Pondering the Kingdom of God This 4th of July Weekend

This week I read the on-line translation of Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God Is Within You. Tolstoy seeks to prove in his 1894 work that it is inconsistent with the character and teachings of Christ for any Christian to resist evil with violence. Tolstoy (1828-1910) is considered by many as the greatest novelist of all time, and his writings had tremendous influence on Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. I had not known until this week who influenced Tolstoy in his own thinking on this subject.  In chapter one,  entitled The Doctrine of Non-Resistance to Evil Has Been Professed by a Minority of Men from the Very Foundation of Christianity, Tolstoy credits American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) with writing a declaration that cemented in Tolstoy the belief that Jesus was teaching in Matthew 5:39 "that the establishment of universal peace can only be founded on the open profession of the doctrine of non-resistance to evil by violence."

Tolstoy printed Garrison's entire 1838 declaration in chapter one of The Kingdom of God Is Within You. Paragraph two of Garrison's declaration affirms the following:

"We do not acknowledge allegiance to any human government. We recognize but one King and Lawgiver, one Judge and Ruler of mankind. Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands. The interests and rights of American citizens are not dearer to us than those of the whole human race. Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism to revenge any national insult or injury..."

Regardless of one's agreement with Tolstoy or Garrison regarding non-resistance, Christians in America would do well to pause prior to this 4th of July--before any musical celebration in church or patriotic message from the pulpit--and ponder whether we are making it clear to our fellow Christians that "the kingdom to which we belong is not of this world."

On Vacation in Alabama after Our Daughter's Wedding

Rachelle and I are in Alabama with our son Logan after the Convention in New Orleans and a wedding last weekend in Destin, Florida. We were scheduled to hold the ceremony on the beach, but Tropical Storm Debby had other plans for us and we moved the ceremony indoors. Rachelle and I have four children, a daughter and three sons. Charis, our daughter, was married to Travis Downey this past Sunday and mom and dad are absolutely thrilled! Not only was the ceremony fun and celebratory, more importantly, the young man that has joined our family is a wonderful sports writer in Jackson, Mississippi, a man of faith, and a very gentle soul. It's been a hectic few days for us all, so our youngest son, Logan, and our oldest son Kade and his wife Anne, will be joining us in Alabama for a few days of vacation. Charis and Travis are on their honeymoon and our only regret is that our middle son Boe is unable to join us due to his work back in Enid. We are very appreciative of all those who traveled long distances for the wedding, and especially those who came to Destin from Enid. It was a wonderful weekend! I will be taking a few days off from blogging and will post upon my return to Enid next week! I hope all my faithful readers enjoyed the video reports from the Convention in New Orleans. Below is the bridal portrait of our daughter Charis. Thanks for all your well-wishes and support!