What a wonderful day and age in which to be living. We have abundant opportunities to eat well, to breathe clean air, to exercise and be active. This morning I enjoyed an hour workout at the local Y here in Wake Forest. Then this afternoon I got in a 4 mile run at the local park that now boasts this new civic center.
Raleigh ranks as the healthiest city in North Carolina and is number 38 nationwide. In 2021 it was ranked number 12 as the best place to live in America. What a blessing I so often take for granted.
While running I was thinking about the state of the nation and the state of the church and how this is a day and age that calls for tremendous courage. To honor and love someone, even a fellow Christian, doesn't mean that you always have to be in relationship with them. Sometimes one has to detach -- with love. Sometimes the loving thing to do is to close the door. This does not dishonor the relationship. It is to honor it. And it doesn't mean that we don't pray for them. If we really believe in intercessory prayer, we can fast and pray for somebody. We still love them in the truth of Jesus Christ.
Again, I feel so HONORED and BLESSED and HAPPY to live in this great country of ours. I don't want to live anywhere else. I want to live right here, right now, along with all of you who are living out your faith in the midst of a perverse and corrupt generation and who, despite the tremendous confusion in culture and even in the church, are living wisely and well and are being to faithful to the life Christ calls you to. My simple prayer is this:
O Father, help us to let Christ into the muck and mire of this world. For only he can pull us out of it.
Bless you, each one of you. In Christ you have everything you need.