Monthly Archives: March 2014

The Born Again Experience

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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For about two years now I have been following a blog written by a wonderful Christian woman named Jessica Hoff. Recently she and some of her other contributors have been discussing the concept of the born again experience. Specifically how is it different from “religion” and is this thing called being born-again a moment or a process?

http://jessicahof.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/how-do-we-know-god/

http://jessicahof.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/born-again-2/

http://jessicahof.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/being-a-christian-4/

As I have read the posts and the thoughts of her commentators I thought I might add my two cents concerning being “born again”.  If Jessica decides the post worthy of a reblog she has my permission in advance to do so and if not then I shall take no offense as at the very least it will fill a little bit of my corner of the blogosphere with thoughts that make me happy.

In this corner of Christianity ( being the American Assemblies of God, a Pentecostal cooperative fellowship) we use terms like “saved”,  “redeemed”, and “born again”  interchangeable to describe the conversion experience; That is the “I once was lost and now am found” experience.

Like Geoff who wrote http://jessicahof.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/being-a-christian-4/  I believe that being born again is not about coming to God for therapy (although Jesus is the Wonderful Counsellor).  Being born again starts when a person realizes that his sin separates him from God and that there is a need for forgiveness. Being born again takes place when a person realizes that Jesus died on the cross to  take mankind’s punishment for sin. Being born again takes place when a person confesses his sin by prayer to God and receives by faith forgiveness of that sin.  Being born again takes place when Jesus comes into a person’s life and brings a dead spirit to life by  supernatural work. In short, a man is not born again because of anything the man does but because of what Jesus did on the cross and what Jesus does personally in that man’s life to make the man come to life through the Holy Spirit. Prayer and confession only make a pathway for Jesus to come in. ( See John 3:3-6,16-18, Rom. 3:23 Rom. 6:23, Rom. 10:9, Eph 2:1-10)

At the moment a man is born again by the supernatural work of Jesus Christ that man is granted eternal life and a home in Heaven ( John 1:12, 3:16).

But let’s not pretend that obtaining Heaven is the pinnacle of Christianity. Being born again takes place in a moment of time but the born-again experience is an eternity of walking out (it’s a process called sanctification in the Bible). If the only point of being  born again was going to Heaven then God would have beamed us off of Earth at the moment of conversion. Being born again is as much an experience and a walk as it is a moment. Once I  was born again I was called to begin living as a born again Christian.

8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10and find out what pleases the Lord. 11Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,

rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.”

15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Eph. 5:8-20 NIV

Now I don’t live as a child of light to be saved or born again but because I am saved because I am born again. I was born again and my name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev 21:27) 32 years ago and I have not been the same since that day!

A Jolly Book

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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It is time for SYW once again and this week Cee has come up with four humdinger- homerun-questions (is triple hyphenation linguistically correct?). I especially love the new question she is giving us!

Describe yourself in a word that starts with the first letter of your name.

Jolly.

If 100 people your age were chosen at random, how many do you think you’d find leading a more satisfying life than yours?

Not very many. I feel like I am living out my purpose and while I have not accomplished everything I set out to I am on my way. I have learned more than half the fun is in the journey anyway.

If you were a tree, would you become a book or furniture? Please describe.

Oh most definitely a book. It would be a big book for sure and for certain, no short stories or poetry compilations please! Just a flat-out adventure that goes on and on until it comes at last to a satisfying end leaving room for a sequel.

You are trapped in an elevator, who would you want to be trapped with?

I am assuming we can choose more than one person; So I would choose to be trapped with a really good storyteller to while away the time with, an optimist to keep our spirits up. A pizza delivery guy who just happened to be delivering Hawaiian pizza to the 15th floor and of course an elevator repair man/ acrobat who can climb through the ceiling tile like you see in the movies to fix what’s broken.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that God helped me to accomplish so much last week. Every week it just seems like the work expands along with the blessings. Here are some of the high lites from last week.

C.cada choir

C.cada choir

 

Special Touch Bowl-A-Thon

Special Touch Bowl-A-Thon

 

 

 

I am loving this discipleship class

I am loving this discipleship class

 

Hey go on over to Cee’s place and see what her other subscribers have said!

http://ceenphotography.com/2014/03/10/share-your-world-2014-week-10/

 

My Father’s Business

Posted on by under Uncategorized

You just have to read this awesome blog about dying to ourselves. Deb says it very well.

debbestillandlisten's avatarDebBe Still and Listen

 

Breaking Through

Have you ever wondered what it means to die to one’s self?  When I was first saved I used to think why does the Pastor keep saying that?  I mean really, if  you think about it how can one die to one’s self?  I know this is silly but this was going through my head at the time, that is physically impossible. You certainly would not be around to talk about the experience because you’d be dead!  So just what was the Pastor talking about?

One of the benefits to being in a bible preaching church the Pastor  explains his comments because he knows there are new eager believers hanging on his every word. Yes, I admit I was one of the new eager believers, well not so new now but none the less still eager to learn.  This is how it was explained to me; repent of your old ways…

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Turbo Follow- Week 5

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week 5 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff is preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation reads the daily devotions and participates weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.

 

The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other. This week we will be discussing: Learning to influence the world for Jesus!

 

But this post is a weekly follow-up of our last class. For those of you who are unable because of business or geography, to join us on Thursdays this blog is a perfect way to virtually join in on the fun.

 

Last week our devotion covered Learning to Heal:

 

Here is a summary of the daily readings from Dan Mcnaughton’s Book,  Follow:

Day 1:  In order to be healed we have to allow God to touch us: Walls must come down!

Day 2: Jesus has authority to heal!

Day 3: Healing is God’s idea first!

Day 4: Faith is required for healing.

Day 5: Healing is given to be given away to others.

And here are the questions we discussed with each other in our last class:

Turbo Follow Questions Week 4- Learn to Heal

 1.    Tell the group about a healing (spirit, soul or body) you have received in the past.

 

 2.    What do you see as the greatest challenge to God’s authority in the realm of healing?

 

 3.    What can you do to eliminate that challenge from yourself and those in the realm of your influence?

 

 4.    What healing would you like to believe God for in yourself or your family life?

 I would love to hear from you about healing!

 

Spring Ahead

Posted on by under For Family & Fun, Uncategorized

We lost an hour this weekend. Did you notice? I did!

Me facing the effects of spring ahead.

Me facing the effects of spring ahead.

I started the weekend by meeting with one of my graduated interns (I have taken on at least one intern a year for the last seven years). He visited on Friday after his girlfriend(my current intern) ratted me out by telling him I haven’t been taking my days off. Truth be told who has time to take a day off when daylight savings time is almost over.

Evidently his visit effected me more deeply than I realized because on Saturday morning I woke up at 4 A.M.  It made me feel like this.

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But I did have to finish my sermon before choir practice. So I walked the dogs and then chopped at the keyboard until the sermon was finished.

By 8 I was at the church warming up. I’ve noticed that warm up has become more and more important as I age.

After  three hours of singing I was off to the Special Touch Bowl-A -Thon.

Bowlers at Special Touch

Bowlers at Special Touch

 

We raised $4400.00 for people with disabilities to go to summer camp. We have another Bowl-a-thon scheduled next week and our hope is to clear $10,000.00.

After that I visited some friends for a fellowship gathering. The sunset was lovely.

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At this point I was pretty tired. I was just sure I would sleep well. Four A.M. came and I was up (which was really three because we sprung ahead remember) once again. Sunday was two services…excellent services I might add but springing ahead has left me a bit unhinged.

So today I am taking my intern’s advice. It is almost eleven and I am still in my pajamas. I think I will watch TV and eat cookies. After all spring is here!

 

Perspectives Again

Posted on by under Photography

“The trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything close up.”
― Chuck Palahniuk100_2280

Church window?

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Nope a wall in a coffee shop!

This post was created for Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective. It’s the second time this week I have been prompted to think about how different conclusions can be reached about the same subject simply by the position I find myself standing in.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/07/photo-challenge-perspective/

Friday Fictioneers: Higher Places

Posted on by under The Stories, Uncategorized

Copyright - Danny Bowman

This post is written in response to the weekly photo prompt from Rochelle at Friday Fictioneers. The rules of Fictioneers are as follows:

THE RULES:

  • Copy your URL to the Linkz collection. You’ll find the tab following the photo prompt. It’s the little white box to the left with the blue froggy guy. Click on it and follow directions. This is the best way to get the most reads and comments.
  • MAKE SURE YOUR LINK IS SPECIFIC TO YOUR FLASH. 
  • While our name implies “fiction only” it’s perfectly Kosher to write a non-fiction piece as long as it meets the challenge of being a complete story in 100 words.
  • When you are done here check out Rochelle’s other subscribers at
  • http://rochellewisofffields.wordpress.com/2014/03/05/7-march-2014/

Here is my story:

Higher Places

I was born the seventh son of a seventh son. Mother said my blood was magic.

Yet the seer foretold my doom if I ever stood higher than the pillar in the temple garden; So father gave me to the priests to ward by their magics in the  stone circle.

But I was young and grew tired of the forest. I wanted the sky; So when I ran it was to the highest place.

I first saw her by God’s twins at her prayers before a wooden cross. Something whispered across the hillside and blew away all I knew of life. Magic abandoned me to love.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: My Sepia World

Posted on by under Photography

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This post was created in response to Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge. You can see other sepia works at

http://ceenphotography.com/2014/03/03/cees-fun-foto-challenge-sepia-tones/