"Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

"The things that will destroy America are prosperity-at-any-price, peace-at-any-price, safety-first instead of duty-first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."
-Theodore Roosevelt


I am thoroughly disturbed: "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." 
2 Timothy 4:3-4 
Oh, gentle reader. I believe that time is upon us. It seems to me finding an individual of integrity is akin to finding a needle in a very large haystack. 


For I know of churches where greed and lack of self-control are ripping the body in two. 


I watch the news, where the primary goal is not to broadcast informative reports, but rather push, nay, shove an agenda onto the viewer. 


I look to our leaders in government, and all I see are men and women lining their pockets with dollar bills. 


I look at my fellow citizens, and I see people demanding their 'entitlement'. 


I watch people treating others without the slightest decency.


And, with horror, I often catch myself falling into those same traps.


The world is rife with corruption, dear friends. At times, I despair. I think, "Why should I even try?"  I have long felt a quiet tug on my heart to plant myself inside a modern day Vanity with its accompanying Fair (namely the 'fair' Washington DC and London). But too often, I think of my call and dismiss it. Who am I kidding? Did I even hear right? 
I know that you, kind reader, have also trudged through the Slough of Despond ("The Pilgrim's Progress"). The roar of spiritual battle seems too deafening and your sins too heavy. I urge you (and my own soul) to remember this: 

"Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." (Romans 13:11-12)

Now, ladies and gentlemen, is the time to take up arms. This despair we see should shake us to our core and remind us of the urgency of Spiritual Warfare. Why should we try, dear reader? We should try because that is what we are called to do. If we do not try, we are forever in that Slough of Despond, watching the world warp faster and faster. "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil." Ephesians 6:11

Put on the armor and pick up the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Eph. 6:17) and I will do the same, right this instant. 

For the darker the night, the brighter Christ will shine, and we must be willing to follow the call into the darkness. 

"He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!

Our God is marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!

Our God is marching on."