The Blog About All Things Kingdom. THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE YOUNG ADULTS OF THE LaGRANGE DISTRICT OF THE NORTH GEORGIA CONFERENCE OF THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH.
Apple Founder and Chairman Steve Jobs didn’t invent the mp3 player. Or the computer. Or the cell phone. But, what did he do? He re-imagined the mp3 player, the computer, and the cell phone to such an extent that when that vision was actually come to fruition, it changed peoples’ lives. They caught on to the vision (quite literally) and it was made plain to them in a way that they believed in, bought in to and were amazed and impacted daily by the vision once realized. The mp3 player, computer and cell phone were already there, as is the good news of all that Jesus Christ did for us is and has been for 2,000+ years. But where is the guy or gal that is bringing a revolutionary message that people can catch on to? Not physically, like we hold on to an iphone, but felt in all aspects of our daily living. Why does it feel like the church is still dealing with eight track tape players and rigged up 1950s-era telephones? Wherever that guy or gal is, I would follow them in a heartbeat. Until then, we all should try to be them.
My cousin just sent me this email, and it really speaks to how selfish we are as a society. To make it more personal, I’ll say I realized just how selfish I AM in my thoughts after reading this:
A Holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, ‘Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.’
The Lord led the holy man to two doors.
He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in.
In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it impossible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.
The Lord said, ‘You have seen Hell. They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one.
There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The holy man said, ‘I don’t understand.’
‘It is simple,’ said the Lord… ‘It requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other. The greedy think only of themselves.’
Were you able to guess the business that this coupon is from? Last week, we posted this post with an image of a coupon that said “Join the Kingdom Today”, and offered to give a prize to whoever guessed correctly which restaurant the coupon was from. We had one person guess Burger King, which was a good guess given the ‘King’ references, and was very close. The image below is the complete coupon, and if you go to Smoothie King a lot, you would have gotten this right!
An invitation to join the Kingdom of God? No, but it still reads like it!
It’s still amazing how close the coupon is to a church flyer with a Biblical theme, though.
My wife brought this coupon to my attention a few weeks ago as an idea to blog about. It’s from one of her favorite restaurants, which she frequents. The way it reads, it almost looks like an invitation to join The Kingdom of God! Check out a portion of the coupon below, it reads, “Join The Kingdom Today… You’re invited to sign up… You’ll find it’s nice to know the King by first name.” Yes indeed, it is definitely good to know THE KING by his first name: JESUS!
Which restaurant is this from? Be the first to leave a comment and guess correctly and win a prize!
Let’s play a game: If you can tell me or guess correctly which restaurant this is from, you will win a prize! Leave a comment if you think you have it, and my wife and I will mail you something! In the next blog post, I’ll show the entire coupon so you can see if you got it right.
As I told you a few weeks ago, every Sunday during announcements we do a joke at church. People send me these all the time to see if they will make the cut. Here’s the latest one I received:
A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection.
The tailgating woman was furious and honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.
As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up.
He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.
He said, ‘I’m very sorry for this mistake. You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.’ I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk.
So naturally…I assumed you had stolen the car!”
It’s like my work Bible study teacher always says… God is still working on his attitude dealing with the drivers on 285! He said he won’t put a fish symbol on his car until he can act right on 285!!
(And thanks to my cousin Lisa for sending the joke! The joke reminds me of the two-faced Christian.)
You might remember in last year’s Super Bowl there was another amazing catch that went down as one of the greatest plays in NFL history. With less than two minutes left in the game and his team trailing, wide receiver David Tyree of The New York Giants leaped up and somehow pinned the football to his helmet with one hand and came down with it. Little did we know that this would be the stage Tyree would use to give all the glory to Jesus Christ.
First, watch a one minute clip of the unbelievable play below, then see Tyree’s testimony below that.
**Newsflash! Breaking News!!** There is No Recession! You won’t hear this from the President, the Senate or Congress, but it’s true. There is no recession because we believe in The Kingdom of God, and there could never be a recession in The Kingdom.
I wish I could take credit for this note, but I heard it on the Coco-Brother Live Show last night. That’s right, on the same day that over 71,000 jobs were lost, Coco proclaimed that there was no recession, and during his entire three hours on the air, had business owners and hiring managers calling in with job openings. Remember during these times, Philippians 4:19: “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. “
As I exited church yesterday, I was reminded that I was free to come and go to church as I pleased, and to worship Christ whenever, wherever, and however I wished, for the most part.
I watched an interesting story called “Jesus In China” on PBS Frontline/World on my ipod on Friday, and it really makes you think. The story detailed how some of our Chinese brothers and sisters in The Body of Christ have to worship in underground caves and discreet houses. They interviewed a pastor who was charged with being a counter-revolutionary and disturbing social order. That reminded me of Paul.
While there were some open churches, the story reported that religion is controlled by the government, and there were strict “rules” of worshipping in government-supported churches. One leader of an underground church said that he was told by an official that he “had to worship Jesus following the regulations of the country.” He responded, “If I follow what you say, then I don’t need to worship Jesus, I should worship you!”
The beautiful thing is that The Gospel is being spread, and new believers are coming into the kingdom, and we know that God will “bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 13:47), (Isaiah 49:6) One pastor said, “The next 30 years will be the age of The Gospel [in China].” Let’s keep our brothers and sisters in China lifted up.
Check out the full nine minute video here. What would you do in this situation? Would we be willing nowadays to risk years in jail and persecution for worshipping in what we consider to be in Spirit and Truth? I had to really ask myself this question. What are your thoughts?
During this past Sunday’s message, my pastor said, “Be the same on the inside of the church as you are on the outside.” There are a lot of Christians who have what I call a “church face” on Sunday, and then they “flip it” the rest of the week and take on a whole different, unrecognizeable personality. It reminded me of this great Southwest Airlines Commercial that I have seen a lot recently. I thought I’d share it with you as a reminder to be the same, as Christ was, at all times! See the video below:
