Kingdom of God

This morning I was surprised at Sunday School by one of those "slap yo' forehead and say 'duh!'" moments.  We're starting a series on the "Kingdom of God," and the leader quotes some scholar as saying that the Kingdom of God" was the central theme of Jesus' ministry.  How'd I miss that one?  For instance,

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:1-2; ESV)

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:14-15; ESV)

As an exercise, do a New Testament search on e-sword or Bible Gateway for the phrases, "Kingdom of God", "Kingdom of Heaven", and "kingdom." It seems that it's not unreasonable to say that this concept is central to the message. Following is an excerpt from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia...

The “kingdom of God” is one of the most remarkable ideas and phrases of all time, having begun to be used very near the beginnings of history and continuing in force down to the present day...Its use by Jesus is by far its most interesting aspect; for, in the Synoptists, at least, it is His watchword, or a comprehensive term for the whole of His teaching. Of this the ordinary reader of Scripture may hardly be aware, but it becomes evident and significant to the student.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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What am I doing here?

For several years I have had three blogs - Mokuren Dojo (my martial arts blog), Self-Education of Pat (my book blog), and Presbyterian in McComb (my religion blog). The first one has been hugely successful, but my book blog and my religion blog have had mediocre reception in the blogosphere. Much of that is my fault for sporadic posting on both of those blogs.

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I started all three because I wanted to keep my martial arts blog tightly-focussed and on-topic, but also because I didn't want to subject the martial arts world to my religious beliefs. I have long felt uncomfortable with that division of my mind and my self. Splitting my effort and my soul across three blogs resulted in too little material for consistent posting, and I have spent long periods of time demotivated about posting on those two blogs.

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So, I am combining my Self-Education blog and my religion blog and I am broadening and tweaking the focus a bit. This will be a blog on my reading and self-education,as well as our family's classical model homeschooling of our children. Religion and theology, as the mother of all of academia, is a fitting part of this blog niche - but you will also see posts and reviews on a broader selection of things that I'm reading.

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I will be leaving the Presbyterian in McComb blog active as a resource page and for occasional tightly-focussed posts that may not fit here, but (nearly) all of its' older content will be moved here. Please, if you are subscribed to Presby in McComb, direct your feed reader here. to stay up to date.

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? ... (Isaiah 43:18-19; ESV)

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Today was a National Day of Prayer

I don't know how these National Days of Prayer get designated or if they are they are the same days each year or how often they recur, but today i did an acrostic prayer.  This is a prayer that hearkens back to Old Testament times, when the Psalms were written, some of the authors started each successive line with the successive letter of the alphabet. Here's some of what I prayed for today:

A: Albania, the U.S. Army

B: Barack Obama

C: Hillary Clinton

D: My dog, Daisy

E: Estonia

F: Freedom

G: Greece

H: Howard Industries

I: Idaho

J: Justice

K: The Keller family

L: our pastor, Lane

M: Mothers, The Frank Melton family

N: Nigeria

O: Oprah

P: the Parker family, Somali Pirates, Peace

Q: Quin Parker

R: Renters

S: Sailors

T: Tailors, Tangiers

U: Uruguay

V: Violence, Valentines

W: War

X: Xavier University

Y: Youth, the Young family

Z: Zimbabwe

This is a useful prayer tool for when you feel too scattered to pray - start at A and pray about the first thing that comes to mind, then move on to B.  Instead of getting stuck, just move on and keep praying the first thing that comes to mind starting with that letter.

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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