When it comes to movies, I can watch a good movie over and over. I am that way for just about anything. My wife is just the opposite. She is not into watching a movie 2-5 or even 20 times like me. For some reason, she does not get why I need to watch Commando, Terminator and Clint Eastwood westerns over and over.
The other night I was watching Terminator 2 and she said in a sarcastic way, “Are you expecting a different ending this time?”
One of the reasons I love watching movies like that is because you can count on one or two great lines that make the movie great.
I have to admit that I love action movies like that. I also have my list of favorite actors that whenever they are in a movie, I have to go see it. And you can be sure they will have at least one great line in their movies. Here is my list:
1. Arnold, of course!
2. Robert De Niro…you got a problem with dat? I didn’t think so.
3. Clint Eastwood…any western movie he puts out, I am there!
4. Denzel Washington
I do not know why but I really like Denzel Washington. I had to chance to watch one of my favorite Denzel movies the other night, Déjà Vu, again. I think it might have been the 5th time I’ve seen it. I love this movie. It is an action, suspense, thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
There is a great line that Denzel and Paula Patton, the co-star, say to each other two separate times in two separate scenes. And the line is this: What if you had to tell someone the most important thing in thing in the world but you knew that they would never believe you? Their response was: I would try.
In the movie Déjà Vu, Denzel and Paula knew that what they had to say was so profound that most people would not believe it.
And as I was preparing my message for this Friday, I realized that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the most important message in the world to you right now. The truth about Christ and what it means to be “In Christ” is so profound, yet few people really believe it. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
My hope is that you will believe it and live it out so you can find out what it truly means to be free. What it truly means to be a new creation. What it truly means to be “In Christ”, and what it truly means to be a child of God because that is what we are 1 John 3:1.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
First Post of 2011 for Celebrate Recovery
Happy New Year and congratulations on making it through another year! I am so excited that 2011 is here and 2010 is gone and past. Whether it was great, challenging, unbearable, difficult or joy-filled, I am praying that 2011 will be the greatest year of your life!!
I also believe that 2011 will be the best year for Celebrate Recovery too. And here is why, “Because I believe in you!”
God believes in you and I believe in you. We believe that you have what it takes to experience the transforming healing power of Jesus Christ to set you free from ALL your hurts, ALL your habits, and ALL your hang-ups once and for all.
I want to remind you as we start the year about a couple of truths about God:
• There are no hopeless cases or people in God’s eyes. In fact, the more hopeless or helpless you are, the easier it is for God to fix. Jeremiah 32:27 says: I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
• God has not given up on you so don’t you give up on God. Luke 15:20 But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
• God is not angry with you and wants to reveal His love to you on a deeper level. Psalm 86:15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
• God does not want you to walk around with so much guilt and shame. Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
• God’s word is living and active and has the power to set us free. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Shaper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. John 8:32 then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
• Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life. To know truth is to know Jesus Christ personally and Christ is the pathway to freedom. John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
• God wants to use you at Celebrate Recovery. Did you know that you are God’s masterpiece that He created to do great things for Him? Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. If you have ever suffered, God wants to use you. If you have ever had trouble, God wants to use you. If you ever felt like you were crushed and overwhelmed beyond your ability to endure and would never live through it, God wants to use you. 2 Corinthians 1:3-10NLT All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you.
Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.
We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
I hope these simple yet profound truths about God encourage you today to trust and follow him more deeply this year.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
I also believe that 2011 will be the best year for Celebrate Recovery too. And here is why, “Because I believe in you!”
God believes in you and I believe in you. We believe that you have what it takes to experience the transforming healing power of Jesus Christ to set you free from ALL your hurts, ALL your habits, and ALL your hang-ups once and for all.
I want to remind you as we start the year about a couple of truths about God:
• There are no hopeless cases or people in God’s eyes. In fact, the more hopeless or helpless you are, the easier it is for God to fix. Jeremiah 32:27 says: I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?
• God has not given up on you so don’t you give up on God. Luke 15:20 But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
• God is not angry with you and wants to reveal His love to you on a deeper level. Psalm 86:15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
• God does not want you to walk around with so much guilt and shame. Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
• God’s word is living and active and has the power to set us free. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and active. Shaper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. John 8:32 then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
• Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life. To know truth is to know Jesus Christ personally and Christ is the pathway to freedom. John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
• God wants to use you at Celebrate Recovery. Did you know that you are God’s masterpiece that He created to do great things for Him? Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. If you have ever suffered, God wants to use you. If you have ever had trouble, God wants to use you. If you ever felt like you were crushed and overwhelmed beyond your ability to endure and would never live through it, God wants to use you. 2 Corinthians 1:3-10NLT All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you.
Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.
We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.
I hope these simple yet profound truths about God encourage you today to trust and follow him more deeply this year.
Be Blessed and Encouraged
Bill Rieser
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