Traditionalists vs. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit 

One day, a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus to ask some serious theological questions; but, all Jesus wanted to talk about were birthdays. In the original version of 'Nic at Night', Nicodemus came to Jesus at night because he was afraid of being judged by others. He was intrigued though, and he wanted to know if Jesus knew about the Kingdom of God. As he began to question Jesus, Jesus told him, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. The term 'born again' was not initially coined by Billy Graham or some modern day denomination, such as Pentecostal or Assembly of God. It was Jesus, Himself. He was the one who emphasized that, "You must be born again". According to Jesus, everyone needs to have two birthdays, and the second is just as important as the first. The first birthday determines when you were born on earth. The second birth determines where you will spend eternity. Our first birth brings us into a human family. But, Jesus said that we need a second birth - a spiritual birth - if we were going to become a part of God's family...a place where you become an on fire, obsessed people on a mission, and you become aware of the Lord's Presence around you and through you. You have become a newly created spiritual being in Christ Jesus! Jesus said, "No one can enter the Kingdom of God (become part of God's family) unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but Spirit gives birth to Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' (John 3:5-7). When Jesus said, "Flesh gives birth to flesh", he was alluding to the idea of humans giving birth to humans. Human mothers give birth to human babies. In the same way as your earthly mother gave birth to you, your Heavenly Father wants to give birth to your spirit through the Holy Spirit. Your parents may have been great Christians or very religious people, but they could not give birth to your spiritual life. They may have nurtured and encouraged it, but only God, Himself, can produce the spark of life of the Spirit within you. There is a spiritual vacuum that we all enter this world with and only one can fill that vacuum. His name is Jesus and when we receive Him into our lives by faith, He gives us His Spirit and we are born again. We have new life. So, how is one 'born again'? Let me ask you, how hard did you work when you were born? Not real hard at all, I bet. It was your mother who did all the work. She labored & agonized until she finlly delivered you. You cannot make yourself to be born again. So, it only goes to say that it has to happen by a force outside of you. God has to do the work inside of you. You can't do it yourself. You can't join a church and say from this day forward that I am born again. The disciple John told us, "To all who receive him to those, who believe in his name, he gave 'the right to become the children of God'...children not born of natural decent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God...John l:12. We are born again when we respond to God's offer of forgiveness & eternal life through Jesus Christ, confess our sins, and invite Jesus to enter our lives...where there was only one inside, now, there will be two...you and the Presence and Person of God, Himself. We, from then on, share our oneness with Him through the Holy Spirit. He becomes our spiritual 'head' and we part of 'His body'. I have to ask you, "Have you had a spiritual rebirth?" Have you been 'born again?'