The Agenda

I just remembered this story as I read Mark 11:24.

I invited a guest speaker to the Jericho Road Sunday night bible study to inform the boys about finances. As you may know, this can be an issue for many addicts. The study was a success (despite ending with one of the men trying to figure out how to launder money!!!) I helped pack up, thanked the speaker, jumped in my truck and headed home. As I pulled into my driveway I panicked as I realized I had left my agenda at the community centre where we hold our bible study. I panicked because it has my 'life' in it, you know, all of my keys, work van key, keys to all the addiction houses and each room, church keys and office keys!!!!

AAAAAHHHHHHGGGGGG!!!!!!

That alone is reason to panic, but no, I also had restaurant gift certificates, $50 cash, debit cards, a memory stick and basically every scheduled appointment I have, plus all my notes I take.

So on the ride back I did what every Christian would do, PRAY!!!! Lord, if I... No, Lord if it was possible.... No. Lord...... Well I'm sure you know what I mean.

As I returned to the community center I looked in the room where we had been, and nothing. My heart sank! I went and asked the front counter staff. Nothing. My heart sank further. I searched the property. Nothing. Oh my poor heart sank!!!

I was faced with the consequences of having all my eggs in one basket, if you know what I mean.

The next morning as I did my devotions I read Mark 11. As I read verse 24, hope filled my heart, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. "
Well, I thought as my heart did a somersault, obviously God is going to send me back my agenda today! YaaaaaaHHHH!!!!

I waited for that phone call all day. I even went back to the scene of the crime and searched through all the garbage cans on the property, looked in the lost and found and informed the staff what had happened. Nothing. Tuesday night rolls around and I thought, how could God not send me my agenda? What about Mark 11:24? I guess God has another plan and a better purpose for my book. So I figured I better replace the agenda so I can keep track of my appointments and try to replace my keys the best I can. I made phone calls and explained the lost keys, canceled the debit cards and bought a new $10 dollar agenda.

I began life with my new agenda.

Thursday morning I get a call. The man on the other end said he was calling from some security corporation, asked my name and something about my portfolio. I stopped him and said I wasn't interested. He asked again about my portfolio and if I had lost any keys.

What?????? I realized he was talking about my agenda. I asked where he was calling from because the call was from an area code I didn't recognize. He replied Toronto. Toronto?? The man asked if he could mail it to the address he found on my business card. I said sure. That was the end of our conversation.

HUH? how did it get to T.O.? Who was the guy? What just happened?

3 days later my agenda arrived wrapped in brown paper with no return address. Everything was in it except the $50. Wow, God did answer my prayer. He taught me in that instance that I need to have blind faith. Faith. Faith that he knows what he is doing and that he wants to bless me. He taught me that He works things out in his time. I am learning to trust and wait for God to move before I run off a hit a wall.

Mark 11:24 PRAY IT!!!!!!!!

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

AMEN

God is faithful

Facilitating a discipleship house can be exasperating on the best of days. Not only do I look after our D-house at Jericho Road but fill and over see our transition houses, interviews, one on ones, manage interns and daily problem solving around our ministry. Please don't feel sorry for me, for God has blessed me with a 'disability' called a.d.h.d........ I find it easy to do a lot of things at once, all day long!!!!

Where I have a hard time is when I am attacked by the people that seem to be on our side.....you know, the side that wants to see addicts recover and come to know Christ. At the beginning of last month we only had 2 beds filled at the D-house and some other opening at some of the houses, which is a financial burden on the ministry. Some of the attacks sounded like this: 'It's because of your strict rules, like no smoking', 'you don't understand jail guys', 'you don't help guys effectively' and 'obviously God's not in this 'cause you got no guys in the house'. Just to mention a few, you get the point. So in my head goes the battle of questions. Should we close up the d-house? Should I make this house more user-friendly? Should we compromise our beliefs on smoking? Am I just getting in God's way?

Rant over. A couple of week ago I sat down with the director and brainstormed how we could fill our beds. The first idea I had was pray. Let's pray. These are God houses, he knows what he is doing. I learned that in Sunday school. The answer was always Jesus and a close second was pray!!! Next was an idea to design an information package of what we do and have to offer along with flyers of the D-house and our Transition houses that we could give to drop in's, detox, shelters and churches. Great ideas and we got underway creating and designing.

Yesterday our info pack and flyers were finally done and look great!!!!! (Thanks Vikki)

In the mean time God was busy. As of yesterday all our homes are full and I have a waiting list of 4 men to get into the Transition houses. The D-house is full - of 'jail' guys except for one of them. Two of them have come by plane! One from Labrador and the newest one this weekend from St. John's!!!

I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God is Faithful. The enemy will always attack, tear down and discredit. My encouragement is to pray and yes be proactive. What I am learning is to trust God. He does know what he is doing and to stay in the boat where he is. I must be patient as I walk with Him. I must not swerve to the right or to the left. Thank you Jesus.

BREAKING THE CHAINS 2011 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it's official........Breaking the Chains 2011 ....................

On May 13th, 2011, at the Bronson center we will worship Jesus Christ for his saving power and surrender to his ability to set free the captives. We have invited recording artist Flame and some of his friends to join us........WHOOOO HOOOO!!!!! The night will consist of powerful testimonies, music, bible reading and prayer.

Can you join us in prayer in getting ready for this event???
Pray for the testimonies that will be shared that night.
Pray that the musicians will arrive safe from the U.S.A.
Pray for finances to come in.
Pray that God starts moving in the hearts of men and women that need healing and freedom from addiction.
Pray for the organization of the night itself.

Thanks for your help!!!!!!

Corey Russell's testimony

I Love this story and what God is doing in his life!!!! He's got some great CD's out as well......preach done to music....get them!!!!

unwanted

Ryan Scott Bomberger is one of those unwanted. should have been aborted. no hope. no future. product of rape. abort.

His birth mother made the difficult decision to give her child up for adoption.



Read Ryan's full story at thisisryan.com

God's Promises!

Going thru my recovery from a drug and alcohol addiction I have realized that my wounds as a young child helped me to choose addiction. As a child I was abused, abandoned and later adopted into a loving home but the words I was left with on my heart were, ‘YOU'RE NO GOOD’, ‘YOU'RE NOT WANTED’, ‘NO ONE LOVES YOU’.

Tuesday afternoons at 1:30pm Doug Sprunt teaches at our discipleship house. He has been teaching at the house for about 8 months and I’m pretty sure he is Jesus’ right hand man. We have been learning out of the book ‘Emotionally Healthy Spirituality’ and were just wrapping it up on this particular Tuesday afternoon.

The night before, so Monday night, my wife and I attended our Celebrate Recovery meeting downtown, got a bite to eat after and got home at about 11:00pm. On our way into the house my wife grabbed the mail and in it was one of those ominous, manila, government envelopes addressed to me (if you lived an addicted life style you’ve probably received your fair share of these envelopes and usually they bear bad news). I sat down at our dinning room table and began to open it as Vikki ran up stairs. As she returned I said to her with a blank look and tears in my eyes ‘I’m a Kilbreath’. You see I had received my identifying papers from my adoption with my original birth certificate in it. My original name said I was Macy Kilbreath from Sarnia Ontario. WOW.

Immediately the words that had run my life for so long came rushing back……you're no good…….you're not wanted…….no one loves you.

Tuesday afternoon as Doug began to teach he stated how words can effect our lives. He told of a time in high school volleyball where he was serving the ball and at the same time another boy yelled out the word ‘FAGGOT’. Everyone laughed. That effected how he felt about himself all through high school.

Did this man read my mail last night??! Or was God starting to speak to me? Doug told us how believing lies from the enemy can distort our whole lives if we choose to believe them.

There was 8 of us in the room that afternoon and Doug had 7 numbered pieces of paper. He asked if I would sit this one out. The 7 men each chose a number and Doug read them their piece of paper:

'you have personal power over your own life', 'you are allowed to be imperfect and make mistakes', 'you have needs' (at this point I could not hold back my tears as each word was so specific to each guy and to me. God was speaking!) 'you are unique. Be you', 'you are a delight', 'you are lovable and good enough', 'it is good that you exist'.

Doug asked the guys one at a time to give me a statement of truth. As I heard their words tears flowed down my face. I knew they couldn't know the tremendous impact this was having on me.

God will always build. The enemy will tear down.

Today I try to remember to react on the truth: God loves me and will take care of me.

God had prepared this for me and it was a part of my healing journey. This is what an intimate relationship with my creator looks like. God will always do a greater work in me that thru me. THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!