MYSTERIES OF THE NEW BIRTH (CONCLUDED)

We live in a world of dissolving certainties. Practices that weren’t even contemplated one hundred years ago are commonplace today. For example, America elected a president five years ago that we are now beginning to discover has had a long criminal history. To what extent he will be held responsible for his nefarious deeds is yet to be seen. We read,

On both the criminal and civil litigation fronts, former President Donald Trump faces a bevy of lawsuits and investigations, with more cases likely to follow. Some are civil suits stemming from his pre-presidential business dealings. Others are defamation claims from women he allegedly assaulted. More still are criminal probes and civil actions that scrutinize his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. (JUST SECURITY: Litigation Tracker, Pending Criminal and Civil Cases Against Donald Trump, February 28, 2021).

Crime is also on the increase in America in general. But the increase in the murder rate is simply phenomenal. For some strange reason, there is an outbreak of violence nationwide and people are venting their frustration by taking the lives of others. We are informed,

The U.S. murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020 – the largest single-year increase in more than a century, according to data published this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The findings align with a separate tabulation of the nation’s murder rate published in September by the FBI. The CDC tracks murders by analyzing information contained in death certificates. The FBI tallies murders by collecting information from thousands of law enforcement agencies across the country. Despite their different methodologies, both sources point to a sharp rise in the U.S. murder rate during the pandemic year of 2020, even as the rate itself remained well below the level of earlier decades. (PEW RESEARCH CENTER: What We Know About The Increase In U.S. Murder Rates, October 27, 2021).

Malefactors are now organizing themselves into large strike groups, breaking into department stores in large shopping centers, snatching large quantities of valuable merchandise, and then making their getaway in speeding cars. The rules of social decorum and appropriate law abiding conduct have not changed. But criminals seem to have less compunction to adhere to them.

About 69 percent of retailers said they had seen an increase in organized retail crimes in the past year, pointing to factors including the pandemic, policing, changes to sentencing guidelines and the growth of online marketplaces, according to a recent retail security survey from the National Retail Federation, an industry trade group. Respondents said that the groups involved have become more aggressive and violent. This month, a group of about 80 people rushed into a Nordstrom store in Walnut Creek, Calif., outside San Francisco, and stole merchandise, with many escaping in speeding cars. There were also “smash-and-grab” robberies at other retailers in San Francisco around the same time, including Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent and Burberry, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. (THE NEW YORK TIMES: Robberies Are Becoming An Increasing Concern For Retailers, by Sapna Maheshwari, November 26, 2021).

Family problems have existed since the very beginning of time. We are informed in scripture that Adam accused his wife Eve of giving him the fruit that God had forbidden both of them to eat. We also know from the sacred record that Cain murdered his brother Abel. Furthermore, Joseph’s 11 brothers conspired together to murder him but subsequently sold him into slavery. Domestic violence is also as old as time itself. Since Michal complained to her father king Saul, (after he accused her of betrayal in connection with David), “I had to let him go. Because he threatened to kill me.” Today domestic violence has reached crisis proportions.

With 90 countries in lockdown, four billion people are now sheltering at home from the global contagion of COVID-19. It’s a protective measure, but it brings another deadly danger. We see a shadow pandemic growing, of violence against women. As more countries report infection and lockdown, more domestic violence helplines and shelters across the world are reporting rising calls for help. In Argentina, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States, government authorities, women’s rights activists, and civil society partners have flagged increasing reports of domestic violence during the crisis, and heightened demand for emergency shelter. Helplines in Singapore and Cyprus have registered an increase in calls by more than 30 percent. In Australia, 40 percent of frontline workers in a New South Wales survey reported increased requests for help with violence that was escalating in intensity. (UNITED NATIONS, WOMEN: Violence Against Women And Girls, The Shadow Pandemic, 06 April, 2020).

I attended undergraduate school in Jamaica, West Indies for four years from 1971 to 1974. Subsequently, I also lived and worked there between 1975 and 1983. That experience introduced me to a period of national instability inside that Island nation. During that period of time not only was I a witness and sometimes an active participant in a national debate that consumed the nation. I was also a witness to some horrific acts of political violence. That seemed to be widespread in many slum communities in Western Kingston. Murders by gangsters that were sponsored by both the People’s National Party, and The Jamaica Labour Party were routine. The outbreak of civil war in many impoverished communities was part of every political campaign. I sincerely hope and pray that a similar phenomenon will definitely not envelop America. We read,

Last week, America dodged a bullet. More precisely, it dodged a kidnapping. The FBI arrested 13 men who plotted to violently overthrow the government of Michigan, kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and “try” her for undisclosed crimes at a hidden location in Wisconsin. It’s hard to gauge the impact of such a plot on the American body politic had the kidnappers actually reached the point of attempting to seize an American governor. It would have been a convulsive event in an already-strained and fractured nation. But as we pull back our focus from Michigan, the stories grow more grim. This weekend a hired security guard shot and killed a right-wing protester at point-blank range in Denver. In early September in Portland, Oregon, an Antifa-sympathizer allegedly shot and killed another right-wing protester and then was himself gunned down in a confrontation with federal authorities. (TIME: The Growing Danger Of Political Violence Threatens To Destabilize America, By David French, October 14, 2020).

For all of the above-mentioned reasons, the NEW BIRTH is crucial. Because if I have not experienced such a supernatural change in my own sinful human nature. Then at some point in time, I will inevitably be sucked into some or all of the maladjusted behaviors listed above. This list is by no means exhaustive. Because not even a book would be sufficient to list all of the manifestations of human wickedness. No society will ever have sufficient resources, financial or otherwise, to address every form of aberrant human behavior that will ultimately arise in society. Accordingly, unless there is some form of phenomenal supernatural change, individually and collectively, then we are all doomed.

The bible describes the dynamics of this change. All those who experience it are born of water, i.e. they must be baptized. The Master Himself is the perfect example.

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. (Matthew 3:13-15 NKJV)

The second aspect of this rebirth is affected by The Holy Ghost. It is not an experience that can be explained because it is supernatural. Nevertheless, it is real and the after-effects can be clearly seen.

“For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7 NKJV).

This spiritual birth is sustained by prayer.

“Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night.” George Herbert

3. “God can handle your doubt, anger, fear, grief, confusion, and questions. You can bring everything to him in prayer.” Rick Warren

4. “If you only pray when you’re in trouble, you’re in trouble.” Anonymous

“Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” Soren Kierkegaard

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The new birth is also nurtured by daily Bible study.

1. “A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” Theodore Roosevelt

2. “Within the covers of the Bible are the answers for all the problems men face.” Ronald Reagan

3. “The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go.” Galileo Galilei

4. “The Bible is the cradle wherein Christ is laid.” Martin Luther

5. “If you are ignorant of God’s Word, you will always be ignorant of God’s will.” – Billy Graham

6. “Whether we are reading the Bible for the first time or standing in a field in Israel next to a historian and an archaeologist and a scholar, the Bible meets us where we are. That is what truth does.”

7. “A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.”― Charles H. Spurgeon

8. “I believe the Bible is the word of God from cover to cover.” — Billy Sunday

As The Lord Almighty stated to Joshua,

 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:7-8 NKJV).