Cultural Glimpse

“Our neighborhood is our mission field,” said Pastor John Opalewski at Sunday’s church sermon. “If God can bring revival to Nineveh through one person, Jonah, imagine what he could do for America through us!”

One thing I love to hear people remind others is the power of looking within, not without. Of taking responsibility for ourselves, our families and for our contributions to our immediate surroundings. As Mother Teresa once said, “We can do small things with lots of love.”

“If you’re a thinking person and you are awake, you realize we have a declining society,” said the Pastor. “We need to take responsibility for that.”

He showed us statistics from the Barna Institute that showed the serious of the decline of the U.S. It said, among other things, that major depressive disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S. and preschoolers are the fastest growing market for anti-depressants.

“Lack of spiritual power has led our country to the gutters,” he said, adding, “I’m calling you to come out of our spiritual coma. A call to God is not a call to legalism. Legalism is death. I’m calling you to love God more. To love people more.”

This is so easy to do once you open your eyes and look around and see, as I do every now in then in my neighborhood, a community of ducks and geese stopping traffic to cross the road, and I think to myself, “Isn’t God great!”