Tuesday, January 08, 2013


1971  John Wayne Gacy or Manson?



Believe it or not- I have stories about both of these villains!


Okay- today we’ll do Manson.


The other day we brought a new guy into the halfway house.

When I first saw Bret he was bad- I never saw someone with withdrawals so bad.


We talked for about an hour- he told me some of his story and I told him I’ll post about it.


Bret is my age- 50- he has hitched all over the country and has been to the local AA meetings on and off.


The other day David saw him at one of the meetings and saw how bad he was doing.


He volunteered to go thru the halfway house.


As I talked with him I told him a story from the bible- I have found this one example to be helpful with a few other people who have tried the 12 step programs before.

There seems to be a real sense of hopelessness when the guys [or girls] mess up- especially after being clean for a while.


So- the story is in the gospel of John.


Jesus is with his men at the meal- and he begins to wash their feet- an act of true leadership- being a servant.


When he gets to Peter- Peter says ‘no Lord- I am not worthy for you to do this’.


Jesus says ‘if I wash you not- then you have no part with me’.


Then Peter says ‘okay- then give me a complete bath’.


Jesus says ‘he that is already washed- does not need another whole bath- but just a foot washing- and then he is clean just like before’.



I used this with a couple of people already- right after they fell off ‘the wagon’.


And I told them that Jesus was saying don’t lose all hope- don’t feel like all the ‘clean time’ served no purpose.




He that is washed [had a period of cleansing] does not need to start from scratch- in the sense that he needs another ‘whole bath experience’.

No- he or she simply needs to get a foot washing.


So- I found this helpful in a couple of cases.


Yes- the goal is total sobriety- whether from drugs or alcohol.



The apostle John said ‘these things write I unto you that you sin not- but- if any man sin- we have an advocate with the Father- Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the sacrifice for our sins- and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.’




Okay- let’s get to Manson.



As I talked with Bret- I told him that God has a purpose- even for those who seemed hopeless by the worlds standard.


I told him I started praying for people on death row- because even in those cases God can still do something for his glory.



He agreed and told me when he was in prison in California he was locked up with a couple of the guys from the Manson gang.


One of the guys- Davis- gave him a bible and became a real Christian while in prison.


Bret told me that Davis’ witness to him got him into the bible for the first time.



So yeah- even a Manson disciple has hope.


Jesus will even wash their feet.



NOTE- We visited Bret in the hospital yesterday- he was so bad the Detox clinic could not admit him.

When the ambulance picked him up- we found out later that he almost died that day.


He will be in the hospital for a few days- going thru Detox- then he will move to the halfway house.


You know me with the pictures- I’m sure I’ll be posting pics of Bret soon [on Facebook].







Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.







Saturday, January 05, 2013


1670  UNTO YOU IS BORN…IN THE CITY OF DAVID…


Had a few things I wanted to share.


These past few months- helping with the halfway house has been ‘cool’.


Just a few notes;

I was telling my partner- John David [partner in starting the house!]

That the Lord has been confirming lots of stuff- when I’m helping with the guys the Lord opens doors that I have been trying to ‘open’ for years.


On Facebook- over the years- I have had a few old friends that I wanted to find.


One of my original buddies I came to Texas with was Miguel Rodriguez.


We were best buddies as kids growing up on the streets of Jersey.

So- I ‘led’ him to the Lord and he became part of the little church I started in Kingsville.


Eventually he went back to Jersey- married a great girl- and came back to Texas.


He had some boys [I had 4 girls] and we were all friends- doing ministry- stuff like that.


He went back to Jersey again and settled back home.


One day I got a call from his wife- my friend had died.

It was sad- but I knew it was coming.


So- over the years- as sort of a ‘pact’ I promised my friend that I would try and keep in touch with his wife and kids.



As you can imagine- they were some of the first people I looked for when I got on line.


Could never find them.



So- as I have been helping at the house- who my buddy David started- I kept telling him that the Lord has been blessing me ‘in the House of David’ [a spin-off from the last couple of months posts- you’ll have to read them to get the full idea].


So- I tell David I was listening to some radio preacher and he quotes the famous Christmas verse ‘for unto YOU is born this day in the CITY OF DAVID a Savior’.


I told him I felt the Lord was saying ‘see- I’m blessing you- fulfilling promises to you in David’s house/city’.


Okay- I got it.



Then I tell him I was sitting at my house- thinking the guys would text me- someone always needs something- but no texts- huh?


So- it was a Sunday- I was doing my normal fasting thing- trying to not eat till at least 3- praying and reading and stuff.


To be honest- I felt like it was a waste of time.


Then finally- my phone does the buzz sound- you know- when someone text’s you.


Finally- a bite!


I look at the phone- it says ‘LuAnn Rodriguez sent you a friends request’.


I was shocked.


I’m now friends with her and her boy Joshua- yeah- I kept the pact.




So- I tell my buddy John David about the verse and how the Lord worked it out.



He tells me ‘hey- just yesterday some neighbor gave me a card with that verse on it’.



Sure- it’s common on Christmas cards.


He gets the card- he really does not know the people- even their last name.


I open the card- it was the verse I associated with the above family- and the card reads ‘Merry Christmas- from the Rodriguez family’.




Okay- one more.



I was at the halfway house the other day- and somehow we started talking about past experiences of drugs- and bad experiences.



One of the things David shared reminded me of a bad overdose on acid as a kid- the story was almost identical to David’s.


I shared what happened- and then mentioned another incident about a friend of mine at the time.


Now- I haven’t told this ‘war story’ in years- but I got into a very bad fight with my friend- and almost killed the guy.



I saw him a few years later and he has permanent scars from that night.



So- for some reason I was sitting at the halfway house and it came up.




About 10 years ago I got an email from a mutual friend of ours- he knew us both- and remembered him going to the hospital after that night- and he wanted me to know that now he was in prison for a very serious crime.



I read the crime on line- and it reminded me of the old days- I even read the quotes from his cousin- who I also knew- and it was like I was there.




So- he joined some biker gang- they planned a bad crime- and there was an FBI undercover agent in the gang.


He got busted with his cousin on the night of the attempted crime- right where we grew up- on 70 something street in North Bergen.



So- I wrote him a couple of times in prison- we made up after the fight years ago- and he was real glad to have been in touch with me.


I sent him some old radio tapes of me preaching and he got a kick out of hearing my voice- we never actually spoke in 25 years- just a couple of letters.



So- I haven’t heard from him in years.



The next day- sitting at the halfway house with the guys- my phone rings.




Now- those who know me know I never answer my phone.


For some reason I get it- its ‘C----h’.


I couldn’t believe it.



He just got out of prison- and of all things- he’s in a halfway house in Newark- N.J.



I was telling David that I wanted to try and branch out into N.J.- but I don’t know anyone with the experience of being in a house in Jersey- someone I can visit and check out the scene and all.

Well- not until now.





So- these are just a few of the things that have been goin on.



Yeah- for unto you is born- ‘THIS DAY- IN THE CITY OF DAVID..’


Yeah- I like the ‘City of David’.

How bout you?








Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.







Tuesday, January 01, 2013


1969  CLIFF DIVING


Jack n Jill went down the ….


Actually- Obama and Boehner went over the cliff ….


Yeah- last night the Dems in the senate passed a compromise of sorts.

But- we did actually do the ‘cliff’ thing- the house has not passed it yet- but it’s not as bad as the media made it sound.



I fell asleep early and didn’t catch the whole scoop- but from what I saw it looks like they are gonna raise taxes on those who make over 400 grand a year and try and settle the rest later.


It really was just kicking the ball down the road- and letting the president get some of what he wanted- though those on the hard left- and right- are not happy.



Okay- the past few weeks as I have been doing the halfway house with my friend John David- I have been kind of teaching a chapter of the bible each week to the guys.


It is funny how every chapter I read for the week seems to have some type of personal ‘word’ for what we are doing  with the house.


For instance- a couple of weeks ago the chapter was Jeremiah 33.


I told the guys the other day that I felt it was no coincidence that a lot of the guys we are working with at the halfway house are all relatives of David.



John David was a long time addict in the area where I live- he has 5 or 6 generations all living right around me.


I helped his brother's [Andy] granddaughter the other day- her name is Kayla.


Plus- she has a cute 2 year old- so I see her every now and then.


At the house- we have Little Charlie- Big Charlie- John Boy and Andy.


All related to John David- minus John Boy.



So- I felt like it was a family thing as well as an open ‘house’ for others.


So- Jeremiah 33 speaks about the promises of God to ‘David and his house/family’.

It says there will never fail to be a family member who will be a part of ‘this house’.


Now- the promises are actually speaking about the Davidic covenant/promise that God made to the great Jewish king- King David.



These promises play a very important role in the history of salvation.


I wrote on this a couple of posts back- basically God promised king David that he would set a Son upon David’s throne- and this Son would hold the position ‘forever’.


The Apostles in the book of Acts saw this promise as being fulfilled thru the death and ascension of Christ to the right hand of God.



So- that’s what the chapter in Jeremiah is actually speaking about.



But I also felt like the Lord was giving us confirmation about what we were doing as well.


See?


It is important- very important- to make this distinction.


When people begin ‘seeing’ themselves as the actual fulfillment of some bible promise- like the prophet Jeremiah was actually- in context- speaking about them- then that’s not good.



David Koresh- right up the road from me in Waco- made this tragic mistake- and we have all seen the end result.


Koresh believed he was the fulfillment of verses found in Revelation- he took his new name- Koresh- from an actual figure in the Old Testament [king Cyrus].



When people go down that road- it’s not good.



But- to apply stuff like the way I was doing Jeremiah 33- I think is okay.




Now- when I shared this chapter with John David- I told him a funny thing happened when I read it.




All the promises to David and his family being involved with ‘the house’.

 Well- in my bible- it does not say David.

It says ‘John David’.


Huh?


John- are you going Koresh on us?



No.



I told David about a year ago I heard a preacher say ‘this year- start personalizing the promises in the bible- write your name in the spot when a promise is made to someone else’.


So- I did that for about a week and quit.


But- it just so happened that this chapter was converted to say ‘John David’.


Yeah- I simply wrote my name over ‘David’ and all the promises were to ‘John David’.



Okay- was going to teach a little more about these promises and how they are spoken about in Acts chapter 15- the first church council.



Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow.


For now- just hold tight- we have to finish repelling down the cliff.








Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [Facebook] - I have posted lots.