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One characteristic\'€”among many others\'€”former President Ronald Reagan will be remembered for will be his religious faith. Unashamedly he claimed to be a born-again Christian.

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Many other well-known personalities have made similar curious confessions.

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Charles Colson, one of former President Nixon\'s \"hatchet men,\" admitted having had a life-changing experience before going to prison which he spelled out in his popular book, Born Again.

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Baseball star Bobby Richardson spent ten years with the Yankees. Five times he won the golden Glove award for excellence in fielding, and played in seven All-Star games and eight World Series.

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When retiring in 1966, he stood before teammates and fans honoring him in Yankee Stadium and simply said, \"How lucky it has been for me to have been a Yankee. To God be the glory.\"

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Richardson\'s words weren\'t mere sentimentality. He has been active in Christian work ever since. And in 1983, while maintaining his other responsibilities, he became the president of the Baseball Chapel Ministry.

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At one stage of his career, English pop star Cliff Richard was voted the \"World\'s Number One Male Singer.\" For over twenty-five years he has held a top place in the transient world of entertainment. His records have sold in the millions.

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At the peak of Cliff\'s career his father died and he was shattered. He said, \"For the first time in my career, I felt absolutely empty. On stage it was fine, but afterwards it was a kind of classic anticlimax. Something was missing.\" It was then that Cliff found inner peace in Christianity through a born-again experience.

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Through faith unbelievable
things can happen.

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Cliff Richard, of course, is not the only internationally known singer who claims to be a born-again Christian. Johnny Cash, Evie Tornquist, and Pat Boone all say the same. And fifties\' rock \'n\' roll superstar Little Richard turned preacher and gave up the music that made him famous.

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In 1972 South African golfer Gary Player won eight major tournaments and ranked third in the world. The next year, however, disaster struck. Gary became seriously ill and feared he might never play golf again.

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It was then that he, too, turned to God for inner strength which helped him to full recovery. Some months later he returned to the golf tour, won the Southern Open in Columbus, Georgia, and the Picadilly World Match Play title in Britain.

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Gary says,, \"I have learned that through faith in God a person\'s life can be richer and fuller; and through faith, unbelievable things can and will happen.\"

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For twelve seasons Greg Brezina was a linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons. Around the National Football league he was known for his aggressiveness. He made the Pro Bowl in 1970 and in 1978 was named the Falcons\' Most Valuable Player.

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However, off the field his personal life was in trouble. He had no interest in God. He had a drinking problem and he and his wife Connie were close to divorce. But in 1971, prior to a game with the then Los Angeles Rams, Greg made a commitment of his life to Christ. Soon after Connie did the same, and their born-again experience helped them to work together to transform their personal life and marriage.

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Australia tennis player Margaret Court has also been born again. Margaret holds 86 major world tennis titles. She has won the Wimbledon title three times, the Forest Hills title six times, the French title five times and the Australian crown eleven times. However, in spite of her fame and success, she confessed to an emptiness and frustration before becoming a Christian.

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She reported, \"The change in my life was profound. On the tennis court my nervousness and tension were gone. At home, where once I had been plagued by impatience, the Lord replaced all that with understanding and tolerance. Where once I found it difficult to reach out to people God gave me a deep and loving concern.\"

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Being born again isn\'t a new fad. In fact, Jesus Christ introduced the term two thousand years ago. Addressing Nicodemus, a prominent religious leader of his day, Jesus said, \"Unless a man is born again, he will not ever see the kingdom of God let alone enter it.\"

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Confused, Nicodemus queried, \"How can a man be born when he is old? Surely he can\'t return to his mother\'s womb to be born a second time!\"

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I can almost hear Jesus saying, \"You don\'t understand, Nicodemus,\" and then continuing, \"Flesh gives birth to flesh, but it is God\'s Spirit that gives birth to spirit. You shouldn\'t be surprised at my saying, \'You must be born again\'.\"¹

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Physical birth is not enough. You must also be born spiritually.

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By all human standards Nicodemus would have been a model citizen\'€” strong in character, a man of integrity, and a church leader. It was to this good man that Jesus said, \"You must be born again,\" meaning that Nicodemus, like everybody else, needed to be born spiritually as well as physically.

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Physical birth is not enough.
You must also be born spiritually.

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Once, after addressing a group of church workers, the famous evangelist Dwight Moody was confronted by one of them.

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\"Mr. Moody,\" said the angry person, \"do you mean to tell me that I, an educated woman, taught from childhood in good ways, and all my life interested in the church and doing good, must enter Heaven the same way as the worst criminal of our day?\"

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\"No, madam,\" said Mr. Moody, \"I don\'t. God does. He says everyone who would enter Heaven, no matter how good they think they are, or how well educated, or zealous in good works, must be born again.\"

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The difficult thing to grasp is that our sin has made us spiritually dead to God. This is why we all need to be reborn spiritually.

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To become a member of the human family, we were born physically. To become a member of God\'s family, we need to be born again spiritually.

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But how can we be born again spiritually?

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Contrary to what many people feel, it isn\'t by being good or through good works. It is simply by confessing our sinfulness to God and by believing that his Son, Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and by responding to his call to receive him into our heart and life as personal Lord and Savior.²

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You can be born again into God\'s family-right now-by praying a prayer such as the following: \"Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner and ask you for your forgiveness. Come into my life as Savior and Lord. Please help me to become the kind of person you want me to be and live for you. Thank you for dying on the cross for me and hearing and answering my prayer.\"

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For additional HELP to be sure you\'re born again Click HERE on Find and Know God link.

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1. See John 3:1-7.
2. See John 3:16; 1:12 and Acts 16:31.

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