This Beautiful Mess Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God

“As I read this book, I find great hope in the presence of the kingdom of God and a deeper desire to participate in it.”
—from the foreword by Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz
 
When Jesus was on earth, He painted a radical vision for His followers of an unseen reality. He called it “the kingdom of God.” Even here, Jesus said—in the harshness and mess of earth—His kingdom is the way things really are.
 
His announcement was nothing less than revolutionary, yet His followers were not quick to pick up on it. They longed for another world—a world without injustice or oppression or poverty. But Jesus said that His kingdom was already happening all around them, through them, and in them.
 
This Beautiful Mess explores what happens when we view our lives through the lens of God’s kingdom. We see the beauty of Jesus’ reign breaking into the mess of our broken world. We see treasure hidden all around us. We begin to grasp our exciting part in bringing about personal and social transformation for His glory.
 
New for this edition: an updated preface, three bonus chapters, and a small group conversation guide.
 
Come experience a paradigm-shifting journey into the beauty of our King, and the beautiful mess that is His kingdom.

Rick McKinley is founding pastor of Imago Dei Community, an innovative, socially engaged church in the heart of Portland, Oregon. He speaks widely at conferences and also represents Advent Conspiracy, an international movement to replace consumption with compassion at Christmas. Rick was educated at Multnomah University, where he currently is on faculty, and earned his doctorate from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He is the author of Jesus in the Margins and A Kingdom Called Desire. He and his wife, Jeanne, have four children.