Friday, February 22, 2008

The Kingdom of God

I've been preaching on the parables that Jesus gave in Matthew 13. In most of the parables Jesus begins by saying, "The kingdom of God is like..." All of these parables are here to explain how the kingdom of God is supposed to operate.

Jesus started out his ministry by proclaiming, "The Kingdom of God is near!" Ever wonder what he meant by that?

Take the Jew of that day. Back in the day there were prophets who would proclaim the word of God. They were the advisors to the King. They helped determine military strategy. Sometimes they were unpopular becasue they would tell the people when they were turning thier backs on God. Some were celebrated and others were hated. In the end though, God spoke through these prophets.

A problem arose though. After Nehemiah built the wall of Jerusalem the prophets were no more and God in effect went silent. All the grand miracles that God had performed went silent. All the advice for military battles was gone.

This silence from God lasted 400 years. Imagine that. Our nation is only a little over 200 years old. For the people in Jesus day God had essentially quit speaking directly to them a long, long, long time ago. The prophecies, the incredible events, God intervening on thier behalf, was just a mere history lesson.

Then, out of the blue, this guy from Galilee, not even Jerusalem, starts proclaiming the kingdom of God is near. He goes around the countryside performing these incredible miracles. People start noticing that he fits the description the prophets of old talked about. Could it be God was moving again?

Not only that Jesus gets up in a synagoge one day, reads one of the scriptures about the Messiah, and says I'm what this prophet is talking about. For some people this was to good to be true. God has been silent for 400 years and all of a sudden this guy comes along and says God's back?

Some believed though. Some understood. Some placed their faith in him.

Then this Jesus died and all his claims with him. Has God realy spoken again?

Then Jesus rose from the dead and ushered in a new Kingdom of God. A kingdom that includes you!

So I have a question for you. How do you see the Kingdom of God in your life? Jesus didn't die to be silent.

Kirk

Friday, February 15, 2008

To Good To Be True

Lisa and I had a great laugh on Valentine's Day. We are looking for a home but we have limited resources. So looking for a home takes patience and catching a break somewhere down the line.

The other night Lisa was looking at homes on the internet and she found a home on 3 acres for $30,000! Can you believe it! It was a nice home too.

Get this. The site said the average home in the area was $400,000! It was being sold at a -93% of the homes around it. Talk about your built in equity! This was too good to be true.

I decided to call the agent and I told him what the internet site said the price was. He said that was nice of them, but the actual price was $305,000! I told him if that was the actual cost I would buy it that night!

It was too good to be true.

Of course that got me to reflecting as I went to bed at night. Jesus said that I have some real estate waiting for me in heaven. He even went on to say I don't even have to pay for it. He already did with his blood. Plus, I know I have a home because he has placed a deposit called the Holy Spirit in my life. It's waiting for me. I thought that is to good to be true- but it is true!

Plus, this weekend is my Son's birthday. He's turning the double digits- 10! I just heard a comedian talk about birthdays. He says when you are a kind you'll say, "I'm 8 and a half" or "I'm 6 and 3/4's old!" You never hear a thirty year old say that, "I'm 36 and a 1/4!"

I would like to highlight Dietrich today since it is his birthday. I rememebr when he was born of course. It's been exciting to have a boy in my home. Never a dull moment. I hope he knows how much I love him. How much I believe in him. I think of the special gift from God that he is. He's a great gift from heaven. He really is too good to be true.

Kirk

Friday, February 1, 2008

Lisa's Trip to the Surgery

Lisa had her wisdom teeth taken out today. As many of you know this is quite the experience. I was the "escort." That means I get to play nurse to Lisa for the rest of the day.

The most interesting part of the trip was on the way there. The doctor's office was just off Battlefield Blvd. down near the Chesapeake Hospital.

For whatever reason traffic started backing up when we got on I-64 just off I-664. According to the road sign flashing it was backed up all the way to the high rise bridge. We were just sitting on the road and we knew we were going to be late for Lisa's surgery. We called ahead to the doctor.

When we go to the route 13 (painstakingly slow) exit we decided to get off not sure how to reroute the traffic. A lot of these roads are still new to us. We quickly determined we needed some help so we called Don Handyside for instructions. Before he could determine where we were on 13 south we somehow looped around and we found ourselves right back where we started at the I-664 to I-64 exit. Traffic was backed up even further now!

From there Don figured out where we were and gave us OnStar guidance to get around the traffic. He told us make sure you are in this lane and make sure you are headed this direction. He did an excellent job. We arrived at our doctor's office not to far off from our scheduled time.

This little adventure led me to this little spiritual thought. When you get stuck in your life, call up God. He will be the OnStar for your life. He will make your paths straight!

In Christ Alone,

Kirk