This week . . .
Trains and resurrection, amazing “Kingdom shifts,” and some insightful perspective on the recent Gay Pride parade.
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A little boy’s awe
Video of a 3-year-old boy seeing a train for the first time made the news this past week due to the sheer pleasure and excitement that exudes from the child (watch here).
The world is drawn to videos like these because of the genuineness and innocence of true wonder, delight, and joy unspeakable… Did you know that if smartphones were around in the first century, this is the type of excitement you would see radiating off of grown men when they saw Jesus for the first time after He was resurrected? The Amplified Bible helps expound on the Greek words used in the account of how the disciples reacted in seeing the resurrected Jesus:
So saying, He showed them His hands and His side. And when the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy (delight, exultation, ecstasy, rapture).
(John 20:20 AMP).
A loving reminder to us that Jesus calls us to “return to our first love” and to see Him for the first time again and again… to be continually filled with the delight, exultation, ecstasy, and rapture of the Spirit.
May we make the news over our sheer pleasure in encountering the resurrected Jesus within!
Songs of the Father’s love
DJ Khaled and Chance the Rapper released a song last week that celebrates family and contains wonderful affirmations from a father to his newborn son. It’s called “I love you so much” and goes against the grain of much of the content that has typically been released in the world of hip-hop. It represents a shift toward the true Kingdom of grace, family, and love. The song contains lyrics like these:
“You’re my son. I love you so much… You are so blessed… Thank you so much for coming into my life…”
The song gives thanks to God as well. Overall, it is a picture of the Father’s affirmation over Jesus, the Beloved Son–who of course is representative of each one of us. Heaven is shouting that same blessing over all humanity (even through a DJ’s chorus), calling all of us to awaken to this glorious truth!
The biggest contract in NFL history
Here’s another beautiful Kingdom shift in the culture that is happening right under our noses… We’re used to hearing about ridiculous sums of money being given to athletes, which is typically fodder for arguments over the worldly squandering of wealth. This week, the biggest contract in NFL history was signed which could have been just another offensive sum of money given to someone to play a game.
However, this time was quite different and very significant. The football player that received the contract was questioned about what he would do with the money and the player said that after he tithed the money he would be sowing into other nations, such as Haiti. This was proceeded by a plea for kids to realize that chasing their dreams should not involve the pursuit of money. The amazing exchange between the player and the reporters can be viewed here.
The Gay Pride movement
Last week, record numbers of people turned up for the Gay Pride parade in San Francisco, California. While many in the church often go on the offensive with this event, we found several amazing articles this week that offered fresh perspectives filled with grace and wisdom. We wanted to share them here…
One is from the senior leadership of Bethel Church in Redding, California–Kris Vallotton. Kris shares the words of a dear friend who brings some unique perspective on the Gay Pride parade. View it here.
Secondly, an article was released on Christianity Today that we found to offer a very hope-filled view from a Christian perspective. View it here.
Finally, a dear friend and subscriber of Elisha’s Riddle, Kay Roe, has written a challenging and powerful article on the issue We’re excited to share it with our readers! View it here.
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