GREENE STREET LETTERS: Monday Monday Monday Monday-----

Monday, January 31, 2011

Monday Monday Monday Monday-----

Here we go again, another week.
God was really good this past weekend. Seth Barber came and spoke at the Saturday night meeting, bringing a word that was much needed. Look for his message latter on this week in the pod cast section of this blog.

This last week was a present for me.
There were several former clients who came by to see me....to sit and talk and catch up on what has been going on in their lives. Good stories......God stories.
Stories of marriages that were saved.
Children who got their fathers back from addiction.
Stories of God speaking and these men following.
Each man who came by was very humble and knew that what had happened to them was because of a power greater than themselves that had restored them to sanity. That power being the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that I didn't write that the power belonged to, but rather the power was found in a person, Jesus Christ. He is the all in all, the one who can not just move events and circumstances that happen to us daily, but brings to the individual change within. Change of nature. Change of character. Change of heart and spirit. To him alone belongs praise and glory and power and authority.

Luke 1:78-79 - because of the tender mercy of our God by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.
To me this verse pretty much sums up what happens at Rapha. We point those in addiction to the only one who can truly not just deliver someone from the ravages that addiction brings, but deliver them into a life of peace and right thinking. Deliver them into a relationship with God. I have seen the power of God change a life. I have seen what God can do when everyone else has given up and deserted a man who is an alcoholic or a drug addict. I have seen the mercy and peace and love of God fall in a room and shatter hearts as hard a stone and as dead as Lazarus. I have heard the cries and sobs of these hearts when they receive this wonderful gift of new life. Cries of gratitude and thankfulness . What an awesome God we serve....and you know what.......
I need him as much as the worse alcoholic or the biggest drug addict...
Praise God! He is still in the saving business.

God on you.....
mb

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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.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Monday Monday Monday Monday-----

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD