Pain Removes the Veil

Thought I'd write a bit about what I heard in the Cornerstone sermon last night. At the very hub of the message, I was reminded of a lot about myself.

How I never grew up from the "Look at me!" mentality that is perfectly reasonable for a kid, but not for an adult.

How, for all of my life, I lived on the idea that this was my world. you just live in it.

And most importantly, in my addiction, how I never dropped the self-will that kept me in the same painful cycle. The sermon's title is My Glory to His Glory. That means something. I'm not god anymore. I turn all of the insanity and pride over to my Higher Power. I recognize that it's not about what people can do for me... It's about what I can do for people in his name.

Ego builds a cardboard fortress that humility must everyday tear down.

Very telling about how fragile even the largest egos are. That was a quote that Rusty found. Another was from CS Lewis... "Pain removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of a rebel soul."

For those who didn't catch the YouTube link last night, here's a link to the audio sermon...

Cornerstone Church Podcast: My Glory to His Glory

Hope the day is going great for you! May post something fun a bit later....

All Things New, Pt. 3: Working to Grace (Cornerstone Sermon Podcast 03-11-12)

Just listened to the new podcast from Cornerstone Church in Auburn, Al. They are on YouTube as well, which is exciting. Now I can watch the sermons. The audio is a bit off in this vid, so I'm going to post a link to the podcast too.

One of the things Rusty talks about in his message is that work and good deeds, while wonderful, are still incomplete without God's grace. Another thing that really touched me was being reminded of all the grace and forgiveness that I've been shown... not only from God, but from the people who love me. Even when I didn't deserve it. It's truly humbling.

And below is a link to the podcast....

All Things New, Pt. 3: Working to Grace (Cornerstone Sermon Podcast 03-11-12)

I've been cleaning and doing laundry today, and now it's time to cook. The weather is a bit harsh out, so I think it'll be a night in. I like a good thunderstorm, though. ;)

Have a great evening!

All Things New, Pt. 1 (Cornerstone Sermon Podcast 02-26-12)

Don't have a lot of time to write about it, but I love this new series so far. All things new... Life changes, hard work, surrender, and faith. Thanks for the message, Rusty!

Gotta be at work soon, but I'll write again tonight. Until then, enjoy the sermon. Here's the link...

All Things New, Pt. 1

Old Habits Die Hard Pt. 6- Pride (Cornerstone Sermon Podcast 02-19-12)

Just got back from my 12 Step study and the amazing day that I was blessed with before that.

The Cornerstone sermon from Feb.19th was finally posted a couple of days ago, and I've been very anxious to share it. The last in the Old Habits Die Hard series is Pride. Arguably my biggest weakness and even more arguably the root of all evil... After listening to Josh Agerton talk about the role pride took in the story of the downfall of Adam and Eve, I've become more convinced that not only is the devil real, he exists in all of us as doubt, ego, mistrust, etc. Really. I could name a dozen traits like that, and they all reside in me.

Josh talks about a blogpost he found that is helpful in self-evaluation of just how proud one actually is. I was surprised that not all applied to me, but most did. Reading the comments, alot of people were uncomfortably surprised at how close the list hit home. Bear in mind that there is such thing as healthy pride and unhealthy pride. This is the unhealthy variety. The link is below...

The Fifty Fruits of Pride

And here is the link to the sermon. I recommend this one highly. It's the message that I have literally been waiting for in this series because I know how well it describes me. Pride was my main roadblock in recovery.

Old Habits Die Hard Pt. 6- Pride

Hey! Two awesome links in one night! I'm incredibly grateful for everything I"ve learned today... and from the Cornerstone podcasts. Now that the Old Habits series is over, I can't wait to see what they do next. It's an exciting church to be a part of. Even in anonymity... 5 and a half hours away.

Goodnight and peace be with you.

Old Habits Die Hard Pt. 2- Anger (Cornerstone Sermon Podcast 01-15-12)

I was just going over old podcasts on the Cornerstone Church website and came across parts 2 and 3 of Old Habits Die Hard... The series on the seven deadly sins. As this shouldn't be substituted for therapy, it is very helpful in recognizing and dealing with certain emotions and behaviors. Part 2 was about anger. More specifically, unhealthy anger.

I particularly liked how it was put in its place as a secondary emotion. Used as a tool or defense mechanism to deal with other less comfortable events and feelings. This is another good sermon topic that can be related to addiction. We use anger and alcohol to escape hurt, disappointment, fear, rejection... the list could go on and on. We deal with these things by lashing out. We also lash out at the people we love, and destroy wonderful relationships in the process.

Listen for the 4 ways of expressing anger too. I could see my pre-recovery self in all of them. Don't get me wrong, I still get mad sometimes.

The best of us do, however. The challenging thing is learning to deal with it positively. Click here to listen- Old Habits Die Hard Pt. 2- Anger .

How am I doing today? Still down, unfortunately. Not getting mad about it, blaming others or drinking over it, though.... so I guess in a way I can say that I'm doing well. :)

It'll be a late night at work, but I'll post again for the night owls when I get back.

Old Habits Die Hard (Podcast of sermon from Cornerstone Church)

The reason I was so excited about this sermon is how relevant I thought it was to the subject of addiction. I was also very interested to hear about how Thomas Aquinas broke gluttony down into 6 categories. That made the subject even clearer. You may be a bit surprised, as well, at how many calories we consume in a day as compared to other areas of the world.

This sermon was delivered by Rusty Hutson at Cornerstone Church. They're doing great things over there, and if you are in the Auburn area, I highly recommend it.... So here it is. The link to the podcast of the Jan. 8th sermon.

Old Habits Die Hard Pt. 1- Gluttony

I'll be writing a regular post later tonight...