Who's To Say?

I'm big on remembering quips, quotes, "sayings", or expressions. Recently I was reminded of this one:

"Who's to say that the rantings of a madman aren't actually the clear vision of the only sane man left."

That got me to thinking about how I see the issues of depression and anxiety. Among the various therapies and methods of helping people who complain of these symptoms, one strategy is to help them to "move on." Another is to help them sort out why what they're feeling is perhaps irrational. Depression is primarily a reaction to loss, one of it's most common symptoms is hopelessness. Can I honestly try to sell people on the idea that there are sufficient reasons to be hopeful in this world? Anxiety is a high energy emotion that's based in fear. There are indeed a lot of scary things in this world that can happen to people that we're powerless to stop. What advice can I possibly offer anyone that can truly nullify this prospect?

Please understand that I'm not attempting to make any definitive statements about helping people with emotional problems, I'm only examining the "reality of perception" people seem to operate in.

What I'm talking about here are average people who've suffered belief system crashes that left them traumatized and erroneously conditioned to react with anxiety and depression out of a perceived necessity for self preservation.

What if anything can I say? Explaining to people that their perceived need to hold onto the "self" and that their own realization of their powerlessness in controlling circumstances are at the root of their depression and anxiety?

Sure, but what will I do with the other 45 minutes?

In the absence of having God in our lives we tend to stand in for Him and do the job ourselves, and it is rough territory!

Have you got all of the bases covered? What if,what if, what if?

"I'm such a failure, I couldn't control the circumstances of my life completely, I should just give up!"

Can you see what I mean about "who's to say" yet?

If I told you everything bad that was going to happen to you for the rest of your life how do you think you'd handle it?

I think most people might resemble the "mad man" I referred to previously.

What if instead, I showed you in Gods word that while you may go through all of the things in your life I previously mentioned, that not only would everything work out great in the end but that you would have peace available to you in the midst of all of it. Would that calm you down? Would it allow you to see the events and circumstances of your life from the perspective of what you gained from them instead of what you've lost?

Proverbs 12:25

Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression,
But a good word makes it glad. (NKJV)

Philippians 4:6-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (NKJV)

"Anxiety disorders, like many other conditions, are an example of normal responses that appear at inappropriate times".

Faced with everything that's going on in this world we live in and all of the personal challenges that each of us are going through everyday, I guess what I'm wondering is what would constitute justifiable grounds for depression and anxiety?

Although I've perhaps got grounds to, I don't feel depressed or anxious about my personal situation, nor do I feel that way about the future of our world. But I can absolutely understand how someone who doesn't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or someone who doesn't know Him as their Savior might! Some people may think I'm wrong not to be "overly concerned" but then, who's to say right?

Stitches In Time...

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.

John 3:16-17

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 17^th 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!

Luke 4:18

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

Matthew 16:19

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.

Ezekiel 34:16

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.

The Exciting Work of Ministry!

Catchy title don't you think? okay, maybe not so much but I am starting to get really excited thinking about where all of this hard work is leading! For all of us that are involved in this venture it's the culmination of the dreams, prayers and purpose's in each of our lives. I believe that we've all been uniquely prepared to fulfill this aspect of the Lord's plan, and that it's not only for us but for many others as well!

It's been a very long journey for me, wandering through the desert for the last forty years. If you've ever been lost you know what I mean, you think your heading in the right direction but with very little confirmation it's cause for anxiety. When you see a sign that tells you how much further it is or you recognize something that you were told to watch out for a sense of peace replaces the panic. Ironically, in my current circumstances most of the things I've been told to watch out for are not good but I'm happy to see them because it means I must be on track!

More exciting ministry work!

^{Acts 20:24} But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Speaking of being "on track", in the last week we've got a phone, designed and printed some brochures and cards, done some clean up work, and Lord willing we'll have electricity later this week! Tonight my partner Gerald told me that they're delivering some carpeting and a little bit of furniture which includes a desk, next I'm looking for about twenty or thirty chairs, enough to have meetings with. We're currently working on a newsletter, and I'm looking into various signage options for our front glass. I'm also starting to work with our website http://www.thevineyardministry.org/ So yeah, it is busy but it's fun and exciting!

Based on what I've just described I can already tell that this ministry is going to stretch my boundaries and allow me to wear many different hats, some that I've kind of worn before, like in the area of public relations. Others, like being involved with drug and alcohol cessation meetings and one on one counseling are more familiar to me.

Earlier I mentioned being lost in the desert for forty years which you may of taken as a metaphor but it's truer than you could know. I was saved at age nine and I'm forty nine now. To me it's an interesting similarity, so now am I ready to cross the Jordan into the promised land? I've stepped out in faith, and based on what the Lord's done for me in the last forty years I know that all of His promises to me are real and that He'll continue to abide in me as I abide in Him now even more than ever! He continues to give me a vision of what He wants to accomplish through this work and of how to go about it. For me thats as good as it gets, it really is exciting to be a part of !