18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."[e]
20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing….28All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” Luke 4:14-28
In a world that was void of dreams coming off the heels of the exile, and under a rigid religious system that the Pharisees and teachers of the law upheld Jesus would begin His “UpSideDown Revolution”. The whole world order was about to change.The religious system was about to be turned upside down! From day one, Jesus’ ministry was controversial; in fact they wanted to throw Him off a cliff! His revolution was to take the gospel not only to Jews, but all nations to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and set those free from the chains of sin. One man, with one dream, began a movement of men and women that would spread over the entire known world until the Spirit would record, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” Acts 17:6 NKJV.
Revolution – A dramatic change in ideas or practice. God does not want us to start a Revolution, because Christ did just that during His life and death. Rather, God wants us to continue the Revolution that His Son started. This is a Revolution that has been carried out by His disciples and many other men and women of God throughout the ages. God has called this generation to be “Revolutionary”, (Those who bring about sudden or great change). This is God’s plan for His chosen generation, but young people today cannot do this without the older generation backing them in prayer and encouragement. I believe that God will use the older generation to impart wisdom and experience to this generation as they press on toward the goal to Revolutionize the World, according the Father’s will.
My generation is unique. We are the first generation to fully appreciate the effects of the “Digital Revolution.” We’ve always had cable. By the mid-90’s, we all had cell phones. We have been playing gaming systems (from Nintendo to Xbox 360) for as long as we can remember. We’ve never had a TV without a remote. We do our social networking using MySpace and Xanga, not the mall. We download and listen to digital music on iPods. Few of us remember the Cold War or why the Berlin Wall fell, and we’ve never feared nuclear war. Because so many of us are prescribed Ritalin and other antidepressants, we are one of the most heavily medicated generations in human history! We are more depressed and world aware than any other previous generation. Obesity is a major problem. My generation has rejected absolute truth and replaced it with truth relative to the individual’s own background and understanding. The media influences our values as much as our parents and friends. Half of us have witnessed the breakup of our parents’ marriage. We are more materially endowed than any generation of all time. We are the new driving force behind the economy. We have never known the world without Internet. We are currently in high school and college. We are by some estimates, 76 million strong, the largest generation since the Baby Boomers, our parents! (Wikipedia.com). In our post-modern generation, many are enslaved to drugs, acholohole, sexual sin, and hurting for real relationships. Jesus proclaims freedom in His revolution from these sins! He turned everything around, or a better way to say it…upside down!
God has done amazing things since I moved to Phoenix in December of 2007! I’ve seen God increase our numbers through many campus baptisms and many other campus students moving here. To date, from 5 sold out disciples at the beginning of last semester, God has multiplied us to 16 sold-out disciples and ignited an UpSideDown Revolution at ASU! However, I am increasingly aware that the Phoenix Church Campus Ministry is the exception not the rule in our fellowship. The worldly values of our generation (Generation Y) have crept into our former campuses. Laziness, materialism, impurity, cowardice and faithlessness have made many ministries lukewarm while completely killing others. Many young good-hearted disciples have become disillusioned and confused by the controversy at the top levels of leadership within the churches. Sadly, the campus ministries which were once the driving force behind the dream to evangelize the world, have been decimated. Satan has effectively neutralized our generation in regards to the proclamation of the gospel. The Phoenix Campus Ministry finds this unacceptable. We refuse to sit and play Xbox as our generation dies. It is my conviction that we proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor when it comes to revolution on our campuses. It will take everything you have and everything you are to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Will you take up your cross and follow the revolutionary Jesus Christ? Why don’t you come join His UpSide Down Revolution?
Mike Patterson (DJ Comisford- http://www.upsidedown21.org/1.1/inc/viewArticle.php?langID=1&artID=114)
