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Showing posts from September, 2020

Search permit!

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By Kareena Holloway, Fellowship Bible Church, Rogers, Celebrate Recovery Women's Encourager Coach, 9/30/20 Most of us have been searched before ...be it going to a sports game, getting on a plane, or sometimes maybe due to some not so good choices we have made. Now, I have not always been the one who excitedly looks forward to being searched. I have often been the one feeling as if I'm guilty. In fact, in those times of being searched, I know that a lot of us have NOT been content with it. We are inconvenienced, filled with feelings of bitterness, anger, guilt, and/or shame.    Back before I started recovery, I was this way about everything. I was not humble, or content about anyone knowing more about me than I wanted them to see or know! The day came that my world as I knew it came crashing down around me, and I saw with crystal clarity what I had been actively hiding from God. I knew he saw everything, but before recovery I had some crazy cycles of insanity which clouded

Wearing Masks

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What comes to your mind when I talk about wearing a mask? Did you think I was talking about Covid-19 facemasks? Did you think I was talking about a costume party or trick-or-treating? Nope, I’m talking about the façade, disguise, or invisible mask that I used to wear to hide the hurt, pain and addiction inside me. By Eric Hutchinson, Fellowship Bible Church, Rogers, Celebrate Recovery ministry TEAM Training coach, 9/23/20 I have grown up in the church, attended hundreds of Christian related meetings, led o thers in Bible studies, led people in singing praises to God, and in general just pretended to be doing great when things inside me were not so great. I didn’t realize how hiding my hurt and addiction created more problems than it solved. In fact, it didn’t solve any of my problems. The hurt of my divorce, my hidden addiction to pornography, and my other character defects acted like a volcano that could erupt at any time. Then I came to Celebrate Recovery where I learned to do just t

Gracious Scars

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 By Sarah Bryant, Devotional Team writer at Fellowship Bible Church, Rogers, Celebrate Recovery, 9/16/20 Remember way back in March when the pandemic started to disrupt our lives, and everyone was afraid of being  quarantined for fourteen days? Back then,  fourteen days seemed like an eternity, and I was concerned about what I would do if I were to be stuck in the house for that long. So I bought a book in case I needed to pass the time.     I have a hard time allowing myself to read fiction books, because I feel like I need to be “more productive” with my time. I guess it’s my perfectionism coming out, but I almost always seek out non-fiction, history books so I can still be learning something in my “off” time. So I bought a book on D-Day. It’s a great book, but as the pandemic progressed, along with everything else going on in the country, I decided a few days ago that I needed to read something a little more upbeat and fun. As I aimlessly wandered through the unfamiliar, non-fiction

Let's Pray..

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 By Kareena Holloway, Fellowship NWA Rogers Celebrate Recovery Women's Encourager Coach, 9/9/2020 "Let's pray real quick."  I've said that before,  many times.  One day,  though,  I got to thinking about that,  and wondered "Why am I making prayer something seemingly shoehorned into my life?" I like it when God gives me those little wake-up calls.  He wants me to remember the  importance ,  the  significance ,  and the  preciousness  of prayer.   Prayer is  important  because it is a communication line between us and God that can even be understood if all you have is groanings.  Romans 8:26  (ESV) s ays  :   "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."   Prayer is  significant  because it is how we request help from our Heavenly Father in time of need. Philippians 4:6      (ESV): ​ tells us  " Do not be anxious ab

Feeling Discouraged?

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  By Eric Hutchinson, Fellowship Bible Church, Rogers, Celebrate Recovery ministry TEAM Training coach, 9/2/20 Have you ever read or heard the story of Elijah vs the Prophets of Baal? It’s a great story, and if you haven’t read it check out 1 Kings 18-19.  To give just a brief summary, Elijah was a powerful prophet of God during a time in Israel’s history when they had turned their back on the one true God and had begun to worship a false God named Baal. Jezebel, the King of Israel’s wife, had killed all of the other prophets of the God, so Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a showdown in hopes of turning Israel back to God!  In the presence of all the people of Israel, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to have their god send fire down to burn up their an altar which had a freshly killed bull on it. After the false prophets had danced, prayed, cut themselves, etc. all day there was still no fire, so at the end of the day, Elijah stopped them and essentially said, “Now i