Ninety percent of our culture’s current messaging is bent to the negative, culminating in an “age of anxiety.” But God offers us a joy detached from life’s circumstances and a peace that holds and guards us forever.

We are passionate and intentional about lost people coming to faith in Jesus and churches being planted in the cities of greatest need. This weekend we commissioned the Youngs to go plant a church in west Fort Worth, Texas.

Because of Christ, we regard no one according to their flesh, but see God’s image in them. As ministers of reconciliation, we must never forget that His arms are not too short to save whomever He wishes.

Jesus is referred to as “Lord” in Scripture 750 times. It is His most frequent title and His most subversive. In the Roman empire, Christians resisted Caesar’s perverse “family values” and instead lived by countercultural ethics and morals, recognizing Jesus “is the head of all rule and authority.”

All authority belongs to God. All government authorities are mere stewards of His authority. So we as children of God and temporary citizens of earth seek to obey the law, do good in our cities, and push against the darkness of our day.

We don’t have to make sense of or master every topic. If we can master this one truth, we can make a difference in this world—that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the hope for the whole world.

The building of an empire is the search for a “God-less Eden.” It leads us to worship selfishness, wealth, violence, and oppression.

There is no other leader in history who has leveraged all power, privilege, and position for the good of humanity like Jesus. But how do we rest in Him when He isn’t on the ballot?

The world is being held hostage by evil forces to such a degree, that it can only be freed by a radical in-breaking of God. In our day of trouble, it will not be baby Jesus who comes to rescue us, but “Christus Victor”—Jesus, the warrior.

Without deep relationships and a devotion to reach those far from God, our unique gifts, wirings, and placements terminate on ourselves and we become as stagnant and lifeless as the Dead Sea. There is a way that feels right but leads to bondage and decay. God’s way is a promise of life and freedom.