A 'kingdom' is a group of people ruled by one person, the 'king', who makes all the laws himself without their votes or approval. The concept is anathema to contemporary democracy and its confidence in government by the people, the naive assumption that majorities will always get it right. History does not encourage optimism. There have been more bad kings than good, even in God's chosen people Israel. Behind our world's problems, which baffle our finest politicians and philosophers, lies a fundamental, racial and fatal error of having chosen the wrong king. Born into his kingdom, he has deceived us into thinking we can each of us be our own kingdom, inevitably clashing with each other, as individuals or nations. The only solution is to find the right king and become his loyal citizens. One day all other kingdoms will be shaken to pieces but this will remain, for ever. Only then will the conflict, in which every one of us is involved, be resolved.

"This collection of essays serves as a sourcebook of significant writings on the reception and use of the theology of the two kingdoms. The Lutheran teaching of the two kingdoms, in one way or another, touches on every article of faith from creation to eschatology. It is critical to vocation, as the Christian navigates life as a citizen of this world while simultaneously a citizen of the heavenly kingdom through faith in Christ Jesus. Without the distinction between the two kingdoms, faith is misplaced, and the neighbor is deprived of the love owed him or her. Pastors, church leaders, teachers, and theology students will find in these essays a respect for Luther's confession of God's two kingdoms and a desire to see it fruitfully utilized in addressing the issues we now encounter in the world"--

Hyper-spiritual approaches to finding God's will don't work. It's time to try something new: Give up. Pastor and author Kevin DeYoung counsels Christians to settle down, make choices, and do the hard work of seeing those choices through. Too often, he writes, God's people tinker around with churches, jobs, and relationships, worrying that they haven't found God's perfect will for their lives. Or-even worse-they do absolutely nothing, stuck in a frustrated state of paralyzed indecision, waiting...waiting...waiting for clear, direct, unmistakable direction. But God doesn't need to tell us what to do at each fork in the road. He's already revealed his plan for our lives: to love him with our whole hearts, to obey His Word, and after that, to do what we like. No need for hocus-pocus. No reason to be directionally challenged. Just do something.

Daily meditations taken from the works of an acclaimed novelist, essayist, and preacher who has articulated what he sees with a freshness and clarity and energy that hails our stultified imaginations.