Red Pool Scuba

Hey, if you are reading this, it's probably because I know you some how and I enjoy having people read my stuff out of a narcissitic need to receive praise. In the words of Mike Thompson, I have a pride problem.

While the above is true, (I really do have a pride problem, but doesn't everybody? More on that later and how I think it's really the only sin--- ever), I am loathe to think this blog is going to consist entirely of Hobbit bashing. (PS for those of you who don't know me, I'm about 2 feet tall. Okay that's an exaggeration but I'm still really short--- I'm okay with that, really....) I'd rather pursue God with some people on the net than talk about how much I suck. Seems like most of Christian culture is consumed with the idea God thinks we suck, I don't like that. God told us in Ezekiel that He gave us a new heart (Hebrew: heart, seat of mind, reason, inmost core analogous to the hard drive on a computer) and a new spirit (Hebrew: Spirit, wind, what animates you, what makes you able to use your inmost core (your heart) in the variety of situations that the world puts you in, analogous to the processor of a computer). Yet he doesn't erase us either so we become Christianized robots. We become ourselves, free of the monkey wrenches we throw in the machine God made- sin.

But I get way ahead of myself. What I really want to talk about is the the Kingdom of God. The Greek for Kingdom means "rule" or "reign". The idea that it was coming, according to Jesus, was the Gospel. Not a set of four laws in the back of a book or a prayer you pray. Sure joining this Kingdom gets you into Heaven, but that's not why you join this Kingdom, you join to ADVANCE it.

What does advancing this Kingdom look like? I have no idea. Hopefully we could start discussing that here, you (my fellow bloggers) and myself. One thought to leave you with however.
Dallas Willard, in his book The Divine Conspiracy says that Chrisitians fall into two equal and opposite errors about the Kingdom. 1) they assume it's consists entirely of eternity and all their efforts are to get people to Heaven, ignoring the here and now 2) they assume it consits entirely of social justice, ignoring eternity. What does reconciling the two look like? hmmmmmmmmm


PS reading presently Mark 14:22-26, any thoughts?