Although Jesus’ teachings were full of the depth of the riches of His Father’s wisdom, they could really be summed up in one all-inclusive statement. “God’s loving truths are now radically different from what you have been taught, and I am here to tell you, and to show you how different they are!” To Nicodemus, in John 3:3, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say unto you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”(NKJV) Jesus showed him that God had a new covenant plan, a plan, which involved teaching a proper interpretation of scripture and God’s New Covenant plan of being born again.
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, that change is coming: He said in John 4:22-24, “ You worship what you do not know; we know that we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is a Spirit, and those that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Jesus emphatic expository teachings of the Father’s heart, which were so very different than the people of that day were used to, were recorded in multiple other places throughout the New Testament. The famous “Sermon on the Mount” which covered three chapters of Matthews gospel, chapters five through seven, totaled one hundred and eleven verses. They mostly consisted of “you say but I say” instruction on everyday life. Jesus instructions on a “new way of doing things” did not stop with his death but included statements made by the resurrected Christ in the book of Acts, and were recorded by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation. Repeatedly, Jesus introduced the people of His day, something different than they believed up until that time, about God and the Kingdom of God.
As a twenty-four-year-old moving to Jacksonville Florida, although I had not only been raised in the church but had a Godly heritage that spans several generations, to be honest, I had a distaste for the church and for Christians within my family. While I assumed that my move to Jacksonville was job related God had other plans. A custom tailored plan by a very contemporary minded soul outreach coordinator called the Holy Spirit caused me to meet the sister of one of the members of the world famous Rock Band called Lynyrd Skynyrd in a night club called “Diamond Head”. At that time Lynyrd Skynyrd was my favorite band and “Freebird” was my favorite song. Their home roots were in Jacksonville. This band member’s sister had been attending church for a brief time and started telling me about her newfound experiences in God. God met me where I was at in my life in a huge way. Because of her influence, it was not long before I was in a solid church, with people who were passionate for God and I was worshipping Jesus in a whole new way.
I excitedly told my mother over the phone about this new joy I had found. How that my life was changing.. I remember telling her that I was not going to bars anymore, that Jesus was now all I needed in my life and that I was happier than I had ever been. My mother bless her heart, became deeply concerned. I will never forget the several page letter she wrote me, warning me about cults and false doctrine. She quoted several scriptures in the letter, to which I lovingly replied, and added more scriptures which completely supported my new salvation in Jesus and my being filled with His glorious Holy Spirit. Fortunately, she gradually accepted my change as being a good thing for me and eventually came to realize that there was more to God than she had previously been taught.
My mom then later told me that her pastor had stopped by to visit her and that when he noticed the titles of some books that I had sent on the coffee table he said, “Don’t you know those are books written by a certain group?” Ironically, the group he mentioned was experiencing a great revival of converts across America, and had been for years.
Interestingly, my mother later told me that when some of these same experiences had hit their church years before, they called in a special speaker who believed he had a mandate from the Lord to expose these practices as “from the devil!” I told my Mom if this is from the devil then Satan is on the wrong team!” Such was the example of a spiritual “gatekeeper” who was keeping out solid teachings of Jesus. Once again, Jesus was trying to teach the church in America, “God’s loving truths are radically different from what you have been taught, and I am here to both tell you, and to show you how different they are!” Just like the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus day that considered themselves to be “gatekeepers” keeping out Jesus’s teaching, this pastor was sadly misdirected. A church-ianity experience that had been a huge turn off to me as a child had been replaced by a living encounter with a loving Savior. Many misplaced gatekeepers perhaps need to hear the words of Moses to Pharaoh, saying “Let my people go!”
Gatekeepers of America, spiritual leaders of multiple potential titles, always remember that your belief system is strongly influenced by what you have personally experienced in your own life. I encourage you to develop a Godly fear, to not to touch God’s anointed, and to spend considerable amount of time in prayer before you step in to try to stop something that seems “new” to you! Historically God always sends revival differently than before. Psalm 78:41 warns that the following actions are both possible and tragic; “Yea, they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy one of Israel!”(KJV)