Born Again: The Pulse of Life and Worship

Coming up on renewed mindsets. Do you consider yourself born again? A lot of people do, but most don't act like they are. This week is part one of a born again two parter where I will talk about what being born again means to me and my life. It's probably time I opened up to y'all. Anyway, let's go, boys. Hey, welcome to the renewed mindsets show. I'm Rick and I'm so glad you're here. Born again it's such a major part of our faith, yet I'm finding that people have little concept of what it actually means. Today you'll hear me on a more personal level. I want you to hear what being born again does to a person, listen and see if being born again has had an impact on how you live. Let's go. You know I wanted to record this podcast from the box that's in your brain, or the box that most people think they have in their brain, of biblically sound experiences. I wanted to, but I really couldn't. I actually don't have as much experience in what true Christianity looks like as I should, considering how many years I've claimed it Now. I'm certain I know now more about the baptism of fire than ever before, more about deliverance, more about healing, and I don't underestimate the Holy Spirit, that still small voice inside me, or the, as someone close to me once talked about, all the time, the unctions that direct us. I never really understood what the Holy Spirit was all about. When it comes down to me and I do mean way on down to where I am in the grand scheme of life, being a born again Christian is something else, in addition to those exceptional things. I've learned here lately not to think it's strange when someone runs an aisle at the church or prays in the spirit and other tongues. I've learned not to judge the person who returns week after week to the altar, or to judge that old lady saint that's laid out on the floor crying. I always thought it was emotionalism, just being caught up in the group experience, until I found myself singing a worship song I've heard a hundred times before. Only this time I really hear it. I sing it, and not just from my brain and my mouth, but also from my spirit. I feel that song and I sing it louder than ever have before, smiling and bawling like a teenage cheerleader whose team just lost the big game. But the difference is I'm unashamed, I'm not embarrassed, I'm not self-conscious, because who cares? Who knows? I'm in the presence of the spirit of the Lord. I don't want to be anywhere else or be doing anything else. When I think about being a born-again Christian, I can't help think about what it's not or what I thought it was for years, the years that I sat watching others wondering why they had what I didn't have, not the things of this world, not money and cars and houses, but the things of God, peace and joy and love. I sat watching them, knowing that I was really unchanged by my decision to follow Christ. I sat there embarrassed for them to find out who I really was, even becoming licensed and ordained, so scared that someone was going to call me out because they knew that I wasn't what I thought I was supposed to be. I had knowledge, I even had some wisdom, but what I didn't have was a transformed mind, like Paul wrote about in Romans 12, verse 2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. That verse has been my verse for twenty-five years. I preached my first message on it back in the nineties and then many others after that, that has been my one desire To be transformed into a man after God's heart. But it didn't happen. I thought at first it was just supposed to be automatic, so I waited. No one could tell me how to make it happen. I was conformed to the world, but I didn't want to be. Did you catch that? Be transformed by the renewal of your mind? Later in those years, I started coaching people, hoping by helping others my mind would be transformed, and I used that verse in the business name renewed mindsets. It was still two years away that I would finally realize my ultimate desire to be transformed, and now I record a podcast under that same name. I want for you what I have found a renewed mind that's set upon serving God when you are born again. Christian worship is not detached, it's not stagnant and it's not boring. Unlike some people's opinions about my church, it's also not wild and crazy.

We are too wild and crazy.

Well, okay, it's not crazy for no good reason anyway. And it's not attention seeking, at least not when it's authentic and you can tell. It can be calm and soft. It can also be determined and relentless. These past months I've sat here in this RV, going over the last years of my life. I think of being a born-again Christian as having a freedom that comes with focus. I mean focused and purposed prayer, prayer that lets me know that I'm in the presence of the Lord, and all the things that are deep inside me that I can't even find the words for, or being brought to God's attention at that moment. Being born-again matters to me now because most of my life I've been exposed to a church environment where deep worship and praise and prayer were not part of the show. Church was very structured and you did not deviate from the order of service in the bulletin. But now, on Sundays, if a tragedy hit a family, I can sit there and watch a mother engage in spiritual warfare with strength and determination that's not her own. She may or may not run around the aisle, but she for sure digs her heels in. I can see her relentlessly seeking God over whatever the issue is, trusting him in her bleakest situation. To me, that is powerful. I never knew a relationship with Christ could be so real. I faked it for so long I began to believe the lie that the devil was telling me, the lie that this is all there is. There's no power, there's no change. I was convinced that everybody was delusional and I was the only one with the gall to admit it. Being born-again matters to me when I see my pastor, the most humble, selfless and good-hearted person I can think of, stand up and speak with authority, with the power of the Holy Spirit, unafraid and unashamed, and I see him clear the room of a demonic presence, just so his flock, his people, could pray in peace. It matters to me because I can feel the difference after he does it. I can feel the weight of the room lessen and feel the Holy Spirit fill that space in and around me, communing with God. Praise the Lord for freedom. It matters to me when I watch and hear my friend, a dad, drop down to his knees, calling on God, trusting him and praising him in the worst of times, while he's in the middle of a nasty divorce. Most of us have been there. We get ourselves in a circumstance where the enemy of our soul tries to get the upper hand and have us deal with it in other ways, and most of us would buckle under the pressure I did. My past is filled with a logbook of ways not to cope with heartbreak, from drugs and alcohol to comfort in the arms of another woman, all the way to attempting suicide, when all I had to do was call out to the Lord and let him take the pain. It still hurts, but with God the pain is overshadowed by his own promise. Psalm 3418,. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He rescues those whose spirits are crushed. God provides hope for the future, mine and yours. You people have heard me speak in these podcasts. For the last couple months, I've been in the middle of the worst heartbreak I've ever experienced. The old Rick wouldn't be hurting right now. I would be numb from allowing Satan to comfort me, allowing him to comfort me straight to hell. God allows us every day to experience just enough. Just enough pain to teach us to rely on him, because every day I hurt less and less and my hope and faith grow. Being born again isn't just an adjective describing people. It's lives that experience the real God in real ways. You know, when it comes to being born again, there aren't any age limits or religious rituals required. God has exactly what each person needs when they need it. God supplies us gifts of the Spirit tailor-made to send His message by bringing to light what people need to hear in a way that will bring the most impact for those needs. Being born again isn't something you do or a way you act. It's a way of being. It's choosing to give up yourself, your self, that thing that held you together for so many years, that thing that made you you, your life, your relationships, your job, your friends, your children. You have to trust that the things you hold most dear are better off in God's hands than in yours, because God wants. God wants to make you into something new, a man or a woman that submits to His authority, by allowing Him to direct all of you, all of your life, a life where the Holy Spirit is your strength and structure. Because when you do that, when you give God everything and I mean everything you find freedom. Being born again is being free in your worship, whenever and wherever you are, during the good times and the bad, unlimited by how long or how you choose to do it. It's being in a place, spiritually, where you're actually touching the hem of Christ's garment. It's shouting praise the Lord while you're driving down the interstate. It's about praising Him first when you receive that raise. It's about praising Him when your child hits that home run. It's also about praising Him when that same child gets cancer. In the Old Testament there was a man named Job. Job was a wealthy man with a wife and children and land and animals. And one day some really bad people came and killed all his servants. Then a fire killed all his sheep, then all his camels, then all his children died when the house they were in collapsed on them. Job lost everything all at once except his wife. In one moment he went from a wealthy father to owning nothing and losing his children. And what did Job do? Chapter 1, verse 21 he says Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Yes, he praised God through the pain and if you continue reading, he suffered so much more. Satan wants to kill and destroy and your life will be tossed back and forth. He's trying to get you to curse God, to keep you from living for God. But Job never cursed the Lord, he only praised him. That is part of what being born again means Understanding that, no matter what, god will be praised in every circumstance. Job fought Satan and trusted God and in the end, god not only restored all that Job had lost, but he gave him twice as much. Being born again the beauty of why it matters is being humble and graciously accepting God's lens over your eyes. You begin to see the world around you like God sees it. You see people differently. You see situations differently. You hurt for people when they're hurting. You rejoice for people in their success. All to be effective for God's kingdom in your small little portion of the world. And as wonderful as it is for me and you to live as a born again Christian, for whatever time we have on this earth, it really should be more wonderful for those people that live their life with us and around us, because people will be drawn to that spirit, that light inside you, confirming what you used to say. Is this real? Yes, it is. I have been transformed into a new person and others can see it and they want it for themselves, and that is why we are here to show others how good God is by loving Him and praising Him and serving Him. Well, that's it for this week's show about Born Again. Make sure you check us out next week for part two. I'm sure there'll be a little more fact and a little less emotion in that one. I did have a good time making this and I hope you enjoyed it. If you've missed any of our shows, you can catch up at our website, at Renewed Mindsetscom. We're also listed on Apple and Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. And while you're on the website, send me a voice message A little microphone at the bottom right hand side of the page. I just might put your message on a future episode. If you enjoyed this show, do me a favor and send a link to someone you know that might enjoy it. I believe these messages are needed in the world and God needs to get all the glory Until next week. I'm Rick. I love you, see ya. The intro and outro music for the Renewed Mindsets podcast is the song Are you Ready by Floodgate From the album Are you Ready? Copyright 2002, offbeat Ministries Incorporated. Floodgate can be found on Apple Music and iTunes Music used with permission. And now deep thoughts from Rick Uhaas Things people with integrity do differently. If they give you their word, you can count on it. They know what is right and they're not afraid to stand up for it. They live by the same standards they expect from others. They take ownership of problems that aren't their own. They choose to act sooner, not later. They're extremely humble. They believe in transparency. They give credit where credit is due. They are people you can trust. They are broad-minded people. And now are you ready by Floodgate, played in its entirety, enjoy,

I knew you would a hundred times, but if you let me speak my mind, I'll be on my way. We must all come to see that this life holds no certainty and no one knows the day that Christ will come. So we've been born and we've been told to be ready, young or old, and have our lives been voted for? Are you ready to stand? Are you ready to serve? Are you ready to give your life away? You're not ready to live until your head dies. So we ready to meet your God face to face. Where's your destination, friend? mee