GREENE STREET LETTERS: TIME BETWEEN THE TIMES

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

TIME BETWEEN THE TIMES

Vineyard ReCovery Church.....Why? Why do you exist? What is your purpose in this world? Surely there are larger, more effective meetings than yours? Such would be true. So why do you exist?

Simple....
God says that we can. That we are a part of a larger call to the entire recovery community.
What I am about to write applies to every recovery meeting.
What I am about to write applies to every church.
And what I am about to write applies to every person who claims to be a follower of Jesus.

We,as a fellowship, stand between the tension of the old, dark life....the dark ways...and the promise of new life found in Christ. In other words, we want to be a vehicle that brings people to the entry point of new life. To introduce them to Jesus. But we don't want to stop there. We want to aid them in becoming a real disciple and follower of Jesus.

In the Matthew 28 Great Commission, Jesus did not call us to only make converts........He commissioned us to make disciples. Totally different level of commitment on the part of the one who comes to Jesus to be saved.
Salvation is not the end result.
Salvation is the beginning of the journey.

Jesus gave us three compasses to use to aid us in moving forward from the old life.
He stated plainly, "I AM THE WAY"...He shows us the spiritual direction we are to follow. This also includes our very body and being. Where the heart is directed to, the body will follow. Jesus is the direction or focus of my intentions, my motives. Any deviation from this pulls me away from the influence of God's Holy Spirit (My guide).

Jesus goes on to say, "I AM THE TRUTH". I have searched for truth in all the wrong places. Including the false notion that truth is something I can create. Ain't going to happen because any truth I come up with is always going to be tainted by my sin/nature. Notice that Jesus did say that He was A truth, or one of many truths. Nope...He said I am THE truth.

Lastly, Jesus said,"I AM THE LIFE". The true source of real life. The living water, given freely to those who thirst. The bread of life to those who hunger. Jesus is the basic foundation on which I can stand and face whatever comes my way.

I think I've written enough for this morning....
See You Saturday night @ Vineyard ReCovery Church.
God on you...
mbb

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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, May 19, 2020

TIME BETWEEN THE TIMES

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THE REALITY OF THE NAME OF GOD