When it comes to recovery meetings, I believe that each meeting has a unique purpose and motive for existing. Such purpose for the meeting is found in Christ. Of course the main focus of any recovery meeting, founded on the belief that Jesus is the ultimate higher power, should be because He has called the leadership to this mission . In other words, no meeting should be started simply because it seemed like a good idea, or because other churches are hosting meetings.
The reason I started off the posting today in this manner is that I want to share what I believe is purpose of VRC . As I have stated many times since we began VRC, our meeting was birthed from the outset as being totally God's meeting. I know that might sound a bit strange, and you may even say "well, aren't all the meetings God's?" I really don't know how to answer that except to relate how VRC functions.
I wish I could say that I know what is going to happen in our meetings, but I don't. There are times that I don't even get a message to teach until I stand up to to give one. Such is very scary if you want to get down to the heart of matters. But like I said, in the beginning God let me know in no uncertain terms that VRC was going to be His meeting, and my part was to simply facilitate.
I do know that my heart is for everyone who comes through our doors on Saturday night to have an encounter with God. Encounter? What does that mean? Well, we can teach all day about God....we can read Scripture....we can sing and worship....we can fellowship with one another, but the essence of real change takes place when we have a one-on-one personal encounter with God. So what's so important about this so-called encounter? I believe that everyone needs a frame of reference to understand what God is like. This can happen in several different ways....but without that frame of reference, it's hard to wrap your head around the idea of an Eternal being who has my best interest at heart.
I have used this example many times to explain what it means to have a frame of reference in order to understand a concept or idea. Let's say that from the time I was three-years old until my eighteenth birthday, every day at noon my dad took me into the front yard and hit me square between the eyes with a hammer. I mean every day...like clockwork....noon..."WHAM!" Hammer time. Then one night I'm out with my friends hanging out and someone says..."Hey! I wonder what it feels like to get hit between the eyes with a hammer?" Immediately I would respond, "I know what it's like!!! I can see that hammer swinging down...I know the coolness of the metal as it makes contact with my head.." In other words, I have a real frame of reference for this entire scenario. Now I know this is a pretty far fetched example, but do you catch what I mean? It is much easier for an individual to begin to understand who God is and what God does when they have been touched by Him.
Such is the reason VRC exists. We have been called to be a place where the Spirit of God is invited each Saturday night to come into our midst and reveal Himself as He sees fit. Sometimes it comes through conviction....sometimes it comes through a sense of peace that had previously been present in a person's life. It may cause a physical reactions such as weeping, even laughter, even falling down. I just know that such encounters opens an individual to begin to seek out this God for themselves. I want any religious walls that have erected in a person's life to be broken and shattered by the sheer presence of God.
Last Saturday night at the end of our meeting, I was praying for folks. The core leadership of VRC was standing around the room also praying. We were inviting God to come and manifest, reveal himself to those who were hungry for him....to those who had questions concerning Him but were afraid to ask...to simply come and touch any and all in that room. Suddenly a young girl fell out of her chair...down to her knees and began to weep. Now this young girl's history is one of a very dark life. She is currently homeless, living in one of the local shelters. She grew up abused and used by the very ones who were suppose to take care of her and love her. She began to weep..tears running down her face..but they were tears of joy. God had become very real to this young girl. After the meeting, she came up to me to tell me about what had happened. "I felt like someone pushed me out of my chair.....a hand on my back." She now has a reference point from which to understand who this God truly is. She has met Him in a real way. Her's is only one story of encountering God. That one on one personal meeting that awakens a soul to the reality of God.
I believe that VRC exists to:
1.) Love those who come to be with us on Saturday night. Love them in such a way that they feel safe enough to let their guard down to hear truth.
2.) Teach the word of God, using the Twelve Steps as an example of the discipline needed to move forward into a new way of living.
3.) Teach what worship truly is a all about. More than songs....more than a band...more than a performance, worship is our hearts finding language to proclaim our love for God.
4.) An opportunity to "run into", or have an encounter with God. To provide a place
where God becomes "real" to those present.
So every Saturday night at 7 p.m., we gather to see what God is going to do. He has never failed to reveal Himself. He's like that. Isn't He?
God on you....
mbb
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