Editor’s Note: Here on the Kingdom Outpost, we welcome submissions from readers with testimonies and thoughts to share. These may represent a range of views - the editorial team has a range of views on many issues as well. This essay is a firsthand account of the effects of physical punishment in relation to sexual violence from a man and father who grew up in a conservative Mennonite church. He wanted to…
One of the most controversial yet fascinating topics of Scriptural study and application is the relationship between our cultural and society practices of gender, and the way gender and sex are discussed, practiced, and defined in Scripture. What this essay attempts is a theological response to current debates in the Protestant and Evangelical world from a Kingdom theological perspective, outlining a position centering “cruciformity.” I hope that this essay will be a…
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.John 14:2 We often think of the Kingdom of God as a nation. How often do we think of the Kingdom as a home, as a family? Yet God has always desired to tabernacle in and among us, and He desires to welcome all and sundry…
“Look at that!” I said. “Look at what?” My wife asked, as we sped along the rural road. “You missed it,” I said. “But someone ran into the fence around that body shop back there. He knocked down part of the fence and really crumpled up his hood.” “Oh,” Elaine said, not particularly interested. “I guess the good news is that they won’t have to tow him very far to get his…
What was lost at creation was a place and a space of abundance, perfect communion, and glory. Adam and Eve were one with each other and one in God’s presence. As disciples saved from the power of Satan, we are brought once again in God’s place and space: the New Creation. It is even MORE glorious and abundant than the old, because God doesn’t just restore and renew but takes what was…
The last weekend of January 2023, marked a special day for two special people to the Kingdom Outpost: Along with Aaron and Mandie, we celebrated their union as husband and wife. Dru had the privilege of sharing the wedding message, and we thought you might enjoy it. In some ways, a wedding is simply an act of welcome: Aaron and Mandie have welcomed everyone here, but more importantly, they are welcoming each…
The Kingdom of God is the central proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ, and it stands in contrast with the fallen ways of darkness, sin, and oppression in the world's empires. The Kingdom of God is more than a worldview, because it is a ontology (way of being), not just an epistemology (way of knowing). It is transformative. There's a lot to it; it's not just one shallow idea to…