True joy comes from more than food, drink, entertainment, and self-medication. Life is more than food and the body more than clothes. (Matthew 6:25) Christians are supposed to break the human cycle of looking at and depending on the things that are seen. Instead, we are called to look at and rely on the things that are unseen. (2 Corinthians 4:18) Worry is worthless. Jesus wants us to cast it aside and depend on Him throughout each day. (Matthew 6:31-34)
Let King Jesus wipeout your worry! Continually surrender your life and your will to the moment-by-moment inner government of Christ and His Kingdom. (Colossians 1:27) Train yourself to deny yourself (Luke 9:23) and to always be led by God the Holy Spirit. (Romans 814) Build your life on the everlasting Rock of King Jesus, not on the temporary shifting sand of human kingdoms, governments, or nations. (Matthew 7:24)
Let Jesus touch your heart every day. Stay consciously connected to His presence. Let Jesus be your interior decorator. Be still and get to know the wonderful presence of God the Son living and working within you. (Psalm 35:10 and Colossians 1:27)
Walk about step by step with Jesus as you live your daily life. It’s not enough just to hear a talk about Jesus once a week. Don’t neglect to frequently meet with and open your heart to the gathered body of Christ. (Hebrews 10:25 and 1 Corinthians 14:26)
Jesus Christ! His name remains in Christmas and Christianity, but He is mostly ignored. Too bad . . . Jesus is alive, present, amazing, and available to live in you and lead you to great joy! To experience that joy open your heart more and more to Jesus and to the gathered body of Christ. Google: The Joy of Early Christianity.
Dominating, controlling, and monopolizing leadership has tended to bore Christians with lazy lectures. (Church leaders even joke about people sleeping in church.) Pastors far too often turn church members into a passive audience and refuse to actively train, empower, and release them in hands-on discipleship and in hearing and obeying God the Holy Spirit throughout each day. (Ephesians 4:11-13) Too many pastors have turned churches into “a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” Paul says, “from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:5) Paul says that when Christians come together, they all should be free to speak up in the meeting. (1 Corinthians 14:26) Let’s get back to what the Bible says.
When churches are in such a sad state of condition that they trust the state and its politics to make the culture Christian that is a bad state of affairs. There’s no such thing as cruel Christianity. When religion becomes cruel, it’s no longer Christianity.
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Fill Your Mind and Your Heart With Hope 