REVOLUTION
Recently Valda and I watched the film Jesus Revolution and we loved it!
It’s the story of the Jesus ‘Freak’ movement of the 60’s/70’s, which was primarily in California but spread across the US. It was a real move of God, people were being saved in tent missions and being baptised at the beach! The story is told through the eyes of a young Greg Laurie. His Church grew out of that movement and today it’s a large Church movement called Harvest Christian Fellowship of over 15,000 across multiple Churches.
I know it’s ‘based’ on a true story so before the cynics reading this chirp up! Yes there are creative changes for the purposes of making an entertaining film…. but it’s about Jesus! How amazing that a film about Jesus was number one in the movie charts in the US! Did I mention it’s about JESUS! Awesome!!
It really was a revolution. A radical change took place!
For anyone watching, it clearly shows that the revolution of Jesus is first a revolution of the human heart. It then becomes a revolution of character, which changes people from the inside. These changes come not from ourselves but through the personal relationship we have with God, through Jesus. None of us could make those changes in our own strength, it’s the spirit working through us and the community of believers being ‘one’ with each other, helping to keep each other strong and focused!
If we think about our Christian walk being a revolution, it should start to change our ideas, beliefs, feelings, habits of choice, bodily actions as well as our relationships to those we know or meet.
One of the things that stood out to me when watching the film was that Jesus didn’t send out his ‘apprentices’ to start governments, organisations or even Churches in the same way as we know them all to be today, He first sent them out to be ‘Beachheads’!
Beachheads?
Just think for a moment what a beachhead is! A beachhead is a defendable place on a beach which has been taken from the enemy and then it is used to launch out from with the aim of gaining more ground from the enemy! I really think that this in some way describes how we need to approach our lives and see that we are ‘beachheads' to launch from.
The mission of all of us who follow Jesus is to help others to know and follow Jesus.
Each time a new person says yes to Jesus and starts to follow, a beachhead is formed of God’s presence, His word and His power. This takes place in the midst of that person's world even though they are surrounded in so many ways by a failing humanity that is influenced and ruled very much by the enemy!
Our mission is to bring the presence of His Kingdom and our King into every corner of human life by simply living in the Kingdom with Him.
Churches ARE NOT the Kingdom of God, they are expressions, outposts and beachheads of the Kingdom.
I want to encourage you today that you are a Beachhead of God's Kingdom.
You carry His presence, His word, His power and you are supposed to take this into a world that needs Jesus.
We need to protect our beachhead if we truly want to launch into each day from it.
We do this by keeping close to God, spending time with Him and as we launch out to another person, we rely on His spirit in us, His power and the potential that He can bring through us to create a revolution to this broken world; saving one person at a time!
Let’s try to bring a little revolution to our world today.
Be a beachhead!
By Simon Rushton 24th May 2023
