Living in the inbetween times

'Living in the inbetween times'

God clearly has a purpose for the time between when you get saved and when you die! If God did not have a plan for this time God would simply 'fedex' you out of here the moment you get saved!

Ephesians 2.10 is the key, we are here to participate in the same work that Jesus did, namely, to redeem and restore the world. Some Christians seem quite good at the 'redeem' part (they're often called evangelicals), others seem quite good at the 'restore' part (they are often considered to be liberals, part of the social justice element of the Gospel).

On the flight home from JHB to Cspe Town today I was listening to a recording made by Willowcreek, it was an interview between Bill Hybels and Brian MClaren bearing the title of MClaren's book, 'everything must change'.

Bill Hybels calls this the time between the cross and heaven. The Kingdom of God is all about this time. Note that Jesus taught us to pray for that Kingdom to come on earth, not just to get us to the afterlife.

Micah 6.8 is another important text to consider. Most Christians have no problem with the idea of walking humbly before God, but few of us make it to mercy and justice! MClaren suggests that mercy is a bit like pulling drowning people our of the river, justice is making sure that there is no system that will get them thrown back into the river again.

So, personal salvation is just the start of the story. The next step is to form us in the image of Christ (Phil 2.5) in order to get to step three, where we join Jesus in His work of transforming the world.

I want to grow to become a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. I want to get out of casual Christianity!

I want to be passionate about redemption and restoration! I want to see us break down the walls between evangelicals and liberals, for the sake of the Gospel of Christ, and his love for the world!