The Kingdom of God in Education

Welcome to a great experiment for Christians who have busy lives, who also happen to be taking Perspectives on the World Christian Movement and who are educators in the public schools. Let's talk about things we can't see and things we can. I believe it will be a memorable adventure for us educators to take together. Let's talk about what it means to be a Christian in this world, in Iowa, in the school buildings that God has landed us in, in 2009. Or, you are most welcome to join us if you're from outside Iowa.

All of life is integrated. So, we can't fragment who we are, really. We're not just teachers or counselors or administrators or staff. We all wear so many hats in this life outside our "jobs". But, let's try to bring our mission field into focus and see if we can enjoy what God's already doing in us as the Body of Christ.

I'll kick us off and it would be great if you could then respond a bit so we can enjoy conversation outside the time constraints of our Sunday evening class. Others will most likely join in, but Marshalltown, let's get started.
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Matthew 6:33 "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. " How many times have I sung that song? Yet, I'm blown away again by the truth that He is MY King and He is Our King. His Kingdom has come and the Kingdom will come. In fact, "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Colossians 1:13-14
That has happened! Now and not yet. Wow, how can both things be true? They are.

So, when we drive to school and pray for our day, we can ask the Lord to walk with us in His kingdom throughout the day. We can ask Him to rescue us from the darkness of unforgiveness and forgive as we breathe, forgive the student who snaps back, forgive ourselves for being impatient with our co-teacher, forgive the student who didn't ask for help, who gave up. We can forgive the student who took our King's name in vain.

I copied down Jeff Lewis' definition of the Good News of the Kingdom:"God has come to give us life and to defeat the enemies of God and man. He invites mankind to enter the blessings of His redemptive reign and charges him to live out the reality of His rule in community that has been sent out to engage the world." These are delicious words.

If we are sent out in community to engage the world, perhaps it would be good to see other Christ followers who engage the world alongside us in our schools as the Body of Christ...the church...our church. This takes putting on those new Jr. Birdman eyes :) How exciting it is to know God's at work at school and He loves it when we join Him with our Brothers and Sisters.