Citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven requires no visa application or even a passport. There are no background checks – the government is already aware of the very worst about you, and loves you just the same.

There is no internal division with the Kingdom’s government, which uses a unique three in one power structure. There is also no difficulty in finding successive candidates for government, on the basis that the current leadership is immortal. In some parts of the world that might present a problem – however our government’s infinite duration is here coupled with an uncompromising and incorruptible moral centre, a love that exceeds human experience or understanding, and wisdom enough to make Einstein look like a drooling toddler.

National security and policing is taken care of by a highly trained angelic force with a perfect record in carrying out their government mandate without causing innocent casualties. No taxpayer funding is required to resource this force, nor ever will be. While at one time a mandatory 10% tax rate was in effect, for almost 2,000 years the country’s tax system has operated on an entirely voluntary basis.

If any of this has piqued your interest, why not look into visiting the Kingdom of Heaven yourself? Applications can be made in any location by lifting your gaze to the heavens and asking for more information. Alternatively, open up our widely available promotional literature and read.

The Kickstarter campaign we’ve been running to fund the ‘He Was and Is and Is to Come’ book and animation has now ended. Through the Kickstarter and separate donations we’ve raised enough funds to print the poem as a fully illustrated softcover book, and also to animate the entire piece in the style of the trailer we produced for the first verse.

I just wanted to say a huge thankyou to all those who’ve supported the project – through a great deal of encouragement, through financial support, through telling your friends about it, and through prayer. Stef and I are really excited to be going ahead with it, and I’ve got a few more verses roughly sketched out with lots more to do in the next couple of months.

I’ll continue to post updates here, on our Kickstarter page, and also through facebook if you follow Anchor Lines on there. In the meantime, if you still haven’t gotten around to pre-ordering the book we’ve set up a shop page you can get to by clicking on the link below:

 

The concluding part of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’ – the Christian webcomic parody edition. Hopefully I haven’t mauled it too badly for the poetry fans out there!

The Kickstarter campaign we’ve been running to fund the ‘He Was and Is and Is to Come’ book and animation has now ended – we hit our minimum target on the first day, and closed out at around £5,500 from Kickstarter alone. We’ve also received some separate donations that mean we will not only be able to illustrate and print the book, but will also be able to make a full video of the entire illustrated poem. We’re thrilled, stunned, and tremendously grateful for everyone’s support. Thank you so much, and keep an eye out for updates as the work on illustrating the rest of it gets underway!

 

 

You may have heard Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem, If. It’s sort of about the ultimate man – wise, enduring, dependable, enigmatic. It’s understandably well loved, and a favourite of mine.

Given the subject matter, it seemed natural to wonder how it might apply to the true ultimate man – Jesus, who alone has expressed humanity in the most balanced, ideal and attractive way. So, I’ve written a sort of parody, reworked to capture something of the life this man of all men lived.

You read the original poem, and much of it could be said of Jesus – but we go further than that, in this God man who not only perfectly expresses humanity, but also reveals the nature and love of the Father. Jesus is the one man capable of living the type of life that Kipling’s If calls us to – and through his death and resurrection, he makes it possible for us to live lives that are increasingly in step with his.

 

Our family of churches, Relational Mission, had our second leadership conference this last week. Five hundred or so leaders gathered from across Canada, Europe, Africa and beyond to spend four days hearing what God has been doing across the nations, and to be encouraged and strengthened as we see where God is taking us next, with a particular emphasis on everyone within our churches coming to see that God can and will use them to share the gospel with others. It’s good news!

We spent some really valuable time in praise, with a couple of songs that were new for me – two in particular have been stuck in my head since, one of which was the inspiration for today’s strip: The Lion and the Lamb by Leeland.

In Revelation chapter 5, John (the last surviving member of Jesus’ original 12 disciples) has a vision of worship before the throne in Heaven. In it, one of the worshippers speaks to John of the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’ – whereupon John looks up to see ‘a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain.’ Difficulties in imagining that aside, both references speak of Jesus, and for me this song really captures something of the incredible nature of God. How is it that one who can described like this:

His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:35)

Can also be described like this:

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:6)

He is the almighty God who consented to be crushed for our sakes; the unrestrainable lion, who yet went like a lamb to the slaughter. The supernatural creator who became a creature; the definition of holiness, who became sin; the wellspring of life who yet tasted death; and the king of all kings who became a servant. Who is like this? What else but a heart that overflows with unending love could cause one so high to become so low? Why not listen to that song again – and if you don’t know a God like this, open your heart and ask him if he’s as real, and as extraordinary as he claims?

 

1 – For sources, see this article in the Lancet

56 million induced abortions, every year. That’s a staggering number.

My intention in postng this is not to make the case against abortion Biblically, but to call people – whether you’re a Christian or not – to action. For those who care about those unborn lives – is God putting adoption or fostering on your heart? Either to take that leap yourself, or to consider donating financially to charities in your country that provide those services?

The Bible says in Ephesians 1 that if you’ve put your faith in Jesus, God has chosen you for adoption as a son or daughter in his family. Is it any wonder that such a powerful act of love towards another should capture something of the heart of God? I can’t say much about it from experience – my wife and I have two children, neither of them adopted. I can’t say that it’s the right choice for every would be parent. I can say that something in my heart leaps when I see or hear of children being adopted, and if God is stirring something in your heart in this area, the least you could do is spend some time praying about it.

And for those who are facing a tough decision on abortion – would you consider having the child and giving it up for adoption?

It would truly be a tragedy if pregnant mothers were willing to give up their child, only to find that there weren’t enough adoptive parents to provide that child with a loving home. There are Mother Teresas and George Mullers out there just waiting for God to give the gentle push that starts a mighty ball rolling. Will you pray and give God the chance to use you as he sees fit?

You may remember Stef’s poem – either from Newday last year, or from my illustration of the first verse which I put up a few months back. Since then, Stef and I have been looking at finding a publisher – and have ended up going down the self publishing route, using Kickstarter to try and raise funds to print a run of fully illustrated, unusually gorgeous paperback books.

I could tell you more – about how this all works, about how excited we are to be attempting to publish this amazing poem, and more besides – but you could just as easily read about all that – and more importantly, pre-order yourself a copy – on our Kickstarter page, right here!

That’s all for John’s gospel for now. I love the poetic way this brief introductory handles some very important and complex themes about God, Jesus, his mission and the incredible things he has accomplished for us. That we could be children of God! I make things out of lego and when they go wrong I pull them apart and start over. God makes us and when we go wrong he pursues us – because at the core of our identity is that God is our Father, and he will not let his children go without a fight.

And then that God – who the Bible elsewhere describes as dwelling in unapproachable light – chooses to make himself known in the historically concrete person of Jesus. To permanently stamp the universe with the truth that he loves us enough to die in our place.

This is just the introduction. Read John’s gospel – it’s really not that long – but it has profound implications for your life, your self worth, your struggles and suffering, your hopes and dreams. All find their rightful place within God’s greater story, and the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

On a side note – big news coming in the next couple of weeks. Check back in for some exciting updates!

John 1 continues. It’s a profound chapter and a beautiful introduction to his gospel, setting the tone for his account of his saviour. This short passage speaks volumes of the character of God. When he comes looking to share his love with people he’s not after perfection, a clean record, a nice house or anything we might expect. He simply wants people to receive him. No preconceptions, no assumptions – who are willing to give him the time of day, and give him a chance to bless them.

Why not give him a chance? Why not take a moment to open up John’s gospel and read a few chapters. And as you read, try to read with the eyes of a child – to listen to what the writer is saying without filtering it through what you think Jesus is like, or what you think Christianity is about. It might surprise you.

So, to be clear: John the Baptist is a different guy to the John who wrote this particular book. That John is the son of Zebedee, the ‘beloved disciple’, who also most likely wrote 1, 2 and 3 John (shorter letters which appear near the end of the New Testament) and received the vision that spans the book of Revelation. So, kind of a big deal.

But John the Baptist is also kind of a big deal. All four gospels mention him, which is a bit of a clue – and he gets to baptise Jesus – so what is so special about this guy?

A bit of background. Elijah was an old testament prophet, who was active during the time of the divided kingdom in Israel, around 9th century BC. He’s one of the few people in the Bible not to die – when his time comes, he gets taken up to Heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:11). Malachi – an Old Testament prophet somewhere around 5th century BC – prophesied that God would

“send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.“ (Malachi 4:5-6)

There’s then a long wait. Christian Bibles place Malachi at the end of the Old Testament, so we go straight from this prophecy (which concludes the Old Testament) into the New Testament, the time where Jesus’ life, death and resurrection would bring about the fulfilment of these prophetic promises. Elijah does appear at the transfiguration (see i.e. Matthew 17) – but Jesus makes it clear in that the prophecy in Malachi was actually talking about John the Baptist – one who is not a literal reappearance of Elijah, but who carries a similar prophetic ministry to him.

“why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” (Matthew 17:10-13)

Earlier on in Matthew, Jesus had already been speaking incredibly highly of this same man:

A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:9-15)

So we have Malachi (like many of the prophets) prophesying that there is a day of judgement coming – but that before that day comes, God would send another prophet to spare them, by restoring the broken relationship between the great Father and his people. The Jewish people wait for hundreds of years for the re-appearance of Elijah, and as the New Testament begins, Jesus wants them to understand that this prophet has finally come. And what does this long awaited prophet do? How is it exactly that God uses him to restore the hearts of parents to their children, and the hearts of children to their parents, and save them from total destruction? He points people to Jesus.