This Faith I Need

You know what I need?

I need a faith that is stronger than America's church culture.

I need a faith that is stronger than money, and what we expect it to do for us.

I need a faith that is stronger than music style, preaching style, and celebrity Christianity.

I need a faith that is stronger than race, ethnicity, culture, and nationality.

I need a faith that is stronger than anecdotes, sermon illustrations, and chit-chat before and after worship services.

I need a faith that abides in the pit of my soul, where it needs to flourish among and conquer everything else that I never tell anybody about.

I need a faith that meets the rawness of my emotions and psyche with truth, not platitudes.

I need a faith that responds to sin with truth, not arrogance.

I need a faith that concedes nothing, confesses boldly, confronts gracefully, nourishes lavishly, and persists consistently.

I need a faith that gives me sustained joy, not bursts of happiness.

I need a faith that provides contentment, not mere resignation to that which seems inevitable.

I need a faith that fosters peace, not trepidation.

I need a faith that does not fear.

I need hope.

I need all the things I've heard preachers say Christ can give to His people, but that our church culture seems to strip away and replace with personalities, programs, and processes.

I need Christ in me.  Not America's culture of church.