The Other Kingdom

Relating to other people in the Kingdom should look different because of Jesus's example of and charge to love your enemy. This concept emphasizes and embodies a kind of forgiveness in our relationships that cannot be overlooked. As humans, we are very capable of hurting each other and causing legitimate relational wounds that can be painful to endure. It does seem, however, that the way of the Kingdom guides us into a place where self-reflection, grace, and true forgiveness are possible and part of how God enables His people to grow in love and heal in the community.

Jesus spoke often about what the Kingdom of God is like. When confronted with the stark differences between His description of His Kingdom and the kingdom of this world, it leads us to a place of decision: what will form us and transform us?

We live in a world that guarantees facing opposition at some point from other humans. Not everyone gets along all the time. We also recognize the reality of spiritual resistance and influence in our world and people. The kingdom of this world has one way of responding to stress and conflict, but how does a Christ follower and citizen of the Other Kingdom respond? This conversation moves from the life of Joseph in Genesis to Paul and his letter to the Ephesians as we consider what it means to put effort into wrestling the real enemy rather than the flesh and blood, fellow image bearers who may be the source of conflict.

All of us are created individually by God with particular giftings. We also have gifts developed over our lives through our experiences and the things we are passionate about. This week, the conversation revolves around how culture and even the church culture we are brought up in can affect the importance we place on certain gifts over others. What happens when we feel our gifts are unimportant or not valuable to the Kingdom?

The conversation around calling is ongoing regarding careers and college attendance. As Christians, we want to be led in all areas of our lives, including the tasks that we put our hands to. For that reason, we wanted to take one more episode to discuss some of the ways that God invites us to prepare for what He calls us to do. President Trent Roberts joins us to share about his journey to and through missions work overseas and how God prepared him for those seasons. We also look at the life of King David in Scripture and the ways that God prepared him long before he stepped into the position that he had been called to.

Purpose and calling are words often used in discussions about what Christians should do with their lives vocationally, especially regarding vocational ministry. Much of this conversation comes from a desire to live our lives in obedience to God through the Holy Spirit, as we see the faithful believers in Scripture doing. However, assumed definitions of these terms can sometimes lead to confusion, frustration, and discontentment for young men and women who want their "non-ministry" work positions to matter to the Kingdom of God, too. In this episode, we discuss ways to think about our purpose and calling as they relate to the Mission of God (His plan of redemption) as creatures made in His image and how our gifts and passions can help discern them for our lives.

Who are these people, and how did they get here? Part 2 of The Other Kingdom is the origin stories of Pastor Erin, Levi, and Fred getting into ministry and ending up at Northpoint College doing a podcast together. Looking back, we get to see the way God's voice leads and directs even when, at the moment, it is difficult to see the destination. Living in the Kingdom requires faith and dependence on hearing His voice and responding obediently. What a gift it is to see where He's brought us from, to trust where He's leading us, and to journey with Kingdom people along the way. This is a double episode in length so that each host can share their stories. Here's the show outline so you can listen all at once or break it up over the week! (00:31) - Introduction (02:01) - Pastor Erin's origin story (14:56) - Fred's origin story (29:30) - Levi's origin story (45:10) - Conclusion - Podcast theme song origin story

The Other Kingdom was the Chapel theme for the year at Northpoint College in 2021. It was incredibly challenging and life-changing for us as a staff and the catalyst to the conversations leading up to this podcast. Since then, Matthew chapter 5 and how Jesus describes throughout the Gospels what it looks like to participate in the Kingdom of God has been a lens we use to evaluate our systems, ministry, relationships, Spiritual formation, and the transforming work of the Spirit in our lives. Part 1 of this episode explores the call of Jesus to participate in The Other Kingdom. (17:40) Biblical Text Read: Luke 10:25-37 (ESV)