*CROYDE 2009* Part 3

Have you noticed that certain songs can really capture a moment in your life? Over the Croyde weekend, a couple of songs really 'came alive' and captured beautifully what God was speaking to us about. One of them was a new Tim Hughes' song called 'Remember'. We have sung it a few times in Church and it centres on the Cross and taking time to remember what Jesus did for us. On Saturday evening Kat began to lead us in singing this song. One of the lines is "No-one's ever loved me quite You do / No-one's ever loved me quite like You / Jesus for Your glory / I will tell the story of the Cross". As the meeting progressed it seemed that God was speaking to us again about living out the story of the Cross to our non-Christian friends and family. This comes not just through words but by how we live our lives and with this in mind I preached from John 3 about being 'properly' born again.

Sometimes I grow concerned that we can have a form of conversion experience but this does not transfer into a daily, lived-out walk with God; people 'pray the prayer' then please themselves or live their Christian lives constantly questioning the reality of their new life in Christ! I don't see anyone in the New Testament being unsure about being born again. It is a truly dynamic, life-changing encounter and needs to be accompanied by FOUR constituent parts: i) repentance, ii) faith, iii) water baptism and iv) the filling of the Holy Spirit. As I work with and interact with this next generation of young people, I ask myself if they are really born again properly? Many young people can quote chapter and verse. They can 'go through the motions' and come up with the right answers but is there evidence of this new nature living inside them, changing their desires and choices?

What is of particular interest to me is the need for the daily baptism in Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) as He is the seal and guarantee of all the preceding steps (2 Cor 1:22) and the provision of power to live this born again life (Galatians 5:16-26). The birth of a baby is the most dangerous time in the whole gestation process and inept handling, incompetence or lack of experience can maim or damage the child for the rest of it's life. The same is true of spiritual birth. It is important that we do not present a trite, superficial Gospel as any 'converts', whilst transferring from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light, will enter this new life severely disadvantaged. It makes it virtually impossible to live in this evil world and resist the devil and his temptations when the true power of Holy Spirit cannot flow freely through our lives as the previous three salvation steps have been incompetently managed or simply not completed. I challenged ENERGY to ask themselves the question, 'Am I Born Again?'. I ask you the same question today.