“Unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3-8).

Can’t be much clearer than the words of Jesus. The gospels clearly reveal salvation is the call of Jesus to “Come to Me”, to know HIM, to love HIM, to serve HIM, to be His sheep and hear HIS voice (Mt.11:27/John 10:27). No church or preacher died on a cross. Jesus says to “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me” (Mark 8:34). To go and do what He did is not an option but a command. When you do so, in sincerity, the unspeakable joy of being born from above fills your heart with God’s compassion. This is what Jesus means to “SEE the kingdom of God” here and now, on earth. To see what He sees and want what He wants.

Never did I imagine the false accusations from hatred and jealousy, that I would bear, for giving our life to Christ, and trying to help people to know this marvelous love of the living Father. Jesus says “They hated Me without a cause” (Jn.15:25). There are those who hide away, in self-made castles of delusion, and malign those who challenge their false conclusions on what it means to be born again (John 3:19-20). We pray for forgiveness and mercy on them.

PURITY?!

I used to shy away from Matthew 5:8 where Jesus says “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”. Yikes. Me, pure in heart? No way am I going to be a phony and say that about myself. I felt I could never walk in the Spirit or identify with being “pure”. Then I researched this word “purity” and, as with all invested study, received profound revelation and blessing.

The word “pure” is from the Greek word katharos – “cathartic”. Pure is not a finalized absolute moral state but an outcome of a deep purge. Another way of understanding this verse is “Blessed are those who have been intimately dealt with by God, for they will “see” and know His ways and love Him because of it”. To be pure is to honestly break through your sinful ways. It is to attain an objective perspective of obedience to God’s revelation that you are wicked to the core and sick of heart (Rm.3:10/Jer.17:9). There is a world of difference between just admitting this as the token sinner’s prayer and actually understanding the process of conversion and repentance. You got big problems that keep you from God and you NEED to allow Him to come in and deal with you with TRUTH. To “break” through the realm of the fallen soul so as to give birth to “a life-giving spirit” (1 Cor.15:45/ John 4:24/Heb.4:12/John 12:24).

People use the word “complex” to describe a vexation of negative attitudes they see in themselves or others. Inner problems can result in any number of bad experiences and repeated cycles of failure. It can result in a group of repressed feelings that put a dominating influence upon our personality. They can make you seem like you just can’t get things “right”. One prisoner, with eyes full of tears, in reflection of murder, said “I can never make things right”. So many think this way because they do not understand true righteousness (what is right). I told him that was a lie. In God’s eyes any man can make anything right by making his life right by faith. Living a right life is “reckoned” not achieved (Rom.4).

The world exerts serious influence upon our mind, both conscious and subconscious. If we do not bring them to the forefront we can never conquer them. The only escape is the purge of rebirth. Our mind must be transformed. We must let God purify everything we think is right. It requires nothing less than our death (Rom.6:6). We must find the repentance expressed in well-balanced sorrow (2 Cor.7:10). Just be real.

We watch countless men who experience our program in prisons go through a type of purging and release of emotional tensions. It a result of strategic work to put proper emphasis on the way, the words and the music we create. It is not bragging. It is the Lord. It is “seeing” the outcome of His wisdom. The realignment of confused thinking leads to the permanent relief of their “complex” by a catharsis in Christ. They are brought to “see the kingdom of God”.

The conscience is an innate faculty we are born with. It renders all men the undeniable accountability to “see” God in creation (Rom.1:20/2:24/ Heb. 2:9/ 1 Cor. 13:12). But it is corrupted by sin and guilt and requires being “washed” in order to see the living Jesus. God reaches into the depths of our existence; i.e. conscience to “…cleanse (purify/purge) our conscience from dead works” (self- redemption) (Heb.9:14). No more “I can serve God in my own way and I can make things better”. You must be born again.

In prisons, many fear they will commit suicide. Some fear losing their minds. So many are so entrapped in the memory of their crime their emotions are buried as if dead. Every time my wife sings a certain song when we perform I anticipate the crescendo where she reaches a beautiful high tone. There are times when so many “badass” guys are brought to tears because we “see” the Spirit of Jesus reach through her words, singing about the Father’s love for them, and bring men into a purging of their deepest pride and fears.

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