A frustrated Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor Julian (332-363) was wanting to lead Romans back to their traditional religions and away from the growing movement of Christianity, but he kept getting frustrated in his attempts. The life and message of these early Christians was so powerful, so persuasive that the old religions couldn't compete. Julian wrote this about the Christian "atheists" (atheists because they only believed in one God):

"Atheism has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers, and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal there is not a single Jew who is a beggar and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them."

The Kingdom of God stands in stark contrast to the Kingdom of the World. The pastor of the congregation I worshipped with this morning boldly told us all, "if you're not seeing something different, if you're not changing, if rather than being made new you're holding onto old patterns, you need to ask whether or not you've actually given your life to Jesus."