The 2 conversions
So� you've� been converted !!
That's� Great,����������� really� and� truly� great
....
You've been�� born again,�� had a second birth
You've been�� born of the Spirit of God,���
regenerated
You've� received� Jesus as�� Saviour,�� Lord,�
Redeemer
That's� so� wonderful,� awesome,�� life-changing���
.....
But� tell me� ......� where� did you� receive this� ?
Were you� out on your own� somewhere ...... ?
Were you� on some� Damascus� road,�� like� Saul of
Tarsus ?
Were you� called as you sat at business, �� like�
Matthew ?
Were you� called while up a sycamore tree,� like
Zaccheus ?
Were you� called as you had just finished fishing,
mending nets like James and John ?
Did it happen as you drew water from the well, like
the Samaritan woman ?
Or were you brought to Jesus by someone,� like�
Andrew brought Simon Peter ?
The chances are,� in this day and age,� that you were
taken to a church,� by some well-meaning friend� or acquaintance,� or relative.
Or you responded to some advertisement, or you even
responded to a Tele-Evangelist,� then sought out a Church to visit.
Or perhaps,� you were even born into a Christian
family� who attended Church ?
Any way,������� any how,����� ����������� by
what-ever� means .....
You were born-again .....� � or converted��� (which
simply means���� changed)
CONVERTED� ......� a change of direction,�� from�
serving self� to� following Christ
CONVERTED� ......�� that's awesome, and life-changing
But just a minute ..... !!
From my contacts and observations, very few folk have
this life-changing experience on their own, with no-one else around,� on their
own somewhere with God Himself.
By far the great majority of people were inside the
doors of some Church meeting, at an� evangelistic rally,� or some other
grouping of Christians.
Usually some other person is involved,� some
"coincidence"� of contact with a Church service occurs.
And� this� opens up� some thing else ......
If you were born-again�� or� Converted ......��� at a
Church� service or meeting
I can almost guarantee� you� ....� that in the�
spiritual and emotional�� heat of that occasion
����� SOMETHING� ELSE� WAS� OCCURRING
Something� that� probably� you� weren't� even� aware
of !!
Another� Conversion was in the process,� that you may
not have been,� nor ever were to become aware of .....
�� �� A������ S E C O N D������� CONVERSION .........
Every� bit as real� as the� First� Spiritual�
Conversion
What� on� earth� do you� mean ...... I hear you say !
����� A������ S E C O N D�������� CONVERSION�� indeed
??
����� How ?��� �����Where� ?��������� What ?
What is this� Second� Conversion you� speak of
??����� Get� Ready�� for the Answer ....�
Its� a� CONVERSION� to the Church group you have
attended,� to the group of� Christians amongst whom you have been born-again !
Now, �the impact and experience of being born-again,�
for me,�� was so wondrous,� and enveloping,� so life-changing ........��� that
the awareness of the second,� more subtle� Conversion, did not even register
until, in my case,� many years,� even decades, later
(And by then,� I had married a girl I met at that
Church and raised a family,� gone into partnership with another member of that
Church,� made many friends there, gone
on countless holidays with other members of that
Church,� spent a quarter of a century of effort there, etc, )
But,� as I look back,� and ponder ......
The reality of that Second Conversion was every bit
as real as the First Spiritual one,�� but I didn't even know it at the time,�
or indeed until a long while after.
The First Conversion was so impacting on me, so
revolutionising,� so enveloping,
that the Second one�� �just happened�� without my
conscious awareness� .......�
and� I let it happen to me !!!!
As I grew spiritually,� and fed my spiritual appetite
for the Bible,� and Christian books,�� why -- so did my involvement with the
meetings and programmes and affairs of that particular Church.
I never questioned any difference between my
spiritual growth as far as God was concerned,� and my Church involvement
.......� not for years,� even decades later,�
until eventually I sought to leave that particular
Church.
And� then,� horrors upon� horrors,�� the truth slowly
dawned on me .......�
the Second Conversion was every bit as real as the
First,� and they had converted me to their own particular but� �narrow�� way�
of� Church� attitudes and� outlook !
I had� Converted� to �.�� their way of .........
����� Dressing,��� Clothes,�� the Dress Code,���
Haircutting�� (amazing but true !)
����� Beard shaving�� (further amazement, but also
true !)
����� Smiling,�� Handshaking,�� Greeting others
even,�
Jargon� and phraseology,� attitudes,
viewpoints,� world-view,�
Interpretations of just about any and
every subject
I had become just another Clone shining a pew each
meeting
My own personality and individuality had become
absorbed and drowned in the style of that particular Church !
And� when I tried� to leave that Church assembly�
...... all Cultish� �Hell�� broke loose .......
the trauma almost cost me my life� both spiritual and
natural !!
Truly, truly, from my own observations and contacts,
another� Second� Conversion� occurs in most folks experience� when they receive
Christ as Lord, and are born-again��� at some established� Church group or
Denomination� with their own building ........
This is an absolute� FACT� that countless people have
discovered to their eventual cost and dismay.
For some, the contemplation of this Second Conversion
is so overwhelming�� that they believe it is �too late to change�� or to do
anything about it, and so they resign themselves to the situation, and grow old
in sadness and dissatisfaction, frustration and disillusionment.
Either that,� or they� �count the Cost�� and view the
necessary effort to leave,� as being too painful to have to endure,� so they
settle back for the downward ride to� "whatever."
But� the distinction� must be made ......
The First Conversion�� ������ is a work of God�� ������� and�
of� the Spirit of God
The Second Conversion��� is the work of a person� and
to a particular Church group
The First Conversion� brings total spiritual Freedom
and Liberty
The Second Conversion� brings the opposite
-� bondage and the look-alike-ed-ness� of a
particular Church group
The First Conversion� brings freedom to pursue your
individual giftings and calling� ANYWHERE� in God's creation that he leads you
--� now that takes earnest seeking and following God's leadings.
The Second Conversion�� brings �Faithfulness� to one
man's work and empire -- now that takes very little effort,� just listening to
and doing what the chap in the pulpit says.
The First Conversion is�� exhilarating and� fresh �� as
God leads by His Spirit,�
����� just like the wind� "blowing where it
listeth (wills)"
The Second Conversion eventually becomes
predictable,� ritual,� and boring,
����� and then frustrating� (and then anger sets in
!)
The First Conversion� ������� has its security in�
God alone
The Second Conversion� �� has its security in a man
or a group of Christians
and that security� produces its own comfort and takes
away responsibility�
����� its easier to just� �trust the leaders�� isn't
it?
The First Conversion��� ����� is just�� you and� God
The Second Conversion� �� is� more-or-less� ....
follow� "the party line"
The First Conversion ........
����� is what� Adam� & Eve�� enjoyed
����� is what� Saul / Paul�� experienced
����� is what� the Ethiopian eunuch found,� via�
Philip�� [and notice how that Philip�
got caught away,� he didn't have to
concrete him into a denomination ! ]
����� is what� Jesus disciples� experienced as He
called them personally�� one by one
The Second Conversion ...� is what many of us
experience isn't it ?����� Now be truthful� !!
And another interesting observation ........
Some,� even many, dear people,� have somehow missed
out on the reality of the First Conversion, the one that matters, and have only
had the Second one
and they end up sheltering in a secure group of
people or Church or denomination.
(I guess that's why we are often referred to as
sheep,� do you think ?)
The First� Conversion� ������ is� necessary
.......... absolutely
The Second� Conversion� � is� absolutely� UNNECESSARY
B E W A R E��� the� Second� Conversion,�� and its�
effects.
Its� just� man� piggy-backing� on something� that�
God� has� done
Man�� "horning in"�� on Gods� work of
spiritual enlightenment,�� to build a person's own empire�� (whatever spiritual
name they may give to it!)
B E W A R E��� .....���� and� spot� the�
difference��� !!
Ray Miller
09.07 |