GREENE STREET LETTERS: Thanky....Thanky....Thanky!!!

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Thanky....Thanky....Thanky!!!

Psalm 100:4
Enter His gates with thanksgiving. Go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His name.

The devil (yes, Virginia there is a devil) is a mean motor-scooter and wants to mess with our heads a.k.a minds.
He wants us to stay focused on what we don't have in this life....
To measure our existence based on how terrible things are for us and around us.....
What a bunch of loser's he tries to make us out to be.
In other words, he doesn't want us to think on the things of God.
The Psalm passage says we are to enter into the rule of God, the presence of God with thanksgiving.
So what do I have to be thankful for today....
1.) A great family.....the Bynum's aren't perfect, but dog gone it, we are a fun bunch. My wife, Vicki...if ever there was physical, tangible evidence of a godly woman, it is Vicki. Everything you read in Proverbs 31 is true. My sons, Chad and Josh....godly men with a heart for the Kingdom. Daughters-in-law, Heather and Robin......the same as Vicki, women of integrity and love of God. Two grand children, Tyler and Ashley....the love of my life.

2.) My health. I have been blessed beyond measure with good health (so to speak). Oh there are days when I crawl out of bed and my bones and joints sound like a bowl of Rice Krispies ,but that is all part of growing older. There is only one alternative if you don't want to grow old.........that is die young.

3.) Friends. I have been blessed to have some really great people in my life. They make me a better man. Their lives are an encouragement to not give up or go back to old ways.

4.) My relationship with God. Saved in 1961. Up and down over the next few years. Really on fire 1968 through 1972. Walked in darkness from 1972 till 1979. 1980-1991 began a journey of chasing God. 1991-1993 preparation for what is happening today in my life. 1993-2006 training/ ordination/ full time ministry. 2006-2013 Staff pastor at Rapha Treatment Center. God bringing everything full circle as I returned to the Vineyard in 2013. Through it all....through my foul ups and my "getting it right" God has been the one constant. I am thankful and grateful for His presence and His grace in my life.

I could go on and on listing things I am grateful for.
Coffee.....
Color TV....
Dogs......
Morning rain......
Good sounding guitars and people who know how to play....
Nori, Barbie Kelley.
Danny Daniels.....
The Barnett's ....John and Marie
My car....The Notorious Gray Goose.....
Early morning rain....
Breakfast with Jim Bentley @ Jacks on Monday
Breakfast with Wayne and Barry @ Hardee's on Wednesday (Yep! I am part of the codger club)
The sound of Owls at night.
And most of all....
At the top of the list....
No...
Beyond the top of the list....
Jesus Christ.....
Today I am grateful....

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.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Thanky....Thanky....Thanky!!!

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD