GREENE STREET LETTERS: Lifter Of Head's

Monday, July 21, 2014

Lifter Of Head's

My message was finished....
I felt God on it and was quiet confident that this was the word God wanted me to speak.
I made my way to North Glencoe to their Celebrate Recovery, and took my seat.
Before I was to go on, Seth Barber had this video played of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.
I'm usually not much of a choir person, but tonight something happened.
Realizing who was singing this song, I was totally taken by surprise as God told me that "my" word was of no use, He was going to give me another.
You may ask "what do you mean that you suddenly realized who was singing this song?" Well, Brooklyn Tabernacle is famous for going into the streets and rescuing people. Drug addicts........alcoholics......prostitutes........ex-cons and felons........those people who some would classify as the refuse of humanity.

As I watched the video and the camera scanned the faces of the choir, a thought crossed my mind. "You can't tell which ones were those that had been rescued from the streets by this church, and which ones weren't." They all looked the same.......Here they were singing about a God who had lifted their heads from the place of destruction...lifted their very lives out of the gutter and brought them into His family. It was praise in its purest form. Praise from heart's that were grateful.
The choir was all dressed alike. The women in gold colored dresses, and the men in tuxedo's. Here again this speaks of the righteousness of God that covers His children.

What an incredible God that can take the worst of the world and transform it into the best of His kingdom. What an incredible God that has a heart to love beyond our comprehension. A heart that sees beyond the trash of sin and a heart of darkness. A God who is not taken aback by sin and its destruction, but reaches out to embrace and enfold the very ones that the world rejects.
That's my God!

I trust that you will take a moment and watch the video. More than watch it, let it wash over you with the message. Think back on how your own life might be at this point had God not intervened.

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, July 21, 2014

Lifter Of Head's

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD