General
The Flesh: 4 Things to Know
Category: General
Tags: Adam and Eve, Life, Shame, Sin
The New Testament contrasts “life in the Spirit” with “life in the flesh” (see Gal 5:16-20). In some translations, the word for “flesh” (sarx, in the Greek) is translated as “sinful nature” as if one’s…
The All-or-Nothing of Kingdom Living
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living, Love
Verse: 1 Corinthians 13
Nothing is more central to the kingdom of God than agreeing with God about every person’s unsurpassable worth and reflecting this in how we act toward them. Nothing is more important that living in Christlike…
Roger Olson’s Review of The Cosmic Dance
Category: General
Tags: Open Theism, Roger Olson, The Cosmic Dance
Today we wanted to share a review of The Cosmic Dance by esteemed theologian Roger Olson. You can check out an excerpt below or you can read the whole review here. You can place an order for The…
The Kingdom Stance Toward Enemies
Category: General
Tags: Enemy Love, Kingdom of God, Love, Non-Violence, Power
Jesus was praying in the garden of Gethsemane, when a group of temple guards showed up to arrest him. Peter immediately drew his sword and started swinging it, cutting off a guard’s ear. From the…
A Brief History of Political Power and the Church
Category: General
Tags: Church, Constantine, Political Idolatry, Politics, Power
The history of the church has been largely one of believers refusing to trust the way of the crucified Jesus and instead giving in to the very temptation he resisted. It’s the history of an…
Conservatives and Liberals in the Same Kingdom
Category: General
Tags: Conflict, Division, Love, Political Idolatry, Politics, Unity
Jesus did not allow the world to set the terms for what he did. For instance, he called Matthew, a tax collector, as well as Simon, a zealot, to be his disciples. Tax collectors were…
Politics & the Kingdom of the World
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom of God, Kingdom of this World, Nationalism, Political Idolatry, Politics
Instead of aligning any version of the kingdom of this world with the kingdom of God—as is common in American Christianity—kingdom-of-God participants must retain a healthy suspicion toward every version of the kingdom of this…
Making America an Idol
Category: General
Tags: America, Kingdom of God, National Idolatry, Nationalism
I write as a kingdom person in the context of America, presently the dominant empire in the world. In that light, I’d like to address the fact that my calling is to resist nationalism even…
Remembering the Myth During Election Season
Category: General
Tags: America, Myth of a Christian Nation, Nationalism, Politics, Religious Idolatry
Given the current political furor in America right now, we thought we would post an extended quote from Greg’s book The Myth of a Christian Nation. This book was originally a reflection on Christian political engagement…
A Brief Theology of the Trinity
Category: General
Tags: God, God is Love, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, Trinity
Topics: Trinity
“The economic Trinity is the immanent Trinity, and the immanent Trinity is the economic Trinity.” This is the maxim introduced by the Catholic theologian Karl Rahner that should shape our discussion of the Trinity. It…
Resisting Evil
Category: General
Tags: God's Character, God's Will, Open Theism, Satan, Warfare Worldview
The New Testament refers to Satan as the “god of this age” and the “ruler of the power of the air” (2 Cor 4:4; Eph.2:2). In the first century Jewish worldview, “air” referred to the…
Good From Evil
Category: General
Tags: Evil, God's Character, God's Will, Open Theism, Warfare Worldview
The Bible is very clear that God has nothing to do with evil. There is “no darkness” in God. (I Jn 1:5). Far from intentionally bringing about evil, God’s “eyes are too pure to look…
Why is the World Still So Messed Up?
Category: General
Tags: Eschatology, Evil, Kingdom of God, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
Through the Incarnation, Jesus made a way for our union with God. In addition, Jesus’ death and resurrection defeated the powers of evil. This should then lead us to ask: Why do we have to continue…
The Destiny of God’s People
Category: General
Tags: Jesus, Kingdom of God, Peace, Racial Reconciliation, Unity, Warfare Worldview
Topics: Following Jesus
Jesus represents the realization of God’s glorious dream for humanity. In Christ, we see what we who are in Christ are destined to be. As a stick placed in a river is destined to be…
The Incarnation: More Than a Rescue Mission
Category: General
Tags: Atonement, Blueprint Worldview, Incarnation, Jesus, Open Theism, Redemption, Salvation
Topics: Atonement and The Cross
A mistake people often make concerning the Incarnation is that they fail to distinguish the eternal plan of God to unite himself with humanity in Christ, on the one hand, from the atoning significance this…
How God Changes the World
Category: General
Tags: Enemy Love, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Love, Unity
Verse: John 17
God’s hopes for us began before the creation of the world. And what God intended from the beginning gives us insight into how God works to bring about what he intends. In the first chapter…
Kingdom Reconciliation is Not About Politics (But it is Political)
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living, Kingdom of God, Politics, Racial Reconciliation, Revolt
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
In the broader culture, the social and political discussions about racial reconciliation are usually focused on people’s rights and privileges as a means of making the world a fairer place. The criteria such efforts at…
The Coming Kingdom & Racial Conflict
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living, Kingdom of God, Love, Racial Reconciliation, Unity
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
In the book of Revelation, we see a glimpse into the future. John says he saw, …a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne…
Why Racial Reconciliation Matters
Category: General
Tags: Good News, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Kingdom of God, Racial Reconciliation, Unity
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
In Psalm 72, the author prays for a day when “all kings” would “bow down” to God’s anointed and when “all nations” would “serve him” (vs. 11). At this time, the Psalmist continues, God’s king…
Reversing Babel
Category: General
Tags: Conflict, Love, Racial Reconciliation
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Several generations after the flood, we read in Gen 11 how humans were still living in one locale and had one common language and culture. Then someone came up with the brilliant idea that they…