thoughts on God's kingdom, based on the gospel of matthew

The kingdom of heaven is not a place.

The kingdom of heaven is the rulership of God.

Entering the kingdom of God, being a citizen of God's kingdom, means giving God control and rulership over your life. This manifests itself primarily in your relationships, which should be characterized by:

love
mercy
compassion.

This is why being a citizen of the kingdom is the only citizenship that matters.

Being a citizen of the kingdom means having a loving, merciful, compassionate attitude (behavior, speech, thinking) toward others. It means treating others the way God treats them:

with mercy, love, and compassion;
not "playing favorites" between the "good" and the "evil";
forgiving;
sacrificing self for their needs;
and being radical about it.

The church is not the kingdom.

The kingdom is bigger than the church.

The church is the people who have chosen to live in God's rulership.