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Published: 17 January 2014

In January of 1973 I was 12 years old.  The highlight of my life that year was that I was old enough to buy a small game hunting license.  I wanted to hunt squirrels, rabbits, trap, fish and when I wasn’t doing that, lay around and do nothing.  I did not know what an abortion was or why anyone would have one.  Yet, in that same year, the Supreme Court of the U.S.A. ruled that it was legal to terminate the life of a baby human.  The propaganda of deceit began to roll out and we were being duped as a culture.  The baby human was referred to as a “fetus”, a “blob of tissue” or as “not human yet.”  Unsuspecting women in difficult situations were sucked into a profit-making machine and the consequences upon them and their families have been well documented.  I thank God for the Catholic Church and for Francis Schaeffer.  We were too late as a church at large to stop this madness on a political level but because a few brave souls had the courage to bring the deceit to our attention real strides have been made.  Crisis Pregnancy Centers have opened all over the country.  Ministries to post-abortive women, like Surrendering the Secret, have brought healing and wholeness to thousands of women who were in bondage to regret.  Churches have started doing what they should have done in the 60’s, raising awareness and learning to love those in need.  I just read this morning on a FB post that “hate the sin and not the sinner” is a motto we ought to dispense.  Hate language puts up a wall before the issues are even defined.  Let’s “love the sinner, not the sin.”  There are pregnant women in crisis situations that need our help.  There are babies that need to be adopted.  There are post-abortive women that feel rejected, lonely and guilty that need the healing of Jesus in their inner being.  There are millions of people “looking for love in all the wrong places” that need to know the incredible flourishing life that Jesus Christ has made available.  This is a Kingdom matter, the Kingdom of God is at hand…let’s live like He is present, active and available in these days of opportunity and join Him in the offer of life.

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Published: 09 January 2014

Sometimes that phrase is derogatory because whatever it was, we don’t want to do it again! Sometimes it is enthusiastic because we are ready to enjoy something a second or third time. Diane loves roller coasters; she would ride them all day if she could. She also likes “tubing” on the snow hills with the grandkids and “here we go again” is met with cheers! I’m not using that phrase for something that fun but I am using it for something important…our return to Matthew’s presentation of the King and His Kingdom. We left this study in November to study Advent themes but it is time to return….here we go again! Remember, Jesus is a different kind of King and therefore He administers a different kind of Kingdom. It is subversive in a way. Not rebellious but definitely “under the radar.” Since it doesn’t require the things earthly kingdoms require the only competition is for loyalty. Earthly kingdoms can have the money and fancy buildings but King Jesus is after hearts and hearts are often harder to obtain than money and buildings. The Kingdom of God exists wherever Jesus is enthroned as King. The evidence that He is our King is described in Matthew 5-7. People who are citizens of a different kind of Kingdom are different kind of people. They are becoming even more different as they obey the teachings of the King. In the next chapter of our study we’ll see that Jesus wants the Kingdom to expand. He called the disciples as apostles (sent ones) and gave them authority and ability to do what He did…proclaim the presence of God and bless the people who would receive it. We are not apostles in the strict sense today but we are apprentices and we can proclaim God’s presence and peace to a needy world. This Kingdom business can be confusing but I hope to bring some clarity this Sunday as the Lord allows. “Please take your Bible (or electronic device) and turn to Matthew 10…” Here we go again…