"KING ME!" When I came to this community 33 years ago, Miami Beach was on a downward spiral - which had a very negative effect on the church. The congregation dwindled, the funds lessened. I realized that I would have to be the glue to hold things together until the City itself turned around. That came to my mind when I read this commentary on our Scripture lesson from the first chapter of Colossians: "The historical Jesus is here being proclaimed as that grand beginning point of a whole new creation that will displace the old. In verse 17, the most sweeping claim for this new king of creation is that "all things hold together in him" Christ the King is the glue that keeps the cosmos together." I don't know about you, but I think we're hanging on by a thread -as a result of the direction in which we're going ecologically and politically - we could drown ourselves or blow ourselves up if we don't change. The Apostle, Paul could pray the same prayer for us he prayed for the Colossians: "This is what we pray - that you will know fully what God wants; that with your knowledge you will also have great wisdom and understanding in spiritual things; that this will help you live in a way that brings honor to the Lord and pleases him in every way, that your life will produce good works of every kind and that you will grow in your knowledge of God, that God will strengthen you with his own great power, and that you will be patient and not give up when troubles come." The basis for "understanding spiritual things" is to understand who Jesus is. Not everyone within the sound of my voice will agree with me as to my understanding of who Jesus is. Despite my liberal stance on social issues and my belief that God Is Still Speaking, thus setting aside some things we have heard or read before - even in the Scriptures - I have a very high Christology. I personally believe that Jesus was present at the right hand of the Heavenly Father when all that is was created. "Without him was not made anything that was made" as John the gospel writer put it. I believe what the same gospel writer proclaimed that Jesus was the "expression of God" the "Word" of God - that He was with God and was God or as our text today Colossians 1:15 puts it, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." I believe that when Jesus was here on Earth, God was here on Earth - that to know what Jesus is like is to know what God is like - that although He had the power to wipe out and destroy any of His enemies or those of the Jews, or those of mankind, - he chose to demonstrate the power of loving sacrifice - the giving of Life rather than the taking of life. If we as Christians were doing our job, our nation would be spending as much on peace as they are on war. At a minimum, we should be working as aggressively to bring peace as we are to bringwar. Our Department of Peace should receive as much in finding as our Department of War. Our denomination, the United Church of Christ has the right idea - currently collecting money to provide assistance to the over four million people who have been displaced by the Iraq War - two million internally and two million who have fled to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. On a personal level, you miss a world of peace and tranquility by not living daily in the context of Who Jesus Is - King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Who or what is Lord of your life? Constantine became a "Christian" and made Christianity the official religion of the State and Christianity has been going down hill ever since. Christianity was defined, trimmed, smoothed and changed to fit imperial policy. It allowed Constantine to continue to rob kill, burn, fight and execute. What is wrong with that picture. What is wrong with our picture. To bring "our picture" into focus and to take our first step on our journey to "real" Christianity, we have to see that Jesus is the King of Kings. Knowing that Jesus is "King of Kings" means that YOU are "a child of the King