Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:2).

A couple of weeks ago I was blessed to have a phone conversation with Dr. Kelley Varner. I don't remember the exact train of thought we were on, but he made this statement: "I preach a GREAT BIG JESUS". His implication was that sometimes we deify problems, circumstances, and even evil. However, Dr. Varner, a man full of wisdom and understanding, shared how the early church lived and prevailed because JESUS was their main focus.

Last night I sat in my comfy big chair with my Bible, a pen and a few highlighters in hand. I began to read through the book of Colossians. Then I noticed a thread that was woven through the words of the Apostle Paul.

I began to highlight every personal reference to JESUS... whether it be a direct or indirect reference... i.e. Jesus, our Lord, in Him, of Whom, etc.

From chapter 1 verse one through the end of chapter 3 there are approximately 74 verses. In these 74 verse there were "75" references to Jesus. With this in mind, what do you think was the central focus of Paul's life?

To be honest, this convicts me. If our lives, or conversations, or letters, or e-mails were documented and placed into chapter and verse and we went back with a highlighter and marked each time we made reference to JESUS what would be the ratio? Paul averaged mentioning something about the Christ more than once in every verse.

Maybe it is time to get real and "back to basics." Maybe it is time to put up or shut up.

In Acts 8:5 Phillip went to a former capital city named Samaria and turned its populace upside down with one simple thing: he preached Christ to them.

In 1 Corinthians, which was a letter written to a major port city where Paul had established a rather large group of believers, Paul wrote and reminded them, "we preach Christ crucified" (1:23) and later reiterated this flow by adding, "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (2:2).

For further scriptures about this Christ-centered message see Acts 5:42; 8:35-37; 9:17-20; 17:2,3; 1 Corinthians 3:11.