For NBF, aftercare is the spiritual support someone needs upon release from corrections, or as they are coming out of addiction.
We need Titus 2 Brothers and Sisters. We also need leaders willing to launch new groups and provide Children's ministry at NBFW meetings.
Based on Titus 2:1-8, these are Christian men and women who attend and participate in Discipleship Groups. Primarily, they focus on building relationships, and become "passive mentors." These men and women do the work of modeling how to follow Christ.
NBFW is New Beginnings For Women. This is branch of the ministry is for the women who love a New Brother: mothers, wives, girlfriends, etc. It also provides aftercare support for women coming our of corrections or addiction.
God's success rate is 100%! Every man who gets connected and stays connected, stays out of jail and out of his lifestyle of addiction and sin. In the past 12 years we have worked on this mission field, this has been true for countless men. It is God's work, and He does it well.
7.3 million Americans are in prison, or on parole or probation.–that is one in 31 adults. The Body of Christ cannot ignore these statistics, or the vast mission field in our own backyard.
I started blogging almost ten years ago on Xanga, and thanks to Steven I ended up on my old blog today. Looking through old posts, I found one I thought I would share. This was first published on May 27, 2013.
I began to weed my garden.
Last summer I did a tiny bit of container gardening, and in the autumn planted some mums in the ground. That was a big deal for me. I’ve always thought I had two black thumbs, but after my little successes last summer, I am expanding my horizons.
So, I started to weed the flower beds beside the house. I like to weed. It is slow work for me, but with every weed I pull I imagine what I can plant in its place. I’m not very ambitious, and know very little about growing, but there’s a lot to like about being in the garden. It’s very satisfying.
Well, it was very satisfying, until I took my eyes off the nice, black plot I had just cleared. That happened on my second day. I stood up and admired my hard work, but as I turned to take my tools back to the shed I noticed all the weeds that still remained.
The most astounding thing about the subject of Christians drinking alcohol is the narrow focus that both sides of the discussion tend to stay on.
The spiritual root of drinking is one of authority, and friendship with the world; neither of which do I ever hear discussed. The very nature of an intimate relationship with God is one of increased presence, resulting in increased holiness. This conversation on whether a Christian should drink, or if drinking is sin, is shallow and weak. The real question should be:
“Why aren’t Christians more Christ-like?”
We are called out from among them, to be separate. Friendship with the world is enmity with God, and brings us under the authority of the world and its spirit. The spirit that drives alcohol is undeniably of the world, and under the authority of Satan.
If you attend church at all, you will undoubtedly hear a thousand sermons on “Be filled with the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18) for every one sermon you hear preached on “Be ye angry, and sin not” (Eph.4:26). This is a command! It is not a defense for a bad temper. It is not an excuse for an explosion of bitterness from your bruised ego for personal rejection. I am talking here of Holy Anger. God gets angry: “The anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses” (Exodus 4:14); “God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). (If you must have a bumper sticker, try this last statement for a while -- but be sure that you increase your insurance before you do so.)
The blessed preacher St. Paul walked down Main Street Athens, the intellectual capital of the world of his day.
I've come recently to a conclusion, based on my own testimony and experience, along with observation, and it's this: We, as Christians, reject God at every chance we get and justify it without any hesitation.
Now, that might not seem like news to you, but it is to me... At least on the level I'm understanding it now. Conversely, this might make you angry because you try very hard to obey God or consider yourself a person of great faith. But, that's just the point. This goes deep and is blatant. It's true for the whole spectrum of Believers, from venerable John McArthur to the guy who just got saved in jail yesterday. The ways in which our rejection of God expresses itself are innumerable; through doctrine, through relationships, through real-time choices, it's a constant swirl of rebellion and rejection of the God we claim to love and trust.
We pat ourselves on the back for the miniscule obedience and trust we muster and have absolutely no problem dismissing the mountains of rejection and rebellion we evidence with each day that passes.
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