GREENE STREET LETTERS: God's Payday

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

God's Payday

II Timothy 2:2

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Payday....
What a wonderful word....
"The Eagle Flies"......

"A little touch on the hip"

"Got some jingle in my pocket."

But, you know what? There are many different kind of payday's.

Last night I sat in Wallace Hall at Gadsden State Community College and had a payday.

It was graduation for those who had attained a GED diploma.

Hard work....

Dedication....

And a desire to rise above whatever circumstance or choice that had kept these men and women from finishing high school.

A young man took the stage to give his speech concerning what this GED meant to him.

His story wasn't much different from the ones I hear every day.

Hard life....
Bad choices....
In and out of courts and jails...

Time in prison.
As he put it, he was a byproduct of his environment.

Fast life, fast money....slinging dope.

But he took it too far...He didn't quit while he was ahead...
To many 2nd chances had done nothing to slow him down.

Back in court with a judge who wanted to put him away...

A deal was struck to send him to Rapha.

This young man realized that he had been given a golden opportunity. He was going to make the best of it.

He applied himself at every turn.
He found Jesus and the rest is history (at least for now...much more to be written).

This young man began a relationship with this Jesus.

This was the missing piece in his life...this was the part that brought him full circle to put him on a new path...a new way of living.

Last night was the first of many "new" things for this young man.

He stood on that stage, in front of hundreds of people, and declared his love and devotion to Jesus, thanking Him for the life that this young man has now been blessed with.

Standing ovation!

That my friend....is payday!

God bless you, Ricco!

May there be many payday's in your life and in the days ahead.

Merry Christmas from the "B's" in Attalla.

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.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

God's Payday

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD