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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Born again....and again...and again....this morning

Years ago Bono baffled "bounded set" evangelicals and (intentionally?)subverted expectation of the Squeakers, by proclaiming to Rolling Stone,

"Everyone should be born again............................. every day."

Years later, in an amazing unreleased song/prayer ("Mercy," uh, "released" below), he sang his heart out at outro:

"I am born again
and again
and again
and again





and again...."

David Seamands once told of being in awe at how many responded to an altar call to be "born again"...until he realized what that phrase inevitab;y means in largely Hindu India ..(:

..talk about being born again "again."

On that note, Christian Scharen comments
"I’d say that “squeakers” believe in karma, not Grace" (link)



True as it is that there is a "first and only" born again-ness that transfers us into the Kingdom..

Jesus apparently only used the phrase once (John 3) with one person (Nicodemus)....and note that he used it (strikingly) in a plural: "You all must be born again (as one).

And as one crazy dork once said:


Without a Christ-infusion of perspective and hope, or "being born again the first time," all of life feels like, even is, a downward slide; in fact it drops into hell. Yet in the Kingdom and the economy it births, we inevitably progress, spiraling up , circling up, helixing up.
link, halfway down page
Our congregation watched a video clip Sunday where a well-meaning pastor (with Squeaker leaningss...(see him also in the fifth video here) pressed Tony Jones with the pointed question: "Have you been born again?"

We loved what happened next:

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for that video. I totally dig where Tony Jones is coming from. It is an everyday decision. So stoked to hear someone put words to what I've been feeling. I think you have the most thought provoking blog that I read. I don't know if that's good or bad but I'll take it for the good.

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  2. i 'll take it good..thanks

    Keep up the good work, st. bub!

    dave

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  3. Bub, we need YOUR thought provoking blog to kick back in

    ReplyDelete

Hey, thanks for engaging the conversation!