Eccentric - First meant "not concentric" as it referred to an orbit in which the earth was not precisely in the center or straying from a circular path; the area where two circles overlap is the eccentric.
It was Galileo Galilei and Nicolaus Copernicus that demonstrated that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the solar system. That scientific discovery caused what history records as the Copernican Revolution. It shook the foundation of astronomy and science. These two men called for a radical rethinking of the way the cosmos was envisioned. We have come to accept as a fact of every day life that the sun is the center of our solar system. Galileo was condemned as a heretic and excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. My question is was he right or was the misguided theology of his day correct? Astronomy is not my field of expertise, however, I am certain that the many discoveries made since would not have been possible had we kept the earth as center in scientific calculations.
There is a revolution going on in the world now. Strange as it may seem, we are discovering Jesus alone is the center. Those who proclaim this are finding themselves off center with accepted teachings. In fact they are eccentric, which is simply off center with accepted thinking on how to manage, direct, and control life. When we understand we are in Him and He is in us we are centered in Him and it can only be described as freedom. Living from the center frees us from the tyranny of peer pressure. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Living from the center frees us in so many ways. We can speak and act from greater strength, and we can extent healing and forgiveness rather than hold grudges. We can be still and know that He is God. Living with Jesus as my center has taught me that even failure has no power to control success. Living with Jesus as the center, we can be gracious and compassionate with others and with ourselves.
I have been admonishing you for an extended period of time that the world will experience the greatest manifestation of Jesus ever known to man. This isn’t something that’s going to happen; it’s in progress as I type these words. Jesus is being revealed.
As we begin a new year everyone seems to look for a new word to set their spiritual compass. This is a good thing, but remember God doesn’t change when we hang the new calendar.
As I asked Jesus in faith to speak to me He said the following.
Your mandate has not changed. Teach my Oneness with the Father as found in John 14:20. At that time, when that day comes, you will know for yourself that I am in My Father and you are in Me and I am in you. No separation between you and the Godhead is a Biblical fact.
John 17:21 “That they all may be one just as You Father are in Me and I in You that they also may be one in us, so that the world may believe, be convinced that you have sent Me.”
The greatest manifestation of Jesus the world has ever known is breaking forth at this moment!
Jesus is the center of the Church; He alone is our message. He saves, He heals, He baptizes with the Holy Ghost, He is the resurrection, He is our life, and He is coming again. We spend eternity with Him. He has conquered Satan absolutely and soon will destroy the last enemy, death itself. 1 Corinthians 15:26
In the NT Jesus upstages everyone else. He is the Good News. Jesus is the Gospel. The four evangelists focus on no other personality but Him. All the people you can find in the NT form the backdrop to Jesus. When the final curtain falls, He alone will be seen. He will upstage all the kings, presidents, popes, and all the famous people who have ever lived. Every person will be appraised, evaluated, and measured solely in terms of their relationship with Him.
Living from the center effects a profound transformation within. Jesus alone is truth. His life is ours and He is manifest through us to this world. The greatest manifestation of Jesus the world has ever seen is and will be Christ in you.
2016 is the year to be, rather than to appear to be. After a long period of accepting appearances for reality, a Christian forgets what truth even looks like.
We are eccentric. Our lives have overlapped with Jesus!
-Pastor Bill Annis, President, FCF Canada