O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
America the Beautiful
Words by Katharine Lee Bates,
Melody by Samuel Ward

Some day, Jesus will return for His Bride. Until that time, Christ has given His Bride everything she needs to do battle with the evil one in enemy territory. Jesus sent His apostles, the seventy-two, and us out with authority and power.
Why would Jesus ever discourage someone from following Him? He did exactly that in Luke 9.
Our culture loves the words of Matthew 7 where Jesus asserts, “Judge not!” Those words isolated from the context fit perfectly into the philosophy of our times.
