One of the members of our church shared a story with us.

He wanted to go to church one Sunday so he walked up to this door.  It says you have to have “Appropriate Dresswear” and more specifically “No Swimwear”

Being that he only had board shorts, he walked away from this church frustrated.

On his way back to the place where was staying, he noticed a group of people under a tree in the park and realized they were talking about Jesus.  .

He sat down in one of the chairs and became a regular member of our church.  In our church you can wear whatever you want to.  We’ve even had times where people have decided to remove their clothes and yell obscenities at us– but that’s another story.

The man who visited our church was a closet alcoholic for decades.  He was functioning….but everyday he had to go get his firewater to function.

I believe it’s the job of the Holy Spirit to convict people of their wrong-doing and when he does, he will also give the power to the person to overcome the sin.

One day this man walked over to the store to buy his alcohol and truth punched him right in the stomach.  He realized he didn’t need booze and that it wasn’t any good for him.

And that day he stopped cold turkey.

It was definitely a process to stay sober but he did it well.

Now it’s been over a year and no more firewater.

God is good.

He loves us so much that he doesn’t just leave us, struggling in our sin.  He finds us, reveals truth, and loves us to life.