Count The Cost

It’s hard to make friends when you start out by bragging, but there are exceptions to most rules, and sometimes just the right exception can open a door. I’m willing to bet you’d want to brag about this story too. And every word is true. 

Here’s how it happened. Kelsey, my (awesome) wife, was leaving our home to bring someone to the airport. Recently she had pointed out that since the upstairs toilet was a slow unreliable flusher, the kids were competing for the downstairs toilet a little more often than any of us preferred. Yes, competition is the right word in a house with seven children.  The moment she left I sprang into action and ran to Menards. I bought a toilet with all the fixings (delicious), including one wrong-sized compression fitting valve. I brought everything home. I ripped the old toilet out, and got it into the trash without any mess—with the help of two apprentices. I scraped out the old wax ring with an audience of kids predictably exclaiming, “ew that is disgusting, look at that old poop.” Of course it was just old wax, but as an experienced dad I couldn’t just waste their ignorance, so I played along for a bit, waiving the sludge on the end of a paint stick in their direction. After that entertaining detour I put the new wax ring on and then the new toilet in. It was incredible. I was going to have this thing done without one hitch, and I was all smiles. Then I realized I had the wrong valve, time was ticking, I started to sweat a little. Any extra trip to Menards and I would fail to finish before Kelsey came home. Not a chance! I had to prove that I’d made it to the next level of manhood, the place where I could call order into the chaotic abyss of a DIY plumbing project and emerge successful, on time, on budget and make it look easy. I went out to the garage and rummaged through my old plumbing drawer. After a few minutes I found a used one, you know, those one-time use ones. Somehow I got it off the old pipe intact and reused it on the upstairs toilet. Kelsey pulled in just as I was sweeping up the last of the rubble—about three hours after I started the clock. And it all worked perfectly, barely an extra part, only one trip to Menards, we’re talking a perfect ten with the bonus of justifying my plumbing drawer. I know what you’re waiting for. You’re waiting for the math to work out. Upstairs toilet, check; rush-job, check; reused old one-time-use plumbing part, double check. You’ve done the math. You’re waiting for the middle of the night scenario where something starts leaking onto the face of the person sleeping in our guest bedroom below and the awkward explanation that, ‘it’s actually toilet water.” And no, adding the word delicious doesn’t make them smile at that point. You’ve been through enough of these scenarios to know what should be coming. But you’re wrong. It’s been working without a hitch for...almost two-years? It was the ten toilets and remodel projects before this one that finally got me one project that went perfectly. And you know the purpose stories like this serve; this story is here to help me plow ahead for the next twenty projects that I jump into over my head. And I’ve probably helped you persuade your spouse that it will be a cinch to do that plumbing project you’ve been toying with. Yep, this is the stuff of legends, and you’ve probably got one in you too. But if you’re newly married, don’t expect to achieve this level until you’re at least forty, after about ten over-budget all weekend plumbing fixes. I earned this one. So did my wife.

You see, the truth is, counting the cost is something we categorically avoid. We lie to ourselves almost every day about the cost of things. And there are good reasons—like trying to maintain sanity. I can hardly count the number of projects I have jumped into telling myself, “this is going to work easily.” But I know it won’t. And it’s not all bad, right? I mean part of it is just the optimism it takes to try something, to get out of bed in the morning. Who would really want to have kids before they know everything that’s involved? But then you’ve got to see the whole thing through because you’re in over your head and the stakes are high. Then somewhere along the line you rise to the challenge, and you become someone different than you were at the start. Some of you have been praying for the chance to discover that struggle. And your response to this struggle also defines you in ways you couldn’t have known beforehand, causing questions about purpose, feelings of loneliness and quiet suffering—the cost of hope. But there are some struggles that do not lead to a satisfying end. Some costs cannot be ignored, and there are many costs we are not qualified to calculate.

What is the cost of a careless comment, on social media? What is the cost of our temper? What is the cost of getting the policy we hoped for by forcing it through—to the praise of half the nation and cursing breaths from the other? What is the cost of snuffing out a human life for our own convenience or gain? And what is the cost of feigning love for the weak and powerless only for political sway?  What is the cost of shutting down the jobs that feed struggling families? What is the cost of free money and microscopic interest rates? What is the cost of an extreme materialist culture? What is the cost of building a new house or a kitchen remodel? There’s an easy right answer. Yes, there IS an easy right answer—a lot more than we thought it would cost. 

People will always have to face decisions, the ends of which they can never really see. But there is one path which has been laid out for us; it is well marked, and the cost of this path is not a secret. Don’t get me wrong, there is an enormous amount of confusion about this path. You see, some believe this path leads to salvation—it does not. But salvation through the blood of Jesus does lead to this path. In fact, salvation only leads to this path. Some people believe this path leads to better health, higher paying jobs, and earthly blessing. It does not. Some people believe this path leads to status and respect—they call it the high road. But again, they are mistaken because those who follow after Christ are not thought to be wise; they are thought to be fools. The road that Christ marked out is called many things, but all of the true names point to the things Christ promised. What did he promise? He says clearly in Luke 14 that following him will cost everything, and after stating this he asks his listeners to count the cost. If you’re signing up to be a part-time follower then you’re signing up to be someone else’s disciple—not a follower of Jesus. Maybe you came for the food. You’re not alone. But Christ invites you to stay for your own death so that you can live fully in Him. 

Luke 14:25-30 “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’”

Crosses are still for dying. Jesus doesn’t ask us to take up our cross because crosses are enriching life-hacks. But the death we die we die to the flesh, and we are raised to new life in Christ.

John 12:24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

John 15:18-20“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ b If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

Many people will quote John 19:28 …”it is finished” to show that there is nothing for us to do. It is true that the atoning sacrifice for the salvation of our souls in payment for the sin of the world was the business of Christ alone on the cross. But we each have our own cross, and our cross is not finished. Our cross does not bring salvation, but our salvation arrives with a cross. If you find this difficult to accept you are not alone. But truly, for those who know they are sick, counting the cost is not a complex calculation. The one who has been forgiven much loves much —see Luke 7:47. Also, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew 13:44 In that picture the man’s death is represented by selling everything that he had. This pattern is repeated throughout the gospels, and the disciples and the early church lived this pattern out. They counted their belongings and physical life as nothing in service to Christ.  They did not see it as a metaphor or Jewish Rabinic hyperbole. For the first three centuries of the church it would have been laughable to consider these teachings such—they were the normal way of life.

This road, the way of the cross, it is the road on which you lose your life to find it. It is the way of the upside down kingdom, which is not from this earth. It is the road where the greatest is the servant of all, where you put others above yourself, and you seek the glory of God. This road is marked with suffering. 

—reh

Worship Your Child and Raise Hell

My children are not yet grown. I can’t claim the authority that comes from raising Godly children to adulthood. But along the way, these are some of the things I am learning and conclusions I have made from watching others.

The ultimate selfie includes posing for a life portrait as the most loving parents—which many interpret as generally being the nicest parents. The ultimate evil in our society is the mistreatment of children, and society’s definition of mistreatment is any treatment that does not place them at the top, dead center. But why do we do what we do? Is it because we are selfless parents working for the best long-term outcome for our children? Or do we do it because it makes us feel good in the short term? “Sure, stay up a little later, have another cookie, watch one more episode, play one more video game, sign up for all the activities you want—we’ll pay for them, and we’ll rearrange our entire lives to make sure we’re there for every game, performance, and dance.” It’s easy to say yes. Being the jerk takes work, enough work that I might “need” another cookie myself. In fact, maybe the real reason I told my son he could have another cookie is because I wanted one. Maybe I wanted one because I felt like I didn’t get enough as a kid, and of course, I can’t do one thing and say another...can I? No, that wasn't my personal issue. I’ve always had plenty of cookies, and that’s definitely not the answer. But I have always been told that parents cannot hold children to a standard above their own. This was often the cause of disrespectful thoughts toward my father as a child, not because it was self evident, but because I was at the same seminar as my dad.  The man on the stage asked, “Father’s, do you demonstrate what you require of your children? If your garage is a mess, how will you get them to clean their room? I started saying things like, “Why should I clean my room? Your garage is a disaster.” But my dad was no idiot, and he wasn’t lazy either.

I remember the smell of dust and oil as I swept the garage. Yeah, you couldn’t sass my dad without paying for it.  The two large circles on the cement floor, one rough, and one smooth, told the story of my dad going the extra mile to seal the bottom of his grain-bin after fall harvest. The smooth circle was where my dad placed his grain bin. The rough circle was where my grandpa placed his. He didn’t bother sealing it; after all, it was a temporary storage. My dad was going to build his garage on this slab in the spring, “goodnuff for now.” But the corn in my Grandpa’s bin rotted, and the acid from the rotten grain etched the cement—forever testifying to my dad’s wisdom. The rough circle was ugly, and it was harder to keep that part of the floor clean. 

As a kid, you just don’t know what your parents are doing or what they’ve done. There is no way for a child to understand until they’ve grown up and lived a while. The man on the stage didn’t know my dad either. He didn’t know that he was a high school teacher, farmer, Bible camp director, and business owner. He never knew the battles he fought or would fight later. Cleaning the garage seemed to be one of my eternal jobs as a kid. It was hard. Keeping my mouth shut was harder. 

Hypocrisy is tricky. Disciplining your child for something you know you too have failed at is humbling. It’s easy to want to try to hide our failures or to ignore wrong behavior we are also guilty of so that we appear less hypocritical, but that is a temptation we must resist. Hiding our failures brings the opposite effect than what we hope for, and ignoring wrong behavior is like planning our child’s demise. We can’t simply wait until we’re perfect to train our children. Being a hypocrite and then facing it, not hiding it, is the way forward. It is important for our children to know that we fail, that we don’t give up, that our heavenly father loves us in spite of our failures, and that He disciplines those He loves. My children know I’m guilty of some of the same things I discipline them for. They also know that I have a different set of responsibilities than they do, and so far they are thankful to keep their roles. 

Discipline is only one aspect of not worshiping our kids. What percentage of our life is caught up in special activities for our kids? Do they know it? If they think they are only loved when the world revolves around them, how will they receive love in the real world? When I was young, I wished my dad would spend more time doing fun things with me. When I was in baseball why didn’t he spend hours at the batting cages with me or give me the money to go? Because we couldn’t afford it, and we didn’t have time. He ran children’s camp during the summer, and farmed. During the school year he was a teacher. Even though my dad was busy, I spent plenty of time with him, but not in batting cages or arcades. I followed him out to the field. We worked on tractors together, plowed fields together, harvested together, got wet, cold, and dusty together—why? Because he was a farmer. Our relationship existed on his terms, not mine. My dad never used his children as an excuse not to do something that needed doing. I learned that you can sing at the top of your lungs in the tractor; nobody is there to criticize you. At thirteen years old I was driving a huge tractor towing wagons full of grain down the road. When he had to grade projects at the high school, I went with him after supper. That was where I got to drink Dr Pepper—no, we didn’t have it in our fridge at home. I learned the smells of the photography lab and spent time making things from wood scraps in the wood shop.

For a while I resented always having to work instead of playing. But as a parent, it’s all making sense now. One of the biggest struggles I have had as a parent is figuring out how to make sure my kids struggle enough to grow into warriors instead of couch potatoes. After deleting all the scenarios that caused resentment as a child, I found that I’d created a life of ease for my children. And there is no quicker road to hell than spoiling kids. But it isn’t just about work. Our culture breeds narcissism from birth to death, and if your life is busy revolving around your kids desires, don’t think that will go without impact. The culture teaches your kids that they should be denied no opportunity, that everything they want to do should be placed within their reach, that they shouldn’t have to fight for anything. Suddenly suicide is an option for more and more people reaching the age of adulthood. But there are millions who don’t follow through with it who will continue for years trying to find a reason to live. 

It is important for our kids to see our love and sacrifices for them, but they must know those sacrifices in the context of our Savior whose words we do not ignore, in the context of a hurting world whose needs we are not blind to, and in the context of preparing them to live, suffer, and die with hope and joy to the glory of God! Children can understand, see, and believe more than we think. We do them great harm when we build for them a temporary world where they are gods, and we are their servants. 

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for giving me an excellent childhood on your terms. Thank you for not using your kids as an excuse.

—reh 

Proverbs 3:12 “because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”

Hebrews 12:8  “If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.” 

John 5:19 “Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”

Prophesy of The Grey Town

I have seen that grey town on the way to hell that C.S. Lewis wrote of years ago. His description so accurately mirrors the current social communication landscape that it appears prophetic—a correlation he never could have known about when he was here.

Knowledge is power, and what would we expect to happen if limitless knowledge was at our fingertips? Communication has never been more prioritized in history. Never have we had tools for communication as advanced and powerful as we do now. We can shoot a quick text, rant on facebook, goof around on youtube, spout off on twitter, take care of business on email, set the record straight on blogs and catch up on video chat. There are tools for making public and tools for keeping “private,” tools to amplify, simplify, beautify, and clarify. We have the power to present ourselves any way we want, and we feel justified to spew fire on our neighbor in the name of honesty, but we approve of being offended by the lightest slight. We can effectively create our own reality. We isolate ourselves in the middle of the crowd. We build walls and distance ourselves from others for smaller and smaller reasons.

And what would we expect to see from a world like ours? a fallen world, a hurting world, a Godless world? Nobody trusts anyone. Why should they? There are so many examples of people who held positions of influence and power who have let us down. Do I need to list names of pastors who have been found guilty of sexual abuse and misconduct, misuse of power, misuse of money? What about senators, judges, police officers, presidents, doctors, hospitals, big organizations, big businesses, big churches, fathers, mothers, and your neighbor?

Large rocks fall down a mountain. See the landslide they cause, the destruction they leave behind. They do not stop until they have fallen to the lowest places. Then how can we trust in one who never ends? But hasn’t he himself warned us that the fate of all who trust in men is to be cursed? Yet our world is coming to ruin without trust; without hope the end is already here.

There is one way forward, and it is Jesus. To know him is to know both love and power. Jesus has called us to love, and love hopes. Love moves forward.  We move forward in love for our neighbor, not because our neighbor is trustworthy but because Jesus has called us to move forward in relationships. Even if the relationship fails Christ’s purpose won’t. What man has offered his body in payment for fools? What man has offered up his body to be split open, spit on, and cursed to save his enemy? When we move forward displaying trust in each other we place our hope and trust in the one who can save us, in one who has withheld nothing, who gave up everything, who is worthy of our trust.

—reh

1Cor 13:7

Love...It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Jeremiah 17:5

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.

Psalm 118:8-9

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

Isaiah 2:22

Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Genesis 6:5

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

1Cor 12:21

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

1Cor 6:7

To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? [cheated]

John 14:1“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[a]for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 10:9-11 (9)because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.11For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

First Fruits

We worry about every measurement of intelligence and success in our children; we push them, sign them up, compare them, and weigh them. Then, when they are old enough to work, we push them to get good experiences that will help them make an excellent income, name, and life for themselves. We tell them to save as much money as they can as soon as possible. “Be a good steward of what you have,” we say. We do all of this so they will have options. “If you care about people you should work to become successful so you can help them better later rather than squandering your time or money now.” “Invest in yourself first, then you can invest in others.” “Save now so you can retire early, then think how well you’ll be able to serve God.” “Time is of the essence so you can’t start working toward retirement soon enough!”

When the Lord asked his people to offer him their first fruits was it an easy request to satisfy? It depends on one’s perspective. If anyone understands that, “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows,” for that person there is no cost at all. For what cost is there if out of all that God gives we offer up the first and the best as a sacrifice of thanksgiving back to him?  There are no promises in farming. The farmers in Israel did not have crop insurance. The first fruits were the first of any harvest, and any sane thinking person would set this aside as seed for the next year. From this point forward, even if his fruited fields are destroyed by wind, water, fire, locust or war, he can count on the very first portion of the harvest to seed his fields next year. But this only bit of earthly assurance was given back to God as recognition that it came from him in the first place. Farmers might not have had treasury bonds, but they understood investment and multiplication. And faithful Israelites understood that God was the source of their life and well-being—even more their purpose and meaning on this earth.

Perhaps our children should spend a year or two in meaningful service to the church or the poor. When they are intrigued by ministry do we encourage it? Do we tell them that God might be calling them into ministry? And do we consider ministry a legitimate pursuit? Do we allow them the option of forgoing college for a few years? Or do we tend to push them into the worldly model? What if we encouraged them to do anything radical? The word radical is often used in the context of terrorists, but it is also one of the best words to describe the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. His life was radical. From the start of his public ministry, at age thirty, we see a man with no place to live and nothing to his name except the clothes he wore. Though he had power he didn’t use any of it for his own advantage, comfort or to establish an earthly kingdom. He didn’t even manifest a pillow for his head, but he fed five-thousand people real food who came to hear what he was saying. He healed those blind and lame from birth. He calmed the storm. His power was in perfect check with his father’s will. He knew the cost of the cross; there was no way to bargain for a better price. And to his followers he stated this clearly, Luke 14:33 “So therefore, anyone of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

What about missions in your career? Maybe being a missionary is a little intimidating. Maybe living in the jungle is a little more than you’re ready to handle. But are career missions easier? More palatable? Can you carry your cross for a bargain there? If that is what you have found perhaps you have forgone career missions for a career. Consider the idea that Christians don’t get to opt out of the great commision. You are a missionary. If it is easier to be a missionary in some setting then it’s probably in a setting that has the least to offer you personally. The setting that offers you the most gain is the setting in which you will constantly have to deny yourself because the very indulgence you desire is there for the taking. Let me be clear; I do not consider myself qualified to be a successful career missionary because I am weak on the mission part in that setting. I’m not good enough. Am I alone? Who are you? What is the life you were called to? Where is your home? Where is your country? Who is your King? Where is your treasure? Where is your heart?

—reh

The Birth of My Daughter - Callie Lou Hunt

"The Prize" - réh

A child, yet unborn;  a life saved by a mother whose body is willingly torn open for the object of her love—the prize. This child, her skin, safely kept in vernix so it will be soft for the wonder and affection of her parents, still bloody from passing through her mother’s torn body. 

Her mother closes her eyes while her body is rocked back and forth as a team cuts, pulls, and tears her flesh with near perfect success, performing this many thousand times, and why?

A child that is loved is worth loving, worth hoping, worth trying. And every mother whose body is torn open for her child to live is a type of Christ; they proclaim salvation to the entire world.

Matthew 27:51

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.

Hebrews 10:20 ...by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh.

Watch for the full article.

—reh

Kitsch, Cliché, Nostalgia, and Longing for Home

I suppose I was a romantic from my early youth. It might be difficult to convince my wife of that because so much of my expressions of love have changed, and perhaps not all for the better. We grew up one-hundred yards from my grandpa and grandma’s house on the family farm. I had two older sisters, and I was the baby. At ten years old I would receive a baby brother who I had prayed for at length, and then we would all get a sister two years after that—which was the plan because my ten years of playmate-lessness had taught my parents that it was better to have clusters of children. And then, the last two had been boys, and my older sisters were excited to see another girl in the family so it had to be a girl, and it was.

The farm was the most incredible place to grow up—and next to my grandparents! I was homeschooled; out of desperation my mom would turn me loose in the woods where I could act out every adventure from Daniel Boone to Little House on the Prairie. All of my friends were in school so I ran the woods alone during the day, and there was ample time for reflection. I loved the beauty of the country. I spent much time bird-watching, building forts, and visiting my grandmother’s house. She had stacks of bird, animal, and plant reference books, and Country and Reminisce Magazines. The Reader’s Digest, Animals of North America had an idyllic scene in the front pages of a stream with trout, mountains in the background, a still meadow, and every woodland creature and animal converging on the stream. I longed for that place and often imagined that was where we lived. I pored over the magazines with pictures of little perfect churches, covered bridges, and horse-drawn carriages. My dad told me stories of buying dynamite at the hardware store for blowing up stumps and expanding fields. The beauty and adventure from the past cemented my view that older
was better.

As a college student at Bethel I learned that believing older is better was a real factor in the roots of western culture from the Greeks and the Jewish people. The Greeks were living in a declining civilization so looking back was natural. For the Jewish people, Moses was the prized prophet who had written most of the Old Testament, and looking back to his leadership was natural. And then of course, you could trace all the people of the world back to Adam the son of God—a father who was and still is inarguably better.

Some of my first college papers at Bethel had a dominant color, red—occasionally for spelling (spell-check was pretty good by then) but usually for clichés. I didn’t know you could drop several letter grades for using old phrases, but Dr Dreyer was faithful to find any hint of cliché and stomp it out. They were not allowed. There was no explanation for why old phrases were not allowed, just the bright red, “cliché” and lower grades. I adjusted, and eventually I understood.

My art professor, Dale Johnson, taught me another word—kitsch—like a Barbie-doll or tinsel on a Christmas tree. It is the fake, overly sweet, commercialized products masquerading as art but violating the true purpose of it so that even good intentions can lead to the corruption of one’s soul. Kitsch is often used to conjure up Nostalgia—that fuzzy warm feeling of things being right because they are from your past. But it’s a hollow rightness. It’s the kind of thing that can make you feel good about something that is wrong or to despise something just because it is new. One person could have nostalgic feelings about eating lefse while another feels nostalgic about robbing banks. The feeling of nostalgia is not a good moral guide, but it feels like it is. That’s what makes it so dangerous.

For a long time I felt like everything that made me who I am was outlawed. I felt cold and cynical. Where could I go to warm up? Was the feeling of being cozy wrong? Was the longing for home, a place to belong, wrong? This world never stops changing. The better relationships you have, the harder it will be to say goodbye. This life offers just a taste of God and eternity with him. He does not change. We can see him if we look back, and we can see him if we look ahead. To trust in him is to look back to our creator and forward to home. It is a place of beauty, love, and belonging. I am thankful for the love Christ has shown me and for the hope he has given.

—reh

Service > Control

There is power in the blood of the Lamb to save, to serve, and to love, but not for control. The greatest serve all. Christians were so called by the world around them because their actions were identified with Jesus Christ—hospitality, love for the poor, service to their neighbors, and love for each other. Christ was in them. If people, whoever they claim to be, seek power to control the kingdoms of the world, why should they be called Christian?

“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

—Jesus the Christ

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household…”

— Paul the Apostle

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the

cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

—Paul the Apostle

“For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.”

—Author of Hebrews speaking of Abraham

Daniel, one of the most righteous people ever known to the world, was a great servant of it. By his service he had great power and influence. Though Daniel’s earthly king fell to insanity, Daniel preserved the kingdom for him. He handed it back intact after caring for it for seven years. Never once did he use his position for his own advantage, to impose his own preferences or even his own convictions. As a captive he was forced to learn religions not his own, and serve wicked kings alongside wicked servants. He did not seek to change the kings hearts or the hearts of the people through the power of control, but by the power of service. His faith became contagious, and the earthly kings often turned to worship the God of Daniel. The people of the land, more than once, heard of the great, powerful, and faithful God of Daniel. The context of Daniel’s testimony was his humble service. He knew he was serving the one true heavenly King of Kings.

Though perfect disciples of Christ see opportunity and the promise of position in this kingdom of dust, they laugh, for what is it to be king of the dead but a curse? All becomes dust in the hand reaching for control, but the hand reaching out to help, to serve, to save, to heal, to love, that is the very hand of Christ. Just as Paul, The Apostle, told the Philippians, although actually being God himself, Jesus did not use his God-power for his own advantage. Instead, he made himself the servant of servants.

                         —reh

   “Who, being in very nature[a] God,

      did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

   7 rather, he made himself nothing

      by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,

      being made in human likeness.

   8 And being found in appearance as a man,

      he humbled himself

      by becoming obedient to death—

          even death on a cross!”

                                               —  Philippians 2:7-8