While seated in my 9th grade class, I heard someone call my name, "David." I then asked the teacher, 'Did you call me?' She asserted that she had not.
Next, I asked the students and received the same reply -- they too had not. Not one person in that classroom had called out my name; therefore, at the youthful age of 16, I realized that God had called me into the ministry.
I served in my Father's church until I became senior Pastor in 1979 and the church then grew. I married some years later to my absolutely wonderful wife and we now have two remarkable children.
After 30 years as Pastor of my father's church, we are now relocating our ministry abd building the church anew.
Our mission and vision is to continue preaching God's Word, deliverance for the mind, ministering to the sick, winning children, teens and all people, both young and old, into the Kingdom of God.
We intend to change the lives of thousands of people across the world and glorify God in all that He would have us to do.
Immediately before Paul was baptized, Ananias shared with him God's destiny for his life,
The God of our fathers has chosen you to know His will. You will be His witness to ALL MEN of what you have seen and heard.
(Acts 22:14-15)
Today's Prayer
Father, I thank You that You raised Jesus from the dead to be my living
Lord and Savior.
Holy Spirit, I thank you that You will lead me to do the
right thing and change my world.
Today, Lord, I want to make you a promise. I will not be ashamed of Your
name or Your Gospel. I will do what I can for those who are persecuted and
pray for them.
I will follow Your voice wherever You lead me, unafraid, for I know You will
be with me.
If I should stumble, if I fall, if I should deny Your name, if I should feel guilty
that I did not pray or forgot to do something You've asked me not to do, I
will not quit. I will not wallow in guilt. I will turn back to You, confess my
sin, and do what You called me to do, because that is why You died for
me.
Today's Word
Question: "What does it mean to be a born again Christian?"
Answer: What does it mean to be a born again Christian? The classic passage from the Bible that answers this question is John 3:1-21. The Lord Jesus Christ is talking to Nicodemus, a prominent Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin (a ruler of the Jews). Nicodemus had come to Jesus at night. Nicodemus had questions to ask Jesus.
As Jesus talked with Nicodemus, He said, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. How can a man be born when he is old? Nicodemus asked. Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mothers womb to be born! Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, You must be born again" (John 3:3-7).
The phrase "born again" literally means "born from above." Nicodemus had a real need. He needed a change of his heart--a spiritual transformation. New birth, being born again, is an act of God whereby eternal life is imparted to the person who believes (2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3; 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1-4, 18). John 1:12,13 indicates that "born again" also carries the idea "to become children of God" through trust in the name of Jesus Christ.
The question logically comes, "Why does a person need to be born again?" The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:1 says, "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins..." (NKJV). To the Romans in Romans 3:23, the Apostle wrote, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." So, a person needs to be born again in order to have their sins forgiven and have a relationship with God.
How does that come to be? Ephesians 2:8-9 states, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast." When one is "saved," he/she has been born again, spiritually renewed, and is now a child of God by right of new birth. Trusting in Jesus Christ, the One who paid the penalty of sin when He died on the cross, is what it means to be "born again" spiritually. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
If you have never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, will you consider the prompting of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to your heart? You need to be born again. Will you pray the prayer of repentance and become a new creation in Christ today? "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husbands will, but born of God" (John 1:12-13).
If you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and be born again, here is a sample prayer. Remember, saying this prayer or any other prayer will not save you. It is only trusting in Christ that can save you from sin. This prayer is simply a way to express to God your faith in Him and thank Him for providing for your salvation. "God, I know that I have sinned against you and am deserving of punishment. But Jesus Christ took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness--the gift of eternal life! Amen!"
When I watch hurting, sinful people come to Jesus, I am amazed to see the gentleness with which he treats them.
There was a leper, a social outcast, doomed to die of a progressive, disfiguring illness, who came to Jesus and said, "If you want to, you can heal me." Jesus, the Bible records, touched the flesh of this diseased man and said, "I want to. Be whole." And he was. [1]
Mary Magdalene, from what we can discover, was a wealthy heiress who was tormented. The demons of her past and present completely controlled her. Jesus set her free, and gradually, as she spent time listening to his teaching and following him, she was healed from the inside out. Did you know that this Mary was the first to see Jesus after his resurrection? [2]
Blind people came to him and went away seeing. Friends and relatives carried cripples to him. He was their friend. He never turned them away or rejected them. Instead, in his presence they were healed. Rich-robed leaders seeking to fill an inner emptiness came to talk with Jesus. So did ragged beggars.
One lady was dragged to Jesus. You know the story. Earlier that morning she had been surprised in the arms of her lover, and hauled in front of Jesus while he was teaching in the temple. "Should we stone her for adultery?" the Pharisees sneered, hoping to expose Jesus' legendary mercy.
"Let the one among you who is without sin cast the first stone," Jesus replied. And when they had all slunk away, one by one, Jesus knelt down to where the woman was crouching. "Where are your accusers?" he asked.
"Gone," she said.
"Then I don't pronounce sentence upon you either," he told her.
As she got up to leave, I can see him touching her sleeve, as if to give her a final healing word. "Go," he said, "and sin no more." [3]
What gentleness! What love! Without compromising right standards of living, Jesus had communicated an incredible amount about how much God loves us, aches for us, longs for us, and gently calls us to paths of wholeness and wholesomeness. No self-righteousness here, not even from the only One who has any right to the term "self-righteous." Just compassion.
I can see us taking a step or two back from this radical Healer. You're too messed up. I don't want to associate with you, we might think about this woman. Our Jesus wore an everyday robe that he washed out in the creeks, and a pair of plain leather sandals. He didn't feel the need to preserve his "space" or reputation or social standing. All these he sacrificed so he could reach out to the people who really needed him. So that he might touch them.
Do you need him? Do you feel messed up or ashamed or confused or lonely or just plain tired of it all? You are his kind of person. Jesus knows your pain, and reaches out a strong and friendly hand, and says to you, "Come to me, all you who are weak and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
No matter what, friends, we need to be like Jesus. Let someone else play the religious game. For us it is getting to know this Jesus, and then being his hands to reach out in our communities to the hurting and struggling. Some of those who are hurting and struggling live in nice homes and drive BMWs. Others live in apartments and have barely enough for the coming month's rent.
If we serve a Healer, then we are called to be a healing people, unafraid of pain, even our own. We know that through his love and working in our midst, that ancient healing touch of the Living Jesus will touch again. With power.
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NOTES
1 Matthew 8:1-3.
2 Luke 8:1-3; 24:1-12.
3 John 8:2-11.
4 Matthew 11:28-29 (RSV).
New Deliverance 21st Street Temple Church Born Again Christian Church of Los Angeles