Tony Evans - Kingdom Disciples: Heavens Representatives on Earth

2017 by
ANTHONY T. EVANS

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Portions of this book are adapted from the following books by Tony Evans: America (Chicago: Moody, 2014), The Kingdom Agenda (Chicago: Moody, 2013), Oneness Embraced (Chicago: Moody, 2011), The Transforming Word (Chicago: Moody, 2006), What Matters Most (Chicago: Moody, 2002), Free at Last (Chicago: Moody, 2005), and Life Essentials for Knowing God Better, Experiencing God Deeper, Loving God More (Chicago: Moody, 2007).

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

Edited by Jim Vincent

Interior and Cover design: Erik M. Peterson

Cover image of crowd at station courtesy of Nicolai Berntsen/Unsplash.

ISBN: 978-0-8024-1203-4

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W hen two teams compete in a professional sporting event, there is always an officiating crew to manage the game and uphold the rules. The teams in conflict, by the very nature of the battle, can never be expected to agree because they are headed toward two different goals. The officiating crew, however, has been positioned by the league office in the middle of the conflict but is not part of the conflict. Their job is to bring order to what would otherwise become a chaotic situation.

The league office gives each official a rule book by which all decisions are to be made on the field of play. Personal opinions and preferences are subordinate to what is written in the book. Even though the officials are outnumbered by players and the crowd and may be both booed and cheered based on the call they make, they understand that they are not there for a popularity contest but to rule on the field based on their delegated authority received from the league authorities they represent.

Likewise, God has placed His agents who represent His kingdom rule from heaven in the midst of the chaos on earth. His officiating crew is called disciplespeople whose ultimate commitment is not to the competing races, classes, cultures, personalities, and political views of the culture but rather to His kingdom. These kingdom representatives have been given a book, the inerrant Word of God, by which all decisions are to be made.

The crisis we face today, however, is that many among Gods officiating crew have joined the competing teams on the field rather than being the distinctly unique kingdom representatives He has left us here to be. As a result, not only is there confusion on the field of the culture but there is also the absence of the kingdom authority that should be being exercised by His appointed representatives.

It is the goal of kingdom disciples to advance Gods kingdom agenda, which is the visible manifestation of Gods comprehensive ruleover every area of life. This agenda is carried out through His four divinely authorized spheres of the individual, family, church, and community.

The goal of Kingdom Disciples is to call believers and churches back to our primary divinely ordained responsibility to be disciples and disciplemakers. Only when we take seriously this assignment will the world see the supernatural power of heaven at work on earth and eternity operating in history. Only as Gods officiating crew stops trying to placate the competing value systems of this world and begin making decisions solely based on the book we have been given from our Kingthe Biblewill we see the authority at work we have been delegated to exercise on His behalf.

Its time now for kingdom disciples to take the field and deliver heavens answers to earth.

O ne of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century was the sinking of the Titanic in the chilly North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912. Over 1,500 people died in the frigid waters of the Atlantic during the maiden voyage of this elegant ship that was believed to be unsinkable. The cause of the catastrophe is commonly understood to be the ships hull being ripped open by a largely submerged iceberg, but the tragedy occurred primarily because of a lesser-known yet more strategic reason.

David Blair was the second in command, scheduled to make the journey from South Hampton, England, to America. However, on the day before the scheduled departure, Mr. Blair was reassigned. Mr. Blair had in his pocket the key to the crows nest locker, which contained the high-powered binoculars that were used by the crewmember who watched from the elevated crows nest for any potential dangers.

Because Mr. Blair inadvertently kept the key with him, the binoculars were unavailable at the moment they were needed most. Thus, the iceberg was not visible in the distance as it would have been had the binoculars been available. This ultimately led to the deadly crash we know today as the sinking of the