June 29, 2015. Eureka Springs, AR. In the World, But Not of It

The news has been full of disturbing reports of late and the behavior of people has come into serious question of "what was he thinking" and "where are we heading" as individuals, a country and a community of nations. As I have blogged before, I was not politically active as a student, a young adult or a maturing adult, even though the world in which I grew up was politically and socially active, and sometimes radical in its approach to the issues of the day.
Today it seems that everyone has a cause, every cause is in need of activist leadership and everyone has an agenda, a better way of doing things, and violent behavior and "packing" are as normal as breathing. Again, I am not into the issues of the day. There are too many of them and too much competition for our time, our resources and our participation. Everyone wants to protest, to seek a new law on the subject or march in a parade. Commercials want me to donate to a wide assortment of wrongs which need to be righted and I am made to feel guilty if I don't sign up. Karen and I have supported a number of organizations on a regular basis and help individuals as we feel led to do so. But we can't do it all, we can't cure every disease or right every injustice. Our prayer is always that God's will be done, we remain obedient to His call and that we do what we can as Christ-followers to advance His Kingdom today and every day.
We have no choice but to live in the world as it is, to try our best to live by the Biblical standards in which we believe, and live in such a way that those who know us or observe us will see something which may cause them to question their own lives or behavior and like what they see in ours and want a piece of it for themselves. We can voice our disapproval where appropriate, but we still need to realize that we can never debate, coerce or argue someone "into the Kingdom". It's a tough world, but then again, it's always been a tough world. Jesus told us it would be so. And so we live in the world, but look beyond to a better place, a better time and the promise of a better World. Thank You, Jesus.

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