The other day the boys were playing outside on their scooters while I was getting ready to plant some grass seed. They were skating back and forth and talking a mile a minute at 120 decibels. Isaac skated over and asked What is Batmans secret identity again?
Bruce Wayne I told him.
Ok, David, since we dont have our suits on, we have to call each other by our secret identity, so Ill call you Bruce Wayne, and you call me Peter Parker.
And so they played.
After about 15 minutes (probably more like 5) David came over to me and said, Hey Daddy, do you know who my super identity is? Now David is 4, and he often gets stuff pretty mixed up, like calling the thing on top of a helicopter a perkeller and the red things they make ketchup out of benatoes
You mean your secret identity? I asked him.
No, my super-identity. My super-identity is God.
What do you mean? I wasnt sure if I had to correct him or what he meant by that.
God is my Pastor. So He gives me my super-identity.
Thats awesome.
Then he ran off and started yelling at Peter Parker again while I planted tiny grass seeds like the Kingdom in my garden.
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For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospelnot with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
(1Cor 1:17-18 NIV)
You cant talk about the Cross and use human wisdom at the same time. Pauls Message of the Cross is the Gospel. In reading The Secret Message of Jesus, McLaren said that the Gospel is not quoting Paul, but should be what Jesus said, The Kingdom of God is at hand.
I think the Kingdom of God IS at hand, and God has declared domination of this worlds kingdoms by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. The only weapon any worldly kingdom has is rooted in death but now there are enemies of the worldly kingdoms that, after we kill them, they come back to life! The kingdoms and governments of this world HAVE FALLEN. The Government of God is at hand.
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.
(Rev 11:15 NIV)
Caesar is lord. Was a pledge in Pauls day. To say Jesus is lord. Is a parody on a common saying, like I pledge allegiance to Jesus.
Wow. Can you imagine some kids at a high school basketball game during the first Persian Gulf War doing that? Theyd get beat up. They might even have gotten killed, only to rise againĶ
“If you obey God, He’ll make you happy and successful.” – Bibleman
Just to let you know, that isn’t true in the way that most people understand that statement to be true. I don’t like Bibleman. It seems like its the bad parts of 80s theology with the special effects of the 90s.
Some of our Aussie friends turned us on to Colin Buchanan. Sure, it’s not superheroes violently blowing up bad guys, but it’s got more scripture in a better context.
Colin beats the tights off Bibleman.
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Acts 28.31 Boldly and without hindrance he preached the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 4.17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.
Repent – Metanoeo from Meta, change of place or condition, and noeo, exercise the mind, think, comprehend
Change the way you think. Look at the things and people and events and situations differently, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
In Daniel 2, we see a picture of the Kingdom of God. It is a rock that is cut out or CUT OFF but NOT by man. It strikes a statue which represents kingdoms of this world (it strikes it? Where did it come from?) and COMPLETELY destroys it, and they blow away like chaff. Then it becomes a HUGE mountain and endures forever.
Mans kingdoms are statues of men made from materials shaped by men. Gods kingdom is a MOUNTAIN! You cant carve or break or destroy a big mountain and it doesnt resemble any man it resembles GOD.
The kingdoms of men are as different from the Kingdom of God as a statue is different from a mountain.
Eph. 6.16 take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
They had leather covered shields that they would soak in water so that if an arrow hit it, it would go in deep and the fire would be put out. I just realized that they had to GET HIT BY THE ARROW if they wanted to extinguish it. If I dodge the arrow it may go behind me and hit somebody else. Or hit my house and set it on fire! Let my shield of faith be big and may I not be afraid to step into the hit and take those arrows well! May I take those dudes and extinguish them rather than dodge them and let someone else who may be hiding behind me deal with it.
