Transforming Paradigms: From Empire to Kingdom Mindset

1. "Paradigms can shift, but it takes a decision on your part and a transformative journey. You might remember there's a story in the Bible that Jesus is talking about and he uses this illustration called about old wineskins. He says you can't put new wine into an old wineskin. And he was talking about the kingdom and that you can't just put the kingdom, the kingdom mindset, the kingdom way of thinking, the kingdom way of living into the old religious pattern of thinking because it will blow it up." [00:02:49] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Empire is a paradigm built on the idea that you can't put new wine into an old wineskin. And so this is kind of what got me on human understanding and experience. At its best, empire is the best humanity can do apart from God. But the sad part is, at its worst, empire expresses itself in the darkest of human depravity. Right? I mean, it can get pretty ugly. Empire, listen to this, empire is a paradigm of productivity and productivity." [00:03:49] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "In empire thinking, I earn and therefore deserve everything that I can acquire. Key values in empire paradigm are, self, power, security, wealth, and the list goes on. Kingdom is a paradigm built on God's truth and wisdom, right? Kingdom is a paradigm of grace. The Bible teaches us that God's grace is the work of God. God's grace is the work of God, right? The work of God in us and the work of God through us. It's the grace of God that brings us salvation." [00:05:10] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "And so we're thinking about this idea that paradigm of kingdom is this idea that God's work transforms us. And the key values of kingdom paradigm are selflessness, surrender, trust, generosity, partnership. The list can continue, but I'm going to stop there. And we see that empire paradigm in the world and in religion, like I said a minute or a little earlier, in both places, it is destructive. It is destructive. It is destructive. It is destructive. It is destructive. It is destructive and produces chaos, and it robs us of hope and life that Jesus came to give." [00:06:16] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Matter of fact, those aren't bad things. In kingdom, we do those same things. But it's why we do those things. See, in empire thinking, we do those things because we want to get close to God. In kingdom thinking, we know that the cross of Christ, the blood of Jesus, makes us close to Christ. That God loved us first, and that's why he sent his son Jesus. And so what we realize is we do those same things not to earn God's love, but rather in partnership with him, we want to be in a transformative process." [00:07:43] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "Kingdom says to us that God loved us and sent his son, and that the blood of Christ is the power of forgiveness and reconciliation, and we are loved and we are already close to God because of the grace, the grace of God, or the work of God, the work of Jesus. kingdom is opposed to earning but it's not opposed to effort it's not about productivity but rather partnership." [00:09:00] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "I think also Peter had a very similar situation, right? If you're familiar with Jesus' arrest, remember what happens? They're coming up there, Judas kisses Jesus, and they're coming to arrest Jesus, and what's Peter do? Peter, pulls his sword and cuts a dude's ear off, and what's Jesus do? He reaches down, he picks up the ear, and he puts it back on the man's face, and he tells Peter, if you live by the sword, you're going to die by the sword." [00:13:15] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "Because it was at this point that Jesus's clarity and how he responded in a kingdom mindset was so different than what everyone else was expecting. Not only was he arrested, but he faced a religious court of lies and false testimony. They hit him, and they spit on him. They did all kinds of bad things to Jesus, and he also faced two different public judges, and he didn't fight back. He surrendered to God's will, sacrificed his life for all humanity." [00:14:45] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "We don't always have the clarity on a specific calling like Jesus had, but here's something I know or something God has been teaching me. God will always give us clarity we need. God will always give us the clarity we need for the calling that He gives. It was out of that clarity that Jesus endured the arrest and the trials from a kingdom paradigm. It was God's grace at work both in Jesus and through Jesus." [00:17:07] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "You see, kingdom paradigm begins with a decision to repent, believe, and follow Jesus. We have to choose to orient our minds and our hearts away from self and towards God. We have to choose to believe Jesus, we have to believe Jesus enough to trust him. We have to choose to follow him by putting his words and words into our hearts. We have to choose to believe Jesus enough to trust him. Ways into practice. Listen, I think it's important that it's not just believing in Jesus here." [00:20:22] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)