Don't forget ...

If you would like to talk about what you read (or be a part of discussion of the concepts from the book Kingdom Principles), there will be a church-wide discussion about the book on Sunday, April 11th at 3pm in the sanctuary (23 park place).

In God (Save the Queen) We Trust: Mr. Henry on Kingdom Keys and Citizenship

There are not many times in my life that I would tell you that “God spoke to me”. But I really do believe that this was one of those occasions:

As I stood in this small town university’s bookstore, I fumbled around in my pockets hoping I had enough change to walk out of there with some piece of life-changing literature. I don’t even remember what I was trying to buy or why I was so desperate to make this purchase that I was down to counting my last nickels and dimes (yes, we actually used “money” back then, remember those days?). I looked down in my hand and saw my old friends: George Washington, FDR, Thomas Jefferson, all the usual suspects. Then I happened upon a newcomer, a woman. I had no idea who she is. I stared at this copper coin for a moment trying to figure out if the U.S. had issued a new penny. Then I flipped it over and saw the maple leaf.

That’s when my God-moment happened. I didn’t hit the floor of feel any particular wave of divine energy. I just heard “voice” – more like, a gentle impression – that spoke deep within me. “Do you know what Andre,” this gentle Presence whispered to me, “that Canadian penny your holding is ‘holy’.”

There is no lesson I’ve learned about what it means to be a Kingdom citizen that has impacted me as much as that moment. That Canadian penny was among other forms of currency in my hand, yet remained intrinsically different from the rest: The inscriptions and images engraved on it were different. The political system it represented – different. Its monetary value – different. Even the culture and value system of the people it represents, different. Yet there it was, in my hand.

As I reflect on Dr. Munroe’s words about the keys to the Kingdom and citizenship, this moment comes back to my mind. Because ultimately, I believe that we are called to be like that penny: to bear His image and inscription, to take on His value system, and to somehow mysteriously be a carrier of the Presence of Jesus in the world. The real key is to love God and love people as often as we have the opportunity, even when most of those opportunities just feel like conflict, opposition, and painful sacrifice. As he says – and I paraphrase – the way we live will show that we are citizens of the Kingdom.

Blessings,

Andre

Group Discussion

If you would like to talk about what you read, there will be a church-wide discussion about the book on Sunday, April 11th at 3pm in the sanctuary (23 park place).

Kingdom Concepts 6 & 7: Understanding the concepts of Keys and Citizenship (Chapters 9 & 10)

This time Munroe opens asserting these scriptures (earlier likened to constitution) are the 'keys of the kingdom' and that we should know them, these truths, and, as the verse goes, they will set us free ... free to exert God's power authority, influence, 'on earth as it is in Heaven'. The problem, Munroe suggests, is that we have these keys but don't know how to use them. In watching Jesus, we see the miraculous as commonplace like feeding many with little, healings, wisdom and power beyond the logic of immediate circumstance, calm in the eye of the storm. This often defies my own experience. Munroe says when one knows the blessings and how they work, 'God will bring you wealth without sorrow.' This 'wealth without sorrow' could have been for the rich young ruler, whom Jesus instructed to sell his belongings but (I think Munroe is suggesting) the ruler's focus was on his own personal wealth and not Jesus. I often bristle at the idea of wealth and the confusion between God and our perceptions of it. I believe in God's provision as much as He has naturally and otherwise intervened in my life. But certain poverties have caused my faith, reliance on, and knowledge of God to grow and stretch in amazing ways. Anyway, if scripture is the key to knowing the Jesus of the Bible and how to live; I can get behind that.

As for citizenship, if we knew and lived the 'keys of the kingdom', Munroe suggests people would be 'clamoring' to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. But when we are compelled to follow Christ, our citizenship is immediate. And I don't think that but for God's grace and allowance, we would want that relationship regardless of what His subjects had to offer.

I do like the idea of the church as an embassy. I never thought of it that way before. Heaven's embassy for 'aid, training, and equipping.' Others will know not from where we hail but by our words and actions over time ... breeding a culture that is in but not of or from the world. And what about it ... next week, I guess.

Cornerstone + Kingdom Principles (Chapter 7-8)

Constitution, law, testament, will- in our society are dry and bland words associated with authority and depending on which party is dishing it out, we may listen or discard them.

We may see a law is put in place to maintain order and if the law is violated, consequences whether a fine ($$) or jail time is the reward.

In the Kingdom of God, the law and constitution has a deeper connection. A Kingdom constitution is stamped with the essence of the nature, character, and personality of the King.

His Love for us has made it possible for us to be reconciled through his son, Jesus. – Are you as blown away as I am by this?

Think about it, He has a plan:

• It involves us having dominion over the earth
• Us, as mankind, falling
• Our King sending Jesus as our Savior to reconcile that connection with Him that was broken due to our rebellion
• Us, continuing to be called his Royal Children

He knew this all along, and did it anyway. Why? His love for us is this GREAT.

Obedience
By obeying God’s laws, it means living in willing submission to Him as King & Lord & honoring His word as the unchanging standard of reference for our lives.

We contemplated on what Myles Munroe wrote, “Unwritten Law is the product of the Spirit of the Law.”

How does this relate to our lives now? Is it possible? Yes, by Walking in the Spirit.

The Big Question that came up in our discussion Wednesday night, “How do you know you are Walking in the Spirit?”

To each one of us, it’s different.

We shared our experiences of what it felt like and how it came to be; these “being led by the Spirit” moments and how can we Walk in the Spirit all day, everyday....the connection with God is so vital.

I’ll share mine though it can’t be put into words that could accurately describe it. It can start with a tug (spiritually and could be physically).

Tuesday night, I had planned to go home and pack my suitcase for my trip, but God had other plans- or better yet, His original plan was for me to go to Astoria from the Bronx after work.

A friend of mine had told me earlier that she had just found out that her husband was cheating on her. I didn’t know what to say-I’ve never been married and this has not happened to me. I asked God to give me His ears to listen and His truth to speak when He chose- Not my own ideas/words. I asked for his wisdom to do as He wanted.

The next thing I knew, I was on the 6 to 59th street and on the W to Astoria.

On the ride over I asked God to not let me speak or give advice, but to let Him take complete control. “God, you drive, I may wreck this car.”

Arriving to her apartment I felt as though I was being fitted with a supernatural and invisible body of armor. I felt peace and direction with every step that I took to her apartment.

She spoke and I listened. As I listened I thought, "Jesus Christ, you were here before I arrived, you were here as I rode the subway, and are here as we sit on this couch."

The tiredness I felt earlier was forgotten and a few hours later I had more energy then when I had left the Bronx.

Walking in the Spirit is different for each individual. How have you been led by the Spirit?

Understanding the Kingdom Concepts of Constitution and Law

So . . . Munro suggests that a kingdom cannot be a kingdom without a constitution, likening, in my opinion, it’s role to something akin to a mission statement for a nation or kingdom saying this is who we are and what we believe. Whereas, in a republic, this constitution is penned and inspired by its people and their majority-rule will and desire, a kingdom’s constitution is the king’s (or queen’s) will for its people. It is a unilateral, one-sided, contract of promises to the kingdom’s people. You better hope the king is good. In God’s kingdom, that constitution is also known as the Bible. And God brought forth this type of constitution and agreement to Adam and Abraham (as examples, and in verbal form, predating written word and law, which we will get to) saying these were His promises and what they could expect if they entered into the contract (by obeying and agreeing to God’s constitution for them. Now, in case you were worried, the contract maker, the King, the Creator, God has, “plans to prosper you and not harm you … to give you a hope and a future … you will seek Me and find Me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jer 29:11-14.

There has always been law, however before the fall it was God’s natural implicit, imprinted law, God’s principles built into our hearts as a result of being created in His image. Everything in creation moved to this rhythm of God’s natural law before the fall.

Because, we have forgotten/ignored His law as a result of our falling, God commanded it be written down as His will manifest to remind us who we are, to allow us to see we cannot be made righteous by the law alone, and to see from where (God’s kingdom) we’ve fallen. So the Word is His will manifest in the Bible and in Jesus. It is God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16) and eternal (Psalm 119:89) and unchanging (Luke 16:17). God and his constitution (the Word) do not exist without one another. I can’t hope to explain that right now. However God will act in His character and do what He promises in His Word (even though it doesn’t always make perfect sense to our limited understanding).

It’s written form is a reminder to us, if our focus is on obedience to it’s Author, to direct our attention to the principles/Principal behind them. If we understand God’s implicit principles we are less inclined to depend on our own (mis)interpretation of His laws and can live and obey in such a way that God can allow us the freedom (and purpose) He created us for.

In it, we learn of God and His character through His acts and what He promises to, and expects from, us if we (by His grace) enter into this contract with Him. We see how to live in this plane as ambassadors of His kingdom in all arenas of this present life.

Cornerstone + Kingdom Principles (Chapters 1-6)

Cornerstone is currently reading & discussing the 40 day devotional, Kingdom Principles, each Wednesday.

Yesterday's discussion focused on the following:

• Priorities: God's & Ours- Do they align?
• Bible: A King, A Kingdom and A Royal Family of Children - Whoa, really?
• Binding & Loosing: The Power of Prayer given to us by God to intervene - Do you believe this?
• World mindset vs Kingdom mindset: Thinking like a Kingdom Citizen - How does this happen?

When faced with the topics above, one member stated, "Whoa, that's a lot of responsibility!" others also agreed, but we understood that it cannot be done without God.

Sometimes we let the overwhelming feeling of this possible burden take over our minds and even give up before beginning. God is waiting for us to invite him in and to ask for his guidance in every aspect of our lives, so why not for the TOP PRIORITY to God- The Kingdom of God.

A few statements from the devotional really impacted our discussion:

• Life's greatest challenge is in knowing what to do
• Life's greatest failure is to be successful in the wrong assignment

These statements really hit us to the core.

Where are we now? What have we been doing? Are we really where God has placed us or are we standing on the sidelines? When God shows us 'this is where I want you to be', do we hesitate because it isn't what we want or because we don't feel worthy to be the ones chosen?

Power of Prayer.....God has given us dominion over the earth and He cannot break that covenant, so we must invite Him in to intervene. This is something that blew us away, we might have known this, but was not as real as last night when we all discussed the importance of this gift & privilege. If you haven't read this, please go to Page 120-122 and discover or rediscover what our Lord has given us and how important it is!

Matthew 4:17 as summarized by Myles Munroe: Change your mind! Stop thinking like the world with its inadequacies and inequities, and start thinking like a kingdom citizen!

KINGDOM PRINCIPLES (covering chapters 5 & 6)

Understanding the Kingdom Concept of Lord and Territory. “If kingship has to do with authority, then lordship has to do with ownership” The lordship of a king speaks to that over which the king has power. Because our king, God through Christ, has dominion over His creation (heaven and earth), it is not ours but His. Munroe claims, ‘not only does a king possess the authority to distribute his property anytime … he also can switch his property from one person to another.’ We are merely stewards of those things the Lord blesses us with, which releases us from the anxiety and effort of trying to maintain that ownership and should nurture a generosity fuelled by the knowledge that, “He, who has no limitations, can replace what we give to others.” It is giving when you have little that is the greatest acknowledgement of His lordship over your life.

So God has given us dominion over earth and what we do with that privilege of being our Lord’s regents or representatives or stewards or ambassadors on earth is up to us. We relinquished our kingship over it with the fall of Adam. So Christ came as man to return that gift to us. Because of this gift and responsibility we should not be so cavalier as to blame God when “bad” things happen as a result of our own decisions and actions. We are often directly to blame for these events; implicitly or explicitly, as we cannot sin in a vacuum. Our actions never affect us alone. But God wants to intervene and waits for us to ask in prayer so that his, “will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

KINGDOM PRINCIPLES (covering chapters 3&4)

Kingdom Culture. We are supposed to make a difference - a difference that is immediately detected. We are building for the Kingdom that is influencing culture; advancing God's agenda. Why adopt a God-perspective if no one can tell the difference between God's point of view and the best morality human beings can muster? Kingdom works means Christians are actively involved in Kingdom endeavors in every aspect of their lives. They operate exclusively under the assumption that God is in charge and the only real job is to hear what He has to say and do what He asks. Operating in Kingdom principles means to listen and obey. The Greek word "Epignosis" is "knowing by intimate interpersonal experience." It is a relational response - that is how we advance the Kingdom of God. It is His Kingdom and our relationship with the King.

KINGDOM PRINCIPLES (last week's newsletter - covering chapters 1 &2)

"Meeting human needs is the premise of all religions...their primary focus is on the needs of the worshiper."

I believe that this is a crucial point to be grasped here at the beginning of our reading. We must understand that our attempt to live out the kingdom principles in this book cannot be another misguided attempt to meet our own human needs through yet another "God-sanctioned" process or system of thought. We must firmly commit ourselves to the proposition that it is all about God and His rule over the earth. If we don't understand this at the onset of our reading we run the risk of inadvertently placing ourselves on the throne meant for God, the one true King. We must be careful to remember that we are seeking to establish His kingdom and not our own. We are to be citizens of the Kingdom, not shoppers looking for the best deal around. When we enter the Kingdom of God we are seeking the governing influence of the King.