Speaking of "time"

The last entry was some "time" ago. That was January and this is nearly July! In this period of time, I have gone from preaching to real estate. We have moved from Eagle Lake, TX to Centerville, TX. I'm blogging from our sunroom and watching the cardinals, buntings, chicadees, squirrels, etc at the feeder.

I love being in this room as the sun comes up and welcoming the day from here. Now that we have internet I can get praise music from YouTube (enjoyed some Third Day this morning).

The first couple of weeks here I was "stuck" (not a bad thing) in Paul's letters to the Thessalonians for my scripture reading. I read them from the Complete Jewish Bible. Opening the first letter, Paul was giving thanks for what the Lord had brought about in the Thessalonian believers. He recounted three things about them: their trust, love, and hope. He said their trust produced action, their love produced hard work, and their hope produced perseverance. All of this in the context of their lives in a pagan, God-less world.

I can't help but think of believers today. Our social context is not hospitable to trust in God. Some in our government and society would have the mention and acknowledgement of God removed from public view. Other countries, I fear, and their social context don't have any better grasp on trusting God. Love, in our world, has been distorted and redefined. In media and entertainment we seldom see love as sacrificial and unconditional and eminating from God. Love has been polluted by lust and selfishness and the human condition of sin. Where does all this leave hope? Hope seems to have morphed into wishful thinking and trust in humanity's ability to make the world a better place.

Believers today face the same world the believers in Thessalonika faced...a sinful one. It continues to be as it has always been, a world that is contrary to God and his ways. That part of our context doesn't change. Believers today who live as the Thessalonians lived--with trust toward God, love that compels us to work hard to have pure and holy lives in the midst of a polluted world, and hope (sure expectation) to be able to persevere and wait for all the promises of God--are still ones to give thanks to God for. Thank you, God, for believers today who resist the culture in all nations and standfast by the Spirit within them.