Born again?

[Jackman]

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[cycloneman]

What you live is your own story.

I allways understood to be born again is to saved by Jesus. Why would you forget your past? Am I missing something?

[jack404]

narrrrr.... you do try not to repeat the same old strife causing stuff , but its more spiritual than worldly , means your born into Christ not the world , but you do have to try to live the life , but no-ones perfect , you do your best , some fall , and some will help you along if you do stumble

but God dont make you forget everything like slate being cleaned

not top be rude but where are these questions coming from ?

i saw a gay web site recently teaching how to belittle Christians with these EXACT questions

they have already been on other forums and now here ..

coincidence or someone wishing to make the Christians squirm?

ask away, i never been much of a squirmer , been big on taking the fight back to where its needed though ...

i am protective of my faith and that of others , i have studied the socialists and anti faith groups who see my faith as a crutch they must remove so they may attack me and those who would defy their worldly rule via their faith ..

remember the world been through this a few times so far

the genocide of the jewish folks just a recent attack
so just remember if repeating these questions for a "laugh" , remember who and what the jokers who wrote these scripts are on about and represent

and who's side your supporting

[H-D]

If you forgot it you would have no testimony you should strive to help people who are battling the things you have overcome

[Archie]

The term comes from the third chapter of John's Gospel.

The relevant portion starts with verse 1 and ends at verse 21. What Jesus is saying is one begins a new life when one is forgiven by God through the Sacrifice of Jesus. It is in fact a figure of speech more than a technical description.

However, it's not all merely semantics; 2nd Corinthians 5:17 "So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away – look, what is new has come!"

[ka64]

I was Born Right the first time, NUFF Said............................

[Jackman]

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[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by Jackman

Too deep for me I can't understand , only asked the question cause a friend of mine recently became born again and now the good ole days aren't even a memory....

Lost a buddie? I have seen it happen too. Some just take things way too far and cease to live. Had a high school bud who became born again and for some 20 years he stopped hanging out with us, stopped fishing, hunting, everything. Found a lady and had a kid or two. Got devorced and then he came around again. Went fishing, hunting, drank beer again for a couple of years. Gone again. Cant get him to go fishing to save his life.

There is probably something more going on than just being born again. As you age you will find that certain people will fade out of your life. Different natural chemicals take over the body and cause certain people to change. For example women have a change of life in there 40's and 50's. They change and boy do they change. Oh and just before the change they get turned on like a dying die hard battery. Shines real bright and then they die. Well you can count on a fair number of ladies becomming in tune to their internal clock just before they have the change.

As a man there is a big difference from your 20's 30's and 40's sorry cant speak for much more than that. The brain changes.

Just some observations for ya.

[cycloneman]

oh and one more thing.

Dont be sore that your friend is not there for you like he used to be.

And dont let this harden your heart. Dont let this come between you and your maker.

[jack404]

sorry if its gone that way , your friend should still be your friend

most of my hunting mates and such are not Christian , as for beer drinking , i make my own , got 2 stills , and well known to sip a few into the small hours jawin away.

the folks who are Christian , range from the "oh cant do that" to the folks who accept me as i am ..

i try to show my "good" Christian side but i slip up to old ways , get angry with BS and such , and i'm a lousy liar eh .. good at poker , just bad at hiding what i got ..

Some new Christian folks get scared to fall into their old ways , i understand that , but mate are mates and at the very least he should ( in my view ) still be with his mates ( you and others) maybe not drinking so heavily but nothing wrong with a beer or two ( specially that WAP stuff they allow you in the US )

try calling him up and sounding him out , heck invite him here !!!

if he's a good bloke he'll see reason , and maybe learn a bit more about being a Christian while about it , sorry for the folks who seem stuck up , few really are , but like anyone or any group you get dills in Christianity too .. people make bad calls , mistakes , or just worry to damn much ..

someone who is truely comfortable in thier faith wont care if your Born again , not to be friends , go hunting etc .. they will be worried about your soul and pray and maybe more towards your own salvation .. or thats pretty much how i work and how i see others as well

I've a mate , Greg Hurst his ministry is in bikers .. thats where he came from , thats where he is today , with 300 in his Church regularly and growing every week
dopers satanists , all types in bikers , but they are his mates and he is working on helping all and saving as many as he can ..

Hursty and i still sometime share a counter lunch here ( steak and a couple beers at a pub) we've both been there done that , bikes, dope ( we'll i passed on the dope but been around it enough ) violence , booze , its the folks like your mate who has knowledge of real life that are the best at helping others and they cant do that by dodging their past , use it , live it , just live it as a Christian..

again sorry about your friend , we all get things screwed up and maybe thats whats happened with him , drop him a call and say howdy , invite him here , enough of us Bible bashers here for him to be cool with that ..

good luck eh

[rosierita]

Originally Posted by H-D

If you forgot it you would have no testimony you should strive to help people who are battling the things you have overcome

what H-D said...

give him some time, he's probably just sorting things out. outward appearances dont always reveal inner workings. (ETA ~ i'm not referring to God's reflection in his life, what i'm referring to is, his struggles may not be outwardly evident. you cannot always tell when someone is struggling or hurting. this is what i'm referring to.)

but, God doesn't condemn, He convicts. there is a difference!! remember that. if he's given himself over to God & has Christ as his Lord, God will use his past as a part of his ministry.

[ampaterry]

The old life is a memory, that's for sure.
As H-D said, a Christian uses his old life in his testimony.
I can RELATE to the poor drunken sot laying in a pool of his own vomit because I have been there.
When I talk to him, I can give him hope for a better life because that CAN be beaten, through the power of Jesus Christ.
Will I talk to him?
Absolutely!!
Will I get drunk and pass out with him?
No way.
It is not avoiding your old friends, it is avoiding your old sins.

[jack404]

you say things so much better Terry ...

[Double D]

Look folks, Jesus said you must be born again. When adam and eve sinned in the garden of eden, it created a seperation between man and god. Our spirit and gods spirit were no longer in communion with each other. There had to be a way to reconnect and that way was the death, and the resurection of Jesus and believing that he died and was raised again and is alive forever more. That is the re connection with god that is the "born again" experience. Without this reconnection it is impossible to discern spiritual things. The bible says that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish but to those who believe it is the power of god unto salvation. So, until man accepts jesus as his saviour, he is disconnected from god.

[RunningOnMT]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

The old life is a memory, that's for sure.
As H-D said, a Christian uses his old life in his testimony.
I can RELATE to the poor drunken sot laying in a pool of his own vomit because I have been there.
When I talk to him, I can give him hope for a better life because that CAN be beaten, through the power of Jesus Christ.
Will I talk to him?
Absolutely!!
Will I get drunk and pass out with him?
No way.
It is not avoiding your old friends, it is avoiding your old sins.

+1 BTDT

[RunningOnMT]

Originally Posted by Double D

Look folks, Jesus said you must be born again. When adam and eve sinned in the garden of eden, it created a seperation between man and god. Our spirit and gods spirit were no longer in communion with each other. There had to be a way to reconnect and that way was the death, and the resurection of Jesus and believing that he died and was raised again and is alive forever more. That is the re connection with god that is the "born again" experience. Without this reconnection it is impossible to discern spiritual things. The bible says that the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them that perish but to those who believe it is the power of god unto salvation. So, until man accepts jesus as his saviour, he is disconnected from god.

[RunningOnMT]

Being born again is simply being reborn with a new heart that rejects the sins of the old person and desires righteousness. It doesn't mean you forget and it doesn't mean you become sinless because as humans we are saddled with sin til the day we die...it is in our nature. But you become aware of just how vile sin is and grieve over the fact that you have offended God. Your past becomes like a bad dream. When you repent of those sins while YOU don't forget them, the Bible tells us that God does.

Therefore one may avoid anything or anyone they associate with those old sins. It's not a rejection of you as a person, but rather the sinful things they shared with you. If say they were your drinking buddy it may seem they have turned their back on you when actually they have turned their back on drinking. Or maybe it's as simple as how you and they used to communicate and the values you shared.

[Double D]

God takes you how you are, where you are and works from there. Many people who lived a life of partying and drinking and got born again, decide that is no longer the life for them. Unfortunately, the people they used to party with will never understand and it will almost always cause division. My experience has been that you find out who your real friends are after you get saved. When you decide to live a different lifestyle, the ones who accept that and accept you for who you are are your true friends. The others were only there because you had certain things in common and those things are gone now. There is nothing wrong with removing yourself from a party atmosphere if you no longer desire to be there, even if it offends some people. Those are most likely the superficial friends anyhow.

[Double D]

Originally Posted by Jackman

Too deep for me I can't understand , only asked the question cause a friend of mine recently became born again and now the good ole days aren't even a memory....

Your friend has just had a whole new world and a whole new outlook on life presented to him. When a person experiences a true heart changing experience, its not something he can put into words. And, its not something that someone that hasnt experienced it will be able to understand. It is an absolute real life changing experience that you know deep down inside that you have been shown something that is not worldly. It is hard to grasp and his mind is racing and he is probably learning new things at a fast pace and things are changing for him as well. While you feel left out or abandoned, be assured, he has found something that people spend lifetimes seeking and searching for. God created each of us with an empty spot that can only be filled by him. Only fellowship with him will satisfy that spot, even though we try to fill it with everything else, in the end it can only be filled by a relationship with him. Some never figure it out. Its sad because it is a free gift and he is so willing to give. Your friends "good days" have just begun.

[Python]

Originally Posted by ampaterry

The old life is a memory, that's for sure.
As H-D said, a Christian uses his old life in his testimony.
I can RELATE to the poor drunken sot laying in a pool of his own vomit because I have been there.
When I talk to him, I can give him hope for a better life because that CAN be beaten, through the power of Jesus Christ.
Will I talk to him?
Absolutely!!
Will I get drunk and pass out with him?
No way.
It is not avoiding your old friends, it is avoiding your old sins.

It's like the guy who said that he had his arm broken in five places and just couldn't understand how his luck was so bad. I told him it had nothing to do with bad luck. He asked me how I figured that. I told him it was easy, just stay out of those places.

[ampaterry]

Originally Posted by Python

It's like the guy who said that he had his arm broken in five places and just couldn't understand how his luck was so bad. I told him it had nothing to do with bad luck. He asked me how I figured that. I told him it was easy, just stay out of those places.

I had to read that twice before it soaked in, Python -

LOL!!!

Reminds me of the guy reading the newspaper who said to his wife "My gosh, in New York City a man gets hit by a car every thirty minutes!"
His wife responded "Oh, that poor man!"

[Caneman]

Originally Posted by jack404

most of my hunting mates and such are not Christian , as for beer drinking , i make my own , got 2 stills , and well known to sip a few into the small hours jawin away.

the folks who are Christian , range from the "oh cant do that" to the folks who accept me as i am ..

well, Christian (more accurately Catholic) monks of Europe brew some of the finest beers mankind has ever known for the last 1500 years! not saying that Catholics have the final word on morality, just saying for myself as a NT Christian, imo of course, I don't think there is anything wrong with drinking alcohol in moderation (unless it may cause someone else to "stumble", then you may not want to drink around them)

[Songman]

Very true, Caneman... I am not a drinker but there is nothing wrong with it in moderation. The problem is that most people can't do it in moderation.

For Jackman... Maybe the issue becomes that what you see as the 'good ole days' is not what your friend considers the 'good ole days'. It doesn't mean that he puts any less value on your friendship or anything, but maybe he just doesn't want to do those things anymore. That could be partly because of his newfound Christianity or it could just be a natural progression of getting older and changing your priorities. I've been a Christian all my life and I can tell you now, looking back, what I thought then were 'good ole days' were not all that good. That is just age talking. But it is true that when you give yourself to God, you do change your old ways. That's just part of it. And a lot of times as Christians, our friends think we have turned on them when in fact it is just the opposite. Your friend is still your friend. Be his friend too and understand that this is important to him. you'll probably find that your friendship is stronger than ever if you do.

[ampaterry]

I better interject here -

I don't drink, but that is a PERSONAL decision, not any kind of a religious conviction. Christs first miracle was turning water into wine, so claiming alcohol consumption is a sin is a VERY difficult position to correlate with scripture.

EXCESS is the sin, whether it is alcohol or some other thing.
And I loved alcohol TOO much; I enjoyed it TOO much, therefore - for me - it is best to just leave it alone all together.

[Songman]

Same here, Terry. I think that is the same as several of us are saying...