Hello! My name is Jeff Brown and I'm with the Vineyard Ministry fellowship and Outreach Center in Doniphan,Mo. We've rented the old Ben
Franklin building on Washington St. and we're in the process of
establishing an ongoing ministry there centered around supporting people
with drug and alcohol addictions in their efforts to find deliverance
by establishing a relationship with Jesus Christ. As God allows we'd
also like to expand into other areas including couples counseling and
helping people dealing with depression. I'd like to tell you why I feel
as though this is a vitally important undertaking, and why I feel as
though it's something that all of us should be concerned with.
Most of us are familiar with the expression "A stitch in time saves nine" It simply means that to deal with things now can prevent
a small problem from becoming a big problem later. A stitch in time can
save nine, it may even save 900,or even 9000, depending on it's
location the impact of that one stitch can be huge! My parents were
divorced when I was nine, but it wasn't until a couple of years ago that
my mother confided in me that the problems they had in their marriage
were in fact actually very minor. I'm left to wonder what kind of a
difference "a stitch in time" might of made to everyone in my
family.
Some people have misconceptions about counseling or psychology and when they hear either term concerns arise as to their real value or even
if they're something the church should be involved with at all. This is
a valid concern because some of what secular psychology has to offer
is in contradiction to basic Christian beliefs. It's important
that we understand where the two part ways and stick to what Gods word
teaches.
As an example, a few years later when I was twelve I was caught selling drugs at my Jr. High school. One of the results of that was my
being referred to a psychologist for counseling, I met a wonderful man
who I know cared a great deal about me and who I'm sure would've done
anything to help me. I'm not saying he didn't help me at all, perhaps he
may of kept me from careening off of some precipice but despite seeing
him continuously for several years I continued to us drugs. He simply
didn't know how to reach me, and despite all of his endeavors to rebuild
my shattered self esteem I believe they failed because I simply wasn't
buying the idea of my being worth loving. His therapy fell short because
it's success hinged on my acceptance of something my worldly
perceptions showed me to be false. Would it have made a difference if he
had shown me in Gods word that it was because of His great love for me
that God had sent His son to die for all of the things I hated so much
about myself ? I can only speculate as to the different effect it might
of had if he would've told me that God had a wonderful plan for my life
and that He wanted to have a personal relationship with me. If,
instead of trying to convince me to love myself despite the mess I was,
he would've helped me to see how much I was already loved, and
encouraged me to allow Jesus into my heart what a difference it might've
made!
When I'm counseling a young couple with marital problems I think about my own parents and what I wish someone might have told them about the far reaching ramifications of what they're contemplating.
When I talk to a young man struggling with his identity who has chosen to hide who he really is behind drugs I can tell him about where
that took me and help him to understand that there's a much better
choice available to him.
All of my years of people watching have taught me something important and that is, "Where people are concerned, things are seldom what
they seem”. Peoples outward behaviors seldom reflect their true
feeling’s or tell the real story of what’s happening on the inside. And
while that may sound complicated it’s really as simple as understanding
that every one of us is just trying to be loved! And because we
may never have experienced what that truly means I think that I can say
without any qualification that it is without a doubt the most confusing
aspect of life and that it’s the primary cause of all of mans problems.
Following a trail of lies left by our enemy we’re drawn into a myriad of
dead end streets strewn with broken glass and other garbage that we’re
willing to ignore if we believe that in doing so it might bring
us this elusive prize. We seek it out in substances like drugs and
alcohol, dysfunctional human relationships, of course material
possessions, all of which have the habit of leaving us empty and
unfulfilled, some of which leave us dead.
I want people to know that God loves them!
As I see it, there are only two kinds of people. Those who have been greatly blessed by the presence of mentoring relationships in their
lives and those who have greatly suffered as a result of not having
them. If you're in the first category, It honors the memory of that
person who helped you to "pay it forward"and be that person in another s
life. If you're the latter, it's a sacred thing to reach out to people
in an effort to keep someone else from making the same bad choices you
did and perhaps from suffering the same consequences.
What has God done for you? What barriers did He have to patiently wait for your consent to remove from your life even while it caused Him so much pain to watch as you needlessly suffered?
The story of God and man is a story of love and of redemption; it’s a story of a creator and His rebellious creation and the extraordinary
lengths that He’s willing to go to reach them. In Gods word He goes
into detail as to the lengths He’s willing to go to in showing us His
love.
16For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
I purposely included the 17th verse, because it breaks down any excuses I could possibly have to not be doing something
to reach out to a world in bondage to ignorance, pain, and evil, with
the love, redemption, and deliverance of Christ! When we choose to see
ourselves and others as God see’s us, with compassion, it’s then
that we can begin to understand the life changing power of Gods love and
it's there that we can be "convinced" as the reality of what
Paul stated in his epistle to the Romans.
Romans 8:38-39
38For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I’ve said all of this in an attempt to explain to you why I’m doing what I’m doing but most importantly, I’m saying it out of my own
personal gratitude for what’s been done for me! Many people considered
me a lost cause; they saw me as a no good drug addict and told me I’d
never amount to much. But praise God it was a loving savior who spoke
truth into my life and made me see the lies of the enemy and all of the
weapons which were formed against me, It was Jesus who reached out a
hand to me and showed me my own self as He saw me, Who lifted me
up out of the broken glass and garbage I was in and gave me hope and
faith that because of His love for me those weapons would not continue
to prosper against me, that I was somebody very special in Christ,
because of His love for me!
What, if anything, could I ever do in return to show my gratitude or to show how much I love the Lord?
Matthew 25:35-40
35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
If we as the church are to have the impact on this world that God has called us to we're going to have to make some stitches where
people are injured and bind up some wounds to heal the brokenhearted. We
must do it now while we still have the opportunity, in time for
it to make a difference. I'm asking you to join us in this undertaking,
that it might become an overtaking victory for the sake of Gods kingdom
and in the name of Jesus The Christ!
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the
brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of
sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will
strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the
strong; I will feed them with judgment.
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