I get the local newspaper in an email from my inbox every morning. Not because I necessarily like reading the news, but my Mother still gets the paper delivered to her residence and I get the online version as a benefit. Many years ago I stopped reading the paper regularly due to the bias evident in almost every so-called news story – depending on the author or the delivery method. If I want news I’ll usually look at my BBC app or phone a friend.
It must have been a slow news day on this Sunday when the front page was graced with a story about a local couple running for the school board and a position as an elections judge, stating they were peddling false claims about all sorts of things that I’m not interested in getting into here. When reading further into it you could see it was designed as a hit piece. Pure and simple. Another biased story masquerading as news. Let’s be honest, the writer could easily have found a story presenting a totally opposite perspective, but NO, it didn’t fit their narrative. I’ve seen it go the other way too. This is not meant to be a political point.
I felt my blood pressure rise, in part because I believed the piece to only tell one side of the story, but more due to its contribution to the division that exists in this country today. For anyone not completely tuned out for the last year, you can see what’s happening to us. Pitting one person against the other with no real context. After all, the so-called media won’t deem something a story unless it’s bad or controversial news.
Ok, what’s my point?
I just want some ease comfort and pleasure. I just want this all to stop and go back to civil discourse in our society. I want the isolation to stop. I want to have a relationship with someone that doesn’t have to bring up politics or theories about just what a bad person I am. I already know that. I inherited sin from my forefathers.
HGTV showed a video clip about their Smart Home 2021 Sweepstakes. The description online read, A blend of sophisticated and timeless design in HGTV® Smart Home 2021 combines coastal, comfortable styling to celebrate Naples, Florida.
It looks awesome. I said to Colleen, “would you quit your job and move to Florida if we won?” I won’t tell you what she said in case her boss is reading this.
I’m ready to live on the water and think about none of this.
But here’s the problem. We don’t get to choose these outcomes. It’s part of God’s plan. He has allowed all of it and I need to be OK with that. I need to recognize that ease, comfort, and pleasure are not Biblical constructs and it’s not what God ever promised in His Word. In fact, he promised the opposite for those that love Him, follow Him, and are called according to His purpose.
I recently did a Podcast and Blog about Progressive Christianity and the dangerous doctrines being perpetrated on our youngsters, and anyone willing to listen quite frankly. The enemy knows exactly how to get our attention. With fine, shiny objects that lure us away from Truth and divide us even further – but more importantly put us on the throne of our own lives. Not God. Just as our predecessors Adams and Eve did. The consequence? They were exited from the Garden of Eden, never to return. Sent into a world that was not friendly. Jealousy and division were evident in their own two kids, marking a long journey to where we are today.
We MUST resist the urge to checkout. We MUST engage deeper into our own personal healing journey with Christ. We MUST put God above all others and others above ourselves.
The best front-page news ever is the fact that Jesus is coming back. By the looks of it, fairly soon. The events in our world have aligned around what prophecy has foretold and we are smack dab in the middle of it.
Let’s be a participant in bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a hurting world, not on the sidelines in our lukewarmness looking to move to our Smart Home – living in ease, comfort, and pleasure.
Steve