“So, What Comes Next?”
Good Morning Friends,
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God is intervening with an invitation in our everyday life to bring us what may be the penultimate expression of Christendom. Here in the tension of the past and the perfection of the future we are now wondering and asking, “So, What Comes Next?” Scripture: After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. |
Revelation 7:9 (NIV)
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12 (NIV)
Then Jesus said to him, ‘Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Matthew 26:52 (NRSV)
Message: The NFL playoffs are over and “Jesus is better than the Super Bowl,” says Seahawks Defensive Passing Game Coordinator Rocky Seto. Today is Martin Luther King Day and I would be remise if I did not share one of his quotes as well for they are so appropriate for the topic of today of not just what comes next but how we get to that next step. So here it is a quote from Martin Luther King: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” You know scripture to match that and so did the Reverend King. In light of the dream of the day which is really the dream of Christendom, I thought we should look out into the world to see how we are coming along, for imbedded in this topic is really the question of what the future holds for Christianity. Many books have been written which argue that secular forces will cause Christianity to become more liberal and less literal. Such claims may be provocative and appealing, but they don’t seem very credible in light of the actual demographic and geographic facts of where the church is growing especially in the South. But perhaps that too is changing as it did in the days of the Reformation led by King’s namesake. Still, what people put on forms and what they actually believe do, does not always match up. Still something is happening across the global South that is perhaps an enlightenment and overarching source of unity that might well transcend mere kingdoms and empires and nation-states…even here in the United States. That Christianity has endured is for a reason. God is advancing His Kingdom. Christendom was the primary cultural reference in the past and maybe it might just reemerge as such. Maybe religious loyalties will position themselves. Maybe what is taught in the school rooms and churches in this generation will become the reality of the government in the next. Perhaps to best decision is the right one, but even the wrong one may be better than none at all. So as Mother Teresa put it, “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”
Pray we wage war in the hearts of humanity. Pray we meditate on the words and actions of Jesus in a way so as to strengthen our will. Pray we unite with love to guide our hearts into peace. Pray we understand our past but live life forward.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 