As I am writing this editorial, it is already January 2024, snow is falling, Christmas has passed and our hearts, filled with with delight or disappointment, look back to 2023. For some, that year has revealed the difficulties of life in a more palpable way; for others, that year was filled with joy and success. It is with this in mind that I write this editorial, to inspire the readers of the Ecclesia Journal to pursue God’s calling to be faithful and true to him throughout the year regardless of the ups and downs of this life. 

     As Christians we decide to identify by our desire to be more like Christ, to obey Him, and to follow Him. Thus, as we look at our culture today, and see all that is taking place, whether it is the international conflicts, the many temptations that are trying to seduce us, or the Godless views that are portrayed through all strata of society, we must persevere in our knowledge of God and our faithfulness to His ways. 

“To have Faith in Christ means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. […] Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” 

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

     Ecclesia endeavors to be a help, a tool to those who read its pages; to pursue God’s will by looking at Scripture, challenging our views by thought provocating articles, and exhorting action by revealing the truth of the society we live in.

“A cleft has opened in the pitiless walls of the world, and we are invited to follow our great Captain inside. The following Him is, of course, the essential point.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

     As you read through each article, you will encounter societal topics, scriptural ones, and matters of the heart, all addressed through the lens of Scripture. Our hope and prayer are that God may use each of these articles to help you in your day-to-day life as we are called to live before the face of God and to follow our great Captain during the greatest of storms and the calmest of seas.