Michigander

After spending four days working for my uncle in Springfield, Illinois, i'm now in Bridgeman, Michigan with a family that has known me since my birth. They are Messianic Jews, so we went to Synagogue this morning, and that was an encouraging experience. The pastor delivers sermons that are like half his words and the other half is reading from the Bible passages on the topic. This week's teaching was on the baptism of Christ's sufferings-touching the fact that we will suffer if we follow Christ and the why of our suffering. One point that stuck out to me was the distinction between the 'chaff', 'tares' and 'wheat.' Tares are the imposter wheat, the stuff that grows up next to the wheat but in its full growth the head gets big and causes the stem to bend over. The chaff is the nonessential parts on the wheat itself. Understanding all three of these terms helps us realize why Christ compares us to this crop. He says that he's going to separate the tares and the wheat on the day of judgment. But you don't know a tare unless it's all grown up and has bent under the pressure of the weather and its own weight. Our identity is defined by who we are after the weather of suffering has come our way. If wheat we are, then suffering will shake away the chaff of the world.

In my reading of Matthew this month, i've continued my ponderings of the Kingdom of God. Christ's string of parables about the Kingdom have always left me questioning..."well, which one IS the kingdom like?" Because i'd always supposed that the kingdom was heaven-you know, the heaven that requires death before admission. But as it occurs to me this time around, the Kingdom of God that Jesus is telling us about is right here surrounding you and me. God wants for this earth to be like Heaven. He wants us to be perfect as he is perfect. He wants His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven. So the Kingdom attributes are faith, preparation, compassion, etc... read them for yourself. i gotta go help pack now.