Martin Schmaltz's Blog (37)

The Attractional Lifestyle Of The Kingdom 5

A foundational truth of the Kingdom lifestyle: it is to be a blessed life. Jesus reveals to us that this lifestyle answers the longing of the heart of man: to be blessed, happy and content. In the first nine verses of the Sermon On The Mount, The Beatitudes, Jesus presents a spiritual mindset that is counter to that of natural mankind and the world. The blessed lifestyle of the Kingdom is a product of His nature or character…

The Attractional Lifestyle Of The Kingdom  #4

In the last Kingdom Note, we defined what makes up a unique culture. We also demonstrated that the culture of the Kingdom was based on a changed mentality, mastery and morality.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Lets begin to look at the spiritual beliefs that result in the values and actions of the Kingdom culture.

The intro to the sermon on…

 The Attractional Lifestyle Of The Kingdom 3

In the previous note we demonstrated that the Kingdom is God's plan. Beginning with Adam, through Israel, Jesus and now the church: He is revealing his domain or rule. As citizens of His kingdom, we are to live a lifestyle that is attractive to those around us.

Jesus first message was to "Repent for the Kingdom of heaven was at hand" (Mt 4:17). The word repent is an interesting one. For many in Christendom,…

 The Attractional Lifestyle Of The Kingdom 2 - The Kingdom Is His Plan!

“The doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was the main teaching of Jesus, is certainly one of the most revolutionary doctrines that ever stirred and changed human thought.”~  H G Wells

The Kingdom has a particular lifestyle, one that does not necessarily match modern North American Christendom. It is a lifestyle that is…

The Attractional Lifestyle Of The Kingdom 1

If you are involved in church/ministry leadership, I am sure you are aware of the reported condition of North American Christendom and the traditional church structure. While there may be a couple of organizations that claim growth, as a whole, Christendom or the traditional organized church is on a steady decline. In fact, there are those who are labeling our culture now as post-christian. Whatever you may think, I believe…

What is the goal of the effective communicator ~ provocation! It is to challenge the status quo of groupthink. It is to call into question the tribal norms. To provoke is "to arouse to a feeling or action, to stir up purposely, to provide the needed stimulus." The effective communicator challenges our paradigm, stirs emotions, stimulating us to do something about what we have heard.



Think of a speech…

What is the goal of the effective communicator ~ provocation! It is to challenge the status quo of groupthink. It is to call into question the tribal norms. To provoke is "to arouse to a feeling or action, to stir up purposely, to provide the needed stimulus." The effective communicator challenges our paradigm, stirs emotions, stimulating us to do something about what we have heard.



Think of a speech…

 When we are born again, we change our citizenship: from a kingdom of darkness to a kingdom of light. Paul tells us "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20 ESV). It is from this new kingdom that we are sent as representatives, or ambassadors if you will, to the micro-cultures where we find our selves living.

A quick glance at some of the facts about ambassadors will give us some insights regarding how we are to live as representatives of our King. According to…

Part of my prayer this morning was probably like most christians: there was a desire to become more like Jesus. While praying this, the thought occurred to me, just what am I asking for? Then I took some time to meditate on what could the answer of this prayer entail.



It is a common theme today for many individuals to write, blog and preach about how the…

For a recent conference, I was asked to be one of the members of a panel discussion, our topic was: The Church in the 21st Century. A lofty theme for a two-hour dialogue.

In preparation, I spent much time ruminating on what has been written about the current church situation and what is seen as biblical models of a New Testament church. The following is a few thoughts I jotted down. Now they are not a complete dissertation, but I think, they are…

So I have finished the makeover on this house and we now have it on the market. To help make the sale, a key step is to stage the house. The idea of staging is to place furniture, pictures and decorations in key places to give the prospective buyer an idea of how they could arrange the house. When done correctly, you find they will begin to discuss how their furniture would fit in the particular room.



One of the components of staging is the outside, particularly the front door:…

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. ~James Bryce

The following is a list of the books that significantly impacted me in 2010. To reach this list, these books changed, clarified or reinforced my (new way of) thinking. Obviously, I do not agree with every word, but enough to recommend them.

Total Church – Chester & Timmis

What impacted me most regarding this book was their grasp on the holistic…