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Showing posts with label Overeating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Overeating. Show all posts

Saturday, April 9, 2022

Gone with the Wind – Collision Course with Christ - Purity 701

Gone with the Wind – Collision Course with Christ  -  Purity 701

Purity 701  04/09/2022  Purity 701 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of an epic shot of tree under a cloud filled sky of blue and gold, atop a hill on the “Knapp Kin Farm”, with the setting sun cresting on horizon, comes to us from our brother, friend, and Bible study author, Arthur Cincotti.  This one is “hot off the presses” as I received it last night and thought to myself: “It looks like Arthur made the weekend edition!”  and had a good laugh about it because it is a running joke between us about how Arthur covets to have his photographic visions featured as the “photo of the day”.   

Well, It’s Saturday and we made it to the weekend. Even though rain is in my local forecast, it is my prayer that all who read or hear this message have a wonderful “Palm Sunday” weekend where you will use the next two days to enjoy yourselves and take time to thank the Lord for all He has provided in your life.  

A life of contentment comes from being grateful for the things we have and from giving thanks to the God who gave us life and who is directing the course of history, resulting in all the “days of our lives”.    Arthur’s sunset shot reminded me of some of the epic landscape scenes from “Gone with the Wind” and it has me considering the landscape of my life and how it truly has been a dramatic journey that could rival that of Scarlet O’Hara, or that of Forrest Gump!

Although “Gone with the Wind” and Forrest Gump featured stories of the main characters going through various times and season throughout history, the thing that stood out in those dramas perhaps more than the changing events from one era to another was the relationships that developed, ended,or endured through the years of the character’s lives.   

Over the last two days, my job has brought me to two very different locations that caused me to remember different chapters of my life that are now in the distant past but play a part in the person I am today.  

I am a field technician for a telecommunications company, aka a telephone repair guy, and my job can take me to anywhere in the greater Capital district where a phone is connected.  On Thursday I had a trouble report for the St, Anthony of Padua Shrine in downtown Troy.  Before realizing my mistake and going to the shrine’s office building where the phone trouble actually was, I foolishly just walked into the shrine which was completely empty and reverent.  

Although I almost immediately realized my mistake, I walked from the back of the shrine all the way up to the front, on the left side of the altar. Even I wasn’t foolish enough to go down the middle aisle! I think the middle aisle at Catholic Churches is reserved for the most bold and holy to walk down. The sheepish sinners who don’t attend services every week tend to use the entry points on the left or right sides of the sanctuary.  

Even though I had never been to this particular shrine/church, I was impressed by its pristine facilities and reverent atmosphere. I had grown up in the Catholic Church so I was filled with feelings of nostalgia over seeing the old familiar sights of a catholic church. The candles, the colorful stained glass window displays, the stations of the cross that ran along the aisles, the altar, and various statues of saints gave me that old familiar feeling of fear and awe that told me that I was on holy ground and I best be quiet, reverent, and respectful.   Before leaving I mentally apologized for my intruding to the empty sanctuary.  

The phone trouble turned out the be in the central office, so I just had to put in a trouble ticket for a central office technician to wire the dial tone on the frame and was done.  But before I was left I went back into the sanctuary’s alcove and grabbed one of the free “2022 Catholic heritage” calendars that I had saw on the way out.  The cover art of a pristine Jesus was calling for me to take it home and I couldn’t resist.     

I have a real heart for my catholic roots that fills me with a strange mix of longing, sadness, and horror. The catholic church was proficient in teaching me that I was a sinner but it didn’t adequately teach me that I was saved through my faith in Jesus Christ alone. 

It had taught me all about the reverent worship and traditions of the mass but my experiences there also taught me about hypocrisy and surface level faith that didn’t survive beyond the four walls of the church. 

It didn’t teach me that many of it’s traditions have no Biblical basis and were basically established by some church official who thought it was a good idea.

It hadn’t taught  me about idolatry or that we don’t need an intercessor to speak to the Lord on our behalf.

It didn’t teach me that I was loved, accepted, secure, or significant in Christ and that I could boldly walk down the center aisle, regardless of my past sins, to approach God on His throne.  

In considering all the things I have learned through the study of God’s word and what I didn’t learn in the Catholic church, I am filled with sadness because, just like the reformers must have thought back in the times of Martin Luther, “it didn’t have to be this way”.

Instead of “reforming” and repenting of its doctrinal errors, the leadership of the Catholic church stood by their traditions even though some of them confound the gospel of grace and are in conflict with Biblical principles.   

My mom, dad, and all my brothers and their families are still catholic so it is my hope that somehow their “confirmation” of faith in Christ will put them in a state of grace. I hope their simple “I do.” that they delivered in response to the Bishop’s question of

Do you believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered death and was buried, rose again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father?

Will be enough to make them to become a part of the bride of Christ, the church in His eyes. Sometimes I think the less you know about what the Catholic church teaches the more likely you are to be saved…

I have cleaned up my act now and it saddens me that I could be a “good catholic” if I wanted to be, but I know that it is better to choose to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and try to live by the truth of the word of God rather than by the arbitrary rules that were created by men.

It angers me that Christianity has been so divided at times and I almost wish for a return to the cathedrals of the ages of the past if it could mean that we would have one church, but honestly I would rather have a million different denominations of Christianity that attempted to be authentic in their faith and in their attempts to obey the word of God  rather than have a single body that was defined by hypocrisy, error and compromise.

I know that God is merciful and gracious, and I pray that all who hear or see this message, especially Catholics, would make a simple confession to make Christ their Lord and Savior and to study the Bible and let the Lord’s word direct their path.

Well, that was Thursday, and on Friday I had an almost polar opposite trip down memory lane, as I was called to a telephone trouble at a fraternity house of RPI.  

The phone facilities in the fraternity house were in the basement and to gain access I had to go through a couple of stale beer smelling bar rooms to get the communications terminal.  

For those who don’t know, I pledged a fraternity in SUNY Oswego in 1991 and enjoyed all the benefits of membership for the remainder of my college career.  Wild escapades, hazing, secret initiation rights, , women, drugs and alcohol were all part of the  rock n roll fantasy existence of my college days and coming into a fraternity house all these years later caused me to remember the good, the bad, and the ugly of my youthful exuberance.   Such joy, such loneliness, such great friendships, and so many broken things both materially and relationally.    

My fraternity house was burned to the ground by an angry neighbor who was never arrested for the arson they perpetrated. And although the fraternity carried on and got a new smaller house, there really is no going back to my “college home” again. Those days are gone. And as much as I fondly remember my brothers and other friends from those days, I don’t miss the pain of suffering from addiction, loneliness, confusion, ignorance and rejection I experienced in those days.  

When I saw that frat house, part of me lamented of the way I had lived while another part of me wished I could do it all over again.   But I realized that there is no going back and that I couldn’t take the wisdom I have now back to those days.  The times were different, the technology was different, but most importantly I was different.   I didn’t know Christ and if I did I may have not met all the people who I still consider to be friends.

All these nostalgic musings of the Catholic Church and the subsequent age of total depravity of my college days are marked by errors and regrets but I honestly would have it no other way. Everything I suffered and learned from in those eras of my life put me on a collision course with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  

If I wasn’t so lost, maybe I would have never sought the Lord and maybe I would have never found Him.  

But now I have the best of all possible worlds I guess. I sinned. I suffered. But I was saved.     

And through it all I met so many people along the way. I made so many friends and acquaintances that made my life the epic drama that it has been. We have had moments of joy, hilarity, love, and loss.  Many of the people I have met have faded into the past and left the stage, but others have endured to remain constant characters in my life.   And whether those relationships are active, over, on hold, or to be continued, I thank the Lord for giving me company through the many years of my life.  

God made us and He put us in this particular time and season.  And through a combination of our free will and His sovereign will, we have encountered all the people of our lives during all the days of our lives. He provided us with the people who challenged us, who encouraged us and who loved us.  

While we can remember our pasts with fondness, we should never dig in our heels to try to stay in a season that is “Gone with the Wind”, instead we should remember where we came from, learn from our mistakes, and walk into the remaining mystery of life with God as the source of our wisdom and strength.  

So keep walking and talking with God.  Take time to praise His name on Sunday – Hosanna in the Highest, right! but also take time to enjoy the things and people you have in your life right now because in this life that always moves forward through time and space we never know what characters will make a dramatic exit or which ones will stay and remain.    

______________________________________________________________

Today’s Bible verses comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Matthew 19:29 (NLT2)
29  And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.

Today’s verse are the words of Jesus that acknowledge the cost of our faith and the promise of a great reward for our faithfulness.  

Hey, we talked about those changing times and seasons of life and all those characters that would come and go, and today’s verse is most appropriate to that theme because when we make Jesus our Lord and Savior, we are almost guaranteed to suffer the loss of some pre-Christ relationships.  

I have suffered some major relationship losses because of my decision to follow Christ.  It wouldn’t be a stretch for me to agree with today’s verse when it speaks of giving up houses, property, and relationships for the Lord’s sake.  

My conversion to the life of a disciple of Christ has been so dramatic and transformative that I can barely recognize myself at times! Wow, this IS ME!  So I can’t necessarily blame some people who loved the wild funny sarcastic party animal for rejecting the “born again…M.T.??? What the hell does that mean?:”

I would try to defend myself and say that I haven’t changed all that much but that would be a lie. I have been given a new life in Christ and the manifestation of that new life is constantly unfolding as I surrender more and more of myself to be conformed to the image of Christ.  Believe me, I marvel at how the Lord has been sanctifying me little by little as I agreed to follow Him. 

My interests and hobbies of the past have been replaced by a zeal to know God more and to live according to His wisdom.  The good news is that this path of Christian Discipleship isn’t a chore. It isn’t a drudgery. It is the pathway of peace and joy that doesn’t require substances to alter my mental state or arranging circumstances to make me happy.

So as today’s verse is telling us the truth when it tells us that we will be rewarded a hundred times for the things we give up or loss for the Lord’s sake. Duh, these are the words of Jesus. He is the Truth the Way and the Life so obviously what He says is true.  

But if you are doubtful let me assure you, your new life in Christ will be worth whatever losses you may have to suffer to follow Him.  Not only do we get eternal life through our faith in Christ, but when we apply His love and wisdom to our lives we can experience all the fruit of the Spirit in our lives here and now.  

We all must decide how we will spend our lives and where we will spend eternity.  If you choose your dysfunctional or even really nice relationships over Jesus, there will be hell to pay.  But if you choose to honor God by placing your faith Jesus, although you may suffer earthly losses, you will be given so much more when you are given the honor of entering the kingdom of God and becoming a member of His royal family.

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

Today we continue sharing from June Hunt’s Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation.  

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s  books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $5.00.

K. How to See That Success Is Just a Choice Away

Life and death … blessings and curses …

God places before His people, the nation of Israel, two distinct paths leading in entirely different directions. They are free to choose which path they will follow, but they must also be prepared to accept the consequences.

God longs for the Israelites to choose “life”—loving Him, obeying Him—and thus receiving from Him boundless blessings. But should they choose “death”—forsaking Him, failing to honor His hallowed name—then cursing and great disaster will befall them.

You, too, have two distinct paths before you … choosing to seek God’s help in overcoming your overeating habits and finding victory or choosing to stop overeating in your own strength and facing defeat after defeat. As with the Israelites, God wants you to “choose” Him, and you’ll soon discover that success is just a choice away.…

“Now choose life, so that you … may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life …”

(Deuteronomy 30:19–20)

My Daily Choices for Change

Decide each day to accept this challenge for change. Accept the challenge to make these daily choices—realizing success is just a choice away.

Life is a series of choices, therefore …

•     I choose to give control of my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.

•     I choose to change my eating through the power of Christ within me.

•     I choose to live to please God, not to please my appetite.

•     I choose to make wise choices when tempted to eat unwisely.

•     I choose to make right choices when tempted to eat excessively.

•     I choose to glorify God with how I treat my body.

•     I choose to focus not on food but on faithfulness to the Lord in my life.

•     I choose to let God be my God—not to let food be my god.

Although I’ve failed in the past, with God’s help I don’t have to fail in the future!

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

(Psalm 73:26)

There is only one God.

So if food is your god,

then God is not your God.

—June Hunt

“Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do,

do it all for the glory of God.”

(1 Corinthians 10:31)[1]

 

 

---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxjSNstREpuGWuL0bF3U7w/featured

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship


[1] June Hunt, Biblical Counseling Keys on Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation (Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 40–42.

 

Friday, April 8, 2022

An Unexpected Turn – A New Life Out of a Bad Situation - Purity 700


An Unexpected Turn – A New Life Out of a Bad Situation -  Purity 700

Purity 700  04/08/2022 Purity 700 Podcast

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a view of sunny blue skies over palm trees and a what looks like a man made “lazy river” comes to us from my brother, Mike, as he was recently forced to make the best of a bad situation when his connecting Southwest airlines flight home from Orlando was cancelled. Mike had to make other arrangements “on the fly” with another airline to get home in a timely fashion but still had to find accommodations for him and his family for a single day before his departure. So this view comes to us from some unnamed hotel in Corpus Christi? Texas?

Well, it’s Friday and just like my brother, Mike, who had to make a change of plans on the fly, life often changes our direction and sometimes if we are diligent to go in “the right direction” and keep a positive attitude, we can even make the unexpected change a pleasant one.   

Last night, I started facilitating a new Freedom in Christ Men’s Discipleship group on Zoom and in order to introduce myself, I had to relate who I was and it was funny to tell my story because where I am now is certainly not where I ever thought I would be, but do you know what?  That’s a really good thing.  

Last night I got to explain how I spent most of my life as a person who was only concerned with satisfying the lusts of the flesh and how I had disdain for anything good and wholesome.  I got to describe how I subversively rebelled against authority and took delight in breaking rules and the law at times without getting caught. I also got to describe the hurt and heartache that resulted from my decisions to live selfishly. And I got to describe what it felt like to live many years of my life with no regard for God and with no hope. I  described how I denied the existence of God because I knew that if the God of the Bible was real that meant I was on the highway to hell and that I was doomed because I was incapable of changing my evil ways.       

But then, thank God, I got to tell how my journey through life took an unexpected change and how God didn’t just make the best out of my bad situation but how He gave me a whole new life and how He gave me the power to walk out of the darkness of my former life into a life that is defined by peace, joy, and love.    

How can this be?  It’s because of Jesus Christ.  

His story and my story converged on March 19th, 2010 in a very real and dramatic way.  While I had heard about Jesus and the “good news” that He had died for the sins of the world, on that day I came to know Him and how He died for my sins and all I had to do to be forgiven of every mean, selfish, or stupid thing I had ever done, or ever would do, was to put my faith in Him as my Lord and Savior.  

I had always thought that I had to “be good” or somehow pay back the Lord to be accepted but on that day the Holy Spirit used a gospel radio message to relay to me the truth that there was nothing I could do to make myself right with God and that salvation and forgiveness was a free gift that was received through faith in Jesus Christ alone.   

So I accepted the free gift and felt the joy of my salvation and dedicated my life to the Lord and immediately started reading the Bible to try to learn more about who God is and how I should live my life as a Christian.  Although I didn’t think I could be a very good Christian, I wanted to be a “real Christian” and try to follow where the Lord wanted me to go.   

And what a long strange, and at times very hard, but wonderful trip it has been.   I had a lot of learning to do but what I have come to know is painfully simple but not necessarily easy to do. Life comes from God and our best life is one that is submitted to Him. The best life we can have is the one that is covered by the atoning work of Jesus on the Cross and that applies the wisdom of the God’s Word to our every day lives.  

I was a rebel and I was always running away from what was good and wholesome but about twelve years ago the embodiment of everything that is good and wholesome caught up to me to invite me out of the darkness of my life of confusion into the crystal clear clarity of a life in His light.  God revealed to me that I was loved and I didn’t need to keep running away. Through that gospel message I was assured that I could be forgiven and welcomed into a new and eternal life.   

So even though this was a most unexpected turn, I saw the truth of the word that was given to me and I decided to follow where ever the Lord decided to take me.  

So this former rebel, would like to encourage you to stop running. God knows your story and everyday is an opportunity to commit yourself to joining His grand narrative where you can find forgiveness, peace, and love.   So start, or keep on, walking and talking with God. He has the power to give you a new life and the only thing we have to do to find it is to stop running and start walking in His direction.         

___________________________________________________________

Today’s Bible verses comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verses are:

Matthew 25:37-40 (NLT2)
37  “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?
38  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?
39  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40  “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Today’s Bible verses are the words of Jesus Christ and they indicate that He calls us to be kind and generous to others as service to Him. 

Christ’s great commandments are to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves and here we have Christ confirming the call on our lives to serve our fellow man.  His words don’t just indicate that serving others is a nice thing to do. Jesus indicates that when we are kind and generous to others we are serving Him!  

Rather than bowing down at some altar or doing other some solitary forms of worship and adoration to the Lord, Jesus indicates that when we help others God is receiving glory and honor through our efforts.   

Sometimes we don’t want to help others. We blame the victim.  They should take care of themselves, like we do, right?   Well Jesus indicates that serving others is something we should do regardless of our feelings because our “good works” represent Him and His love for mankind.  

Christ has said that if we love Him we will obey His commandments and here He commands that we serve and help others who can’t help themselves and the way He words this is that we should view our helping others as service to Him that is motivated by our love for Him.  

Our obedience to God’s commandments should not be seen as an obligation. Our obedience is rightly seen as a service to someone we love. This someone just happens to be the One who made the universe and loved us enough to die our sins. So love God by loving other people. He wants His loved poured out on all of His creations and through our obedience we get to be a part of His heartfelt desire.       

 

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

Today we continue sharing from June Hunt’s Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation.  

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s  books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $5.00.

J. How to Explain Why Weight Training Helps Weight Loss

Many people are physically unable to make weight training a part of their weight loss program. Others stress exercise too much, but most balance burning calories through exercise with consuming less calories through proper meal planning.

The apostle Paul compared physical training to spiritual training, and his words serve as an encouragement to us all to subdue our bodies through self-discipline, not just for physical reasons but also for spiritual benefit.…

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

(1 Corinthians 9:25–27)

Haven’t we all watched acrobats or other athletes with lean, powerful muscles perform what seem to many of us to be physically impossible feats? Haven’t each of us experienced a moment of envying their immense energy and muscle power, admiring their physical prowess and perfect precision as they perform a rigorous routine? And haven’t we all felt a tinge of guilt that we huff and puff just walking up the stairs at work or watering the yard at home?

If you want to turn your envy into positive action, then consider the ways weight training can …

     Improve basal metabolic rate or metabolism

     Produce strong, sinewy muscles

     Multiply muscle power

     Lessen body fat

You may not be interested in performing hair-raising feats, but you will appreciate having additional muscle power that makes it possible to do the maximum amount of work within the shortest amount of time.

You will also want to consider the ways strength training can …

     Improve strength of general body structure

     Increase the thickening of tendons

     Build up the density of bones

     Lower the possibility of injury

Additionally, weight training helps maintain good blood pressure, body posture, and general appearance.

The Bible gives these words of exhortation that can be readily and aptly applied to weight training.…

“Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.”

(Hebrews 12:12)

Excessive Exercise

Question: “Can I exercise too much?”

Answer: Yes. Aerobic exercise that exceeds more than one hour increases the risk of injury due to fatigue. Increasing the frequency of aerobic activity beyond five times per week does not give your body a chance to fully recover and can even reduce your body’s capability to defend itself against illness. Listen to what your body is trying to tell you and heed what Scripture tells you.…

“Physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

(1 Timothy 4:8)[1]

 ---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxjSNstREpuGWuL0bF3U7w/featured

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

                                  Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship


[1] June Hunt, Biblical Counseling Keys on Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation (Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 39–40.

Thursday, April 7, 2022

A Walk of Freedom and Giving Generously- Purity 699


A Walk of Freedom and Giving Generously-   Purity 699

Purity 699  04/07/2022 

Good morning,

Today’s photo of a twisting boardwalk trail that goes into the unseen distance of the wooded area on the shores of Lake Paran comes to us from yours truly as I was moved to capture a photo of a pathway while my wife and I hiked the Frost-Paran Trail in North Benington Vermont this past Saturday.   

It’s Thursday, and I am always on the look out for photos of pathways or for pathways in my daily life that I can capture because I use them as a reminder and as an encouragement to get on, or to stay on, the path of Christian Discipleship on Thursdays.   

Why Thursdays?  Well Thursday was the day that I first went to and then eventually taught at our recovery ministry, Celebrate Freedom, in 2015. So every Thursday I would encourage others to come to our recovery ministry and made it clear that Celebrate Freedom dealt with more than just substance abuse issues.

Pastor Bob Costello originally started a Celebrate Recovery ministry at Rock Solid Church but quickly discovered that what he wanted to do didn’t fit in the limits of the guidelines for a “Celebrate Recovery Ministry”. Pastor Bob wanted to teach other aspects of Christian Discipleship and to also be free of certain limitations that the “Celebrate Recovery” label came with.

So in the first few weeks of his new ministry he asked the participants to come up with a new name for the group.   Thinking of John 8:36, which says

John 8:36 (NKJV)
36  Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

 I suggested “Celebrate Freedom” and the name stuck.  We even came up with a design for T-shirts with the slogan “Walking in Victory” and we continued that ministry until Pastor Bob handed over the reigns of leadership to me in 2020.  



Unfortunately, Covid-19 led to reductions in participation in the recovery ministry and I decided that we needed to change our emphasis from recovery to discipleship . I had completed my Master’s degree in Christian Counseling, and became certified as a Community Freedom Ministry Associate for Freedom in Christ Ministries, so in 2021 I launched what was supposed to be “Celebrate Freedom Discipleship”  but due to a communication error and a desire to start something new, my new discipleship ministry became known as  “Community Freedom”  because it was intended to help the entire community to experience their freedom in Christ.    


Through Community Freedom I taught discipleship classes on Dr. Neil Anderson’s “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker” and “Freedom in Christ”, all of which are available on the mt4christ247 podcast.  In fact, the fears over Covid 19 and the desire for some to participate in the class remotely caused me to start the mt4Christ247 podcast. 



Some wonderful things happened in 2021, including meeting my wife as she boldly travelled over an hour to attend the classes in person after listening to the podcast. 


The rest is “Christian romance history” as we were married less than a year after our first “in class” meeting on January 1st.  I entrust my wife TammyLyn to write up “our story”, get the book published, and get the movie made so we can watch it on Pureflix someday. 

Anyway another amazing thing that happened in 2021, is that I got more involved with Freedom in Christ ministries by serving at the Fall Practicum to train graduating CFMA’s.  Through that service and my work as a podcasting CFMA, I was recommended to do a Zoom version of the Freedom for Christ Course for the Northeast Region this year!   Through this medium, I got to meet some men with a real heart for the Lord and was blessed to lead several of them through the Steps to Freedom in Christ.

And tonight, I begin a brand new session of the Freedom in Christ Course on Zoom.   If you are a man and are available from 6:30 to 8:30pm on Thursday for the next 11 weeks, I invite you to join the class by reaching out to me at mt4christ247@gmail.com and I will send you the link to tonight’s Zoom meeting, or you can catch up next week if you see this too late.   

Because honestly, it is never too late to experience your freedom in Christ and enjoy a life that is defined by the fruit of the Spirit.  When we seek the Lord and start walking and talking with God, we will grow in our faith. We will know that God is alive and well and fully active in the world. If we walk with Him, we will experience the abundant life that Christ wants us to have, and our lives will be full of meaning and purpose.  

So whether you can make my Zoom meeting or not,  I encourage you to keep on, or to start, walking and talking with God because if you make Christ your Lord and Savior and commit yourself to seeking the Lord on a continual basis by living according to His wisdom and ways, you will know the peace, love, joy, goodness, faithfulness, kindness, gentleness, patience, and self-control that come when you surrender to God’s will for your life and begin walking in the Spirit.  

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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is :

Deuteronomy 15:10 (NLT2)
10  Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.

Today’s Bible verse encourages us to give to the poor with the promise that the Lord will bless us in everything we do.  

In America, where just about all of us have been impacted by the 1930’s Great Depression through our ancestors who went before us, and by other times of financial inflation or recession, giving anything to anyone other than friends or family can be counter intuitive.  But the Lord calls us to be generous to the poor with the implied promise of blessings if we obey.  

Giving didn’t always come naturally to me and in my days before becoming a Christian, I believed that giving would give me “good karma”.  So I gave to charities at times, but it was with the expectation that I would receive some benefit for it.  

Unfortunately in Christian circles, the prosperity gospel has similarly encouraged people to give to ministries with the promise that those who “sowed a seed” or “paid a tithe” would eventually be repaid more than they ever gave.  Somehow the money “seed” would grow, and you would actually gain your cash back and then some.      

While today’s verse encourages us that we will be blessed in everything we do when we give generously, not grudgingly, to the poor, the verse doesn’t make the outlandish claims for financial payback and riches beyond our wildest dreams that prosperity gospel preachers make.  

First, those “prosperity preachers” are not poor. They are not struggling to make ends meet and some are not shy in demonstrating how they have been blessed financially.  So giving to them, may not bless you in everything you do.  

Likewise while we should support our local churches with our tithes and offerings, and service,  we should never expect to be paid back for our giving to them either.    

When we give to ministries, we invest in the work of the Lord, and we should not expect a personal financial benefit for our generosity but should be content with the knowledge that we are supporting someone who is sharing the gospel and attempting to do good works for the people in the local church and the local community.     

The blessings that we receive from giving generously are the knowledge that we are being obedient to the Lord and that we are trying to help others. 

Personally, I haven’t always given to the church or given to charities, and have struggled with money at times.  But when I have given I never regretted it. 

I think that we all must personally decided what we are able to give “not grudgingly” to poor and to the Lord’s work. The Lord doesn’t want us to go into debt by giving when we can’t support ourselves. 

Romans 13:8 (NKJV) says
8  Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

So, if you are in debt, you may be the “poor” one you need to give to!  So we should seek to get out of debt and live wisely financially so we can give to others “not grudgingly”.

But if we really want to be obedient to this injunction we should really endeavor to live within our means.  I am highly convicted lately to right my ship financially so I can give without going further into debt. 

I have tithed and given to the local church at times, and I have given to disaster relief efforts. I have collected for the Salvation Army during the Christmas season in the past and I have been sponsoring a child in Haiti through World Vision for several years (www.worldvision.org).   I never regretted giving and always felt I have been blessed by it, but I recognize that I need to change the way I spend so that my giving isn’t just a band-aid to cover the guilt of my life of excess.   

So be wise and discerning and go to the Lord about what to do with your money. Honor Him and submit to His will for your life.  Remember that the whole counsel of God has a lot to say about how we should live, and we should consider it all with how we live our lives. 

God wants us to give Him our hearts more than anything so makes sure you give that first, generously, and not grudgingly, to the Lord and He will be sure to bless you in everything you do, and He will guide you in how to live in His acceptable, good, and perfect will for your life. 

The Christian life is not about instant perfection, and we may need to take small steps before moving into the Lord’s perfect will for our lives. So give yourself a break but let’s be real and start moving toward a financial balance that allows us to bless others with our giving.

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

Today we continue sharing from June Hunt’s Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation.  

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s  books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $5.00.

I. How to Customize Self-Care to Help Conquer Bingeing

Along with taking advantage of therapy options, practicing self-care gives you a greater sense of control over your choices and a sense of personal responsibility for your ultimate success. Since control issues are often related to binge eating, exercising control in a positive, productive way is critical to and commensurate with overall good health. By developing a healthy eating plan and persevering with that plan, you can accomplish what is God’s best for your physical body.…

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

(Hebrews 10:35–36)

You can customize your own self-care treatment from these suggestions for conquering binge eating.

Self-Care Steps

•     Don’t diet … unless supervised by a professional dietitian, nutritionist, and/or medical doctor.

•     Don’t eat when bored … but engage in some other activity that will distract your thoughts away from food.

•     Don’t eat just to eat … but eat foods containing essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

•     Don’t sacrifice your sleep … but try taking quick power naps and getting a good night’s sleep so that your body will shed fat sooner.

•     Don’t withdraw from others … but reach out and share your specific struggles and strengths with trusted individuals.

•     Don’t store food … but buy only what you need for a specified period of time.

•     Don’t skip therapy … but work your plan and stay accountable to yourself and others.

•     Don’t toy with temptation … but pledge to never shop when you are hungry, upset, frustrated, lonely, or feeling down so that you will make good choices when you do shop.

•     Do exercise … in appropriate ways, for reasonable lengths of time, and with another person.

•     Do test your hunger … to determine if you are hungry for food or for love.

•     Do love yourself … not by eating whatever you want, but by engaging in activities that are fun, relaxing, and energizing.

•     Do be kind to yourself … by rejecting critical, accusatory, and demeaning self-talk and by clinging to your identity in Christ. You have been made a child of God and His Spirit is within you, conforming you to His character.

•     Do eat breakfast … so that you will not feel the need to consume a lot of calories during the day.

•     Do learn your eating triggers … and develop a plan of action to counter them.

•     Do keep a record … of the times you eat, what and how much you eat, and your emotional state when you eat in order to identity your eating patterns and triggers.

•     Do snack smart … by eating low-fat, low-calorie snacks like fruit or vegetables with a fat-free dip.

Should you engage in emotional eating, quickly accept God’s forgiveness, forgive yourself, and then start anew. Learn from the experience by identifying what triggered your emotional need to eat and devising a plan as to what you will do differently in the future. Rather than dwelling on your failure, focus on the successes you are having when you replace your unhealthy eating patterns with healthy ones. Thank God for the good work He is doing within you, and cooperate with Him by leaning on Him and drawing on His resources.…

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

(1 Corinthians 10:13)

As you customize your own self-care program, continuously cling to Jesus, your constant companion, counselor, and comfort … your refuge, strength, and ever-present help in times of trouble.…

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

(Psalm 46:1)[1]

 ---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and Audible.com. 

These teachings are also available on the MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxjSNstREpuGWuL0bF3U7w/featured

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

                                        Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship



[1] June Hunt, Biblical Counseling Keys on Overeating: Freedom from Food Fixation (Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 38–39.