Welcome to another Thursday UNFILTERED blog post, the only blog that hopes your praises today will be holier than the worship leader’s jeans.
When I released my landmark book, Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, terrorism was at its height. It was constantly in the news. Therefore, readers could easily grasp the parallels I made between the commitment and devotion that terrorists have to their evil cause and the commitment and devotion that the first-century Christians had to Jesus Christ and His body.
In both cases, people were radicalized.
Today, it’s rare to find a Christian who has been radicalized to Jesus Christ and His kingdom, which—as I argue in the book—is the true radicalization.
Shortly after the book released, ISIS was mostly wiped out and we seldom heard about Americans being recruited into terrorist organizations. The news grew silent where terrorism was concerned. Consequently, there was distance between the analogies I made in the book with what most younger readers were familiar with.
This has suddenly changed. Terrorism fills the news feeds now, and we continue to hear about American citizens who’ve been recruited into terrorist organizations. Even professing “Christians.”
We’re also hearing about “sleeper cells” which I used as a metaphor for “kingdom cells.”
If you’ve not yet read Insurgence, I strongly encourage you to do so. Out of all my work, it’s radically transformed the lives of countless Christians. Praise God!
If you dare read it, keep two things in mind:
* The book is carved into six parts. Each one does its own thing, but they’re all pulling in the same direction. If one part isn’t clicking for you, skip it. Move on. Circle back later. No hand-holding required.
* The chapters are short. Deliberately, unapologetically short. Because long chapters are a form of torture I refuse to inflict on anyone (when I’m able). Every idea in the book is meant to be digested, sat with, and actually thought about, not bulldozed through in a marathon reading session.
The book was written for all Christians, from high schoolers to adults who’ve forgotten what it felt like to be one. If you love Jesus and you are capable of thinking, the book is for you.
Insurgence was written to restore the lost but explosive gospel of the kingdom, which is the most powerful message in the New Testament.
We are living in difficult times, and none of us knows what the future holds. But the most important thing is where you stand with the gospel of the kingdom and its King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
However, in order to answer that question, you’ve got to understand what the gospel of the kingdom actually is. And most teaching today that uses the phrase is quite different from what the New Testament envisions. (The book makes that point plain.)
Because the message is so important, I created The Insurgence Podcast six months after the book dropped. To date, my conversation partners and I are still discussing every reference to the kingdom of God in the New Testament, chronologically—a task that’s never been undertaken before. If you’re not subscribed, I encourage you to do so and start binging on the episodes.
The kingdom message is so vital that it’s the reason why it runs throughout my newest book, The Untold Story of the New Testament Church: Revised and Expanded (2025). The kingdom narrative moves like a golden thread from eternity to eternity—from the Gospels, through Pentecost, to the close of the New Testament canon with John at Patmos.
This brings up the question: What are you really living for?
The real answer to that question isn’t what you say in response.
It’s answered by your wallet and your calendar.
How you spend your time and your money reveals what you’re truly living for.
Many Christians today live for money, possessions, pleasure, their children (or grandchildren), and/or the opinions of others—including the opinions of strangers on social media. (See The Noise of Strangers.)
If you live for any of these, it will cost you.
Here’s a practical exercise in closing:
*Consider how you spend most of your money (beyond basic needs) and most of your time.
*Choose an area of your life where you’ve been living for other mortals. (It could be the photos you take for your social media accounts or the views you hold back out of fear or the clothes you purchase and sport to impress others.)
The Insurgence has begun … and it’s growing. I hope you don’t miss it.
Until next time,
Your brother in the Insurgence,
fv
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