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WR Koh Samet 2 4 66643d09 WR Koh Samet 2 4 66643d09

Responding to the magic kingdom

We just returned from debriefing a team in Thailand.   Karen and I are committed to these young people and with each trip we take to meet them somewhere in the world, we feel the commitment grow.   The 24 hour flight there is a small tradeoff for the privilege of helping them wake…
By Seth Barnes
By Seth Barnes
WR Koh Samet 2 4We just returned from debriefing a team in Thailand.
 
Karen and I are committed to these young people and with each trip we take to meet them somewhere in the world, we feel the commitment grow.
 
The 24 hour flight there is a small tradeoff for the privilege of helping them wake up to the kingdom of God.
 
One night we held a spontaneous worship service on the beach and in the surf. It was glorious. And the next morning we took over a restaurant on the beach so Andrew Shearman could speak to and challenge the World Racers.
 
He preached his heart out. He’s seen the far country and can describe it better than anyone I’ve met. When he shares a kingdom message in churches, it usually tweaks a good number of his listeners, but when the service is over, they turn around and go back to their old lifestyles.
 
Not so our World Racers – they are living out this stuff daily. Katie Rowland is an example – she came hungry and has charged ahead as fast as she could go. The difference with people like Katie is that she’s living it. She’s seen the pain of the world’s orphans and she’s seen the narcissism of her generation and she knows that they need to collide in a way that births the kingdom. She’s seen God’s power and knows his plan to bring healing to the nations. So when Andrew preaches and challenges them, her response is to stand on her chair and shout out her commitment. Here’s her blog about it:
This blog is dedicated to Seth and Karen Barnes, Andrew and Mo Shearman, and Michael and Kathy Hindes. Thank you for teaching us about KINGDOM.
 
WR Koh Samet 2 0I’ve discovered a Kingdom since the start of the Race. It’s not technically visible to the human eye, but during debrief on a little island in Thailand, I was given some 3-D glasses (otherwise known as teachings, but whatever) to help me see this Kingdom, and I chose to put them on. Suddenly everything about this Kingdom seems to jump out at me in new, bright colors. (It’s a pretty wild kingdom, actually; people do crazy things like sing songs on beaches in Thailand in front of lots of curious passers-by…and that’s just the beginning, really).
 

The coolest thing about this Kingdom is that I can find it anywhere–borderless, it can be anywhere in the world.In fact, there are little pieces of it scattered across the nations, and even to the ends of the earth (though not all the ends yet). This Kingdom is far and wide and deep and long. Some glorious day all the pieces will come together…

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I am a citizen of this Kingdom. I signed my citizenship into it by making a choice to live in it for the rest of my life, in service to the King. Citizens of this Kingdom come in all shapes, sizes, colors and costumes.

You see, this is the Kingdom of GOD. Its King is Jesus Christ. And guess what? I am a little, living, breathing piece of the Kingdom. I carry this Kingdom with me, inside of my heart and soul and spirit, EVERYWHERE I GO. Whether it’s in a friend’s house in my hometown in North Carolina, or on a beach in Thailand with curious passers-by, this Kingdom is a traveling one. Actually, it even fits inside my World Race backpack. …(Because I fit inside my World Race backpack, and the Kingdom is in me. …Get it? Got it. Good)

You see, when I gave my life over to Christ, I made a CHOICE. I chose to let HIM take control. I chose citizenship of a Kingdom that will last FOREVER. The kingdoms of this earth will soon fade away, but I am a citizen of a Kingdom that will never fade! Its King lives eternally.

We ARE Kingdom, because the King lives inside of us, (if we make the choice to let Him.)

 

So I’m going to shut up about my humanity and my needs. I’m going to get up out of my comfort zone. And I’m going to GO lay claim to land for my King!

“Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” That’s what Jesus instructed his disciples to pray. Do you mean it when you say it? …I do, now.

I hope you’ll join me as a citizen in this Kingdom. It’s a WILD place to be! 

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