Never give up.

Martin Luther said once: "If I knew the world was going to end tomorrow, I'd go out and plant a tree." I think a lot of people have given up hope for the future. Part of it has come from the Christian community that is convinced that Jesus will be back some time next week. Part of it comes from those who figure he's never coming back at all because he wasn't really here in the first place. We lack hope because we don't feel like we should have hope. We also lose sight of the promise in Romans 13, that obnoxious passage that assures us that God has put our leaders in place for a reason (even Obama, even Bush) (*heavy sigh*).

I once heard that a patriot is one who supports the government enough to point out its shortcomings. The same can be said for the church as well. There was disagreement throughout the New Testament church, and still... look what we have become. We're most of us a bunch of schmucks, but still God is growing his church. None of us have it right, but all of us reflect a part of God. That's the hope. The journey.

We'll always have our factions and our differences of opinion. That's not a bad thing. It becomes bad when we can't sit at the table with those who have a different opinion. A wise friend wrote: "I don't hold the truth. You don't hold the truth. But maybe together, we'll get a little closer." God doesn't help those who help themselves but he does expect a little effort on our part. Part of what God expects is that we never give up.