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Christianity Today, August, 2008 |

KINGDOM SIGHTINGS

Olympic Snapshot

Imagine swords turned into plowshares, and soldiers into soccer players.

Al Hsu | posted 8/08/2008 07:26AM

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At InterVarsity's triennial Urbana mission conventions, college students encounter God's call to global mission in the midst of a transnational, multilingual, and multiethnic array of worship and speakers. For many delegates, this is the first time they have worshiped with people and in ways outside their own cultural tradition. They often exclaim, "This must be what heaven is like!"

Well, yes. But it's not just a preview of heaven. It's also a picture of what earth should be like.

Jesus taught us to pray: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." My prayer is that this global, crosscultural kingdom vision will be glimpsed not just at Urbana every three years or at the Olympics every four years, but also every day in churches both at home and around the world.

Related Elsewhere:

An editorial, also posted today, examines what athletes have to teach us about hope.

Previous Kingdom Sightings columns include:

Grace and Peace | How a simple salutation points us toward a new society. (June 18, 2008)

A Multifaceted Gospel | Why evangelicals shouldn't be threatened by new tellings of the Good News. (April 10, 2008)

The Vision Thing | Clarity came just as things got blurry. (February 21, 2008)

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August 2008, Vol. 52, No. 8

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MK from China

Posted: August 14, 2008 11:13 AM

Let me first say that steve needs to recheck his china knowledge if he thinks that china is without want. that is absolutely ridiculous when you think of all the farmers in the western half of china living off of less than $30.00 a month for their entire family. as a person who grew up in taiwan, there is a love in my heart for the chinese people and i find the first four comments especially self-righteous. who are you to say that the americans don't persecute christians? look at your culture. i am american, so i have the right to say this. the american culture is extremely intolerant for all their talk of tolerance. they can't even allow people to say merry christmas in some places... it also hurts to hear my homeland (even though i am white through and through) being put down. who are you to judge? is not God the judge of all men? and what about eric leddell? have you forgotten the runner who won two medals in the olympics and refused to run on a sunday, chris? did God not sanction

pete Benson, editor UNITYINCHRIST.COM

Posted: August 12, 2008 1:47 PM

Very interesting and forward looking ideas about the soon-coming Kingdom of God, and the artifacts that will be offered to God. Also, very true about the one time the Greek city-states would drop their weapons and endless civil wars to be at peace during their Olympics. But I think the Feast of Tabernacles may end up as a substitute for the Olympics during the Kingdom age after Jesus Christ's 2nd coming, when the world will gather at Jesus' feet and learn from him, and then take what they've learned back to their various homelands.

Bill Bray

Posted: August 10, 2008 2:17 PM

The Olympics games is a daily reminder to pray for the 56 nationalities that make up China and for the indigenous missionaries there, some in prison, who are calling out a people for His name in that land. China already has one of the world's fastest growing churches and through trading relations can potentially be used as the next great, global missionary force. These are exciting days for us to love and support the Chinese people. The Chinese are the largest single group of overseas students in our colleges and universities. There are so many opportunities for us to respond to them while there are here in the USA and other western nations and to support them as they go back to their people with the Gospel. I am so excited to be working with our Chinese partners in missions and we need to open our eyes wider to the implications of what the Holy Spirit is doing to bless China and the Chinese nations.

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