For Christ and His Kingdom

On the 150th anniversary of Wheaton College, John Ortberg gave a commencement address that was nothing less than what we would expect from this master orator/preacher. His title was fittingly, "For Christ and His Kingdom." - Wheaton College's mission statement.

Some of the points of this talk:
1. FOR Christ - the opening word is hugely important because it reminds us that we are FOR Christ. Too often, Evangelicals are known for what they are against, not what they are for.
2. For CHRIST - we believe that Jesus is the hope of the world, so we study in order to know Him better, and to intelligently converse with a skeptical world in the various disciplines.
3. and HIS KINGDOM - in a time where everything is down: economy, jobs, morale - we are to declared that Joy is up, hope is up, the kingdom is still moving forward, and Jesus is still reigning. We are to find contentment in the kingdom and its cause, and we are to passionately jump in on the kingdom movement.

As per his usual style, there a lot of great one-liners, and comedic moments. I wish I could remember more of them, but sitting on the bleachers for an hour and a half makes not for good memory!

One thing that he said,

"Who is more content the man with 12 million dollars or twelve children? Obviously the man with 12 children because he does not want any more."

Thanks John, for causing this journey to come full circle for me. It was largely your preaching on Revelation that caused me to recognize that I needed to know the Scriptures deeper and sent me on this pursuit to inquire deeply. Fitting that you spoke at the ceremony of my last degree!