After watching a recent television advertizement I could only shake my head. A young woman was ordering an ice cream sundae and asking the waitress to pour more toppings on it and more and MORE until it is absoulutely ridiculous. The add was not for an all you can eat ice cream bar but for a lawyers’ firm. You deserve MORE. The commercial really sends the wrong message – more leverage or money doesn’t fix any problem. Are you looking for more education, satisfaction, success, money, power…the list goes on. Is bigger really better?

I was talking with a friend who had achieved her Masters degree which is something to be proud of. She bought a home and had a good job but seemed to be looking for something more. I explained that we are all designed with an empty void in our soul which can only be filled by a relationship with God.

Quoted review from Rotten Tomataoes: ” JESUS REVOLUTION is the story of one young hippie’s quest in the 1970s for belonging and liberation that leads not only to peace, love, and rock and roll, but that sets into motion a new counterculture crusade–a Jesus Movement–changing the course of history. Inspired by a true movement, JESUS REVOLUTION tells the story of a young Greg Laurie (Joel Courtney) being raised by his struggling mother, Charlene (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) in the 1970s. Laurie and a sea of young people descend on sunny Southern California to redefine truth through all means of liberation. Inadvertently, Laurie meets Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie), a charismatic hippie-street-preacher, and Pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) who have thrown open the doors of Smith’s languishing church to a stream of wandering youth. What unfolds becomes the greatest spiritual awakening in American history. Rock and roll, newfound love, and a twist of faith lead to a JESUS REVOLUTION that turns one counterculture movement into a revival that changes the world.” I strongly recommend watching this.

These young people called “Hippies” were anti-establishment, protesting the war in Vietnam and the government. They wore strange clothes, sported long hair and advocated spontanaity and “free love” while delving into alcohol and hallucinogenic drugs to elevate their consciousness. They were seeking for something more than what they were being offered and they found it in following Jesus.

Mark 10:17–22 (ESV)
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”18And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.19You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ”20And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”21And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Contrary to the “hippies”, that threw everything conventional away, this young man appeared to have it all. He was a good law abiding citizen, cared for his parents and was well off. The young man was checking off his list and something was missing. The aposte Paul was considered “the best of the best” as a Pharisee but was crusading for the wrong side. When he came face to face with Jesus he was radically changed forever.

Philippians 3:4–8 (The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language)
Paul writes: even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree:5a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Ben-jamin; a strict and devout adherent to God’s law;6a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God’s law Book.7The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. 8Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ

Where are you on your journey in life my friend? Are you searching for something new, bigger, better? Just like the young man and the Apostle Paul even though life looks good and are doing all the right things, is your heart still empty? If today was your last day on earth do you have peace and assurance that you will enter heaven? Maybe you have been looking in the wrong places because things on this earth do not last.

Matthew 6:19–21,25 (ESV) – from the sermon on the mount
19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 25“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

John 14:6 (ESV) Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Matthew 11:28 (The Message) Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest.

The Imperials – More Than You’ll Ever Know

If I could find the right words to say
To tell you just what Christ means to me
I’d say He is more than I could show
And more than you’ll ever know

If you could have seen me just yesterday
You’d know why He’s life and He’s breath to me
You’d know why He’s more than I could show
And more than you’ll ever know

Christ means more to me than you’ll ever know
Christ means more to me than I could possibly show
More, more, so much more, He’s more than you’ll ever know