Inviting or Invading

The two extremes of trying to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the earth that the Church has proven don’t work are hiding behind stained glass and inviting people to meetings, and attempting to rule the earth from our pulpits. This ranges from rantings against “Washington” by Texas preachers on TV, which no one in “Washington” is listening to, to the “Holy Roman Empire,” which was as guilty of persecuting believers as Stalin and the Islamic State.

In Acts 27-28, Luke described part of the trip from Jerusalem to Rome Paul made after the Jews tried to kill him in the temple area. Paul saw prophetically that the centurion who was in charge of transporting him and some other prisoners to Rome should wait through the winter, because they would face very destructive storms if they went to sea. The centurion did not believe Paul, because the owner and the pilot of the ship they had been traveling in disagreed with him. They set sail.

When the ship was destroyed as predicted, the passengers, sailors and soldiers were washed ashore on Malta. There, because they invaded the land of Malta, they were given access to the culture of Malta, and impacted it greatly:

Safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The local people showed us extraordinary kindness, for they lit a fire and took us all in, since rain was falling and it was cold. As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself to his hand. When the local people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man is probably a murderer, and though he has escaped the sea, Justice does not allow him to live!” However, he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. They expected that he would swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days. It happened that Publius’ father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him. After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.
(Acts 28:1-10 Holman Christian Standard Bible ® ©)

Muslims, homosexuals and socialists have discovered how to shape cultures by invading the structures that have the power to influence them. Believers are learning to invade the darkness and dispel it with Light. In the place where you have a voice that is public, use it to declare righteousness and Life.