In just over 100 days, nearly one million citizens (and church members) were killed – by other citizens and church members – in a brutal genocide in the spring of 1994. The country? Rwanda.  It had seen tremendous success in evangelism and church planting but little penetration of the gospel in ethnic relationships – it had people in church but not church in people.

How we define our mission has both short and long term implications. Church planting and growth is not wrong but clearly insufficient as a success criterion.

As we look at sub-Saharan Africa today it has some of the most Christian countries in the world (percentage of Christians), some of the poorest countries in the world and some of the most corrupt countries in the world. What is wrong with this picture? Is this success? Is this in line with our mission as Christians? Is this what God wants?

Our mission and success criteria must include transformation. We want people and societies to be transformed – holistically.

The global Business as Mission (BAM) movement is aiming at transformed lives around the world through ethical business with integrity. Sounds grand. But what does it mean?

Transformation: It is about a good and lasting change. And that takes time; we need to have an inter-generational perspective. BAM is an intentional praxis of faith at work in all relationships in and through business. BAM is about practicing business based on ethical principles. It is about following Jesus in the market place to see people and societies transformed.

We also need to give a priority to small & medium size businesses (SME’s).  They are strong transformational agents – not only economically. They are in many ways the backbone of developed economies. SME’s are often missing to a large extent in the poor countries and regions.

Lives: We are all people with physical, social, spiritual, emotional, economical and other needs, operating in a political and cultural context. So transformation must be holistic – for people and societies. This is also what the word ‘integrity’ means – something whole and complete. Our mission is and must be more than evangelism and church planting – we don’t want to create another Rwanda!

Around the World: The BAM movement can never be true to God and our mission if we limit ourselves to a local outlook. We must be a part of God’s centrifugal force, moving out and beyond our immediate comfort zones. To all peoples and nations.

Mats Tunehag is Senior Associate on Business as Mission for both the Lausanne Movement and for the World Evangelical Alliance Mission Commission. This is his website – http://www.matstunehag.com

While we have to be immersed in scripture and understand it fully, we also have to know when and how to use it in public discourse.

Let me explain. G. K. Chesterton, the famous British writer, was once invited to a meeting of the leading intellectuals in England. They were asked if they were shipwrecked on an island, what would be the one book they would want to have with them. Everyone expected Chesterton, a prominent Christian, to say “the Bible.”

When it came his turn to speak, however, Chesterton said that if he were shipwrecked on a desert island, he’d like to have “Thomas’s Guide to Practical Shipbuilding.”

The point is that oftentimes we need to understand things that are not covered in the Bible. And we need to understand things that help us apply biblical teaching to all of life. This is why I teach biblical worldview.

A man once told Oswald Chambers that he read only the Bible. Here’s what Chambers replied:

 “My strong advice to you is to soak, soak, soak in philosophy and psychology, until you know more of these subjects than ever you need consciously to think. It is ignorance of these subjects on the part of ministers and workers that has brought our evangelical theology to such a sorry plight…The man who reads only the Bible does not, as a rule, know it or human life.”

And when it comes to making a biblical case on any hot topic — taxes, the deficit, homosexuality, whatever — we need to understand the issue and how to make that case in a way that is accessible to believers and non-believers alike.

Brit Hume, Robby George and I have just released a DVD teaching series on ethics called Doing the Right Thing. It’s one of the most important projects I’ve undertaken in my ministry. You can get it at ColsonCenter.org. Every principle we teach on ethics is biblically based. But rarely did we cite the Bible as authority. This is because this ethics course, we believe, will be taught in secular colleges and business schools — as well as in churches and small groups. So, it’s got to be accessible to everybody.

The sad fact is that today, starting a conversation with “the Bible says” will often cause the listener to stop listening. So what you do is make arguments based on what the Reformers called common grace, or what historically has been called natural law.

This is what Paul did when he gave his famous sermon at Mars Hill, his first foray into the Greek culture. He quoted Greek poets; he referred to Greek artifacts. He thoroughly engaged their culture. And then he used their beliefs to lead directly into the gospel.

This is why we must study biblical worldview, to compare how the Bible works out in life versus how other systems of thought do. I assure you: You will see that the biblical way is the only way to make sense of the world, to live rationally in the world, and eventually, your friends will see this as well.

by Chuck Colson – WorldView Centre

My eyes were opened in 1995 when I went from a dispensational belief system to the kingdom message. As a result, the positive results in my life, message, and ministry cannot be overstated! Believing the Cultural Mandate in Genesis 1:28 has caused me and my wife to understand how to think generationally and practically, resulting in us having two more children, training our children to be world changers (for example, my son Jason is now the editor of Human Events and has already written a New York Times bestseller), reshaping the way we view youth and children’s ministry, and moving the people in our church from a poverty mindset to a mindset of biblical prosperity.

I will attempt to summarize all of my reasons for preaching the kingdom, both for my own benefit and the benefit of those who read my writings.

1. The kingdom message connects the whole Bible and all its covenants to the original Cultural Mandate found in Genesis 1:28 (be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over the created order). Without this passage as our starting point, we cannot properly interpret all other subsequent biblical covenants, including the New Covenant, since the Cultural Mandate is the original covenant of creation which shows all of humanity our purpose.

2. The kingdom message connects Jesus in His dual role as both Creator and Redeemer (John 1:3, 11, 14; 3:16). Those who preach that the cross is only for individual redemption miss the truth that the cross of Christ was also for the purpose of reconciling all things in the created order back to God (read Colossians 1:20).

3. The kingdom message brings the church back to the overarching narrative (instead of only focusing on various subplots of scripture) which reveals the ultimate purpose of God for the cross and the church: the gathering together in one all things under the Lordship of Christ (read Ephesians 1:9-11).

4. The kingdom message is a generational message connecting the dots between the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) and the seed of Abraham who would become the church (Galatians 3:29) who, as children of God, are called to bless all the families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3), rule as kings in the earth (Genesis 17:5-7), and possess the gates of our enemies (Genesis 22:17). By implication, this means the gospel message is holistic and applicable for our children’s children to engage in politics, public policy, economics, and all the practical affairs of this life that are under kingdom influence and blessing.

5. The kingdom message alone gives Jesus His proper place as King of Kings and Lord of Lords because every king must have a kingdom to qualify as a king! To separate the gospel from the kingdom is an attempt to give good news that only applies to the next life. Hence, it does away with the power of the messianic prophecies that speak of Jesus’ call as ruler over the nations (read Genesis 49:10; Psalm 2:9-11; Psalm 110:1-3; Isaiah 9:6.7; Daniel chapters 2, 4, 7).

6. Preaching the kingdom motivates and releases all the saints in the church to serve as ministers of the Lord in His kingdom. (Only 2-3% of all Christians are called to serve in full-time church ministry.) Every kingdom has need for architects, lawyers, judges, educators, sociologists, politicians, economists, social workers, writers, etc. Understanding this is exciting for every person in church because of their various callings to serve God in the marketplace.

7. Preaching the kingdom releases Holy Spirit inspired creativity! The first move of the Holy Spirit was not on the Day of Pentecost but when the Spirit hovered over the newly made creation of planet earth (Genesis 1:1-3)! Hence, the Holy Spirit is still excited and hovers over the creativity found in God’s image-bearers as we walk out our vocations in the marketplace!

The greatest composers, musicians, athletes, writers, poets, playwrights, and filmmakers should come out of our churches! The greatest universities (such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton, founded when the church preached the kingdom in the 17th and 18th centuries) should be founded by Christians! Hospitals and the greatest charities should be founded by Christians and churches! Future mayors, governors and presidents should come out of the Body of Christ because we are called to possess the gates of our enemies and have kingship and rulership in our spiritual DNA (read Genesis 17:5-7)!

8. The kingdom is what Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul preached and is the primary theme of the New Testament (read Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Mark 1:15; Acts 28:31).

9. The kingdom message causes the church to be holistic in its approach to ministry because, even by its very name, it pressures us to think of how we as believers can collectively steward the created order and manage the earth.

10. The kingdom message, if received and preached again by the majority of true believers, would most definitely result in us redeeming cultures, transforming cities, and bringing biblical reformation to whole nations. Thos would spare nations from either judgment or extinction for not following the pattern laid out in the Ten Commandments for structuring nations.

Hence, the only hope for the United States is the preaching and application of the kingdom message! As in other words, Haiti doesn’t need another healing crusade. What Haiti needs is an apostle of government to become president who will bring kingdom order and root out corruption!

11. The kingdom message announces Jesus’ inheritance as found in Psalm 2:9-11.

Where does it say in the Bible that Jesus would have died on the cross if there was only one person on the earth and/or one sinner to redeem? I hear preachers say this all the time! Show me chapter and verse for this!

Jesus died to redeem whole nations and people groups. This goes along with our inheritance as saints as found in Ephesians 1:10-11 and is part of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19, when Jesus commanded believers to disciple all of the nations, not just individual people but whole people groups!

The discipling of nations was very common in early church history. For example, when the heads of Gothic Germanic tribes would convert then all of their people converted as well. Whole nations would be baptized!

12. The kingdom message pressures pastors to become theologians who have a biblical worldview instead of only preaching the same feel-good, therapeutic messages Sunday after Sunday.

13. The kingdom message brings back to the fore true discipleship as it pressures every believer to study the scriptures pertaining to their particular marketplace calling as they learn to think biblically but speak secularly.

14. The kingdom message makes sense to everyone, especially world changers who come into our churches and feel bored when they are told that the highest calling they can have in life is to serve as an usher or minister for two hours every Sunday.

Because we have preached a truncated gospel we have lost the greatest world changers–politicians and statesmen with callings like Churchill and entrepreneurs like Bill Gates–because they come into our churches and only hear messages dealing with life after death. Thus, they leave and go into the world where their gifts are truly appreciated!

The current church mindset only appreciates and ordains Sunday preachers instead of nurturing and commissioning people called into secular culture as ministers and prophets. It is a sad thing but, given the kind of preaching we hear every Sunday, many churches currently have no place for believers called like Joseph (the prophet economist who saved Egypt and Israel in Genesis 37-50), Daniel (who, as a prime minister prophet brought transformation to Babylon and Persia), or Nehemiah (a politician who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem)!

15. The kingdom message allows parents to recognize the marketplace callings upon their children and to disciple them in the scriptures accordingly! Not all of our children are called to be full-time church ministers but all of our children are called to serve as ministers in the kingdom!

16. Those who preach the kingdom message view the entire Old Testament as relevant today to apply both the moral law (Ten Commandments) as the foundation of judicial law, and its extrapolated 613 civic laws that apply the moral law to specific judicial situations for the purpose of structuring society. Thus, the kingdom message causes believers to take seriously the Old Covenant and study it as much as the New Covenant. (The Old Covenant civic laws have been modified, especially laws regarding sexual sin and capital punishment, because of the revelation of grace in the New Testament.)

17. The kingdom message causes us to reinterpret many salvation passages from an individualistic application to a systemic and corporate application. For example, Luke 4:18 connects Jesus as King announcing that in His new kingdom He will release the oppressed, empower the poor, and release the captive. This concerns systemic justice, not just casting a devil out of an individual. Compare this to Isaiah 61:1-4 to get the true meaning and context. Communities and cities are redeemed and lifted by the kingdom message.

In Conclusion: Ten Implications of the Kingdom Message

1. We understand that being born again is not about going to heaven but having our eyes opened so that we finally see the Lordship of Christ over all the earth as King of Kings (read John 3:3-6).

2. We understand John 3:16 as not just God loving individual sinners but sending His Son to redeem the created order. (The word “world” in the Greek is “cosmos” which is the systems of the created order.) Thus, God wants us as His kingdom people to apply the Bible to economics and public policy, not just to prayer and the fruit of the Spirit.

3. The ministry gifts found in Ephesians 4:11 are seen as equipping the saints for the work of the ministry in the marketplace to fill up all things, not just for church ministry (read Ephesians 4:10-12 for the context).

4. We shift from a platonic/dualistic approach to life, in which we erroneously believe that God only values spiritual things, to a holistic approach in which we value the material world as well. (John 1:14: The Word became flesh, thus flesh is not evil.)

5. There is a movement toward incarnation in which we not only “march for Jesus” but we “move in” for Jesus and immerse ourselves in our communities, not just our churches. We should serve our cities with our marketplace callings as ministers of the kingdom, not just serve God on Sundays in church buildings.

6. The church is to nurture apostles of government, law, economics, and education, not just ecclesial elders involved in church government, church by-laws, tithes and offerings, and nurturing Sunday school teachers.

7. We understand and view Jesus as the King of the earth, not just as the Head of the Body of Christ.

8. We understand that the church is not the totality of the kingdom but is the primary agent of the kingdom as salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16).

9. We are to labor not only for revival but societal reformation because revival brings people into the church and reformation places believers in societal leadership.

10. We now understand that the Bible is not really a book about heaven (it says very little about heaven!) but a book about God’s people stewarding the earth.

Both the Old and New Covenants serve as blueprints for local faith communities to branch out and structure societies with a biblical worldview as salt and light.

Although we believe in the separation of church and state because they are two separate spheres of authority in the created order, we do not believe in the separation of God and state because all of life is about religious and moral choices.

There is no such thing as moral neutrality. Either society will be under the rule of an atheistic, humanistic religious order or under a biblical religious order.

by Joseph Mattera posted on  Converging Zone Network

“Kingdom” denotes the rule of God over the whole cosmos, not just a single entity on the earth, like the church. In spite of this, most preaching today has as its goal to get people to make a weekly two-hour commitment to come to a building on Sundays and to give tithes to support that building! This is because a spirit of religion has captivated the church and blinded the minds of church leaders, so that we now have a very limiting church mindset instead of a kingdom perspective. The negative results of this cannot be overstated.

In essence, a kingdom mindset regards Christianity as a biblical world and life view centered on the person of Jesus Christ who is Lord of all creation. This has vast political, economic, and sociological implications! Those with a church mindset view Jesus merely as the King of the church, not the King of all earthly secular kings.

The following are contrasts between these two mindsets:

1. A kingdom mindset releases all saints as ministers in the marketplace. A church mindset merely trains people to serve in a church building on Sundays.

2. A kingdom mindset creates wealth to transform a community and nation. A church mindset motivates giving to build our own church programs.

3. A kingdom mindset is a holistic approach that integrates the gospel with politics, economics, and public policy. A church mindset insulates the gospel from politics and public policy.

4. A kingdom mindset views the Bible as a blueprint to structure every aspect of society. A church mindset views the Bible merely as a pietistic book that enables us to escape the world, enter heaven, and be spiritual.

5. With a kingdom mindset churches embrace and love their surrounding unchurched communities. With a church mindset churches only embrace converted individuals within their faith communities.

6. A kingdom mindset trains people for all of life. A church mindset trains people only for church life.

7. A kingdom mindset nurtures leaders who are world changers and “cultural creatives” who articulate truth to society. A church mindset nurtures leaders who speak religious language relevant only to church people.

8. A kingdom mindset speaks of the rule of God over the entire created order. A church mindset speaks of the rule of God through deacons and elders over those in a church congregation.

9. With a kingdom mindset pastors release their people to their vocational callings in the marketplace. A church mindset controls people by marginalizing their marketplace callings and emphasizing only their Sunday ministries.

10. A kingdom mindset applies a Spirit-empowered approach to the natural world. A church mindset involves a spirituality that separates from the natural world.

11. Those with a kingdom mindset are working toward a renaissance of Christendom. Those with a church mindset merely strive for a particular expression (denomination) of Christianity.

12. Churches with a kingdom mindset equip 100% of the saints to fill up all things in every realm of life (Ephesians 4:10-12). Those with a church mindset have as their primary goal to equip the 2-3% of the congregation called to be full-time church pastors, ministers, and missionaries.

by Joseph Mattera posted on Converging Zone Network

By Christopher Landau BBC News, Wenzhou, China

At first glance, it looks as though it could be any other factory driving the rapid development of the Chinese economy.

But this is no ordinary enterprise because here religious faith is as important as profit.

In fact, the owner of the Boteli Valve Group in Wenzhou would like to see all his staff convert to Christianity.

And such a factory is not a one-off: it is part of a growing number of businesses run by Christian entrepreneurs in one of China’s key enterprise zones, whose success is now being studied by the Chinese government.

As he shows me the production facilities, the factory’s general manager, Weng-Jen Wau, tells me that every month, $5m worth of industrial valves are manufactured.

About 40% of the factory’s output is exported to businesses worldwide.

But he seems to have limited interest in the sales figures – he is far more concerned to tell me about the place his family’s Christian faith has in the life of the factory.

Every Monday morning, the senior managers gather together and pray about the business.

Weng-Jen Wau believes that by encouraging increasing numbers of his staff to convert to Christianity, his business will prosper.

And he tells me that when staff do convert to Christianity, their attitude towards their work is transformed.

“If you’re a Christian you’re more honest, with a better heart,” he says. “The people who aren’t Christians aren’t responsible. I think it’s very different.

“I’m not saying those people who aren’t Christians are all bad, but from the percentage of the workers who are Christians, they seem to be more responsible.

“Also when they do things wrong, they feel guilty – that’s the difference,” he explains.

One of the workers I met who had recently converted to Christianity explained that he had known nothing about the religion before he started work at the factory.

But he said that his new-found faith was now a source of daily inspiration.

He told me that he was now trying to convert his friends and colleagues to Christianity.

“If everybody became a Christian, it would have a very big impact, and would really help the development of our factory,” he said.

So I asked Mr Wau how much religion was a factor when he was recruiting new staff.

“Of course I would choose the Christians first, definitely,” he said.

“I think if all enterprises absorb this Christian culture, we will have a much more harmonious society,” he said.

There are obvious questions about whether the staff really have discovered Christianity, or whether they are simply responding pragmatically to a clearly defined vision for their company.

Those I met were keen to stress the significance of their new faith, and the lack of pressure to convert – though there was no disguising their bosses’ clear desire to boost Christian numbers in the workforce.

But the wider role of Christian entrepreneurs in the economic success of the Wenzhou private enterprise zone has not gone unnoticed by the Chinese government.

Far from being regarded as a religious oddity, the impact of Christian-run businesses is now being studied by Chinese government officials.

At the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, I met Professor Zhuo Xinping, Director of the Institute of World Religions.

He specialises in the study of Christianity’s growing influence in China – and has plenty to say about Wenzhou’s Christian entrepreneurs.

He tells me that the city was visited by substantial numbers of Western Christian missionaries during the 19th Century and thus has – by Chinese standards – a long history of Christian faith.

Today it has an unusually high number of Christians for a Chinese city – with some estimates suggesting Christians now make up 20% of the population.

But what really interests him is the way in which the growth of Christianity and economic prosperity have happened side by side.

 

The factory has a monthly output worth $5m

He tells me that Chinese researchers are considering whether in Western history there is a link between economic prosperity and Protestant Christianity – and they are questioning what that might mean for today’s China.

“It’s very important to find the secret of social development, the so-called potential forces for a nation,” he says.

“When it comes to Western countries, the majority Chinese understanding is that this potential force is Protestant Christianity.”

Christian faith may sound like an unlikely component in China’s future economic success.

But the notion that newfound faith can inspire a workforce to increased levels of productivity is being taken seriously not only by Christian businessmen, but by China’s Communist – and officially atheist – leaders.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10942954

By Derek Brown

For many Christians the highlight of their week is the Sunday service. Sadly many believe this is where the Kingdom of God is primarily expressed. Ministry is confined to that which is done within the church. This is demonstrated in the true story of a young lawyer who was asked what her ministry was. She replied “I teach Sunday school at my church” What a travesty!! Nothing she did during the week in bringing justice, compassion and resolution to the world in which she worked counted, in her mind, as having any spiritual value. How can we change people’s thinking to break free of this Sunday/Monday dichotomy?

Simply put we need to disavow the concept that divides the world into secular vs sacred, private vs public, faith vs work and charity vs justice.  When we understand the Kingdom of God it is evident that everything is sacred because God is the creator of all things and nothing exists outside of His love and compassion. Our faith makes us responsible to bring the Kingdom into every area of life. In the words of Justine, a Burundian living in Rwanda, “I see what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God. I see that it’s about changing this world, not just escaping it and retreating into our churches. If Jesus’ message of the kingdom of God is true, then everything must change. Everything must change.”

What a profound insight – when the Kingdom is expressed – everything must change. The change begins in us and then it finds its expression in the world in which we live and work. It is about bringing God’s mercy, compassion, justice and righteousness into every sphere of His creation. So our lawyer friend has the opportunity and responsibility to bring about change in her chosen field of endeavour by using her gifts, training and experience to be an agent for change – an agent for the Kingdom.

One of the reasons many people switch off from Christianity is that we represent a faith that has no relevance to them. Henry Drummond, writing to his own generation many years ago put it powerfully. “It is because to large masses of people Christianity has become synonymous with a Temple service that other large masses of people decline to touch it…..what they cannot follow, and must evermore live outside of, is a worship which ends with the worshipper, a religion expressed only in ceremony, and a faith unrelated to life.”  What a challenge – our faith has become self-centered and irrelevant to the real world.

What we are looking at is a rediscovery of Kingdom theology. This has many aspects but one of the starting points is the doctrine of the Trinity. In a recent Lausanne paper on ‘Market Place Ministry’ the following conclusion was presented. ”To bridge the gap in our partial perceptions of God’s work we need to be more thoroughly trinitarian instead of having in practice a unitarian (one person) theology playing favourites with the Trinity. We need to develop a three mandate/commission theology (see diagram)”

In these three commissions we see that the breadth of the Kingdom. “We are called to be part of God’s new creation, called to be agents of that new creation here and now. We are called to model and display that new creation in symphonies and family life, in restorative justice and poetry, in holiness and service to the poor, in politics and painting.” (Wright) The Kingdom is expressed in a wide variety of passions. Once we see the vastness of the Kingdom it helps understand how other people can be equally passionate about a range of issues that may not stir our hearts. This passion is an expression of the heart of God for His creation. We are to pursue the passion God has given us but equally to validate and appreciate the passion He has put in others.

When it comes to the church we can think of Sunday as the church ‘gathered’ and Monday as the church ‘scattered’. Sunday then becomes a time to strengthen, encourage and equip Christians to take the Kingdom into their world. As church growth expert, Eddie Gibbs says, churches should shift from an invitational, ‘Come’, seeker service strategy (which works in largely churched suburbs) to a ‘Go’ strategy of dispersal, with a sustained commitment to infiltrating each segment of this fragmenting world. The work place becomes a focal point for producing the Kingdom. As Kevin Costa, a London-based investment banker, states: “If the Christian faith is not relevant in the work place, it is not relevant at all.”

So from a Kingdom perspective there is no difference between Sunday and Monday. It can be argued in fact that what happens on Monday is more important.

by Richard Brown

“Please Consider…”

For your own sake please reconsider the Kingdom

Hebrews 12:25-28
What are you holding on to?
What are your foundations?

7 Parables in Matthew 13

Sower (4 soils)
Wheat & Weeds
Mustard Seed
Yeast
Hidden Treasure
Pearl
The Net

No other subject gets this sort of coverage!

Scriptures
Matthew 4:17:
17From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Matthew 5-7

Sermon on the Mount

Jesus brought a whole new concept to His disciples

The Kingdom of God was a Brand New Thought for the Jews
Messiah?
Prophet?
Redeemer?
King on David’s throne?
What was the appeal in this message for the Jews?
Power, Wealth, Freedom, Identity, ‘the good old days’
On the Cross
John 19:19
The King was Proclaimed
For all the world to see

We are in the Kingdom now!

Col 1:13
“He has delivered us from the dominion of Satan and transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved Son”
Jesus is the King, we are His subjects!

What does it mean to be in the Kingdom now?

To live a life according to the ways and culture of the Kingdom
To challenge the way we live in our culture in light of the Kingdom’s culture

To pay homage to the King – to live in worship and for our lives to be worship
To live in obedience to the King and His edicts for His Kingdom
To seek the Kingdom (Matt 6:33)
To see His Kingdom come (Matt 6:10)

Key points
We are all ambassadors for the Kingdom
We have been assigned tasks by the King
Each task has significance because of who assigned it, not worth in itself
There is no sacred/secular or church/laity divisions in the Kingdom

Key verses: Daniel 2:42-44

42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. 44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.

Key verses: Isaiah 9:6-7

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Key verse: Matt 1:1

“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham”

Key verse: Rev 11:15

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever”
Key verse: Mat 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached as a witness unto all nations and then the end will come”

How does this affect us?

We are each on the King’s business
My lifestyle should be compared to the ways of the Kingdom
We should feel validated in whatever the King has asked us to do
My thinking should not have a Sacred/Secular divide
The Kingdom will stand against every foe. Victory!!

Sadly it would be true to say the church has lost this message. Most Christians think the Kingdom of God is something which will happen one day. We have reduced the Kingdom to a personal experience now and a collective experience in the future. E Stanley Jones put it well when he said. “If Jesus made the kingdom of God the centre of his message and the centre of his endeavour, the greatest need of man, as I see it, is to rediscover the kingdom of God.”

So to help us in the process let’s put forward 8 statements that encapsulate some key aspects of the Kingdom.

1. Kingdom is the sovereign rule of God

When Jesus introduced the Kingdom to his disciples he spoke about the rule of God that exists in heaven. He went on to say that this rule is now to be expressed in the earth.

“Our father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In other words Christianity is about heaven invading earth not about us escaping here to go to heaven. ’All the major events that followed Jesus’ inauguration of the Kingdom – the resurrection and ascension of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit are “not designed to take us away from this earth, but to make us agents of the transformation of this earth” (Wright)

What are the implications for us of God’s sovereignty? Jesus said after the resurrection “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). This means every part of creation is subject to Christ. Abraham Kuyper put it well when he said “”There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!’” This means all of life is sacred. To divide the world into sacred and secular domains is to deny the sovereignty of God.

God is over all of his creation. There are many spheres within creation. Each of these spheres can be influenced by the redemptive, compassionate and loving servanthood of people of the Kingdom. All of life relates to God. What happens in each of these spheres is equally important. To serve in the market place is a calling just like it is to be in church ministry.

2. Kingdom is a present reality

When Jesus began his ministry he said “The Kingdom of God is at hand”. Later on he talked about things that were to happen in the future concerning the Kingdom.

So we see here an important principle about the Kingdom. It is both ‘now’ and ‘not yet’. There is a tension here that needs to be recognized. If we focus solely on the ‘now’ of the Kingdom we can reduce the Kingdom to social action focused on changing the world. Alternatively if we focus on the ‘not yet’ emphasis we fail to address the current pains and needs of the world.

Jesus saw the ministry of the Kingdom was fulfilling the prophecy in Isaiah 61. In Luke 4:18-19 Jesus outlines the integral and holistic nature of the Kingdom. It is good news to those who are disinherited either physically, socially, politically or spiritually. The Kingdom relates to every level and arena of human life and existence. The Hebrew word ‘shalom’ aptly describes the result of the Kingdom coming to a person or a community. It means the establishment of peace between man and God and the well-being, welfare or safety of an individual or a community.

Our challenge as Christians is to know what the will of God is and to work with God by the power of the Holy Spirit to see it happen in earth. Commenting on Matt 6:10 NT Wright, one of the leading theologians of our time, makes this observation. “It’s a prayer about God’s kingdom coming on earth –which, as we have seen, pretty much sums up what Christianity is all about.”

So simply put – Christianity can be summarized as seeing God’s kingdom come on earth.

3. The Church is not the Kingdom

The question must then be asked. If the Kingdom is the central message of the gospels and really summarises the essential heart of Christianity – why do we hear so little about the Kingdom of God from the pulpit or in the books we read and the DVDs we watch.

The answer is quite simple. We have substituted the church for the Kingdom. In other words many Christians believe what God is doing in the earth is predominantly expressed thru the church. Accompanied with this has been the reduction of the gospel to the gospel of salvation not the gospel of the Kingdom. As a result much of Christian thinking has been focused on individual salvation and the building up of the church.

Amongst other things such thinking shows a lack of understanding of the nature of God’s sovereignty. God exercises His sovereignty in two ways – saving grace and common grace. As agents of saving grace Christians are to evangelize and bring people to Christ. “As agents of God’s common grace, we are called to help sustain and renew his creation, to uphold the created institutions of family and society, to pursue science and scholarship, to create works of art and beauty, and to heal and help those suffering from the results of the Fall.” (Colson)

We see this principle in the commissions given by Jesus. In what is called the “Great Commission ‘– there is the call to evangelism and discipleship: While in the “Great Commandment’ – we are called to love our neighbour which includes social action.

4. Kingdom is within every person

When Jesus was talking to the Pharisees in Luke 17:21 he made another important observation about the Kingdom. He said to them “the Kingdom is in your midst” – referring to himself but this can also be translated the Kingdom of God is within you. This concept is reiterated by Paul in Romans when he says “that which is known about God is evident within them” (Rom 1:17) Kant wrote “Two things strike me with awe, the starry heavens above and the moral law within”

We are made to obey the laws of the Kingdom. Like the law of gravity these laws operate whether we acknowledge them or not. Why for example does it feel good when we do good? Dr Adler, a Jewish psychiatrist, states “I suppose all the ills of human personality can be traced back to one thing – not understanding the meaning of the phrase ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’”

This is how the Kingdom operates. Similarly when we make choices that hurt others we experience inner disquiet because we are working against the truth of God that is within us. Living against the laws of the Kingdom affects our health. Psychiatrist William Sadler put it this way “If we lived in a truly Christian way, half the diseases of the people of America would drop off tomorrow morning and we would stand up a new healthy people.”

Because we are made in the image of God each of us has within us what Wright calls ‘the echoes of the Spirit’. He identifies four characteristics:

• Longing for justice
• Quest for spirituality
• Hunger for relationships
• Delight in beauty

5. Kingdom happens outside the church

Most Kingdom activity will take place outside of church. Let me go further – the activity of the Holy Spirit is not restricted to those places where Christians are active. The Holy Spirit can and does speak and work within the lives of those who have not yet met the King of the Kingdom.

Take some clear examples from the book of Acts. Phillip is in the midst of a revival when the Holy Spirit directs him to leave this move of God to go into the dessert. There Phillip is led to meet a leader from Ethiopia who just happens to be reading Isaiah 53 and is wondering who this prophecy is talking about. Clearly the Holy Spirit was at work long before Phillip came onto the scene. What made it a significant moment from a Kingdom perspective was Phillip’s obedience to be at the right place at the right time to work with the Holy Spirit.

A similar theme emerges in the story of Cornelius. A God-fearing Roman centurion who is visited by an angel and directed to send men to Jerusalem to get Peter to come to his house. Peter struggles with this situation because the work of the Kingdom – initiated by the Holy Spirit – is happening in a realm outside his frame of reference. This is an important principle of the Kingdom – to be able to recognize and work with the activity of the Holy Spirit as He moves into new spheres.

If we reduce the Kingdom by limiting the scope within which the Holy Spirit can work then we limit the effectiveness of the gospel. Rather we should be asking God to show us where the Holy Spirit is already at work within our communities and then looking for ways to work with Him for the expansion of the Kingdom.

When it comes to the church we can think of Sunday as the church ‘gathered’ and Monday as the church ‘scattered’. Sunday then becomes a time to strengthen, encourage and equip Christians to take the Kingdom into their world.

As church growth expert, Eddie Gibbs says, churches should shift from an invitational, ‘Come’, seeker service strategy (which works in largely churched suburbs) to a ‘Go’ strategy of dispersal, with a sustained commitment to infiltrating each segment of this fragmenting world.

6. Kingdom is expressed in a variety of passions

As we have established the Kingdom is all about the will of God being done on the earth. For this to happen “God’s passion must become our passion” (Wright) When we consider the nature and character of God we recognize that His passions are broad and diverse. The means the Kingdom will be expressed in a wide variety of passions.

This table highlights some of the different passions we find within the different members of the Godhead.

Just a bit of theology to explain this table. In the unfolding of creation each member of the Godhead has taken the lead in the various phases. So for example we see the Father took the lead in Creation, the Son in salvation and the Holy Spirit in completing the work begun thru the Incarnation. So we can link the three great commissions to each member of the trinity.

It follows from this each of these mandates reflect different aspects of the Kingdom. Creation mandate – has a strong emphasis on social justice, dominion, arts and politics. The evangelistic mandate focuses on evangelism and discipleship. While the relational mandate focuses more on spiritual power and signs and wonders.

So here we have explained three different streams within the Christian tradition – the liberals, evangelical and the pentecostials. Each stream validly represents different godly passions.

Once we see the vastness of the Kingdom it helps understand how other people can be equally passionate about a range of issues that may not stir our hearts. This passion is an expression of the heart of God for His creation. We are to pursue the passion God has given us but equally to validate and appreciate the passion He has put in others.

7. Kingdom fruit is more than evangelism

Recently I had the opportunity to preach on the Kingdom in my local church. As part of this message I referred to the warning from Jesus that if we don’t produce the fruit of the Kingdom then God will take the Kingdom from us and give it to someone else who is being productive for the Kingdom (Matt 21:43).

It follows that for us to be effective for the Kingdom we need to know what is Kingdom fruit and how can we produce it. In response to this message I had an interesting talk with my friend Mark Darling.

Mark is a psychologist who specializes in neurofeedback therapy for Autism Spectrum conditions. Neurofeedback is a non-invasive, painless and fun therapy for children on the Spectrum that is based on complex scientific processes. Mark’s dedication to this field of study was initiated by the journey he and Kym have walked with their son Nathan.

He has seen amazing results with families that have been torn apart by trying to cope with children suffering from these conditions. But despite these great results Mark made this comment: “And yet the little voice says what’s the point of all this if they don’t actually get saved and become Christians …”

So here’s the rub – what is Kingdom fruit? Is what Mark does producing the Kingdom or does it only become Kingdom if someone makes a personal commitment to Jesus?

Many Christians would claim the latter. The only thing that really counts they believe from God’s view point is personal salvation. But is this what the Scripture teaches. When asked to explain how we should fulfill the great commandment to love our neighbor Jesus used the illustration of the good Samaritan. Nowhere in this story is there the suggestion that seeing the wounded man saved is the measure by which fulfilment of the commandment will be measured. The ministry of Jesus is summarized in Acts in that he went about doing good and healing those who were oppressed (Acts 10:38).

While it’s always possible to swing towards social action and to neglect an emphasis on evangelism – it is wrong I believe to say that those who promote justice, healing, compassion and mercy from a Christian perspective are not reflecting the heart of God and thus producing the fruit of the Kingdom. As they do this they are sowing seeds of hope and salvation that will in many cases turn people’s hearts towards encountering for themselves the reality of a personal relationship with the King of the Kingdom.

8. Every Christian is an agent for the Kingdom

Last year I was presenting a seminar called “Rediscovering the Kingdom of God’. After listening to my seminar a guy called Matt came up to me, thanked me for my teaching and then made a comment that has stuck with me ever since. He said “I go to church every Sunday and I watch all that is going on and I think there’s got to be more to my Christian faith than this”

Be clear Matt wasn’t bagging church but he had a desire to see his faith expressed in a meaningful way in the world in which he lived.

For many Christians the highlight of their week is the Sunday service. Sadly many believe this is where the Kingdom of God is primarily expressed. Ministry is confined to that which is done within the church. This is demonstrated in the true story of a young lawyer who was asked what her ministry was. She replied “I teach Sunday school at my church” What a travesty!! Nothing she did during the week in bringing justice, compassion and resolution to the world in which she worked counted, in her mind, as having any spiritual value. How can we change people’s thinking to break free of this Sunday/Monday dichotomy?

Our faith makes us responsible to bring the Kingdom into every area of life. In the words of Justine, a Burundian living in Rwanda, “I see what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God. I see that it’s about changing this world, not just escaping it and retreating into our churches. If Jesus’ message of the kingdom of God is true, then everything must change. Everything must change.”

What a profound insight – when the Kingdom is expressed – everything must change. The change begins in us and then it finds its expression in the world in which we live and work. It is about bringing God’s mercy, compassion, justice and righteousness into every sphere of His creation. So our lawyer friend has the opportunity and responsibility to bring about change in her chosen field of endeavour by using her gifts, training and experience to be an agent for change – an agent for the Kingdom.

To illustrate how this happens Jesus used a parable of the wheat and the tares. (Matt 13:36-43) The field is the world and it belongs to Jesus. He sows people of the Kingdom into the field to produce the Kingdom. While there is opposition it is in this context that the will of God is done on the earth.

What does all this mean for me?

 What is the passion God has given you?
 How has He equipped you in terms of personality, gifting, experience?
 Where has He planted you or where does He want to plant you?
 What does it mean to produce the Kingdom in that sphere?
 What is the vision God is giving you for producing the Kingdom?

Mark told me that the best outcome would be with numerous sessions over quite a few months – twice weekly. He told me that for the first 5 weeks Sam’s behaviour would be slightly better for short periods after each session, but that I would feel like he was “building” to something. Mark said that in the 6th week Sam would have an outburst to end all outbursts (yes – it definitely was!!!) and after that the violence should subside and become extinct quite quickly. That giant, jaw-dropping, heart-wrenching last tantrum was the last Sam has ever had! Sam has continued to use Neurofeedback as his treatment of choice over the years. It’s the only treatment/therapy that gives him instant, consistent results every single time. Now Sam goes twice a year for 4 sessions at a time (2 weeks). He finds that “topping up” this way helps keep him stable.

Sam is now 18 ½ and has been able to live independently from us since September last year for his studies/work in Brisbane. When we initially went to Mark I didn’t think Sam could ever be independent of us. He is now also totally medication free. More importantly, Sam has been able to repair his relationship with his older sister, and they are now regular 18 and 21 year olds, who even socialise together quite often. They care for each other, and consider each other’s feelings. At my husband’s recent 50th birthday celebration they gave a humorous, though moving speech – another accomplishment I hadn’t dreamed was possible. Sam has had a great many successes in his life since starting Neurofeedback. He completed his schooling through TAFE, and is now embarking on a graphic design course at a private college. Our family’s journey with Asperger’s Syndrome is far from over, but we feel extremely blessed to have happened upon Neurotherapy and Mark Darling, quite by chance. Without it I possibly wouldn’t be sitting here today, telling our story and running a successful home business.”

Then in personal email to Mark the mother added “I got quite emotional typing up our story – I could’ve said so much more…. But how do you really explain what it was like – when our family talks about that time in our lives, we can never quite believe how far we’ve come, and how all the hurt has healed since then. I’m not sure I’ve ever really thanked you, but believe me we all think of you as an Angel delivering miracle cures! So thanks from all of us.”

So you would imagine Mark is very encouraged to see how his passion to bring ‘shalom’ to his world is making such an impact. Yes he is – but in an email to me he added “And yet the little voice says what’s the point of all this if they don’t actually get saved and become Christians …” So here’s the rub – what is Kingdom fruit? Is what Mark does producing the Kingdom or does it only become Kingdom if someone makes a personal commitment to Jesus?

Many Christians would claim the latter. The only thing that really counts they believe from God’s view point is personal salvation. But is this what the Scripture teaches. When asked to explain how we should fulfill the great commandment to love our neighbor Jesus used the illustration of the good Samaritan. Nowhere in this story is there the suggestion that seeing the wounded man saved is the measure by which fulfillment of the commandment will be measured. The ministry of Jesus is summarized in Acts in that he went about doing good and healing those who were oppressed (Acts 10:38).

While it’s always possible to swing towards social action and to neglect an emphasis on evangelism – it is wrong I believe to say that those who promote justice, healing, compassion and mercy from a Christian perspective are not reflecting the heart of God and thus producing the fruit of the Kingdom. As they do this they are sowing seeds of hope and salvation that will in many cases turn people’s hearts towards encountering for themselves the reality of a personal relationship with the King of the Kingdom.

To find out more about Mark’s work visit his website