Sunday Morning Ruminations

Storms last night. Rain this morning. It is a lazy kind of day. A third-cup-of-coffee kind of day.
Last night's service was very different.
There has been so much turmoil in the air surrounding those who have chosen to abandon what they were taught concerning their lifestyle in order to return to their old ways. It doesn't matter what the reason is, it simply boils down to "I want to do what I want to do." There is a rejection of the truth when told to them. This I will never understand, especially when doing the right thing is a way to life and a restored relationship with Jesus.

I really wasn't sure about what to do for last nights meeting. I really didn't have a message but I did have a kind of hodge-podge of ideas about what I thought God wanted. I began the service by reading a list of names of the people who had come through the program and now were dead.
I read slowly and with purpose.
Each name brought up a face in my mind, and with each face, I remembered stories and events surrounding each man's stay at Rapha.
The purpose in this reading of the names was simply to remember.
Remember the good of each one of these men.
Remember what it was that lead them off into destruction.
Why?
Because those of us who are left alive have to press on.
We remember.
But we move on in our recovery.
I opened the floor up to anyone who had a verse or a testimony. This was a really good thing as man after man stood to share what was going on in their life.
We started the meeting on a solemn and somber note, but ended with a renewed commitment to not quit but press on with Christ.
It was a good evening.

Verse Of The Day:
Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.