Skip to main content

Three Months!

             Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.  (Acts 19:8)

 

            I’ve heard that Charles Spurgeon wrote hundreds of sermons focused in some way on candles. I’ve also heard that people used to attend lectures and debates lasting several hours, then go home and discuss and debate the subject for several more. Now, if I don’t agree with someone in less than thirty seconds, I’m declared a Fascist. I have participated in discussions lasting multiple days via e-mail. A face-to-face discussion of the kingdom of God that lasted three months definitely has my admiration.

            Now, I’ll grant you that there were probably repetitions in the discussion. He might have only gone there for an hour once a week for three months. But the main point I get from today’s passage is that there is probably far more to be said or considered about the kingdom of God than we may first imagine. Even within this series of blog posts, we’ve leaped from harps, clouds, and streets of gold to the range of God’s influence.

            I suspect that if a person wished to, she could spend decades researching the kingdom of God as a particular subject. It would be like the story George Washington Carver told. “When I was young, I said to God, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‘That knowledge is reserved for me alone.’ So I said, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.” He went on to find more than 300 uses for the humble legume. (Note, peanut butter was actually first made by a Canadian – but GWC still deserves tons of respect – and other things he did were even more impressive.)

            The point is that anything we learn about the kingdom of God is probably a crystal on the snowflake at the tip of the iceberg. That doesn’t mean that we should ignore the topic, but our attention isn’t going to solve all of the questions or mysteries.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more