what is the Kingdom of god?

VOL078

A Worship hAndbook

deeperWhAt is the kingdom of god?hAnds onthis is your kingdom come noWfor Worship LeAders onLyWhy shouLd A Worship LeAder prActice?

2 A hunger for the Kingdom of God has been growing in my heart and spirit over the last few years. God has been re-awakening me to His presence in new ways, and soft-ening my heart again (here I say, “Thank You, Lord, for Your great love and mercy”).

As John Wimber, leader of the Vineyard movement, has said, “Faith is spelled R-I-S-K.” I have felt newly challenged to step out to take risks of faith again, to see God’s Kingdom advanced on the earth through my life. Naturally, this desire has started to bleed out through my songwriting.

The Vineyard is a “Kingdom” movement, in that we are looking for God to come and transform this broken world, moving us toward the new creation. We are looking for God to bring the Kingdom “…on earth as it is in heaven.” As I have been looking over the family of songs pulled together for the This Is Your King-dom Come Now recording project (highlighted in the Resources section), there is a strong theme emerging of the Kingdom of God breaking into our lives and bringing healing, rescue, mercy, and salvation.

In short, it’s about God coming to make things right. This is what we all long for. Specifically, the song Heaven Come Down (This is Your Kingdom Come Now) speaks directly to this heart cry. Here’s a short excerpt from the song:

For every wounded and broken soulWe cry Heaven come down, Heaven come downFor those abandoned with nowhere to goWe cry Heaven come down, Heaven come downFor those enslaved by the wickedness of menWe cry Heaven come down, Heaven come downFor the heavy-laden weighed down by sinWe cry Heaven come down, Let Your Kingdom come now

While this whole song is probably the wordiest I’ve ever written, it drives the point home. I long to see the Kingdom of God advanced on the earth in every arena of life – the poor being fed, the oppressed being set free, and the power of God being manifest in our midst in healing and deliverance.

Let it come, God. This is your Kingdom come, now.

Much love, Casey

Let Your Kingdom Come

c A s e y c o r u m

Chief Creative officer

Vineyard music Usa

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33 the Kingdom of god?

However, this often means that there is confu-sion in the minds of many people when the expression is used. They have never read Ladd, and most likely not Wright either, but they know that the concept is important. But what does it mean? We know about the United King-dom and other remaining kingdoms in this world, but what does it mean to say that God

has a kingdom? And what does that mean for followers of Jesus of Nazareth? If that is the question you, the reader, wish answered in a short précis rather than a book-length treatise, then read on.

The Kingdom of god: god’s Rule on eaRThThe expression “kingdom of God” refers to God’s rule on earth, usually his rule ex-pressed through an agent, his regent or king. In the Christian metanarrative, it refers to God’s rule as announced, demonstrated, and exercised by his regent, Jesus of Nazareth, who is presently the resurrected sovereign ruler of the world and who will eventually openly rule on this earth, completing God’s creational purpose.

p e t e r h . d A v i d s , p h . d .

In the late 1960’s this writer first came upon George Eldon Ladd’s work and his development of the Kingdom of God as an important theological concept. In fact, it started a small revolu-tion in this scholar’s thought about the New Testament. Ladd’s thought, while known in New Testament circles, became much more popularly known in the 1980’s through John Wimber’s conferences and teaching and the Vineyard movement flowing from them. Yet scholarship continued to move on, and Ladd’s expression of the idea has since been modified by the work of many scholars, including that of N. T. Wright.

what is

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5The Christian metanarrative continues and completes the narrative of Israel. In the He-brew Scriptures God’s kingship is referred to repeatedly, especially in the Psalms (Ps 10:6; 24:8,10; 29:10; 44:4; 47:2, 6, 7,8; 68:24; 74:12; 84:3; 93:1; 95:3; 96:10; 97:1; 98:6; 99:1; 145:1). We see three aspects of God’s rule: 1. God rules over creation, for he is the creator

and the sustainer; 2. God rules over the nations, and he will/

does bring them to judgment: and 3. God rules over Israel, usually through the

person of his king.

So in the grand narrative of the Hebrew Scriptures God is a king, and he exercises his rule through a regent, that is, the Davidic ruler of Israel. Israel, then, is in the Hebrew Scriptures God’s special kingdom, a kingdom with physical boundaries. This sets the stage for a shift in the narrative as found in the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.

The Kingdom of god: god’s PoliTical RuleFirst, when Jesus uses the term “kingdom of God,” he combines the second and third aspects of God’s rule in the light of God’s rule over all of creation. As a result, George Eldon Ladd was correct that the kingdom is not political in the sense that it does not have physical boundaries. God is not ultimately interested (other than in the sense of a his-torical interest) in a postage-stamp-sized ter-ritory in the Middle East.

Jesus may have initially announced the rule of God to Israel and fulfilled the roles of

the expected Anointed One, but he makes it clear in his teaching (e.g. Matt 5:5) that it is the whole earth that God is concerned about and all peoples who will come under his rule (e.g. Matt 28:19-20). Yet Ladd was not correct to the extent that the term “po-litical” does not refer to territory, a particular piece of the earth over which a government exercises sovereignty. That is because, as noted previously, for Jesus God’s rule ex-tends to the whole world, which means that God claims universal dominion. But “Caesar” also claimed and claims dominion over the known civilized world. Therefore it was and continues to be inevitable that there would be and is a clash, since both God and “Cae-sar” claim sovereignty over the same people.

The Kingdom of god: god’s Rule ThRough JesusSecond, when Jesus uses the term kingdom of God, he does not indicate who God’s re-gent is – in fact, he does not refer to such a regent, certainly not in the way that John the Baptist did. However, Jesus acts with sover-eign authority, and, as the gospel narrative continues, we discover that Jesus is indeed that regent (e.g. Mark 8:29, 14:61-62). He is, according to the gospels, David’s son, who is God’s son. So we have in Jesus both God’s rule, and the person through whom he exer-cises his rule.

For the early members of the Jesus movement (i.e. the early church), Jesus’s resurrection and ascension established him as God’s ex-alted ruler. He already rules over those people who have submitted to his rule, and he will

“It is a callto a change of allegiance”

6eventually impose his rule on everyone in the world. Thus we have a tension between the already and the not yet. The good news is the call to all people to turn from all previous al-legiances and to submit to God’s rule in Jesus.

It is a call to a change of allegiance, whether political, religious, spiritual, social or ma-terial; it is a call to obedience. It contains the promise that through the Holy Spirit God will empower those who give their al-legiance to Jesus for this obedience and that due to his gracious favor he will forgive their past failure to submit to his rule.

The Kingdom of god: god’s one PeoPleThis calling of all people into a commu-nity under the sovereignty of God exercised through Jesus is not done as a contrast to the people of God in the Hebrew Scriptures, a negating of their narrative, nor as a parallel to their narrative, but as a fulfillment of that narrative and that people.

That is, there is one people of God, and those ethnic Jews not submitting to God’s rule in Jesus are “cut off” from that people (to use Paul’s metaphor in Rom 11), while all who do submit to God’s rule in Jesus, from whatever national or racial background are “reborn” into God’s people, inheriting the promises of Exod 19:6, becoming both stones of and priests in the rebuilt Temple (which is a com-munity, not a building), and therefore also becoming immigrants in the lands or peoples of their natural birth (clearly expressed in 1 Pet 1:1 – 2:10).

The Kingdom of god: god’s demonsTRaTion ThRough JesusJesus demonstrated God’s rule through his healing the sick, driving out demons, and re-ceiving and caring for outcasts and the poor (as seen in the four canonical gospels and referred to in Acts).

He fulfilled the function of a true king of Israel in that he delivered the oppressed, whether the oppressed be oppressed by oth-er persons, poverty, disease, or the demonic (Luke 4:18-21, referring to Isa 61:1-2). Natu-rally, the ultimate oppressor is death and the fear of death (e.g. Heb 2:14-15). And the New Testament teaches that behind all oppres-sion is the devil.

Jesus also taught God’s rule, explaining what the new community should look like; that is, how his followers were to live in the present in anticipation of the new world order. Jesus lived this new world order, including dying to destroy the power of evil rather than try-ing to do this by force.

The Kingdom of god: god’s demonsTRaTion ThRough usJesus’s followers are called to do the same things that Jesus did. They are called to live the values of the new community, which includes delivering the oppressed, whatever the cause of the oppression.

Like Jesus, their weapons are the proclama-tion of the good news, the explanation of what the rule of God is like, the power of the Holy Spirit (including that experienced through

“Jesus is indeed the regent”

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Peter H. DaViDs is one of the Vineyard’s most trea-sured academic voices. his influence, writings, and incisive handling of the scriptures have been an inspi-ration to Christian leaders around the world. Peter has taught in a wide variety of universities and seminaries, is an ordained and active anglican priest, and writes commentaries and other significant publications. he lives in houston, texas with his wife Judy and teaches at houston Baptist University.

prayer and meditation), and sacrificial love. Like Jesus they are also prepared to die in the struggle with evil, knowing not only that this will break the power of evil, but also that in dying they are following their Lord and that they will also follow him in resurrection. This demonstrates that the fear of death no longer has power over them, because they know that death no longer has ultimate power.

The Kingdom of god: living in lighT of The age To comeThe kingdom community does not expect success in the terms of this age. They have rejected this age, including the sovereignty of “Caesar,” including the ultimate value of money, and they are living for a new age, which is already here in part (as they expe-rience both personally and in their calling upon God’s sovereign power in Jesus to act in the world) and yet not yet here in its full-ness. Thus they “wear eschatological glass-es.” That is, they see everything in terms of the coming age, when God will rule openly through his king Jesus.

They therefore refer to Jesus as “Lord,” the term that the world uses for “Caesar,” or as the Anointed One, the translation of “Christ,” the term that Israel used for God’s chosen king. But naturally the real issue is not what term they use for Jesus but whether they are actually submitted to his sovereignty.

And that means living all of life in terms of what this submission means in the light of the coming manifest sovereignty that will be revealed on this earth.

this is yoUr Kingdom Comean interView witH Casey COrumnow

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99I was ready – I didn’t have the songs, and it just didn’t seem like the right timing. I didn’t want to force it. I went through a pretty significant dry spell where I wasn’t writing much in the way of complete songs. I was very creatively engaged on many other lev-els, but I just wasn’t really writing much. It was a tough season for me. Fortunately, the season came to end and the river started to flow again. This project seems well timed – at least in my life it does.

3. Tell us about your family, and how they’ve helped shape you and this recording.I grew up in a very musical home. Both of my parents are  accomplished  musicians and  consummate  music lovers. One of the main influences during my upbringing was 70s and 80s Soul/R&B/Funk – artists such as Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind And Fire, Parlia-ment/Funkadelic, and the like. I also have had a long time love of Gospel music. These influences make their way into my writing more often than not. This is the seed-bed of my musical journey, from even before I came to faith in Christ.

I also have four teenage daughters who, along with my wife, Angie, were all involved in the recording in some fashion (mostly as choir vocalists). They keep me grounded in so many ways. Now that my daughters are growing up, I see the DNA of Vineyard Wor-ship alive and well in them. This is a power-ful thing for me, as I really came to faith by experiencing the presence of God in worship in a Vineyard church while I was in high school in Southern California.

this is yoUr Kingdom ComeWith the release of the new worship project This is Your King-dom come now from vineyard Worship, casey sat down with inside Worship to talk about the stories behind the recording, and the experience of bringing it to the body of christ.

1. What makes this record uniquely your con-tribution, casey? What mark does it aim to hit?I think as I’ve developed as a worship leader and songwriter, I’ve become more comfort-able with who God has made me to be. This project is the next step in my creative, wor-ship life, and I would say it is the most au-thentically “me” of anything I’ve done to date.

I love the fact that we tracked it live at my home church, the Sugar Land Vineyard. As we would hope for any locally rooted wor-ship project, these songs reflect not only my journey with the Lord – but also that of our congregation.

From a more spiritual angle, I’ve been go-ing through a pretty significant season of personal renewal in my life. I long for our worship to be newly saturated with the pres-ence of the Holy Spirit, to draw us deeper into His heart and will. The live recording event was so rich with a sense of the Lord’s presence. This project has been perhaps the most grace-filled recording of which I’ve ever been a part. 

2. With many years producing so many other voices in the vineyard community, why now for this recording?Actually this project has been on the books for a number of years. I just didn’t feel like

10The fact that they got to participate in this project makes it all the more special to me. In fact, my second daughter, Abigail, helped me co-write the title track. My wife Angie has been my strength through our 21 years of marriage. She has carried me so many times when I didn’t think I could make it. This proj-ect is also the fruit of her co-labor with me. 

4. Tell us about the players, and the unique contribution they brought.Drums: Jimmy CookeJimmy came over from the UK in early Sep-tember 2011 to spend 5-6 months with me working at Vineyard Worship. Jimmy is a world-class drummer and seasoned produc-er, as well as being a long time Vineyard-ite. Jimmy has played on a number of Vineyard UK projects including Holy and Beautiful. Jimmy is now the general manager of Vine-yard Records UK. We still miss him.

Bass: Bobby McDonaldBobby and I go back many years. Bobby cur-rently serves as the worship pastor of the Conroe Vineyard on the North side of Hous-ton. Bobby has been a session bass player, and spent many years alongside his brother “Sleepy” Ray McDonald (now senior pastor of the Conroe Vineyard). On top of all of this, Bobby is a true worshipper. I was so glad to have him on board.

Electric Guitar: Bobby HartryBobby Hartry is an Emmy-nominated song-writer (or Nommy-eminated as he’s been known to say) and award-winning producer. He is also a dear friend and amazing guitar-

ist. Bobby and I have worked on countless projects over the past 15 years but have never worked on any of my own worship projects. He simply had to be involved this time.

Electric Guitar: Wade DuPreeWade is my regular guitar player at the Sugar Land Vineyard. He is a tone fiend, and collec-tor of many fine electric guitars. Wade also has the distinction of being the uncle/dad of the band Eisley (check ‘em out; you’ll be glad you did). Wade is an all-around great guy and monster player in his own right. Hey, shouldn’t every live worship project have three electric players?

Keys/Lead And Backing Vocals: Crispin SchroederCrispin is one of my favorite worship lead-ers on the planet. His voice is filled with the passion and soul that finds its home in New Orleans, Louisiana. A few years back while I was tracking vocals with Crispin for another project, he was taking shots of Louisiana hot sauce in between takes for extra “soul” (not a joke – so good). Currently Crispin is the se-nior pastor of the Covington Vineyard in the New Orleans area.

Lead And Backing Vocals/Vocal Arrange-ments: Torri BakerTorri is a member of the worship community at the Vineyard Church in Columbus, Ohio. She has built an amazing team of vocalists there, and is an incredible vocalist and wor-ship leader in her own right. I have been incredibly blessed and humbled by Torri’s involvement on this project. She is a true gift to the body of Christ. You’ll see.

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11The Choir(s):We had 17 people in the choir for the live event and then a number of others included in the studio choir after the fact in both Texas and Ohio. Three of my daughters and my wife were involved in the choir – that was an amazing blessing.

5. how do you want someone to experience these songs? What do you want them to take away?My hope is that the listener would leave the listening / worshipping experience having met with God and experienced His Kingdom come now. When it comes right down to it, I think that’s what we’re looking for in our worship times both personal and corporate – a sense of having tasted the Kingdom of God and walking away different.

Don’t get me wrong, worship is for God and not what we get out it, but being in God’s presence transforms, heals, and saves – it is the very definition of life. How could we not want more of that? 

6. how has this contributed, in your mind, to the body of worship work in the church? What is its place?This project is unique; I will say that. One of the issues I see the church-at-large wrestling with when it comes to worship is the issue of multi-ethnicity. I think this record could be a good bridge between modern rock worship world and the world of gospel.

Again, I think it does this “bridge” work, while maintaining the expectation of the

movement of the Holy Spirit. It’s not a re-cording that is only full of theology and ideas about God. There is an active hope in these songs that God would come – actually come – and visit us. Otherwise I’d ask, what are we really doing?

You can find Vineyard Worship's new re-lease, This Is Your Kingdom Come Now, in the resources section of this issue.

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Vineyard resoUrCesnew resoUrCes from

JOHn wimber: LiVe at tHe anaHeim VineyarD (1997) DVD set

New to us, the John Wimber Live “1997 Se-ries” comes straight from the Anaheim Vine-yard’s video archives. Take a fresh glance at John’s classic teaching style. Five messages from John’s last year at Anaheim cover five relevant topics. As always, John presents deep spiritual truths with wit, wisdom – and a simplicity we can all understand.

Sessions:1. God’s Healing Power (1:11)2. Kingdom Warfare (1:00) 3. Church Growth (1:06)4. Life in the Spirit: Spiritual Gifts (0:51) 5. God’s Wisdom Revealed (0:54)

tHis is yOur KingDOm COme nOw – new reLease

Recorded live at the Sugar Land Vineyard Church outside of Houston, TX, This Is Your Kingdom Come Now is a bumper crop of new and powerful congregational songs born from within the Vineyard movement.

This dynamic album of new Vineyard songs features veteran worship leader and song-writer, Casey Corum. Before a full house of worshippers and among a cast of friends, these new songs were recorded live over two nights at Corum’s home church, the Sugar Land Vineyard.

Listeners will be introduced to the power-ful voices of Torri Baker (Vineyard Church, Columbus, Ohio), Crispin Schroeder (North-shore Vineyard, Covington, Louisiana), and a 17-voice gospel choir. This album, an impact-ing mix of Casey’s original songs and other Vineyard tunes, weaves together R&B, gospel, and modern rock to create a fresh sound – while all the while maintaining the hallmark Vineyard worship value of intimacy with God.

CHeCK it aLL Out at ↗VineyarDresOurCes.COm

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Vineyard resoUrCes

tHirst (bOOK)

When your soul cries out for more of who God is, take a look at King David’s story in this excellently created 6 week study by Vineyard Pastor Janice Wood.

Covering topics such as victory, relief, wor-ship, mercy, restoration, and legacy, Thirst isn’t just another study on the life and times of David. Rather, through David’s life, Thirst is a vehicle to examine the passion-ate desires of our hearts God wants to fulfill. Through David’s life and writing, we can learn what it means to develop a thirst for the things of God.

Book includes 6 weeks of small group cur-riculum (or personal devotionals), with 3 days of devotions per week.

ignite: LigHting tHe Fires OF tHe next generatiOn DVD set

What if Vineyard churches committed the next ten years to making kids and youth a priority with our time energy and money? Could we change a generation? Let’s find out as we step into what the Father is doing in this generation. It will take an “intergen-erational” effort where we, as an integrated Vineyard family, rise up to the challenge God has presented to us. We can be God’s Torch Bearers as we light the fires of this genera-tion to change the world!

Rick and Becky Olmstead, Children’s Task Force Leaders and pastors at the Vineyard Church Of The Rockies lead us in this new DVD Set.Part 1: For Such A Time As This Part 2: Rescue a Generation at Risk Part 3: Reach: Understanding God’s Heart for Kids Part 4: Root: Not Losing Even One Part 5: Release: Empowering a Generation Part 6: Raising Uncommon Kids

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J A m e s m o s c A r d i n i

Why Should A Worship Leader Practice?

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15WhY should You PRacTice?I can’t stress how important it is to practice, and to have a time where you go over your weekend set and grow as a musician. Sure, most of us are competent enough to just wing it, and play and do a good job every week-end, but is that all you have to offer?

If you don’t grow, then your playing is going to get stale – and you won’t like doing it any-more. It will become menial and stagnant. Are you bringing your best before the Lord in worship? Or are you just giving what you can get by on?

hoW do You PRacTice?I encourage you to have a plan, write it out, and make sure you have your priorities right. For me, I always practice the weekend set first. If I have a crazy week, I still always make sure I get through my weekend set (on whatever instrument I’m supposed to be playing). It only takes 20-25 minutes to do this.

If I don’t have enough time to play through complete songs (yep, those weeks happen), then I make sure I get familiar with all the in-tros, outros, song transitions and tricky spots in songs. This can take 10 minutes a day and it helps so much. Just get to those areas, and all those little doubts inside can be gotten rid of so you can focus on leading/playing.

Stretch yourself when you practice; try some-thing new that you can’t do and master it. Even if it takes months, you will become bet-

For Worship Leaders Only:

ter because of that effort. Maybe you need to work on your phrasing, or your vocal chops. Maybe you need to work on your breath con-trol or your scales. Maybe you need to play to a click track. Whatever that thing is you need to work on, you should know what you can improve on, and take it down with a good practice schedule.

find Time To PRacTice Find a time and a place – and do it. Even if it’s just for 20 minutes, even if it’s just for 10 minutes, or even if it’s just enough to go through your set for the weekend, it’s worth it. It will make a real difference in how com-petently you can lead, because not only will you sound better (which is nice for every-one), but you’ll be able to focus less on what you’re playing and more on actually leading worship.

James mOsCarDini is an executive Pastoral assistant at the Vineyard Church of north Phoenix, where he also regularly leads worship and leads a young adult small group. originally hailing from england, he now spends his time enjoying the sun and eating as much mexican food as possible.

Do you practice? Well, do you? Do you practice your weekend set before and after rehearsal? Do you ever sit down with your instrument and – you know – practice?

Why Should A Worship Leader Practice?

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PublisherVineyard Resources USA

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Images by:fortissimo, Matt Frise Photography, Authors

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