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Picture of a Jesus Power slogan in
gold, black and red button on a white background.
In the 1960's and early 1970's there
seemed to be a new cultural or protest movement born every week.
Those were the years when blacks and other minorities struggled
more openly for civil rights, when the drug culture spread into
every town, high school and college, it seemed, and when
America's youth seemed to take a vacation from the more
responsible and disciplined practices and ideas of previous
generations. The so-called war in Viet Nam exploded during that
time. We had hippies, war protestors, college-inspired young
communists, and then, suddenly, the Jesus movement.
Protesting and rioting broke out in
many places, as people expressed their unhappiness with some of
the problems and policies plaguing the nation. Posters and
home-made signs shouted "Black Power!" Hippies, many of whom
were experimenting with all sorts of drugs and other
concoctions, sometimes made their own signs that read, "Flower
Power." Their argument was to "make love not war" and to share
flowers and other naturally positive beautiful things. Many of
the hippies and others deep into the drug culture were studying
Eastern religions, philosophies and meditation techniques. All
this experimentation and searching naturally led some to take
another, more serious look at Jesus Himself, and His teachings.
Any honest examination of Jesus
Christ will lead many to a genuine faith in God. Millions of
young people in America began to follow Jesus — from among the
hippies, the war protestors, the black power protestors, and
from kids still taking a more traditional path. And then the
explosion continued, spreading out and into the churches, and
among adults of all ages.
In the Jesus movement, old familiar
slogans of protest, resistance or rebellion were replaced new
ones that expressed faith in God and in Jesus Christ. It was in
this time and this atmosphere that the term Jesus Power first
emerged, as I remember it. I suppose one could even argue that I
was one of the many young people touched by this new movement to
follow Jesus, although I didn't see it as such at the time. I
came to know the Lord Jesus in the year 1970, after the Jesus
movement had already made its way across much of America.
Jesus power is much more than a
slogan, however. It is a way of life for the genuine believer.
The Apostle Paul sums it up in his letter to the Galatians, when
he says, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)
Two other Bible statements, again
made by Paul in the New testament, go even further: "For it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)
and, "I know both how to be abased,
and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am
instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and
to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:12,13)
You will gain much by studying these
and similar passages in the Scriptures on your own. But the
essential idea in all these comments is that we do not live out
our own lives, by our own strength alone, by sheer determination
and/or will power. Christ Himself lives in us, to make us able
to do whatever we need to do, in all kinds of circumstances.
Jesus power.
The disciples of Jesus were
witnesses to His acts of power many times. They were sometimes
frightened by what He could do, as when He commanded the wind
waves of the sea to be still, and calmed the storm (see the
story of the event in Mark 4:37-41). They also saw Jesus raise
dead people back to life, and they watched as He healed all
kinds of diseases and afflictions, sent demons packing, and
restored ruined bodies and crippled limbs. Jesus power.
The power of Jesus Christ is the
undiluted power of God. That power is governed by God's love and
compassion for struggling humanity. Jesus power comes to the
rescue of lives gone wrong. Jesus power makes people alive
again, gives children laughter, gives moms and dads a solid,
valid reason for new hope, and gives old grandmas and grandpas
assurance of a better life in a place where no one ever suffers
or dies again. Jesus power vanquished the curse of sin,
destroyed the grip of death and silences the devil's accusations
forever. Jesus power makes the sinner clean, makes the pathway
bright, and makes eternity a welcoming invitation. Jesus power.
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personal witness, for church programs, and other Christian
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