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12th century icon at Mt. Sinai (St. Catherine’s Monastery) / Wikimedia Commons

Three of Jesus’ disciples witnessed an unexplainable event on the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration (Mark 9:2-7). I have to believe their life-altering experience wasn’t caused by the psychoactive plants and herbs used for many centuries in religious contexts for mind-altering experiences. Jesus’ appearance was “transformed in front of, and his clothes were amazingly bright.… Elijah and Moses appeared and were talking with Jesus” (verses 2, 4). A voice is heard coming from the covering of a cloud; “This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him” (verse 7).

Who are you listening to? A recent Pew Research Report found two-thirds of Americans are getting their news from social media. Ready for this? Facebook is the number one source, followed by Twitter, YouTube and Snapchat.

Over the last thirty years, Americans have seen a substantial shift in the way news is reported. American news sources have moved from informing people about world events in an unbiased way to reporting the news with the goal of influencing our perspectives and votes from biased partisan political perspectives. People turn to the news source that best supports their political agenda, whether liberal or conservative, and denounce others as “fake news.”

As followers of Jesus we must be careful to guard our hearts and minds against letting others interpret the signs of the times for us. Who are we allowing to shape what we value, how we think and vote, and what we believe? Who are we listening to? God still says, “This is my Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to him!”

*Excerpted from Revolutionary Kingdom: Following the Rebel Jesus

Mike Slaughter, pastor emeritus and global church ambassador for Ginghamsburg Church, served for nearly four decades as the lead pastor and chief dreamer of Ginghamsburg and the spiritual entrepreneur of ministry marketplace innovations. Mike is also the founder and chief strategist of Passionate Churches, LLC, which specializes in developing pastors, church staff and church lay leaders through coaching, training, consulting and facilitation services. Mike’s call to “afflict the comfortable” challenges Christians to wrestle with God and their God-destinies. Mike’s latest book Revolutionary Kingdom: following the Rebel Jesus is available on Amazon and Cokesbury.