"You therefore endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."  II Tim.2:3

It is so desperately hard to maintain proper perspective on this world. Or perhaps better - eternal perspective. This world is not the amusement park Satan purports it to be. We are not here to ride as many rides as possible, to feast incessantly on cotton candy, or win the most fleeting prizes possible. We are here to glut ourselves with God. We are here to flaunt His excellencies before others. We are here to meet real needs with concrete good. And we're here to battle. To actually engage in hand to hand combat with the forces of darkness; seeking to rescue through the power of God the many lost souls wandering about this war torn planet. And this high calling is entrusted to all the people of God, not just church leaders. Charles Spurgeon put it so well when he wrote,

"To be a Christian is to be a warrior. The good soldier of Jesus Christ must not expect to find ease in this world: it is a battle-field. Neither must he reckon upon the friendship of the world; for that would be enmity against God. His occupation is war. As he puts on piece by piece of the panoply provided for him, he may wisely say to himself, "This warns me of danger; this prepares me for warfare; this prophesies opposition."

Wherever we live on planet earth is foreign soil. Our only real home is heaven. Wherever we live on planet earth is a battlefield. Some battlefields, especially here in America, are easily mistaken for amusement parks. But they are still battlefields. And we are still soldiers.