School has started! The Anderson family is officially done with elementary school, and as I write these words we have four junior highers and one high schooler. As Nancy and I drop them off at school, it’s hard not to feel anxious about the world our precious children enter into.

Almost every week, there seems to be another tragedy and another reason to beg Jesus to return as quickly as He can. As the 2020 election bears down on our country, it’s a challenge to navigate all of the anger, bitterness and sin that swells up in each of our citizens and not feel overwhelmed with the state of affairs.

What’s our strategy as the Bride of Christ in times like this? Do we head for the hills? Do we raise the white flag?

This is what you need to know: God has placed us, our families and our church family in this country at this time for a very specific purpose. This is what the book of Titus says. Paul’s message in the book of Titus was the same for the Cretan Christians living on a chaotic island in the middle of the seductive Roman Empire.

Through devotion to Jesus, His grace and the good works He has destined for us, we are called to be agents of transformation. This is not through isolation or assimilation to the broken American culture, but through pursuing the good by the power of grace and the Holy Spirit.

How might the Holy Spirit be leading you to pursue good? I would love to hear your story as we walk in this calling together this year.

God has placed us in His unfolding plan here in Southern California, and Titus says that we need to play our role well as we give our lives away for Christ’s sake.

With much love,

David Anderson

P.S. As we kickoff this study in Titus, consider locking arms with others this year in a weekly small group (we call them HUB groups). You’ll have the chance to talk through these truths and encourage one another in your journeys. Connect with a HUB group here.