<!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Times; panose-1:2 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;} @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"ＭＳ 明朝"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} </style> --> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YBwX5-19hh..." imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YBwX5-19hh..." width="131" /></a><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;">An interesting thing occurred while I was editing my new book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Thing-Revol..." target="_blank">One Thing</a></i></span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Thing-Revol..." target="_blank"><i>: A Revolution to Change the World with Love</i></a></span>. Some dear friends read the book for me and offered feedback. They assumed what my view was on certain issues simply because I was not espousing their views. I was not at all saying what they thought I was. The patterns in their brain “filled in” information that I actually never wrote. I asked myself why this happened. I had one of my friends read a chapter three times and then went over it with him line by line until he saw what I was actually saying. We were not so far off in our beliefs after that. One can argue from this that I am not a good communicator, but I think there is more. </span><span style="font-family: "times"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;">I believe we all have been programmed to hear with a bias that doesn’t always allow us to actually hear what is being said. We have been force fed by media only two options and challenged to choose a side. We are so accustomed to the same sound bites on both sides that when we hear something different from our point of view our brains automatically dump the voice into the opposite category without really listening. We’re programmed to defend ourselves and demonize others. We have allowed the propaganda to infiltrate our minds so much that we cannot grasp any other alternatives than the two heaped upon us constantly by media. </span><span style="font-family: "times"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;">It is entirely possible that readers with left leaning will think that my book is too conservative. It is also probable that readers that are conservative will feel I am left-leaning in my thoughts. This is not bad news to me, but actually a sign of success. Why? Because you cannot put Jesus on a side. He does not fit into your categories or align with any political agenda. He will not be the Right’s mascot or the Left’s rallying cry. Jesus challenges all of us, wherever we are, to change. There are two sides: his or not his (Matt. 12:30). He will not be packaged to fit a typical pundit’s commentary or coerced to take our side on any issue (Jos. 5:13–15). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;">“It was for freedom that Christ set you free” (Gal. 5:1). Free your mind and free your soul so that you, too, can be different enough to make a difference. Do not be a mouthpiece for a cause beyond Jesus. Do not let rich old white men in a room full of cigar smoke and expensive Scotch determine what you believe. A fraternity of elites in ivory towers with utopian dreams and zero tolerance of any other point of view should not determine your choice. You have Jesus as your head. Jesus is not a Republican, and he is not a Democrat. Jesus is not a capitalist or a communist. He doesn’t need to vote; in fact, in the end he has the only deciding vote in his kingdom. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Follow him and be different so that you can change this world. </span><span style="font-family: "times"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;">The same old thing never changed anything. There is only one thing that can truly change this world, and his name is Jesus. You can’t have a one-thing spirituality and other things as well. By its very definition, a one thing is an “only thing.” Pursue the one thing at the expense of everything. </span><span style="font-family: "times"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;">Welcome to the revolution. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;"> ___________________________________</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 15.0pt;">These are actually the last paragraphs of my newest book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Thing-Revol..." target="_blank"><i></i></a><i><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" target="_blank">One Thing</a>: A Revolution to Change the World with Love</i> available wherever books are sold. </span><span style="font-family: "times"; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>