In our home it was natural to fear our father.

 Even our mother was afraid of him. As children, my sister and I thought every family was like that. Every family had an unpredictable alcoholic who was impossible to please, and a praying Mama who was there to protect the children. We thought God planned it that way.



We were good children, Mama was always telling us we were, even if Daddy couldn't see it. Part of this was because we dared not do anything. We were quiet, timid children who rarely spoke; never when Daddy was home. People thought God had blessed Mama with the sweetest girls. She was always so proud!



Then came the day we found something new and fun to do.

 We knew it wouldn’t upset anyone. We never took the risk of doing that. On our house we had a wooden door. We discovered we could draw pictures on it with chalk and it would rub right back off. We could have lots of fun.

We set to work drawing and making lots of pretty pictures all over it. We had a great time. It surprised us to see how talented we were. These pictures were good! That's when we decided to finish our masterpiece. We were proud of our work. We knew Mama would just love it. She would want all her friends to come see it and maybe they would want us to do their doors too. We had found something we were really good at!



The praise we expected did not come. Instead of seeing the beauty in our work, all Mama could see was the time and effort she would need to clean it off. She was mad. We didn’t understand this but we knew all about anger - and we were in big trouble!

 Off we ran to find a place to hide.

In our wooded yard it wasn’t hard for two small children to find safety. Together we huddled behind a tree and didn’t move. Soon we heard the frightened voices of Mom and our neighbors calling out to us. Still we didn’t budge. They were afraid we had run away or drowned in the pond out back.

The sun set and it began to get dark. Those around us became more anxious and we became more frightened. Time was slipping by, and the longer we hid there the harder it was to come out. Mom was, by now, convinced something awful had happened to us and she resorted to calling the police. We could tell something was happening because we could hear all the voices drawn together in a group. Then the search was on again, this time with strong male voices overpowering the others. If we were frightened before -- now we were terrified!



As we clung together in the dark we became aware of yet another voice. One we instantly recognized with horror -- our Daddy. But there was something strangely different about his voice. In it we heard something we had never heard before. Fear, agony, despair -- we couldn't put a name to it then, but that's what it was. Then came the prayers, tears and prayers intermingled together.



Was that our Daddy on his knees pleading with God? Our Daddy -- with tears running down his face, promising God that he would give his life to Him if He would safely return his girls?



Nothing in our lives had prepared us for this kind of shock. Neither of us remember making a decision to come out. We were drawn to him like a magnet, our fears dissolving into the forest. We don't know yet if we actually took steps or if God somehow moved us out and into his arms. What we do remember are those strong loving arms holding us and crying, holding us like we were precious.



Things were different after that. We had a new Daddy. It was like the old one was buried that day in the forest. God had taken him and replaced him with another. One who loved us and was ever thankful for us. 



Mama always told us that God was a God of miracles. I guess she was right. He changed our whole family with a piece of chalk.

 [show less]

Are you good with words? Can you completely capture the essence of the supernatural? No? Why not? Okay, I’ll admit it – neither can I.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t quite adequately express supernatural concepts in human language. Words just fall short. They’re superficial. They barely brush the surface.

As a writer, I’m grateful for metaphors. Without them I’d often be empty-handed and hollow. Symbols and images and allegories help me get at the bigger picture. This helps a lot when we dialogue about starting over – especially as a Christian.

Plugging Into Supernatural
First, you’ve got to acknowledge that starting over by having faith and becoming a Christian involves both a divine and human element. You can’t do it by yourself. And God won’t ever just do it for you. The two have to blend together. That’s pretty supernatural.

Most Christians tend to use the words ‘repentance’ and ‘new birth’and ‘conversion’in this conversation. Those are good words, but what do they really mean?

Start with ‘repent’ and ‘convert’. These aren’t the most popular concepts within today’s society. Notice that, by definition, repentance and conversion refer to a change in ourselves that’s connected with free will. You have a decision you can make, a switch that you can voluntarily turn and a direction that you can decide to choose. But this new beginning is doesn’t result from your own initiative. It comes from outside. It happens to you, only if you open yourself up to the Force that brings new life in the fullest sense.

U-turn!
So what does it mean to repent? Maybe you have an instinctive negative reaction when you hear that word. Lots of people do. That’s probably because many people talk about ‘repentance’ badly. To compensate for that, other people often downgrade ‘repentance’ to the realm of likes and dislikes and mere external change. Just another form of behavior modification.

But we can’t understand the weight of repentance unless we’ve adequately grasped what sin really is. We have to comprehend our position, being isolated from God and goodness until we accept the offer of salvation. The divine chance to start over. To go to a totally new place in life.

When I start understanding the seriousness of sin and evil, and realize its absolute destructiveness, then I begin to see what a pickle I’m really in. When I see how much evil has infiltrated my own life, even in small things, it makes me really want to change and get away from where I am!

It’s more than just some superficial sense of misgiving or a shallow feeling of regret. It’s more than shyly admitting that maybe I should have tried a little bit harder to overcome a few unfortunate tendencies. The apostle Paul talked about this deep sense of regret that makes me want to transform – when he coined the term ‘godly sorrow’.

It’s a serious, heart-felt realization that you’ll lose everything if you don’t make a new start, if you don’t turn 180 degrees and go a different direction. It’s the only kind of sorrow that will does you any good.

This is the kind of regret that ‘leads to salvation.’ WHY? Because it makes you genuinely want to change. Any other sorrow is ‘worldly sorrow’, and literally leads nowhere (2 Corinthians 7:8-11). ‘Godly sorrow’ lets you see the truth about yourself. Apostle Paul wrote: ‘You were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world’ (Ephesians 2:1,2).

Strong language? Yup. But that’s okay, because sin is strong stuff too. And you can’t fight a strong virus without strong antibiotics!

Ancient Implications
Check out how the ancient languages used these terms. In the original Hebrew and Greek languages, words which are translated in English as ‘to repent’ have the connotation of ‘to pant’, ‘to sigh’, ‘to groan’ and ‘to have remorse’. ‘Godly sorrow’ encompasses the entire being, and it’s the absolute prerequisite for receiving forgiveness for our sins and wrongdoings. Without longing for transformation, nobody ever genuinely changes.

Another Greek word translated ‘repentance’ (the word metanoia) has a different nuance. It points to a change of mind and purpose. As one Bible scholar so aptly expressed, it indicates ‘a pilgrimage from the mind of the flesh to the mind of Christ.’

Another subtlety of the Greek language says more. This repenting transformation results in a new ‘heart’— a totally new approach to life and a fresh orientation in values and ideals. It’s like a mind renewal (Romans 12:2). When you start on a journey with Jesus you become a ‘new person’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). What does it mean to be a ‘new’ person? Transformation as a new Christian goes beyond the most ‘extreme make-over’. It’s about the core of your being. Not just about the way you look, speak and dress. Transformation imports a heavenly quality of life into human existence.

‘New’ can mean ‘consecutive’ or ‘next’— as, for instance, last week’s episode is followed by a new episode this week. When ‘new’ is used like this, the original New Testament writers would use the Greek word ‘neos’. But when they speak about the ‘new’ person ‘in Christ’, they carefully choose the word ‘kainos’, which implies total intrinsic newness—a newness in quality. This is ‘a spiritual renewal’ of ‘thoughts and attitudes’ (Ephesians 4:23). People who receive this ‘newness’ no longer live like before. They don’t ‘live to please themselves. In stead, they will live to please Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:15).

Do you want to ‘display a new nature’? Maybe become a‘new creature, created in God’s likeness’ (Ephesians 4:24)? Does someone in your family wish you’d become a new person? Sometimes the people we care about can see how much we need to change even more clearly than we can!

Don’t worry, getting a new life doesn’t depend on anything YOU contribute. ‘All this newness of life is from God’ (2 Corinthians 5:18). Your new life comes from a superhuman source. Eternal life has the imprint of divine power on it.

THIS is the abundant life that Jesus Christ came to offer, ‘in all its fulness’ (John 10:10).

Just Like a Baby
What more fitting metaphor refers to this miraculous new start in life than the new birth? A new born baby is just getting started, has a clean record. A whole lifetime ahead of them.

Jesus talked about starting over as being born a second time, when he dialogued with Nicodemus, an important Jewish religious leader. Nicodemus was the kind of guy who already knew everything about faith. He was what you’d call ‘theologically astute’. But somehow he’d totally missed the good news that he could start over. That he to start over.

Jesus startled him with a statement that has been repeated millions of times since: ‘Unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God’ (John 3:3). Nicodemus still didn’t comprehend. Blank. Unseeing. Jesus tried to explain again: ‘No one can enter the Kingdom [of heaven] without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven. So, don’t be surprised at my statement that you must be born again. Just as you can hear the wind, but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit’ (John 3:5-8).

Think about it: this is your CHANCE! Your opportunity to start fresh. Leave behind all the mess from what happened when you were a child. Drop the anger and the bitterness from getting your heart broken. Start treating the people you love with some respect and dignity. Maybe start getting treated with more dignity yourself.

And if you’re the kind of person who had it all good, who never got hurt, who never suffered – well, there’s something in it for you too. You get to reinvent yourself as the unselfish person you ought to be. Somebody who looks out for others instead of stomping on them. The people around you won’t know what to think of the “new you”!

This new birth, this starting over – it comes from the supernatural. It comes from the Spirit of God. The Spirit, like the wind, is totally beyond comprehension or control. It breathes into our life from another dimension. You can now live a ‘new’ life that fills all the cracks in your soul.

Just like human birth, your faith needs life from beyond itself and you need constant nurture in order to grow. But there’s also a significant difference. Have you ever heard someone, hurting, say “I never asked to be born into this world!” But with starting over spiritually, YOU get to choose. YOU get to ask for it. In fact, it never happens, unless YOU ask for it. Water & Spirit
Starting over is about water and Spirit, the Apostle John says. Water is a reference to the rite of baptism by immersion, demonstrating faith on the part of the person who’s starting over, repenting, turning around. [see John 36].

Primitive, you say? Yes, a little. But hey, so is having faith in something you can’t see. Faith has been in the human heart for centuries, even millennia. So don’t toss it out just yet, even if it seems a little primeval.

And let’s not forget the Spirit-part. You’re thinking about starting over, from the inside out. You feel rotten about the way you’ve acted, the thoughts you’ve fantasized about, the words you’ve used. You want to just QUIT those horrid habits. But ‘converting’, turning around – that’s just the beginning.

Just like with human birth – there’s always the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrom (SIDS), or a life-threatening virus or disease along the way. A new-born Christian can’t expect to survive surrounded by the influences that kept you trapped in the old habits. You need a mentor who’s been through it before. You need friends who’ll support your new choices and decisions. You need a community that encourages you to grow.

You might want to check into a faith community around you, or look for a nearby LIFEdevelopment Centre to give yourself a chance to make new friends. We all need good friends, maybe this is your chance to meet some lifetime companions! [show less]

How do you turn away from something that isn’t good? What does it translate into in your daily life?

What do you think it is that makes the idea of repentance and conversion so unpopular in today’s society? How do you think our culture got this way?

Do you think you can be a real Christian disciple without experiencing repentance? Why or why not?

What does repentance look like to you? Have you ever experienced it yourself? [show less]

What will you do about this concept of repentance? Will it lead you to make any changes in your life? What changes?

Dear God,
I acknowledge now my sins and my need of you. I acknowledge that I want to live forever and that I want to be born again. So please forgive me for my sins, come into my life and help me to live my life with you leading and guiding me. Amen.

As our sense of faith grows, ‘the Spirit works within us, we become more and more like [Christ] and God will receive more and more glory’ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

In the words of the Apostle Paul, talking about fellow Christians whom he had nurtured and supported, ‘It was God, not me, who made it grow!’ (1 Corinthians 3:6). [show less]

re:tell: Holly Smeltzer, Nova Scotia, Canada. Edited by Sarah K. Asaftei. http://www.sermonillustrator.org/illustrator/sermon3b/piece_of_chalk.htm. 10 April 2006.