Jesus Movement and Public Television

Jesus Movement and Public Television

Watched a great program the other night on Public Television.  It was a history of Peter, Paul and Mary.  I had to chuckle because a few days earlier on one of my walks, I was singing a couple of their songs.  It is easy to sing when you walk in the canyon and nobody else is around!  I always felt they were one of the groups that reflected pop culture and also gave a voice to the dynamic social changes of the sixties.  It is amazing how music can take you back to previous times in our lives.

In the program a lot of attention was given to the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam war.  The message that seemed to leak out throughout the program was the need for love and peace.  If people would just love each other and put down their weapons, we would not have to deal with these social and political ills.

Sounds great! Sign me up!

Before I met Jesus, I thought the answer was in the progressive movement of the sixties. Not only that, but you can smoke a joint while you give peace a chance!  Do I think most of the progressives had their hearts in the right place?  Yes.  Do I think that the social progressives are naïve to reality of evil?  Yes.

Would Jesus have marched for civil rights of minorities?  He would have affirmed that all people are equal in the sight of His Father.  Would he have marched to end the war?  Not sure.  I don’t think he would put a bumper sticker on his donkey that states that war is not the answer. I do think he would equally say that war will not bring about the kingdom of God.  Ask your Jewish friends if war was the answer to Nazism.

We are in a war!  The struggle is not against flesh and blood according to the Apostle Paul. We are in a battle against spiritual forces of darkness that want to destroy all that is righteous, holy and good.

When I became a follower of Jesus, I realized that there is a movement that far transcends the progressive movement of the sixties.  That movement is a Jesus movement that spans the globe.  It resists sterile religious structures as well as confronts the evil of this age.  In China right now this movement is growing at a rapid pace.  Even here in America, there is a movement growing outside of established religion that may radically transform the body of Christ.

My prayer for the Christian community that I pastor is that we will let the Spirit of God lead us into a Kingdom life that will be truly reflective of Christ’s love and peace.  As Bob Dylan said many years ago, “The answer is blowing in the wind.”  What he did not understand is that the wind is the Spirit of God as He blows new life into lost souls.  We can overcome by the Spirit and the Word!

Pastor Fred

 

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