1177: THE “MEMORIZERS” ARE UP IN ARMS!

Whew wee!  Boy did I walk into a hornet’s nest with my previous article (1176).  Unbelievable how many “Good Christians” attacked me with their Bible versus and hate filled banter!  Shoot, I kinda felt like a liberal for a moment.

 

Folks, I was so proud to share my personal story about getting’ closer to God.  It was from the heart and true.  I did not skimp.  However, it was just not good enough that a man becomes closer to God for a whole bunch of folks.  No sir, they not only want you to be closer, but also be “politically correct” accordin’ to “their” beliefs.  Hmm, hmm, hmm.  Anyway guys, I did not fall off the melon truck yesterday.  I did read the Bible: 

 

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.(Joh 3:3) Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?(Joh 3:4) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.(Joh 3:5) That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.(Joh 3:6) Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.(Joh 3:7)The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

 

Did y’all happen to catch that very last sentence?  Jesus meant spiritual re-birth and in my article I was referring to physical re-birth.  However, I can understand how to some folks, being “perfectly” correct with the Bible is more important than becoming closer to God.  I am sincerely sorry if I misunderstood the grammatical concerns of some folks and I apologize to you.  Of course, this was not the point of my article, but I still am sorry for upsetting the “perfect”.  I wish I were as perfect!  

 

Look guys, so many folks have beaten the term "Born Again" to death and most know little of what it really means. My whole article “attempted” to show what it meant in my life, but all a lot of folks have concentrated on was a simple phrase and “Bible Political Correctness” instead of how I came to be closer to God. Bible "memorizers" make me sick! I was always taught that the Bible was a life's guide book and not a complete map to follow second by second. This is why God gave us free will. He EXPECTS us to do most things on our own. HE does not mean for you to take your eye off the road while lookin’ at his map.  HE expects you to pull off the road, look at HIS map and then get back on the road with what you have learned.  HE does not expect you to “memorize” the complete map! So, I stand by my testimony with a clear conscious and pray that folks see the “Good” in my story and not the “political” errors.  Here is the article again, just in case you may not have read the WHOLE thing (TIC).

 

“BORN AGAIN”!

 

Now guys, I just have to get off track for a while and take some issues with this, “Born Again” baloney.  You see, God Almighty was kind enough to give us each one birth, one death and our free will to do whatever we wanted in between.  Some do good, some do bad, some change from good to bad, some change from bad to good, but you ain’t gonna get “Born Again”!  Hey, but it seems that some preacher or evangelist invented this cute lil’ phrase, “Born Again” to suit his/her “special” purposes.  Although it was probably good for the collection plate, it does nothing, but gives folks some feely good pipe dream about their life and, in my opinion, actually belittles what the Good Lord has given us.  You cannot be “Born Again”!  You just can’t!  You got one go round folks!  That’s it!

 

Wait just a minute now!  Before y’all go off half cocked and start giving me the scriptures or some TV evangelist’s version of them.  Let me finish!  By the way, since I’ve decided to go head first off into this, I do not think that ANY TV evangelist is worth a plug nickel!  Yes, I did say ANY!  All they do is get filthy rich off of folks, who are too weak to use the good sense God has given them.  Hell, you may as well listen to and send your money to a used car dealer or a shyster lawyer!  Or send it to me!  I’ll put it to good use.  In fact, why is it that when someone speaks for God, or appears too, no one hardly even questions it?  I mean, you sure do question used car dealers or shyster lawyers, don’t ya?  I think learning about the folks, who claim to speak for God is much more worth investigatin’ than a used car dealer or a shyster lawyer is.  After all, cars and shysters are just earth things, but God is forever.  Heck, I betcha God would want you to check out any one, who claims to speak for him, don’t ya think?

 

Okay, back to the “Born Again” deal.  Don’t get me wrong!  You may be the sorriest sucker on the planet and then one day you decide that your life must change.  You search for an answer, but no one has one, so you start praying and God starts answering and you start seeing what HE is doing for you and you turn things around.  HE gives you a path to fellow and you see the miracles he provides you every single day.  You are very lucky and you know it.  You are happy again, but you are still the same body and soul.  You have not been “Born Again”, but you have found God, asked for forgiveness and HE provided it.  No one has to change your diapers or send you to school or give you an allowance or spoil you rotten!  No sir, you simply found God, asked HIM for help and you received it!  You didn’t even have to put money in a collection plate, send Joel Osteen a prayer request, appear on TBN, or even bear witness to a bunch of folks, who don’t know you from Adam.  No sir!  It was between you and God.  You used the things HE had given you in the RIGHT way and now you are whole again.

 

All of the things above are my opinions.  Please do not condemn me for that.  You see folks, I left organized religion about ten years ago and now I am closer to God than I have ever been in my life.  I actually “see” how HE answers my prayers and the miracles HE provides me every day.  I am not confused with misinterpretations, collections, pledges, church politics, who’s wearing what, where are they setting, rumors and bad truths about the church or those, who profess to carry God’s word.  Many times I tried to get those in the church to listen to my concerns, but it was hopeless.  In fact, they did not like the fact that I even had legitimate questions.  So, I trusted the gifts GOD gave me and went on my own and it has been wonderful!

 

I will say this though, if I ever decided to go back to organized religion again, it would be the Jewish religion.  Shocked?  You shouldn’t be.  Here’s the way I see it.  God said that the Jews were HIS chosen people.  Now most all of us believe that God is all knowing.  So, if God knows all then when HE said that the Jews were HIS chosen people, HE already knew that the Jews would betray HIM, yet HE still said it.  For this reason, I feel that the Jewish faith is God’s chosen faith.

 

Please remember this though, “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”  In other words, in my opinion and the way I interpret this with the mind, which God gave me.  You cannot trust any one with your path to Heaven.  Not brothers or sisters!  Not mothers or fathers!  Not priests or preachers!  Not used car dealers or shysters!  And certainly not smiley faced TV evangelists!

 

Hey, it’s just my two cents worth!