Which Story is More Important?

There are always two stories being unveiled in our world. There is the obvious story that we read about in the headlines, what we hear in the news report, and what we witness with our own eyes and ears. These are the worlds stories that we so readily relate to. But there is a much grander story taking place behind the scenes usually hidden from our immediate awareness. That story is the "Kingdom Story!"

The Kingdom Story is the story that our soveriegn God is working out behind the world story.

A Christian writer Ron Boyd-MacMillan, shares the following insight from his teaching, “Why I Need to Encounter the Persecuted Church.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an idea of what God is really up to in this world?

Below is Ron Boyd's interesting discovery.

"I think of China. The headlines said in June of 1989 a terrible massacre took place. Five thousand young people were mown down by the Chinese army. The headlines all mourned the death of the pro-democracy movement. It was terrible, but what was God up to underneath? Out of that massacre came a remarkable turning to Christ among China’s students for the first time in history! The headlines never saw it. It’s not part of history. But “His story” went on.

I think of Afghanistan. When the Soviet Union invaded that country in 1980 the world was outraged. The headlines were all full of fierce denunciations of the action, and rightly so. But I remember meeting a missionary from Kabul who said, “Yes, what the Russians did was wrong, but the fact is it is now much easier under the Russians for Christians to evangelize than it was before under the Islamic regime.” Again, another more significant story, of God building his kingdom, was going on undetected by the world at large.

I think of Sudan. The headlines in the 1980’s were full of a dreadful civil war which isolated the Danka people from the outside world. It was terrible. There was untold suffering on vast scale. But underneath, God was bringing the 2 million Dinks to himself. By 1993, 80% of them were Christians and this among a tribe that was historically very resistant to the gospel.

Notice that these are all stories from the persecuted. They seem to be better placed to notice the real story. And so I need to keep in touch with them because this glimpse delivers me from despair. In 1989 in China, there was not just a massacre, but a revival. In 1980 in Afghanistan, there was not just an occupation, but new missionary opportunities. In Sudan, there was not just a brutal war that killed millions, but a new kingdom of believers among an unreached people.

So every day when I open my newspaper, I remind myself of two things, thanks to the persecuted: the story I see is not to be confused with the kingdom story; and underneath even the saddest news, God is surely up to something good. There is hope because God is always at work."

It makes me wonder what God is doing behind the scenes in my life and in the life of Praise Community Fellowship.  What ever it is you can bet it is to expand His Kingdom, not ours!!!  Can't wait to find out!

For those who choose Jesus, there is a plan being worked out behind the scenes. Live boldly, with the two greatest commandments Jesus gave us being your mantra. Love God, Love one another.

See you soon. Love, Pastor Kent