Miss-Mash Friday

I Corinthians 2:2
For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
( The number #1 point or focus for Vineyard ReCovery Church).

Hannah Whitall Smith Quote Of The Day:
"In all doubtful things you must stand still and refrain from action until God gives you light to know more clearly His mind concerning them."

Good Friday morning from Greene Street.
Don't really have a topic or passage that I want to share today. Some day's are like that. You get up, move to the computer and sit and stare at the screen for long stretches of time. I'd rather not put something out if I don't have anything to say. Oh, I could make it up. I could whip out a posting but it wouldn't be something that God gave me to share. It would simply be a rambling disjointed mess from the recesses of my old brain. Sometimes it does get a bit dusty in there, and the thoughts that come have a tendency to smell like a grandmothers cedar chest full of mothballs.

I've shared over the past few weeks how we have taken a turn in our approach to Saturday night's meetings. While we are a recovery church, we want to take the teaching to a new place. One in which we are all becoming equipped to be a "follower" of Jesus. Taking a look at who attends Saturday night, we felt that we needed to teach the basics of the basic in what it means to be a believer. The composition of the Bible..who wrote it...why they wrote it....what is a chapter? How do I know where to start when I do read the Bible? Who was Jesus really? So many questions that some who have been a believer for a number of years take for granted. 

Debbie Handy started off our teaching two weeks ago by sharing what the Apostles creed was all about. Giving a history, leading us through other creeds, she laid the groundwork by showing a concise piece of our history that laid out the gospel for all to understand. 

I taught last week on the need for commitment in our pursuit of God. I pointed out that when we were out there in the darkness of sin we didn't have a problem committing to serving it. I asked who'd ever seen a half-hearted addict? Someone who chose to stay home on Saturday night to watch Jeopardy instead of going out to get high. Consensus was such an animal never existed. When it came to addiction, it was all in. Such is the nature of following Jesus. It's a life of faith...not feelings. No matter what the feelings may be screaming at you, you do not waver. No matter what you may see in your circumstance, you never waver. I believe and have faith in spite of my feelings. As my wife says,,,"Feelings are not right or wrong...they just are." For that very reason we do not move or make decisions based on our feelings.

Talking with Seth Barber, who is the recovery pastor of Catalyst Recovery, I found out that he and I are both moving in the same direction. He too has has seen that we're losing people on the back end of recovery meetings. It's easy to get them to come, but they have a tendency to fall away back into the old life style because we really weren't equipping them for the next step in this new life Jesus has offered to them. So to me, that is exciting that God would be stirring this in the hearts of other recovery meetings.

I'll be speaking this Saturday night, and right now the plan is to begin to take a look at the book of James. This book was one of the pivotal elements in the formation of the big book of A.A. We'll be going line by line through the book, asking God to show us application of what we're learning. Saturday week, June 10th, Greg Birdwell will be speaking at VRC. If you've never heard Greg before you need to come out and be there when he shares what God has put on his heart. Greg is a nuts-and-bolts speaker. He doesn't sugar coat the truth in order to get you to receive it. It comes out hard and fast and hits you square between the eyes. Couple this with his passion and love for Christ and you got yourself someone who truly believes what he teaches. Greg never teaches down to us..He simply shares from where God has delivered him and given him new life.
VRC....Saturday nights at 7 p.m.
We're at the Gadsden Vineyard Church. Located downtown Gadsden on Broad Street, between 4th and 5th streets. Hope to see you!!!

God on you....
mbb