Consider:
“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
J.R.R. Tolkien The Fellowship of the Ring
My friends, this is the time we have been given and we must decide what to do with it. Would we not all just wish to be left alone to live in peace? But the world is not going to leave us in peace.
I saw an interesting article: Ex-Muslim: 'Muslims Are Not the Enemies, But the Prize'. This applies not just to Muslims, but to unrepentant homosexuals and others who seem to hate Christianity and all it stands for.
Yes, we are living in trying times, times I thought I would never see in America. These are times of danger and risk, but also of great opportunity. Will we as Christians rise to the occasion?