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Kingdom Prayer

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

In the most basic terms, prayer is the communication link between followers of Christ and the triune God. From the instruction of Jesus in Matthew 6, we talk to our heavenly Father, and we do this through the name and authority of Jesus. The apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Rome explains that the Spirit assists with our communication effectiveness, providing clarity of meaning and earnestness of intent (Romans 8:26-27).

Returning to the words of Jesus, he says that our Father knows our needs even before we utter the words. So, if this is the case, why pray? The analogy that works for me involves the relationship I share with my wife, Susan. On Sunday May 13, 1984, I told her I loved her and made a binding covenant of marriage in front of the preacher and gathered crowd. My stated love for her and desire to share life together has not changed in 41 years, however, to express my love and to share my love means that she and I actively interact and communicate. Hearing, “I love you” daily does not get old. This is what prayer is — active participation with the God we love and rely on.

I do not know about you, but I am one who utilizes my prayer time talking to God about my biological family and their needs. I want them to be healthy and to find fulfillment in this life. And now that I have grandkids, my list of desires grows even longer. To avoid getting into a one-track mindset of seeking God as a protector and provider for the welfare of my family, I find the first three petitions of the Lord’s Prayer to bring me around to a more God-centered robust prayer life. “Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, and thy will be done.”

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It Is Not So With You

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

Matthew chapter 20 provides insight into the deep wells of the human heart.

The mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

“What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matthew 20:20–28

The first lesson is the desire of a mother for recognition and promotion of her two sons. Perhaps she was prompted by her sons to make this bold request. They had seen over and over how Jesus was receptive to women and the special relationship he shared with his own mother. Perhaps James and John thought, “How could he deny her this request?”

These ambitious brothers (the “sons of thunder,” as they were called) wanted to be the right-hand and left-hand men for Jesus, not just now, but for the eternal kingdom. It was a big ask. Jesus’ reply was rather gentle, but straight to the heart of the matter. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” He alluded to the cup of suffering and death. Maybe it’s my sports background, but the phrase, “no pain, no gain” keeps echoing in my head. These young men acknowledged that they could drink the cup.

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New Wineskins

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

The concept that Jesus introduced with new wine and new wineskins to contain the wine has captured my attention for some time. Superintendent Mike Rasmussen and his National Ministry Team took this concept from Jesus and shaped their interactive teaching and training into a wonderful conference for pastors and spouses.

It was designed as a time of engaging Jesus and his call to ministry through GCI in a fresh and new way. I was able to join as a participant, and it was inspiring to hear the stories from various pastors during breakout sessions, inclusive of victories and challenges. Mike and his team designed this to be more than a “one and done” event. They built foundational ideas out from the heart and life examples of Jesus, and the goal is to continue this journey via online cohort meetings in the months ahead.

Please read Mike’s highlights from the conference.


This spring, pastors and spouses from across GCI-USA gathered for our New Wineskins events. We envisioned it as a time of renewal, discernment, and growth. Throughout the gathering, participants reflected on the ministry of Jesus — who shifted focus from religion to relationship, from temple to table, from inward to outward.

It was a time of discovery of what it means to be Jesus’ Church, living as a sent people. We discussed what it looks like to be new wineskins ready to receive and embrace the new wine Jesus brings in his personage, gospel message, and his calling. Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 5:37-38:

And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins.

Jesus is telling his disciples that he is our new wine, and the containers of this new wine (us) must be made new and ready, because the old wineskins will not stretch sufficiently to hold what the new wine brings — without bursting. As disciples of Jesus and as the Body of Christ, we are filled by Jesus, who pours himself into us. He fills us with his love, his power, his presence, and his Great Commission. Our old ways of thinking and being cannot hold all that he has for us and all he has called us to do alongside him. We must trade our old ways of thinking and our old ways of being for his new way of thinking and being.

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The Kingdom of God is Among You

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

I am an American football fan. I played the sport, and so did my three sons. So, during the college bowl games I was watching the University of Texas play Ohio State University. The Texas quarterback was interviewed after the game. And what caught my attention was a prominent tattoo that was visible across his right forearm. It was the verse reference “Luke 17:21.”

I have a pretty good recall of many Bible verses (some of you remember when we had boxes of memory verse cards). Luke 17:21 was not one that immediately came to my mind, and when I looked it up, I got excited. These were the words of Jesus speaking to the Pharisees saying, “The kingdom of God is among you.” Wow, a young college athlete of a major university was inspired to have this verse displayed on his arm for the world to see.

I don’t know the backstory as to what the verse means to this player, but the verse is one that I have had on my list as we in GCI go forward in our 2025 theme of Kingdom Culture. How did Jesus instruct his audience about what to look for in his second coming?

First, the kingdom of God isn’t simply about external conditions and happenings (Luke 17:20). It isn’t about cobbling together bits of scriptures alongside world news leading to wild predictions. And as much we want Jesus to come back soon, it is irresponsible to set dates on a calendar. Jesus says that no man knows the date or the hour of his return, only his Father knows (Mark 13:32). The conditions that Jesus goes on to describe in Luke 17 can easily match up to various eras of human history in the past 2,000 years and certainly what we see in our society today. So, we collectively say, “Thy kingdom come” in our daily prayers.

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In the World, Not of the World

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

As followers of Christ, we are called to be in the world, but not of the world. This New Testament theme originated with Jesus sharing this clear teaching with his disciples the night of his arrest (John 15:19, 17:14-16).

Citizens of God’s kingdom are called to be present in our world and be different. But how can we be? The plainest way to say this is that believers can be active in society, but instead of being shaped by society’s values, we are being shaped by the growing relationship with Father, Son, and Spirit, reflecting God’s nature.

Jesus inaugurated and led a counter-culture movement. That always sounds appealing to the younger generation striving to find its voice and make its mark. Finding the path of following Jesus is our hope for the emerging generation.

In what ways was Jesus counter-cultural? Let us consider Jesus’ approach toward women, children, and non-Jews.

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Scripture: God’s Gift

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

I recently had a discussion on Facebook with an old high school friend who expressed that all he needed from the Bible was Christ’s sermon on the Mount. He projected doubt on Paul’s conversion and voiced an impression that the original disciples never fully accepted Paul’s apostleship.

It concerns me that we live in a reductionist environment, especially as it relates to how we view God’s written word. Obviously, we rely on the Living Word, Jesus himself, but he has blessed us with his stories of how he has been faithful to his created children and provided us with words of revelation to live by. We are blessed to have the God-breathed, inspired written word of God as we are guided through the Spirit with the abiding presence of the living Word.

During a conversation with recently retired Equipper editor, Rick Shallenberger, about this topic, he expressed a desire to write about why he believes the Bible is among God’s greatest gifts.

I’m happy to share what he wrote.


“The Chosen” is one of my favorite television shows; I love how they have created believable background stories for many of the stories we see in the Gospels. But what intrigues me in almost every show is when the disciples are talking among themselves and sharing passages of Scripture. Bibles were not available to them; scrolls were kept in the synagogues. Yet, as depicted on the show, these men were able to quote long passages of Scripture.

This was because Jewish males were encouraged to memorize the Torah, beginning at age five. Classes were held in the synagogue. Many went past the Torah to also study the writings and the prophets. As a result, some had much of the Old Testament memorized. They valued and loved the written word. This love for Scripture inspired many to write; we have several examples in the New Testament.

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Already Not Yet

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

In Luke’s Gospel, we read:

Once Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, “Look, here it is!” or “There it is!” For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.’ Luke 17:20-21 NRSVA

The Pharisees asked a question that has been on the minds of people from all ages. Jesus provides a mysterious, spiritual answer. The kingdom is among you or within you. They, and probably us as well, were looking for tangible markers. What events and conditions would take place for Father to signal to the Son it is time to return?

Rather than starting with describing the deterioration of humanity, like the time of Noah, Jesus challenges their thinking. Which is more important, that we are in the kingdom or that the kingdom is in us?

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Diversity in Unity

Dear GCI Family and Friends,

In March, the six GCI Superintendents gathered in Charlotte for our bi-annual retreat planning meeting. (Sadly, Daphne Sidney from the Australasia region was unable to attend in person due to a cyclone in Queensland.) I asked Dan Zachariah to write this letter to highlight the special gifting GCI has as a global body of believers. The gathering of the superintendents is a microcosm of our global family, and it greatly encouraged me to meet with these fine men and women to discuss and pray about the direction of our church around the world.


We understand a denomination to be a group of congregations spread over a wide geographical area. It customarily holds to a specific theological focus and subscribes to a common governance structure. It tends to remain united through a common set of beliefs and practices. By this definition, GCI is a denomination — a global denomination with 550 congregations serving 30,000 members in about 68 countries spread across six regions of the world. As a denomination we subscribe to core Christian orthodoxy. Our focus is Incarnational and Trinitarian theology as revealed in the Bible, which we hold to be inspired and infallible in all matters of faith and salvation.

Denominationalism might sometimes give a negative picture of Christianity, but there are strengths in being an international, global denomination. An important one is that it helps disciples of Christ recognize the wide diversity that exists in God’s creation and his purpose for humanity. It fosters an acceptance of diversity of humans and encourages participation to bring unity in that diversity. This is also how the Bible would describe the dynamic of the kingdom of God.

From that momentous calling of Abraham, God continues to reveal that “all families of the earth will be blessed” through him. By choosing to work with one nation (ancient Israel), God clearly intended to bless peoples beyond them, never allowing inclusion into his grand purpose for humanity to be limited — not by nationality, ethnicity, social status, or gender (Galatians 3:28). This biblical reality helps us to understand that distinctions were meant to be recognized, preserved, celebrated, and to provide a platform for communal wholeness and belonging. This synergetic reality of our Lord’s kingdom reveals the important fact that we can thrive in our distinctives and are only complete together.

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