A Good News For You - By Zac Poonen

 

    In this article, I want to explain what it means to be “born again” – or to be “saved”. Repentance is the first step to this experience. But in order to repent (turn from sin) you must first know what sin is. There is a lot of false understanding of repentance among Christians today, because there is a lot of false understanding of sin. The standards in Christianity have come down greatly in these past few decades. The “gospel” being preached today by most preachers is a highly diluted version of the truth. People are being told only to believe in Jesus. But believing in Jesus alone will not save anyone, if they do not repent. Being born again is the foundation of the Christian life. If you live a good life, without laying this foundation, then your Christianity will be just like all the other religions in the world – that also teach people to live a good life. We must certainly live a good life. But that is the superstructure of Christianity – not its foundation. The foundation is being born again. We must all begin there. Jesus used the expression “born again” in John 3:3, when speaking to Nicodemus who was a religious leader and a God-fearing man who lived uprightly. Yet Jesus told him, “Unless you are born again you cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Be Punctual..!!

     We could take this time to relate all the reasons why and how being late can prove professionally and personally harmful to you, but if you’re chronically late, you already know them and they likely haven’t mattered enough to you -- yet. Don’t wait until it’s too late to do anything about it. Spare yourself the unfortunate experience of finding out the hard way. The following 4 steps to being punctual are predicated on the notion that being late is a selfish act. Use some of that selfishness to motivate you in a opposite direction.

step 1

Create an incentive

       The first step to being punctual involves the most reliable motive known to mankind: creating personal incentives, or the "me factor." Think selfishly: What do you gain by being on time today, and what are you putting on the line by potentially being late for this particular event, meeting or function? In other words, what’s in it for you? Try to avoid generalities like “reputation.” Be specific. If you’re late to your job today, will you get fired? If not, find another incentive. For instance, being punctual will translate to leaving early in the afternoon and beating traffic. Or being late will require an excuse on your part, and if you are the kind of person who is always giving excuses, rest assured you long ago ran out of believable ones. Nothing short of a karma lie -- one that involves the alleged poor health of a loved one -- can save you now. Good luck with that.