My Cross to Bear

Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."
- Jesus

"I'd like to find the guy who called this an easy life and call him the liar that he is, cause by now I've lived long enough to know it's uphill in the snow and barefoot most the time.
They cast it like a lure with TBN brochures and say, "Your troubles are behind you." But they lie, it's not that cut and dry, they falsely advertise, covering up the truth."

"I wish they'd show me where it says my cross to bear is really just an illustration."
- Andy Gullahorn "The Broken Places"

Far to many "Christians" today are forgetting that the Christian life is not promised to be an easy one. In fact, we are told that if we want to be true Christians, we will deny ourselves every day, carry the cross with Christ, and forsake everything else to follow God. That is what a real Christian is, someone who chases after God no matter what the cost. I am tired of pansy, fake religion, claiming to be Christianity. If John the Baptist came to America's churches today, I think his words would be much harsher than, "You brood of vipers." If Paul came to visit our churches on Sunday morning, I would bet that he wouldn't let the service last longer than 10 minutes before he started tearing down the walls and calling people out. And if Jesus were to sit down in a pew in the USA, he wouldn't sit longer than 3 seconds before he became so infuriated with "Christians," and he would be much more angry than when he turned over the tables in the Temple.

What happened guys?

Where is our passion?

How did we go from tons of Christians dying every day to a watered-down form of religion that says it's ok for Homosexuals to serve in the church, that says Christians are supposed to be nice people and not offend anyone, that is afraid to share the Gospel, which is the power of God for salvation, because we don't want to "turn people off from God?"

I am certainly not pointing a finger, as I too have failed to live up to my calling as a child of the Almighty many times. I am simply stating what I see as Christianity's biggest problem today. We have lost our first love. We are so caught up in our clothes, cars, houses, decor, you name it. We have let go of the greatest commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength."

We have lost our first love.