Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

You know the expression: Be careful what you ask for? Well, this is certainly true spiritually speaking. Sometimes what you want is the very opposite of what you need. Indeed, what you want can often destroy you.

One of the clearest Bible passages on God’s judgment is found in Romans 1.

The section begins with the statement: “The wrath of God (i.e. the righteous judgment of God) is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18).

Now, we learn from this that God is judging the world right now and that He’s directing that judgment at us, especially when we hide from and twist the truth to fit our own desires—what we want.

Later in the argument Paul explains how exactly God executes this judgment. Does God do it by keeping us from what we want? No, quite the opposite. He does it by giving us what we want. Three times Paul uses some version of the expression, “Therefore God gave them over to the desires of their heart” (1:24, 26, 28). God’s judgment is most furiously just when He gives us what we are asking for.

Now, certainly, this tells us that sin is its own judgment. Every time we take a step toward sin, we are moving toward our own demise. The end goal of sin is our death, eternally and otherwise (Romans 6:23; James 1:14-15). So, if God wants to condemn us, all He need do is let us sink deeper into ourselves and our own foolish desires.

So, my friends, be careful what you ask for.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.  Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

~Romans 1:18-32 (ESV)

Hello. This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Does God want us to know Him? Is God deeply desirous that we would be in a personal relationship with Him? Well, the Apostle Paul told the philosophers in Athens that God created all people on the earth “so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for him and find him….” In other words, God created all the nations of the earth, so that they would come to know Him. God created the world and cares for the world, in such a way, that all the different people would seek to know Him and find Him.

The same idea of knowing God is seen in God’s interaction with the Israelites of long ago. They were commanded again and again to KNOW the LORD. Likewise, all throughout the Old Testament every time God did a great and miraculous sign, such as the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt, God’s purpose was that His people might KNOW Him. In the words of Exodus 10:2 “…that you may know that I am the LORD.” God wants His people to know Him. He wants us to seek Him and find Him.

In John 4, Jesus gets into a very interesting—and quite personal—conversation with a Samaritan woman. Jesus tells her that God’s purpose in the world is to seek worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

The same is true for us today. God is seeking worshippers who will know Him and love Him. Jesus’s words and the rest of the Bible make this crystal clear.

The only question is are we returning the favor. Are you seeking to know, worship, and love Him?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, ‘Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

~ Acts 17:22-27 (NASB)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

With all the changes in Western culture’s view on sex, we often miss the fact that there is nothing new under the sun. Many of the changes we see all about us are really not so “new”, but something quite old. Much of the contemporary sexual ethic is simply a return to pagan Rome.

This is clearly seen in the increasing acceptability and ubiquity of pornography. Pornography is not new. In ancient Rome, pornography was everywhere. It was mainstream. Pornographic art was prominently displayed, maybe especially in respectable upper-class households.

Over the past 70 years or so, as the prevalence of pornography has risen, many saw it as progress. It was believed that, for the first time in history, we were finally ridding ourselves of the regressive ethic of tradition and religion. What we failed to see is that this was not progress but regress. It was a return to Rome. We were not “back to the future”, but back to the past.

This push toward sensuality, just like in ancient Rome, drives us to see one another as mere objects to fulfill our sordid fantasies, instead of bearers of God’s holy image, to be cherished and honored. Sexual desire without limits trains our hearts to see one another as mere commodities to be used for selfish ends. This is not the biblical view of sex, and I don’t think it’s the sort of world we should want to live in.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

~Galatians 5:16-24 (ESV)

Additional Resources:

https://www.ccef.org/resources?topic=sexual-purity&utm_source=CCEF&utm_campaign=7b95d926de-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2024_02_22_24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-85c92eaebb-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=7b95d926de

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Historically, the Christian church has been very serious about the issue of teaching and training. To be a Christian is not something to be dabbled in but is more akin to being on a sports team, even a Division I college team, requiring significant amounts of conditioning, training, and team practice. If we want to live as Christians, then we must subject ourselves to Jesus’s conditioning program—that’s the function of the church. If you want to be formed as a Christian, this is going to require a process. This process is what is known as “catechesis”, from the Greek word for teaching/instruction.

Sadly, such a process of training has all but disappeared from the church. This does not mean that we are not being formed; it just means that we are not being formed in the gospel. 

So, what are we being formed in? Well, we become formed by whatever we give our lives to, particularly to whatever we give our “free time”.

For example, studies suggest that the average American spends well over 6 hours a day on the television or internet. This is not unimportant to our spiritual formation. Who we become is a function of our habits. We make our habits, and then our habits make us.

As it stands, the average American is being formed by the entertainment industry and big tech companies. Imagine, though, if you spent 6 hours a day reading the Bible and praying. How would your life be different? Imagine if you spent 6 hours a day serving and seeking to encourage your fellow Christians? How would the church be different?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”

~Romans 6:12-19 (ESV)

Further Resources:

Digital Liturgies: Rediscovering Christian Wisdom in an Online Age by Samuel James

Hey Friends and Supporters of Christ Redeemer Church! This is Pastor Don from Hanover, NH. Hope all is well with you! 

Just a quick update on CRC’s building project…

God is on the move here in New England. We’ve already cleared massive legal hurdles to become the first new church approved for a building in this Ivy-League town in over 60 years. Now, the only thing standing in the way from making our dream a reality is funding. And good news: We are less than $100k away from meeting a matching challenge which would put us in range for breaking ground this spring. But we need your help! Could you make a last-minute push for pledges and donations? Spread the word! 

Anything we bring in over the match will significantly reduce our financing costs. This will give us elbow room to expand our ministry from this strategic Ivy-League community. It will allow us to train and send more people with global leadership capabilities.

The deadline of February 28th is fast approaching. Donate, pledge, and encourage others to do the same! For more info or to give, click on link in this post or visit christredeemerchurch.org/flourish."

Thank you so much for partnering with us!

Jesus said: “Upon this Rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell with not prevail against it.”

~Matthew 16:18

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

According to the Bible, ultimate reality is love. The source of all that exists is the eternal love relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The God we learn from Jesus is a God who from all eternity is Triune—Father, Son and Holy Spirit living in eternal self-giving love without any hint of self-centeredness. There is no envy or insecurity on the part of any member of the Trinity, but all exist in a deep sense of personhood without being threatened by the personhood of the other. In the being of God, we have clear boundaries of personhood but no walls. Each person losing themselves into the life of the other without ever losing their individual sense of personhood. Now, such a vision is mind-boggling to us because it is so foreign to our sense of self and our experience of relationship. But why?

Why do we so struggle with such a deep sense of personal insecurity and relational dysfunction? Here's the reason why: the Bible calls it “sin.” My friends, sin is not just the little, bad things we do. But it's this: it's trying to find life in ourselves, apart from the love of God—apart from the Trinity. We are seeking to make a life for ourselves apart from our Creator. Therefore, we are driven to prove and defend ourselves instead of trusting in God. We are driven to make an air brushed image of ourselves and then construct walls to defend and protect that image. And these things keep us from true love connection with God and one another.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

~ 1 John 4:7-12 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

There is no question that we live in a time of tremendous change in society’s views on sex, gender, and marriage. For many, this is heralded as progress. For others it is troubling and confusing. Either way, we often forget that there is nothing new under the sun. Many of the changes we see all about us are really not so “new”, but something quite old. Much of the contemporary sexual ethic is simply a return to pagan Rome. Christianity was born during the Roman Empire, and early Christians had to navigate all the varied sexual and gender expressions of it.

In this context, the early Christians distinguished themselves on a few key fronts:

First, their tender care of women and children. In Rome, women and children were generally not protected but seen as products to be used and abused for sexual pleasure. This was especially true of the slave class, which comprised nearly 20% of the inhabitants.

Second, Christians were distinguished by – what their pagan neighbors saw as – their strict sexual ethic. Christians were maligned as prudes in a society obsessed with using and abusing others. Christians followed the teaching of Holy Scripture and reserved sex for a loving marital relationship between a husband and wife.

Third, and perhaps most importantly, they were distinguished by the grace they extended to those exploited by Rome’s sexual confusion and callousness. The church was a place of refuge and restoration, not a place of shame and ostracization.

Now, in that ancient context, the church was disparaged and persecuted for these values. But the community they created caused it to thrive. Today’s church would be wise to aspire to that same example.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.”

~1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 (ESV)

Some sources to consider:

The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History by Rodney Stark (Princeton University Press 2020).

The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbably Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan Kreider (Baker Academic 2016).

Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home by Glenn S. Sunshine (Zondervan 2009).

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

One of my favorite ancient creeds, the Athanasian Creed (c. 6th century), though not written by its namesake is nonetheless appropriately attributed to him. Athanasius (A.D. c. 296-373) was the great 4th century church leader who defended the Trinity against false views of God. These false views followed a general pattern of denying or twisting one biblical truth to make it more “rationally compatible” with another. So, for example, if the Bible says there is only one true God, then there cannot likewise be three divine persons. How is it “rational” for God to be both one and three at the same time? The problem of course is that this is precisely what the Bible does claim. 

And so, with precision and eloquence the Athanasian Creed* summarizes the divine mystery of the Triune God:

… we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the divine essence.

For there is one person of the Father,

another of the Son,

and another of the Holy Spirit. 

But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one,

the glory equal, the majesty coeternal….

The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. 

The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. 

The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. 

And yet they are not three eternal beings but one eternal being

As also there are not three uncreated beings nor three incomprehensible beings, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible being.

Well put! Beautiful and true!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

~ Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)

*Athanasian Creed

1. Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; 

2. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. 

3. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity;

4. Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.

5. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. 

6. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. 

7. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit. 

8. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated. 

9. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Spirit incomprehensible. 

10. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. 

11. And yet they are not three eternals but one eternal. 

12. As also there are not three uncreated nor three incomprehensible, but one uncreated and one incomprehensible. 

13. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty. 

14. And yet they are not three almighties, but one almighty. 

15. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; 

16. And yet they are not three Gods, but one God. 

17. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; 

18. And yet they are not three Lords but one Lord. 

19. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by himself to be God and Lord; 

20. So are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say; There are three Gods or three Lords. 

21. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. 

22. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten. 

23. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and of the Son; neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. 

24. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. 

25. And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another. 

26. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal. 

27. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped. 

28. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity. 

29. Furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

30. For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. 

31. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man of substance of His mother, born in the world. 

32. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. 

33. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood. 

34. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two, but one Christ. 

35. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God. 

36. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. 

37. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ;

38. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead; 

39. He ascended into heaven, He sits on the right hand of the Father, God, Almighty; 

40. From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. 

41. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies; 

42. and shall give account of their own works. 

43. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.

44. This is the catholic faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved.

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The Bible tells us two truths that may seem contradictory: 1) there is only one God, and 2) this God exists eternally in a relationship of three persons.

Our Jewish friends, rightly emphasize the “Shema” of Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (“Shema” is the Hebrew word for “Hear” or “Listen”). The God of the Bible was unique among the ancient deities, precisely because He claimed to be the only true God, and therefore demanded sole allegiance. Thus, the Shema continues: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” There is only one God, He rightful deserves our all!

Yet, the Bible clearly teaches there are three persons who lay claim to this deity. Jesus does: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30; see also, John 1:1-3). The Holy Spirit does: “Now the Lord is the Spirit…” (2 Corinthians 3:17; see also, Acts 5:3-4). And, of course, the Father does.

But how are we to understand this seeming contradiction? Well, as the church pondered the biblical data, it refused to truncate or twist either truth; both must be taken at full value. There is only one God (one divine essence or being), but that God exists as three persons. So, the Church held firmly to the existence of only one divine essence or being, while likewise holding that this one divine essence is shared equally and fully by three distinct persons. One God in three persons, and three Persons in one God. In other words, as Christians we take God’s self-revelation, at face value, by faith; the true Church believes God’s Word.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

~ Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

What is humility? Increasingly in our historical moment, we confuse humility with a relativistic view of truth. We falsely think anyone who believes that there is objective truth or is too confident in what they believe about the truth, by definition, cannot be humble. We assume that the truly humble person would speak like this: “For me, 2 x 2 = 4. But that’s just my personal truth. Far be from me, to impose my viewpoint on others. I’m a humble person.” My friends, this is not humility; it’s the essence of irrationality.

Humility is not taking truth less seriously, but taking ourselves less seriously. Humility is not relativizing the truth. No, humility is recognizing and submitting to it.

Listen to the witty G.K. Chesterton:

“What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from…ambition [and] settled upon…conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed….

“We are on the road to producing…[people] too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.”

~G.K. Chesterton in the third chapter of Orthodoxy (1908)

Well put!

This false humility is increasingly everywhere. If we are not aware how this enemy has invaded the spirit of our cultural moment, we will unwittingly be sucked in by it.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

~ Mathew 23:8-12 (ESV)

“He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?”

~ Micah 6:8 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Have you ever noticed the tendency of your soul to swing from prideful delight to hopeless despair and then back to pride and then back to despair, and so forth. I don’t think I am alone in this. Whenever we feel like we are measuring up to some standard of moral or social performance, we swell with pride. Then often in the very next moment, we are hit with a glimpse of our failure, and “boom”, we swing to the opposite pole of despair.

How are we ever to have stability when we are so easily swayed by our own prideful insecurity and problematic self-assessment?

The great 17th century French thinker and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) directs us to the person of Jesus Christ. In Jesus we can look at ourselves honestly, because Jesus accepts us as sinners. He welcomes us not in our virtue but in our misery. Listen to how Pascal puts it:

“The man who knows God but does not know his own misery, becomes proud. The man who knows his own misery but does not know God, ends in despair.... Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance because in him we find both God and our own misery. Jesus Christ is therefore a God whom we approach without pride, and before whom we humble ourselves without despair.”

Blaise Pascal reminds us that Jesus is unlike any other god. Jesus knows us through and through, and he loved us in spite of it. He loved us while we were at our worst, while we were yet sinners. Therefore, living before His eyes frees us to look at ourselves honestly, neither cocky nor crushed.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Romans 3 (NIV)

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Are you stressed out? Feeling overwhelmed by all your responsibilities? Does it feel like the world’s going to fall apart if you don’t hold it all together?

Or perhaps, it’s not so much that you’re stressed out as you feel left out. You feel hurt—forgotten, unrecognized, or underappreciated.

Or perhaps you are feeling judged? Scrutinized and looked down upon all the time! When you walk in a room, it feels like everyone is looking at you and judging you.

Now, I suppose, it’s possible that your feelings could have some truth to them. 

There are things you need to get done.

There are times when people will leave you out, and perhaps even intentionally so.

And there may also be times when people judge you and look down on you.

But often, I find the issue is not really, objectively, “out there”, but rather subjectively in my heart. It’s a matter of an inflated self-importance—an ego that over-estimates itself. If it spoke candidly, it would say something like this:

“Everything depends on me!”

“I deserve to be the center! The first thought on everyone’s mind!”

“If I just work hard enough, I can rise above any possible critique.”

Such a false pride assumes that the world revolves around me, and this reveals a radical idolatry of self.

Now, the only remedy to this miserable burden is humility. A heart without humility is a heavy and unhappy heart. It takes itself all too seriously.

That’s why Jesus invites us to be like Him, to take on His “burden” which is light, for He is gentle and humble of heart. And in Him we find rest/shalom for our self-obsessed souls.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'”

~Matthew 11:25-30 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Historical observers have noted that Western civilization has, what we might call, a “progressive” element—it tends to be positive toward the future. There is an assumption in the West that history is going somewhere good—that we expect things to get better and that the best is yet to come. Where does that optimistic spirit come from? Many scholars suggest that it comes from the West marinating in the Christian ethos for so many centuries. Christianity is an optimistic, forward looking, and freedom-loving religion. Unlike many other worldviews, Christianity teaches that the world is heading toward a bright future where all evil will be banished, and the just and merciful reign of Jesus will spread from seas to shining sea. It seems to me that this progressive spirit has borne the fruit of many secular benefits.

Now, to be clear, this is not to say there are not reasons to be negative about the history of the West and the Christians that populated its landscape. Slavery, rapacious colonialism, genocide—to name a few—are all fair critiques. Sin is everywhere and in everyone. Nonetheless, any reasonable reading of history has to note that these negatives are not unique to the West. What’s unique is the progressive spirit that has fought against these evils—in many instances all but eradicating them. These negatives are not caused by the West’s Christian heritage. Rather, a good argument can be made that it is precisely the influence of Christianity that enabled the West to battle them so effectively (to investigate this claim, see, e.g. Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World's Largest Religion by Rebecca McLaughlin, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World by Tom Holland, Timothy Keller’s chapter in “The Church is Responsible for So Much Injustice” in The Reason for God, Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home by Glenn Sunshine, and Poverty and Leadership in the Later Roman Empire by Peter Brown).

As Christians we ought to be grateful for this heritage, while at the same time guarding ourselves from any arrogance that might rise from it. We do not worship “progress” and we certainly do not worship “our progress”. Rather, we worship the Prince of Peace—and until His kingdom comes, we will continue to do battle with evil—both from within and from without.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Philippians 2 (ESV)

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. 17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

An argument could be made that the most critical quality of a truly Christian life is humility. Jesus said that the kingdom of God belonged only to those who were “poor in spirit.” The kingdom of God belongs to those that mourn over their sin. By Jesus’s estimation, only the meek shall be able to inherit, and so, rule the earth.

Humility is not some ancillary attribute for the Christian. It is not the icing on the cake, but the quality that characterizes every aspect of the “cake.” This is why you see the repeated commands to humble oneself.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4:10)

“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another” (1 Peter 5:5)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21)

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3)

Why does God make such a big deal out of humility? The reason for this is simple:

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

In God’s kingdom there is room for only one deity, and you are not Him.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

1 Peter 5 (ESV)

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome The Kingdom Perspective.

The year 2025 marks a hugely significant moment in the history of the Church. Seventeen hundred years earlier, Christian leaders from all over the Roman Empire met freely and openly for the first time to affirm the Scriptural and longstanding teaching of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In the decade leading up to that moment, controversy had broken out in the church of Alexandria, Egypt. An influential leader named Arius began teaching that, though Jesus was divine, He was not on the same level as God the Father. He was merely the first created being who in turn created everything else. 

This heresy contradicted the clear teaching of Scripture—namely that there is only one Creator God (Genesis 1:1; Deuteronomy 6) and that Jesus was that Creator and, thus, worthy of worship (Colossians 1:15, John 1:1-3).

In the summer of AD 325, these Christian leaders, many of whom bore scars of persecution for their fidelity to Christ, gathered and hammered out a public statement, faithfully articulating the teaching of the Apostles and, indeed, of Jesus Himself. They accurately reminded the church that the pre-incarnate Son of God is “begotten not made”—that He is “of the same essence” or nature as the Father (Hebrews 1:3; Phil 2:1-11), fully sharing in the very being of the Father. Thus, there are not multiple divine beings but only one. The Son is “true God from true God”. There are not a hierarchy of gods, but only One who exists eternally in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The impact of this clarification cannot be overestimated, for it provided a clear framework for a transformative way of looking at life and relationships, both in the church and in the world.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

~Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV)

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

~ Hebrews 1:1-3 (NIV)

The Nicene Creed of AD 325

We believe in one God, the Father almighty,

maker of all things visible and invisible;

And in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Son of God,

begotten from the Father, only-begotten,

that is, from the essence of the Father,

God from God, light from light,

true God from true God, begotten not made,

of one essence with the Father,

through Whom all things came into being,

things in heaven and things on earth,

Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down,

and became incarnate and became man, and suffered,

and rose again on the third day, and ascended to the heavens,

and will come to judge the living and dead,

And in the Holy Spirit.

But as for those who say, There was when He was not,

and, Before being born He was not,

and that He came into existence out of nothing,

or who assert that the Son of God is of a different hypostasis or essence,

or created, or is subject to alteration or change –

these the catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Leadership is critical to any organization and there are three qualities necessary for any leader. What are these qualities? Well, the first quality is humility. The second quality is… humility. And the third quality is… (you guessed it) humility. Like real estate is all about location, location, location. So too, leadership is all about humility; humility; humility.

If a person is not humble – if they cannot listen and be a follower themselves – then they cannot lead.

This is not to say that a good leader is passive or a push-over. Quite the opposite! It doesn’t mean that they must accept and submit to any critique or suggestion thrown at them. Actually, this just emphasizes the issue of why humility is so important in leadership. Anyone in a position of leadership will be bombarded with countless critiques and suggestions. Without a basic and pervasive posture of humility, they will not be able to process this bombardment without becoming insecure or prideful – or swinging wildly between these two opposite poles. Having a soul rooted in humility makes one stable in the storm, allowing one to keep their head and not become subject to “public opinion” nor their own pride.

A leader leads and the most essential leadership is modeling for those who follow the critical quality of humility. Humility is the foundation for all good leadership.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

1 Peter 5 (NASB95)

1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

According to classical Christian teaching, at the very source of reality, we find a perfect and eternal relationship of self-giving love. A divine community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in an infinite, mutual, self-giving relationship—perfectly and equally sharing being and joy before all time. One God in three self-giving Persons, and three self-giving Person in One God. This is the very Fountain of all Love!

It was out of the overflow of this fountain, God made the world. And so, all creation is a theater of God’s glorious love. This is especially true with human beings, for we alone are made in the very image of this love.

In the light of this truth, we see more clearly the biblical concept of sin. In making us in His image, God meant for us to find our life in His self-giving Love. However, sin broke that relationship. Sin a dis-ease, a dis-harmony with the source of love. A cosmic relational breach with devastating consequences!

We have no life apart from the Triune love of God, for we were made from it and for it. God designed us to feast on His self-giving love and reflect it in our relationships with others. Indeed, to be a “person”, like God, is to live in communion with God and others. And so, any “person”, any “self”, that does not exist to serve and give themselves away for others is a corruption of what it means to even be a “person”—indeed, what it means to be made in the image of God.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’”

~ Matthew 11:25-30 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Hospitality is a discipline of heart, mind, and action. It requires you to have a new mindset—to work at getting outside yourself (your perspective, preferences, hurts, grievances, etc.) into the world of “the other”. It requires being considerate and kind, looking at and appreciating life from another’s perspective (Philippians 2:1-5). For the Christian, this happens first and foremost with one another in the church, and secondly, with those outside (Galatians 6:9-10). It is seeking to accommodate and value one another’s differences, while welcoming all to the same table of faith and repentance through the grace of Christ. It is giving of your time, treasure, talents, and reputation to help others feel the welcome embrace of God in Christ.

Hospitality often involves mixing your nonbelieving friends and neighbors with the people of the church, so that all might have an encounter with Jesus (Luke 5:27-32). It is seeing yourself as an ambassador in your workplace, school, and neighborhood; it is seeing your home as an embassy of gospel shalom. It is seeing our church as an embassy to our community. It is seeing your engagement at church as a diplomatic mission to all present.

As a church, we should expect to be “on display” in our community and thus be mindful of representing the gospel well in our engagement with others (Matthew 5:16; Colossians 4:5-6; Romans 12:9-21). As a church, we are an outpost of the coming kingdom—a city within a city (the polis of God amongst the polis of man). Thus, it is imperative we nurture a community of Christ’s love, of His grace and truth (i.e., love), as this is critical to the effectiveness of our mission of hospitality.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

~ Philippians 2:1-7 (ESV)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

If we were to peel back the universe to see what’s underneath it—to discover the very source of reality—we would not find a mathematical formula, nor a scientific theory, nor a moral to do list, nor even a theological doctrinal statement. All these are good and necessary in their place, but they are not ultimate. Rather, if we were to peer into what’s beyond and behind creation, we would find a perfect, eternal, untainted relationship of self-giving love. A divine community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in an infinite, mutual, self-giving relationship—perfectly and equally sharing being and infinite delight before all time. One God in three Persons, and three Persons in One God.

Now, what does this mean? Well, most basically, it means love is real. As Christians, we do not have a thin and sentimental view of love. Love is not a mere feeling we experience. Love exists apart from our feelings. Indeed, it exists apart from and prior to all else. Love is more real that time, for love is in the very essence of God. God exists eternally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a relationship of self-giving love.

In making us in His image, God meant for us to share in the glory of this love. He meant for us to find our life in the overflow of His Triune love. He meant for us to reflect His self-giving love in our all our relationships. He meant for us to feast upon the infinite abundance of this love and lavish it upon others.

That’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

~ 1 John 4:7-14 (NASB95)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective. 

Hospitality is demanding. It requires us to give sacrificially of ourselves. At the core of hospitality is a discipline of heart, mind, and action. It requires you and me to have a new mindset—to work at getting outside ourselves (our perspective, preferences, hurts, grievances, etc.) into the world of “the other”. It is to be considerate and kind, looking at and appreciating life from another’s perspective (Philippians 2:1-5).

Now…such hospitality does not come naturally. It must be developed and practiced. The more you do it, the more you will become it (Philippians 2:12). BUT it is not merely an issue of our work either; it first requires seeing and being transformed by God’s work for us (2 Corinthians 3). Gospel hospitality requires a supernatural level of love and patience, and so, we cannot do it without continually drinking deeply of the well of God’s grace…for us. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). This means that we grow in patience, to the degree we see how patient Jesus continues to be with us. We grow in kindness, to the degree we see how kindly Jesus deals with us. We grow in our ability to forgive and forbear to the degree we continually see the greatness of God’s forgiveness and forbearance of us.

And so, my dear friends, fix your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter our faith!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

~ Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What is the basis of the modern sexual ethic? I think it boils down to one word: “consent”. If the participants (whatever the number) are agreeable in the activity (whatever it may be), there can be no complaint, for they have done so willingly—they have given their “consent”.

Now, beyond the questions of how to negotiate such “consent” in a world of nuanced power dynamics and communication difficulties—not to mention at what age this “power of consent” magically materializes—there still exists a much deeper and more fundamental problem. This ethic assumes reality itself, including our sexual reality, is malleable—that it can be manipulated to fit our desires. There is no design to which our desires must yield, no limits to which our “consent” must be confined.

But nowhere else in all creation can reality be so manipulated. Contrary to a popular contemporary anthem, we cannot “defy gravity” but only submit to it. Gravity is what it is, and if we are to benefit from its reality, we must approach it with reverence. If we “defy” it, we will most certainly suffer the consequences of transgressing its reality.

So, it is with sex. Sex is not defined by our desires but by our Designer. When our desires overrule what God designed sex for, we do violence to it; and since sexuality is core to who we are, ultimately, we do violence to ourselves.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. [emphasis added]

~ 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 (ESV)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

One of the marks of contemporary life is our fragile sense of self. We are easily offended and thrown off by lack of affirmation from others. This is strange since we claim, quite proudly, that we are self-made people. Supposedly, we find our identity by looking within and not to others; “I have a unique identity!”

However, social commentators have long noted that this ethos of self has led only to an even more impoverished sense of self. Why? Well, we are incurably social creatures. Swiss-born philosopher and writer, Alain de Botton, put it this way:

“…amid such uncertainty [about our self-identity], we typically turn to the wider world to settle the question of our significance. We seem beholden to affections of others to endure ourselves. Our ‘ego’ or self-conception could be pictured as a leaking balloon, forever requiring the helium of external love to remain inflated, and ever vulnerable to the smallest pinpricks of neglect.”

Now, why is this the case? Well, the gospel tells us. We crave affirmation because we were made for affirmation. We were not made for ourselves, but for God. Our happiness and contentment with ourselves (a quite legitimate desire!) can only come from knowing our Creator’s pleasure in us. We are incurably social creatures because we were not made for ourselves, but for another; we were made for the pleasure of God. And this means, we were made in the image of relationship—the eternal love relationship of the Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

~ John 15:5-11 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Cornel West is well-known for his outspoken views on politics, race and economics. Politically and otherwise, he is left-leaning, to put it mildly. He is not a fan of Western capitalism and has severe critiques of the history of racism in the West and its lingering effects.

Whether you agree with Cornel’s political views or not, one thing you have to appreciate is his congenial manner and absolute commitment to the free exchange of ideas. Cornel is a big believer in freedom of speech and is concerned about its loss, particularly in places of higher education.

Sadly, by his own estimation, such confidence in the free exchange of ideas is waning dramatically, especially among his fellow liberal colleagues.

As Christians, though, we need not be afraid of the free exchange of ideas. The Truth is never afraid of being vulnerable. The Truth is never afraid of being rejected. The Truth is never obsessed with controlling others. The Truth is never insecure. Rather, the Truth of the gospel demonstrates its strength by giving itself away, even for those that hate it (John 3:19-21; 19:1-11) and even for those that seek to suppress it (Romans 1:18). The Truth always operates in courageous love.

As Cornel West puts it: “Most people are afraid of freedom…. [But] There is no freedom without unbelievable, unprecedented, unstoppable courage.”

I’d like to add: there is no courage without Truth. It’s Truth that gives us backbone—that allows us to enter the free exchange of ideas. Truth is afraid of nothing.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

John 18 (ESV)

33 So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say it to you about me?” 35 Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” 37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”

John 19 (ESV)

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Though ancient Christians practiced the strictest sexual ethic of their day, they were anything but judgmental towards those ravaged by the effects of sexual sin. The followers of Jesus were distinguished by the grace they extended to those exploited by the sexual confusion and callousness of Roman culture. The church was seen as a place of healing. Not a trophy case for saints, but a hospital for sinners!

Now, why was this the case? Well, classical Christianity teaches us that sin is not just bad things we do. Rather, it is also a deep dysfunction that causes destruction in both soul and society. When we participate in sexual sin, it tears at the very fabric of human nature. When someone commits sin against us, it’s as if they are pulling on a thread in our soul’s fabric, causing us to unravel. Anyone who has been the victim of such sin can testify to its lasting negative impact.

Now, arguably, the ancient world was not much different than our own, rife with both perpetrators and victims of sexual sin—people whose lives were unraveling. Into that world came the radically restorative message of Jesus. Jesus’s main mission was not to condemn but to mend that which sin had destroyed—to make us whole.

It is for this reason that the church became a place of healing. This was true not only because of the healthy sexual ethic it practiced (truth), but also because it so welcomed the victims of a bad sexual ethic (grace). It didn’t require wholeness; it created it. The church was a hospital and like its Chief Physician (the Lord Jesus), it was full of both grace and truth.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?’ This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’”

~John 8:1-11 (ESV)

Some sources to consider:

The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History by Rodney Stark (Princeton University Press 2020).

The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbably

Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan Kreider (Baker Academic 2016).

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The Christian knows that this world will never be perfected until Jesus returns. Nonetheless, we do believe that the church should have a positive and redemptive effect on society in the here-and-now.

But how exactly are we to do this? Well, we do this by being the church—by demonstrating a new society, a new way of living together.

Jesus put it this way,

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, [Jesus goes on to say] let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)

Jesus tells us that we are to be a city on a hill—to demonstrate a new social arrangement visible for all to see. Note well, that He does not say we are to be a “chump on a stump”. We are not to be an individual moral prude merely spouting our religious opinions and moral platitudes. Rather, we are to be a city—that is a community. We are to be an alternative society that is redemptive in the midst of an otherwise rancorous culture. We are to be the church.

Thus, the way we live in community as the church is the key element. The most distinctive and attractive thing about us is not merely our individual lives or families, but our corporate life as the church—the family of God. How we treat one another makes us shine like a lighthouse, guiding others to safe harbor.

So, here’s the question: Does your interaction within the church shine like a thing of beauty? Does your attitude toward your fellow believers exude a positivity, fostering greater trust and community?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Matthew 5 (NASB)

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

There have been deep and dramatic cultural changes in the past 75 years or so, unmooring much of what our civilization took for granted. Nowhere is this more evident than in our sense of “self”. In traditional cultures, one gained an identity either by pedigree (being born into a particular family, tribe or nation) or by proving oneself according to the values of your family, tribe or nation (e.g., sacrificing for the greater good of the community).

However, in the past 50 years or so, we no longer become a somebody by looking to our family, tribe or nation, but by distinguishing ourselves from them. Belonging to a community is seen as an obstacle to being my “true self”.

You can see this in the change of the advertisements for the US military. A century ago, you had a rather stern looking Uncle Sam pointing his finger at whoever deigned to look, saying: “Your country needs you!” The subtext was you had a duty to serve your nation because you belonged to it. Your identity was bound by your duty to tribe and nation. However, back in the 1980’s all this changed with a much more consumer/individualistic-driven ad. Join the Army and “Be all that you can be!” we were told. In this new world it is all about you. You create yourself. You are the manufacturer of your identity.

This new ethos has not saved our “sense of self” but only impoverished it even more. We were never meant base our identity on our pedigree or performance but on God who created us in His image and redeemed us for His glory.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.”

~ Colossians 3:9-15 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

One of the most interesting friendships as of late in the academic world is that between Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Robert George. West taught for years at Princeton and Harvard, in addition to being a visiting professor at Dartmouth. George is a nationally recognized legal scholar who also teaches at Princeton. What makes their friendship so interesting is their opposite perspective on so many hot button issues. You name it, they are polar opposites.

So why are they friends? Such congeniality in the context of such severe differences is very rare, maybe especially amongst academic elites.

So again, what keeps them together?

Both Robbie and Cornel know that it is possible to be charitable even when you disagree. This is very different than the current cultural climate that gives us only two options: Either angry confrontation that demands “justice now at all costs”, or a kind of relativism that shrugs its shoulders saying, “Who am I to judge, who am I say what’s right or wrong?”

But we need not be stuck with these two options. There’s a third way. Kindness. 

This doesn’t come from agreeing with your neighbor but from leaning into the fact that they, like you, are made in the image of God. As Jesus taught and demonstrated, how you treat others, even when you think they are wrong, says a lot about your relationship with God (Matthew 5:43-45; 22:34-40).

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For

“Whoever desires to love life

and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit;

let him turn away from evil and do good;

let him seek peace and pursue it.’”

~ 1 Peter 3:8-11 (ESV)

For Further Consideration

PBS Interview

https://www.pbs.org/video/cornel-west-robert-george-lgrgwb/

“Cornel West and Robert P. George discuss Charlie Kirk”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FJ5cgu04x0&t=208s

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

One of the marks of a church ought to be loving hospitality.

Listen to what Paul says in his letter to the church in Rome. In chapter 12 he is begins laying out how the gospel of Jesus transforms the way we live. What does it look like when Jesus gets a hold of one’s life? He says:

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. (Romans 12:9-13 NASB)

This “hospitality” is not what we think. It is not impressing others with your well-kept home or your fine selection of food and wine. If that were the case, very few of us could do it. Rather, it is sharing your life and material resources with one another. It is making others feel as at home in your home and with your stuff. It is letting others, particularly your fellow Christians, beyond the margins of your life. It is welcoming them and caring for them, so that the body of Christ grows in love (Ephesians 4:16).

Now, this is exactly what you see in the description of the early church in the book of Acts:

And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. (Acts 2:44-45)

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. (Acts 4:32)

Such radical hospitality grows naturally in those who’ve experienced Jesus’s radical hospitality. But more often than not, this radical hospitality grows as a process. Therefore, be patient with yourself and certainly with others!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ‘But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

~ Romans 12:9-21 (NASB)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

“Seeking God” is one of those bottom-line imperatives of the Bible. We are called to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” We are to be like King David who cried out:

One thing have I asked of the Lord,

   that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

   all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

   and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4)

But how exactly do we do that? Well, we get a clue in the Old Testament book of 2 Chronicles. The kings and the people of Judah were continually failing to seek God, and repeatedly there was one critical element that correlated with that failure. They failed to seek God, because they failed to treasure His Word—God’s Law.

So, for example, in 2 Chronicles 12:14 we are told that King Rehoboam “did evil, because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.” Note carefully: why did he do evil? “BECAUSE he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.”

And how exactly did he fail to do this? Well, just a few verses earlier, the chronicler tells us that he failed because he had previously neglected God’s Word, His Law. Listen:

“When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the Law of the Lord….” (2 Chronicles 12:1)

Note carefully, abandoning of the Law of the Lord is equated with abandoning God Himself.

Now, if you think about it, this only makes sense. How do you seek to be in relationship with anyone? Well, first of all, you must listen and take seriously what they say. If you want to be in relationship with God, then you must take seriously what He says. You cannot seek God, if you do not seek His Word. To reject his Word is to reject Him.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

2 Chronicles 12 (NASB)

1 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the Law of the Lord….

13 So King Rehoboam became powerful in Jerusalem and reigned there. For Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 14 But he did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The notion of the rule of law is not something that just happened in the history of Western civilization. It was not accidental. Rather, just as ideas have consequences, so ideas also have antecedents. There’s always something that comes before.

Most clearly, this notion can be traced to writings of Scottish thinker Samuel Rutherford (c. 1600-1661). In his famous book Lex Rex (1644), as the Latin title would suggest, Rutherford was proposing that nations be ruled by law and not merely by kings. This means that the power of the governing authorities should be limited by something objective, something outside themselves—by a law or constitution. In other words, a government should not be a pure monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship or even a pure democracy. Rather, we should be governed by objective law that restrains both master and mob, limiting both the prince and the people from having all the power.

Now, where did he get this idea? Well, he got it from the Bible. He was, after all, a Presbyterian minister. The Bible teaches that human beings and human society were designed to operate best under the dictates of God’s Eternal Law. For example, all throughout the Old Testament books of Kings and Chronicles, the peace and stability of the nation of Judah is correlated to their faithfulness to the Law of God. When the Law of God is revered, the king and the people flourish. But when the Law of God is ignored, evil and chaos ensue.

Now, as Christians, we ought not sit back and say, “Yeah, that’s what’s wrong with the world! People aren’t obeying God!” Rather, we should be more self-reflective. Are we and our churches marked by obedience to God’s Law?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

2 Chronicles 12 (NASB)

1 When the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the Law of the Lord….13 So King Rehoboam became powerful in Jerusalem and reigned there. For Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 14 But he did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

2 Chronicles 15 (NASB)

1 Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded, 2 and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you abandon Him, He will abandon you. 3 For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without the Law. 4 But in their distress they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and they sought Him, and He let them find Him.

2 Chronicles 17 (ESV)

3 The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, 4 but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel. 5 Therefore the Lord established the kingdom in his hand. And all Judah brought tribute to Jehoshaphat, and he had great riches and honor. 6 His heart was courageous in the ways of the Lord. And furthermore, he took the high places and the Asherim out of Judah.

7 In the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah; 8 and with them the Levites, Shemaiah, Nethaniah, Zebadiah, Asahel, Shemiramoth, Jehonathan, Adonijah, Tobijah, and Tobadonijah; and with these Levites, the priests Elishama and Jehoram. 9 And they taught in Judah, having the Book of the Law of the Lord with them. They went about through all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Freedom is a byproduct of virtue. And virtue is a byproduct of objective moral restraint. In other words, the only way you can be truly free is not by doing what you want, but by being the kind of person who does what’s right. This is why the late Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020), the former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, spoke of “freedom” as a “moral achievement”.1 

The Framers of our constitution understood this well. They knew the precarious position they had placed this new country in by not having a king or pope to restrain or rule over the moral behavior of the people. They understood that if the people did not voluntarily govern themselves before God, then this experiment in self-government would inevitably fail. As the great Benjamin Franklin put it:

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”2

This is why Rabbi Sacks spoke out against what he identified as the “idols” of our age: “self-esteem without achievement, sex without consequences, wealth without responsibility, pleasure without struggle and experience without commitment.” He correctly noted that such “relativism that tells us there is no [objective] right or wrong” leads only to nihilism, to meaninglessness. “A world without values quickly becomes a world without value” (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks). As the book of Proverbs suggests, where there is no object/divine moral law, the people become unrestrained (Proverbs 29:18). A world without objective moral truth is not a world of freedom; it is a world of chaos.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Proverbs 29 (ESV)

16 When the wicked increase, transgression increases,

   but the righteous will look upon their downfall.

17 Discipline your son, and he will give you rest;

   he will give delight to your heart.

18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,

   but blessed is he who keeps the law.

19 By mere words a servant is not disciplined,

   for though he understands, he will not respond.

References:

1 Speech delivered at 2016 Bradley Prize by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (2016). Accessed online at https://rabbisacks.org/free-society-moral-achievement-read-rabbi-sacks-acceptance-speech-receiving-bradley-prize/).

2 “Letter to Messrs, the Abbes Chault, and Arnaud” by Benjamin Franklin (17 April 1787).

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Biblically speaking, hospitality is the love and welcome of strangers. “Love of strangers” is the literal meaning of the New Testament word, and it is the posture God expected Israel to have towards sojourners in their land. This is not surprising when we think of the hospitality God exercises toward us in both creation and redemption.

In the work of creation, God welcomes us into the world He has made. In that world, He places us at the most honored seat, at the very pinnacle of created order, welcoming us to share in His glorious image and likeness, offering us the beauty and bounty of all He has made, and inviting us into His work of ruling over all things. Sadly, the Bible tells us we rejected this privileged status, choosing rather to be strangers to God, and so, were exiled from His presence.

But God, in His work of redemption, took extraordinary means, becoming radically “hospitable” to our needy state. In Christ Jesus, He entered our exile—taking on the full experience of our humanity East of Eden. And He did so that He might become a faithful High Priest, sympathizing with all our weaknesses, giving His very life as a sacrifice for our rebellion, thus restoring us to friendship with God. Now, by His Word and Spirit, He welcomes us back into the experience of His abounding hospitality for all eternity.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

     So God created man in his own image,

     in the image of God he created him;

     male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

~Genesis 1:26-31 (ESV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”

~Revelation 22:1-5 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

It is in our nature to want things to be easy always—for life to be sunny with no storms. Sounds good, right? However, do you know what you call a place that’s sunny all the time and never rains? A desert!

Sometimes God purposes to bring us through the desert, a wilderness—a difficult and dry place. But He means well for us—to drive us to hope in Him and to prepare us for His unimaginable blessings. 

I take great comfort in Deuteronomy 8 where God says He “deals with us as with sons”. He calls this manner of relating to us “discipline”, a word that doesn’t translate well into our contemporary understanding. “Discipline” sounds punitive, as if God is angry and disappointed. But at its root is the word, “disciple”. The Lord is “discipling” us—He is training us—because He loves us as His own dear children. No good parent fails to disciple, to train, their children for the full responsibility and blessing of adulthood. This requires going through circumstances of both delight and difficulty. 

And in this God's heart is tender toward us and our weaknesses; He only means to strengthen our resolve to seek Him first—so we are not foolish children pursuing the wrong things. His goal is to train us—to prepare us to handle the overflowing bounty of all He intends to share with us, not only in this life, but more so in the one to come.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.”

~Deuteronomy 8:1-10 (NASB95)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome the Kingdom Perspective.

What is the most important task of a parent?

We get some clue when we consider the Fatherhood of God. God doesn’t take the title “Our Heavenly Father” because He hopes to model His care after our example. Quite the opposite! Rather, He is trying to set an example for us. He is the model and standard of all fatherhood, to which we fathers are called to imitate, even if, ever so imperfectly.

Even more so, when we peer into the very being of God, we discover that God exists eternally as a relationship between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And so, at the source, the heart of all reality, is a relational connection between a Father and a Son. God is eternal love relationship.

So, how does this inform our most basic duty as parents? Well, in Scripture, every time the Father speaks about His Son, His voice booms from heaven something like this: “This is my beloved Son, in whom my soul delights.” The first words out of the mouth of the model parent are not words of commandment or correction, but enjoyment. Relational delight is at the very bottom of all reality.

My friends, as we feast on the overflow of the Father’s delight in the Son, we become those that learn to enjoy (to delight in) the sons and daughters He’s given to us—even as, we command and correct them.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed….

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

~ John 17:1-5, 20-26 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Times can get really bad. I mean really bad! Even in the company of God’s people.

During the 7th century B.C., a young king arose in Judah. This was the famous King Josiah, the 16th king of the southern kingdom. During his reign (c. 640-609) he oversaw a movement of reformation and revival centered in the Word of God. What prompted this—and what makes me look to this story to see how bad things can get—was the rediscovery of the Word of God. Things had dipped so low among God’s people that they had forgotten that God had ever given them a book of law. When Josiah sends a messenger to the temple, he ran into Hilkiah the high priest who had just made a discovery: “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to the king’s messenger, and he read it. Then, the messenger brought it back to Josiah and read it before him, as well.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

~2 Kings 22:11-13 (ESV)

Now, how bad can things get? By the time of Josiah, not only had God’s people ceased to obey the Bible, they even forgot they had one! Sadly, by the look of many American churches you’d wonder whether God had ever given us His Word in Christ. Without God’s Word, God’s people lose their reason for being and subject themselves to His judgment.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“In the eighteenth year of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, the secretary, to the house of the Lord, saying, “Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may count the money that has been brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the threshold have collected from the people. And let it be given into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord, and let them give it to the workmen who are at the house of the Lord, repairing the house (that is, to the carpenters, and to the builders, and to the masons), and let them use it for buying timber and quarried stone to repair the house. But no accounting shall be asked from them for the money that is delivered into their hand, for they deal honestly.”

And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes. And the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Achbor the son of Micaiah, and Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king's servant, saying, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”

So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter), and they talked with her. And she said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘Tell the man who sent you to me, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring disaster upon this place and upon its inhabitants, all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read. Because they have forsaken me and have made offerings to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the work of their hands, therefore my wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall you say to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, and your eyes shall not see all the disaster that I will bring upon this place.’” And they brought back word to the king.”

~2 Kings 22:3-20 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

What does a humble person look like? If you ran into a truly humble person, what would be their standout characteristic? Would they go on and on, trying to prove or show off their humility? Or would they be timid and withdrawn, displaying a sense of self-hatred?

No, none of these at all.

Remember, the Lord Jesus was “gentle and humble of heart”. Did He operate this way?

So, what does a humble person look like?

I think C.S. Lewis gives us some insight in his classic book Mere Christianity. Listen to what He says:

“Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody.

Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.

If you do dislike him, it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.”

~C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Jesus models such humility by the attitude he had toward us. In humility, He did not use his status to impress us, but to empty Himself for us. His humility flowed from a contented heart that connected to the heart of others.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

~ Philippians 2:3-11 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

There is no trait more necessary to being happy than humility. Humility means not taking yourself so stinking seriously. And we do that by taking God and His Word with the utmost seriousness. It is the fear of the Lord that protects us from pride burdening our souls with the unnecessary weight of self-importance. As G.K. Chesterton put it: “Angels can fly because they take themselves so lightly.”

Being humble makes us happy. Think about it. Why are you so often bent out of shape? I can tell you because it’s the same for me. We are often upset because we feel slighted; we feel we’re not getting what we deserve; we didn’t get our way. In other words, our pride is offended; it’s injured. 

Well, the cure to this is simple: humility! Humbling yourself and putting away your pride puts you back on the path to happiness.

Remember Jesus said “Blessed/Happy are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” You see, in our pride we throw this big pity-party because our little kingdom of self has been snubbed; all the while Jesus is promising the expansive riches of the very kingdom of heaven.

Again, listen to G.K. Chesterton: “How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it…”

Happiness doesn’t come by getting what you think you deserve but by surrendering what you think you deserve to God’s safe keeping.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

~1 Peter 5:5-11 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The kind of community that the New Testament calls us to is radically different than what you may find in the world. Non-Christians create all sorts of different communities where people feel welcomed, and many times it’s really quite wonderful. But such community is based on affinities such as shared hobbies or interests, political alignments, racial, ethnic or other identities. The community that the gospel calls us to is not based on any of these but is rooted in a shared experience of the love of Jesus. “We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

Now, the “problem” with the love of Jesus is that it is indiscriminate. It is a love that comes to us despite us. It comes to us not because of who we are, but because of who He is. Not because of our identity, but because of His! It assumes our unworthiness but rests in His worthiness. This means that the love of Jesus forces me together with those that have differing natural affinities – maybe even those that I struggle with.

The Apostle Paul put it this way. Becoming a Christian is:

“a renewal [i.e. a radical makeover of identity] in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.” (Colossians 3:11)

Today, we might say, there is neither Republican or Democrat, black or white, privileged or under-privileged, etc., etc., but Christ is all, and in all.

The test of whether you have truly believed and received the grace of Jesus is not how strongly you demand that grace from others but how gladly you give it to them, especially those for whom you would have no natural affinity.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

~ Colossians 3:9-11 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

We live in a day that is cynical about leaders and institutions. This is true in government, education, business, health care and the arts—but maybe especially in the church. Sadly, in some instances this cynicism is warranted due to abuses of power and position. However, the existence of such counterfeits doesn’t invalidate the legitimacy of the real thing. A counterfeit $20 dollar bill does nothing to invalidate the legitimacy of a real $20 dollar bill.

Therefore, certainly, it is necessary to be shrewd in one’s engagement with any given church. We must be discerning, seeking a congregation preaching the historic gospel and operating according to the manner of Jesus Christ. A church that’s not addicted to the latest and greatest, but a church rooted in and faithful to the doctrine and practice of the apostolic church. We should be wary of leaders marked by power trips but seeking and commending leaders marked by the patient service and care of God’s people (Mark 10:43-45; 2 Timothy 2:24-26).

Now, once we find such a church, we need to link ourselves to the communion and discipline of that local body. Admittedly, this can be difficult for many of us who have been burned by bad churches and bad shepherds. However, it doesn’t relieve us from the responsibility of seeking to do so. Rather, we must trust God and carefully take it one step at a time. Although God’s church is not perfect, it is being perfected, and we along with it.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

~1 Peter 5:1-7 (ESV)

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

~Hebrews 13:17 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome the Kingdom Perspective.

Sometimes, you see things better as an outsider than an insider. For example, when you first move to a new community, certain cultural distinctions about that community stand out.

One of the things that struck me when I first moved to the Dartmouth College area was how hesitant, even insecure, many parents were to exercise authority, even over their own children. These were otherwise intelligent, well-educated people. Why did they not see the wisdom and necessity of parental authority? Well, the assumption seemed to be that exercising authority might somehow squelch their child’s individuality. Saying “no” ran the risk of damaging the child’s little ego, and so not allowing them to develop into their “true self”.

Now, certainly, there is such a thing as misapplication of authority, but it doesn’t come merely in the form of abusing your authority; it can also come in the form of abandoning it. Just as children need physical boundaries (the walls and roof of a house, the fence around the yard or playground), they also need emotional and social boundaries to protect their inner develop. Just as a vine needs a trellis to direct its growth, so also, children need parental authority and structure. Letting your kids do or believe whatever condemns them to wander and flounder, never reaching their full potential.

Years ago, I asked a longtime and celebrated Hanover High School teacher what kids today need the most. The response was quick and unequivocal: “Kids today don’t need more friends. They don’t need more therapists. Kids today need parents to be parents.”

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do. ‘Honor your father and mother.’ This is the first commandment with a promise: If you honor your father and mother, ‘things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.’

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.”

~ Ephesians 6:1-4 (NLT)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Self-advancement and self-justification are intuitive to the human heart. We constantly not only put ourselves first, but also justify why we do it. As Katharine Roberts, director of Verity Fellowship puts it: “[A]ccording to the world, life is like a ladder. At the top of the ladder is success, and at the bottom of the ladder is failure. Apart from Christ, we all naturally see life through this lens.”

Even the Apostle Paul admits this was his operating grid. Before meeting Jesus, he describes his life as a sort of ladder climbing narrative: “…I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own contemporaries…” (Galatians 1:14)

Later he describes his “advancement narrative” to the Philippians, “…If anyone…thinks he has reason for confidence in the [himself], I far more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” (Philippians 3:4-6)

Paul’s pedigree was impeccable and performance impressive.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with having an impressive background or with working hard to better yourself. Self-improvement per se is not a sin. In my opinion, we could use a little more of it. However, when you believe your performance or pedigree IS your identity (your true self) or that it gives you worth before God, then trouble ensues. The only sure place to put your hope is not in your pedigree or performance, but in God himself. He alone is our glory, our shield, and defender.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, ‘He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’ And they glorified God because of me.”

~Galatians 1:11-24 (ESV)

Hello, this Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What comes to mind when you think of meditation? Sitting silently with your legs crossed? Trying to think of the “sound of nothing”?

Well, the irony is that as modern Western secular people, we tend to have an Eastern religious view of meditation. We tend to see meditation as emptying our minds—trying to get in touch with oneself or some impersonal force. However, biblically speaking, meditation is not emptying one’s mind but filling it with Scripture.

The Psalmist tells us the blessed man is the one who meditates upon the Word of God, day and night (Psalm 1). The Hebrew word for meditate comes from the idea of murmuring—mumbling words under your breath. To meditate is to muse, to cogitate and consider God’s Word from every angle.

Other places in the Bible connect meditation with the idea of chewing—like a cow chews his cud—repeatedly chomping, swallowing, regurgitating, over and over again, until all the nutrients are thoroughly extracted and absorbed. We are to savor every “bite” of God’s Word, so that our soul is nourished by it.

In this sense, we are all meditators—our minds are chewing on something. The only question is what we’re chewing on? Even to “veg” in front of the television or to scroll through social media is a form of mediation. We are soaking in something, and so, being shaped by it.

You are a meditator! The only question is what are you meditating on?

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“How can a young man keep his way pure?

 By guarding it according to your word.

  With my whole heart I seek you;

 let me not wander from your commandments!

  I have stored up your word in my heart,

 that I might not sin against you.

  Blessed are you, O Lord;

  teach me your statutes!

  With my lips I declare

 all the rules of your mouth.

  In the way of your testimonies I delight

 as much as in all riches.

  I will meditate on your precepts

 and fix my eyes on your ways.

  I will delight in your statutes;

  I will not forget your word.”

~Psalm 119:9-16 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

At times of civil unrest and deep cultural division, people tend to be on edge. They feel threatened and under attack. They assume a lot about their opponents and tend to attribute evil motives. Every little gesture, every little word, is scrutinized in the most negative light.

Now, in such an environment, Christians are called not to return fire but to turn the other cheek. We are called to be “shock absorbers”. In the words of the New Testament book of James, we are to follow the “wisdom from above” which is “peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy…impartial and sincere” (James 3:16-17). 

However, if you’ve ever tried to do this, you will find that it feels like being a shock absorber. And here’s the rub. To be a shock absorber means you have to absorb shock. You absorb the insults, bitterness, misunderstanding, anger, irrational rage, and the heat that others are feeling. This is painful! Outrageously painful! How in the world are we to find the strength to do this? Only one way.

We look to Jesus. We are reminded that our Lord Christ came into this world to absorb all our sin. He took all the pressure and insults we could throw at Him. He absorbed the shock of our judgment and took it down to the grave.

Knowing and living in the reality of this gives us, in principle, an unlimited ability to be shock absorbers in our world.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Matthew 5 (ESV)

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Arguably, the Bible speaks of the church more as an organism than an organization. The Church is the very life of Christ—His breath, His Spirit, His Word giving the church its being and vibrancy. To the degree that the church is filled with Jesus’s Spirit (see Ephesians 5:18 and Galatians 5:16-24), to that degree it is fulfilling its purpose and bearing fruit.

However, this is not to say Christ has given no organizational structure for the church. Of course, He has. Christ gave “the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:9 ESV). But even the responsibility of these leaders is often given in organic (“body of Christ”) or agricultural terms. The church leaders are workers in God’s field or vineyard—sowing the seed of the gospel, watering and tending its growth as hard-working farmers (2 Timothy 2:6). They are not so much manufacturing disciples, as they are applying good farming techniques and trusting God to cause the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-9). Similarly, church leaders are to shepherd the flock of God (another agricultural reference), following the manner of the Good Shepherd, laying down their lives for the sheep (John 10; 1 Peter 5).

The upshot of all this is that we must be serious-minded about submitting ourselves to those God has appointed for our care. God never intended the church to be a “free-range farm.” No! We need to be present when the church meets, submitting ourselves to one another (Ephesians 5:21), not wandering like lost sheep, doing our own thing. We need to do our best to remain firmly planted in the structures God has provided through our local churches, not uprooting ourselves with every wind of change. God has appointed the structure of the church and its leaders for our good.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

~1 Corinthians 3:5-17 (ESV)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What do you do when you walk into a dark room? Do you stumble around complaining about the lack of light? No. You walk into the room and turn on the light. And if the light’s not working you grab a flashlight. The only way to deal with darkness is light.

The same is true spiritually. It’s often tempting for Christians to sit back and complain about the “darkness of the big bad world”. It is likewise tempting for Christians to avoid engaging in society when we feel that the spiritual or moral darkness is too grim.

However, Jesus told us that we, His people, are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). When we find darkness, we are not to complain or avoid it. Rather, we are to move into it with the light of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, this involves exposing the darkness. Paul tells the church in Ephesus: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11)

At other times, it involves our good works and gracious attitude. We are not to hide our light but rather let it “light shine before others, so that they may see [our] good works and give glory to [our] Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

But being the light never means sitting back and complaining about how dark it is. Rather, as Paul reminds the Philippian church, we are to: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that [we] may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom [we] shine as lights in the world….” (Philippians 2:14-15 ESV).

Don’t grumble; shine! Light is always more glorious in the dark. And the darker the darkness, the brighter the light.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.”

~ Philippians 2:12-18 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Arguably the most basic thing to a church culture is the shared mindset or attitude of its members. It is not so much the stated mission or strategy of a church that matters as much as the vibe its members give off, especially as they gather. This vibe flows from the shared mindset—the deep often subtle beliefs and feelings that each person has toward themselves, others, and ultimately God.

Now, the gospel calls us to have a peculiar mindset. Paul exhorts the believers in Philippi saying “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:5). And what is that mindset? To do “nothing out of selfish ambition (politicking for status) or vain conceit (self-glory). Rather, in humility value others above yourselves….” (Philippians 2:3 NIV). We are to understand and value the perspectives and preferences of others above our own.

Now, this is deeply counterintuitive and fraught with the challenge of self-justification. We tend to flatter ourselves we are doing the “others-centeredness thing” better than our neighbor—that our self-sacrifice in loving others is greater than their self-sacrifice in having to love us. But, of course, this is the very opposite of the gospel mindset.

This is why our minds must be saturated and shaped by Jesus’s shocking sacrificial love for us. We need to be daily struck in the gut by this truth (gut could be another possible translation for “mindset”). If Jesus, who is in very nature God, did not think highly of Himself, how in the world can I?

And that’s something to think about, daily, from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

rather, he made himself nothing

by taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death—

even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.”

~Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Someone has well said: “Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch”.

By culture we mean those shared values, truths, and ways of operating that define a group of people. Culture is something “organic”, not merely organizational. Like the “culture” in a petri dish, it has a life of its own. It’s alive! It is not only a matter of structures, strategies, etc.—as important as those are—but the “feel” or “vibe” that exudes from it.

CRC is a culture. We belong to Christ and are nourished by His life dwelling in us and flowing through us.

But cultures are made up of individual members—giving and taking in this shared life. We are not only influenced by the culture of the church, but also contributing to it. Every thought, word, and deed that is done—or left undone—matters! In a culture, how every individual member operates plays a part in making the whole. This forces the question: If everyone in the church thought, felt, spoke, and operated the way you do (or don’t do), what would the resulting culture be?

1 Corinthians 12 uses the metaphor of the human body, with of each individual member playing its peculiar part. But each member is not operating for itself, but for the “common good” of the body (1 Corinthians 12:7).

How are you operating?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

~1 Corinthians 12:4-27 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

We tend to be fearful of difficult circumstances. Often, underneath this fear is not merely a revulsion to hard things, but a faulty belief system that equates suffering and pain with God’s lack of care and concern. But such thinking is categorically false.

Trouble is no sign that God doesn’t love me. The Bible teaches the exact opposite. “Those whom the Lord loves, he disciplines” (Hebrews 12). God “trains” and “disciples” (note the root connection with “discipline”) the children He loves.

Trials are not contrary to God’s love but are how He works that love in us.

What is the goal of life? What is God intending to produce in me? Through all our trials, God’s goal is that we might share in His character, and so be filled with His joy. We are to become like Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).

Thus, we are not saved from trouble; we’re saved through it. We are not saved from suffering; we are saved through suffering. The cross of Christ teaches us this; it was through His suffering, He saved us.

Now, Jesus calls us on the same path of suffering He Himself has overcame. Jesus put it this way, “Here on earth, you will have trials and troubles. But take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

You see, our fear makes us run from suffering. Looking at Jesus drives us to embrace it.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

~1 Peter 1:6-9 (NASB)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The church is an adaptable institution because the gospel can work its redemptive magic in any and every situation. It’s a culture not merely a strategy. By culture we mean a shared way of thinking, feeling, and living that is driven by the very life of Jesus. At the heart of the church is a culture, shaped by the model, mandate, and magnetism of the Jesus Christ. Through our union with Him, we share in His Spirit—the Holy Spirit, which is the very love of God dwelling eternally in the unity of the Trinity. It’s supernatural! It’s not something we create, but something that creates us. It is an organism and not merely an organization.

From its inception, Christ Redeemer Church and its culture has been driven by three governing and interconnected principles that flow from this supernatural reality: 1) Gospel-centeredness—the Gospel of God’s sovereign grace 2) Gospel Relationships & Community, and 3) Gospel Mission/Vision/Vocation. There is a flow to these principles: 1) the Gospel-centeredness nourishes 2) Gospel Community, which in turn sends us out on 3) Gospel Mission. In everything we do, we seek to embody and be driven by these three cultural values.

CRC is most basically not a strategy or structure (methodology) but a culture—a way/mindset of being and doing (deep meaning). And our culture as a church is thick, deep, and adaptable—it can flourish in whatever circumstance.

Culture eats strategy lunch.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“(In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

~Ephesians 4:9-16 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of the Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. Welcome to a special edition of The Kingdom Perspective.

I want to invite you to join us in a very strategic missions’ opportunity that’s happening right here in the heart of the Upper Valley through the ministry of Christ Redeemer.

From the beginning, Christ Redeemer has sought to be a church for others. We want everyone, all our friends and neighbors and people from every nation, to experience the grace and glory of Christ! God has blessed this pursuit, not only growing a church of nearly 400-persons in Hanover but also sending out over 1,000 people touched by the gospel to every corner of the globe.

Likewise, Christ Redeemer has sought to be a church for other churches. In our 25-year history we have trained and sent over 40 ministry interns and dozens of preachers. We’ve planted two churches, even helping other churches purchase their own buildings! Also, we’ve resourced multiple other churches, helping several stay alive during the pandemic with coaching and pulpit supply. And we’ve done all this without a building of our own! Doing church out of box for over 1,200 Sundays! We’ve wandered from place to place, meeting both indoors and outdoors. 

But now, Christ Redeemer has a strategic opportunity. After a long hard legal struggle, we are now the first new church approved for a building in this Ivy League town in over 60 years!

Would you help us make this dream a reality? Would you help us establish a “permanent presence” that will not only strengthening our roots, but also extend the reach of the gospel? We need partners like you to give and spread the news of this opportunity far and wide.

Please visit christredeemerchurch.org/flourish or go to our website. Thanks! And God bless!

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’”

~Genesis 12:1-3 (ESV)

“Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

~Matthew 28:16-20 (ESV)

“So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’”

~Acts 1:6-8 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of the Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. Welcome to a special edition of The Kingdom Perspective.

Christ Redeemer has a strategic opportunity before us. We are now the first new church approved for a building in this Ivy League town in over 60 years! This has not come without challenge and difficulty.

For over 20 years we sifted through dozens of properties trying to find something suitable for our growing congregation. Every time, we were constrained by something, legal or otherwise. Then God surprised us by giving us a spacious 9-acre parcel of land, strategically located right between the Ivy League institutions of Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. Sadly though, our attempt for zoning approval on this property led us into a seven-year legal struggle, but this culminated in a landmark victory at the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The court unanimously affirmed our right to build, giving us the green light to establish a permanent presence for Christ!

Now, our pressing need is for construction funds. The seven-year legal delay was, not only expensive, but also burdened us with increased building costs. Therefore, we are seeking partners to help us actualize this dream. Would you join us by supporting this effort and spreading the word about his historic opportunity?

Our story is one of God’s faithfulness and perseverance, and our future holds untold potential for global influence.

Please visit christredeemerchurch.org/flourish. Thanks! And God bless!

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

~Matthew 5:9-16 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of the Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. Welcome to a special edition of The Kingdom Perspective.

May I invite you to participate in one of the most strategic mission opportunities I know of? That opportunity is happening right here in Hanover. When my wife and I moved here 25 years ago we came here for two reasons. The first was the greatness of the need. New England was one of the most unchurched parts of the country, with less than 2% having any substantive connection to a gospel preaching church. Hanover was surely even lower than that. Missiologists classify such a place as an “unreached people group”. Second, we came here because we knew the strategic nature of this Ivy League community. People come here from all over the world to study and work, and then they go back to all over the world!

So, we came here out of the love for the people of this place, as well as confidence that the gospel of Jesus Christ had the power to transform lives, not only in the Upper Valley but even to the ends of the earth.

And that’s exactly what God has done. In the past 25 years, God has not only grown a church of nearly 400 people, but he has also sent out over a 1,000 that have been touched by that gospel to every corner of the globe.

Christ Redeemer Church now has an historic opportunity to establish a permanent presence for the gospel in this strategic place. After a long and difficult legal struggle, we are now the first new church approved by Hanover for a building in over 60 years! We are looking for partners to join in this effort. Would you please consider networking with us to get the word out, and would you consider a gift to make this dream a reality?

Please visit our website at christredeemerchurch.org/flourish. Thanks! And God bless!

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.”

~Matthew 16:13-20 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

When we think of the idea of “hospitality”, we usually think of wining and dining. Images of nice houses, fine meals, and throwing parties that impress our friends and neighbors comes to mind. A whole segment of our economy has developed around what we call the “hospitality industry”, which makes a business out of increasingly impressive hotels, restaurants, and venues.

Now, I have nothing against nice hotels and restaurants—and certainly nothing against nice homes and good meals! However, the biblical idea of hospitality is much different than all this. The New Testament word translated hospitality is made of the Greek words for “lover” and “stranger”. Someone who practices biblical hospitality is a “lover of strangers”. In other words, they are doing the hard work of making outsiders feel welcomed.

Thus, hospitality is not merely for those with means, but those with very little means. It is for all people. It doesn’t matter how much you have; what matters is how much of that you give. It’s not about impressing others with how valuable you are; it’s about impressing others with how valuable they are.

It's not surprising then that hospitality is a character requirement of church leaders (1 Timothy 3:2), and of Christians in general (Romans 12:13). If God loved us when were strangers, wandering from Him, then how can we not do the same for others.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

~Romans 12:9-21 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

There is a paradox to generosity. Jesus puts it this way: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). “Blessedness” doesn’t come from getting but from giving. The more you give, the more you will find. We gain by losing.

This is very counterintuitive to the native posture of our sinful hearts. We tend to believe the more we hoard the happier we will be. But this is not the way God made the world…or us.

Neither God nor the world He made operates on such a “scarcity mindset”. A farmer gets more grain by “giving up” the grain he has, sowing it in the soil in hopes of a bigger harvest. The businessman gets more money, by “giving it away”, investing in his business and in the market, looking for a greater return.

The same is true with our stewardship in the kingdom of God. If we operate with a hoarding scarcity mindset, we will never have enough. However, if we operate with a generosity abundance mindset, God will make sure “we have all sufficiency in all things at all times, so that we may abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).

The book of Proverbs puts it this way:

One gives freely, yet grows all the richer;

another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,

and one who waters will himself be watered.

~Provers 11:24-25 (ESV)

As John Bunyan so eloquently put it: “There was a man, the world did think him mad, the more he gave away, the more he had.”

Bottom line: you cannot outgive God!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written,

    ‘He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

     his righteousness endures forever.’

He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”

~2 Corinthians 9:6-15 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

God is a god of abundance, not of scarcity—and this abundance is on display in all that He has made. God is not a miserable miser, but a glad Giver of all good things. He is happy and blessed (Ephesians 1:3; Romans 1:25) and overflowing with joy, precisely because He has an infinite capacity for generosity. Now, this is no mere theory. Such core beliefs about God’s basic nature and posture towards you, deeply affect the posture we take towards generosity in our own lives.

Not surprising then that generous people are joyful people, but greedy people are grumpy. Such greedy and grumpy people believe God is stingy toward them or unable to “make all grace abound” to them (2 Corinthians 9:8). They believe God owes them something. On the contrary, generous people realize everything is a gift of His grace—all of life! That there’s nothing we have we’ve not first received. So, they are grateful for God’s gifts and are glad to pass them on to others.

How your heart falls on this matter will affect the way you steward the resources God’s given: your time, your treasure and your talents. Seeing God’s generosity will make you generous. However, believing God is holding back—that He’s grumpy and greedy—will make you the same.

So, how do you lean into this joy of generosity? Well, start doing it! The more you give the more you will develop a capacity for joy. Giving makes you glad! The great London preacher Charles Spurgeon suggested the reason the sun shines so brightly is that it is always giving itself away. This is why God is the happiest of all, because He’s the giver of all good things.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith…”

~Galatians 6:6-10 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Allow me to ask you a question. Do you consider yourself a spiritually strong person or a spiritually weak person? I find that for most of us there is a deep longing to be a spiritually strong person. We don’t like the feeling of weakness and neediness. We even surmise that being spiritually weak or needy is somehow problematic or wrong, as if we are letting God down or disappointing Him in some way. But maybe there is something wrong with our push for spiritual power and avoidance of any sense of spiritual weakness.

To be honest, I know that feeling of spiritual weakness all too well, and in response to it I have found it helpful to remember the utter upside-down nature of Christ’s kingdom—that in my weakness I am strong. As Paul puts it, God’s grace is sufficient in my weakness, because He promises that His power is perfected in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). As Jesus put it, it is the “poor in spirit” who are blessed and receive the kingdom.

My friends, this message is so counter-intuitive and therefore so hard to grasp! It is for this reason that I have become increasingly thankful that God reminds us that the critical piece is not that we “grasp” God’s grace, but that it grasps us—not that we hold on to Jesus (though we should…and ultimately will) but that He has promised to hold on to us despite the weakness of our grasp on Him (John 10:27-30).

Dear Christian Friend, we are in the good hands of our Heavenly Father.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

~2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (ESV)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

~John 10:27-29 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Our God is a God of abundance and generosity. This is seen in who He is and in all that He does.

Just consider something as common as the earth God created, the ground we all walk on. It’s made of dirt and rock. It’s so cheap and mundane we trample it underfoot without thought. It’s just “dirt”!

Yet, that dirt is so rich and diverse in its elements that we can dig into it and draw out materials to produce stunning works of art and powerful supercomputers. We can fashion its elements into cars and smartphones. We can use it to construct buildings so tall they literally reach the clouds. We can split the atoms of some of these elements to create power for modern civilization. We can use other elements to make spaceships that explore the outer reaches of our solar system.

This inherent abundance is why in Genesis, God commanded humans to “cultivate” the earth (Genesis 2). The word cultivate implies a generous potential hidden in the dirt under our feet—that God created the earth in such a way it can be developed and fashioned into something greater than it is.

In this we see we need not have a scarcity mindset with the resources God has given to us. We can have a generosity abundance mindset, giving our stuff away to the glory of God, “cultivating” it, knowing God is able to return it multiplied to meet our every need.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“After I had given the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying: ‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you. You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.’”

~Jeremiah 32:16-19 (ESV)

“Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

~Genesis 2:10-15

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Our God is a god of generosity and abundance. We see this in several ways. First is the limitlessness of His very being. God is not bound by time and space. He’s not bound by anything outside Himself, at all. God needs nothing to exist for He is being itself, and so, He alone possesses the power to call into being that which does not exist.

Secondly, God’s abundance is demonstrated in all He has made. The universe we see is bigger than we can imagine. It’s only been about a hundred years or so since Edwin Hubble discovered that our galaxy is one among others. Since that time, we’ve learned there are at least hundreds of billions of galaxies, each on average containing billions of stars. And we are discovering more all the time! This means that from our human vantage point, for all practical purposes, the universe God made is beyond limit.

But all of this is backdrop to His greatest demonstration of generosity of all—the abundance of the riches of His grace toward us in Christ Jesus! When God decided to redeem fallen humanity, He spared no expense. He liquidated the full riches of heaven. He gave us the fullness of Himself in Christ. As Paul puts it in Ephesians, He has “blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 1:3).

The God we serve is not stingy. Why in the world should we be?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

~Ephesians 2:1-7 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Generosity is at the very heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, it is not surprising this same Jesus who generously gave His life for our redemption is the same one who made a world so abundantly diverse. Jesus wove abundance and generosity into the very fabric of His creation.

The Bible tells us that God created a universe with abundant potential—a multiplying and reproducing creation filled with a diversity of plants and animals. God made hundreds of thousands of plants “bearing fruit…yielding seed according to their kind” (Genesis 1:12). Likewise, He commanded the millions of animal species He made to be “fruitful and multiply and fill” the earth (Genesis 1:22). This is why a farmer can start with a few basic seeds and animals and multiply not only enough food to feed the world but also develop an endless diversity of new subspecies. Did you know, for instance, that broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower and kale are all cultivated from the same basic species (i.e., Brassica oleracea)? Similarly, all the variety of dog breeds were hidden in the one grey wolf. All dog breeds are just domestications of the same species (Canis lupus). From Great Danes to chihuahuas, the inherent abundance of God’s creation is on display.

Thus, creation itself is a rebuke to any stinginess or small-mindedness. Neither God nor His creation is marked by such tight-fistedness…and neither should we.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day…

~ Genesis 1:1-23 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Early Christians were known for their care of the weak and frail. This contrasted deeply with the callous culture in which they lived.

For example, the Law of the Twelve Tables, the earliest codification of Roman Law (c. 450-451 BC) required fathers to kill any deformed child. Though this Law was no longer in force during the rise of the church, its basic ethos continued to influence Roman culture. As a matter of fact, one historian notes that in one Roman village, “archaeologists found one hundred skeletons of infants less than a week old in the sewers under the Roman baths. The babies were ‘unwanted’ or ‘inconvenient’ and so were literally flushed down the drain” (Why You Think the Way You Do, p. 34).

Christians refused to participate in such practices. Following Holy Scripture, they knew that every human was made in the image of God, regardless of how weak, deformed, or “unwanted”. Moreover, since they held that God Himself had become a real human (bodily!) in Jesus Christ, the value they placed on the human body was elevated to previously unknown heights. The Gospel of Matthew speaks of the conception and birth of Jesus Christ saying: “that which is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). At the center of the gospel story is God Himself taking on human flesh, becoming a weak and helpless infant, even a hidden embryo.

This radically altered the way Christians viewed the weak and frail and, thus, drove them to reject not only the common practice of infanticide, but also the common practice of abortion.

As modern historian Rodney Stark put it:

“…perhaps above all else, Christianity brought a new conception of humanity to a world saturated with capricious cruelty and the vicarious love of death....”

“…what Christianity gave to its converts was nothing less than their humanity.”

~Rodney Stark as quoted on PBS Frontline: “From Jesus to Christ”

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

     “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

      and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus..”

~ Matthew 1:18-23 (ESV)

Sources to consider:

Law of the Twelve Tables

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Law-of-the-Twelve-Tables

The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History by Rodney Stark (Princeton University Press 2020).

The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbably Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire by Alan Kreider (Baker Academic 2016).

Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home by Glenn S. Sunshine (Zondervan 2009).

The Didache (Chapter 2).

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What does the Bible say about racism and ethnocentrism? A whole lot!

The Bible tells us that we all have a shared origin and identity. God made each of us in the image of God. The Apostle Paul explains it this way: God “made from one man [i.e., Adam] every nation” and He did so…that they should seek God and perhaps find Him” (Acts 17:26-27). And so, there is no such thing as a superior race or people group. Even when God chose Abraham to create the nation of Israel, He explicitly says He did so that all the people groups on the earth might be blessed. Ultimately, this is fulfilled in the Jesus, who died to secure the promise of Abraham to all the nations (Galatians 3:6-16). God is no respecter of persons.

This brings us to our second point. The Bible tells us that Christ will redeem people from every nationality, people group and language—a multitude so vast that no one will be able to number them! On that final day, there will be “full representation” of all humanity at God’s table.

Heaven will be a multiethnic and multicultural place—a diversity of humanity like the world has never seen, all unified in the worship of the one true God who died to save us.

Those that refuse to embrace this, and certainly those that oppose it in their racism and ethnocentrism, are not fit for heaven. They must be transformed, for they are at best tacit enemies of God’s grace. 

Are you growing in your love of the diversity of God’s people?

That’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”

While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”

Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.

Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.

~Acts 10:23-48 (NIV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to the Kingdom Perspective.

In the frenetic pace of modern life, rest is often the first casualty.

However, biblically speaking, rest is a good and necessary thing. God instituted a Sabbath in the very created order. He commanded the children of Israel to “Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy”. In other words, the nation of Israel was to cease from their labors, one day in seven, and reflect upon the fact that God provides for His people even when they are helpless. Indeed, it was in their helplessness that He delivered them from 24/7 slavery in Egypt.

You see, God is not like the pagan deities or rulers, that demand round the clock toil. Human beings were not created for subservience but to experience the glory of God. Even God himself shared His rule with human beings when He gave them dominion over the creation. Indeed, even our destiny in the kingdom of Heaven is spoken of as a sabbath rest where we will reign with King Jesus.

Now, good Christians can debate about the proper application of the Sabbath command in the life of the church. However, what we cannot debate about is the heart of that command: God is a god who gives rest. Neither can we debate about the propriety of the command: we are mere creatures which God in His grace has made kings of His creation, and so we need rest and deserve it.

Slaves have to work 24/7. Kings are free to enjoy the pleasure of their dominion.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’

   So God created man in his own image,

   in the image of God he created him;

   male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’ And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.’ And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

~Genesis 1:26-31 (ESV)

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

~Genesis 2:1-3 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

What is the truly wise way to engage in our present cultural conflicts?

As a society, we are increasingly tempted to divide along “us vs. them” lines and demonize those that disagree with us. But the Bible suggests that such ungracious posturing can easily drive us to be pawns of the devil, (James 3:15). Satan is the master of bitterness and division. He loves to hate, and he hates to love. The devil is quite content to convince you of your “rightness”, “your truth”, so long as it does not lead you to love those you think are wrong, or you feel have wronged you.

Now, this isn’t to suggest that there is no such thing as truth! The Bible clearly says there is! But it also tells us that there is no genuine knowledge of truth without humility and love.

Paul warns the division-prone Corinthian church:

“Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know…” (1 Corinthians 8:1-3).

When Jesus, the embodiment of all truth and wisdom, entered this world, He was gentle and humble of heart (Matt. 11:30). Genuine Wisdom conquered us by serving us and dying for our sin. Indeed, the foolishness of God is wiser than our wisdom (1 Cor. 1:25). Christ-like spirituality is marked not by how “right” you are, but by whether you can serve and die for those you think are wrong. Jesus died for His enemies. He suffered for those who hated Him. If you call yourself a Christian, you must expect no less from yourself. After all, Jesus died even for you.

As we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, we can be assured not only that God is pleased, but also that truth will indeed win.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

   and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

~1 Corinthians 1:18-25 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

The devil is the mother, the fountain, of all grumbling and accusation. He has no gratitude in him but is upset and angry about everything.

Now, how does he get us to be complicit with his tactics? One of the chief ways is through our own unresolved anger.

Ephesians 4 warns us: “Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.” The Scriptures are exhorting us not to hold on to our anger, but to deal with it before the Lord. Not dealing with it gives the devil an “opportunity”.

The word for “opportunity” is commonly translated “place” or “position”. It suggests a “foothold”, in a military sense. When we fail to process our anger before the Lord, it gives the devil a foothold in our life, a place of power from which he can manipulate us.

Nursing this bitter attitude convinces us of our own rightness. It distills our own perspective into a 200-proof, self-justifying liquor—a toxic drink that drives us into a stupor of self-obsession. With every lick of a wound… with every time you see that person at church… every time you hear another person speak positively or see them experience some good fortune… every time you run into them at the store…your heart goes “ballistic”, fomenting with anger. Every time you do this, you take another sip of the devil’s drink of self-justification.

And that’s when the devil’s got y0u! You’re intoxicated with your own self-righteousness.

What about you? Are you giving the devil a foothold in your life? Are you nursing bitter anger in your heart?

That’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

~ Ephesians 4:25-32 (NASB95)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

The Bible presents the devil as a grumbler, always finding fault, always accusing. He’s the poster child for the unhappy grump.

Now, why is the devil so unhappy? Well, he’s so unhappy because he’s so ungrateful. He doesn’t have a thankful bone in his body. He’s utterly discontent. Nothing is ever good enough for him. Heaven and all the joys of God were not good enough for him! It wasn’t fair enough. It wasn’t equitable enough. It wasn’t glorious enough.

C.S. Lewis famously wrote: “Hell begins with a grumbling mood….” You see, grumbling is the devil’s original recipe.

The devil hops from relationship to relationship, from family to family, from office to office, from church to church—complaining, accusing, and grumbling.

The Greek term for the “devil” is comprised of two words suggesting the idea to “launch” an attack that “pierces through”. Etymologically its related to the English word “ballistic”. The devil is the one who postures superiority and hurls insults, complaints, and accusations intended to pierce others and bring them down.

And so, the devil is always finding fault, pointing fingers, and throwing stones. Slandering, maligning and condemning! He’s a backbiter, liar, and malicious gossip—always bringing charges, rehearsing grievances, tearing others down to bring himself up. Not surprising, he’s called the “accuser” of God’s people (Job 1, Zechariah 9, and Revelation 12)

Nothing is ever good enough for devil!

Is it for you?

Are you walking in the pattern of the grumbler, or are you leaning into an attitude of gratitude?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, ‘From where have you come?’ Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.’ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?’ Then Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.’ And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”

~ Job 1:6-12 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Everyone knows that grumbling is the opposite of gratitude, but most are unaware of what drives it.

At the root of the grumble is unbelief in God.

Now, I need to be clear.

Grumbling is not the same as what the Bible calls “lament”. Lament is biblically condoned; grumbling is condemned. For example, there are over forty lament Psalms, and some of these could even be categorized as “complaint” Psalms. The Bible models lament but dismisses grumbling. They’re not the same.

So, what’s the difference?

Lament happens at the end of yourself, driving you to cry out to God.

But grumbling is being full of yourself (your own perspective, hurts, bitterness, etc.). You’re not open to God’s correction and training. You’re just upset you didn’t get what you want.

Lament is tenderhearted. You realize you desperately need God.

But grumbling is stubborn and hard-hearted. You refuse to trust Him.

In lament the Psalmist cries to God in his lonely distress, saying: “How long, O Lord, must I wait forever!” (Psalm 13).

However, in grumbling we don’t cry to God, but complain about Him to others—how He’s cheated, failed, or disappointed us.

Lament is laying your soul bear before God. It’s vulnerability.

Grumbling is proving yourself right. It’s refusing to take your complaint to God, while looking to others for sympathy.

Lament relies on God, and so leads us to praise Him.

But grumbling rallies others against God, leading them to question His trustworthiness.

This is why the lament Psalms do not end with complaint but with confidence in God.

My brothers and sisters, let’s follow that example and live with gratitude, not just an attitude!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.”

~ Psalm 13:1-6 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Perhaps, there is no more famous articulation in recent memory of the limits of human government than that given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”.

In it he reasons from the theology of St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul and Jesus Himself. A human law and its application are only valid to the degree that they square with the law of God. Why? Because human law is only legitimate within the bounds given by divine appointment. Human authority has limits.

Remember, Jesus told the corrupt Pontius Pilate: “You would have no authority…at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). St. Paul says: “For there is no authority except from God” (Romans 13:1). Therefore, all who wield authority have a solemn responsibility before Almighty God to do so, not as they please, but as justice and mercy would require.

Moreover, all matters of justice must be properly weighted according to the balance given in the law of God. To do otherwise is to misuse the law and so to operate in functional lawlessness. As Jesus put it, the “weightier matters of the law” are “justice, mercy and faithfulness” (Matthew 23:23), and as the prophet Micah (6:8) admonished:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

Do you exercise your rights, powers, and authority not merely for yourself, but for glory of God and the good of your neighbor?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“With what shall I come to the Lord

And bow myself before the God on high?

Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,

With yearling calves?

Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,

In ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,

The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has told you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God?”

~ Micah 6:6-8 (NASB95)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

As chaos grows in any society, increasingly people look for someone to blame. We cry out:

“It’s the government’s fault!”

“It’s the public schools that have caused the problems!”

“It’s the church’s fault for why my family life is a mess!”

“It’s society or the culture’s fault!”

Now, social forces and institutions “out there” are indeed important. There are many layers to social cohesion, and an integrated, well-functioning society involves multiple public and private institutions. It is a structure made with interlocking building blocks. However, the most basic building blocks are always self-discipline and your homelife-management. You and your family are what society is made of.

So, unless you are humbly seeking to get your own self and own house in order, to blame-shift, simply avoids the one root issue for which you have a fundamental responsibility.

In my engagement with schoolteachers and law enforcement, and even pastors, I’m increasing stunned to hear the level of chaos they are forced to deal with—much of which should be managed at the home level. Yet, more and more is expected of them, while less and less is expected of the individual and the family. This can only go on for so long till there is a collapse or a massive social reordering. Like an automobile bridge, our public institutions have a “weight limit”. They can hold only so much before they collapse.

We can pass the buck of blame for only so long before the bill is returned to our doorstep for “insufficient funds”.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.”

~ Colossians 3:17-21 (NASB95)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

You would be hard pressed to find a better or more succinct statement of the Christian understanding of limited human authority than that given by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In April of 1963, he was imprisoned for protesting the overreach of laws mandating the segregation of races in the Jim Crow South. Writing from a Birmingham jail, he responded to white clergy that criticized his tactics in fighting these unjust laws.

King responded with gracious but pointed truth, deeply rooted in the biblical tradition. Listen:

“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all’” (emphasis added).

Dr. King goes on to raise the question:

“Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law…of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.” (King, Martin Luther Jr. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” In Why We Can’t Wait, 1963.)

Now, what is Dr. King saying? Governmental authority is legitimate only to the degree that it squares with the Law of God. When human authority runs contrary to the Law of God, it abrogates its authority and must be disobeyed.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.’”

~ Acts 5:27-32 (NASB95)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Have you ever considered that the act of public worship is a political act? No! Not a partisan political act in the way our division-prone society sees it, but a political act, nonetheless. In this bold political act we partake in every Sunday, we gather, publicly, and declare that Jesus Christ (the anointed King) is Lord (the absolute ruler) of heaven and earth! Furthermore, we declare that He is coming back to judge the living and the dead—that the citizens of planet earth and their would-be rulers are all accountable to one political figure alone…a King who was brutally executed on a bloody Roman cross…for us.

How this fact, has escaped our notice can only be explained by how the modern mind has neutered historic Christianity. Our contemporary notion of Jesus is way too harmless. When you begin to ponder the implications of this assertion, it is shocking and, perhaps, a bit confusing. But one thing is for certain: it must change the way that we think about our engagement in this world.

The central claim of Christianity does not remove us from the affairs of life on earth; we are still citizens of the United States (or whatever land we call our own). However, it does affect the way we imagine our engagement in the affairs of this world. As Christians, we know that the kingdoms of this world are not ultimate kingdoms. All the kingdoms of this world will come to an end, but His kingdom is forever.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;

 let the many coastlands be glad!

 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

 righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

 Fire goes before him

 and burns up his adversaries all around.

 His lightnings light up the world;

 the earth sees and trembles.

 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

 before the Lord of all the earth.”

~ Psalm 97:1-5 (ESV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

According to the Bible government authority is not a necessary evil. It was established by God to facilitate a safe, functioning, and flourishing society. However, just because government is good and necessary does not make it the most basic and important social institution. There are some things that are more foundational to human flourishing than governmental authority.

Biblically speaking, the home (i.e., marriage and family—the husband-wife and parent-child relationship), the church (i.e., obligation to worship and obey God in communion with fellow believers), and the neighborhood (i.e., our responsibility to love our neighbor) all have higher importance than government.

Without the flourishing of the mediating institutions of home, church and neighborhood, we are left with sheer governmental force. When homes and neighborhoods are in chaos, governmental coercion becomes the sole ground of social cohesion, and this is not good. Rather, God intended love and trust nurtured in the home, church, and neighborhood to be building blocks to a free and flourishing society.

A government that does not respect and support these institutions, or worse seeks to destroy them, is a government sowing seeds of social disintegration or totalitarianism. And a people that does not pursue the good ordering of these basic building blocks in their own lives is asking for tyranny. The Law of the God, not the law of the state, must always be primary.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.’”

~ Matthew 22:35-40 (NASB95)

“Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’ Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.’”

~Genesis 2:15-18 (NASB95)

“To discipline a child produces wisdom,

but a mother is disgraced by an undisciplined child.

When the wicked are in authority, sin flourishes,

but the godly will live to see their downfall.

Discipline your children, and they will give you peace of mind

and will make your heart glad.

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.

But whoever obeys the law is joyful.”

~ Proverbs 29:15-18 (NLT)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

In ancient Rome, Christians suffered persecution precisely because they did not find their hope and ultimate allegiance in the kingdoms of this world. They refused to say that the political realm of Rome was supreme, and that Caesar was “Lord”. To them, they had only one supreme political realm, the Kingdom of God, and only one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this they were seen by many as a danger to civil order and therefore a threat to the state. However, nothing could have been further from the truth.

It was precisely because these early Christians were anchored in an eternal political reality—their citizenship in heaven—that allowed them to engage in the kingdom of this world in such a non-divisive and redemptive manner.

If you believe this world is all there is, and the political issues of the moment are make-or-break issues, then your political engagement will be desperate. And desperate people do desperately dumb things! You will be reactionary to your opponents, vindictive when attacked, cynical in the face of corruption, and hopeless in the face of setbacks. But if your hope goes beyond the kingdoms of this world, then you will be like the early Christians, who, though maligned as troublemakers, lit the path for a new way of engaging. Listen to this 2nd century tribute:

“Christians are no different from the rest in their nationality, language or customs…. They fulfill all their duties as citizens, but they suffer as foreigners…. They obey all laws, but they live at a level higher than that required by the law. They love all, but all persecute them…. In a word, what the soul is in the body, that is what Christians are in the world.” (Epistle to Diognetus, c. A.D. 150)

Could this describe you?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

~ Acts 2:42-47 (NASB)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

The Bible tells us that human government is established by God and therefore is accountable to God and His Word (Romans 13).

This is why government power must be limited. It must not be used for the selfish gain of those in power but for the general freedom and flourishing of all. By God’s design the government exists to curtail the work of evil and encourage the work of good (1 Peter 2:14). In the words of the French thinker Montesquieu (1689-1755), “it is requisite that the government be so constituted as one man needs not be afraid of another.” (Charles, Baron De Montesquieu, the Spirit of the Laws (1748)).

Thus, wherever possible, we have an obligation to hold the government accountable to this role, especially in a democratic republic, where the government is, after all, “we the people.”

However, just as the will of the government is limited, so too is that of the individual. We are all personally accountable to God and obligated to obey His will. This is why the Bible tells us that, though we are to “act as free men,” we must “not use [our] freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king” (1 Peter 2:16-17).

Especially for us as Christians, our behavior should be so exemplary that it leaves no room for bringing charges of wrongdoing. As Peter puts it: “For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15).

This teaching should make us self-reflective: How do you live? Do you speak and act in such a manner that points your neighbors to a better society?

Something to think about The Kingdom Perspective.

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”

~ 1 Peter 2:9-12 (NASB95)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

In our current political climate, we are increasingly tempted to become anxious not only for any given election result but also the potential reaction to it. However, as Christians we need not be anxious nor filled with dread. Rather, we are free to walk in faith and be peacemakers.

Why?

Well, first, we can know one thing for sure, that the day after any election nothing will have changed in heaven…or even ultimately on earth. Jesus is Lord regardless of the outcome. And that is very good news…for everyone!

Recently, a dear brother commented to me about the “devastating” situation our world is in. He wondered “what people hold onto without the hope and assurance of Christ.” How true! Thank God we have a hope that goes beyond elections. Indeed! We have a hope that goes beyond the grave!

Jesus—not earthly kings, congresses, or courts—determines our fate. All earthly kingdoms shall “come to pass,” but Jesus’s kingdom “shall have no end”.

One of the most arrogant politicians of all-time, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, finally got it right after God humbled him:

For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,

And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

All the inhabitants of the earth are of no account,

But He does according to His will among the army of heaven

And among the inhabitants of earth;

And no one can fend off His hand

Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ (Daniel 4:34-35)

Nebuchadnezzar had quite literally lost his mind. His self-obsessed pride had driven him mad, until he “raised [his] eyes heavenward and [his] reason was restored” (Daniel 4:34). Nothing restores our sanity like a glimpse of the Sovereign Savior.

Are you anchoring your hope in the eternal God or in earthly government?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“This is the interpretation, O king: It is a decree of the Most High, which has come upon my lord the king, that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. And as it was commanded to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom shall be confirmed for you from the time that you know that Heaven rules. Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.”

~ Daniel 4:24-27 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Aside from the foundational influence of the Apostles, in the first thousand years of the Church, St. Augustine’s influence is hard to match. However, St. Augustine was not always “Saint” Augustine. Although exposed to the gospel at an early age, he did not become a Christian until much later, in his early 30s (A.D. 386), just a few years after the Roman Empire became officially Christian (A.D. 380).

Although he was born into a Roman family in what today is Algeria, Aurelius Augustinus was probably not of European/Roman decent, but rather of the indigenous North African Berber tribes. As a matter of fact, his ancestors were probably slaves of the Romans until about 140 years before he was born.

Nonetheless, as a Roman citizen, Augustine was proud of his adopted empire and its influence in the world. As a child his home exclusively spoke Latin, the language of the Empire. His Romanized life afforded him many benefits and privileges.

However, when immersed in the culture and privileges of an empire, it is easy to confuse that empire with the kingdom of God.

Amazingly, Augustine, as a Christian, largely avoided this confusion. We have Augustine to thank for clarifying the biblical truth that the empires of this world—whether the Roman Empire or the American—are not to be equated with the “empire” of God. Jesus said that my kingdom is not of this world (John 19). The kingdoms of this world rise and fall. But the kingdom of God is forever. That’s where the Augustine anchored his hope.

Where have you anchored yours?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold.”

~ Daniel 2:44-45 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

We must always be careful not to be gullible—accepting everything that comes to us in the name of “spiritual truth”. Rather, the Bible calls us to investigate whether something is truly from God.

And how do we do that? Let me give you a three question test:

First, are you merely being told what you want to hear? The Bible warns of teachers “tickling” people’s ears. However, the truth is often hard. Therefore, we should be skeptical of those suggesting otherwise. Remember that line from “The Princess Bride”: “Life is pain…. Anyone who says differently is selling you something.” 

Second question: Is it true to the whole of Scripture? It does not matter that someone has a Bible verse as proof. The devil came at Jesus with Bible verses. The question is: How does this verse fit with the whole of Scripture? The Bible is a big book, and so, any part must be understood in terms of the whole. A text without context is pretext.

Final question: Does it make much of the person and work of Jesus, the Creator God who came to save us? Is Jesus the center and orienting principle of all else? As the Apostle Paul put it in his letter to the Colossians:

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority… (Colossians 2:8-10)

Jesus and His work for us is always the bottom line.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

~ Colossians 2:6-10 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Life is a marathon and not a sprint. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally for the long haul.

Sprints require a short burst of energy; marathons require endurance.

Endurance is something in short supply in modern America. We want quick fixes. We easily give up on relationships, commitments, our church, etc., especially when things are too hard or take too long. This inability to endure should concern us, severely.

The Scriptures everywhere commend an endurance mentality. Biblically, perseverance is essential to our faith. Consider these passages:

In Romans 5 we are told to “exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope….”

In Colossians Paul prays that we would be “strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy” (Colossians 1:11).

Jesus himself warns us: “…many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:10-13 ESV)

It is not surprising then that the writer of Hebrews describes the Christian life as a marathon: “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 NASB).

In all your ups and downs, the Lord has one big goal: to grow you in endurance. 

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”

~ Romans 8:18-25 (NASB)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The central claim of Christianity—namely that Jesus is Lord—does not remove us from the affairs of this world. We are still citizens of the United States (or whatever land we call our own). However, it does affect the way we imagine and engage in the affairs of this world. As Christians, we know that the kingdoms of this world (whether they are left or right, capitalist or communist, Democrat or Republican) are not ultimate kingdoms. All the kingdoms of this world will come and go, but His kingdom is forever.

It is particularly important at this moment for followers of Jesus to lean into this reality. As we become an increasingly secular society, we tend to make more and more of the kingdoms of this world. By “secular,” I do not mean that we don’t “believe in God.” The data suggests we are as “believing” a nation as ever. Rather, by “secular” I mean we think our primary hope—and so our primary citizenship and allegiance—is to be found in this world. We are convinced that we must find heaven on earth. This makes us desperate, especially if we feel things are not going our way. We become anxious that “our kingdom” is crumbling. This not only makes us irritable, but also, as Christians, it makes us ultimately useless for representing Jesus in the world.

But the gospel reminds us that, first and foremost, we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). This gives us confident hope anchored in eternity, which then allows us to move into the changing kingdoms of this world and serve our neighbors. We know that the real and lasting kingdom comes not by the love of power but by the power of love, not by superiority over others but by serving others, not by the crown but by the cross.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.”

~ Philippians 3:17-21 (NASB)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Human government must be limited, precisely because it is a delegated authority from a higher power. As the Apostle Paul put it in Romans “there is no authority except from God” (Romans 13:1). Thus, human authority is legitimate only to the degree that it functions according to God’s designated purpose.

But that begs the question: for what purpose are these human authorities established? What must these delegated authorities do to maintain their legitimacy?

Well, the Apostle Peter tells us:

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. (1 Peter 2:13-14 NASB95, emphasis added)

Did you catch that? The essential and necessary work of human government is: 1) to squelch evil and 2) to support the good. Again, it exists “for the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of those who do right”. Authorities and administrations function properly when they nurture an atmosphere in which a healthy society can flourish. To the degree that any human authority loses sight of this, to that degree it has lost its way.

Therefore, it is critical for Christians (and others of good will) to engage in the public square, in a manner that would promote both good order and good ends. We as individual citizens, families, and churches must not only hold our rulers to account for these purposes but also strive to live for them ourselves.

Are you?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.”

~ 1 Peter 2:13-17 (NASB95)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What is the most political thing you will do this week?

Christian theologian Oliver O’Donovan points out that the act of public worship is a political act. Have you ever thought of it that way? 

What is the outrageously bold political act that we do every Sunday? Well, we gather publicly and declare our allegiance to King Jesus—that He is both Christ (the anointed King) and Lord of heaven…and earth! The kings, congresses, and courts of this world do not ultimately determine our fate. Jesus does. Furthermore, we declare that He is coming back to judge the living and the dead—that the citizens of planet earth and its rulers are all ultimately accountable to but one King—a King who was brutally executed for us on a bloody Roman cross, a frightful symbol of state authority and power in the Ancient World.

Now, how this has escaped our notice can only be explained by how severely we have neutered the historic gospel. Our contemporary notion of Jesus is way too innocuous, way too harmless. He has become merely a “personal savior” endowed only with as much power that we allot Him in our compartmentalized world. But such a Jesus is not the true Jesus. The true Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords.

And when we fix our eyes on this Jesus, it undercuts the angsty hopelessness that plagues us in these modern times. As we see the kingdoms of this world tremble and even crumble, we remember that the real king was already “crucified, dead and buried for us…. He rose again from the dead…and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.”1

No one and no thing can escape the reach of King Jesus.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore Pilate entered the Praetorium again, and summoned Jesus and said to Him, “You are the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?” Pilate answered, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests handed You over to me; what have You done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.” Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this purpose I have been born, and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?”

~ John 18:33-38 (NASB)

1 Excerpts from the Apostles Creeds.

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

In Romans 13, the early church leader the Apostle Paul, issued a radical statement to the Christians in Rome. He said:

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

Sadly, this has been misused over the years by some in authority to demand that those under them blindly and unreservedly obey. But this is not at all what Paul says. Paul doesn’t command the Roman authorities to force their power upon the people. This is not addressed to the Roman authorities at all! In other words, God doesn’t say to Caesar: “I’ve given you unlimited authority, so do as you please.” No! Quite the opposite!

He is saying, all human authority is a delegated authority. It doesn’t lie in the person or the office, but ultimately in God, the author of all things (note the connection of “author” to “authority”).

This was a radical idea in the history of the world. No human being has any legitimate authority except to the extent it is given as a stewardship from the throne of heaven.

Now, certainly, this means that Roman Christians (and we) therefore should be respectful of those in authority. Rulers are ministers/servants of God, as Paul will go on to say (Romans 13:4); and we should expect to be accountable to them. But just as important, it tells us that no earthly authority is ultimate. All authority is itself accountable to the Divine Authority of heaven. God designed human government to be limited, for it is a delegated authority of a higher power.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."

~ Romans 13:1-7 (NASB95)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

In times of great political division, our thinking tends to become what some sociologists have dubbed “apocalyptic.” We begin to believe that what takes place at this moment—in the next election, during the next session of Congress or the next ruling from the Supreme Court—is going to determine the fate of our lives, indeed, the fate of all history. One side says: “If this person wins the White House or this party wins the Congress, we are all doomed.” And the other side says: “If that person wins the White House or that party wins the Congress, we are all doomed.”

Such thinking is not only false, but also revealing. It reveals where our real hope is. (Interestingly, the word “apocalyptic” literarily means to “unveil” or to “reveal”.)

Christians, however, need not think like this—not because there are not issues at stake in any given election or that what happens in Washington is of no significance. Rather, Christians have an anchor that goes beyond the chaos of the present moment. Our hope ultimately does not come from the White House in Washington but from our Father’s House in Heaven. Our hope is not in human power, but in the power God.

As the Psalmist put it:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20:7)

Such confidence allows us to enter the public square, not desperately seeking salvation, but rather seeking to serve. We are free to bring the hope of the true Savior to a world bent on finding it in earthly saviors destined only to disappoint.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;

 He will answer him from His holy heaven

 With the saving strength of His right hand.

  Some boast in chariots and some in horses,

 But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.

  They have bowed down and fallen,

 But we have risen and stood upright.

  Save, O Lord;

 May the King answer us in the day we call.”

~ Psalm 20:6-9 (NASB)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Happiness comes not from stopping the troubles of life, but only from strengthening yourself against them. This strengthening can only come by sinking our roots daily into the rich soil of God’s Word.

The Bible commands us to be steadfast. We should not be like a boat that is tossed to and fro by every wind of panic or every whim of pleasure. Rather, we should be a tree rooted in the Word of God—the shoots of our faith sinking our hopes and desire deep into the soil of our Savior’s promises.

This is where true happiness is found, and this is why the Psalmist calls such a man “blessed”. By “blessed”, he means one that is happy—someone that is fulfilled; one that has deep soul satisfaction. Listen to Psalm 1:

1 Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Ultimately, deep and steady happiness comes neither from wisdom within us nor from worldly advice somewhere out there. Rather, it comes from the blessing of God. And that blessing can only come through feasting on his Word.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Deal bountifully with your servant,

that I may live and keep your word.

Open my eyes, that I may behold

wondrous things out of your law.

I am a sojourner on the earth;

hide not your commandments from me!

My soul is consumed with longing

for your rules at all times.

You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones,

who wander from your commandments.

Take away from me scorn and contempt,

for I have kept your testimonies.

Even though princes sit plotting against me,

your servant will meditate on your statutes.

Your testimonies are my delight;

they are my counselors.”

~ Psalm 119:17-24 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

It is said that the first casualty of war is truth. Whoever manages to get the upper hand in framing the conflict has a clear advantage over the one who does not. This is as true in our disagreements around the kitchen table, as it is in our cultural debates. It’s as true in the bedroom, as it is on the battlefield.

Now, the Bible tells us that we are in a spiritual battle, and the chief strategy of our enemy is to get the upper hand by getting us to believe lies. The devil loves to twist the truth and trick us into trusting him as opposed to God. As Jesus put it, “When [the devil] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44 NIV). Therefore, in our fight, we are warned to be vigilant (1 Peter 4)—to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). We are told to be aware of the devil’s schemes, and so, not fall prey to His strategy (2 Corinthians 2:11). But how do we do that?

Enter C.S. Lewis’s masterful classic The Screwtape Letters. Like nothing I’ve ever read, it does an excellent job exposing many twisted, hellish, and insidious lies. I highly recommend it! Whether you read it or listen to it (why not do both!!!), you will find yourself awakened to the many ways our enemy trips us up. Go to our podcast to find links to free resources for this work.

I hope by seeing the way the devil tricks us, you might learn to walk in greater wisdom, and avoid many traps. But watch out! The devil doesn’t want his secrets exposed. Perhaps that’s why Lewis said that it was the most difficult piece he ever wrote.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.’”

~ Ephesians 6:10-20 (ESV)

Free Online Resources*:

Audio Book of The Screwtape Letters read by John Cleese:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L6lCeXF8D4

Digital Copy of The Screwtape Letters:

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.86985/page/n69/mode/1up

*Originally, written during during WW2 in Britain, some material in The Screwtape Letters will be a bit dated, but let that not dissuade you. As a matter of fact, being written during the greatest war to ever engulf our planet, makes it even more viscerally compelling.

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to have interesting conversations on airplanes. A few years ago, I sat next to a researcher who has traveled the world over detailing what people do when something goes wrong in their life. What are the universal patterns of response we all have regardless of culture, age or socio-economic circumstances?

He found that immediately after something goes wrong, we begin to tell ourselves a “justification story”. We try to find a cause, so that we can pin blame, often to exonerate ourselves and cast the guilt onto someone or something else.

This researcher’s “discovery” shouldn’t surprise us. If we just reflect on our everyday relationships with our closest family members and co-workers, we will see this pattern again and again. We always try to justify ourselves relative to others.

Now, why? Why are we so driven toward such justification narratives? Why is it that our knee-jerk response is to justify ourselves and our actions, as if we are on trial, living our lives in a courtroom before a judge?

Well, if you are familiar with the Bible the answer shouldn’t surprise you. It is because we are. The New Testament book of Romans tells us that we intuitively know our lives are being lived before the ultimate Judge of the universe before whom we will have to give an account. We will be judged by our Creator for our every thought, word, and deed, and on that final judgment day God will render to everyone exactly what they deserve. He alone will settle the score. Thus, deep in our hearts our consciences are constantly either accusing or defending our every action.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."

~Romans 1:18-20 (ESV)

“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”

~ Romans 2:6-15 (ESV)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Do you worry about what others think of you? If yes, join the club. I saw an article recently on what one psychologist calls FOPO (fear of people’s opinions). We all suffer from this at least a bit, perhaps some more than others. We are incurably social creatures and so we’re all susceptible to this to a greater or lesser degree.

Peer pressure is not something that only teens and college students struggle with. Worrying about what others think does not magically dissipate once we graduate or become adults.

Now, this struggle is not good; living for the approval of others is a snare. It is what the book of Proverbs calls the “fear of man”. As Proverbs 29:25 puts it, “Fearing people is a dangerous trap…”.

Now, why is it a trap? Well, as writer and recording artist Shai Linne says:

“Craving human affirmation is a no-win proposition. Those who don’t receive it are miserable. Those who do receive it only want more.”

~Shai Linne, native Philadelphian, recording artist, and author

The only thing that can save us from the fear of man is the fear of God. It is not that we weren’t made for the approval of another. We were. But the approval we were made for is not that of our neighbor but of our Savior. We were made for God. This is why the Scriptures tell us: “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death” (Proverbs 14:27) and “The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied…” (Proverbs 19:23).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”

~ 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 (ESV)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

At the heart of Christianity is the notion we call “the Great Exchange”. What is the Great Exchange? It is the sweet and gracious reality that at the cross, Jesus Christ took our sins and gave us His righteousness. The sin was ours alone, but He took it. And the righteousness was His alone, but He freely gave it.

Now, sadly, I have heard some contemporary theologians claim this notion is a late invention in the history of the church, only coming to prominence in the Reformation period and beyond. However, this is not historically accurate. The Great Exchange has always been the very heart and power of the church.

One the greatest Christian writings of the mid 2nd century was The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus (c. 150 A.D.). Listen to this statement of Christ exchanging our sin for His righteousness:

“He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for the transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors!”

As the Apostle Peter summed it up:

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

Oh, sweet exchange!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

~2 Corinthians 5:17-21 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Several years ago, Dr. Gregg Henriques of James Madison University wrote an article in Psychology Today that caught my attention. It was called “The Justification Hypothesis”. Dr. Henriques is known for his Unified Theory of Knowledge, which is an attempt to have a more interconnected vision of how science, psychology and philosophy are related. His theory consists of eight key ideas, the second of which he entitles Justification Systems Theory. Now, far be it from me to detail the intricacies of his theory. Nonetheless, a statement from the Psychology Today article is worth consideration. He writes:

“Look around and you will see systems and processes of justification everywhere in human affairs…. Other animals communicate, struggle for dominance, and form alliances. But they don't justify why they do what they do. We are the justifying animal.”

~“The Justification Hypothesis” by Gregg Henriques Ph.D. in Psychology Today; James Madison University

To me, this forces the question: Why are human beings unique among all creatures in our propensity to give justification—to give reasons for why we do what we do to provide defense for our motives and actions?

I think the Bible gives us the answer. It tells us that human beings are uniquely made in the image of God and given a unique moral duty before Him. Having this innate sense of moral duty to God’s Law, we intuitively know we are accountable to Him—that we will have to give an account of every thought, word, and deed. We will be required to justify our lives before the courtroom of heaven.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”

~Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV)

“Once God has spoken;

 twice have I heard this:

 that power belongs to God,

 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.

 For you will render to a man

 according to his work.”

~Psalm 62:11-12 (ESV)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

If we were to peel back the universe to see what’s underneath it—to discover its source, the very essence of reality—we would not find a mathematical or scientific formula, nor a moral to do list, nor even a theological doctrinal statement. All these things are good, true, and necessary, but they are not the ultimate thing. Rather, we would find a perfect, eternal, untainted relationship of self-giving love! A divine community (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in an infinite relationship of mutual self-giving—perfectly and equally sharing being, glory, and delight, from eternity to eternity. One God in three Persons, and three Person in One God.

What does this mean? Well, most basically, it means that love is what is ultimately real, for love is the very essence of God’s nature. Thus, as Christians we do not have a thin and sentimental view of love. Love is real. It exists apart from our feelings. It exists from all eternity.

In making us in His image, God meant for us to reflect this glory. We were to find our life in His self-giving Love. Thus, the biblical concept of sin is a brokenness in the beauty and wholeness of that relationship of love—it’s a dis-ease, a dis-harmony.

We have no life apart from that love. And so, any person, any “self”, that does not exist to serve and give themselves away for others is a corruption of what it means to be a “person”, of what it means to be a “self”.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’”

~ Matthew 11:25-29 (ESV)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

No philosophy or religion has a higher and more dignified perspective on human nature than the Bible. It tells us that God created us in His own image, fully righteous and holy. We were not created sinful, but good.

This means that sin is an interloper. It is not intrinsic to human nature, but a corruption of human nature. It comes not from being faithful to our humanness, but from rebelling against it. When we sin, we are destroying our true humanity.

God made us for covenant relationship with Himself—to be His special creatures. By trusting and obeying Him, we were meant to show forth His beauty to all creation.

Unfortunately, we were not content with this. In our sin, we deemed it not good enough to be mere creatures, displaying the beauty of our Creator. Rather, we determined to be our own creators. We didn’t want to reflect God’s glory; we wanted to create our own. How foolish! This is like a mirror wanting to reflect itself!

The irony of such madness is that no other creature had been given such an exalted status! We alone were made in the image and likeness of God. What more could we ask for? Yet, sadly, we were deceived and so demanded more. Thus, we fell and became less. Our humanity plunged into sin, and this sin has irreparably corrupted our human nature. As Genesis 6 puts it:

5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…. 12 for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.

This infection of sin is so bad that it leaves us utterly hopeless, desperately needing the intervention of a Savior.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.’ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

~Genesis 6:5-8 (ESV)

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

21. What were Adam and Eve like when God made them?

They were very good.

22. Did Adam and Eve remain good?

No, they sinned.

23. What is sin?

Disobedience to God’s law.

An Advanced Catechism

15. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man when he was first created?  

When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; (Galatians 3:12) forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death. (Genesis 2:17)

16. Did our first parents continue in the state in which they were created? 

Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the state in which they were created, by sinning against God, (Ecclesiastes 7:29) by eating the forbidden fruit. (Genesis 3:6-8)

17. What is sin? 

Sin is any lack of conformity to, or transgression of the law of God. (1 John 3:4)

Hello this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

No philosophy or religion has a higher and more dignified view of human nature than what we find in the Bible. Yet, despite this, I find that many Christians, thinking that they are being faithful to Holy Scripture, have a very negative view of human nature. This negativity is wrong headed. The Bible tells us that God created us in His own image, fully righteous and holy—to be rulers over all God has made. We were not created sinful but good. In the words of Genesis 1:31, all creation was “very good”! 

As God declares at the creation of mankind:

26 …“Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it….

Likewise, the great King David echoes this exulted status in Psalm 8:

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,

 And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;

 You have put all things under his feet…

What other creature has been given such significance! Men and women were designed to function like kings and queens over the whole kingdom of God’s creation.

Secularism teaches that humans are merely the latest in a series of cosmic accidents. The Bible teaches that humans are the pinnacle of all creation.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Psalm 8 (ESV)

1 O Lord, our Lord,

 how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

 you have established strength because of your foes,

  to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

 the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,

 and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

 and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

 you have put all things under his feet,

7 all sheep and oxen,

 and also the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

 whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Lord,

 how majestic is your name in all the earth!

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

18. How are people different from the rest of creation?

We alone are made in God’s image.

19. Who were the first people that God created?

Adam and Eve were our first parents.

20. What were Adam and Eve like when God made them?

They were very good.

An Advanced Catechism

14. How did God create man? 

God created man, male and female, after His own image, (Genesis 1:27) in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness (Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24) with dominion over the creation. (Genesis 1:28)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

One of the main critiques I hear about the biblical idea of God’s sovereignty is that it makes God into a “micromanager”. No one likes someone obsessed with controlling everything and everyone!

Well, good news! God has no need of being controlling. He is not threatened by you having power. He doesn’t need any power; He already has it all!

As a matter of fact, when God made the world, He did not “horde” power for Himself. Rather, He gave “dominion” to humankind (i.e., Gen. 1:26-28), welcoming us to participate in His power. Genesis 2 tells us that He delegated to us the responsibility of guarding and cultivating the earth. We are not mere “puppets”, but responsible agents, sharing in His dominion over creation. But this in no way threatens God’s sovereign power or authority.

God is the ground of all being; you can never completely remove Him from the equation. As the Apostle Paul puts it, God “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11, emphasis added). “In Him we live move and have our being” (Acts 17).

So, how does God have all power, and yet, we are responsible agents? No doubt, this is a deep mystery that goes beyond finite comprehension.

All earthly illustrations ultimately break down, but maybe this one might help. Consider the difference between the will of an author and the will of the characters created by that author. The characters all have their own being and free choice within the story, but that doesn’t preclude the author superintending the story. As a matter of fact, it’s premised upon it! Each character within the story is acting freely, and yet, no character acts without the will of the author. Shakespeare is not threatened by the free actions of Hamlet; he controls them.

We are characters in God’s story. Our freedom is confined by the time and space, but God, the author and sustainer of time and space, is not so confined.

Something to think about—and ponder for quite a while—from The Kingdom Perspective.

Job 38 (ESV)

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said:

2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

3 Dress for action like a man;

   I will question you, and you make it known to me.

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

   Tell me, if you have understanding.

5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!

   Or who stretched the line upon it?

6 On what were its bases sunk,

   or who laid its cornerstone,

7 when the morning stars sang together

   and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

8 “Or who shut in the sea with doors

   when it burst out from the womb,

9 when I made clouds its garment

   and thick darkness its swaddling band,

10 and prescribed limits for it

   and set bars and doors,

11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther,

   and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

12 “Have you commanded the morning since your days began,

   and caused the dawn to know its place,

13 that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,

   and the wicked be shaken out of it?

14 It is changed like clay under the seal,

   and its features stand out like a garment.

15 From the wicked their light is withheld,

   and their uplifted arm is broken.

16 “Have you entered into the springs of the sea,

   or walked in the recesses of the deep?

17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

   or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

18 Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?

   Declare, if you know all this.

19 “Where is the way to the dwelling of light,

   and where is the place of darkness,

20 that you may take it to its territory

   and that you may discern the paths to its home?

21 You know, for you were born then,

   and the number of your days is great!”

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

17. What does God do for His creation?

He rules and cares for it.

An Advanced Catechism

12. What is the work of creation? 

The work of creation is a picture of redemption through Christ Jesus, with God making all things (Genesis 1:1) of nothing, by the Word of His power, (Hebrews 11:3) in the space of six days, (Exodus 20:11) and all very good. (Genesis 1:31)

13. What is God’s providence? 

God’s providence is His wise and absolute rule over all of His creation, including all of man’s actions, in order to reveal the glorious Gospel of His Son for His eternal glory. (Psalm 115:3; Daniel 4:34-35; Ephesians 1:3-14)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What is God like? What kind of being is He?

Well, we must begin with this.

The most fundamental distinction in being is that between the Creator and creation.

God is a being unlike anything in all the created realm, precisely because He is the Creator of the created realm.

God is not a being competing for space in the world.

God is not a being competing for causality in the world.

The question is not whether you caused something, or God caused something. Or this or that causing something versus God causing something.

God’s relationship with matter and causality are quite different than any other being in the world.

For example, consider a billiard table. The cue ball competes with the space where the eight ball exists. When the cue ball strikes the space and material existence of the eight ball, it causes the eight ball to move. The two cannot occupy the same space because their existence is contingent upon space and matter.

But God does not exist in this way. God’s being is utterly unique from all other being. God’s being is not contingent; it is not dependent upon or caused by anything outside Himself. God is not merely one being existing alongside another, but rather the very ground of being.

So, in this sense, God is beyond our common understanding of being.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

~Exodus 3:13-14 (ESV)

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

16. What does God do for His creation?

He rules and cares for it.

An Advanced Catechism

10. What is the work of creation? 

The work of creation is a picture of redemption through Christ Jesus, with God making all things (Genesis 1:1) of nothing, by the Word of His power, (Hebrews 11:3) in the space of six days, (Exodus 20:11) and all very good. (Genesis 1:31)

11. What is God’s providence? 

God’s providence is His wise and absolute rule over all of His creation, including all of man’s actions, in order to reveal the glorious Gospel of His Son for His eternal glory. (Psalm 115:3; Daniel 4:34-35; Ephesians 1:3-14)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

God is a being like no other. Since the Creator is the one who gives being to everything—something no other being can do—it follows that He must be categorically unlike anything else. Thus, we should not expect to totally comprehend God.

However, just because we cannot know God fully, doesn’t mean we can’t know him Truly. Although we are unable to “climb up” and discover God, this is no hindrance for God to, so to speak, “come down” and reveal Himself to us. And this is exactly what God has done for us in the Bible.

Now, one truth God has revealed about Himself is that from all eternity He has existed as a love relationship of three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what we call the Trinity.

The theologians summarize this in three basic propositions:

· First, each person of the Trinity is equally God—the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God.

· Second, the three persons of the Trinity are all eternally distinct persons—the Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Father; the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son.

· And yet, thirdly, there is only one God—One God in three persons, and three persons in one God.

Although we can know this for certain, yet the triune nature of God remains a great mystery—something we will ponder, worship, and delight in all our days. Although we may not get our minds around it, yet this truth drives us to praise God, for by it we know that love is real because we now know that God IS eternal love relationship.

And that’s something, not only to think about, but to adore in worship, from the Kingdom Perspective.

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete."

~1 John 1:1-4 (ESV)

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

~John 17:20-26 (ESV)

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

14. How many Gods are there?

There is only one true God.

15. How many persons is this one true God?

Three. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

An Advanced Catechism

8. Are there more Gods than one? 

There is but one only, (Deuteronomy 6:4) the living and true God. (Jeremiah 10:10)

9. How many persons are there in the Godhead? 

There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory. (1 John 5:7; Matthew 28:19)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What is God like? In one sense, this is a very difficult question. Why? Well, whenever we ask what something is “like”, we are trying to make a comparison to other things. But God is not like anything in creation. The most fundamental theological distinction is between the Creator and the creation. There is an infinite gulf between the Maker and the thing made. As God says in Isaiah: “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him?” (Isaiah 40:25, ESV). God, by definition, is a being like no other.

However, though we cannot fully comprehend God, this doesn’t mean that God is unable communicate Himself to us. God longs for us to know Him, and so, He has stooped to make Himself known. We may not be able to make sense of God, but God is able to make sense of Himself to us.

So, what are some things that God has told us about Himself? God has told us that He is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, love, purity, and truth. He has told us that He is not constrained by creaturely limitations. God is not limited in knowledge; He’s omniscient. He’s not limited by time and space; He omnipresent. He’s not limited in power; He’s omnipotent. Although we are limited by all sorts of things—time, matter, space, the will of others—God is not. He is totally free to do all His holy will.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Isaiah 40 (ESV)

9  Go on up to a high mountain,

  O Zion, herald of good news;

  lift up your voice with strength,

  O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

  lift it up, fear not;

  say to the cities of Judah,

  “Behold your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

   and his arm rules for him;

   behold, his reward is with him,

   and his recompense before him.

11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

   he will gather the lambs in his arms;

   he will carry them in his bosom,

   and gently lead those that are with young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

   and marked off the heavens with a span,

   enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

   and weighed the mountains in scales

   and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,

   or what man shows him his counsel?

14 Whom did he consult,

   and who made him understand?

   Who taught him the path of justice,

   and taught him knowledge,

   and showed him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

   and are accounted as the dust on the scales;

   behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.

16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

   nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

17 All the nations are as nothing before him,

   they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 To whom then will you liken God,

   or what likeness compare with him?

19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,

   and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

   and casts for it silver chains.

20 He who is too impoverished for an offering

   chooses wood that will not rot;

   he seeks out a skillful craftsman

   to set up an idol that will not move.

21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?

   Has it not been told you from the beginning?

   Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

   and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

   who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

   and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

23 who brings princes to nothing,

   and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

   scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

   when he blows on them, and they wither,

   and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

25 To whom then will you compare me,

   that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:

   who created these?

   He who brings out their host by number,

   calling them all by name;

   by the greatness of his might

   and because he is strong in power,

   not one is missing.

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

9. Where is God?

He is everywhere.

10. How long has God existed?

Forever. He has always been.

11. Does God know all things?

Yes – God knows all things.

12. Can you see God?

No, but he can always see me.

13. Can God do all things?

Yes – God can do all His holy will.

An Advanced Catechism

7. What is God? 

God is Spirit, (John 4:24) infinite, (Job 11:7) eternal, (Psalm 90:2, 1 Timothy 1:17) and unchangeable (James 1:17) in his being, (Exodus 3:14) wisdom, power, (Psalm 147:5) holiness, (Revelation 4:8) justice, goodness, love, purity and truth. (Exodus 34:6,7)

There’s a lot of things we can learn from science and other fields of study, but some things can only be learned from direct communication from God. Why is this the case? Well, it is one thing to study the works that someone creates, but it is quite another to have direct communication with the one who created it. So, by way of illustration, you might be able to learn a few things about a particular painter by studying one of their paintings, but we probably are not going to discern everything the artist intended without also consulting the artist directly. Likewise, we can learn a lot about an artist by studying their works, but we will never know the artist personally until we hear from them directly.

This is why Christians put such emphasis on the Bible. Classical Christianity holds that the Bible gives us a message we cannot get anywhere else. In a profound sense, it comes from the very heart of God. As the Apostle Paul says: “All Scripture is God-breathed….” It’s the intimate breath of God Himself.

And so, the Bible tells us God’s will for our lives—what we are to do and not do.

It explains our sin—how we’ve failed to fulfill God’s will in our lives. 

But most significantly, it tells us of God’s heart of mercy. It reveals how God Himself has come to us in the person of Jesus Christ, to take our sin and to give us Himself. It shows the love of God.

Let’s be clear, we would not know this apart from the Bible. That’s why we sing the simple truth of that children’s song: “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

~John 3:16-21 (ESV)

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

Questions for Kids: A Basic Catechism for Children

4. How do we learn about God?

God tells us about Himself.

5. Where does God tell us about Himself?

In nature and in His Word.

6. What does God tell us about Himself in nature?

His character, law, wrath and glory.

7. What special message does God tell us in His Word?

The good news of God’s love and mercy toward His people.

8. Where can we find God’s Word today?

In the Bible alone.

An Advanced Catechism

5. What rule has God given to direct us how we may glorify Him? 

The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments (Ephesians 2:20; 2 Titus 3:16) is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy him. (1 John 1:3)

6. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

The Scriptures principally teach what God requires of His creatures and how Jesus Christ has fulfilled that requirement on behalf of all who trust Him. (Luke 24:44-49; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 1 Timothy 1:15)

Hello this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The Bible tells us that God is a king. But not just any king. A king who is totally sovereign!

Now, what do we mean by “sovereign”? All rulers have varying degrees of sovereignty. The greater the sovereignty the more freely that ruler can do as they please. Well, God is a sovereign ruler like no other. Why? The opening line of Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, tells us that God created the heavens and the earth…out of nothing. He spoke everything into existence! From bats to butterflies, stars to galaxies, even time and space itself is all an act of unimaginable sovereignty. There have been a lot of powerful kings in the history of the world, but none that had the power to call entire universes into existence. But this is exactly what God, the Creator, has done! He is a ruler like no other.

Now, this fact has some incredible implications. For example, this means that whatever God decrees or wills—whatever He chooses to accomplish—will happen. He doesn’t need to get permission from some higher authority. He doesn’t even need to work around the laws of nature. He made the laws of the nature!!! And He certainly doesn’t need to get your permission. He made you!

This means that every act of creation (calling into existence that which does not exist) and every act of God guiding and providing for His creation (what the theologians call “providence”) will work to accomplish exactly what He wills. It is for this reason that we can be assured that “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Psalm 33 (ESV)

1 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!

   Praise befits the upright.

2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;

   make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!

3 Sing to him a new song;

   play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the Lord is upright,

   and all his work is done in faithfulness.

5 He loves righteousness and justice;

   the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,

   and by the breath of his mouth all their host.

7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;

   he puts the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;

   let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!

9 For he spoke, and it came to be;

   he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

   he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

   the plans of his heart to all generations.

12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,

   the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our website by clicking here.

An Advanced Catechism

3. What are the decrees of God? 

The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsel of His own will, in which for His own glory He has foreordained whatever comes to pass. (Eph 1:11,12)

4. How does God execute His decrees? 

God executes His decrees in the works of creation, (Re 4:11) and providence (Da 4:35) to teach His creatures the good news of Jesus Christ.

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

To know the purpose of anything you must know what it was designed to do. For example, a smart phone is a great device for connecting you to the world; you can make a phone call, connect to the internet, text a friend, etc. That’s what it was designed to do. However, it is a terrible device for pounding a nail; that’s not what it’s made for. Likewise, a hammer is a great device for driving a nail, but a terrible device for “connecting” you to other people. Don’t try it! It’s not what it’s designed for.

So, what were you made for? Well, the Bible tells us we were made for the glory and pleasure of God. We were made in the image and likeness of our Creator, to put His glory on display. That’s why we exist—to enjoy God by delighting in and showing off His glory.

When God made you, He intended to put His own glory on display. And to the degree we refuse this purpose, to that degree we make a mess of our lives. It’s like using a smart phone to drive a nail or using a hammer to “connect” with our friends.

However, when we trust God and obey His commandments, we experience His pleasure. We enjoy the purpose for which He created us. We live in harmony with our design, and His glory becomes our glory, and His pleasure becomes our pleasure.

We were made to be filled with the eternal joy of God.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

  I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;

  I have no good apart from you.”

  As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

  in whom is all my delight.

  The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;

 their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

 or take their names on my lips.

 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

 you hold my lot.

  The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

 indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

  I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

 in the night also my heart instructs me.

  I have set the Lord always before me;

 because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;

  my flesh also dwells secure.

  For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

 or let your holy one see corruption.

  You make known to me the path of life;

 in your presence there is fullness of joy;

 at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

~Psalm 116:1-11 (ESV)

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our "CRC Family Devotional Guide" under the resources menu on the church website.

A Basic Catechism for Children

1. Who made you?

God.

2. What else did God make?

    God made all things.

3. Why did God make all things?

    For His own pleasure and glory.

An Advanced Catechism

1. What is the chief purpose of man? 

Man’s chief purpose is to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31) and to enjoy him forever. (Ps. 73:25, 26)

Hello this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Imagine walking into a room and finding a device you’ve never seen before. Though you’ve never come across anything like it, it’s obvious it’s made by someone for some specific purpose. But for what purpose? How are you to know what it is, and what it’s for?

Well, the simplest and most straightforward way of knowing would be to find its inventor, the creator of this device. Or perhaps you could look to see if the inventor left any instructions, perhaps some manual or directions on how to use it.

Now, let me ask you: What’s your purpose? What have you been made for? Any deep consideration of our humanity, both body and soul, will lead one to conclude we are quite amazing inventions. Whoever created us designed something incredibly unique, and incredibly impressive! Human beings are standout creatures! This thought made King David cry out: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

But again, how I am I to know what I am created for? What’s my purpose? Well, the best way to know is to hear from the One who made me; and the good news is He is not silent on this subject. He’s given us His instruction manual, the Bible, and in its opening pages He tells us that we are made to display His glory in the world. We are created in His very image and likeness!

No purpose could be higher! And no calling more intense!

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

     So God created man in his own image,

     in the image of God he created him;

     male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

~Genesis 1:26-28 (ESV)

*Below, we are appending some basic catechism questions that go along with this Kingdom Perspective. A catechism is a classical Christian teaching device, helping both children and adults better understand the unique claims of the Bible. Below, you will find questions taken from both a children’s catechism and a more advanced catechism. For the full catechisms, you may go to our "CRC Family Devotional Guide" under the resources menu on the church website.

A Basic Catechism for Children

1.    Who made you?

God.

2.   What else did God make?

      God made all things.

3.   Why did God make all things?

       For His own pleasure and glory.

An Advanced Catechism

1.    What is the chief purpose of man? 

Man’s chief purpose is to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31) and to enjoy him forever. (Ps. 73:25, 26)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Why do we resist humbling ourselves? Well, the Bible would suggest to us that there is a connection between our pride and our anxious worry.

Peter writes to us:

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5 NASB95, emphasis added)

Notice that a part of the command to humble oneself is to cast all our anxieties, that is, our fretful worries, onto God. Why? Well, what is worry? Worry is our feeble attempt, as sinful and finite creatures, to rule the universe. We are anxious because we think we should control this or that. We want to be in charge. We think we know what’s best, and so we want things to go our way. Such thinking exposes a deity-complex that is at the very root of sin.

When we forget God, we tend to take His place. This sinful pride leads to worry. And worry leads us to double down on trying to take God’s place. It’s a vicious cycle.

Now, God doesn’t respond to our sinful anxiety by shaming us but by assuring us. “Cast all your anxieties upon Him!” Why? “Because He cares for you!”

We see the same thing from God through the prophet Isaiah:

"Do not fear, for I am with you;

 Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

 I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,

 Surely, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

~Isaiah 41:10 (NASB95)

God doesn’t just say, “Don’t worry!” Rather, He says, “I am with you.”

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

Isaiah 41 (NASB95)

8 “But you, Israel, My servant,

  Jacob whom I have chosen,

  Descendant of Abraham My friend,

9  You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,

  And called from its remotest parts

  And said to you, ‘You are My servant,

  I have chosen you and not rejected you.

10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;

   Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

   I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,

   Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;

   Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

12 “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,

   Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

13 “For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand,

   Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

14 “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;

   I will help you,” declares the Lord, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

If what Jesus tells us is true, then the heart of our problem is the problem of the human heart.

Jesus warns that our basic problem is not merely external or being in this group vs. that group. Rather, in Mark 7, he gathers all the people and tells them this:

20 … “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

This reminds me of that powerful statement by the great Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as he’s trying to make sense of his experience in the Soviet gulag, the labor camp he was unjustly condemned to:

“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”

~Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956

Indeed, the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart. And to destroy a piece of our heart, indeed, to be given a whole new heart, is exactly what we need, and it is exactly what God has promised us in Jesus Christ.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”(Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

~Mark 7:14-23 (ESV)

“I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

~Ezekiel 36:24-28 (ESV)

Hello this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

As modern people we are good at spotting external oppression. We can see a despot coming miles away. However, we often miss the more subtle oppression of our own desires manipulating us, and, unfortunately, in a techno-consumeristic society like our own, this is a far greater threat. As the late thinker Neil Postman put it: “Everything in our background has prepared us to know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us… But …[w]ho is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements?”

In his short but powerful book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman contrasts the competing dystopias of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell:

“Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley [Brave New World] and Orwell [1984] did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required…. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. …Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance…. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny ‘failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions.’ In 1984…people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we fear will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we desire will ruin us. …Huxley, not Orwell, was right.” 

~Neil Postman (1931-2003), in his classic Amusing Ourselves to Death

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

~Ephesians 4:17-24 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

How should we engage in a world that’s confused and sometimes even hostile to our faith? Should we make it our ambition to malign them, patting ourselves on the back about how good we are and how bad they are? No, rather, we should just be ordinary people, living ordinary lives, loving our neighbors.

The church in Thessalonica had experienced intense opposition (1 Thess. 1:6-7; Acts 17:1-15), and so they provide a great backdrop of how to live in a difficult context.

So, what do we learn from them? Essentially two things.

First, according the 1 Thessalonians 4 we should “excel” in modeling genuine loving community in our relations within the church. How we live together as God’s people—how we love and care for one another—is most critical.

But then, secondly, Paul directs us to:

11 … make it [our] ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to [our] own business and work with [our] hands… 12 so that [we] will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.

You see, God doesn’t call us to be extraordinary—to be “great for God!” And He certainly doesn’t call us to be extraordinarily difficult people. Rather, He calls us to be extraordinary in our ordinariness. 

How do you live as a Christian in the world? Well, if you are a doctor, be the best doctor you can be. If you are a mechanic, be the best mechanic you can be. If you are a teacher, be the best teacher you can be. If you are an engineer, be the best engineer you can be. And do all of it, for the sake of Jesus. Why? Paul gives two reasons:

1) so that you can be of service to your neighbors and co-workers, and

2) so that you can provide for your own family, so as not to be a burden to others.

So, how are you doing with this?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own bodyin holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”

~ 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

It has been my observation that the moment anyone begins to speak of sin and our deep, pervasive rebellion against God, the average American begins to tune out. Why? Well, I think, in part, it’s because it seems harsh. And, if there is anything this world needs no more of, it’s harshness.

However, here’s problem. There is no way to be faithful to the restorative message of the Bible without acknowledging the fact of our sin. No book speaks more profoundly to the problem of human evil than the Bible. And I think we find there the deeper reason why we tend to bristle at the accusation that we are sinners and that God is our rightful judge. We do this because our sin leaves our souls fearful and fragile. As the Gospel of John puts it, we are afraid to come into the light for fear that our sin will be exposed and we will be judged (John 3:20-21).

Look, if this notion rings true for you, I have some really good news. Jesus, our rightful judge, loves sinners just like you and me. Jesus was Himself judged for sinners. And so, you have nothing to fear in coming to Him. Jesus will gladly welcome you, and His love has the power not only to drive out any fear, but also to transform any life.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

~John 3:16-21 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Traditionally, Christians have practiced what is known as catechesis, or catechetical training. Catechesis comes from a Greek word meaning “to teach/to instruct” (Galatians 6:6). It carries with it the idea of in-person training from a knowledgeable instructor. A catechumen in the early church was a person who was under the teaching and training ministry of the church, in process of becoming confirmed in the faith, and so be received into the church as a member.

This catechetical training has taken various forms throughout the centuries and has been manifested in various ways in differing Christian traditions. However, historically, every Christian denomination has prioritized the catechetical process and has had some form of catechesis. Sadly, though, this is generally no longer the case. In most instances, emotions, experience, and “sincerity” have replaced this training. Being formed in doctrinal content (what we believe) and Christian practice (how we behave) has been downplayed in favor of a more emotive and consumer-oriented approach.

But this does not mean that Christians are not being formed in their thinking and character. They are. It just means that they are not being formed in the gospel. To be formed in the gospel requires both truth and intentionality—on the part of the teacher and the one being taught. We must subject ourselves to a process of learning the faith with our whole being—head, heart, and hands. For weeds to grow requires no effort. However, a good crop of vegetables requires intentionality and care.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

~Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Since time immemorial parents have been managing the tension between a child’s desire for self-expression and their need for external structure and discipline. 

Each culture has negotiated this differently—some more permissive and others more restrictive. However, what’s unique about our present cultural moment is that it’s defaulted, almost completely, to an ethos of self-expression. We are warned that the most damaging thing we can do to a child is to question their inner desires or (God forbid!) suppress their self-expression.

But here’s the problem: children need their parents to guide them in who they ought to become. Children are hardwired to find their self-definition, not in themselves nor in societal fads, but from their family. That’s why every child naturally looks to their mom or dad for a response to their actions: “Look, Mom!” or “Daddy, watch!”

Now, indeed, it’s possible for a parent to be abusive in their reactions or restrictions, but it does not follow therefore that all restrictions are. Ancient wisdom (not to mention, parental experience) tells us that “folly is bound up in the heart of a child”. Therefore, we do damage to our children and their future if we do not direct and correct their false and foolish desires. No good parent pushes a child into the street, saying, “Just find your own way. Do your own thing!” My friends, if this is true in physical development; how much more in the social, emotional, and spiritual!

Certainly, children need to know they are loved and accepted; but they also need to know there are limits to what’s acceptable. They need instruction, as well as consistent and loving correction. Requiring conformity to norms is not uncaring; it is a safeguard to emotional and social chaos.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“A youngster’s heart is filled with foolishness,

   but physical discipline will drive it far away."

~Proverbs 22:15 (NLT)

  “My child, listen when your father corrects you.

   Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction.

   What you learn from them will crown you with grace

   and be a chain of honor around your neck.”

~ Proverbs 1:8-9 (NLT)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

One of the things that distinguished Christians in ancient Rome was their ethic on sex and marriage.

To the average Roman, sex was largely detached from marriage; it was merely a “natural” impulse to be fulfilled. Male virtue was in part judged by the strength of one’s sexual appetite and exploits. This was not seen as a problem, but as a positive feature.

Many are shocked to learn of temple prostitution—the use of sex in pagan worship. At the temple, it was perfectly normal for a man to hire one of the many prostitutes that worked there. Depending on the temple, these prostitutes could be either male or female.

Now, in this context, followers of Jesus were maligned as prudes. Following Holy Scripture, Christians reserved sex for a loving marital relationship between a husband and a wife (Genesis 2:18-24 & Matthew 19:3-9). Anything outside this bond, they considered “sexual immorality”.

Now, this idea of “sexual immorality” was largely foreign to their pagan neighbors. Having a wife was primarily an economic choice, a way to have children and manage one’s home. And so, for the Roman male, it was perfectly legitimate to find one’s sexual pleasure outside the bonds of marriage. For many men this was fulfilled not only with temple prostitutes but also in relations with other men. Many of the Roman Emperors had male lovers. Nero even “married” his (the former slave Pythagoras), with Nero himself donning the role of “the bride” at the “wedding”. Don’t forget, it was Nero who began the Roman persecution of Christians.

Now, I say all this to emphasize we need not get uptight at our present cultural circumstance, as sad as it may be. As faithful Christians, we are standing not only on the “right side of history”, but also with our ancient brothers and sisters, who were likewise misunderstood and maligned in their day for their faithfulness to God’s commandments.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

‘Awake, O sleeper,

   and arise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.’”

~ Ephesians 5:1-14 (ESV)

Some sources to consider:

Sexual Morality in a Christless World by Matthew Rueger (Concordia Publishing 2016).

Catharine Edwards (1997). Unspeakable Professions: Public Performance and Prostitution in Ancient Rome. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press).

Thomas A. J. McGinn (2004). The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World. (University of Michigan Press).

Lauren Weisner ( 2014). “The Social Effect the Law had on Prostitutes in Ancient Rome”. Grand Valley Journal of History: Vol. 3: Iss. 2, Article 4.

Pythagoras, Emperor Nero’s Freedman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras_(freedman)

Male prostitutes in ancient Rome

https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-7337;jsessionid=09BD76DBF5980570A1B83F28DD9B86CB

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Even as Christians, it is inevitable that we are going to have differing perspectives, differing consciences, born from our different backgrounds and experiences. The Bible clearly tells us that not everything in life is a matter of absolute truth. There are matters of “conscience” (Romans 14). Therefore, we have a responsibility not to sit in judgment of one another, but to understand, love, and serve one another under the kingly authority of Jesus—despite our differing perspectives.

To discern this and live into it is more necessary in our present cultural moment, where society-at-large is fraught with such moral confusion and decay. We must be strong in the essentials but charitable in the non-essentials.

Listen to Paul as he presses the church in Rome—a church, by the way, that was split along moral, cultural, ethnic, and political divisions that make our present cultural conflicts look tame:

“Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand…. But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of God. For it is written: ‘As I live, says the Lord, to Me every knee will bow, and every tongue will give praise to God.’ So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God…. (Romans 14:4, 10-12, emphasis added)

The true and final Judge has commanded us to understand and accept one another. And He does so precisely because He has already been judged for us all. “So then we must pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another” (Romans 14:19).

And this is something, not only to think about, but also to work at, from The Kingdom Perspective.

“One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.”

~Romans 14:2-9 (NIV)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

There is so much controversy over sex, gender, and marriage in our day. And it seems that the greater the controversy, the louder the conversation. Our cultural debates generate a lot of heat, but very little light.

So, why so much controversy? Well, I think that part of the reason comes from not knowing the right questions to ask. For example, very rarely if ever, have I heard anyone ask the question: What is the purpose of our sexuality? Until we know the purpose of sex, it’s design, we really don’t know how to use it. And to answer that question, we need to ask the One who created it. Anytime you get a new product, the first thing you do—or at least should do—is read the owner’s manual to make sure you’re using it properly.

Once Jesus was asked a controversial question about sex and marriage. Instead of taking the bait of controversy, He simply went to the owner’s manual and restated what the designer said. Fully acknowledging the brokenness of our world, Jesus pointed out that it has not always been that way—the world’s not always been broken. Listen to Jesus:

“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one….” (Matthew 19:4-6a)

You see, according to Jesus, marriage and sex is for the permanent uniting of a man and a woman into the beautiful joy of marital oneness. He goes on to emphasize that it is a union created by God Himself. “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:6b).

Now, we can be comforted with the fact that despite our misuse of God’s design, God is merciful and forgiving. His grace has the power to restore us. But we mustn’t use this to excuse our continued misuse of His design.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

~Matthew 19:3-9 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

In November 2020, Vogue magazine featured an interview with singer Harry Styles. What caught my attention was a statement he made: “Anytime you’re putting barriers up in your life, you’re limiting yourself.” Allow me to clarify the logic: barriers/limits/rules are all obstacles to personal fulfillment – to one’s true self. As the title on the cover put it: “Harry Styles Makes His Own Rules”.

Now, regardless of what you think of Harry Styles, the popular ethos he parrots (“Make your own rules.” “Do your own thing.”) is far from liberating. It’s devastating and a recipe for loneliness!

To the degree that you “do your own thing”, to that degree you can’t be in relationship with others. You can’t even play a game without objective rules and boundaries. The guy who makes his own rules in poker (or basketball or whatever) will soon find himself playing alone. To the degree that you demand your own way, to that degree you’ll have to do it all by yourself.

Is it any wonder that as we’ve immersed ourselves in this ethos of self-expression, the experience of loneliness has gone through the roof. Constantly re-inventing oneself makes it impossible to be known by anyone — even ourselves! Eradicating boundaries doesn’t alleviate our intuitive sense of alienation; it only increases it.

The elevation of such nonsense parading as freedom would be silly if it weren’t so sad. Removing all rules, doesn’t make life freer, it literally destroys it. Utter chaos is no substitute for liberty. There is no self without limits.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

~ Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The Old Testament book of Judges has some of the ugliest stories in all the Bible. Why is this the case? Well, the book of Judges chronicles the cycle of rebellion, retribution, and redemption that the children of Israel went through, repeatedly, as they first entered the Promised Land.

God had promised freedom and prosperity, if only they would obey. However, they did not take God up on this promise, but turned instead to idolatry, obeying the pagan gods of the Canaanites and suffering the consequence of chaos.

Listen to Judges 2:

… they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger…. and he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them… And they were in terrible distress.

This shows us something very profound about us as human beings. Freedom can only be found under the authority of God. God’s authority brings freedom.

This is the very opposite to our common assumption. Foolishly, we think the choice is between God’s authority and our own freedom. Nothing is further from the truth. When we stop serving God, we do not become our own person. Rather, we become slaves of someone or something else. We were made for worship. When we do not worship the true God, we will substitute something in His place.

And this is the essence of sin. To the degree that we reject the true God to that degree other “gods” will rule over us. Since we were not made for other gods, chaos ensues in both our soul and society. Sadly, the book of Judges tells the story of our lives.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.

Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, “Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not.” So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.”

~ Judges 2:11-23 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

We live in a world right now where hatred and division are growing—it sure seems so at least. Well, the Bible has very clear things to say about this.

First, each of us, regardless of our background, regardless of how people identify us or how we identify ourselves, are made in the image of God. Every person has been called to the high calling of bearing the divine likeness. Therefore, because we’ve been stamped with this image, we must treat all people with dignity and respect.

Now, this doesn’t mean that everything anyone who is made in God’s image says or believes is equally right or true. But it does mean that we, especially as Christians, have a responsibility to treat others in a manner that is honoring to their being made in image of Almighty God. Indeed, it was Jesus who said how you treat those you disagree with, even those that are your enemies, is one of the clearest marks of whether you truly know God (Matthew 5:4-48).

Secondly, the Bible tells us that anyone we interact with, no matter how wrong we may feel they are, indeed, no matter how wrong they might be, have the possibility of being redeemed by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we know this? Because we are not saved by our works, but by His grace. Redemption doesn’t come to those that are good, or those that we like, or to those that we agree with; but it comes the same way that it came to us. By grace! Not of our own doing! Anyone who will call on the name of the Lord will be saved! Becoming a Christian is a grace-miracle that defies our intuitive assessment and expectation.

And that is something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

~ Acts 9:1-16 (ESV)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

The idea of “fearing God” seems not only unpalatable to us as modern people, but also wrong. We object: “We shouldn’t fear anyone! We should be motivated by love, not fear, especially when it comes to God!”

Well, this may sound pious and nice, but it is very shallow and misguided.

There is no love without fear. Fear and love are closely linked. When the Bible speaks of fearing God, it is calling us to treasure Him above all else. There is no love without treasuring, and there is no treasuring without fear. That’s why those with the greatest earthly treasures expend so much money and effort to protect those treasures. They lock them away in vaults and guard them with expensive security systems. They are fearful of anything harming or threatening that which they so treasure and love.

The same is true in relationships.

You could say that I “fear” for my wife, more than any other human being, precisely because I so love and treasure her. What she thinks and how she feels matters to me. I fear losing relationship with her; I fear harm coming to her. Because I love and treasure her so much, I fear not pleasing her, not honoring her, not caring for her, more than I do anyone.

In a similar but infinitely greater way, the Bible calls us to fear God above all else. Listen to Deuteronomy: “You must fear the Lord your God and worship him and cling to him…. He alone is your God, the only one who is worthy of your praise.” (Deuteronomy 10:20 NLT). To love God is to fear Him—to treasure Him above all else.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.”

~ Deuteronomy 10:17-21 (ESV)

Hello. This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Do you really know God or are you just busy doing a lot of things for Him? 

What does God want from you? Does He want your busyness or a relationship? Does He want what you can do for Him, or do you think He wants you? 

Well, the more fundamental question is, not what you think, but what God thinks? In Hosea 6:6 God corrects the Israelites for their false and perfunctory worship of Him. They were doing many things “for God”, but there was no heartfelt knowledge of God. Listen to the words of God through the prophet Hosea: “For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” True religion does not boil down to a divine “honey-do list,” rather it boils down to a change of heart that desires to know God above all else. 

You find a similar misunderstanding in the famous Mary and Martha scene from Luke 10. Personally, I can relate to Martha because she is so busy and distracted. But it is Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, just listening and learning, who is commended by our Lord. Jesus corrects Martha: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; but only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). What’s the “good part”? Being in relationship with Jesus.

How about you? Have you chosen the “good part”? Are you merely checking your list, or are you seeking to know Him and be known by Him? These are two very different things.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Come, let’s return to the Lord.

For He has torn us, but He will heal us;

He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.

He will revive us after two days;

He will raise us up on the third day,

That we may live before Him.

So let’s learn, let’s press on to know the Lord.

His appearance is as sure as the dawn;

And He will come to us like the rain,

As the spring rain waters the earth.”

What shall I do with you, Ephraim?

What shall I do with you, Judah?

For your loyalty is like a morning cloud,

And like the dew which goes away early.

Therefore I have cut them in pieces by the prophets;

I have slain them by the words of My mouth;

And the judgments on you are like the light that shines.

For I desire loyalty rather than sacrifice,

And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

~ Hosea 1:1-6 (NASB)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

I’m going to let you in on a secret, though it is no secret at all. But I suppose it is a secret in the sense that our hearts do not readily see it, let alone grasp it. If you want to be a happy person, you need first to be a humble person.

The Book of James says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). The Psalms tell us: “For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation” (Psalm 149:4).

Do you want to know, experientially, the grace of God in your life and the happiness that comes from it? Then, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.

Now, what does this mean, practically speaking. To humble yourself before God requires you to humble yourself before His people. This means being one who:

- Admits their faults.

- Apologizes for their offenses.

- Speaks positively about others.

- Serves others.

- Thinks of others more than themselves, and…

- Takes the posture of a learner/disciple in God’s family.

Humility is the inner demeanor of the true saint, and, practically speaking, it is one of the chief reasons why the saints are blessed or happy people. Are you?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”

~James 4:6-12 (ESV)

Hello. This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

What is the most important thing in your life? What is the one thing that you possess that would bring you the most sorrow if lost? If you were forced to give up everything in your life except one thing, what would it be? Think hard. What would you say?

For the Apostle Paul there was no question. It was “knowing Christ.” Being in relationship with Jesus mattered more to him than anything else. Listen to what he says of himself in Philippians 3:7-8: 

But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ…

Paul considered knowing Jesus Christ not merely a necessity, though it is, but also the most desirable of all pursuits. Why wouldn’t this be the case? Jesus is the fullness of God come to us for our good—for our salvation (Colossians 2:9-10). In Jesus are hidden all the riches of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). Jesus is all the goodness of heaven poured out for us and on us.

Can you say with the Apostle Paul that knowing Christ is the most valuable, the most desirable thing in life? If not, perhaps, you need to take another look at Jesus?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“although I myself could boast as having confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he is confident in the flesh, I have more reason: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

But whatever things were gain to me, these things I have counted as loss because of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

~Philippians 3:4-11 (NASB)

Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

In our globalized Western world, we are increasingly becoming a dog-eat-dog world, sexually speaking. Our push towards a future where sexual desire has no limits gradually trains our minds to see one another as sexual commodities to be used for selfish ends.

As always in such societies, it is the vulnerable that are most susceptible to being commodified. Those with lesser power, privilege, and money are most likely to be the products that are bought and sold in the market of desire. If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.

We see this in our present moment. Many are shocked to learn that there are more persons enslaved today than ever before in the history of the world. And many if not most of these are women and children, being sexually trafficked.

Children and young people are always the most at risk. Studies show that many youth are being sexualized at younger and younger ages, by abundant and easily-accessible pornography.

Ironically, this push towards a hyper-sexualized future is often framed as “freedom”, sexual “liberation”. The idea is that my freedom is significantly defined by my most base sensual desires, and so, those desires need to be released, they need to be nurtured, for me to find self-actualization and fulfillment

But in this “self-actualized” dog-eat-dog world, only the big dogs survive. The rest are consumed for their pleasure.

And that’s something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

‘Awake, O sleeper,

 and arise from the dead,

 and Christ will shine on you.’”

~ Ephesians 5:1-14 (ESV)

Hello. This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Here’s a question for you:

Is God guilty of not speaking clearly or is humanity guilty of not listening well? This may be a difficult question to answer off-the-cuff, so let’s look at some of the things God says in the Bible about our aptitude for listening to Him.

When we turn to the Bible, we find that God repeatedly chides us for the stubbornness of our hearts and the dullness of our hearing. God says of His people in Jeremiah 9:6: “Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me” (emphasis added). In another place in Jeremiah, God notes, “…they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks so as not to listen…” (Jeremiah 17:23). Elsewhere in the book of Romans, Paul says that people “suppress the truth [about God] by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain…because God has made it plain to them.” From these and many other passages, it seems clear enough. God is speaking, but in general we’re not listening.

It is quite impossible to speak to someone who refuses to listen and therefore impossible to have a relationship with someone who refuses to connect.

God has spoken to us clearly through His creation, through His Word (the Bible) and most importantly through His Son Jesus Christ. The only question is whether or not we are listening. How about you? Are you listening to God and His Word? When and where do you do this?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

~Romans 1:18-20 (NASB)

Hello. This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church of Hanover, NH. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

An atheist once said to me, if God is real, why doesn’t He reveal Himself? Why doesn’t He say something? If He really wants us to know Him, why doesn’t He just say so? Good question, right?

Well, maybe not. Maybe there is a false assumption underlying this. For true communication to take place, you must have both a sender and a receiver. You need someone sending a clear message, but you also need someone willing to receive that message on the other end. Both are necessary.

In relationships, this is no mere academic question. Lack of listening is often at the very heart of relational breakdown in many marriages and friendships. Listening is critical!

Now, allow me to propose a question. Could it be that God is sending a clear message, but for whatever reason we are not truly listening? God says of Himself in Isaiah 45:19 (emphasis added) “I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness….” In Psalm 19, the poet says that the heavens are declaring the glory of God, that the whole universe is pouring forth the speech of God. In Romans 1, the Apostle Paul suggests that human beings have a bad tendency of “suppressing the truth” of God, despite God having made Himself quite evident, quite obvious!

So, is God guilty of not speaking clearly or is humanity guilty of not listening well? As for myself, I’d hate to lay the blame at the feet of God.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“For this is what the Lord says, He who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it as a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited):

I am the Lord, and there is no one else.

I have not spoken in secret,

In some dark land;

I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,

‘Seek Me in a wasteland’;

I, the Lord, speak righteousness,

Declaring things that are right.”

~Isaiah 45:18-19 (NASB)

It is particularly important at this cultural moment for followers of Christ to live out of the reality of the kingship of Jesus, particularly in our public engagement.

Why? Well, as society has become increasingly secular, our tendency has been to make too much of the kingdoms of this world. By “secular”, I do not mean that we don’t “believe in God”. Actually, the data suggests that we are as “believing” a nation as ever. Rather, by “secular” I mean that we increasingly think our primary hope is to be found in this world. We are convinced that we must find heaven on earth. We foolishly think that God is in the business of giving us our best life now! That we are here not so much to serve but to be served.

This makes us desperate, especially if we feel things are not going our way. We become anxious that “our kingdom” is crumbling. This not only makes us irritable, but also useless for representing the kingdom of God in this world.

But the Christian is first and foremost a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)—of God’s kingdom. This gives us a confident hope with which to move into the changing kingdoms of this world and to serve our neighbor. We know that the real and lasting kingdom comes not by love of power but by the power of love—not by superiority over people but by serving them. Not by the crown but by the cross.

We have but one King, to whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess (Philippians 2). And just as that King served, so too, we are called to do the same.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

 And now the Lord says,

 he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

 to bring Jacob back to him;

 and that Israel might be gathered to him—

 for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,

 and my God has become my strength—

  he says:

 “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant

  to raise up the tribes of Jacob

  and to bring back the preserved of Israel;

  I will make you as a light for the nations,

  that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

  Thus says the Lord,

  the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One,

  to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation,

  the servant of rulers:

 “Kings shall see and arise;

  princes, and they shall prostrate themselves;

  because of the Lord, who is faithful,

  the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

~ Isaiah 49:5-7 (ESV)

Hello. This is Pastor Don Willeman of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Knowledge precedes action. Our beliefs drive our behavior. What we know to be true works itself out in what we do.

The Old Testament prophet Daniel tells us that in confronting forces of evil “the people who know their God will display strength and take action” (Daniel 11:23, emphasis added). This is precisely what is played out in the book of Daniel. When Daniel’s friends—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—were asked to bow down in worship to a false god, they refused to give in. Why? The answer is simple: they knew the true God. Their belief drove their behavior. What they knew to be true drove what they chose to do. Knowing the true God gave them the courage to go against the cultural pressure of their day. It allowed them to do what was right and leave the consequences with God. The fact that they really knew God pushed them to courageous action. 

Now, many observers of the church today lament its impotence. Why is the church so weak? Well, arguably the church’s impotence stems from its lack of engagement with God—its ignorance of the Almighty.

Now, what a boost it would be to the church today if it were revived in its knowledge of God! What courage it would bring in our fight to see the gospel flourish in every area of our lives and every sector of our society. How it would motivate us to take the gospel to our friends and neighbors, and even to the ends of the earth! 

What the church needs today is what it needs in every era, that is to truly know God. 

Are you seeking to know Him? Are you seeking to know Him…today?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“And by smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action.”

~ Daniel 11:32 (NASB)

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Many are shocked to learn that infanticide, the killing of unwanted children, was considered perfectly acceptable in the ancient world. The most common means of carrying this out was the practice of “exposure”, leaving a child exposed to the elements, usually on the city dump, until they died. Since male children were considered more valuable than female, infant girls were usually the target of this practice. Generally, after a family had given birth to one girl, any further female offspring had a high likelihood of being tossed.

Archaeologists have uncovered a chilling letter sent by an otherwise “loving” husband and father to his pregnant wife. Listen to the strange callousness with which he speaks of ordering the murder of their child:

“Know that I am still in Alexandria [away on business]. And do not worry if they all come back and I remain in Alexandria. I ask and beg you to take good care of our baby son, and as soon as I receive payment I shall send it up to you. If you are delivered of a child [before I come home], if it is a boy, keep it, if a girl discard it. You have sent me word, ‘Don’t forget me.’ How can I forget you. I beg you not to worry.”

~A letter written in 1 BC, cited in Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries, 97-98

Note well, “if it is a girl, discard it”—just throw it away!

Now, Christians operated with a completely different ethos. Why? Because Holy Scripture informed them that the lives of little girls matter. All human lives matter because we are all made in the image of God.

Christians not only rejected the practice of infanticide, they would also go to the city trash heaps and rescue these discarded children. Since most of these infants were girls, historians tell us this helps explain the unusually high number of women in the early church.

The Christians of Rome valued all lives. Do you?

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

   So God created man in his own image,

   in the image of God he created him;

   male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

~ Genesis 1-26-28 (ESV)

Sources to consider:

Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries (

Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home by Glenn S. Sunshine (Zondervan 2009).

Hello! This is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective!

Have you ever considered that the act of public worship is a political act? No! Not a partisan political act in the way our division-prone society sees it, but a political act, nonetheless. What is the outrageously bold political act that we partake in every Sunday? Well, we gather, publicly, and declare that Jesus Christ (the anointed King) is Lord (the absolute ruler) of heaven and earth! Furthermore, we declare that He is coming back to judge the living and the dead—that the citizens of planet earth and their would-be rulers are all accountable to one political figure alone…a King who was brutally executed on a bloody Roman cross…for us.

How this fact has escaped our notice can only be explained by how the modern mind has neutered historic Christianity. Our contemporary notion of Jesus is way too innocuous, way too harmless. When you begin to ponder the implications of this assertion, it is shocking and, perhaps, a bit confusing. But one thing is for certain: it must change the way that we think about our engagement in this world.

The central claim of Christianity does not remove us from the affairs of life on earth; we are still citizens of the United States (or whatever land we call our own). However, it does affect the way we imagine our engagement in the affairs of this world. As Christians, we know that the kingdoms of this world (whether they are capitalist or communist, Democrat or Republican) are not ultimate kingdoms. All the kingdoms of this world will come and go, but His kingdom is forever.

Something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective.

“The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice;

 let the many coastlands be glad!

 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

 righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

 Fire goes before him

 and burns up his adversaries all around.

  His lightnings light up the world;

 the earth sees and trembles.

  The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

 before the Lord of all the earth.”

~ Psalm 97:1-5 (ESV)

Hello. This is Pastor Don Willeman Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective.

Does it really matter whether we know God or not? Does it really matter whether we have an accurate understanding of Him and have a true and genuine relationship with Him? Isn’t it good enough to just try hard to be a “good person”? Is it enough to just be “nice” and “sincere”? It doesn’t really matter whether we know God personally, right? God doesn’t expect our relationship with Him to be our highest priority, does He?

Well, don’t count on it. Jesus said that many will come to Him on that final judgment day and say “Lord, Lord, look at all these good and wonderful things that we have done. Look at what good and sincere people we are!” (the gist of Matthew 7:21-22). However, listen to Jesus’s reply to their false confidence: “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:23).

Now, the implication is quite clear: Whether you really know God in Jesus Christ—whether you’re in a personal and loving relationship with Him—has eternal consequences. 

The Apostle Paul makes quite clear in is his second letter to the Thessalonians: “[Jesus] will punish those who do not know God…with everlasting destruction” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9). Knowing God is a matter of heaven and hell. You cannot push this off to a more “convenient time.” It is a matter of life and death. Nothing could be more important. 

Is there anything more important to you?

Something to think about from the “Kingdom Perspective”.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

~ Matthew 7:21-23 (NASB)