To My Facebook Brothers and Sisters in Christ…..
When about 13 years old, my parents asked us kids if anyone wanted to go to confession. There were two visiting catholic priests whose specialty was getting people to repent and confess their sins. I think I surprised and pleased my parents when I agreed to accompany them. I had been particularly troublesome, so much so that my Mom said I was more trouble than all the other siblings combined.
In the chapel annexed to imposing Assumption Church in Windsor, Ontario were confessionals, each confessional consisting of three cubicles, the middle cubicle was where the priest was seated and hidden. People lined up on both sides of the confessionals that evening awaiting their turn to unload their sins and dispose of their guilt. (I remember how the wooden floor creaked ever so annoyingly every time someone shifted forward in his/her line.)
God visited that 13 year old as he stood in line waiting his turn, perhaps honouring my desire to turn from bad kid to good kid. I felt His presence, perhaps the first time ever. One of the priests protruded from his cubicle and demanded we all sing a song, a most unusual thing to do. I believe God used that priest to embellish my special moment. Sixty-two years later, I still remember the words to that song: “Holy God we praise Thy name…. Lord of all, we bow before Thee…. All on earth Thy sceptre reign…. All in heaven above adore Thee…. Infinite Thy vast domain…. Everlasting is Thy reign…. Infinite Thy vast domain…. Everlasting is Thy reign.” Soon after my grade 8 teacher, a catholic nun, saw such a change in me she declared before the class, “I think Larry will be a priest.”
Was that a born-again experience? Had that catholic teen been “rescued from the kingdom of darkness and transferred…. into the kingdom of his dear Son”? (Col.1:13) Do you remember, friends, the words of Lord Jesus to Nicodemus?: “You MUST be born-again”. Must, must, must! I had a powerful experience, but was it ‘the real thing’? Had I been “born of the Spirit”, “born again”? No! No! No! I say all this to lead into a most important question….
Have YOU been “born of the Spirit”? Have YOU been “born again”? Nicodemus was not yet “born of the Spirit”, but, being a seeker, possibly (probably?) had similar spiritual experiences as that 13 year old.
I soon relapsed into old ways. Fourteen years later (Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ!) I was truly born again. I am now a legitimate son of the living God. My name has been added to “the book of Life”. I don’t know when I’m going, I don’t know how I’m going, but I sure know where I’m going. The problem I have is….
Many who are considered christians and consider themselves to be christians don’t act like what one would think a christian should. Their speech and lifestyle give them away. They seem ashamed to speak the name of Jesus Christ. Like those of the world, they have no concern for the eternal future of their loved ones. They seem to think being a christian is simply being nice. Are people such as these saved? I really, really don’t know. Perhaps they assume a visitation from God, such as my encounter in that catholic chapel, was a born again experience.
In closing, I say this to my FB friends: If you cannot say with full sincerity (even if you have declared it before), “Lord Jesus, I place all who I am under your lordship, and I receive You right now as Lord and Saviour and Shepherd and Teacher and King”, you have cause to be nervous.