The Politics of Jesus, Part 2
Category: General
Tags: Jesus, Kingdom Living, Kingdom of God, Politics
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Even in the midst of politically-troubled times, we are called to preserve the radical uniqueness of the kingdom. This, after all, is what Jesus did as he engaged the first century world with a different…
The Politics of Jesus
Category: General
Tags: Jesus, Love, Non-Violence, Politics, Power, Sacrifice
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Many are so conditioned by the mindset of the world that they can’t even envision an alternative way of affecting society and politics other than by playing the political game as it is done by…
Christianity and American Politics
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living, Missio Alliance, National Idolatry, Politics, Religious Idolatry, Voting
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Greg was recently featured in Missio Alliance’s Seminary Dropout podcast to share his thoughts about the role of Christians in American politics. Today we’re sharing part 1 of that conversation. What is the role of…
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…
Black Lives Matter, the Police, and Spiritual Warfare
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Black Lives Matter, Current Events, Spiritual Warfare, Violence
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Christ calls us to stand for a different kind of kingdom and this requires that we think in different ways about the violence that is gripping our country. In this short clip from Greg’s sermon…
Listen and Learn: A First Step Toward Reconciliation
Category: General
Tags: Humility, Listening, Love, Racial Reconciliation
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Jesus Christ is not just the Lord, Savior and Messiah of the Jews: he is the Lord, Savior and Messiah of all people. Through Christ a kingdom is being established that tears down tribal walls…
Grieving
Category: General
Tags: Black Lives Matter, Current Events, Racism, Violence
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
I woke this morning to the news of the shooting death of Philando Castile by a police officer just a few miles from my home. He was pulled over because he had a broken tail…
Jesus’ Different Kind of Nation
Category: General
Tags: Blessing, Israel, Jesus, Kingdom of God, Nationalism, New Humanity
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
God called Abraham to form a unique nation by which “all peoples of the earth will be blessed.” The unique call of the descendants of Abraham was to become a nation of servant-priests whom God…
Women, Leadership, & the Bible
Category: General
Tags: Bible, Gender Roles, Women In Ministry
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Verse: 1 Corinthians 14, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Timothy 3
Neither reason nor experience supports the notion that women cannot be gifted to exercise the highest levels of spiritual authority. There is simply no rationally discernable connection between a person’s gender and their natural ability…
Some Thoughts on Women in Ministry
Category: General
Tags: Gender Roles, Leadership, Women In Ministry
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Throughout the testimony of Scripture, we have examples of God tolerating many things that are far from ideal in order to gradually transform the world in the direction he intends for us. For example, God’s ideal…
Revolting Against Classism
Category: General
Tags: Jesus, Kingdom Living, Kingdom Revolution, Love
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
All fallen societies and religions have a tendency to rank people according to class. All have ways of separating the insiders from the outsiders, the holy from the unholy and the more important people from…
Willing to Bleed
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Justice, Self-Sacrificial Love, Service
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
What does salvation have to do with social justice? Greg turns this often-politicized question on its head in this video by The Work of the People.
The Kingdom of God ≠ Political Activism
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living, Kingdom Revolution, Politics
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Given the centrality of following Jesus’ example, it is vitally important we not only notice that Jesus was a revolutionary (see post) along with some ways that we can join his revolution (see that post…
As We Remember MLK
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom Living, Martin Luther King, Racial Reconciliation
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
If you’ve never read Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, you should take the time to do so. He wrote the letter to leaders of of the white churches in Birmingham in response to…
Christena Cleveland on Practices for Sociological Imagination
Category: General
Tags: Christena Cleveland, Humility, Leadership, Multicultural Ministry, Privilege, Racial Reconciliation
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Christena Cleveland recently sat down with Tod Bolsinger (Vice President for Formation and Vocation at Fuller Theological Seminary) to discuss the intersection of privilege and leadership. You can find a series of short videos capturing different aspects…
Is America Uniquely Favored by God?
Category: General
Tags: America, Greed, Poverty
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
The tendency of wealth to entrap people in greed has been confirmed in numerous studies. Research has consistently shown that, generally speaking, the more people have, the less percentage of their income they tend to…
Guest Post: Is Hell the Center of our Faith?
Category: General
Tags: Hell, India, Mercy, Missionary Work, Trudy Smith
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
My husband Andy and I had been living in the slums of North India for over a year by the time we returned to one of our sending churches for a visit. We met with…