Today, I am fearful about the message being posted.

[CAUTION!! Today, I am a little fearful about the message being posted.  Not that the matter is not important.  Not that it is dangerous nor is it a fear of negative responses.  Today I am fearful that individuals, especially those Christians captive to American Conservative Politics will use this message to resist the Holy Spirit's rising tide, culturally and within Christ's faithful - calling them to return to the Lordship of Christ.  The Christ who's kingdom stands against American Politics - Conservative or Liberal. The Christ who is jealous for his brothers and sisters who have become captive and manipulated by this world. James 4:4(NLT):Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.]

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad!

Matthew 5:12a KJV

Jesus declares, "You are my friends if you do what I command you." [John 15:14NLT]. And one of those commands is "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad!"

Hey now, that's not bad, unless of course you are depressed or sad.

Rejoice! The good times, the glad times - those I could live for. Rejoice! Sounds to me like a happy religion. Who wouldn't want to join a church whose ministry is marked by fulfilling the command, "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad."

Rejoice and be glad.But when?

It's hard.  I can't.  Now my depressed friends relate to that.  When are we called to rejoice?  Why is rejoicing sometimes so hard?

Rejoice when the culture wars heat up.  Rejoice when, because you are Christian, people think you're crazy.  You're intellectually naive.  You're loony or at best enslaved to your upbringing or old myths.  Rejoice when they say you're the source of all wars, all evil, all bigotry, all negative prejudices, hurtful, bruising bastards, the lords of all injustice.

Rejoice and be glad, "when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me," [Matthew 5:11-12].

Jesus command - take up political arms? Fight back? Label your accusers scum? Get offended and tell them off?  No! "Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

How you doing on that command?

Could you be convicted, pronounced guilty of rejoicing, based on the objective evidence?

Perhaps Christ has handed us a gift.
The culture wars! 

Let us listen and rejoice.