an unshaken Kingdom...

At the Mustard Seed this afternoon I sensed the reality of The Kingdom. Bombarded through out the week by images, sound bites of the crash of Wall Street...of the crumbling pillars of wealth...here, the event seemed to have little effect. In the work place, on the street around coffee tables the stress, the anxiety was tangible, like a low pressure system, the sky had fallen. Mutual Funds, bonds, pension plans...how much was lost.

Kent talked about the Kingdom, and Jesus being over all things; He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Despite the wheels of the financial system being broken, and the empire of wealth and greed reduced to rubble...The Kingdom was unchanged. The treasures of heaven were still worth infinitely more than the empire. Jesus still reigned supreme, still enthroned at the right hand of the Father. Maybe in the after shock of the quake we will finally awaken to the fragility of the empire, to the shifting sands it's built on...and to the weakness of it's foundation.

So don't turn a deaf ear to these gracious words. If those who ignored earthly warnings didn't get away with it, what will happen to us if we turn our backs on heavenly warnings? His voice that time shook the earth to its foundations; this time—he's told us this quite plainly—he'll also rock the heavens: "One last shaking, from top to bottom, stem to stern." The phrase "one last shaking" means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered.

 Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is Fire!( Eugene Peterson's, The Message; Hebrews 12:28-29 )

Afterward I was talking to Shane, the police had ask him to move his campsite again. So he packed up what little he had and headed for another park. With the weather getting colder, he's trying to cook a hot meal...a can of soup or chili. He made a small BBQ out of wok, that he puts a few chunks of charcoal in. He can cook the soup and warm hands at the same time. But just talking to Shane he was so grateful for what he had, and for the tangible presence of Jesus in his life.

Here, this day the empire was broken and crumbling...but, The Kingdom...unshaken.