regeneration

The wind bites my skin as I sit at the skate park. A crowd of boys glide up and down the ramps on their boards. It is obvious that this is their culture.

There is a sameness about them. As I watch them and listen to them,unbidden, the word unregenerate comes to mind.

And this one thought takes me to a question: Can the unregenerate mind believe , trust or comprehend the death, burial, resurrection and appearance of Christ?

If I were to have the chance to start a conversation with one of these boys about salvation...would that unregenerated mind be able to grasp these spiritual truths?

He that is not spiritual does not understand the things of the Spirit. Do you see my logical conclusion and sincere question?

If I were to have the chance....

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Hi.

Hey.

Why aren't you skating?

...I am sick of all this...I come here everyday and hang out with these guys. We do the same thing over and over and that's it. What are you doing here?

Watching my boys. If you are sick of it, why do you keep coming?

What else is there?

As corny as you might think this sounds, there is Jesus.

Oh man, are you one of those Jesus freaks?

Yeah, I am, I believe in Jesus. He took me from the sickness of it all and gave me a life worth living.

I can't believe it. A Jesus freak. You guys are just a bunch of hypocrites. Besides what you say I have to do is way too hard. No way.

Did I say you have to do anything?

Well, not you, but you know ....all you freaks say the same thing. Stop doing this and stop doing that. God is like this big angry dude that just wants to smash me with His fist. Why would I even wanna go there?

I am sorry you have been told all that.

It's true isn't it?

No, not really. Do you mind if I tell you something from the bible?

Go ahead, but I am sure I won't understand it...the bible is just some old huge book. Who could ever read all that? Who would want to? Except some freak.

Yep, it is a pretty big book all right. Lots of words. It is actually a whole bunch of books put together...that is why it looks so big. A lot of the books are pretty short, like letters to someone.

Really?

Yes. One of the books is called John, that is the one I wanted to tell you about.

All right go ahead. I probably couldn't stop you anyway

Say the word and I shut up.

Whatever. What did you want to say?

Before I do, I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to listen to me. I appreciate that.

........yeah well, you don't seem to be that freaky.

Thanks. John was a really good friend of Jesus and after Jesus died he wrote down a book about Jesus' life. One of the things he wrote about was being saved. Do you know what that means?

Yeah, I think it means not going to hell. But I don't believe in hell.

Actually being saved is all about eternal life....it is a gift that God wants to give you, eternal life.

You know that sounds whacko right? Eternal life, you mean like the fountain of youth or something?

Nope, I mean eternal life, life after our physical body dies, a life that means everything instead of nothing....and a life here on earth that means something instead of nothing.

So what your saying is there is this gift that God has and he wants to give it to me and then this stupid life will actually mean something?

Yes, that is what Jesus' friend John wrote about..life....eternal life...salvation.

I am not saying that I believe anything you are saying....but are you telling me that there is a way to have eternal life?

Yes.

OK, what is that way?

Jesus.

Come on, what does that mean. Jesus? I hear the word Jesus all the time....heck I say it all the time. It means nothing.

Not the word Jesus, the name Jesus. That is what means something. You have any friends named Josh?

OK now you are really freaking me out. How did you know my name is Josh?

I didn't ...really...but it is nice to meet you Josh, my name is Aletheia. Jesus' name means Joshua.

You're kidding me right? He had the same name as me?

Yep. Joshua...it is a Hebrew name....do you know what it means?

No, I think my mom named me after some movie star or something.

It means God is Salvation.

You're kidding me?

Nope, Joshua is Jesus' name and it means God is salvation. His whole name is Jesus Christ.. Christ means Messiah, Redeemer. So His whole name means God is salvation Redeemer.

Weird.

Yeah. Remember we were talking about eternal life? John's book tells us all about it.

No way anyone is gonna give me eternal life.

Why?

Come on, I am a jerk. I do stupid things. No way God, Jesus, Joshua, whoever... cares about me and would actually give me something like eternal life.

Josh, God does care about you. A lot. So much that he sent His only son Jesus Christ...remember...salvation? redeemer?....He sent His only son to die for you so that you could have eternal life. All those jerky, stupid things you have ever done and will do again...Jesus died for that...so that you could have eternal life.

That is weird, all that dying stuff. So that is it? He died and now I have eternal life?

Not exactly, he asks just one thing.

Here it is, I knew it. Ok, lay it on me, what do I have to do?

John tells us in his book...believe.

Believe?

Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

So believe in this Jesus Joshua guy? Believe that God is salvation and this guy redeems, whatever that means?

Yes, believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But how can I believe if I don't even understand it all?

It is simple, just believe. You can't understand it all yet...but that moment that you believe...you are given eternal life and understanding will begin to follow.

This is crazy, but I gotta tell you I am sick of what I have now and who I am now.

Believe Josh. Believe in the One who redeemed you from all of this.

I gotta think about this.

No problem...I would need to think about it too. Thanks for listening...maybe I will see you next time we are here.

K. Hey that John guys book. How could I get that? Sounds easier to read than that bible thing.

Do you have the internet?

Of course! everybody does.

Just type in online bible. There are a lot of different sites. There are also a lot of different versions of the bible. Just choose one and click on John and then you can read that book. If it is too hard to understand, try a different version.

Thanks. I always thought Jesus people were freaky. How come you are normal?

Sometimes we just have to take a little time to talk so that we can realize I am not a freak and you are not a freak. See you around Josh.

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Why do we ask the unregenerate mind to believe the spiritual truths of the death, burial and resurrection?

And if we are not asking them to believe the spiritual truths, then what are we asking them to believe?

Just the facts, mam?

Something is off kilter here.