"To SYNC or not to SYNC? That is the question."
The rest of that adapted quote from "Hamlet" about choosing a path to the future is also relevant for those who are thinking about joining God's POTF movement. Is it nobler to hunker down without protest under "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" or to stand up against them, hoping your opposition will end them?
Jesus was absolutely clear about his answer to that timeless question. "Stand up and join me! Get in SYNC with the future through me, the Future-Bringer."
Jesus is the spearhead of a campaign to stand up against the status quo, not by "taking up arms against a sea of troubles" like Hamlet, but rather by announcing a new era, the era when heaven's power starts arriving on earth.
To "SYNC" means to welcome that announcement. Jesus says, "SYNC!" We echo, "SYNC me!"
The purpose of this site is to encourage users to say, "SYNC me". This is not a classroom exercise. The point is what you decide to do when you realize that Jesus is leading a movement and he is recruiting you for a role on his team. Do you join him? Do you say, "SYNC me"? Or do you play safe?
REMINDER: We at SYNCx.org are not the owners, managers, or gatekeepers for God's POTF movement. Jesus Christ himself is in charge, and you sign up with him, not with SYNC as an organization. SYNC is only an on-ramp to a road of discovery.
Why would I join God's POTF movement?
1. Because you are being recruited
God sent Jesus to earth as the "Messiah," the person appointed to spearhead God's Campaign. Jesus calls the whole world to join it, like an orchestra conductor tapping his baton on the music stand to get all the musicians' attention. Then he waves the baton to keep us in SYNC as we play the "Symphony for a New World."
To be in SYNC, to "See Yourself iN Christ," means to be in SYNC with God's futuristic movement and with Jesus as its Director. People who are clueless about the movement are not watching Jesus, and they get out of SYNC. This site exists to clue people in so they start taking their cues from Jesus.
2. Because the movement is ancient, non-violent, and good for you and the world.
Joining God's POTF movement is your chance to get a fresh take on your identity--who you are, what you are worth, what your purpose is, and what you belong to that is bigger than you are.
You are not joining a campaign of this web site or of any particular church or organization. You are joining (or discovering you already belong to) God's ancient movement that started almost 4000 years ago through Abraham.
About halfway between Abraham and today, God the Father sent Jesus (God the Son) from heaven to spearhead his plan and take it into a whole new level.
-
That's why Jesus kept saying, "Follow me"--he was building his team.
-
That's why he was killed--the power-holders of his day feared the movement and tried to stop it.
-
And that's why his resurrection matters so much--it means his movement isn't over.
You get to join this work in progress. Sign up for God's POTF movement and your purpose for life is set. You will never feel lost, aimless, or worthless again. And you will never be told to do anything violent or deceptive.
What will it cost me to sign up?
Your past. If you are going to become part of the People of the Future movement, you have to turn your attention to the arriving future. You have to quit letting your past experiences dominate you. You have to let go of old habits.
That's why Jesus said it is far easier for the poor to sign up for his movement than the rich. The poor want to dump the baggage from their past. Rich people want to hang onto the baggage from theirs because it doesn't look like baggage to them. The rich can't afford the POTF entry fee; the poor can.
But even for the poor, it's not cheap. Rich or poor, people have to let go of three default settings we are all born with, three desires that shaped our past:
-
Make my own decisions
-
Minimize my pain
-
Enjoy life as best I can.
That is the "me" life, and the acronym is M.M.E., a big fat "Me."
We have to accept an "us" life as the life of our future:
1. Unafraid to engage with God and with people, even needy ones
2. Sense their pain
3. Share our stuff and our selves
USS - That is the acronym for the "us" life. So Jesus's movement is literally the big U.S.S. movement.
What is expected of recruits
-
Quit focusing on how to get the best deal for yourself. Step back. Look up.
-
Get clued in to the utopian future that is arriving and the strange strategy that is ushering it in--starting on the inside of people instead of by reshaping the external conditions.
-
Start living with one foot in the future world that is connected, healed, and blessed.
The one crucial sign-up question
The world is full of people who think they are "Christians" because they have included Jesus in their lives. But they missed the most important question about getting connected to Jesus. Who is recruiting who? When you "got Jesus," did you sign up for his cause (the U.S.S. life) or did you recruit him to help you with your cause (the M.M.E. life)?
If you recruited him, you will expect him to help you with your old M.M.E. agenda, allowing you your freedom, reducing your pain, and helping you enjoy life. When he does not meet your expectations as well as you think he should, you will get irritated with him.
But if you see yourself as his recruit, then you are all in for his cause. You listen gratefully and alertly for his instructions for your new U.S.S. life. If things get painful, that doesn't slow you down. You say it is worth it. That's what recruits do when they believe in the cause and trust the leader.
How would I join God's POTF movement?
There are no official forms to fill out. Everything about Jesus's POTF movement is unofficial, so there is no standard way to join it. You want to find a way that will result in both you and Jesus being convinced that you joined.
Remember, Jesus was killed by people who were trying to stop his movement and he was raised from death so he could keep leading it. He never died again. He just relocated. Though not physically on earth now, he is still directing the movement and still actively recruiting.
If you ever honestly say any words to him that amount to, "OK, SYNC me," he will hear you and put his Spirit (his living "Self") into you to make you fit for his team. Your words might be as short and personal as, "OK, Jesus, I'm in. Sign me up. Where do I start?" It is simply you putting yourself at the disposal of Jesus for his movement.
Some other things you may want to say as you sign up:
-
Get me off to a good start. This seems overwhelming.
-
Please connect me to some other POTF members I can learn with.
-
Please give me a makeover so I am fit to participate in your movement.
-
Change my attitudes and get my focus onto connecting, healing, and blessing.
-
Whatever I used to do that went against your POTF movement, I renounce now. I'm sorry I ever did it. Keep me from ever going back there again.
-
Develop my skills so I contribute positively to your movement and your cause.
-
I don't have what it takes to do this on my own. Give me strength!
-
Keep me from letting the team down or bringing any shame on you as the team leader.
Your job then is to listen to his Spirit inside you, who will keep you in SYNC with him and his agenda.
It's all about listening. You "sign up" with Jesus by telling him you have heard his call to follow him (join his POTF movement), and now you are going to start listening to him.
Team members may be totally clueless about the movement to start with, but they like its goals (connect, heal, bless) and they learn to trust its leader (Jesus the Messiah). The whole Bible is basically the story of God's POTF movement, and team members soak up that story. The Spirit of Jesus lives in each team member and among us as a group, so we keep listening for the guidance that the Spirit puts into our heads and our hearts.
Maybe you didn't hear the recruitment call of Jesus before or you didn't pay attention, but now you are signing up, getting serious, listening to whatever he tells you and working as hard for his movement's cause as he directs. You are done building your personal kingdom. His kingdom, his movement, is the one that counts from now on.
God's lame strategy?
Some people assume they know God's movement strategy already--"Be kind, be good, be religious. Tell God how sorry you are that you don't do better. You get blessed when you obey, punished when you don't." All this sounds very lame. Who wants to join a movement that uses a strategy as simplistic, boring, and ineffective as that?
People who look at the Bible that way are clueless about God's actual strategy, which is totally brilliant. They don't know the gripping, often tragic, story of the POTF movement as the Bible tells it.
A two-minute read would cure them. Choose any of seven two-minute summaries of God's story of his world and his movement.