KyKingdomKum

There’s a verse in Ephesians that’s often quoted, but rarely explained in a way that actually helps people live. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood…” (Ephesians 6:12) Most of us were taught to hear that verse through a religious filter. When we do, it starts to mean something only religious people understand—usually involving invisible enemies somewhere “out there.” But God so loved the world . Truth isn’t confined to church language. Years ago, I took—and later facilitated—a course called Breaking Barriers . In that course, I heard a sentence that stopped me in my tracks: “Change your thinking and you can change your life.” I didn’t know why it excited me so much at the time. Years later, I realized why—it was because Jesus said the same thing, just using different words: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repentance isn’t about shame. It’s about changing how you see . The Reality Model (without religious language) The Cognitive Reality Model starts with human n...

When I was in prison, one of the most impactful things I ever heard was simple: “If you change your thinking, you can change your life.” It didn’t sound religious. It didn’t sound spiritual. But it struck something deep in me. At the time, I didn’t have language for why it resonated so strongly. I just knew it was true. Something about that statement carried hope—not condemnation. It implied possibility. Agency. A future that wasn’t locked behind my past. Years later, I realized I had already heard that message before. Jesus said the same thing. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Growing up in church, I never heard that as good news. I heard it as a warning. Get your life together. Clean yourself up. God is angry, judgment is close, and you’re running out of time. “Repent” was framed as fear management. A threat wrapped in religious language. But that interpretation never sat right with me—especially when I looked at the life and ministry of Jesus. Because everywhere ...

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” That opening line in Genesis is familiar—almost too familiar. We read it quickly, eager to get to what comes next. But if we slow down, something important emerges almost immediately. After creation, the text tells us: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Creation had already happened. But formation had not yet been completed. What follows is not chaos or correction—it is process . God speaks. He separates. He orders. He fills. And He does so patiently, deliberately, until the work reaches its intended end: man made in the image of God . Only then does God rest. Created… then formed There has long been speculation about what may have happened between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. Some assume catastrophe. Others assume judgment. But the text itself does not require disruption to explain formlessness. It simply reveals a pattern : God creates,...