(In my new novel, Before the Trumpet Sounds: When Jesus Came to the Tennessee River Valley, Jesus returns in a manner nobody expects. During this visit, he is known by everyone as Jay.)
A change of heart lay at the foundation of Jay’s healings and message, and he believed everybody was in need of it. He was not preaching a social gospel. He was preaching the gospel – the good news that God is here and His transforming power is available to everyone. Consistent with this, he healed people of every social standing. In addition to the examples just given, he also cured a pastor’s son with lymphoma, brought a wealthy merchant back from the grave, and befriended a prominent politician caught in the act of embezzlement. He offered the same treatment to the majority and the minority, to the mainstream and marginalized. He knew that all of them had the same spiritual disease and needed the same cure.
A change of heart lay at the foundation of Jay’s healings and message, and he believed everybody was in need of it. He was not preaching a social gospel. He was preaching the gospel – the good news that God is here and His transforming power is available to everyone. Consistent with this, he healed people of every social standing. In addition to the examples just given, he also cured a pastor’s son with lymphoma, brought a wealthy merchant back from the grave, and befriended a prominent politician caught in the act of embezzlement. He offered the same treatment to the majority and the minority, to the mainstream and marginalized. He knew that all of them had the same spiritual disease and needed the same cure.
“One day a lady had a flat tire in a church parking lot during an unexpected storm,” he once said. “The pastor saw her through his office window but ignored her because it was time for worship to begin. The chairman of the deacons saw her and said a prayer in her behalf. The music director heard about her and put a CD of gospel music in his coat pocket to give to her after the service. A member of the congregation offered to help her but went home to change clothes first. An atheist who was headed to work stopped, loosened his tie, and changed her tire. Then he located the umbrella in his trunk under his 'God Is Not' posters and escorted her to the church foyer. She entered the sanctuary as the congregation sang the old hymn I Love Thy Kingdom, Lord.”
Jay paused before continuing.
“Now tell me – who was Christ-like that day, the atheist or the believer?”
“The atheist,” was the answer.
“You are right,” Jay said. “Go and do the same.”
A second question followed. “And where was God’s kingdom more present – the sanctuary or the parking lot?”
The reply was, “In the parking lot.”
“Seek that kind of kingdom,” Jay replied.
“Now answer this,” he said. “Who needed to repent, the believer or the nonbeliever?”
A thoughtful response followed. “It appears both could have used a change of heart.”
“Yes, my friend!” Jay replied. “The gospel is for everybody.”
Before the Trumpet Sounds:
When Jesus Came to the Tennessee River Valley (November, 2026)
Before the Trumpet Sounds:
When Jesus Came to the Tennessee River Valley (November, 2026)
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