Against the Flow

I found this today on theooze.com
Undercover Xian (whoever that is) wrote it and he or she is right on the money with this. It really makes you think about the Kingdom of God and what Jesus would do in different situations. So read and be blessed............................................................

In the Summer of 95, I met Jesus and it changed my life forever.

You know, I was psyched about summer ... I had all of the hopes that a young youth pastor wannabe could have. I had the pedigree, the low pay, the training, the education, and a Cadillac to drive in the middle of the night with the windows down. Life was going to be great! I was so pumped! Then Someone came into the picture and things would never be the same again for me. Jesus had to stick his nose in and stir everything up in a way that only He can.

I guess the best way to tell you about this Jesus guy is to share some instances that occurred during this summer where He did his thing and shook things up. You know, He went against the flow, rebelled against the leadership, inspired an uprising, bucked the establishment and supported the hurting. He did things in His timing, with His people, in His way. Looking back on that summer, He showed up in a lot of places, places that changed my life, and others, forever.

He showed up at a coffee house for a few weeks. He was the guy sitting at the table with the beer drinkers and smokers. He cracked jokes about the guy upfront, speaking from a viewpoint of religious pride and those around him shook his hand and thanked him for being different.

He was seen walking down the drag in front of Arizona State University. The cool thing was that He didn't judge the scantily dressed women or the drunken guys trying to pick them up. He simply shook their hands and looked into their eyes and spoke words of encouragement to them like an old friend that truly loved them and knew their hurt.

I saw him go up to a fire and brimstone street preacher and thank him for his passion and overlook the abusive language and confusion that arose from the man's words. He placed His hand on him and prayed for him. He held his hand and thanked him for his passion.

I saw him drive through the streets and with a tear in His eye, pray for those that he would come into contact with. No reservation, no expectation, and no demand for any acceptance from any of them.

One time he was at Cold Stone Creamery where He ministered to some people that were hurt by the leadership of a local ministry. He shared their struggles, their pain, their distaste for the religious powers that be. He prayed with them that night and strong relationships were formed. I believe those relationships endure to this day.

I saw Jesus sitting in the front of a room full of people in a church. A leader had fallen morally and Jesus went to the front of the room, physically picked up the wounded soldier and carried him away from the jeering crowd. The soldier had lost all of his strength and was physically unable to stand. But that didn't stop Jesus. He held the soldier and healed his wounds...as long as it would take...He was just there. Even with a crowd of Pharisees looking on.

Jesus told us to stand up for what was right no matter what. He told us to live a life that was worthy of Christ. He didn't tell us to meet requirements that were impossible to meet and then judge us if we didn't meet them. He was there to support us and love us. He just didn't judge.

One time I was with Jesus at a restaurant. The people at the table were speaking cruel words and offending those around them. Jesus confronted them in love but the cruel words continued and Jesus left with tears in his eyes because He couldn't understand how people could claim His name and be so hurtful to those around them.

My experience with Jesus was absolutely life changing for me. Being with him made so many things crystal clear to me. Everything else that I was dealing with seemed to fade away when I was with Him in the midst of these experiences. But, the story should have a villain as well. After all, every story does have a villain in it doesn't it?

Satan showed up at the same coffee house at ASU as Jesus did but the weird thing about it was that he was standing in front of the group judging them and pounding his fist in his hand telling the people how terrible and sinful they were. He even offended the people to the point that most of them got up and walked out never to return again.

Satan was seen walking down the drag on the opposite side of the street in front of ASU, the same way Jesus was walking but instead of being nice and caring he was laughing and mocking the street preacher because he disagreed with the approach being used. Not only that! He even condemned the girls for the way they were dressed and judged the guys for enjoying their alcohol.

Satan was cruising around Tempe and couldn't stop putting numbers on the foreheads of everyone he saw, thinking about how he was going to convert them to his way of thinking...and soon they all would be doing the same thing he was. Spreading his venomous poison to the masses and making them slaves to rule, reason, analyzing everything to make sure that it fit what he believed was right. Rather than placing a hand of compassion on those he met, he placed a hand of condemnation.

I also saw him at Cold Stone Creamery. He was there in the background yelling out curses and mocking Jesus when he spoke to those hurting leaders and prayed for them. He was in the back telling them that they were gossiping for sharing the hurt and pain and that they just needed to "get over it" and "submit" to his authority. The condemnation only got worse as the breakthrough occurred and tears flowed between Jesus and his friends.

I saw Satan sitting in the front row of that church too. I saw him point his finger of damnation on the fallen soldier and kick him out and strip him of his leadership position. I saw Satan's helpers beat the fallen soldier while he was unable to move, defenseless, on the ground begging them to stop. Finally Jesus intervened to stop the bludgeoning.

Satan had a theme during that summer. His message was to follow his authority no matter what happened. He told us to not challenge the status quo, he told us to be YES people, and he told us to forget about all of the pain that he caused us and not hold him responsible for it...simply put he was totally opposite of my dear friend Jesus. But he would deny it to your face when cornered.

At the end of the summer a soldier told Jesus about something that she wanted him to know about. In a closed-door meeting, away from Satan's ears, she told him of all of the hurtful things that were said about him. She told him of the bets that were cast seeking to throw Jesus off track. She told him of the jokes made about the way Jesus would act. She told him that he had such an impact on her that she was no longer going to be a soldier for Satan...instead she would be a soldier with him.

Jesus is incredible. That is a summer that I will never forget and it changed my life. Am I a follower of Satan any longer? You be the judge...or better yet, let Jesus be the judge. Am I follower of Jesus? He knows the answer.

He's the one who taught me to swim against the currents in life. Against The flow.

Undercover Xian

Bio: Undercover Xian is in all of us