GREENE STREET LETTERS: Day After...Now What?

Monday, April 1, 2013

Day After...Now What?

Day after Easter....
Now what?
Monday...
Back to work...
Back to the grind.....
Easter is over....
Colored eggs have been extracated from their shells and it will be egg-salad for lunch.
Peeps have been eaten along with all the jelly beans...
We did our due diligence by attending church.
Put on our Easter best.
We listened to the special music...
We even got misty-eyed at the invitation...
But now what?

Well....
Every day should be Easter.
Every day should be a celebration in the heart of every believer that "He is Risen....and continues to be "Risen" every day.
Every breath I take should be a reminder and testimony to the simple fact that Jesus has risen.
He is risen with every hour I clock at work.
He is risen when my life is less than reflective of the truth of God.
He is risen when I am struggling with a crisis of faith. Remember, Jesus has no such crisis as this. His crisis was cast off and left in an empty tomb.
My life shoud be a walking, talking, eating, sleeping, moving around testimony to Easter..I have life because He did rise! I have freedom in Him because He didn't just die, he came back and walked away from death.
.
Every day is a testimony to the fact that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He wasn't confined in some dark, dank, dirty tomb....
I love the angel guys who were hanging out in the cemetery....
Women show up to anoint and finish the preparation for Jesus' burial.
The angel guys ask the women, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen!"
Sometimes I think my walk with Christ gets over into the "Looking for the living among the dead"....that is nice way of saying...."Michael, you missed it son. You're seeking out the religious when you should be all up in a relationship."
You can always hold a church service in the tomb....
You can mourn over the should-of, would-of, could-of...
But Christ has moved on and is out among the people.
He is risen!

Don't let Easter be watered down and separated into one day a year.
Every day is Easter.
He has risen today.
Tomorrow will once again proclaim to a dark world...Jesus has risen.
Next week will testify to the fact that Jesus is not in the tomb.
And if we declare it long enough and loud enough..who knows what might happen to those around us.
He is risen...
One last video....
Russ Taft singing Were You There.
Can't help but weep tears of joy when I hear this.
Let it get all down inside of you and let the Holy Spirit of God turn the lights on so you can see...
He is risen!

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, April 1, 2013

Day After...Now What?

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD