The Hidden Kingdom?

Eddie and Judy Lewis should be home in Germantown by now after spending several days spreading encouragement and joy around Central. I believe Judy spent about 16 hours in counseling with various individuals. Eddie preached some sermons from Nehemiah that (I hear) really spoke to the issues that we are dealing with here. I am so grateful for their willingness to jump right in and be a blessing here. This Sunday we will have a large number of college students descend upon us for a Kickoff To Summer Workcamp that is being planned by Seth Simmons of Conway, AR. Seth has done a great job of lining up several campus ministries to pariticipate together in relieving the hurts and needs of the people of Pascagoula. They will have a service each night at Central that anyone can attend. I'm so thankful for this effort and look forward to the week. My leg is somewhat better, but only slowly healing. Margaret is doing a great job taking care of me! I have reflected a good bit on my trip to California. At first I regarded it as a total waste, but I did make a few connections that I feel good about. To the right is Buddy Gray, Disaster Coordinator Minister for the Davis Park Church of Christ. This church has been doing disaster response for many years. Next is Carla Calhoun, who has a degree in Missions from Oklahoma Christian University, worked for FEMA, and Red Cross. She worked tirelessly before Katrina came ashore helping churches get coordinated for the needed response. She is helping network Christians who need help with volunteers at Christian Crisis Resources. Keith Brenton (red shirt) is at the Pleasant Valley church of Christ in Little Rock, Arkansas. This is the home of the Luke 10:37 ministry that responded so quickly to the tornadoes in Marmaduke, AR. Keith is also a fellow blogger, with his blog located HERE. This is just the short list of disaster-relief-minded Christians that met together at Pepperdine. I also ran into a few old friends. Danny Dodd was there along with two of his elders Bud Meyers and Jim Caples. I saw Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks who have a new book out called Kingdom Come.: Embracing the Spiritual Legacy of David Lipscomb and James Harding. I neglected to get my copy, but I will certainly pick one up. Dan Smith from Nevada is an old e-pal from the Berean Spirit e-mail list. I've been reading Dan's posts for years and am so happy that I got to meet this dear brother. I was able to meet Robert Machen, President of Hilltop Rescue and Relief, that has a massive effort going in Chalmette, LA. I was able to meet briefly with Dr. Stan Granberg, the President of Kairos church planting effort. It was a joy to meet Dr. Jerry Rushford, Director of Church Relations at Pepperdine. There were many others, but I was thankful for these encounters. The two worship times that I attended were very uplifting, even in my sickness. So, in reflection, there were some high points to the trip that I hold very dear. It is my hope to speak at Central Sunday. It is Mother's Day, which is a special day. There's nobody just like your own mother! I'm not sure we will have a 'mothers day' sermon, though. All Christians everywhere must guard their longings. What is it that your heart truly longs for? I've always been amazed that the children of Israel even considered for a moment going back to the torture and hopelessness of Egypt. Yet, when faced with hardship they did want to retreat back into slavery. We must replace our own longings with the longings of God. The kingdom pushes us outward, not inward. Where are the lost? Where are the opportunities? Where are the thirsty souls that we have always invited to drink at the Fountain Free? Yet at the same time we have Scriptures that teach us to nurture, help, love, reprove, and serve one another. The Kingdom is a one-another / bring-along-others place. Perhaps the kingdom is hidden? Jesus said that unless we are born again we cannot see the kingdom of God. Can we return to a state where the kingdom is hidden from our own eyes? To see the kingdom, we only need to see Jesus. I think most of any troubles in the Christian community has to do with replacing Jesus with another god, i.e. tradition, doctrine, my way, philosophy, culture, etc. What do you think?