opinions and musings

In my last post I began to share why the Kingdom of God is such good news.  I would like to continue in that vein a bit here.   I would like to share with you the wonder of the message of Jesus.  This message is something that radically transformed my life 30 years ago, and it continues to transform me today. Last time I pointed out that when Jesus began to proclaim his message to the nation of Israel under Roman occupation in the 1 st century, he said that they were to change their thinking because the Kingdom of God was present and available. The writers of the gospels (gospel means “good news”) tell how Jesus went about through all the villages proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom and healing all who were sick.  (Matthew 4:23)  Jesus is the Son of God come to earth in human form.  In my last post I pointed out that when we come under the Leadership of Jesus we receive the forgiveness of all our sins and we receive healing for ...

When Jesus came preaching to Israel that they should repent for the Kingdom of God was at hand what was he really saying?   What did he mean when He talked about the "Good News of the Kingdom?" (see Matthew 4:17 and 4:23) First of all, repent just means, “change your thinking.”  We have attached a religious meaning to that word and we usually associate it with tears and prayers for forgiveness of sin along with promises to behave better.   This is not what it means at all.  It simply means to “change one’s thinking” about something. The phrase “the Kingdom of God” or the “Kingdom of Heaven” simply means the rule of God or the “area under the rule of God.” Jesus was saying to his fellow Israelites, “ Change your thinking – the rule of God is available right here and now. ”   Most of the Jewish people of his time anticipated the coming of a political leader called the Messiah, who would throw off the oppression of the Roman c...