Vote Today

Romans 12:21- 13:1
Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in position of authority have been placed there by God.

This blog has never been about politics.
Never will be.
And I don't consider today's posting to have broken that view that I hold to.
I know that it is election day, and we all have the right to exercise our privilege to vote, and we should do this.
No matter who you vote for today, by tomorrow morning a new person will be preparing to move into the office of president.
One side will declare victory.....
One side will live with the reality that they and their candidate lost.
But to me the sad fact is...........we all have lost.

We have lost the idea of civility....
Showing respect for one another.
When did we become so angry and bitter?
The American way now is to out-shout those who you disagree with.
To slander and defame the name and character of those who believe different than you.
I have watched as this election didn't just turn nasty, it has become an instrument through which the vilest of profanity and excused behavior poured out over our country.

There are some who claim to be followers of Christ who have announced that both candidates do not fit the bill of who should be in the White House, so they are not going to vote. Really? Maybe your check list of who should be president is a standard that no one could meet. Have you considered that maybe we should be on our knees asking God to show us who we should vote for. Casting aside the tsunami of information that overwhelms us by the news networks, we truly should be storming the gates of heaven with our prayers.
My take is either those verses from Romans 12/13 are true............or they're not.

I may not agree with the present President and his views of what is best for our nation.
I may not agree with either candidate and what their vision for our nation is.
But it seems to me I'd better be spending a great deal of time praying for all our leaders....past, present.....AND FUTURE....that God would reveal Himself to them, that they might see the truth and carry it out. You may be thinking that such is a pipe dream....one that is lifted up by fools and fairy tales. I believe it is the mandate from heaven, pray for our leaders. 

No matter who wins the election, the call of Christ has not changed for those who claim to follow Him. It's time we quit playing at church and become the church. It's time we quit skimming over verses simply to say that we read our Bible. Instead we need to feast on, devour, and digest this word that has been given to us. You cannot separate the word of God from the life of our country. To do so would make us no better than those who worked to take prayer from school.....
More than simply read His word....
We must live it...
We must live it in the sight of those we disagree with...
We must live it in the sight of those who hate us....
We must live such a life in humility and love toward those who even want to see any influence of God in this country totally removed.

I will close for now...
I pray that what I have written this day be clear to you...
And that you find comfort that no matter how the election turns out today.....
The church has work to do for the Kingdom in our nation.
All to the glory of God.

God on you....
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New Audio Message From Saturday Nights Meeting

Hey...hey...hey....
New audio message here at the Greene Street Letters!
Jesus teaching the Word and then validating what He taught through healing and deliverance.

Oh yeah....the message (for whatever reason) doesn't actually start until around 32 seconds into it....So don't panic if you don't hear anything at first.

Thanks...
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Step # 11 Orders My Steps

Psalm 37:23-24
The STEPS of a good man are ordered (established) by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down (destroyed) For the Lord upholds him with His hand.

Taught on Step #11 last night at Catalyst Recovery. You may be asking, "What is step #11?", well I'm glad you asked.

Step #11
We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

When I am moving through my day (under the directive of Step #11) I am staying aware that God is directing me. I guard my thoughts that enter my mind. I shut down everyone that is tugging me back to my old way of thinking, and I rely heavily on God's power to carry out such a task. Sounds like a lot of work......it is. But the end results is worth it if I don't give in and go back to my old dark way of living.

I love the verses from Psalm 37. They are verses of hope to me. The idea that God provides a firm foundation for my steps to be taken on is an encouragement to me. That foundation is a result of a daily time of prayer and mediation. Now, we're all up in the prayer thing. Not very hard to do, especially if you're headed for trouble. "OH GOD! OH GOD! OH GOD!"...see....got the prayer thing down pat. Now the mediation thing...that is a horse of a different color. I believe most of us tend to sluff off mediation. Truth is, it is like a mental / spiritual exercise that is the very heart of improving our conscious contact with God.

Mediation doesn't have to be an long drawn out process...any amount of time spent is worth while. Find yourself a quiet place to go. Take your Bible and find a chapter that speaks to you (important to you). I prefer the Psalm for my mediation. David was high on placing His thoughts on God. Close your eyes, asking God to give you peace. peace to your heart.........peace to your thoughts.......peace to your mind. It will be a struggle at first, don't be discouraged. your mind is going to try to take over with thoughts about tasks that you may have to do that day. Keep focusing on God.  Now read a verse...one verse....It might be John 3:16. Read it slow, then close your eyes and ask God to show you what this verse really means. Ask Him to let you see it in a way that might never haves seen it before. Voila'...You have begun to mediate on God and His world.

The Apostle Paul writes about keeping our thoughts on Christ.
Philippians 4:8 - Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. THINK about these things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Believe me....Your heart will be very much in "conscious contact" with God if you put this into practice.
God on you...
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Going Back To Where It All Started!

Psalm 119:133
Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil......

The photo above is very special to me. It was taken at "The Gathering C.R." back on February 8, 2013. What's so special about this picture? It was the beginning of when God told me to bring our meeting back to the Vineyard. We'd been at Rapha for seven years holding a service first on Sunday morning, then on Saturday night. We referred to it as "The Church @ Rapha". Coming back home to the Vineyard had not crossed my mind at all. But on the night we led worship at the Gathering, something happened. 

The response from the crowd that night felt just like the old "House of Blue", our first recovery meeting we did back in the 90's at the Vineyard. That all I kept thinking when we were leading worship...."Wow, this is so familiar!" That night God laid the first step to coming home. In fact that entire weekend was unusual. It was the first time I had ever led three services in a row. Friday night I led worship at the Gathering...Saturday night I taught at our meeting at Rapha....and Sunday night I spoke at Seth Barber's Celebrate Recovery. Each one had a specific thing happen that God spoke to me through.

Friday night was the worship thing....the remembering what it felt like when we first started. I think maybe this was the "Remember Your First Love" kind of deal that is written to the church @ Ephesus in the book of Revelation. Not that music was my first love....the passage in Revelation is speaking about when we first came to Christ and were saved. He is our first love.

Saturday night @ Rapha was all about the teaching.
For whatever reason, the teaching that night was totally awesome. And you'll never ever hear me say that when I teach. I always feel like I stumble and fumble through the Word. Any response to what I teach is a miracle of God and His Holy Spirit touching hearts. But the teaching that night was a "Wowzers" kind of night.

Sunday night @ Seth's C.R. was all about the ministry time.
That particular night, people flooded to the front and were asking for prayer. Folks were getting saved....folks were getting healed.....folds were getting set free. It was an awesome time.

IT wasn't until Monday morning, during my quiet time, that I put it all together. The three events were the foundation for what we use to do on Saturday night's at the Vineyard.
IT was all about the worship.....
IT was all about the Word......
IT was all about the Ministry.....
As these thoughts flooded my mind, I was suddenly homesick. Yes...I mean it. I was homesick for the Vineyard. I wanted to come home and do our meeting from there. So we began the journey back. We hosted the very first meeting of Vineyard ReCovery on April 13, 2013. But it all began on that stage of Steve Brewster's Celebrate Recovery.

Tonight, I get to return to that stage and speak. I'm looking forward to it,and I ask that you pray that I share only what God gives me. Pray that hearts will be open to receive, and then respond to the leading of the Holy Spirit. In other words....pray that people will do some personal business with God tonight. 

As Jerry Garcia use to say..."It's been a long, strange trip", and I would not have missed it for the world. Excited to see what's next.

God on you...
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More Than Holding On

Isaiah 57:15
The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One says this..."I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts."

Dark days out there....
Hard times seem to be piling up. Piling up to stop the progress of people who are trying to simply get by.
We've tossed aside our moral compass to live by our own desires and wants...then we complain because we end up in a ditch. We send to the heavens such prayers as "Life isn't fair!"....or "Where is this God everyone talks about?" 

Funny part in this drama that is played out every day, you can't reject God to live life the way you want to, and then turn around and accuse Him of being hard, cruel, distant, and non-existent. Just doesn't work out that way. I have sat and listened to many a person whose life has gone off the rails, complain and reject the one way to real life. The one way to real life that is found in a person...that person being Jesus. What they fail to realize is that even in their darkest days....the most depressing of times....Jesus was there with them. He hurt for them. He loved them in spite of their rejection of His call to be saved from the mess they had created. He was there.

He is still in the business of seeking "That which was lost".
He still moves  into the night looking and seeking that one sheep that had wandered off, to bring it back into the fold. Back to a place of safety. That isn't just Jesus' job....to be a Savior to mankind....that is WHO He is. He can't do anything less, nor would He ever do such. 

If I am not holding onto Jesus during this dark time in my life and in the life of our country, then where do I find stability to face the day? Where can I place my trust and very life if not on Christ? The darker it gets socially, morally, and religiously, the tighter I will hold to Jesus' hand. No matter what my mind may tell me to do, I will simply follow Him. I will surround myself with other people who are also on this journey to new life. I will encourage and be encouraged by their journey. I choose to see this thing all the way to the end of this life, so I may transcend into the next life with Christ. I may not be able to always see what's coming, but I know that Christ can. I will trust Him. My mind may tell me to "run away" but I will not. I have listened to that old voice and wound up in the ditch far too many times. I choose to stay on this narrow path to new life. I will hold to God's unchanging hand, even though everything around me IS changing. He is my strength and my safe place. You can take that to the bank.


God on you....

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What Part Of Powerless Do We Not Get?

Step # 1
We admitted that we were powerless over our drug and/or alcohol usage---- that our lives had become unmanageable.

II Corinthians 12:9
Each time He said, "My grace is all you need....My POWER works best in weakness". So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the POWER of Christ can work through me.

Boy, we hate to admit that we are powerless, don't we?
We hate to say the words....let them roll off our tongue, and hear them with our own ears...."I am powerless".  We'll do anything to keep from admitting such. We shift the blame for our destructive lifestyle to others. "Well, you made me drink!" And on and on the accusations flow for the place we find ourselves in, rather than just coming to the cold hard fact that we are the one responsible for the mess we have made.

Now when we admit that we can't stop using....that a pretty plain argument that we won't win. I'm not so sure that this is the part of being powerless that we need to focus on. Maybe we should look to the fact that we are incapable of turning to a new way of living, that our being powerless is more about our inability to change than it is to stop.

I'm not trying to split hairs here....
Powerless is powerless not matter how you look at it....
But I have seen hundreds (if not thousands) who recognize they have an addiction problem, but refuse to admit that they cannot change on their on. change through shear self will and grit. Oh, we all have the stories of those rare individuals who have managed to somehow "White-knuckle" it through life. But recovery is so much more than the absence of drugs or alcohol. Recovery is about "recovering" real life in Christ. Did you catch that? Real life in Christ? Not real life in some religion.....or even in Church. I don't go to church to find life....I go to church to hang out with some like minded folks who encourage me to keep on this journey of life. I go to church to worship the very One who has given me this new opportunity to live again. 

The apostle Paul said it best in the II Corinthians passage.
"God's strength is made perfect, and revealed for all to see when I admit and embrace the very fact that I am weak!" When I turn loose of trying to run my life...to move toward this new life of recovery that everyone has been telling me about, that is the start. But the real deal kicks in when after admitting that I am powerless, I accept the person and power of Jesus into my very being. The admission of my mess-making ability and the sad fact that I have done this destruction on my own...I am responsible...is all part of the admission of being powerless. I wish I could explain this whole process of admission of powerless and the infusion of power from a someone greater than ourselves, but I can't. I really believe it is something that each of us have to take on faith, then see it work in our own lives.

I just know this....
The process of powerless into powerful to overcome addiction is real.
It has given life here and life eternal to millions of people over the years.
Might be worth taking a look at.

God on you....
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"Mmmmmmmm! That God Sure Does Taste Good!"

Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him.

Always felt like this was a very weird verse. Taste? Use the sense of taste? Followed by "see"...
"Here....put this in your mouth and then see a truth." Did not make much sense to me until recently.

How did sin enter into this old world? How did sin come in and become a part of the spiritual DNA of every human born? It came in through the disobedience of two people. A woman who believed a lie, and a man who followed the woman rather than believe God. Those two opened the door and altered our relationship with God forever. Well, not exactly forever, after all, Jesus came to undo all the mess and provide a way for relationship to be restored. None the less, I digress.

The woman bought the lie hook, line and sinker. Genesis 3:6 tells us "The woman was convinced. She SAW that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it too."
She was enticed by what she saw.....
Seeing led her to acting.....
She determined through her own senses that (1) the tree was beautiful. Now if the tree is beautiful, then the fruit of that tree must taste incredible. After all, this was the only tree of its kind in the entire garden. (2)Like the scripture said "the fruit looked delicious" and the woman wanted the wisdom it would bring to her. Such wisdom was an empty promise by the devil. All concocted to pull her in to disobey God and suffer the consequences of their actions.
She bit.....
He bit......
Now,we are all born biting.
That's the real deal behind our addiction...
Behind our addictive lifestyle...
We bit the empty promise of a new and exciting life if we would only use once....Take one drink to calm ourselves. Take a hit in order to be accepted as one of the guys or girls. Swallow this pill because it promised to take away the pain. Oh it took the pain away alright. Along with our will, our family, our friends, our freedom.....and sometimes our very life.

So in Psalm 34.....God tells us to do it backwards....
Taste first before we see... This is called an act of faith. Feast on His word.....Take communion from the Lord's table. Digest His goodness. Sin came in through tasting, now salvation comes in to destroy sin in the same manner. But with God it's different. Eve tasted the fruit and she became spiritually blind (II Corinthians 4:4)....Psalm 34 instructs us to taste first...which is an act of faith....once we take Jesus into our very life, we have our eyes opened and we can see in ways we never had before.

By faith we turn to Jesus....
By faith we turn away from the tree in the garden of Eden, from its deadly fruit.
By faith we are given access to SEE that the Lord is good.
Here begins the process of new life, and death to the old one.
Food for thought....
See you tomorrow....

God on you...
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