kingdom travelin'

a prayer to consider…

…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might…

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 1:17-19 & 3:14-21, ESV)

Man, if we could get the heart of this prayer, we would be on our way indeed.

It occurred to me to distinguish between the gathering on Friday and the gathering I will attend today.

Many people who were of really diverse backgrounds gathered to observe and listen (like me). Others gathered to, well, this is a statement of observation, not a judgment… worship. Much like many more did in football stadiums around the nation yesterday.

In the case of Friday night, some ‘worshiped’ a man, a president, and as such, purportedly the most powerful man in the world, at least until Jan. 20, 2013 or perhaps until 2017. But then what? My point is that we are easily caught up in worship of human figures, political, sport and even, ourselves.

But each week across the planet for almost 2000 years, people have gathered, in tiny groups and huge throngs, to worship He who came to bring real Peace and real victory, peace and victory that lasts forever. This peace and victory will last beyond the next election cycle and sports season.

This worship is of the eternal God who came to bring everlasting compassion and love, peace and victory, his name (which was almost mentioned Friday night) is Jesus.

I went to the debate & came out undecided. So, I’m at a rally to hear the president support his candidate. My hope is to hear something one way or another to make me less undecided.
There were two ways in, one for vip list, one for the public. There were folks there since 10am. They say that some UVa girls spent the night to be first. “What hole are you in?” one C’ville supporter said about us undecided voters. A man from Florida, when asked about his expressed support for Obama, said, “People don’t have any patience.” A man from Appomattox, VA said that for the president to get more done, he needs people to work with.
Inside the venue, people moved patiently. From what I saw, there were no protesters nearby. Indeed, one Charlottesville woman was heard to say that “we’re just like are one big happy family.”
The crowd was a real mixture of ethnicities, but those of African-American background were, perhaps, better represented.
The negative advertising that has inundated television was decried as awful, even by their own candidate.
At one point, volunteers tried to start a chant of “Yes, we can!” but they couldn’t. Can Obama make it happen for Perriello?
I took pix on the way in, I’ll put them in order later.

Perhaps I’ll tweet along the way.