Train of Thought 

The train to the good society has left the station and is racing full steam ahead according the progressivist headings of the Obama Administration.

Free contraceptives for all women, new efforts in gun control and immigration reform, higher debt ceilings to allow more government spending without the inconvenience of a budget, gay marriage, higher taxes, women in combat roles, religious and other freedoms, indeed, the Constitution itself, brushed aside by executive whim – it’s all there and more, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Christians won’t do anybody any good by standing flat-footed on the platform and thumbing their noses as the express blows by. Reflecting on the example of Patrick might encourage us to put our heads together and discover some new ways of seeking the Kingdom, spending and being spent, with an eye on the promises of God and looking for guidance to His Law and counsel.

But a new society can only be built by new people. Only Christ can make us new, and only as we submit to the discipline of preparing for and living each day as citizens and ambassadors of His eternal realm. Is your pastor setting the example and pace for the Kingdom of God? Is he equipping you to follow his – and Patrick’s and Christ’s – example of selfless and loving service?

Examine yourself: What priorities, principles, and practices define your experience? What rule determines the disciplines shaping your daily outlook, aspirations, and activities?

Let us pray – without ceasing – and work – without growing weary – for the fuller realization of Christ’s agenda and rule. The new day of the Lord has already dawned, and King Jesus is advancing His domain steadily, albeit at times barely noticeably, against the never-say-die darkness of unbelief and human self-will.

The Progressivist Express is a train to nowhere. So before it arrives there, we who have already reached the Kingdom must give all diligence to throw the switch for a difference course.

Hidden in God
  Colossians 3.1-3

It’s hidden in there, way inside, but you
can reach it – just keep going on, through all
the terrors and uncertainties, the pall
of smoke and darkness, through the deepest blue
of midnight, till a light like morning new
and brilliant, ravishing, begins to call
you, and to usher you into a hall
of mysteries and wonders ever true.
Go with the eye of faith, attentive to
the Spirit’s leading, carried by the thrall
of everlasting pleasure filling all
you know and feel and ever want to do.
  Just there you’ll find the life you seek, all spiced
  and fragrant, savoring of the eternal Christ.

From T. M. Moore, The Hidden Life