“…Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 

I have had an image floating around in my brain for several years. It is flooded with blue water and light. There is a white dress floating in slow motion – say, 48 frames per second. A little girl, blonde hair streaming out is with a man dressed in black dress pants, barefoot. It is almost like a still frame, this moment suspended in time. I have looked for it on the worldwide internet and come up with nothing. I decided it was some strange memory of my own, seen from a distant vantage point. Because that little girl was me.

You may not have grown up in the Baptist Church. I did. Rock Hill Baptist was a small congregation by today’s standards – maybe even small for back then. The church, founded in the 1800s, was built on the land of my Great-grandfather, George Henry Cunningham in 1894. My grandparents also were members there and raised their children in the church. My mother did the same. Daddy was a deacon and treasurer of his Sunday School class. We were there every Sunday and every Wednesday night. It seemed that most of the congregation was related to us in one way or another. The people there were kind and loving and salt of the earth. It was a safe and secure childhood in my little world.

Anyway, I grew up hearing every week that God loved us so much that He sent His only son to save us from our sins – and that son was Jesus. I think you can hear that a hundred times and it rides along on the surface of your brain, not meaning too much. Until it does. And when it bypasses your brain and gets into your heart, then everything, everything changes in an instant. It is like you hear it and understand it and know it for the first time. Well, that is what happened to me. 

It was a Friday morning during the first June weeks of summer at Vacation Bible School. We children had marched into the sanctuary behind flags – I suppose they were the American flag and the Christian flag, and our Preacher kept us ‘older ones’ behind after his usual short message before the activities began. Preacher Bridwell told us the same story I had heard all of my life about my sin and Jesus’ love and sacrifice for me, and suddenly I heard it. There was absolutely no way I could not respond. And with that acceptance, in front of others, I would be baptized that coming Sunday evening. 

Now baptism for a Baptist is a full-in affair. We don't mess around with a little water sprinkled on our heads. No. There is a beautiful symbolism in this ritual of submersion baptism. We are dead in our sin; we are lowered into the water as if it is our grave, our destination of death, and we are brought back up again for eternal life. Let me repeat – we completely and seriously believe that once we have died to our old self and accepted Jesus as our Lord (instead of ourselves!) then we are new – we have a new identity in Christ and we live forever.

Yep, we know our body will die at some point – but we also believe that Jesus rose from the grave, from death – and he promised we would do the same. Our spirit will be kept safely with him until our physical body will be raised to live again. If you want to think we Christians are a little crazy – that’s okay. We believe with all our hearts what seems pretty impossible to those who have both feet firmly planted in this world.

Jesus had explained this to a devout Jewish man named Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a highly respected teacher of the Law of Moses and had come under cover of darkness to chat with this new rabbi who was stirring up the crowds with his new interpretation of God and the things of God. Much to his surprise, as he questioned Jesus about this kingdom of God Jesus seemed to know so much about, Jesus told him, “You must be born again.” 

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Well, that seemed as ridiculous to Nic as it may seem to you. Here is their conversation recorded in black and white:

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

This is where we get this whole idea that we must be born again. From Jesus. We know from the opening verses of Genesis that God is Spirit. (You know those words: “The earth was void and without form … and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” – Genesis 1:2, my paraphrase) To have a relationship with Him, we lay down our physical body of flesh to be born of God’s Spirit. That’s sort of it in a nutshell.

So… before I stand to share the words of God, I want you to know where I am coming from, who I am. I have a lot of earthly descriptions: wife, daughter, sister, mother. Film director, bible teacher, book author, storyteller. But what you really need to know is I laid down my body of flesh long ago. Oh, I still love this earthly body and all it can do for me here right now on planet earth. But in the eyes of God, I have become like Him – because I am filled with His Spirit. I have been born of the water and the word – when I accepted His invitation and said, “Yes.”

https://vimeo.com/652742650/909c20c401 

Some little notes to wrap this story up. I became convicted that I needed to tell my story in picture and word. I convinced Tom Pritchard to DP for me. (And unintentionally to record the sound.) Heather Breslin was on her way out of town and couldn’t produce properly, but she connected me with a location (Northside Church in Roswell), a Production Assistant, Sarah Youtsey, and a casting agent, Mindy Castellanos, and talked me through ordering breakfast and lunch. Antonio Garcia picked up the underwater camera housing from Marc Dobiecki at Commander and did all those technical things that camera people do.

Jeremy Stafford stood in as our entire G&E department. Gray Stafford ordered vintage looking dresses for our little girl and glasses for our preacher (as well as hemmed pants and braided hair) and Jeff helped me find the right suit and shirt and tie for him as well as building a water rig to cast reflections on the baptismal wall since we could not put water in the 60-year-old baptismal. Cindy Morris allowed us to descend on her pool while she juggled adjusting the heating elements of the Jacuzzi and carpool for her kids. And Jennifer Kearns cut the footage and recut it, laying down music recorded by Hannah An and then sound effects and music by Zapsplat.

Our little girl, Elle Smith, swam competitively, so she braved the ice-cold water and said it was no problem to breathe out instead of holding her nose. And Rob West brought his southern accent and his sincere belief in every word he was asked to speak. 

So yes, now I have the images that were playing in my head as a two-minute story on video. But someone please remind me never to take on the roles of Writer, Producer, AD, Director, and Actor simultaneously again. I don’t think my heart can survive it!

If you want to read the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus for yourself, it can be found in the Gospel of John, chapter 3.

Question: Do you want to accept Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior?