Jan of a Thousand Days (Plus Me)

Jan of a Thousand Days—Plus Me (1,261)

September 6, 2011

     Janet Clazzy and I have traveled over the past 1,000 days to 40 states, 509 cities, generating 625 presentations in front of tens of thousands of people.  I wish I could capture one moment and give it to each and every one of you as a gift.

     I have learned so much.  I have grown as a person as I have attained the ability to stand firm in important matters and adapt—even becoming a chameleon when necessary to survive the moments of inconvenience.

     Mostly I am encouraged by my discoveries.  Human beings are not nearly as destitute of spiritual potential and concern for others as religionists might fear.  They are also not as ignorant and bound by tradition as politicians tout.  They are certainly not as gullible as Madison Avenue and corporations choose to present. 

     But I will be candid with you—in the realm of having a vision for what to do next, the populace seems a bit starved of food for thought.  The problem? Without a vision the people perish.

     So I sat down with Janet Clazzy and my wife, Dollie, and suggested that we use the remaining time we have of youthful energy and travel moxie as efficiently as we possibly can. For I will tell you—there are five things that I pretty well know for sure:

1.  Jesus wants his church back.  Somewhere along the line, the intensity of the message of the Master has been hijacked by fads, politics and traditionalism.  Jesus would love to be able to share his parables with eager listeners once again—the goal being to find better ways to be happy and get along with one another.

2.  That same church desperately needs the mind of Jesus—not just his body.  Relegating Christ to a cross may provide eternal salvation, but does not offer much in the realm of relieving earthly weariness.  Fortunately, Christ left behind a great portfolio of truth, for us to peruse and pursue.  Because …

3.  The body of his work is in his life.  After all, that’s what’s true about me.  It’s also what’s true about him.  If you want to discover where the church needs to go, it might be a good idea to look at where Jesus has already gone.  Because arriving in the midst of a divisive Jewish community—where Judean, Samaritan and Galilean NEVER interacted—Jesus succeeded in stitching the factions together.  Boy, could we use that now.

4.  Jesus’ life produces abundance.  His words, you know:  “I have come to give you life and it more abundantly.”  Abundance of experience, abundance of trials that we overcome through our good cheer, abundance of what appears to be minor opportunities which we magnify by multiplying our talents. 

5.  And last but not least, abundance is when we finally learn to mingle ourselves, others, God and nature in the correct proportions, tipping our hats to each and every one and giving place and purpose to the united family.

     This is a season for true revival—and although the word “revival” may conjure visions of chicanery and charlatans, the purity of the concept is simply returning to the simplicity of a faith that actually works in everyday life. 

     I am committing the rest of this year and also 2012—when other people will be debating economics and political hot potatoes—to going to God’s church with a simple declaration to grant us independence: Let us unite and discover the heart of Jesus, the soul of his message and the mind of his philosophy—to give new purpose and energy to all of our brothers and sisters.

      Yes.  Uniting the heart, soul and mind of Jesus with the body of Christ.