Write down the revelation...

It’s bittersweet that this is the last Friday in July and the month’s posts which focussed on identity are over today. Over the past 8 posts (each Tuesday and Friday), we talked about being under the standard of heaven , being a saint , being in Christ , being a new creation , being covenant people , and being adopted .  We’ve covered many areas of identity but we’ve only gone ankle deep in understanding the full identity of who we are as Christians. We could go on (but we won’t). If I have one wish for humanity, it would be to understand who we are in Christ. If we understood, the church would be unstoppable and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. If we understood who we are in Christ, lives would be re-formed and we would walk in power and authority. If we understood, then the promises of Deuteronomy 28 would be manifest. If we understood, then we could know that we stand in worship and watch the victory that the Lord will bring ( 2 Chronicles 20 ). Every year on D...

I had a dream on Sunday, July 24. In the dream, I was looking at a People magazine and instead of the usual celebrity gossip and humanity stories, the entire magazine were descriptions of people’s churches, much like our topic this week on Kingdom Bloggers . I thought to myself, “How did David know this was going to run in People magazine the same week we were writing about it on our blog?” And I marvelled at how widespread the interest in finding a church was that even People magazine was printing stories along the same theme. I believe there is a day coming when the harvest is great and those people who see Jesus, the hope of the nations, will be looking for a church that will disciple them. How marvellous that will be. Until then, step into the shoes of Kingdom Bloggers writers for a Sunday and experience what we experience.

Have you ever wondered how Jesus felt around Joseph’s family while he was growing up? I’ve heard many sermons on how Mary was/is an excellent example of forsaking your own reputation for Jesus, and yet, I’ve never contemplated how Jesus might have felt. Yes, I’m sure it was difficult for Mary but more so for Jesus, I would think. He was a bastard, the one who didn’t belong, not like James his brother. Joseph might have accepted Jesus, but he had an angelic visitation, which is fairly compelling I’m sure. His family didn’t see or hear from an angel, what was their reaction? Did the grandparents splurge on birthday and Christmas gifts for Jesus, the same as his siblings – the real children of Joseph and Mary? I wanted 4 children but when I discovered that I couldn’t have [more] children (the story is told here ) and that my one child was a miracle – I contemplated adoption for about 3 seconds and decided I couldn’t do it. I love my Boy - so much that it feels like the love is using al...

The North American church gives Satan too much credit. Every time something goes wrong in our society, churches and families we think Satan has had his dirty hands in it all. The truth is Satan started something a while ago, and we have done the rest. Now he can sit back and watch us implode on ourselves and he hasn’t even had to do anything. It’s quite a genius plan - divide and conquer.  Even Jesus said even a house divided against itself will not stand. Genius, did I say that already? How, you might ask, is Satan dividing us? Denominations and doctrinal issues notwithstanding, individualism is killing us. We are designed for corporate relationship. Yes, I know, becoming a Christian is an individual decision that every man, woman and child must make, blah, blah, blah. But once the decision is made, we are born into a family, a body, a nation – all of which must bypass the individual for the effect of the whole. That’s kingdom living. In our western culture, we have difficulty t...

It’s Wednesday, and you know what to do: head over to Kingdom Bloggers and read this week’s theme on favourite worship songs. There are so many great worship songs – both old and new that it’s hard to pick a favourite. Instead of making a definitive choice, I prefer to comment on the worship song that is most meaningful for me at the moment. It changes, depending on what God is doing in my life. When we get in the car, my Boy insists on making me turn up the volume to listen to Misty Edwards’ song, People Get Ready . My Man might comment that his favourite is Michael W. Smith’s song, Blessed Be Your Name – not because it’s really his favourite but it never fails that in the two times a year that he comes to church with me, that song is in the line up – and has been for the past 5 years. At least it’s familiar to my Man and he can sing along with everyone else. If you want to know what my favourite song is and why, check out today’s post at Kingdom Bloggers .  Misty Edwards,...

It's been just over a month that you and I have had a relationship and I think it's time we make a decision - do we keep it between you and me, or should we open it up to other people. That's what I thought too. So, we're opening it up to other people and the first up is my brother by the same Father. I met David Johndrow the same way I'm meeting many of you - through a blog. We share a mutual love for Matt Appling's blog, The Church of No People . I liked his comments there, so I started lurking around his blog too. David has great vision and insight. I've learned a lot from him and I hope you'll love what he has to say here, and then be sure to check out his blog, Fire & Grace . ************* There are many way in which we identify ourselves. As Christians we have a new identity, but somehow we've been taught to live like sinners. As humans we do have frailties which the word of God has not yet been able to eradicate; some of...

I’m writing poolside, watching my Boy and his BFF tackle an inflatable Ogopogo (the Canadian version of the Lochness Monster, who according to myth lives in the Okanagan Lake). I like his friend and I give kudos to my Boy for picking a good friend. Good friends are important. They can either encourage us to do good things, or they can bring destruction upon us. We are still exploring the theme of identity, which has been our topic for the entire month of July (if you’ve missed some of the previous posts, click here or here to get caught up). If God says something is not good, we’re wise to take notice. In the first chapter and a half of the Bible everything God made was called good but in Genesis 2:18 God says something is not good for the first time – it’s not good for man to be alone.  Hold up. Is God saying that man, in this case, Adam, needs more relationship than just God? Hmm, that’s an interesting thought to ponder. Since I can’t cover the theological implications in les...