implement it. So, for many of us “to rule in Jesus’ kingdom on the earth” really means nothing more than the old catch-all mind-set, “I should try to be good.” However, a careful Bible…
The Bible gives us specifics as to how this—the Lord’s prayer Jesus told us to pray—will be answered. This is a biblical truth of which many evangelicals are completely unaware. I want to look at some of these specifics in this posting. Immediately after Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, He received the Holy Spirit to equip Him for His task on the earth. Thus empowered, Jesus was then deliberately led by His Father into the wilderness for His first confrontation with Satan, the…
Our minds are renewed. We are learning how to think God’s way—death=life, losing=winning, serving=leading and last=first. As this way to think becomes a part of our lives, we are suddenly dangerous! We are finally ready to be engaged, every day, naturally and spontaneously, in the great purpose for which we were created, as God tells us in Genesis 1:26-28; 1.) to bear God’s image (as the Holy Spirit conforms us to Jesus’ image); 2.) to rule over the earth (in all we do—at work,…