Steve Rodeheaver - Snapshots of the Kingdom: Glimpses of Heaven on Earth

eBook Copyright 2016
by Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City

ISBN 978-0-834-13634-2

Printed in the
United States of America

Cover Design: Kevin Williamson

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All Scripture quotations not otherwise designated are from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rodeheaver, Steve, 1961

Snapshots of the Kingdom / Steve Rodeheaver.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-8341-1706-1

1. Kingdom of God. 2. Church work with the poor. I. Title.

BT94.R54 1998

To
My wife, vonda
My children, Rebecca, Rachel, and john Mark
and my Kingdom brothers and sisters
at
San Diego, Calif.,
Southeast Church of the Nazarene

Contents

SHOULD I GET SLIDES OR PRINTS? I asked vonda, my wife, as I was about to go buy some film. She answered as if it wasnt a question, Get prints. Well look at them more, they are easier to show friends and family, and we can get an extra set free to give to relatives. We have three children, two daughters and one son, and lots of relatives who live out of state, including vondas parents, who live in Michigan. I picked up a bulk package of six rolls of print film.

On my desk I have a snapshot of my wife and me from the first time I brought her to San Diego to meet my folks. On the lampstand there are snapshots of our older daughter, Rebecca, when she was six months old and our younger daughter, Rachel, when she was nine months old. On the walls of my home office are pictures of my parents, brothers, and best friends from college days. On the refrigerator are wallet-size pictures of our friends children. Throughout the house, in just about every room, are photographs of our immediate family, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and some folks that I dont know much about except that Im related to them. We dont have enough wall space or frames to hang all the snapshots that weve collected over the years. We have drawers and photo albums full of snapshots. We like to get them out and look at them from time to time.

Why all the snapshots? Why so many photographs? Because they help us remember, especially times and places important to us. They remind us of people and relationships and priorities. They help us remember who we are. They define us.

This remembering is not as my computer remembers. It is not just a recalling of facts and data. Rather, snapshots help us to reexperience the moment captured. Feelings and emotions are re-created. The story of the picture is relived. We make contact with the past. The snapshot is more than a pose. It is a piece of the past that, when looked at and remembered, actually brings the past into the present.

Have you ever thought of the Gospels as snapshots of jesus life and ministry? Each episode, each story, is a verbal snapshot of jesus. By looking at them over the centuries, the Church has remembered who jesus is and what He is about. These snapshots have served to define not only Christ but also His followers. We encounter jesus in these memories of Him. The past becomes present, and we are challenged to follow jesus, just as those first disciples were challenged. Like snapshots of our families, they are defining moments for us.

There is something very unique about snapshots of jesus. Not only are they snapshots of the past, but also they are snapshots of the future. jesus preached that the kingdom of God was at hand. In fact, it was present in our Lord himself. Jesus teaching, preaching, and ministry were snapshots of what that Kingdom is like. But while jesus talked about the presence of the Kingdom and called men to enter into it by following Him, He also taught that the Kingdom would not come in its fullness until He himself returned. Thus, in jesus and His disciples the Kingdom was presentbut only in a snapshot sort of way. The fullness of the Kingdom was yet to come. In short, jesus came to us bringing pictures of the future. As we are encountered by these snapshots, we are called to enter into the Kingdom, to live in the future and have the future live in us. We enter the Kingdom by following jesus. We receive His Spirit as we come to Him. As we follow Him and allow Him to rule and direct our lives, we, too, become snapshots of the Kingdom.

I am convinced that one of the primary purposes of the Church, of the community of followers of jesus, is to be a snapshot of the Kingdom. When folks look at the Church, they should get a glimpse of the Kingdom. When people see you and me following jesus, they should see wallet-size pictures of the coming Kingdom. Jesus brought the future rule of God into the present. If Christ is reigning in us, then the future is present as well. We are snapshots of the coming Kingdom. By looking at and considering us, folks will be able to remember and experience the future that God is coming. They, too, will be called to enter into the Kingdom.

The chapters that follow are snapshots of the Kingdom. Most of them are taken from the church Im privileged to pastor in San Diego. God has blessed me by surrounding me with many living pictures of His saving work. While His work is not yet complete, and sometimes Im tempted to give up, I have snapshots that prove His kingdom is coming. Those snapshots keep me living toward the future. I hope they encourage you as well to keep on seeking first the Kingdom.

Just a couple of notes before getting started. In the pictures that follow, some of the names and details have been changed to protect identities. Also, this scroll of film has taken roughly three years to develop. The pictures span close to eight years of ministry. Given that life is full of changes, it goes without saying that some of the pictures are not up-to-date. They, nonetheless, serve as exposures of the Kingdom.

I T WAS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, and I was starting to get nervous. In just a few hours we would be serving our fourth annual Thanksgiving Eve dinner. The church had really pulled together in planning and preparing this dinner. Its one of our most meaningful ways of reaching out to our neighborhood and showing the love of Christ. Everyone is invited. Theres no required sermon to sit through. No ID is needed. It does not matter what your reason is for coming, you are welcome.

We serve the dinner in the sanctuary. Our sanctuary does not have pews. Instead, we have stacking chairs. This allows us to do more with our limited space. We had set up tables and chairs to seat about 100. Red-and-white-checkered tablecloths gave the church a very homey feeling. All the places were set. There were autumn centerpieces on each table. Everything looked great!