Kingdom Vision

Guard your lens. Guard your heart. Guard your allegiances.  All humans have a lens that we view our world through. Nobody is immune to this. Our worldview is shaped by forces that are often outside our control for a time, until we are made aware of them. Becoming aware of our own lenses and biases is a key practice in life. A heart of "repentance" is an inner turnaround - an admission that our worldview and lens are not aligned with Jesus and our intent is to change, and realign our hearts and lives. Church - many of us have some repenting to do. Statistics overwhelmingly show that the same political divide that is splitting our nation, which has accelerated dramatically since 2004 according to Gallup, is also splitting the church. What this shows is that our culture is effectively discipling Christians. If we view our world through the lens of partisan politics, we are following the path of human empires - we become unintentional agents of Babylon. A believer with a Jesus-ki

This is something that I have debated about writing for over 15 years. The first church I ever attended as a Christian was a Wesleyan Church and I was a licensed minister in the Wesleyan Church from around 1998 through 2006. Many people have wondered why we suddenly left the Wesleyan Church in 2006 and began worshiping and serving in a Vineyard Church. Moreover, a larger question is why did I leave the pastoral ministry, begin working at Verizon, and stay out of the professional ministry for so long. I might add that I'm writing this as the thoughts come to me, so apologies for bad grammar or repetitive sentences. To my Wesleyan friends that read this - please understand that I am not attacking the Wesleyan church nor am I discounting the overall wonderful journey I had as a Wesleyan. I follow the global Wesleyan movement quite closely and am in alignment with almost all of the tenets of Methodism. In many ways, I am still a Methodist in the purest form. However, certain views in t

A thought from one of todays readings: Culture will ebb and flow - this is the way it has always been. Christianity, however, is an ancient faith that does not change with the prevailing currents. Followers of Jesus should find their primary concern not in what is "mainstream" but rather, what is and has been the MAIN stream of living water that is sourced from our Savior. We do not quench our thirst from our culture's stream - we are called to connect with it and pour life-giving refreshment into it. Be blessed! - Mike