"Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen."
It may be significant that I have waited until my "retirement" from leading the Jesus Christians to get what I feel is a fuller revelation of what those final few words of the Lord's Prayer are all about. But it seems more than retirement that has led me to a deeper appreciation of these words during this past week.
I was going through a period of self-reflection, in which I saw myself as I really am, which is not very nice. I'm not talking about self-pity or condemnation, but just a realisation of the many areas of spiritual weakness in my life, not least of which was to see that I have so often thought that *I* was the one steering our community toward the truth when I was as much a part of our problems as anyone else. I won't go into a depressing description of the problems I have with pride, laziness, selfishness, and greed, just to name a few. But the end result was to look with despair at all that I have spent my life building and to think that we are all just so much hopelessness in our own efforts.
I thought about how Solomon had said that one can spend their whole life trying to build a kingdom, only to have it all be lost soon after they die. "All is vanity," he concluded. In my case, I could see how it does not even need to wait until after I am dead and gone, for I myself could be the source of derailment. It truly is a miracle that we have been able to achieve as much as we have so far for the kingdom of heaven, considering what God has to work with.
But ultimately, our organisation, i.e. the Jesus Christians, is going to fall flat spiritually. It'll happen... one way or the other. Yet all is not vanity, as Solomon said. Not when we recognise a greater kingdom than the ones we ourselves are building. The real kingdom, the one that will never fall, but will, instead, reach out and conquer all the other kingdoms of the world, is the one that belongs to our Father. Out of the ashes of our kingdoms, out of the ashes of our weaknesses, and out of the ashes of our humiliations will come his kingdom, his power, and his glory, and they will live on, forever and ever.
So be it.
Thine is the Kingdom * A very short lesson on this line from the Lord's Prayer, reminding us that it is God's kingdom and not ours that is going to last forever.
"Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen."
It may be significant that I have waited until my "retirement" from leading the Jesus Christians to get what I feel is a fuller revelation of what those final few words of the Lord's Prayer are all about. But it seems more than retirement that has led me to a deeper appreciation of these words during this past week.
I was going through a period of self-reflection, in which I saw myself as I really am, which is not very nice. I'm not talking about self-pity or condemnation, but just a realisation of the many areas of spiritual weakness in my life, not least of which was to see that I have so often thought that *I* was the one steering our community toward the truth when I was as much a part of our problems as anyone else. I won't go into a depressing description of the problems I have with pride, laziness, selfishness, and greed, just to name a few. But the end result was to look with despair at all that I have spent my life building and to think that we are all just so much hopelessness in our own efforts.
I thought about how Solomon had said that one can spend their whole life trying to build a kingdom, only to have it all be lost soon after they die. "All is vanity," he concluded. In my case, I could see how it does not even need to wait until after I am dead and gone, for I myself could be the source of derailment. It truly is a miracle that we have been able to achieve as much as we have so far for the kingdom of heaven, considering what God has to work with.
But ultimately, our organisation, i.e. the Jesus Christians, is going to fall flat spiritually. It'll happen... one way or the other. Yet all is not vanity, as Solomon said. Not when we recognise a greater kingdom than the ones we ourselves are building. The real kingdom, the one that will never fall, but will, instead, reach out and conquer all the other kingdoms of the world, is the one that belongs to our Father. Out of the ashes of our kingdoms, out of the ashes of our weaknesses, and out of the ashes of our humiliations will come his kingdom, his power, and his glory, and they will live on, forever and ever.
So be it.
blurb text goes here
main article text goes here
blurb text goes here
main article text goes here
"Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen."
It may be significant that I have waited until my "retirement" from leading the Jesus Christians to get what I feel is a fuller revelation of what those final few words of the Lord's Prayer are all about. But it seems more than retirement that has led me to a deeper appreciation of these words during this past week.
I was going through a period of self-reflection, in which I saw myself as I really am, which is not very nice. I'm not talking about self-pity or condemnation, but just a realisation of the many areas of spiritual weakness in my life, not least of which was to see that I have so often thought that *I* was the one steering our community toward the truth when I was as much a part of our problems as anyone else. I won't go into a depressing description of the problems I have with pride, laziness, selfishness, and greed, just to name a few. But the end result was to look with despair at all that I have spent my life building and to think that we are all just so much hopelessness in our own efforts.
I thought about how Solomon had said that one can spend their whole life trying to build a kingdom, only to have it all be lost soon after they die. "All is vanity," he concluded. In my case, I could see how it does not even need to wait until after I am dead and gone, for I myself could be the source of derailment. It truly is a miracle that we have been able to achieve as much as we have so far for the kingdom of heaven, considering what God has to work with.
But ultimately, our organisation, i.e. the Jesus Christians, is going to fall flat spiritually. It'll happen... one way or the other. Yet all is not vanity, as Solomon said. Not when we recognise a greater kingdom than the ones we ourselves are building. The real kingdom, the one that will never fall, but will, instead, reach out and conquer all the other kingdoms of the world, is the one that belongs to our Father. Out of the ashes of our kingdoms, out of the ashes of our weaknesses, and out of the ashes of our humiliations will come his kingdom, his power, and his glory, and they will live on, forever and ever.
So be it.
blurb text goes here
main article text goes here
blurb text goes here
main article text goes here
