Wake up!

I cannot believe that summer is already nearly halfway over. It seems like I just arrived out here in Colorado. God is good. He's been teaching me a lot this summer and I'm definitely being stretched. He is reaffirming some things in my life and I'm really craving the Word and spending a lot of time in personal study. Life is a crazy thing. There are so many paradoxes. Yes, the Bible says that we are citizens of heaven, but we're also residents of this earth while we are here. We have a responsibility to go into the world and make disciples. What am I working for? Is my goal simply to rack up on spiritual rewards at the judgment seat? That's futile! I don't want my motivation to be rewards, I want to serve Christ out of love for Him. He was willing to lay down His life so that I would not have to spend an eternity separated from Him in hell. Living in America is just as much a curse as a blessing as far as I'm concerned. I hate to say it, but I'm halfway tempted to pray for persecution so that the believers in this country will wake up. I guarentee that if we experienced persecution the issues we argue about would cease to be an issue. Love would truly become unconditional and like the early "Followers of the Way" we would see a need and meet a need no matter how much it cost us. It's time we wake up and get our head out of our butts. Apathy has dominated Christianity in this country too long. I have to agree with A.W. Tozer when he says that we view the world as a playground rather than the battleground that it is. That's the American mentality. We are way too comfortable for our own good. There are millions of our brothers and sisters of the Way who are dying for their faith by the minute. That's an awesome and beautiful thing in the sight of God.