GREENE STREET LETTERS

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

My morning walks have become somewhat enjoyable as I continue to gain my strength back since my heart attack. This morning I was up at 4:15, dressed and out the door for the walk. Armed with my mp3 player and a couple of downloads of QUICK STUDY BIBLE STUDY, I hit the road.

I have started back with the Bible study at Rapha on Tuesday nights. We had a good group last night, probably around 20-25 men as we opened the book of Revelation. Now before you get all excited, know that we covered chapter 1 and did so to get them acquainted with what the book is about. The first question I asked was, "When you think of Revelation, what is the first thing that comes to your mind?"
The Rapture. The Anti-Christ. The great tribulation. End times. And the list went on and on. I finally told them that on one hand, they were right, but that they had missed the entire focus of the book. The book of Revelation was about the revealing of Jesus Christ. We get a close up and intimate look at Jesus who is ministering in heaven today. It isn't about the carpenter son of Joseph and Mary, working, living and ministering here on earth. It is about the risen, glorified Son of God who operates from the position of High Priest of heaven.

In chapter one, John refers to Jesus as:
The Loyal (or faithful) witness. The thought behind the name is to come to an understanding that every word spoken by Jesus is true and Amen. The final word. To put it in "Southern" terms...Jesus doesn't flap his gums to just to hear the noise.
Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. He wasn't the first to be resurrected to life, but he was the first who willingly gave his life for the sin of the world to be cancelled. He died and was resurrected, but here comes the kicker. Jesus ascended to heaven and took his rightful place at the right hand of God the father. The Father gave Jesus the title of LORD. He truly is King of king and Lord of Lords. How do I know this? Because John goes on to refer to Jesus as the "ruler of all earthly kings."

John (the revelator) continues in Chapter one with this incredible passage:
"Glory and strength to Christ, who loves us...
who blood-washed our sins from our lives...
Who made us a Kingdom, Priests for his Father, forever---and yes, he's on the way!
Riding the clouds, he'll be seen by every eye.
Those who mocked and killed him will see him....
People from all nations and all times will tear their clothes in lament.
Oh yes."

You know, if you really stop to think about it, we are living and headed toward the fulfillment of the book of Revelation right now. I know that some believe that the events of Revelation have already happened (Preterist) and the book itself is open to great debate. I tend to view it with the notion that sometimes our intellectual prowess gets in the way of understanding. When it comes to Scripture, we tend to complicate the obvious and trivialize the momentous. In other words, sometimes Scripture is simply how it reads.

I'm not into time tables or predictions concerning the Kingdom of God or the return of Jesus. I comfort myself with the words of Scripture, knowing them to be true and will be fulfilled either in my lifetime or in the life to come. My focus is to simply love God and trust Him that He is in control of today. If He is in control of the events that will happen today, then I can trust my life and my sobriety to Him. That puts me at peace as I simply walk out this 24 hours that have been given to me.

I don't know if you know this, but I have read the end of the book, and guess what? WE WIN!
Revelation 12
Salvation and power are established!
The Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!
The accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out, who accused them day and night before God.
They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold words of their testimony.
They weren't in love with themselves and were willing to die for Christ,
so rejoice, O Heavens and all who live there.

Be encouraged in that whatever you are struggling with today, Jesus is there to help you, empower you, guide you and protect you.
He is a good God!

God on you...today!
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.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD