Fellowship: Part II

Well fellowship again has been on my heart over the past few weeks and I figured that meant it would be a good time to wrap up my thoughts on fellowship. Its probably about time because the topic has been left open for a month or so now, not that people are nit hanging on the edge of their seat to get it because I think only five people read this. Which is perfectly fine by me, I started the blog simply because it was on my heart for a long time, until one day I acted on it and now three months later hear I am. Pretty cool, anyways I should probably get on topic here. Fellowship, over the past few weeks it has been amazing to me to think about how much fellowship means to me and how it has gradually and sometimes suddenly changed my life. As you will read in Fellowship I my whole idea of fellowship was based around partying and belonging. I didnt want anyone too close I always kept them at a arms distance never opening up who I really was for fear of failure or rejection.

Today I see fellowship as a much more different thing...I love being in the rooms of A.A. or C.R. and seeing new comers or people who ask for help being swarmed after meetings by smiling faces and open arms. A place where true relation happens, hopefully this happens not because the person offering feels obligated or is forcing it but because there is a understanding or apathy for where that person is, because they have been there worked through it and came through stronger with more understanding.  I truly believe that these things are the scars and thorns we have to be willing to share and open up about to others to show the glory of Christ's work within us. This is why personal testimonies are so powerful, we can relate to and meet these people sharing about their lives exactly where they are. We can share with them about those emotions that they are feeling during those really hard moments because we have those emotions and feelings too! Yet they have overcomed and have actually come to terms enough with their past to be able to share about it in hopes that another wont walk down their road. I see this everyday in the rooms of A.A. and C.R. and what it creates is a breeding ground for fellowsip to happen and be facilitated. There is true beauty in seeing someone who is broken and beatdown realize that they are not alone and in fact many others struggle with the exact very same thing and have moved on from it...being able to see someone who has what we have and be willing to do what we have to do to get it. The first step: Realizing that I have a problem.

I have a big problem and the problem is me. It truly is a miracle of God that I am where I am today because in all honesty I should have died quite a few times in my life. I had problems, problems I thought were mine and only mine, well thats not true they are God's all God's because he has taken a life full of darkness, sadness and despair and shone a light and given a reason and a will to live within me. Part of life for me now is living like an open book, I have to admit my mistakes, when I am wrong and quickly make ammends to those I have hurt. Not only do I do these things but I also stay open about my past and where I have been because I believe that fellowship with another human being begins with honesty and relation. These things cannot happen without me being willing to share who I am....who I really am with another human being. As a Christian, sober person, recovery person, it is in these times when I do the aformentioned things I feel God's transformative work in my life being used to bless another paerson...Its amazing!!

F.E.A.R

Face Everything And Recover, I heard this the other day at my home metting of Alcoholics Anoynomous for the first time ever since being in the rooms of alcoholics anoynomous. Of course I have heard many other acronyms for the great feeling/reaction of fear, one that I used to live my life by is Forget Everything And Run. Fear or my lack of ability to handle it properly played a huge role in my life and continues to be a huge part of my spiritual formation today. When I was drinking and in the depths of my alcoholism fear is what drived my  lack of motivation to try and help myself. When I was drinking I was fearless, alcohol allowed me to escape from my fellings of worthlessness, low esteem, shame and guilt, into another realm of existence where I did not have those things pulling me down. In a sense I had a fear of my feelings, I had no clue how to manage my own feelings in a natural beneficial way, the only way I knew to handle them was to get wasted. So as you can imagine this made it very difficult for me to succeed in trying to stay sober on my own accord. Everytime I tried to get sober the feelings would just come crashing back in, all the fearful thoughts like "what if I am alone?", "what if I cant mix with a non alcoholic crowd?", "what if I fail again? Just like I always do?", What if someone finds out about my past?" These and a million other thoughts and fears would come crashing in causing me to run straight back to the party life in order to escape my fears yet again. After the cycle repeated itself again and again I thought it futile to even try and fight and figured I had been doomed to this life I had chosen for myself.

This was as far from the truth as could be and in fact it was at this low spot in my life that for the first time in my life I was at a place where I realized I was completely powerless over my ability to do the right thing. This is where God needed me to be in order that I may fully trust him and his work in my life...It was like in the movies where the hero comes in and says, "If you want to live, come with me." Only with Jesus it is "If you want to live have faith in me," from hope came faith and through faith came the ability to face my fears and actually do the right thing when faced with choices. I didnt even realize it, but this faith carried me through prison crashing through fears and adversity, things that would normally make me crumble were being faced and dealt with, the beauty of it was all I was doing was walking in faith and doing the next right indicated thing. It wasnt until I was out of prison and on my sixth step that I would have my first realized bout with facing my deep fears. I had many small bouts before this one but this one would be the one that changed my life, where I would learn the lesson face everything and recover.

Step 6 says: "We were entirely ready to have God remove these defects of character." At this time I had my defects of character listed and fresh on my mind from my fouth and fifth step, I was praying to God daily to help remove these defects and reveal to me any others that I had missed. However in the midst of all this I felt very unhappy and depressed about recovery, it was like I was at this point where I was either going to buy into this thing fully or do it my own way. I think I feared completly letting go of the old Richard, there was a big part of me that feared where this life would lead me, what it would turn me into and who I would become.  My character defect fear reared its ugly head and again I was allowing my own understanding and perceptions to govern what I thought was right. It was at this point where God came pounding through in my heart and prayers showing me that I had to crash through the fears and TRUST!! He was not letting me go and I felt this overwhelming feeling that I just had to step out yet again and trust God and his direction and care. I did then and I contnue to do the same thing everyday, I have learned that in facing my fears my faith in Christ is bolstered and through those encounters something is always revealed to me about who I am.

So today I dont walk in fear I walk in faith, knowing that whatever life throws at me isnt an opportunity to run but an opportunity to embrace and grow with Christ. One of my favorite books in the bible is 1Peter and my all time favorite set of verses which I'll end with that relates completly to this topic is 1Peter 1:3-10, in verses 6-9 Peter says:

"⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

Let Go & Let God.

"Let go and let God," a phrase that I hear numerous times in the rooms of AA and Celebrate Recovery.  Its a phrase that has stuck with me and I have often found myself having to pull it out to beat back the stinking thinking or future tripping that often goes on in my head.  Either I am way out in the future thinking about things that may never happen, based off a set of circumstances that are likely impossible, or I am dwelling on how I treated that one person or could of acted differently in this situation or I cant believe I was treated this way.  Where its good to be reflective and look at my actions so that I can take them to God in prayer, its not good when I allow these things to take over my mind to a point where they are having an impact on my emotions and altering how I react to situations and my relationships with others. If I allow these things to go this far the end result is usually me finding myself on my knees humbly at the cross in repentance praying for grace and guidance on how to not find myself in this position again.  Usually I reflect back at this point and see that most of the episodes often when I am not practicing the spiritual deiciplines that the bible so clearly states are vital to the transforming walk with Christ. Either I have not taking the time to pray and focus my thoughts on God, that which is holy and pure, or I have been slacking on my reading and studying of the scriptures, or I have withdrawn myself from fellowship with my accountability partners in the programs or my small groups at church. All these things are so vital to my life and spiritual well being, and I know that if any one of them fall to the way side I am opening myself up to a whole realm of horrible thinking and actions.  The walk of faith never ceases to amaze me...its like I know what has to be done and what I have to do in order to stay healthy and what do I do?! The exact opposite lol! However it has gotten better over time only by the grace of God and alot of transforming work by Christ.  So let go and let God always reminds me that the most important thing in my life is my relationship with Christ, from it all things flow, he is the rock, the wellspring, and in practicing the spiritual disciplines the roots of my faith extend deeper into that rock and draw more and more from that wellspring allowing the work of Christ to pour into and out of me freely.

But what of the person that doesent know Christ. This topic came up in the rooms of AA here recently and it had me thinking about those who dont know God. I can see how this phrase would work in church or in Celebrate Recovery but what about to the non believer? The one who doesnt believe in the strength and goodness of God? The one who relies on their own strength or the strength of other worldly things. Can these people with "higher powers" other than the one true God actually be able to "let go and let God"? How can you let go to a doorknob...or your family...I just cant see how it would work. A doorknob is not powerful and in fact it takes my strength to make it work...and my kid or any other person is human and subject to failure just like me plus they look to me for provision and guidance, so how can they help me through these things? The truth is they cant, we may be able to let something go but if we are non believers we are truly missing out on the beauty of the wholephrase which is letting God. Because only God is sovereign and good. So only when we give it to him can we have full assurance, whether the out come be good or bad it happened exactly how it was supposed to and in the end all together good...even if I cant see it.

Thats the power of faith in Christ and why Christianity is a faith and not a religion of works or deeds.

Exciting News!

What a crazy week!! From family being in town and work being absolutely nuts, which is a tremendous blessing in times like these, this week has been actioned packed! The definite topper of the week is that on Monday my girlfreind and I got engaged to be married! It seems like all week has been a blur since that event and just now is the dust starting to settle to a point where I can sit down and chat a little bit.


I am thankful that admist the chaos I have been somewhat capable of keeping a sound mind and have been heavily reflecting on the latest change in my life. I know for me events like these just seem to bring reflection on heavy and I often find myself deeply thinking about it all. The most apparent thing that became clear to me in my thoughts is the transforming and restorative work of Christ in two peoples lives. I dont want to divulge the details of my bride to be's life, but just like me, with Christ's loving care and guidance she has overcome many trials. Through the many struggles of her life up to this point the faith that has been refined by them is apparent and interwoven into who she is, it just floors me that I have been blessed with such a wonderful gift!


It really floors me to look at my own life up to this point, to think that three years ago I was being released from jail for the 5th time in 10 years! In no way did I think I would end up where I am...engaged to this amazing woman...I didnt even believe in marriage four years ago, that didnt come until I was shown a whole new life that is the Christian faith. I by no means deserve this life and prior to faith I viewed myself as unworthy of God, I mean why would he want apart of horrible, sinful me? Well thats just what the opposition of all that is good wanted me to believe! When that is as far as the truth as possible! God wants me just as I was, all broken and dirty, beat up by the world and constant failure. He grasped me in his arms, cleansed me in his sacrifice releasing my past unto him so I no longer had to be in bondage to it; then he placed his spirit in my heart his word in my hands and said live my son and love me with all your heart and all things good will come from this love.


Two months ago I found myself having to be told this once again, which happens often I have found...I am a slow learner. Anyways I found myself praying to God for guidance of whether or not I should ask my fiancee out to coffee. I came to him in a spirit of inadequacy, I was questioning whether or not a woman as amazing as this would be able to love me. I continued in prayer for the next week and the Spirit continued to reveal that in fact I was worthy, and that I am no longer defined by that past but by Jesus Christ and through him all things are possible. So I did it, I asked her out to coffee....


Now two months later we are engaged to be married! Its like a giant piece of the puzzle has been placed and I am left here going WOW! God you are amazing. I am such a blessed man.


I guess I sit here and blog this to share a victory of course, but also in hopes that if your still reading this that some piece of truth about Christs work in my life has pulled on your heart strings maybe leaving you questioning areas of your life. I just want you to know that it is possible and you are deserving.