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.
Bad things happen.
People make mistakes. Say the wrong thing. Do the wrong thing. React and act out. It just happens. No one is always perfectly behaved, and sometimes our actions hurt other people.
When our actions hurt others, and there is a breech in relationship, repairing that breech and restoring the relationship need to be a top priority. One of the first steps we should take is issuing an apology.
Simple enough, right? We go to the offended party, admit our wrong doing, acknowledge the hurt we have caused, and say we are sorry.
If we are Jesus people, and our offense was sinful, we must also repent to the Lord. That is an absolute must, as our sinfulness also created a breech between us and God.
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.
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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