It's a crazy old world!

I truly wonder how news broadcast people define the word news today. Also, what we as followers of the news think is newsworthy. Somehow, I have difficulty seeing how a 7 year old boy driving his parents car because he doesn't want to go to church is newsworthy enough to not only hit cyberspace but also be on the Today Show. Not only that but the headline is what his punishment is. No tv, video games, and grounded for a week? Oh, yeah and he had to go to church. Meanwhile he also got a free trip to New York City and be on the Today Show and who knows what other media had him on. What punishment. Oh, yeah I forgot, he still had to go to church. Let us not consider the fact that he could have died, killed someone else, and damaged property. Let's make him a celebrity for his recklessness. Afterall he is just a cute blond 7 year old.
It is a crazy old world indeed!

Being a Christian is not easy.

Being a Christian is not easy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I know that the popular prosperity gospel states that if you give your life to God then you will have a prosperous good life. The problem is the definition of the terms prosperous and good. If you define prosperous as having all you need to sustain life then okay. And if you define good as what is right and life giving to you then okay. But, unfortunately, the definitions of the prosperity gospel are success, money, and an easy rich lifestyle.
Being a Christian is not that easy. It means encountering God. It means being in an intimate relationship with God. It means admitting that one can not live without God and in fact must turn everything over to God. This in itself is no easy feat. Then it means being aware of and communicating with God. Being open to the Holy Spirit moving in, around, and through your earthly body. It means learning to love yourself and stripping away the layers of negativity and pain that cloak the real you. It is risk-taking to the extreme. It means learning to truly trust.
Then and only then can we learn to love others. That is another aspect of being a Christian that is not easy. Because it is risk-taking and often very painful. With new sight we look at others and see their pain and negativity that surrounds them. Once this occurs then we have the responsibility to help others carry their burdens as Christ helps us carry ours.
So I don't care what anyone else says, being a Christian is not easy. But it is the only life I want to live. Care to join me?