By What Authority?
This is an election year, as well as an Olympic year. I'm glad we have the Olympics to draw our focus toward that amazing human achievement, as I don't feel as proud about the way campaigns leading up to elections take place. I would like to invite those of you who consider yourselves people of faith to be intentional about how much power and authority you give to the divisive national politics arena in your life. You get to elect to focus your attention on God and your spiritual life. What's better is you can cast that vote right now! When Jesus is asked by Pontius Pilate by what authority he is acting, Jesus will not make a defense to the worldly authority. Instead he deflects and asks Pilate a question about John the Baptist that Pilate cannot answer. Jesus' focus is on the kingdom of God: that invisible kingdom bound by no geography, earthly government, nor term limit. God's kingdom is present whenever we give the authority of our lives to God, when we pray for...