Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

P ART II: T HEOLOGICAL AND M ISSIOLOGICAL P RINCIPLES AND I NSIGHTS • 175

Holy Spirit will give you the power to live the kingdom life now. So you are to be witnesses of the Kingdom and its power from here to the very ends of the earth” (Acts 1.7-8). And so it was, and so it has been. Today we are finally nearing the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy that “this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations” (Matt. 24.14 [NIV]). This is no attempt to outguess God or pre-empt the sovereign mystery of the Kingdom. The Kingdom still and always remains in God’s hands. So this book is not about “times or dates” (Acts 1.7) – a tempting but disastrous detour – but about the plain kingdom teachings which run throughout Scripture. My point is simply this: The Bible is full of teaching on the Kingdom of God, and the Church has largely missed it. But in the providence of God we may now have reached a time when the good news of the Kingdom can be heard and understood as never before. This is due not to any one person, not to any human wisdom or insight, but to God’s own working in our day, bringing a new kingdom consciousness. And so, as never before, it is time to speak of God’s Kingdom now! The Kingdom of God is a key thread in Scripture, tying the whole Bible together. It is not the only unifying theme, nor should it replace other themes which are clearly biblical. Yet it is a critically important theme, especially today. And its recent resurgence in the Church is, I believe, one of the most significant developments of this century! Once you begin to look in Scripture for the theme of God’s reign or Kingdom, it turns up everywhere! Take an example I recently encountered in my own devotional study: All you have made will praise you, O LORD; your saints will extol you. They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. Thus the theme of this book: The Kingdom of God in Scripture and its meaning for us today.

~ Psalm 145.10-13 (NIV)