Author: Kevin Sherman

Recently, I made a decision to turn off the talking heads. No, I’m not talking about the popular rock group of the 80’s. I’m talking about the ones you can find on popular TV news networks and all over the AM radio dial. I used to be addicted to these talking heads. I had my favorite TV news network that most closely represented my political views and they were always right. I also had my favorite radio talk shows. Just to be clear, I still tune in every now and then, but they don’t have the same influence on me that they once had.

I came to the realization about a year and a half ago that allowing these voices to shape my thinking had caused me to become cynical. A cynical person is deeply distrustful of others and usually pessimistic. There is a conspiracy behind everything and nobody is to be fully trusted.

A wonderful truth was uncovered in my mind. God created me with the marvelous ability to think for myself, to come to my own conclusions. I started to see with new vision what it means to live and think from a renewed mind. That is why I named my blog site “As You Think.” Its purpose is to make you think.

It is very amusing to watch the news networks after a presidential debate. They will tell you what you’re supposed to think about the debate you just watched. If you’ve learned to think for yourself, you won’t need them to tell you. More importantly, if our mind is being renewed by the Word of God, we’ll know how to form our thoughts based on that. Here is a good rule to use:

Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. (Philippians 4:8-9 MSG)

One of the typical responses you’ll hear to this is “you’re being very naïve.” No, we’re being naïve when we allow our thinking to be influenced by voices that don’t pass the Phil. 4:8 test. We can’t simply compartmentalize this truth and somehow separate it from our political opinions. I have a hunch that if we could have a face-to-face talk with Jesus himself, we might be surprised at some of his political views.

I have narrowed down my spiritual quest to this one sentence – I am simply after His heart. I’m steadily losing interest in anybody’s opinion but His. If yours’ is in line with His, then that’s just icing on the cake. It’s good to be informed by paying attention to current events in the news, but always filter it through the Good News. If you’ve found yourself becoming cynical like I was, here’s some advice: Turn off the talking heads of cynicism and when you get up in the morning begin your day by thanking God for something good, and then remind yourself of it throughout the day.

 

Cynical no more,

 

Kevin.

 

When I arrived home from work a few days ago, my wife was watching a movie. Nothing unusual about that. This is normal for her when she’s in chill-out mode and it’s usually a Hallmark flick. However, this time she was watching “The Help.” For those who have never seen this movie, it is based in 1963 Jackson, Mississippi. Southern society girl “Skeeter” (played by Emma Stone) returns from college with drams of being a writer. She stirs up a hornets’ nest by interviewing the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent white families. Only Aibileen (Viola Davis), the housekeeper of Skeeter’s best friend, will talk at first. But as the pair continue the collaboration, more women decide to come forward, and as it turns out, they have quite a bit to say.

I grew up in the South. Southeast Texas, to be more precise. Racism was extremely prevalent in our community and in our family. I was probably 9 or 10 years old before I ever heard a black person referred to as anything other than a “nigger.”

The first time I watched The Help a few years ago, I had tears running down my face a couple of times. That is nothing out of the ordinary for me, as I’ve been known to shed a tear or two at certain movies that tug on my heart strings. This one was different. There was pain in those tears. I had experienced a change of heart many years ago concerning the races, although it was gradual. I felt both the pain of prejudice and the shame of knowing that the white families depicted in the movie could have easily been mine.

It was the same pain and shame I felt the first time I heard about The Trail of Tears. In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson’s policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the “Trail of Tears” because of its devastating effects. I think I felt pain because I have some Cherokee blood in me, and shame because of the way my white ancestors treated them.

My change of heart came about as I began to realize that there’s no place in the kingdom of God for racism. It goes without saying that even though civil rights can be legislated (and they have), it doesn’t change the heart.

There was a time, years ago, when I would watch the news and see a black person upset about a perceived racial injustice and I would say, “These people have no right to be upset, they have equal rights now!” Again, legislation doesn’t heal a man’s heart.

Forgiveness.

Forgiveness heals the heart. I remember distinctly the day the healing process began in my heart. It was a chilly November day in Dallas, Texas at event called “The Call.” I, along with many others that day in the Cotton Bowl participated in acts of repentance for racial prejudices we had inherited from our ancestors. It was the most gut-wrenching weeping I had ever experienced as I saw my racial prejudices for what they were – sins that had nailed Jesus to the cross.

New creation is a process. From the moment we are born again, something completely new is set in motion. The new creation that we become looks exactly like Jesus.

If I were to ask every Christian in America if they are racist, my guess is that 99.9% would say, “No, certainly not!” That would have been my answer. I wish I could say that I had an instantaneous transformation in this area, but it’s been a slow process. Racism has fallen off of me one small piece at a time. I thought I was a pretty good Christian back in 1984 when I took a job working for the prison system in Texas, but some ugly things in my heart came to the surface. Ugly racial things. Little had changed in me those seventeen-and-a-half years working there. Prisons in America have a large, disproportionate number of black men and I was quick to tell anyone who would listen why I thought that was so, as if I knew.

With all the racial tension being highlighted in our nation today, I believe it would behoove us to consider that a major factor involved is pain. Until I understand the pain another person has experienced, I have no business making a snap judgment when I see them acting out. For instance, I’m not a black parent who has just lost a son in a shooting, so I have no idea what that feels like. What if I was willing to have a compassionate conversation with one of them and listen with my heart instead filtering it through the noise coming from the news media? That’s what I can see Jesus doing. Can you?

Healing the racial divide in America begins in my heart. It begins in our (white folks) heart. Prisons aren’t the answer. Violence isn’t the answer. Anger isn’t the answer. Your favorite presidential candidate isn’t the answer. We are. We are the church. Let it begin with us.

 

From a recovering, repentant, former racist,

 

Kevin.

 

There are quite a few interesting debates going on in Christianity these days. There are disagreements on eschatology, the role of women in the church, politics, etc. I have some firm beliefs on each of these subjects, even most of the etcetera!

However, one debate that has caught my attention recently is the practice of tithing. Based on what I’ve observed, there are three positions taken by followers of Christ: 1) Indifference (usually based on lack of knowledge on the subject). 2) Tithing is Old Covenant and therefore not necessary for believers in the New Covenant. 3) Tithing is a Kingdom principle established before the law was given to Moses.

Before I go any further in addressing these, let me tell you why this particular subject caught my attention. It was this question: As a Christian, am I required to tithe? On the surface it would seem to be a legitimate question, although maybe not on the same footing as a question such as, “As a Christian, am I requires to love my enemies?” We can point to the words of Jesus Himself in the gospels (Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27) for the obvious answer. But what about tithing? Jesus never gave a direct command to tithe. The only time He mentions it is in Matthew 23:23 when He is rebuking the scribes and Pharisees for being hypocrites:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”

Jesus always seemed to get to the heart of the matter, didn’t He?

Instead of looking for legalistic answers to our questions, maybe we should examine why the question is asked in the first place. Oftentimes our heart is revealed by the questions we ask.

I think a more legitimate question would be, “How much of the kingdom do I want to see and experience?”

Recently, I was reading the story of Zacchaeus from The Message in Luke 19:1-9 – Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way – he was a short man and couldn’t see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.” Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, “What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?”

Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, “Master, I give away half my income to the poor – and if I’m caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.”

Jesus said, “Today is salvation day in his home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham! For the Son of man came to find and restore the lost.”

I’ve always loved this story because of the obvious change in Zacchaeus’ heart and his immediate response in giving away half of his income to the poor and to make restitution four-fold to anyone he had cheated. How strange that so many who have experienced salvation would even balk at the idea of a tithe (one-tenth) of their income!

But this time I noticed something I had never paid much attention to before. Jesus calls Zacchaeus a son of Abraham. Previously, he may have been a physical descendant of Abraham, but now he is a spiritual son. I think it’s also very important that he mentions Abraham here. Abraham was the first person to tithe. You can read the story yourself in Gen. 14:18-20 and Heb. 7:1-22. Abraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, who was a type of Christ’s eternal priesthood.

I find it fascinating when Christians want to call tithing a part of the Law when It was first established several hundred years before Moses was born.

Though we’re talking about tithing here, this is really not a money issue. It’s a heart issue. When Jesus came on the scene and began his earthly ministry, he had a lot to say about the heart. I don’t have space in this article to refer to every time Jesus spoke about the heart. Jesus said, “where you treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matt. 6:21)

Whether we like to acknowledge it or not, our hearts are tied to our billfolds. We need look no further than the early church in the book of Acts to see what the heart – treasure connection looks like: Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. (Acts 2:44-45)

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of houses or lands sold them and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need. (Acts 4:32-35)

What it all boils down to is this – Jesus isn’t asking for your tithe. He’s asking for everything. When you approach Him with a heart that says, “It all belongs to you,” then you’ll never have to ask the question, “Am I required to tithe?”

It’s all His,

Kevin.

            I am learning to love being unique. That’s right, I’m unique. So are you. I didn’t always know how unique I am. In fact, for most of my life I’ve considered myself to be quite average, whatever that means. I actually went to great lengths to remain average, to look and to act like the majority of the population. Yet, I knew deep inside that I was in fact unique.

What does it mean to be unique? The definition of unique according to Merriam Webster dictionary is: used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else

• very special or unusual
• belonging to or connected with only one particular thing, place, or person.

 

I spent a good portion of my life playing a futile game called self-comparison. It’s futile because it has no end and there is no winner. It snuffs out dreams and slams the door in the face of possibilities. Worst of all, it’s a direct insult to God Himself.

If I asked you to draw a picture of what you think God looks like, I might get a puzzled look from you. I think I know what I would draw. I would draw a picture of me using the gifts He gave me to express myself to the world. As a man created in God’s image, when I use the gift he placed in me to express myself to the world, they get a glimpse of God!

There are over 7 billion humans on planet Earth. Not a single pair are identical. Even identical twins are not exactly alike. When we fail to see how unique we are, we rob ourselves and we rob those around us of our unique expression. The Apostle Paul understood this too:

 

“To me – less than the least of all the saints – this grace was given, to proclaim to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ and to enlighten everyone about God’s secret plan – a secret that has been hidden for ages in God who has created all things. The purpose of this enlightenment is that through the church the multifaceted wisdom of God should now be disclosed to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.”  (Eph. 3:8-10 NET)

 

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”  (Eph. 2:10 NKJV)

 

We are his workmanship. A unique work of art!

 

Such amazing freedom has come to me since I got out of the self-comparison trap. I invite you get out too.

 

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.”  (Psalm 139:14)

 

You’re marvelous! He said so. Don’t try to be anybody else. Just be your marvelous self! You have something we need to see.

 

Uniquely marvelous,

 

Kevin

I very seldom post anything political in social media. It’s not that I don’t have strong political opinions that I’d like to share with everyone, it’s just that most people seem to be very immovable when it comes to politics. On the other hand, I’m seeing a trend where so many are swayed by the voices of leaders in the body of Christ telling us how we should vote, that we don’t think for ourselves.

I was watching the Republican National Convention a few weeks ago. This is nothing new for me. I’ve watched practically every one since 1976. This was the first one that I can say I watched objectively. I’ve been such transformation in my thinking that I was actually able to watch and form my own opinions. I was actually thinking!

For me, the defining moment came as Sen. Ted Cruz was giving a speech. The atmosphere was tense. You see, Cruz had refused to endorse Donald Trump for president up to this point and now the crowd and the nation listened to his speech, waiting for a moment when Cruz might just go ahead and endorse him for the sake of party unity. He was getting near the end of his speech and all I can remember were these words – “Vote your conscience.” And that’s when the boos started. He was practically booed off of the stage for urging Americans to vote their conscience. Of course that’s not the way it was reported or how it will go down in history. After all, they were really booing because he wouldn’t give his endorsement to Trump, right?

 

To me, that moment summed up the sad state of politics in our nation.

 

In the past few elections, I, like millions of others, have made the decision to vote for the “lesser of two evils.” No more for me. How about just not voting for evil at all? I understand fully that it’s a privilege to have the right to vote, and I will vote.

I’ve done some deep soul-searching and repenting after reading the gospels and have come to the conclusion that I have put my trust in presidents and supreme courts to fix the nation and world. I have also come to the conclusion that Jesus is very political. Have you read The Sermon On the Mount? I have and I can’t think of a better way to govern.

I understand that there are certain issues at stake, such as the future of the Supreme Court, but I believe there is something far greater at stake – the prophetic voice of the church. Samuel Whitefield says it well –

 

 “The 2016 election has exposed fault lines in the nation and in the church in a way that no other election in recent history has. In the midst of all the confusion and rhetoric it is time for the church to find her voice and rediscover her identity as a people who find their ultimate hope in another kingdom and another King and represent the values of that king in the public square.

For the church to recover her calling, we are going to have to break free of certain political bonds that have held us for quite some time. If the evangelical church does not wrestle through her current entanglement with politics, then I fear the church will lose her ability to be a prophetic voice to the culture and the government on a wider sphere. It’s becoming clear that the phenomenon of “Donald Trump” might just be what will force that issue in this election.”

 

You can read this article in its entirety here.

 

I don’t need a political savior; I already have one. I already have a king, and His name is Jesus.

 

Kevin

 

I can remember the shock and disappointment I felt many years ago when I saw that bottle of beer in my Christian friend’s refrigerator one night. What a bad example he was setting! I had been so sure that he was a deeply spiritual man like myself. After all, I didn’t smoke, drink, cuss, chew or even associate with those who do! I could go to restaurants and pick out the saints and the sinners. The saints were the ones who prayed before their meal. The sinners were the ones who had alcoholic drinks on the table.

As I look back on that era of my life, I’m amazed at the patient love of Jesus for me. He saw those pharisaical tendencies of mine and yet He saw through them all the way to the core of my heart where there was a man who could be pliable in the Potter’s hand and be conformed into the image of Christ.

In my mind today I picture Jesus standing over in the corner of the restaurant watching the people, but He’s not observing what I was looking at. He’s not really too concerned with who’s praying before the meal or the bottle of beer on the table. He’s concerned about the measly two dollar tip left for the struggling waitress by the man who piously prayed before his twenty dollar dinner. He looks with pleasure at another table where a young man drinking a cocktail and dining with his friends grabs the check and pays for their meal, all the while leaving a generous 30% tip for the waiter.

I have heard from many who work or have previously worked in the restaurant business that Sundays were the most dreaded days for wait staff to work. Why? Because Sundays are the days when the church crowd fills up the place. So why would they dread this day so much? Because alcohol sales will be down? No. Tips will be down. Way down. A friend who was once a waiter told me of a man who left what looked like a one-hundred-dollar bill on the table. Imagine his excitement when he saw it only to grab it, open it up, and discover it was one of those gospel tracts that looks like a hundred-dollar-bill. Seriously?

It is not the purpose of this blog to bash the church. After all, I am part of the church. I too was once one of those who calculated the 15% tip in my head to make sure I didn’t leave a penny more than was required.
I’m reminded of the words of Jesus to His disciples,

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another;
As I have loved you, that you also love one another.
By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:34-35)

What does love look like? It looks like giving.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…”

The real gospel would have been proclaimed had that man rolled up a real hundred-dollar-bill inside the tract. There’s something about lavish generosity that preaches the gospel.

The love of Jesus is extremely generous. Our demonstration of the gospel is never more clearly understood than when we love generously. The next time you go to the restaurant, leave a tract on the table. You know, one of those green ones, and if you’re not going to leave a generous tip, please don’t misrepresent our generous God and tell them you’re a Christian. Thank you!

Generously,

Kevin

 

One of the most popular subjects among passionate followers of Christ today is the presence of God. There have been hundreds of books and thousands of sermons preached on this subject, not to mention all the conferences, seminars, and even schools centered on it. Oh yeah, and all the songs too. There are men and women who have dedicated their entire lives to the pursuit of a greater understanding of this topic.

Having been in church circles for the past 30 plus years or so that put a premium on the presence of God, I’ve seen, heard and read so much about it that my conceptual understanding of it can be clouded at times.

Being somewhat of a wordsmith, I am very cognizant of concepts that are conveyed by the way we use words and phrases, especially when we’re speaking “Christianese.” If you’re not as concerned as I am about words and the concepts they bring, then you may view what I’m about to say as nitpicking. Believe me, it’s not.

1. We don’t have to ask Him to come. He’s already here. This is true individually and corporately. He’s dwells within me as an individual by His Spirit. He dwells with us corporately because He said “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt. 18:20) No, I’m not demanding that we do away with every song that says “come Holy Spirit.” Instead of judging it for being scripturally inaccurate, I choose to see it as an expression of love for Holy Spirit who is already in our midst (although sometimes I wonder if He’s leaning over to one of the angels and saying “please go and let them know I’m already there”).
2. He’s not going to leave if we don’t do everything just right. Why have an Old Covenant mentality that if we don’t dot every i and cross every t, He’ll be displeased and separate Himself from our midst? He wants to be with us more than we want to be with Him!

 

If all of this is true, then why are there times when we sense His presence more than others? Why do we have church services where we get so overwhelmed by His presence and then have some where we hardly feel anything at all?

 

I believe it can be summed up in one word: awareness. God has told us he will never leave us or forsake us, so if He is true to His word, then I have His presence at all times. Psalm 139:7-8 says,

 

“Where can I go from your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.”

 

If He is always with us, even to the extent that we can’t even run or hide from Him, then when I can’t feel His presence, the problem lies with me. I can choose whether to be aware or ignore Him.

 

Here are 5 ways we can be more aware of His presence: (By the way, these are from my own personal experience and the school of hard knocks)

 

1. Be thankful. Just begin to thank Him for anything, for everything, and in everything. I remember one time a few years ago, I sat down with a pen and tablet and started making a list of everything and everybody that I was thankful for. Two-and-a-half pages later I had to put the pen down because I was so overwhelmed with joy I could hardly contain myself. And as an added bonus, I completely forgot about my problems.
2. Talk to Him. This is otherwise known as prayer. When you talk to your Father, speak from your heart. When I’m alone with God, I call Him “Papa.” When the words “I love you, Papa” come out of my mouth, I can literally feel His presence in a very real way. Of course I can’t neglect praying in the Spirit. Speak in your prayer language. If you don’t have one, ask Him for one. He’ll give it to you. He’s so good!
3. Meditate. Think deeply about Him. Let the word of God that you know in your heart come to mind and let it just roll around in your head. Philippians 4:8 is a good place to begin. When we consciously redirect our thoughts from our present circumstance to Him, we become aware of His presence.
4. Worship. By yourself and with others. Music helps me a lot. I’ll sing, hum, whistle, or listen to some good worship music. Gather with others to worship as often as you can. There is something exponentially awesome that happens when we gather together to love and adore Jesus!
5. Love unconditionally. We are never more like Jesus than when we love. Especially when we love the unlovely. The gospels have much to say about this.

 

 

I’m pretty sure this is not an exhaustive list, but these are the things that have helped me the most to be more aware of His presence.

 

Just remember, He is always with you.

Simply be aware.

 

In His presence,

 

Kevin

I’ve been on a particular journey for a long time, actually for most of my life. I’m on a journey to find Jesus. Ok now, before you begin to show me the Roman Road or The Four Spiritual Laws and tell me how to find Jesus and get saved, let me assure you I do know Him. You see, a while back, what I call a divine dissatisfaction with my understanding of Jesus began to set in on me. I knew Jesus in the sense that He is the Son of God, lived a sinless life, died for my sin, and rose from the dead – the essentials. I had read the entire bible. I had read the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I had read the Sermon On the Mount. Many times.

I recently decided to take off my American evangelical glasses and read the story of Jesus for what it is – God became a man. You could put it this way, Jesus is what God looks like.

This has caused some gut-wrenchingly honest soul searching to take place in me. I didn’t like what I saw. I saw a man whose image of Jesus had been molded into a modern, watered-down version of something that was a little easier to swallow than the one who preached the greatest sermon ever in chapters 5,6 and 7 of Matthew’s gospel. You know what I’m talking about? Those statements Jesus made, like

 

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.”

 

I have to be honest with you, when discussing passages like these with other people, more times than not I would follow them up with a “but.” As if we can take everything Jesus says at face value except the ones that require complete trust on our part. It reminds me of an old hymn…

 

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

Just to take Him at His word…

 

I am finding that there’s no greater peace to be found than when I simply take him at His word. I don’t know about you, but it scares me to think about turning the other cheek or the inconvenience of having to go the second mile, but He didn’t say it would be easy. I get tired of hearing that worn-out cliché that says “God won’t put more on you than you can handle.” That’s not true! Some of His commandments are more than I can handle! If I could handle them I wouldn’t need to trust Him, would I?

It’s becoming easier for me to trust Him the more I realize just how much He loves me. His perfect love does indeed cast out fear. The more I become aware of His love, the less fear can dictate to what extent I’m willing to obey Him.

So let me sum it up like this: If I turn the other cheek and get knocked down, His love is there to catch me.

 

I can’t think of a better place to fall.

 

Trusting Jesus,

 

Kevin.

I am more or less a product of an era known as the Jesus Movement. This movement took place in the 60’s and 70’s and was made up of mostly teens and twenty-somethings who had come out of the drug and hippie culture. Then there were a few like me who were just good church kids that got tired of traditional stuck-in-the-mud religion.
Then at the same time, the hippie culture was in full swing. Think Woodstock. This culture was mostly characterized by rock-n-roll, drugs, free sex, and discontentment with “the establishment.” There were sit-ins and war protests galore. They wanted change. Much of this cry for change was legitimate.
It was at this intersection of movements that the church missed a huge opportunity to change America and the world.

In 1970 author Hal Lindsey wrote a book titled “The Late Great Planet Earth.” The book was about an event he called “the rapture” when Jesus would come in the clouds and instantly snatch his church from the ever worsening planet, taking us to heaven, and leaving the earth to suffer the wrath of God in a seven-year tribulation. And He used scripture to back it up in a very convincing way. Convincing, that is, if you have very little knowledge of the bible or church history.

I, like a lot of my peers, bought into it wholeheartedly. Our goal now was to get as many saved as we could and the sooner the better, because He could come any minute. Ok, so what has this got to do with hippies and Jesus people?
On the one hand you had the hippies who wanted to revolutionize society and on the other hand you had those who had hearts changed by Jesus. So, what happened was the new followers of Jesus went out and revolutionized society, right? Wrong. We bought into the “left behind/I wish we’d all been ready” message. Why change society? Why change government? Why go to college (unless it was bible college)? Our only mission was to get as many souls saved as possible before the rapture. Why polish brass on the Titanic?

That way of thinking caused us to compartmentalize our spirituality and spiritualize our Christianity. We were waiting for a “someday” kingdom, when all the while Jesus had told us the kingdom was at hand (Mark 1:15). Meanwhile, many of the hippies who didn’t come to Jesus went to college and became lawyers, politicians, judges, professors, etc. and became shapers and molders of society.

One of the most overlooked passages in the bible is in Isaiah 9:7 –

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.

And one of the most misappropriated scriptures is none other than John 3:16 –

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The word “world” in this passage is the Greek word kosmos, which means the whole created order! When I began to understand that Jesus came not only to change me, but everything, my whole outlook on life started to change.
Where I once saw myself as someone waiting to be rescued from a sinking ship, I now see myself as partnering with Christ Himself in saving the world. The world is going to be saved!

I used to frequently say that it doesn’t matter what your eschatology is (I would throw that out there when I didn’t want to argue about end times). It was a cop out. It is important. With that I’ll leave you with a quote by N.T. Wright from his book Surprised by Scripture –

“When Christ shall come,” we sing in a favorite hymn, “with shout of acclamation, and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.” What we ought to sing is, “When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation, and heal his world, what joy shall fill my heart.” In the New Testament the Second Coming is not the point at which Jesus snatches people up, away from the earth, to live forever with him somewhere else, but the point at which he returns to reign not only in heaven but upon the earth. After all, the risen Jesus in Matthew 28 declares that “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” and makes that the basis for his commission to his disciples.

All authority.

Hmmmm….

Kevin

The fiery evangelist made his point clear that fourth night of the annual spring “revival.” Hell was a real place that awaited those who didn’t accept Christ. In our denomination it was called “making your profession of faith.”
I sat there in the pew next to my mother with my palms sweating profusely, thoroughly convinced that if I procrastinated and didn’t walk that aisle, I could walk out of there, run the risk of getting killed in a car accident on my way home and split hell wide open. I had heard the stories of others who didn’t answer the invitation and soon thereafter met their fate. I had already been scared spitless the night before when the preacher told us about the Second Coming and the risk of being “left behind.” It frightened me so bad that I had a dream that night that I had died and gone to hell. This was a lot for a nine- year- old boy to take in, but I finally made the decision to walk the aisle, shake the preacher’s hand, and repeat the “sinner’s prayer.” Now I had my ticket to heaven and all was well.

Now what?

That would seem the natural question to ask for one who had just decided to follow Jesus. But I didn’t ask that question. We weren’t trained to ask that question. Now what? I was on my way to heaven. That was the what. It was all about escaping the punishment of hell and going to heaven.
To be completely honest, I don’t think I was really deciding to follow Jesus. I was just scared of the thought of spending eternity in hell. Was I saved? Yes. All He asks is that we believe.
It was as if I had been taught to read John 3:16 like this –

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Do you see the emphasis? One of the most popular and powerful statements ever made by Jesus had been reduced to avoiding hellfire. Here’s the point – Jesus indeed came to give us eternal life, but that life begins the instant you believe. The word life in this verse comes from the Greek word zoe, which means life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body) and to last forever (Thayers).

Jesus came not only to die for our sins, but also to show us how to live. When Jesus called his twelve disciples, He simply said “follow me.” I haven’t found anywhere in the gospels where He said,”repeat this prayer after me” or “sign this card.”
It is absolutely true that Jesus came to save us from our sin and our own destructive behavior, but even more important – He has saved us for something. And what is that? It is that we would be so aware of His life in us that we in turn would be life givers.

“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

The more intent I become in following Jesus, the more I am seeing that He looks way different than the one I had heard about that night while sitting in the church pew, although I am thankful that someone did at least point me in His direction.
I’ll leave you with this – Jesus didn’t save us to take us to heaven.

He saved us to save the world.

To be continued…

Kevin