EARS TO HEAR & EYES TO SEE

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There is a universal truth in the marketplace: "Only 5% think, 15% think they think and 80% would rather die than think." We live and move in herds. We go along and rarely question what we hear. This is especially true after hearing things over and over throughout our lives. The tendency is to accept without question whatever we hear that is attached to a Scriptural verse and delivered by a pastor, teacher, guru, priest, imam, or monk we trust. I call these blind beliefs "myths" that are passed on so frequently that they become THE truth and a vital doctrine in our religious beliefs.

Once we have embraced a given myth, we tend to use it to establish that we are more right than another. There is something in our humanity that works overtime to be right, which makes those who disagree with us wrong.

I have been caught up in a series of myths my entire life. After growing up in a Christian home, attending a Christian liberal arts college and a four year graduate seminary, I went along with many of the myths without questioning what I read or was taught. The result? My eyes gradually glazed over and I became hard of hearing.

I've spent most of my life seeking to understand how to relate to the non-churched, non-Christian world. My books and speaking platforms have all had a crossover flavor to them and I finally ended up at the peak of professional speaking opportunities on the largest platforms in addition to pastoring one of the early mega-churches.

During that season of my life I came to the conclusion that only Jesus could transform our lives. 1. NOT Churchianity 2. NOT Christianity 3. NOT conversion methods 4. ONLY JESUS

I came to the conclusion that in order to reach the non-churched world I would have to separate myself from mainstream churches and Christianity. So, I did that to a certain degree, but I still had to take up offerings to keep the church and its staff alive.

In the second season of my life Jesus apprehended my heart in a fresh way and poised me toward taking this same "Jesus plus nothing" message beyond the "secular", non-churched world into the 7 major cultures of the world.

So, now my focus and perpendicular learning curve have taken me to a simple understanding of Jesus and the Kingdom. I've spent so much time and energy unlearning a lot of my theological premises I received at graduate seminary while a student and professor. It's been a fresh look at Jesus and His message of the good news of the Kingdom. His message was not the church, but all about the Kingdom. He only mentions "church" on two occasions.

In this journey now we are working with the 7 primary cultures of the world-Buddhist, Hindu, Moslem, Jewish, Animist, Christian and Atheist/Agnostic. We don't present Christianity to them, but Jesus. We teach them to follow the teachings and principles of Jesus as the early disciples did. The results are amazing. Instead of further dividing the world into more warring factions, we are experiencing a new and supernatural unity in the name of Jesus. You see, Jesus unites and all else divides! I am now convinced that Christianity isn't the way; Jesus is!

One of the repeated themes and challenges within the teachings of Jesus is to have ears to hear and eyes to see. Jesus knows our human tendency to drift away, get off-message, become distracted, and to divide up and take sides. So, He warns us to be careful that we listen and see clearly.

We are going to make our way through 32 myths. These aren't the only myths, but seem to be some of the most common ones. It is not my purpose to shake up your faith in any way other than to strengthen it and refocus it on Jesus. As you read through each of the myths, remove your religious blinders, think and evaluate what you believe Jesus' teaching really is. Don't be afraid to go with His teachings, when they counter things you have believed all your life. It may be a little shocking at first, but when the light bulb clicks on in your head and heart, you'll know what is true.

Jesus without religious baggage is awesome, attractive and even irresistible! The only thing Jesus requires of you and me is to be interested-to have ears to hear and eyes to see.

If you are Muslim, know that your holy Qur'an teaches the uniqueness of Jesus and reveres Him most highly. If you are Buddhist, know that His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, loves the teachings of Jesus and encourages people to study them and follow Him. If you are Hindu, know that there are millions within your culture who have come to love and follow Jesus as did Ghandi. If you are Jewish, do as your many scholars are doing and study this Jewish Rabbi for yourself. If you are agnostic, you may be better able to check this out for yourself, who this Jesus without religious baggage really is.

If you are Christian, you may have the toughest time examining these myths. It's because you think you already know Jesus. What I have found to be true is that many Christians seem to know a lot about Jesus, but don't really know Him and follow Him.

Whether Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, agnostic or Christian, Jesus will never ask you to leave your culture. Jesus supersedes all culture. As a Buddhist friend said to me: "Jesus trumps everything!" If you myth out on Jesus, you will find that you are missing out on life at its fullest!

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Jesus got my attention-to pay attention to Jesus and his teachings primarily. I came to the realization that I didn't really know Jesus as personally as I would like. I knew a lot about him from his birth to his death. I had written about him, built a Church around him, developed self-help principles from his teachings and I pretty well thought I knew when the widespread and popular 2nd coming of Jesus might take place.

I came to the decision that I was just tired of running a Church, going to a Church, and talking, talking, talking about it. I had this deep desire to practice the church-to be the church and to find out experientially for myself if this Church thing-this Jesus lifestyle I'd articulated for so long, could be lived. More than that, I wanted to know for sure that I could live this lifestyle-really live it out.

I knew that this meant moving away from my frantic speaking, writing and counseling schedule. Somehow all of that needed to be set aside to provide enough space to learn what it means to trust Jesus with my life-moment by moment. This was something I only talked about and rarely experienced. This meant facing several lifestyle adjustments. Fortunately, Diana was willing to make this shift in our lifestyle, too.

We gathered a few friends to ask them if they would walk with us as we followed our new found aspirations. We gathered three couples, spent the day with them and shared our thoughts and feelings. When we asked them if they would be willing to walk with us through this journey to get to know Jesus and live out the Jesus lifestyle, they unanimously agreed to walk with us and we all became enthusiastic about what we might discover about Jesus and ourselves together.

We began with a 45 day prayer covenant that we would agree to pray together. We prayed for wisdom on how to walk with Jesus, for those who are hurting-the abused, addicted, and damaged-to come to us. We prayed that we might learn together how to mentor others to follow this Jesus with us, yet we were determined we would not promote what we were doing. We committed to one another to wait on Jesus to bring people to us with ears to hear and eyes to see. And that's exactly what Jesus did! You know the drill. You pray for God to come through and show Himself in tangible ways, then when He does, you are shocked!

Together we drew up a covenant that held us to our agreements together. As we listed our agreements, they fell into place into what we've come to know as the EMBERS COVENANT. There were six agreements: 1. Embrace the teachings of Jesus as a lifestyle. 2. Mentor others to do the same. 3. Believe God for raising up leaders. 4. Empower the youth. 5. Restore the broken-the addicted, abused and the poor. 6. Serve everyone who is brought our way. This covenant took on the form of a question: What can I do to help?

People were definitely brought our way and we gathered with them to meet Jesus as he showed up among us. What a ride! What a thrill! And it's still continuing today!

This is when I determined to speak on what we were learning-to share with others what we were seeing and experiencing. So, I began with "The Jesus Factor" that turned into a 6 part series of messages. Five additional series emerged with 6 messages each-we call it the "Jesus Journey" and that early articulation was rough, but powerfully effective to help those who were interested to get to know Jesus.

At the end of this 42 week series of messages, it was clear to me that in order to really experience what it means to walk with Jesus, walk with others and wait for Jesus to lead out, something drastic had to happen. So, we decided that we must dismantle our organized Church and begin meeting in homes. This was a tough move, because long-time traditions are hard to break. In fact, I think it's more difficult to dismantle a Church than to start one!

This is when I felt it necessary to discipline myself to write something on Jesus on a daily basis. We first called it 'ACTS 29 Daily', then it emerged into the 'JESUS PLUS NOTHING Daily.' Now, this daily study has been going for nearly seven years.

The Daily podcast/blog subscriber list has continued to grow and many forward it on to family, friends and colleagues, when they deem it appropriate to pass it on. Of all of the studies, the most popular was a series of 32 myths. I called it "Mything Out On Jesus and His Teachings" and published it in a booklet format, straight from the blogs. A steady flow of these booklets are acquired through Amazon.com and several small groups are using this tool as a text for study.

Whereas "Mything Out On Jesus and His Teachings", was sort of an in your face challenge to all those who still wear traditional blinders about Jesus, JESUS PLUS NOTHING is different. JESUS PLUS NOTHING is a gentler, kinder, inductive telling of my personal journey with Jesus, then sharing a more full teaching of the pre-eminence of Jesus, the presence of the Kingdom and the power of the few. JESUS PLUS NOTHING is an invitation to come and see Jesus for yourself. It's also a challenge to not just be a believer in Jesus, but learn to be a follower of him. Begin your Jesus journey today!

Tomorrow, we'll begin revisiting the 32 myths.

3 ESSENTIALS FOR CHANGING THE WORLD

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The fifth top takeaway out of the book, JESUS PLUS NOTHING has to do with Jesus' revolutionary strategy for changing the world. There are three essentials for changing the world.

FIRST ESSENTIAL-The pre-eminence of Jesus-making the main thing the main thing! Life isn't about religion or a religious experience, but a relationship with Jesus. Life doesn't revolve around a set of propositions or a performance system, but a person. His name is Jesus.

Jesus came to restore what man has lost. The loss is like a hole in the soul, filled with a gnawing ache of loneliness. So, at the core of most everything man tries to do is this inner drive to fill the hole in the soul. Every religion, philosophy, and political ideology is an attempt to fill that hole. We were created to be dependent upon God. And if you choose not to be dependent upon God, you will inevitably find yourself dependent upon something or someone else. This sets in motion a perpetual cycle of dissatisfaction. That's the bad news! Jesus, simply Jesus, is the only one who can fill that hole in man's soul. Now, that's the Good News! Jesus is the Good News-the Gospel.

Jesus came to give you what you can't get on your own. What is it that Jesus can give you that you can't get on your own? This may sound a bit strange, but Jesus came as a revolutionary. The revolution is all about restoration and transformation.

Transformation is what is needed at the core level-an inner change of heart. Since I've been following Jesus I have found four experiences that have become amazingly real to me. On the negative side of the emotional ledger we humans are continually struggling with fear, anger, guilt and shame.

Jesus offers a positive counter experience to each of these toxic emotions and makes these offers for anyone who is willing to follow after Him.
* Jesus offers peace that counteracts the fear!
* Jesus offers love that counteracts the anger!
* Jesus offers joy that counteracts the guilt!
* Jesus offers grace that counteracts the shame!

What is really needed is a genuine change of heart-to see your life, predicaments, and people differently. Several years ago, we set out to study only the five Gospels for three years-Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts. We did this in order to get to know this Jesus. This focus proved to be life changing! It was through this Jesus journey that we discovered what only Jesus could do for us that we cannot do for ourselves. I have no capability to change a person's heart. I can't give people peace. I can't give people joy. I can't give them love. I can't, but I've come to realize that Jesus can!

Again, I am not speaking of the religious Jesus. I am referring to the most prominent and powerful person ever! And, in the most pragmatic way, this Jesus seems to be able to affect these internal changes in people.
There's something about Jesus without religious baggage-his words, his actions, his loving ways, his bent toward the disenfranchised and especially His name-that brings healing and wholeness to the heart and mind. Jesus is truly the most effective person you can embrace for yourself.

SECOND ESSENTIAL-The presence of the Kingdom-embracing the principles of Jesus as a lifestyle! Most of Jesus' teachings are about the Kingdom, not the Church. Jesus only mentions the church on two occasions. Jesus as the King came to introduce a lifestyle on a different level-the Kingdom level. The Kingdom lifestyle is simply living out the principles of the King's teachings. The Kingdom lifestyle is learning to walk, talk, think and love like Jesus.

Jesus' constant message was the presence of the Kingdom right here right now. He said the Kingdom is here, it's near and it's among you all as you gather in the name of Jesus, the King.

THIRD ESSENTIAL-The power of the few. The first two essentials are most effectively activated in the power of the few. This may be the most counterintuitive dimension within the Jesus movement. "The power of the few" contains the same core idea as the seed. Just as the seed is small and seemingly insignificant, proving to become large, irreversible in its growth and powerful enough to accomplish inner transformation, so it is with the power of the few.

Jesus modeled the power of the few by inviting only three to come and be with Him. He spoke to thousands of people from time to time, but Jesus spent most of His time with a few-from three to twelve.

Jesus was the model and the disciples of Jesus learned to follow the model that was set. They always traveled and ministered in teams of two or more. They practiced the power of the few very effectively. They even authored several of the books of the New Testament, often in tandem with others. For instance, the first letter to the Corinthians (I Corinthians) is attributed to Paul. But Paul didn't write the letter to the community of believers in Corinth, alone. Right up front within the letter it says Paul and Sosthenes were the authors. This may be the same Sosthenes who was the leader of the synagogue in Corinth. Paul had help writing the second letter to the Corinthians, too. Paul and Timothy wrote that letter. Timothy also co-authored Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon with him. The letter to the gathering of Jesus' followers in Galatia is said to be written by Paul and "all the brothers and sisters with me." Then, in the book of I John, John says that "which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-this we proclaim concerning the Word of life." Note that this letter was composed by a group of people that John called "we."

Read the book of I Thessalonians and you will discover that even though Paul is again listed as the author, yet this isn't exactly true. According to the first verse there were three authors-Paul, Silvanus (or Silas) and Timothy. Now get this! These three men following Jesus and walking together in Jesus' name made such an impression with the Thessalonians that their message spread or echoed forth throughout Asia Minor. It's the power of the few!

My entire life has been preparing to speak to the masses, but I walked alone. Today, I walk with a few and am stronger than ever. Jesus is the pre-eminent one in my life. I'm doing the toughest thing I've ever tried to do as I try my best to follow Jesus' Kingdom teachings. And, I am convinced that there is no chance of keeping Jesus pre-eminent in my life and following His Kingdom principles daily WITHOUT walking in the power of a few others who are walking with me. These three essentials are clearly the only possible way to unleash the power of Jesus in changing the world. And by the way, when you unleash the power of Jesus on the world, you allow Him to first change you.

ANYONE ANYWHERE CAN BEGIN TO FOLLOW JESUS

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The fourth top takeaway from JESUS PLUS NOTHING stirs up so much emotional response. In other words, there is more heat than light at first. It's tough enough to separate Jesus from Christian ownership. Now, this insight sounds even more foreign and out of bounds from what we've been taught.

No matter how much evidence is offered or how many people are produced from non-Christian cultures who are followers of Jesus, it's still stifling to the brain. A little over a year ago about 60 of us participated in the Montana Awakening. We were spread all over the state, sharing the message of Jesus.

I was teamed up with a Muslim friend of mine who loves Jesus and has been faithfully following Jesus for years. My friend is more articulate and genuine in his relationship with Jesus than most Christians I've known for years. On our first night in Montana, we were scheduled to speak along with a couple of others from Germany. I began, setting the stage for my Muslim friend's testimony of how he had come to follow Jesus. Then he would speak and I closed out our session.

Well-meaning Christians bombarded us afterward, vehemently and angrily arguing with my friend and me that it is impossible for a Muslim to be a true follower of Jesus. It was just unthinkable! The same attitude is found among the early disciples in Luke 9, where John says to Jesus, "Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us." You see how it works? It's unthinkable that anyone who is not one of us-one of our group-could possibly have a right connection with Jesus.

In John 10 Jesus tries to instruct His disciples that He has other disciples who do not belong to His disciples' same denomination. He says, "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd." Whoever Jesus is talking about, these other sheep are not from the same religious and cultural persuasion as His disciples.

In the final book of the New Testament-Revelation-there is reference to "A great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne" of Jesus. (Revelation 7)

NOTE the common theme of these passages. There is no reference to any certain religious group, but it's clear that God is calling people from every nation, every tribe and every language group.

So, how is it possible for a non-Christian-a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Jew or agnostic-to come to the point of being a follower of Jesus and have a genuine saving relationship with Jesus?

I've observed it in three stages. First-a person is drawn to Jesus because of His miracles, His teachings. At this stage a person is fascinated with the most amazing man, Jesus. He's a great teacher and a great example.

Second-after following Jesus for a period of time, a person begins to embrace Jesus' principles and teachings. The principles begin to make more and more sense, so the person who has merely been fascinated with Jesus now begins to take Jesus seriously.

Third-after continuing to follow Jesus and embrace His teachings and principles, this is when Jesus begins to transform a person's life. If an internal change or conversion is going to take place, then it will happen at this level of progression.

This progression is perfectly illustrated in Jesus' encounter with Peter at Caesarea Philippi. Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answers by saying, "You are God's Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus strokes Peter for giving such a good answer, but says, "Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you." Only the Father could reveal this kind of thing to Peter. Only God can change a person's heart. No amount of teachings or belief systems can do this.

Here's the way I see it. You don't have to believe Jesus is the Son of God to begin to follow Jesus. The disciples didn't! In fact, they weren't even genuine "believers", until later. It took them over three years of following Jesus daily for God, the Father, to change their hearts and minds of faith.

When a person begins to follow Jesus, he is set up perfectly to have his heart totally converted-transformed by God Himself. We've seen this happen in every major culture of the world. They first are attracted to Jesus as a great teacher or example and later Jesus apprehends their hearts.

One more thing. You don't have to be a Christian to be a follower of Jesus either. Here's the point! Anyone anywhere can begin to follow Jesus.

JESUS ALONE MATTERS

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In my opinion, the third top takeaway from the book, JESUS PLUS NOTHING, is that Jesus alone matters. What Jesus says. What Jesus does. What Jesus commands matters more than anything else in your spiritual life.

Here's how I frequently illustrate this pre-eminence of Jesus. Think of it this way. If Jesus says one thing and your pastor or favorite spiritual guru seems to be saying something else, who are you going to go with? I'd go with Jesus.
If Jesus says one thing and you realize you believe something different from Jesus' teachings, who will you go with? Jesus's thinking versus my thinking? I'm going to follow Jesus' thinking here. If Jesus says something and what you've been taught all of your life in your religious experience says something else, who are you going with? My advice? Stick with Jesus! How about if Jesus says one thing and Paul seems to be teaching something different-maybe an emphasis or focus that differs, who will you side with? Jesus is not confused or foggy in His thinking. He teaches without flaws or opinions. Always, always go with Jesus, because Jesus alone matters!

What Jesus says is the primary word on a matter, no matter what the subject. We have discussed on several occasions Jesus' conversation with the religious leaders in John 5. Jesus says, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." Jesus makes it clear here that it's important to realize that seeking Jesus Himself is a higher priority than searching the Scriptures. Jesus alone matters!

If you want to dive into a very productive study, just do a search of what Jesus teaches on a given subject. For instance, according to Jesus who is it that will enter the Kingdom of Heaven and who will not? I'll give you a hint. Jesus makes it clear that not all who call themselves believers will enter.

What Jesus does is the primary example of how we ought to live. Jesus' actions and strategies are counter-intuitive and even counter-cultural to the religious ways of thinking on many occasions. Jesus' approach was to primarily see and interact with individuals. He spoke before thousands a few times, but most encounters were individual and personal.

Jesus also gives us great insight into how we might relate to the many cultures of the world. He never concerned Himself with criticizing or changing a person's religious beliefs from his or her background and culture. Jesus always made it personal-always about the individual and that person's heart of faith and trust. More than that, Jesus always concerned Himself with the personal relationship He had with that person and the person's response back to Him.

What Jesus commands is the primary focus we ought to observe. Jesus never commanded us to convert anyone to our religious ways. He never commanded us to condemn anyone. He never commanded anyone to go, build and organize Churches. The primary emphasis in Jesus' commands was to go and make disciples-Jesus learners and followers-of every culture in the world.

Why is this true that Jesus alone matters and is so pre-eminent? It's because of who Jesus is. Jesus has a name that is above all names. Not Christ, but Jesus. His name is very important-just as important as the personal name of God revealed in the Old Testament. It was Yahweh! Jesus means "Yahweh saves." Jesus. There is something about that name!

At the name of Jesus every knee will bow someday. It's in the name of Jesus that people have been and can be healed. It's in the name of Jesus that people can be transformed inside out. It's in the name of Jesus that people are touched with His love, joy, peace and grace and are never the same again!

NOTE it is not in the name of Christ, but in the name of Jesus. You might say it's a matter of semantics, but it's not! It's personal! His name is Jesus!

The great Dr. Albert Schweitzer of Africa said something that stopped me in my tracks with its powerful truth. He said, "Jesus comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side. He came to those men who knew Him not. He speaks to us the same word: "Follow me!" and sets us to the tasks, which He has to fulfill for our time. He commands. And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple. He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings, which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn in their own experience Who He is."

There is a part of Jesus we can't know by reading books about Him, can't know by listening to sermons on Him. There is a part of Him we can't know by going to church, to Bible college, to seminary. There is a part of Him we can only know by following Him. This is our prayer that through JESUS PLUS NOTHING you will learn to know Jesus by following Him.