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Yancey, P. (2004) Rumours of Another World: What on Earth Are We Missing?

‘To end all wars’ Ernest Gordon

… they would endeavour to build a community of faith, beauty, and compassion, nourishing souls even in a place that destroyed bodies.

Perhaps something like this was what Jesus had in mind as he turned again and again to his favourite topic: the kingdom of God. In the soil of this violent, disordered world, an alternate community may take root. It lives in hope of a day of liberation. In the meantime, it aligns itself with another world, not just spreading rumours but planting settlements-in-advance of that coming reign.

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Taking God's assignment seriously means that I must learn to look at the world upside down, as Jesus did. Instead of seeking out people who stroke my ego, I find those whose egos need stroking; instead of important people with resources who can do me favours, I find people with few resources; instead of the strong, I look for the weak; instead of the healthy, the sick. Is not this how God reconciles the world to himself. Did Jesus not insist that he came for the sinners and not the righteous, for the sick and not the healthy?

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