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Praise Thursday

The Kingdom Visible…then and now.

lifeline banner-01We continue our weekly devotional time on Praise Thursday with more about ‘Build Your Kingdom Here.’

The phrase itself sometimes leaves us with these questions: If we’re asking God to Build His Kingdom, how does it become visible?  How do we know it’s here? How was it visible when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees in Luke 17?  Wasn’t that what they were asking? How can we borrow from that passage now?

Biblical scholars have been studying the Gospels for centuries and there are two basic translations of the last part of verse 21: ‘The Kingdom of God is in your midst (or among you)’ and ‘The Kingdom of God is within you.’  The difference is that in biblical times, Jesus was basically saying that the Kingdom was standing in front of the scholars.  He was the representation of the Kingdom!

So what about this concept of the Kingdom starting in our hearts?  Well, if as Christians we are to imitate Christ (Ephesians 5:1) then the Kingdom must start in our hearts.  We must take on the HEART of Christ. The scriptures also remind us that the Kingdom of God should be on our minds.  Matthew 6: 9-13 is the Lord’s Prayer – it tells us we should pray for the Kingdom to come.  Matthew 6:33 says we should seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.  So, we should seek to let Christ-like characteristics reign in our heart, which then translates to our mind and hands, and finally becomes a habit.

Today’s word of the day is HIBERNIAN – which means quite simply, Irish.  Hibernia is the Latin name for Ireland.

Today’s ‘leftover’ trivia question from Wednesday’s show was: Vinegar is a liquid consisting of acetic acid, water and other trace chemicals, which may include flavorings. The acetic acid is produced by the fermentation of WHAT LIQUID?

The answer is ETHANOL!  Congratulations to Dan from Howard (who is a chemist) who correctly answered our question and wins a $5 gift card from Troyer’s of Apple Valley.

Thanks for listening and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

-Joe

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Praise Thursday -Story Behind Build Your Kingdom Here

Today was Praise Thursday on the Afternoon Drive, and we talked all about our Lifeline 2016 theme of Build Your Kingdom Here. We focused on the meaning behind the song Build Your Kingdom Here by Rend Collective.

I shared some interviews that were done with Gareth, the lead singer of the band, about the story of the song. You can find those here and here.

I also shared these verses that Gareth said helped to inspire the song (click each for the verse) : Colossians 3:14-15, Matthew 6:33-34, and Matthew 10:7.

I also shared our Lifeline 2016 theme verse, Luke 17:20-21, which says:

20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Click here to find out everything you need to know about Lifeline 2016.

Our Word of the Day was palatable, an adjective agreeable or acceptable to the taste or mind. You can read more on that here.

Have a great Thursday evening!

-Jess

 

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The Barriers to our Building Project

Jess beach hairToday we continued our Praise Thursday discussions on our Lifeline 2016 theme, “Build Your Kingdom Here.”

Jess sent me this picture of her on the beach in North Carolina trying to take a picture, but the wind just wouldn’t cooperate!  It reminded me that sometimes, there are lots of potential barriers to our projects.  They can be physical or mental, even natural like in this picture.

Our challenge this year for Lifeline is to allow ‘His construction crew’ to start a kingdom project in us…and we know that the process of allowing Jesus to have control and reign in our hearts can sometimes be painful.  The web blog ‘Taking it Deeper’ by Sterling Tarrant compares the process to stepping on a toy building block in the middle of the night…the pain to your bare foot is real. Sometimes our effort to remove the barriers to the throne of our heart (see Ephesians 4: 25-32 for ideas of barriers) can be painfully real.

In the end, the pain we experience in the process of building pales in comparison to the joy in seeing His kingdom take root in our lives and the lives of others.  The song reminds us that ‘the hurt, the sick (and) the poor’ will be at peace.

Jess continues her week long road trip to North Carolina and Faith is with the MVNU service team in Belize.  I know both of them would certainly appreciate your prayers for traveling safety.

Our word of the day is CAMARADERIE (com-ROD-uh-ree), a noun that means a spirit of friendly good fellowship.

Thanks for listening!

-Joe

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Focused on the Building

lifeline banner-01Lifeline 2016’s theme is Build Your Kingdom Here, based on the song by Rend Collective. Today for Praise Thursday we continued talking about the meaning behind the song and why we chose it for Lifeline.  Our theme verse is Luke 17:20-21.

The website Taking it Deeper had a recent post about the song where they focused on the word build and asked us to think about the verb ‘building.’

“When it comes to the Church, most of us equate it to a structure on a street corner.
Instead try thinking of a church as something that is being built in the hearts of millions of people around the globe. The church is the people, not the building. Is it being built in your heart everyday? Here are ways you can tell: Are you becoming more caring toward people? Meeting their needs? Praying for them? Are you building up more and more compassion in your life? Putting others first?”

How can we build his kingdom in our hearts? That is where it has to start.  We want to focus on this theme this year.  We have an amazing opportunity to build God’s kingdom with the airwaves.  WNZR is committed to reaching people with a positive message of grace and hope.  Help us to be kingdom workers by being the hands and feet of God.

Word of the Day
glower
verb
Have an angry or sullen look on one’s face; scowl.

Have a great night,
Faith

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Why Build His Kingdom?

lifeline banner-01

Last week we started the discussion about our Lifeline 2016 theme, “Build Your Kingdom Here.”

This week, we’re asking and answering this question: why should we WANT to build His kingdom in our hearts?  To me, one answer became clear last Sunday in church, when our youth pastor, Brian, spoke very transparently about how the “Gospel means everything.” It’s the good news that Jesus brought that fuels a desire to make room for Him in our hearts.

But what is that good news?  Luke 15 gives us some perspective. When Jesus tells the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, we learn some very important elements of the beauty of the Gospel…

1- Every person is important to God. Why else would the shepherd leave 99 to find one lost sheep?

2- God celebrates when a lost person is found. All three of these parables don’t end with a scolding, they end with a celebration!  Just like heaven does when a lost soul is found.

3- While we may turn away or turn our back on God, he never turns his back on us!  God never stops in his pursuit of us. He doesn’t turn his back on the straying ‘son or daughter.’

4- God has compassion for the lost. The father in the story of the prodigal son extends his love and acceptance his boy returns, miserable after trying life on his own.

When we build his kingdom in our hearts, he gives us his heart when it comes to lost people.

Today’s word of the day is: deasil (DEE-zil), which simply means, clockwise!

Thanks for listening…

-Joe

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Build Your Kingdom…where?

lifeline banner-01

Today we started sharing some of the reasons behind choosing “Build Your Kingdom Here” as our theme for Lifeline 2016.

Reason #1 – the song from Rend Collective, which starts with these lines:

Come set your rule and reign, in our hearts again...

Reason #2 – Luke 17:20-21

20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” (or “in your midst”, NIV)

The point of all this is to remind us that the ‘kingdom’ of God starts in our hearts!  He needs to take His rightful place on the throne of our heart.  So the question becomes, are we making room for Him there?  Have we made sure to create good habits to allow Him to take his rightful place? To start his construction project? Are we crying out to him to, once again, take rule in our hearts?

Revelation 3 reminds us that he’s standing at the door and knocking…are we answering and letting him in?

Today’s word of the day: INTERSTITIAL (in-ter-STISH-ul), meaning…
pertaining to, situated in, or forming small or narrow spaces or intervals between things or parts; in anatomy. situated between the cells of a structure or part: interstitial tissue.

Thanks for listening!

-Joe

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Who’s your confidant?

confidant

We continued our series today on good habits we can start or renew in 2016.  The last one from the book, Lead Like Jesus, by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges, is the habit of involving ourselves in supportive relationships.  This is also called the habit of intimate community.

This can be your Sunday School class, a lunch group, small group, men’s group, women’s group, band of brothers, etc.  Let’s face it – sometimes we don’t view feedback positively. We look at it as a bother or irritant.  Blanchard and Hodges remind us that feedback is a gift! Don’t remove the trusted messengers in your life that can speak truth, lovingly, into your week. Oh, and return the favor!  Be a truth-teller in their life, too.

Some good verses on this topic: Hebrews 10:24-25; Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12

Today’s Word of the Day was related to our discussion – CONFIDANT (CAHN-fid-ahnt), which means a close friend or associate to whom secrets are confided; with whom private matters and problems are discussed.

Thanks for listening!

-Joe

 

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Unconditional love

Today we praise God for the incredible gift of God’s unconditional love.  Romans 8:38-39 reminds us that NOTHING can separate us from His kind of love.  But do we accept that love?  How do we respond to it?

The book Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges asks us to consider: “what if you admit that you can’t achieve enough, earn enough or control enough to get any more love? You already have all the love there is there is through Jesus!”

Our response to this love should be to let it fill our hearts and let it flow out to others.

Our word of the day is INSOUCIANT – an adjective meaning free from concern, anxiety or worry.

Thanks for listening!

-Joe

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The Study and Application of Scripture

Today we talked about the habit of studying and applying scripture to our lives.

Some call this ‘dwelling’ in the word.
The book ‘Lead Like Jesus’ offers us some practical tips to create a habit of dwelling in the word.
1 – seek opportunities to HEAR the word
2 – make room to READ the word
3 – find resources that help you STUDY the word
4 – look for passages you can MEMORIZE
5 – find time to MEDITATE on the word
Our Word of the Day was presenteeism, a noun meaning going to work when you are sick. You can read more on that here.
Have a great evening!
-Jess

 

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