EJ Murphy Born 421 AM

“EJ” Murphy Born 4:21 AM   March 25, 2006

And for those who have already had their first born, then I am talking to the choir.

Nothing has filled me with more joy then watching the birth of my first born son: Eric James Murphy. Even as I write this, I am at a loss for words. He is just 2 days old and all I can think of is his life, what he will be like and look like. Will he like b-ball like me? (I will do my best on that one).

Even as I sleep my dreams are filled with his life. I can’t wait to see him crawl and then walk.  It’s going to be great to show him how to tie a shoe and use the potty (oh! What a glorious day it will be), and how to play catch.

My wife and I are too excited for words about the newest edition to our family. Welcome EJ!;

The Kingdom of God pt.1

Since there is a lot of stuff I can post on "the Kingdom". So, let’s start with some basics and an overview for a foundation. I also want to point out that these are my notes and represent my journey to greater understanding of the Kingdom of God that I so love. I do not pretend to know everything there is about the Kingdom. However, my goal is to encourage others to dig deeper and to see that there maybe more to the Kingdom than what you or I may have been taught. So, now that I have written my little 2 cent disclaimer lets continue….

When Jesus came into the environment of his day he was undoubtedly faced with challenges. He came to bring change, and change by its very nature is always met with human opposition. The Jewish leaders had grown attached to their covenant lifestyle of offering sacrifices, celebrating feasts, fasting, obeying the law (or trying to), and temple worship. Old Covenant worship was a mere shadow of the new and far better reality that Jesus came to offer (see Heb 10:1 and 9:11). But because of religious blindness, and the preference they had to stay in their current state of mind, many of the Jews missed the life and freedom that Jesus came to give. Before we go blaming the Jews, how much of this can be said of us today when we prefer rituals, and observances over true worship? (see Mat 22:37-39)

To put it another way, the old covenant was like a blueprint. When building a house, a blueprint is very valuable. Before and during the building of the house, the contractor and the builder must adhere to everything on the blueprint in order to insure the proper construction of the house. The blueprint becomes a “law” to them. However, when the house is finished, the blueprint has served its purpose. The house, the very thing the blueprint was intended for, is a “far better” reality. And now that the house is built, the blueprint no longer holds its original valuable. The family is not going to move into the blueprint, but into the house.

The Jewish leaders’ narrow view of the old covenant blueprint shaped their expectations of the coming Messiah. Their expectations were that of a literal Jewish King who would sit on the literal throne of David and become the national ruler over Israel. He would come and defeat all of the enemies of Israel as God had done so many times in the Old Testament. This new king would liberate Jerusalem from control of the Roman Empire.

However, from his very birth, Jesus set out to demonstrate to Israel that his Kingdom is not of this world and that their expectations were misplaced. He was expected to come in a palace, but he was born in a manger. He was expected to live among the wealthy upper-class but instead he kept company with the ordinary people, and even ate with prostitutes and tax collectors. His Message? “The Good News of the Kingdom” (see Mark 1:14-15). In fact, Jesus talked about his coming Kingdom more than any other subject. At one point Jesus “was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Nor shall they say, Lo here! or, behold, there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

This one statement by Christ completely deconstructed the Pharisees’ expectations of the Kingdom. First he tells them the Kingdom is neither geographical or national by telling them that its coming but you won’t see it. Then he says to them that the Kingdom of God is inside of them, or “amongst them”. In Luke 11:20 Jesus states to the Jews, “But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, no doubt the kingdom of God has come on you.”

To sum up where we are so far; Jewish leaders expected a physical and literal Kingdom to come to Israel. Jesus demonstrates to them that his Kingdom is not geographical but spiritual. If we expect a physical or national restoration of the Kingdom now or in the future to natural Israel, then we are likely making the same mistake as the Pharisees in the historical setting of Jesus.

Next we will discuss the coming of the Kingdom and why there are not “multiple” comings.

McLaren on Planet Preterist

Brian McLaren was gracious enough to take an interview with PlanetPreterist.com.
This is an interview well worth reading.
http://planetpreterist.com/news-2774.html

Miraculous

A few days a ago I was told a story about a man here in Richmond named Geronimo. A strange name for someone today, unless you were named by a couple of blunt smoking hippies. Well, his parents were not exactly hippies but they were into a life immersed in drug and alcohol abuse. His dad was also part of a well-known motorcycle gang called "Hell's Angels". Needless to say, Geronimo had a rough life.

One day, Geronimo's dad drove their family to a local bar (for some good clean family fun). The dad got out of the car, jumped on a motorcycle and told his family "you're on your own". Geronimo's dad left them to fend for themselves. His dad was the only source of income.

The hole gets deeper. With nowhere else to turn, Geronimo's mom was not only using drugs but, selling them. Geronimo was not even ten years of age when he saw his mother killed in cold blood before his very eyes.

As Geronimo grew older, his heart grew more calloused. Left to fend for himself, he was broke, homeless, and in a state of despair. He felt he had nothing left to live for. One day, he decided to go to pay a local minister a visit. While in the pastor's office Geronimo said, "Pastor, the moment I leave here, I am going to kill myself unless God shows me he is real."

The Pastor, at first stunned by the man's statement, tried to console him and convince him that God is real and that he shouldn't kill himself. But, Geronimo was not buying it. Geronimo repeated himself. "If God does not show me he is real today, I am going to kill myself".

With nothing left to say the bewildered pastor simply asked what the homeless man's name was. When the man said his name was Geronimo, the pastor was stunned. "Geronimo", the pastor uttered. That is the name of my son!

The father and son were reunited that day.

Today Geronimo is ministering to the youth of downtown Richmond

Hook'em Horns!

CONGRATULATIONS to the Texas Longhorns and the great state of Texas (my native state) for winning the NCAA Football national title! Last nights game was one of the greatest college games in history, one for the record books. Hats off to USC for playing such a phenomenal game. But Vince Young was just tooooo much for the Trojans. GO TEXAS!

Happy New Year

Hello everyone, and happy new year! This upcoming week, the focus of our meeting will be on both our missional and practical goals of 2006, and how we can help each other in fulfilling our goals.

I believe it is going to be an exciting and adventurous year for those who will allow God to do his thing.

Presence of God Present in us

My brother, a believer and a passionate hip hop artist, was demonstrating his music to a ministry we were acquainted with while in our hometown. His music is very deep, strategic and filled with analogies specifically designed to cause his listeners to think, reflect and perhaps come into a new relationship with God. But the ministry to which he presented his music was puzzled. The youth pastor commented, “It has a good sound but there is no mention of Jesus. And if there is no mention of Jesus, then your music isn’t really powerful.” My brother’s story and those like it always remind me of the story of Jesus on the Road to Emmaus found at the end of the Gospel of Luke:

Now, that same day two of them (disciples) were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16but they were kept from recognizing him. [Luke 24:13-16]

The disciples walking with Jesus were kept from recognizing Jesus by his physical appearance. Jesus wanted them to recognize him not with carnal eyes, but by his presence - to see him through the eyes of the spirit as evidenced by Jesus’ next comment:

He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. [Luke 24:25-27]

These disciples walked with Christ and talked with Christ for the span of time it takes to walk SEVEN miles, was told the story of Christ from beginning to end, and still did not discern the presence of the one to whom they were speaking with. (And, I am glad it wasn’t me on that road being made an example!!!)

Similar to the followers of Jesus in the first century, much of the church today lacks the spiritual insight and foresight to see Christ advancing His kingdom and making his presence known throughout all of creation. Much of the church today only sees God through the limited sight of their religious culture. In other words, if your life or ministry is going to be effective, it must be bluntly stamped with religious rhetoric. If you are an artist, then you must paint a picture of Jesus. If you are a musician or writer, the name of Jesus must be mentioned for your composition to be powerful. This kind of thinking has caused many of the beloved to feel trapped in a religious system instead of released into the full potential of their calling. Often, many who live from this limited view tend to either persecute or ostracize, with hurtful words and actions, those believers who seek to live and be effective outside of the context of religious mainstream culture.

What about the plethora of cross necklaces, t-shirts and other paraphernalia available in Christendom? Do these things make the gospel more powerful? Are they effective for kingdom building? Do we need these material things to recognize the power and presence of the living God among each other? Certainly, this argument is foolish even among the least of Christian circles.

The failure to discern Christ’s presence among one another and at work among all of humanity is due largely to our misunderstanding of what it means to be the church. I suggest that the church needs to revisit the scriptures and rediscover the purpose for which it was mandated. Because of the finished work of Christ, God’s presence is at work everywhere, filling everything. The church is called to be the primary means through which God’s purposes are advanced throughout the earth:

That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.[Eph 1:19-23]

According to Ephesians, the church is the fullness of Christ filling everything in every way. This is the mandate of the church, and it’s not going to happen either by putting a picture of Jesus on the wall of every home and office on the planet, nor by outfitting everyone in the world with a Christian t-shirt. Remember, “…the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way”. In other words, the church is the presence of God! And Christ Jesus is the head. From this paradigm, the church can shift its focus from merely doing “Christian stuff” to BEING the presence of God that is at work making the knowledge of the Kingdom known to all of humanity. When the church walks in its mandated purpose and identity, it is more powerful then any religious t-shirt, necklace, or Christian lyric can ever hope to become. If the church does not advance past its limited paradigm, then it will continue to be kept from recognizing God’s presence - just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus.