GREENE STREET LETTERS: Thanksgiving 2015

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving 2015

Psalm 105:1-4
Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done. Sing to Him....yes, sing His praises. Tell everyone about His wonderful deeds. Exult in His holy name; rejoice, you who worship the LORD. Search for the LORD and for His strength; continually seek Him.

On this Thanksgiving day of 2015, that is exactly what I want to do here at the Greene Street Letters. Tell of the Lord's excellent greatness.
I never wish to convey the false idea that my life with Christ has been all "Puppy dog's and lollipop's....Rainbow's and kitty cats". Life is, and has been, a struggle. But through it all, the faithfulness of the Lord to His word has been the one true constant. That He is indeed who He claims He is....and He will indeed do what He has promised He would do.

All my children were gathered at my table last night.
Laughter....
Sharing of what has been going on in each others lives.
Catching up on the latest....
Through it all, across from me sat my wife.
From time to time, our eyes would meet and there would be a knowing between us. An unspoken understanding that this is truly what life is about.
Being together....
loving on each other...
Seeing the men that our sons had become.
To watch our daughters in law and be filled with gratitude at how rich they had made our family.
I'm not even going to get into grandchildren. That is a whole other level of thankfulness.

So today, we will gather once more.
We'll fill our plates and lift our glasses in gratitude and thankfulness that God has seen fit to give us one more year.
We will watch football and doze off.
We'll go outside and throw "tight spiral's" to each other, lumbering up and down the yard with visions of youth playing out in our heads. We'll huff and puff, making our way back inside for one more slice of pumpkin pie.
It will truly be a day of thanksgiving for who God has been to each of us.
And at the end of the day, as darkness covers the camp, we will rest in the knowledge and understanding that God is good.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, from the "B's" in Attalla!!
God on you...
michael b.

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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.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thanksgiving 2015

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD