I recently heard a quote that fits the majority of what passes for Christianity in American. Too many preach that “[a] God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.” (H. Richard Niebuhr), The Kingdom of God in America).

Those who hold to the orthodox faith of the early church as proclaimed by the apostles are getting fewer and fewer these days.

But those early apostles held to the conviction that they would rather please God than people, as stated by one of their most outspoken members, Paul.

They knew that the world would hate them just as it hated Jesus.  They knew the world they lived in would never tolerate their message of repentance and faith in the Messiah Jesus.

Repentance is almost a taboo word, yet it’s one of the most freeing. To turn away from sin is to walk out of a lifestyle of bondage into wide open freedom. But it’s not just turning away. It’s turning to the true and living God who has revealed Himself in Jesus.

Grace is such a beautiful thing because none of us deserves it. All of us really have sinned and fallen short on a daily basis of the glory of God. All of us have a deep need for salvation in Jesus. All of us are loved deeply and unconditionally by a God whose love refuses to leave us the way it found us. Sometimes it’s a tough love, but it’s always a love that seeks the very best for the beloved — that’s us.

It’s not about making America great again. It’s really about getting back to the whole gospel that can save the whole person. It’s about the good news that is still there for the taking for anyone who truly seeks it.