Near and Far Faith

Had a blast this weekend with Tony Cruz as he shared all weekend with us for our Student retreat - Ignition 2010. We missed the recording for Friday night, but here are the recordings for Saturday morning, Saturday night, and Sunday morning.

Ignite Students podcast - Saturday messages

Carpenter's Podcast - Sunday message

It's been a while. It's been on my heart for a few weeks to get back to this blog but the events of life have been intense and plentiful, in a good way. I'm currently working two other jobs besides pastoring at Carpenter's. Both are part time. One is as the Student Praise Band Advisor at Lehigh Valley Christian High School. I took this on at the after hearing about the need from Bob Brennan - the principal - whom I've bonded with through Lehigh Valley Unite. I've also begun my own home improvement business - Olive Tree Home Improvements. Couple those with a move to Nazareth a week from today and it's been a bit nuts, but who's life isn't?

I've been thinking about this and confused by it for some time and just today it's come to light more: what is the kingdom of God? It's used in different ways throughout scripture - inheriting it, seeing it, its "at hand". After some months of discovering various thoughts and prayers on this, here is my conclusion:

I was at first convinced that it was a way of life - following Christ and doing the things that Christ did in sacrifice and love. But recently I've seen that it simply doesn't fit with some passages. Through 1 Cor. 15 and some thoughts from "Desiring God" (which has been changing me), I've come to see that it is much bigger than that, while that is part of it. Simply put, it is the knowledge of God's glory - that being his greatness and love and compassion and... we could all go on. To inherit it is to know Him. The sacrifices from Matt. 13 fit in that it is far more valuable than all else.

This is the tip of the iceberg of these thoughts. I'd love to hear yours. It's good to be back on the blog.