"We know that when the gospel of the Kingdom is preached to all nations, then the end will come... Until then, we have a responsibility —given to us by Jesus — to bear witness to His coming Kingdom. We have been commissioned by the Lord to preach the gospel to all nations. And to do so while living lives consistent with the Sermon on the Mount. The timing we leave to Him, but the obedience is still on us."
“the identity of the Church is bound to the history of the Jewish people.” and because of that, it is vital that we have a right understanding of this fact: “God’s discipline of Israel has always been, and will always be, with the purpose vindicating His name and winning back His wayward son. The coming trouble is no exception.”
“Sometimes we overthink what this needs to look like, in the same way William Wilberforce very nearly abandoned a strategic and influential political position because he’d elevated the dignity of vocational ministry above any other job. But can you not bear witness while you serve in Congress? Can you not bear witness as a cafe barista? Shouldn’t you though, wherever you are? Surely there are gardens to plant in Babylon.”
…immediately upon disobeying, both the man and woman in the Garden were staring down the barrel of their own mortality. Immediately, we knew we were standing on our own graves. The very dirt we came from would be the dirt that buried us. But the man in the Garden, Adam, immediately saw a future free from death…
The glory of the Gentiles brought into obedience to Jesus is to not only receive the mercy of salvation to call upon the name of the God of Israel, but to cultivate the mature faith of the Canaanite mother and burden of the apostolic father, that it we could find ourselves in this same reflection: “Behold, Jesus Christ still weeping over Jerusalem through the eyes of Paul.”
Two proclamations will increase and spread across the nations of the earth: (1) false prophecy and (2) the Good News of the Kingdom. This is important. The message of the Kingdom is good news. What good news of what Kingdom will bring comfort to us in that great and terrible Day? And what is this “end” He speaks of?
The pharmaceutical industry is a temporary institution. We only need healthcare for as long as we are stuck with fallible frames, and those days are numbered. This night of sickness, decay, and death in the Exile will soon be over. The greater Joshua will come, and resurrect His beloved ones. We will work with Him to restore the world to Eden again, but this time with more than just one man and just one woman. Jesus has an inheritance to fill the nations, the New Jerusalem, and the dinner table at the Wedding Feast. In the meantime, we get to help Him crowd it out as much as possible.
Psalm 68 is a magnificent song of David about the ultimate triumph of God over His enemies. While powerful enough for a surface-level reading, a subtle theme recounting the stories of women skull crushers and the victorious King that they foreshadow that adds considerable depth and color to our understanding of the psalm, and encourage us to join in the great host of women who will declare the final victory over our ancient serpent-enemy.
