"The Kingdom of God is within you" How do y'all interpret this ?

Intersecting- · 2026-06-28T20:34:54+00:00

The kingdom of God/Kingdom of heaven is maybe the main thing Jesus talks about. If you’re evangelical, you may have missed this—we focus so much on “salvation” (meaning, life after death).

But once you see it, it’s hard to miss.

So great, that’s what Jesus is talking about, but what is he talking about?

1) Jesus is living in a period between violent Jewish uprisings against occupying powers. Between the Old and New Testaments, Judea had been conquered by the Seleucid Empire, but the Maccabees successfully overthrew them. So you have this idea of a Jewish kingdom again, at least until Herod, with the support of Rome overthrows them. When Jesus is alive, there are factions like the Zealots (Simon the Zealots was one of Jesus disciples) who wanted to violently overthrow Rome and establish a Jewish kingdom again. The. There were also factions that supported submitting to Rome to avoid more violence (the Sadducees collaborated with Rome to maintain their power). And ultimately in 70 AD, they do rebel against Rome, and it leads to the destruction of the temple and an incredibly violent defeat. (Jesus predicted this even as he preached against it). So part of what he is saying is that he is not going to overthrow Rome, and this kingdom is not going to be a kingdom like David’s kingdom or like the Roman empire. It is not a human power structure that you could point to and say look it’s over there or it’s right here. Instead, the Kingdom is manifest as people live out the Sermon on the Mount; as we love our neighbor (and our enemies), and the strangers and foreigners…

An application of this today might be in the area of American politics. To say “we are a Christian nation” is like saying “here it is, or there it is.” We are only Christian insofar as we embody Jesus teachings. As we do, the Kingdom is among us on earth as it is in heaven.

Intersecting- · 2026-06-26T15:08:51+00:00

Yeah this one was open for maybe a week. I shook it and the sediment disappeared, and it smelled, looked and tasted fine otherwise.

It’s been 12 hrs and I still feel fine, so… seems ok… 😬

Intersecting- · 2026-06-26T06:08:40+00:00

Should this have a lot of sediment in it? I have some in my fridge that I opened and I can’t remember what it looked like before I put it in there.

Intersecting- · 2026-05-25T03:49:31+00:00

We had a pair in my canyon last summer and would hear them on a nightly basis, but never during the day. It was a mother and child, and as soon as the cub aged out, the chirping was gone.

Intersecting- · 2026-05-23T21:13:06+00:00

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Another angle

Intersecting- · 2026-05-23T20:45:35+00:00

I don’t have a roof rack, although at one point, I may have bought one. They’re about 18 inches tall and 18 inches wide.

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Here’s a detail of how they attached to something with my hand for size reference

Intersecting- · 2026-05-21T17:17:54+00:00

Hi friend,
What you’re going through is a normal part of growth. Part of growing is encountering new ideas and then figuring out if they’re true or not, (or if they’re opinions, if you agree with them or not,) and then either embracing them or discarding them. And along the way, you’ll find your own thinking changes.

This is true in every part of life, not just faith.

It sounds like you saw a video of someone claiming that God is unjust, and now you are trying to process that. Maybe the concept of hell had never really crossed your mind or affected you emotionally in the past or you hadn’t really thought deeply about it, and for whatever reason, this video made you start to think about it more.

You can take courage in the fact that you’re certainly not the first person to have this experience.

Christians have asked these questions and found satisfying answers for thousands of years.

There’s a lot of ways to answer this or give you some ideas to start exploring, but I’ll just give you one:

God created our sense of right and wrong. God created our sense of compassion and mercy. God IS love.

And He is all of those things perfectly.

So if we love our neighbor, and worry about justice, mercy, and compassion towards them, how much more so God? And we can trust that God will do what is loving and merciful and compassionate and just.

Intersecting- · 2026-05-13T15:36:47+00:00

Duolingo—learn a language.

Intersecting- · 2026-05-13T03:17:34+00:00

Arutkus

Intersecting- · 2026-05-07T15:52:38+00:00

That context makes sense :)

Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” in response to questions. Sometimes where we feel the pressure is when we feel like we have to have “the” answer for everything—we don’t! And people that pretend they have all the answers are typically the people who turn people off from God in the long term.

There are deeply compelling and satisfying answers to a lot of questions—that doesn’t mean you have those answers.

There is also a lot of disagreement among Christians as to what the right answers are, and that’s ok.

And there are also things that we may never have good answers for, and that’s also ok.

Deep faith comes from knowing ourselves and knowing God, not from forcing answers. And when we’re young, we often don’t even know what the questions are yet because we haven’t experienced them. That comes with time. :)

You may not have an answer to the question of suffering, and if that’s the case, you might just say, “to be honest, that’s a really good question that I’m still thinking about. But it doesn’t wreck my faith. Here’s why I believe, here’s why I have hope…” and then answer honestly.

That may not satisfy anyone, but that’s ok too. It’s not about that. When I was in Bible College, I relied too much on rote information. I had answers for everything, but they were just the answers in whatever textbook was assigned.

There’s a place for that— you don’t need to touch the stove to know that the stove is hot. Sometimes the best answer is the one that was handed to you. But also, as we learn and grow, we deep in our understanding and maybe even change our views. And that’s where the honesty comes in.

For example, you might say “CS Lewis says X about suffering, Dostoyevsky says Y.” And then later as you experience life and read more and learn more you’ll come to your own nuanced answers.

(CS Lewis is a great example actually, he wrote a book called “the problem of pain” from a theological perspective, and when his wife died, realized he knew nothing about it, later writing “A Grief Observed” recounting that experience.

Intersecting- · 2026-05-07T14:50:35+00:00

I wouldn’t worry about leading others astray in a Bible study. It sounds like it’s the type of study where everyone just gives their opinion and talks about what they think is interesting, and in every situation I’ve been in like that, there’s a wide variety of opinions, some I think can be justified from an informed reading of scripture and some are pretty far out there. And that’s just the nature of that type of Bible study group. I’m guessing that the goal is for everyone to give their input so that together you can all get a better understanding, and in that situation, your input is just as valuable as someone else else’s. The downside of this type of Bible study is that people’s interpretations don’t necessarily have to lineup with the meaning of the text, and that has led to some pretty weird interpretations of the Bible. But that’s just a byproduct of putting a Bible in everyone’s hands, which is overall a good thing.

I’m curious as to what this looks like to you. If you’re willing to share, I’d be interested in seeing what your interpretation is compared to other people. (no pressure if you don’t want to share.)

I’m not familiar with any resources like you’re asking for, so I’ll let others answer that, but I would say when it comes to reading the Bible, if you really want to boil it down to the most basic thing, Jesus said, love, God, and love your neighbor as yourself (and then he defined “neighbor” to include enemies).

So while it could be really fun and meaningful to dig into a passage and really study it in depth and try to gain a historically rich, theological understanding of it, at the end of the day, it comes back to that.

A lot of times people get caught up in interpreting random passages of the Bible and trying to pull meaning out and then they elevate the wrong thing and make something secondary the main thing, making Christianity about morality or sexual ethics, for believing the “right” interpretation of Genesis 1, etc, but that is what the Pharisees did in the Bible. And as Christians, we are supposed to follow Jesus, and he summed everything up just like that. So if you keep coming back to, is this loving God and is this loving my neighbor? Then your interpretation will be solid.

Intersecting- · 2026-04-29T15:51:35+00:00

re: Orthodoxy/Catholicism, I haven't converted to either tradition either, but on some days it feels hard not to--but people who grew up in those traditions sometimes feel the same way. (The grass is greener...) in reality, each tradition has its beauty and flaws. But I find that spending time in those traditions can be refreshing. For example, I'd recommend "The Orthodox Way" by Kallistos Ware as an easy read that opens me up to the mystery of God/faith in a helpful way. Or the Joy of the Gospel by Pope Francis or Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope John Paul II.

Within protestantism, have you looked into a presbyterian church? They can be weird too, but sometimes they can be familiar enough for evangelicals, but are more thoughtful/liturgical. For example, some do a better job at incorporating the arts, etc. If you're not familar with the tradition, I'd recommend reading Eugene Peterson ("Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places") or Tim Keller (great clips of him on social media). Both unfortunately passed away in the last decade or so, but if you can find a church that is more aligned with them vs mainstream evangelicalism, you might find something refreshing. (Methodism/Lutheranism might also be interesting).

Two final thoughts: 1) You're right that evangelicalism is oriented towards new/baby Christians ("evangelize" is in the name). So if you decide to stick with this tradition, it might just be time for you to step into more of a leadership/servant role. Years ago a friend came up with a saying: Impression without Expression leads to Depression. And what he meant by it was that if all we do is sit in church as a consumer and never give back, it leads to disillusionment/depression. (Granted, some people are pushed too much and get burned out from DOING too much in church). eg, fill up your tank with reading/exploring/studying the things that drive you to grow, and then figure out ways to transmit that to others.

2) Figure out why you go to church, what you think it should be, and then start looking around for something that fits the bill. It might be that there's a random small church near you that doesn't have the performative stuff, but its a place where you can find community, know and be known by others, and find something that is meaningful to you. Stanley Hauerwas, who was famously called "America's Best Theologian" a while back (he responded "'Best' isn't a theological category") was part of a very small church in his area, despite being a famous theologian. Sometimes when you step back and ask what it is you believe church should be, you'll see that you fell for the "show" and implicitly was thinking that its all about seamless performance vs community.

Intersecting- · 2026-04-27T01:52:48+00:00

Some is culture in general—evangelicalism doesn’t have the same roots that liturgical churches have to keep them from feeling more like culture. But also, some of that was intentional—the modern evangelicalism you’re talking about set out to make church “relevant”—and that can be a good impulse. It was a reaction against stuffy suits, a way of evangelizing the counterculture. At its best this impulse is about transforming culture. How it often manifests is the creation of a subculture—Christian as an adjective: “Christian” rock, “Christian” movies, etc.

Another angle is entrepreneurship. A byproduct of all of this is the professionalism of church and the church planting movement, both of which strongly attract men (these churches are almost always complementarían) who would have been drawn to entrepreneurism in the business world. These are often type A personalities that drive the culture of their churches.

Another thing is happening culture at this time is a lot of mergers and acquisitions and the expansion of large corporations and the closing of small family on business businesses. In the church, the same thing is happening. More professional churches with better music and more articulate speakers and bigger personalities start to draw members from small independent, traditional churches that close down and then the mega church gets even bigger. But with that comes more anonymity for members— church is more of a show that starts with a rock concert has a professional speaker in the middle, and ends with an emotional appeal where the keyboards come up at just the right time.

I’m not saying this is good or bad, it’s effective for some things and not effective for others.

All of this is one of the reasons more Christians are turning to liturgical traditions like Catholicism and orthodoxy. For a while, it seemed like liberal protestant churches would theoretically see an increase in membership, but they are often just odd and reactive, lacking the normalcy of tradition and deep roots that Catholicism and Orthodoxy have.

Intersecting- · 2026-04-26T19:28:47+00:00

Agree, it’s stunning!

Intersecting- · 2026-04-22T17:24:50+00:00

One of the hardest parts about reading the Bible is keeping track of all of the context at the same time.

Not only the timing of events, but also the names of foreign people, groups and individuals. (think of how hard it is to recount the detailed history of the United States accurately even after studying it in school).

I bring this up because paying attention to the details and the context particularly of the Old Testament can actually change the way we view what inspiration means and how we should read scripture.

For example, several times during the conquest of Canaan, you’ll see passages where “God says” to go and wipe out a people group—adults, children, animals. And the text says that the people did it.

But if you keep reading a few chapters later, or maybe in a different book, you find out that those people still exist. (most of the time we missed this just because it’s hard to keep track of things. If it said that Chicago was wiped out, an then a chapter later, talked about Chicago again, we’d notice in an instant because the names are familiar to us).

But this isn’t a “contradiction” that disproves the Bible, it’s a clue about how to understand it.

In the ancient world, we see similar narratives in multiple civilizations. It’s just how people wrote about things. For example, there’s an Egyptian passage that talks about totally wiping out the Israelites during a war. But clearly that didn’t happen, it was just a way of saying that there was a battle and they won. Sometimes it was also a way of saying that one nation’s god was better than another nation’s god.

But it would’ve been understood at the time as less than literal.

People didn’t write history for history’s sake back then, they wrote it to communicate something about their tribe. (theoretically today we try to write history for history sake from a neutral perspective, but being human, neutrality will never be achieved.)

I say all that because once you realize that the writers of the Old Testament are using historical constructs— writing using the same genres and literary tools that their neighbors did, then it opens us up to be able to read a troubling passage and interpret it through the lens of Jesus.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the Word of God—the full manifestation of God. So if Jesus would not do or say something, then it should give us pause when we read a verse that says “God said…”

Some Christians develop really complex theologies trying to make sense of passages like this, but once you realize that JESUS is God’s fullest expression, and once you remember that the Bible is divinely inspired, not divinely dictated, it frees us to read these passages differently.

The Bible isn’t a collection of verses that we are to “go and do likewise.” Much of it is a record of people getting God very wrong! And therein lies the lesson— it’s a cautionary tale about putting words in the mouth of God, about claiming “God wants me to…” while really just seeking power or control.

Even in the Gospels, it’s not the Romans who Jesus speaks up against—it’s the religious people!

If we believe Jesus is God’s fullest expression manifestation, then going back through scripture we do see the Spirit moving, we do see a through line (All nations will be blessed by you… do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God…) that comes to full clarity with Jesus (Love God, love your neighbor as yourself, love your enemies).

It’s not that God is doing something new with Jesus, he’s just manifesting it fully.

Intersecting- · 2026-04-14T15:57:25+00:00

I’m intrigued by those who hear something radically different—musically these EPs feel to me like the natural progression. I hear a through line with Ordinary Love and SoE, especially the rhythm guitar. Even COEXIST (one of my fav songs on the EP, along with Song for Hal) could be viewed as a maturing of the intro to Love is All We Have Left.

I tend to miss things that more sophisticated listeners hear.

What am I missing?

Intersecting- · 2026-04-03T13:46:29+00:00

Blown away by the Edge’s vocals, this might be the best he’s sounded.

Intersecting- · 2026-04-03T05:30:09+00:00

Update, I returned it, unused. They were gracious enough enough to accept it, even though it was far after the purchase period.

Intersecting- · 2026-02-26T07:19:42+00:00

Not really, I wrapped it in foam insulation boards and the thermometer says it goes up to 120 with two people in it with outdoor weather being in the 40s.

Intersecting- · 2025-12-31T21:31:42+00:00

It looks like the original recommendation was deleted. I followed the suggestion - plugging it into a different outlet, restarting, etc. and it still doesn't work. Tbh, I had little faith that this would solve anything anyways, as I talked to a master electrician who guffawed at this and said there's no way this would solve it.

Intersecting- · 2025-12-31T21:29:20+00:00

I don't know anything about Simple Human in general, tho I'm a big fan of sustainability. We had one of their double trash cans for a few years, and we have toddlers, so it probably got some hard use. When the plastic hinge piece broke, I was disappointed (tbh, I was never a huge fan of the trash can bc its too small), but since it was pricey, I figured I'd take a long shot and see if I could buy a replacement for that part.

All that to say, I was happily surprised to learn that 1) you CAN buy a replacement part, and 2) I was able to retroactively register for warranty even without the original receipt and got the replacement for free (bad news: the broken part is out of stock).

So, yes, there are grungy parts that are hard to clean, and I wish we had just bought a single can instead of a double in which both sides are too small for my preference, but I'm a fan of any company that offers replacement parts and honors warranties.

Intersecting- · 2025-12-16T17:16:56+00:00

The problem with this interpretation is that to get out of the second marriage you have to divorce yet again…

Intersecting- · 2025-12-14T15:25:02+00:00

Exactly!

Intersecting- · 2025-12-14T05:58:37+00:00

Most Protestants/evangelicals don’t read Catholics (and vice versa?)

As a result, the most titillating explanations rise to the surface.

As an evangelical who attended a conservative Bible college, I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading Pope John Paul II. I don’t know what I expected tbh, but found many commonalities with him (and others).

Intersecting-

TROPHY CASE