GREENE STREET LETTERS: First Stone In Place

Thursday, June 5, 2008

First Stone In Place

"And on this rock I will build My church"...Matthew 16:18

Every kingdom work begins with the foundational stone or belief that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. The Christ...........the chosen one by the Father sent to be the propitiation for our sins. The Christ........the anointed one chosen to stand in for humanity and carry upon himself the full weight and punishment for all sin for all time. The Son of the living God..........Son not by birth or lineage, but Son by position. Second part of the Trinity.........Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Upon this simple truth will be erected a living temple made of people who have been brought under the atoning work and blood of Jesus.

My aim is to let God build his church at Rapha. I dare not have a say so in the process. Mine is only to do and obey. I desire not to implement anything that would detract from God is wanting to do. A page has truly turned in this journey he has called Vicki and I to. Even though that chapel has sat on the property at Rapha for a number of years, after last Saturday night, it has taken on new meaning. It is the altar now on which we will climb and become living sacrifices. A place where God's stones will gather and proclaim his majesty and greatness.

We have all talked about last Saturday evening and the affect it had on us. But last Saturday was not the high water mark of what God is wanting to do. That will come when we begin to see the harvest in the lives of people. I know that each person who comes to the meeting will come for various reasons, but ultimately, I want us all to meet God. To spend time in his presence as a community of believers and be changed forever.

See you Saturday night....7 p.m.

God on you........

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Looking At The World Through Cracked Lens

As ol' Paul wrote in his Corinthian letters.."We see in part and we know in part." Now what piece of this bit of wisdom do we not get? I wish to not run around acting and trying to be some sort of Biblical G00-Ru (I meant to spell it wrong). Or a sage of sages.

I simply want to be able to communicate some of what God has given to me. Why? Do I think what I get is better than what you may have received from Him? Nope. But I do think encouragement comes when we share our daily story of struggle and victory in an effort to encourage each other.

Thanks for letting me share.

Time to soldier on..

mbb

Our Statement of Faith

We believe that God is the eternal king. He is an infinite, unchangeable Spirit, perfect in holiness, wisdom, goodness, justice, power and love. From all eternity He exists as the One Living and True God in three persons of one substance, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit equal in power and glory. we believe that God created mankind in His image, male and female, for relationship with Himself and to govern the earth. Under the temptation of Satan, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, sickness and God's judgment of death to the earth. Through the fall, Satan and his demonic hosts gained access to God's good creation. Creation now experiences the consequences and effects of Adam's original sin. Human beings are born into sin, subject to God's judgment of death and captive to Satan's kingdom of darkness. We believe that Jesus, God's Son, was sent to this world, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, Mary, fully God and fully man in one person. He is humanity as God intended us to be. Jesus was anointed as God's Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, ushering in God's kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. Jesus' atoning death on the cross took God's judgment for sin which we deserved as law-breakers. Jesus' resurrection and ascent back to heaven opened the door for those who received salvation to begin a relationship with God.

Little Nets Into Deep Waters

Fishing nets were designed for one purpose only. To catch fish. Nets are no good if they stay on the boat. Nets serve no purpose if they are never used. I think maybe God sees us this way. We are all created for a purpose (by the way, the creator gets to define what our purpose is). Any other use besides the one we were created for does us no good. But when the creator places His hands upon us, casting us out into those scary, dark places with deep waters, it is then we can see the reality of our purpose. He knew there would be a catch waiting for us. I think I will be the net God has called me to be.

The Twelve Steps

As a community of people in recovery, we affirm that our higher power is Jesus Christ. He did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Just as God told the children of Israel He was going to give them a promised land, He has revealed to us that He desires to give us a "Promised Life." When Israel got to the promised land, God instructed them to go and in a possess it, fight for it and claim it. In recovery, the 12 Steps are the directions given to us on how to fight, possess and claim this promised life.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

First Stone In Place

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD