Born-Again and Building Drives

We started working through some alphabetized topics of Religious BS and tonight we are on Born-Again and Building Drives.

Born-Again

So being born again.

• Jesus made it clear that in order for a person to even see the kingdom of heaven they needed to be born-again or better from the Greek, “born from above.”
• There has been a major focus on rebirth being an “event” that really got legs in the early 19th Century revivals of what was known as the burned over district located in the western and central regions of New York.
• As an example of the emphasis placed on experiential religion a man named Charles Finney, called the Father of Modern Revivalism, would invite people to sit during his revivals on what was called the “anxious bench” before being allowed to come forward and receive Christ before the crowd.
• The anticipation caused many anxious people to really experience an outpouring of what they called the holy spirit and this experience was associated with people being born from above or again.
• In time the Pentecostal movement took hold, followed by public displays of receiving the holy spirit through events like the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, CA in 1906.
• Following that, the born-again movement continued on in the Southern California 1970’s with a number of hippies converting to the faith through wild experiential conversions which publicly evidenced an individual’s spiritual regeneration.
• Since that time, it has become normative within Christian culture to ask if a person has been born again or born from above.
• This question is used by believers who have experienced something metaphysical in their lives on other “said believers” as a means to vet them and their said faith.
• After all, Jesus made being born again an imperative so people believe it is really vital to make sure people who claim to be Christian are!
• From the 1970’s to the present there has been a vernacular established among born-again believers and includes phrases and questions like:
• “Has he/she been born-again?”
• “When did it happen?”
• “Can you describe how it happened?” and/or
• “What proceeded the event? (Sinners prayer, feelings of ecstasy, etc.)
• While the event of spiritual rebirth can be overpowering for some to the point that even the date and time of the experience can be recalled on demand, many people do not experience a revolutionary metaphysical experience from above but are born again in very subtle, even unnoticeable, ways.
• The emphasis on experiential rebirth often causes those who have not had the experience to question their faith, their hearts for God and even His love for them.
• Additionally, many Christians who have experienced rebirth in an obvious manifestation question (even challenge) the claims to faith those who have not had the experience claim.

The Importance of Spiritual Rebirth

So to summarize being Born-Again:

Jesus clearly taught that the Spirit (which is the operating force in the…

Rebirth

The rebirth of an individual moves about where it wants. The rebirth of a person is entirely “in the hands of the Spirit” and cannot be manipulated to move upon a person through experiential religious exercises or merely saying a special prayer with special words from a special bench. God knows who is ready from the heart to receive new life and acts according to His will and ways and not ours. Additionally, because one person experiences radical new life the moment God moves in them, others experience a more gradual revelation and are not able to cite the day and time of their regeneration.

In the end, and according to scripture, the way human beings can tell if another human being has been born-again, that they have the spirit of God in them, is by and through the presence of the agape loveSelfless love marked by patience, mercy, and humility—central to living in spiritual liberty. they have for others. And while not all people who love others more than themselves are born-from above, it is safe to say that all who have been born from above will love others. The rebirth experience is highly individualistic and cannot be summarized or described in any rote fashion. God works in very mysterious ways and means among us and how, when and where He chooses to move in to others is a wholly subjective experience.

Religious Conformity and Rebirth

Unfortunately . . . As a means to corral people into conformity some religious crooks will use terms like “born-again” to filter, thin and/or manipulate the herd (their congregations). This is accomplished by establishing a culture that operates by what might be considered regenerated behaviors, opinions and beliefs. This established culture includes the opinions that “A born-again believer does this and/or a born-again believer would never think, say, or do that,” type of thing. Along these lines, a religious crook might suggest that believers who do not conform to their views, ideas or doctrines about God or the faith are not “born-again,” automatically causing social ostracization of the person and simultaneous control by fear of those who remain. Such things are far afield from a genuine subjective faith.

Building Fund Drives

Our next subject is Building Fund Drives which are often held by churches who are seeking to build themselves a little or massive empire. We recall –

• That the Son of Man had no place to rest His head.
• That Jesus said that “His Kingdom was not of this world.”
• And that John the beloved said, “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are not of the Father but are of this world.”
• We are also told that the while “we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
• And in all of this we must remember that God Himself is invisible.
• Amidst all of these Christian ideals and principles religious men and women continue to try and erect material kingdoms around themselves to honor God and impress men.
• We note that Jesus did not have a grand building fall out of the sky upon His arrival but instead said “that the Kingdom of GodGod’s spiritual reign—fulfilled and present, not political or future. is within you” and that God “dwells not in temples made with hands.”
• Instead of taking a clue from the Master, men and women have continued to try and build “material empires” to “house the people of God.”
• They often do this by holding building drives in the churches where the pastor, having his own vision of grandeur, imposes the drive upon congregates to obtain finances to build his

The Conflict Between Worldly Empires and Spiritual Kingdoms

He does this sometimes in the name of God, telling his or her flock that the empire (great or small) will be “an honor to Him.” He influences people to “commit” to the dream, signing posters on the wall and agreeing to produce a certain amount of money by a certain time. This kingdom is of this world – something few understand. It has zero relation to the Kingdom of God within those who are His. Of course, these empires draw people to see, visit and even join them. This is the justification: “if we build it people will come. And if they come we are pleasing to God.” Again, Jesus Himself said that we “cannot serve God and Money. We will love the one and hate the other.”

And yet over and over again – from the Vatican, to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, to mega churches around the world, building funds, created to build religious empires large and small, which are antithetical to the core ideals of the Christian faith, are justified. Imagine if all the church empires of the world sold off most of their real property, used it to improve the living conditions of the masses, but retained just enough to reach out to others with the Good News and to hold weekly services in deconstructed facilities as a means to teach the word to seekers and believers? Imagine what could be done if religious men and women turned from their material imaginations and allowed the spiritual to reign?

Christ's True Kingdom

In summary . . .

Christ’s true Kingdom thrives in the hearts of believers living all over the world. We are the temple of God. Material religionA fulfilled system of temples, rituals, and laws—replaced by direct spiritual relationship. and all of its appeals died with the Old Covenant, being nailed to His cross. All appeals and relations to God in this world are spiritual and the focus of Christianity is upon such in every way possible. Certainly, human beings need physical facilities to gather. But to make such gathering places a focus in the lives of the Saints is anathema to His thriving spiritual kingdom abiding in the hearts and minds of believers.

Religious Crooks

Perhaps some of the greatest robberies of the people of God are perpetrated by religious men and women and their visions of building material kingdoms here on earth. The sway and justifications, the pressure and allusions to wealth being a sign of God’s love appear endlessly on the landscape of religious materialism. It’s time for all thinking Christians to flat out refuse such pleas and appeals and to begin to send these religious charlatans to lives of material poverty, the place where Jesus lived during his life here on earth – never to forget this was by choice.

(BEAT)

OUT!