The Kingdom of God has come right in on top of the United States of America.  This means the U.S. Constitution is not the Bible: the pledge of allegiance does not replace or rival the confession, Jesus is Lord.  The Kingdom’s presence here and now demands spiritual discernment on the part of Christ’s disciples in a culture in which politics has become a divisive religion for many.  Come and explore with us the challenges of living in the creative tensions of the Kingdom.

We are like little fish that do not know they are swimming in water.  Most of us think we make our own decisions independent of this culture.  In fact each of us are living in a technological culture of overpowering cross currents.  The wider culture declares morality is what you feel it is, moral truth does not exist outside the self, and the right to choose is our only moral absolute.  Legally, we live in a Constitutional Democracy with separated powers and a strong bill of rights.  So how does the church navigate these waters?  Come and explore these challenges with us.

Polycarp’s witness/martyrdom in 156 A.D. in Smyrna has enriched and emboldened the church for centuries.  We live in a Church of rich tradition, handing down from one generation to the next the Faith once-for-all delivered to the saints.  Polycarp stood strong in the public square and lovingly told the truth, announced the Gospel, and made the ultimate sacrifice.  Why did he do it?  Could he have gone a different direction?  Come and explore with us the clash of authority structures at the heart of the confrontation in Smyrna that day and how it speaks to us today.

Too often we hide our sins and advertise our virtues. No wonder the world is turned off by our scandals and hypocrisies.  Yet God is calling and using the Church of “broken pots,” confessed sins, continual repentance, and conviction to be “ambassadors” of heaven, living in an “embassy” (church), doing the “diplomacy” of the Gospel.  We are also called a “colony of heaven” that lives in the Spirit to extend the presence and influence of the heavenly homeland.  Come and explore with us how God uses “broken pots.”

Donald Miller of ‘Blue Like Jazz’ fame recently declared “I Have Graduated From The Church.”  I love his writings but I disagree with him on this issue.  The Bible I read does not ever describe God giving out diplomas to church dropouts.  If we seek a perfect Church we always end up in a church of one.  But if we seek the kingdom we always live in the “weeds and flowers” church.  The issue is simply this:  Does Jesus live in the “weeds and flowers” church?  Come and explore these questions with us.

Alisdair Mcintyre said, “In order to know what I must do I must know what story I am living in and what part I play.”  Do you believe that?  I do.  Also do I know what the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus mean until I know the “back story” Jesus walked into?  So what is the “back story” and have I put my little story inside this story?  Do I know what part I am to play now?   Come and explore these questions with us.

Forty one times in John’s Apocalypse, the unveiling, the Lord God is described as sitting on a throne.  Twenty eight times a slaughtered Lamb is depicted as standing at the right hand of the Lord God on the throne.  What did these symbols say to their original readers?  What possible relevance could such a bizarre book have for us who ride the Elephant of the Republican Party or the Jack Ass of the Democratic Party today?  Come and explore these questions with us.