Kings and Kingdoms

The King of Handshakes

There are lots of neat world records in the famous Guinness Book. When I was a kid I would pour through the worn out copy of my middle school’s library trying to find one I could break. Most handshakes in a single day seemed plausible to me. A New Jersey Mayor named Lazarow was in the Guinness Book of World Records for a 1977 publicity stunt where he shook more than 11,000 hands in a single day. He broke the record previously held by President Theodore Roosevelt, who in 1907 recorded 8,513 handshakes at a White House reception. I could do that, I thought. I mean, I had at least twenty friends -they would help.

The King of Toro

As a kid I never made it into the book but I know another kid who did. The accession of King Oyo to his father's throne in Uganda, East Africa marked the beginning of a new season for the people of Toro. At the age of three-and-one half years old, King Oyo of Toro earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest reigning monarch. In the fall of 1998 I had a chance to visit with the queen and the queen Mother at is Palace in Kampala. He was around 7 on the day I spent with him. His friends called him Oyo and he loved to play soccer but when business time came he dawned the royal robes, put on his crown and became King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi the 4^th.

I can’t say I envied him one bit. Yes, it’s cool to be the king when you’re grown up but not when you’re a kid -especially in East Africa. One major thing King Oyo had going for him was a mom who really had her act together. The queen mother was an extremely diplomatic and graceful lady who loved her little boy to pieces. After the regents left the room and she ordered the officials to go home, the Queen Mother asked me to pray for her little boy and it was an amazing afternoon.

Ambassadors for the King

I have learned from first hand experience that there is a certain protocol in dealing with a king. As a Christian, I am learning more and more to view my life and my relationship with the Lord through a Kingdom mentality. Jesus is the King of Kings and big part of what he preached was The Kingdom, The Kingdom, The Kingdom.

Myles Monroe points out that as Kingdom people, the Bible says we are ambassadors for Christ. In his book Kingdom Principles, he points out the qualities of an ambassador.

An Ambassador is appointed by the king, not voted into position. He is appointed to represent the state or kingdom and committed only to the state’s interests. An Ambassador embodies the kingdom that sent him and is totally covered by the state.

He is the responsibility of the state, totally protected by his government and never becomes a citizen of the state or kingdom to which he is assigned. His goal is to influence the territory for His kingdom and he never speaks his personal position on any issue, only his nation’s official position.

As Ambassadors of the Kingdom and residents of Heaven, living in Texas, we Christians should be totally committed to representing the Kings heart and agenda. Let’s do what we can while we can. Some day soon, He will call you and I home and our assignment will be over.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

2 Corinthians 5:20