Luke Parrott

1100 Miles from Orlando to DC

How Chill is it at K-Colorado? ...Check this out!

Meet David Ashby

Meet David Ashby.  A freshman in high school who is walking from Orlando to DC this summer in order to raise awareness of the needs of homeless children around the United States.

He's stopping every night at shelters around the country.  He's raising awareness by walking.  He is only 15 years old.  His heart breaks for the poverty in his own country.

You can follow his blog at http://helpingstepbystep.blogspot.com/

Jesus #1 Topic

I've quizzed several large groups and asked them what they think Jesus' #1 topic was.  What did he speak about more than anything else recorded in the Gospels?  I get answers like love, forgiveness, hell, heaven, salvation, etc.  But rarely does the topic of the KINGDOM come to mind.

If the quantity of references has anything to do with emphasizing what is most important, then Jesus' over 120 references to the Kingdom has got to count for something!  So why have we neglected and become so ignorant of his topic of greatest concern.  If you're not following me, then check out the numerous references below:

Your Kingdom Come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness

The kingdom of heaven is like…a net, a treasure hidden in a field, yeast, a man who sowed good seed, a mustard seed, a king, a landowner

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom of heaven

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these

Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you

The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God

You are not far from the kingdom of God

His kingdom will never end

The kingdom of God is within you

No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again

My kingdom is not of this world

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God

From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus…

Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves

Understanding the Kingdom of God

When I think of the word kingdom, I think of knights, castles, shining armor, and moats.  But I know Jesus wasn't talking about that.

So what is this kingdom he is talking about?

I think you can find it captured in a little prayer that all of us know pretty well...The Lord's Prayer.

Look at these 3 lines.

Your Kingdom Come

Your Will be done

On earth as it is in heaven

His kingdom is about God's will being done.  Where is His will fully carried out now?  In heaven.  Where is it not taking place?  On earth. 

We live in a broken world.  A place where things happen because of the world human kind has chosen to create.   A world where we freely choose our own will.  A world that is not the will of God.

The Kingdom is about bringing God's will to earth.  Jesus ushers in that kingdom.  How does that kingdom function within a broken world?  Read Matthew 5-7 and hear Jesus describe an upside down world where the poor are the blessed, where the humble inherit the earth, where the hungry and thirsty are satisfied, where purity is honored, where peace is embraced.

A place where hate is overcome, where lust is replaced with love, where divorce is not needed, where people are true to their word, where enemies are driven to their knees because of love, where the needy are restored, where we depart from worthless empty treasures, where we no longer worry, where we no longer condemn and judge.

The kingdom of God is about Jesus creating something beautiful inside a broken world.  The kingdom of God is about beauty growing amidst brokenness.

The kingdom of God is about restoring the earth and it's people to the way God first intended it to be.

It's about a collision of beauty with brokenness.

Seek first his kingdom.

Term 2 Ends

What We Know Least We Should Know Most

"Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."  Acts 28:31

Perhaps the 2 most neglected teachings today are the very 2 topics that Paul spent his time teaching.  When was the last time you heard a good sermon about the kingdom of God?  When was the last time your church fully entered the story of the life of Jesus as told in the Gospels?

If we are going to truly follow Jesus, we must be intimately acquainted with his stories and also the #1 topic he spoke on.

 

 

Changing the Conversation

Does the idea of presenting the Gospel to someone have to begin the same way? Do we need to ask the question, “if you were to die tonight, would you be certain you were going to heaven?” Do we need to ask them if they believe in God? Do we need to first debate his existence? Do we need to converse about evolution and debunk science to get things started? Is it necessary to ask them about eternity to really begin a significant conversation? Do we need to be debate carbon dating? Do we need to answer the problem of evil? Do we have to explain why bad things happen to good people? Do they have to believe in a heaven and hell and make a choice between the two?

If so, then sharing one’s faith is probably the most awkward conversation you will ever have. Who debates science in their every day life? Who asks you questions about death in your day to day life? Who brings up issues of carbon dating in their every day conversation? Who debates world religions in their common acquaintances?

What if you simplified your words? What if you focused the conversation? What if it was centered around one thing, one person? What if you asked your friend about Jesus? What if you focused on the things he did in his life? What if you gave it some time before you opened up your schpeel about sin, the cross, our need for God? What if you allowed someone to come to Jesus in the way that the disciples came to Jesus? They didn’t know the whole story. They weren’t prepared for what Jesus was about to do. They had no clue he would die. They were wrapped up in his life. They were amazed at who he was and what he did. They saw life in his life. They left their own lives because they saw a better life in him. It wasn’t because they feared death or burning in hell. It was because they wanted a richer life in a broken world.

Back Porch Christianity

If entering the life of following Jesus is like moving into a house, many of us have entered the house of Christianity through the back door.  We’ve walked around the backside of the house and made our home on the back porch patio.

The back porch is a pleasant place to be.  It is a great place to relax.  It is quiet and uninterrupted.  It allows for great privacy.  It is a great place of escape.  It is a place of safety.  It is removed from the noise and commotion of neighbors out on the street.  It is an escape from the world.

The back porch is a very welcoming place, but it is also not a place for strangers.  In the house of Christianity, it is the place where we "accept Jesus into our hearts".  It is the place where we come to understand the significance of Jesus dying on the cross for us.  It is where we come to realize we need a savior.  That we desire something more in life.  That we recognize there is a heaven where God resides.  That we desire to be reconnected to him there.  It is a very personal and dear place to us.

But this back porch comfort never gives us the time to see much of the house and all it has to offer.  We are ill acquainted with each room of the house.  We've never even walked out the front door to get acquainted with our surroundings.  We have essentially entered the house of Christ and never chosen to move in to all that it has to offer.  We also don't truly understand how that house can truly affect our neighborhood.  We’ve stopped short of entering and beginning to understand the bigger picture of what the house holds.  We have hardly made it our home.

It's the back porch of Christianity. It’s where many Christians live.  And the only objective while sitting on the back porch is to abide by the rules of the house and get more people to join you on the porch.  Back Porch Christianity: A bigger back porch party where everyone abides by the house rules.  Is that what its all about?

What if the misconceptions and stereotypes that stigmatize Christians today as judgmental, hypocritical, perfect, arrogant, (all the things that simply don’t reflect Jesus himself) are intimately related to how deeply we have applied ourselves to the full life of the one whom we follow?  Of the one whose house we reside in?  Jesus Christ of Nazareth. 

Do we truly know the one with whom we live?  Have we taken time to know his life?  Are we intimately acquainted with his Gospel stories?  Have we spent time in the rooms of his house to fully take on his life?  Do we understand how he would engage in his neighborhood?  Do we know how he would run his house?  Do we know how he would deal with conflict?  How we would manage his household?  How he would respond to tragedies in the home and neighborhood around us?  How he would take care of his property?  How he would conduct business?  What he would invest into the home?  What he would do when he was outside the home?  Who he would invite over for dinner?  Who would be his closest friends?  How he would throw a party?  Who he would invite?  What he would keep from entering the home?  What his reputation would be like in the community? 

To fully enter the house of Christ and make our home there, we must fully enter the Gospel stories to see how he lived and moved.  That involves getting off the back porch and moving throughout the whole house of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.