“One of the most tragic things ever to happen to the gospel was the emergence of the message that Jesus takes us somewhere else if we believe in him. (Rob Bell)”
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom COME, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” Matthew 6:9-10
“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11:15
“He (Jesus) must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.” Acts 3:21
The quote above is from the book I just finished, Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, while the three verses following are from the New Testament; all of these have really been heavy on my heart lately. We talk a lot on this trip about “bringing kingdom” but what exactly does that mean? It’s a concept that has never been easy for me to understand as I, like many others, somehow grew up with the impression that believing in Jesus equals getting to GO to Heaven. Heaven, you know the beautiful place up in the sky where we all go for eternal life. Well Jesus is very clear when teaching his disciples how to pray that we are to ask that His kingdom come and His will be done here on earth. Here in Haiti this concept is becoming easier for me to understand.
On Saturday we went on a hike for Nick’s birthday. This land is beautiful. This land has been mostly left untouched by skyscrapers, traffic jams, and smog. The land we hiked was covered in the greenest green I’ve ever seen surrounded by the clearest and bluest ocean water. The trees bear fruit, beautiful, juicy, colorful fruit. And right in the middle of it all sits a place called Canaan–the same name as the Promised Land God gave to the Israelites in the Old Testament. Even more amazing, when Sister Gladys first stepped foot on the grounds of the future home of Canaan she was told that the ground was barren, nothing could grow here. Eighteen years later, Canaan is covered with beautiful, tall trees casting shade all over the grounds. It just makes more sense for me here.
In the beginning God created something beautiful and called it good. It took me getting far far away from a world full of man made distractions to remember this key fact. As a follower of Jesus, of course I yearn for eternity where there is no more crying, pain, death, or misery, but as a follower of Jesus I yearn to bring kingdom with me wherever I go right here on the earth.
Basically, what I am trying to say is that I am thankful for the glimpse God is giving me into what His kingdom looks like. The view here at Canaan is breath-taking and beautiful and a constant reminder that what God created he called good and good it is. And when the time for final restoration comes good it still will be.
