Sacred Cow Barbecue

Take no thought our Father in heaven cares for us. Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, See here! or See there! For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21 Having correct language but misconstrued concepts will always result in perversion of doctrine and application. An error that has persisted in the church, in various forms for the its virtual full existence, has been the attempt to become something of influence through political, religious and now economic power avenues. Sometime between the first century AD and the Emperor Constantine, the church morphed from a Spiritual enigma to a Religious/Political power entity. The concept of the Church was defined and held as the predominant religious influence in relation to the evolving and ever changing political landscape. As they (the political and religious systems) found common purpose to ally, relative stability, peace and order could be maintained. And this was relative only in the broadest sense possible. Changing religious ideas during the Reformation, although opening the Scripture to broader examination and interpretation, hardly improved the general state of peace and political order. Even in contemporary times, though there is improved expression of freedoms and the rights of man, the security of these freedoms is precarious and by no means universal. The state of peace is none the better than any other period in history. It can be argued it has deteriorated proportionally to our ability to arm ourselves. Put your faith in weapons, and you no doubt will end up using them. The modern Church, as a whole, has not proven to be much of a positive influence to challenge nationalistic, militaristic tendencies. On the contrary, some segments, endorse and encourage these tendencies, to the point of blessing and evoking Gods favor. World economic inequalities, disproportional dominance by the West, emerging Communist China as a key player, all add to conflicts of interests with accepted Christian values, more often willing to be compromised, than adhered to for the sake of corporate profit. The Church, for patriotic or economic purposes would prefer to pretend It isn't so or It's somebody else's fault. Self interests, personal peace and happiness, maintaining the status quo, have become the new sacred values of the Church. Through all these historic situations, the Religious-Political alliance laid claim to, with the approval of the religious power bearers, being the expression of the Kingdom of God. Of course, lesser, non-allied Religious groups laid claim to the Kingdom of God, and awaited their turn to share in the Political pie. All this political endeavoring to be the Kingdom of God, to construct a theology that would incorporate the ultimate reception of the Kingdom, the Second Coming of Christ, the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Thousand year reign.- All in earthly human terms. ALL flies in the face of Christs pronouncement that The kingdom of God does not come with observation. We have not come to understand and experience the kingdom of God is within you. And not realizing it within, we endeavor to build it with out. The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are one and the same. The internalization of the

Kingdom, the realization of Heaven as a current state, the abode of Christ, the Word, the indwelling Spirit, God in His Heaven, Is in You. Once we begin to live from this Kingdom, Heaven isn't that far away. The manifestation of the will of God on Earth is ours for the making. It's not in our heads, or the manipulations of external things. Whether it be the Bible, people or nations. But it is the internal Life of God manifesting through a human being You, and me. Sound too idealistic? That's your head. The church has lived long enough out of its head. It's time to start living out of Him.

our Father in heaven