The Eikon Podcast

How do we respond when we think other individuals or our church collectively needs to grow in an area? We can often fall into the trap of wanting to advance the kingdom of God within the life of our church community but do so through means that are not kingdom methods. Anger, frustration, impatience, and divisiveness, are not what God wants from or for his people. We will look at important principles in this special episode of how we can effectively respond when we would like to see change in the body of Christ. Of course, the Bible encourages us to confront inequity, call out sin, and to deal honestly with areas that have been neglected, but doing so with love rather than giving in to bitterness can make all the difference.  We will look at simple principles to help us strive for effective, loving and godly confrontation, when necessary, rather than falling into the biblical category of complaining which is not rooted in love or being constructive. 

It seems that our political discourse these days often devolves to the point where conversations end with unhelpful phrases like, "you're an idiot." But how did Jesus manage have followers like Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector that could not have been on further ends of the political and philosophical ends of the spectrum? What did they have to give up in order to truly embrace the kingdom of God and represent and reflect it in every area of their life? We will look at those questions today as well as how Christianity in the West began the journey from a strictly kingdom enterprise to becoming intertwined with empire itself.

The incredible song played at the end of the episode is an original song written and performed by the PsalmBirds, a multigenerational, multiracial band of brothers in the Syracuse Regional Church of Christ who love to play socially distant porch concerts!

Lyrics:
Celebrate Diversity 

(Verse1)

Our mission from on high

To spread the message far and wide

A quest to reunite

Every people, every tribe

The gathering of nations

From all ends of the earth

Into a kingdom of one

That transcends all class or culture 

And gives everyone worth

Proclaiming ultimate love!

(Chorus)

Celebrate diversity

We’ve been made exquisitely

Beautiful and colorfully 

We are one!

We are one!

(Verse 2)

Just look around and see

Dividing walls, disunity

And what of you and me?

Are we truely family?

Do we seek to understand

Or merely hold to our stance

Before the truth is revealed?

If we’re too caught up to listen 

then we haven’t a chance

To know each other for real

(Chorus)

(Bridge)

Jesus said

To love your neighbor

As yourself

You better check yourself!

(Repeat)

No matter what your creed

We’re called to love in word and deed

To elevate each other 

Cause we’re all a band of brothers

The earliest Christians believed that the most important piece of evidence demonstrating the truth of the claims of the gospel was that the Christian communities lived out the kingdom as a radical alternative to anything that they would see in the world. If they did that, people would take notice. With that in mind, they felt it was of the utmost importance to create a kingdom habitus in the churches. This impacted both their approach to evangelism and their engagement in the politics of the world. 

Today we have an exhilarating conversation with  Jon Veal and Jordan Campbell of Alt_Chicago (Alt Space Chicago) and Bill Barberg of Insight Formation. These are devoted followers of Jesus making a big impact in their communities and the world as they live out the values of the kingdom and embrace being the alternate community of the kingdom in practical ways. This will encourage and inspire you to examine what doors the Spirit might be opening for you to go 'be the kingdom'.

You can find more information about Bill and his organization at: www.insightformation.com

You can learn more about Jon and Jordan's vision and work at: altspacechicago.com

You will not want to miss this episode! We are joined today by a collection of amazing younger people that share their thoughts on the state of faith in their generations and what they need from older Christians. You will be inspired, informed, and grateful for Jesus, his kingdom, and the wisdom and insight of these followers of Jesus. 

Our special guests are Santiago Rios, a 23-year old grad student at UC-San Diego; Kendall Baldwin, a 26-year old manager of U.S. Chapter Relations for H.O.P.E. Worldwide; Valerie Holland, a 17-year old high school student in Rock Island, IL and member of her church's diversity committee; Jordan Massey, a 31-year old Campus Minister for the North River Church in Atlanta; and Bryant Viegut, a 21-year old engineering major at the University of Minnesota.

In the book of Revelation we find an epic battle between the team of the Dragon and the Beast against the Lamb. This is not just a fantastical story about animal wars, but a way to challenge the allegiance of our hearts and minds. The Beast can be far more tempting than we think and we can find ourselves living out the role designated for the people of the Beast, all the while sure that we are fully allegiant to the Lamb. We will take the time to examine this as well as begin to look at the important role laid out for kingdom people and what it means to be an alternate community. 

The New Testament says that kingdom people are exiles in the present age.   Join Jason and I as we talk about what this identity means and how it helps us find the balance between being in the world but not of the world.

Does the Bible get it wrong on one of the most fundamental and obvious issues of human dignity and freedom? Does it condone slavery? Don't miss the incredibly enlightening conversation on those questions and more with Dr. Richard Rodriguez of Florida International University, author of "An Unsealed Indictment: How American Slavery Violated the Scriptures." We will also consider how answering these questions helps us start to think about ways that Christians can engage with the world in areas of political partisanship and justice.

Go to www.r2rockpublishing.com to get a copy of Dr. Rodriguez's book.

Join me today as I talk with Dr. Jamila Michener, a follower of Jesus and professor at Cornell University. We talk about the prisoner education program at Cornell of which she is a big part, and much more.

Note: We recorded during a blizzard which led to major Zoom disruptions and a few other technical difficulties so please bear with the roughness of this episode. But there is so much enlightening and uplifting information from Dr. Michener, that it is well worth wading through the glitches.

We have become so convinced and discipled by the culture that political power is the only way to make any real change in the biggest issues of society, that visions of the kingdom that strive to use means and methods of the kingdom rather than politics are often accused of doing nothing or withdrawing from the world. Or we give our loyalty and energy to political passions because surely partisan politics is the only way to get anything done in the social realm.  Yet, the reality is that the kingdom has the path to true change that the politics and ways of the world simply do not have access to. Join us in this episode as we examine what that path is.