Looking over the American landscape in the early 21st century the most notable feature about Christianity is the variety of believers walking around out there. With denominations including Protestant – Methodist, Baptist, Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Seventh Day Adventist; as well as Episcopalian, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic and third world kinds and Oriental versions- to name a few, you can take your pick, or wonder about God’s Word. there are also conservative, liberal, Mega-church and small church, and New Age types all going to church.

All of these Churches look to the Nazarene for the CORRECT understanding of what Christian means. Further, all of these variations have particular responses to current events, trends and public personalities.

Also there are differing views about Old Testament scripture, and about Israel today in the Middle East. And with all public issues we must allow for the difference between media blather about religion as ‘news story’ and what the ACTUAL church members think and feel about Christianity day to day.

After all this there is a LARGE PROBLEM with the claimed understanding of how the Nazarene would counsel our behavior, attitudes and Reality – boots on the ground consideration of daily situations and how  Christianity will guide us.

Christianity happens in different ways during different eras in our, mostly, European history. Through preceding centuries the people involved have responded to events in their ‘characteristic’ ways. We know the story – the history with all its ups and downs. In our time, the late 20th and early 21st century we must deal with one main Fact – PROSPERITY. Long centuries of hardship, poverty, hunger, suffering, criminal behavior of every sort; and steady relentless dedication to learning, knowledge, discovery and invention through ever improving advancement in agriculture, education, housing, medicine, technology and government have brought us to a command and control economic prosperity that has landed us – on our butts in front of a big screen TV. The Christianity that helped carry people through some wretched centuries is now up against public perception that it is an anachronism, quaint, sort of pointless and maybe a nuisance.

The LARGE PROBLEM is this – How to make plain, out loud, that the message the Nazarene brought to us 2,000 years ago is IMMEDIATELY TRUE right now. The message is not sin and forgiveness. It is not evangelizing to the nth degree. It is not getting with entertainment culture or political mania to be ‘relevant’. ( A Supreme Creator is relevant all the time, y’know) It is not whatever floats your boat. It is not parading your Christian conviction around in the streets. And it is not kowtowing to crass, vapid ‘lifestyles’.

The message is – Be Thou Perfect. Christianity needs to UP grade. It cannot go on as some sappy, chirpy, pet and pule, grin faced, feel sorry for poor people, brown people, crippled people, old people, and  let’s all celebrate God’s creation cheerleading. Christianity cannot ‘get with’ airhead society to be in with the cool kids. ( Actually, the cool kids are pop frauds and the Righteous kids are history’s winners.) Christianity must Upgrade from early gospel teaching, past sin and forgiveness obsession, to a 21st century Be Thou Perfect stand on the American landscape. No matter what denomination style is practiced the plain truth is that we Christians are the UPs and we will NOT be joining the DOWNS on the road to Garbageland, and then further down to the Zero Place that they are planning for the entire planet.

In a world that throws in our path a myriad of events and experiences we must make a decision to either shift and dodge, juke and jive, connive and deceive, scrap and scramble our way through life along with the garbage crowd, or lift UP our understanding and direct our lives to the BEST. Technologically and culturally we have come to a point where a firehose of information, most of it junk, is aimed at us every day. It is easy enough to throw up your hands and get overwhelmed by the entertainment/opinion mongering noise machine. But the message the Nazarene gave to people centuries ago is exactly TRUE now, just as it was then. Our responsibility is to walk past the trash, keep our attention focused on the BEST and demonstrate honest, sane, accomplished and dedicated Christian lives.

Christianity, in all denominations and practices, must advance to a more strict, more determined commitment from church members to make that message the Nazarene gave us the central fact of their lives. To paraphrase from the Bible – the very facts on the ground cry out to tell people – You know very well that We the People are endowed with vast, overwhelming capacity to understand, examine, and appreciate the World and Reality we are in. We are in charge on this People Planet. We haveNO EXCUSE for the shabby stumbling failures that entertain us every day. Far greater than all the material prizes we like to toy with is our responsibility to take up the challenge of Being Best personally, mentally, morally, as family members, church members, neighbors and citizens. Christianity invites members, of any denomination to come to church with a conviction of Personal Excellence. The UPgrade begins with Conservatives who see the Truth in front of them and run toward it.

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This website is about establishing Conservative Principles for the Americans who are ready to step forward to citizenship responsibility for making Goodness and Decency, Understanding and Responsibility our plan for building a Good Better best America.

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