A Common Miracle - Are You a Jesus Freak? Part 1

Below is an excerpt of Chapter 4 from "A Common Miracle" by Pastor Bob Grenier.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
MARK 1:1

I REFER TO THE SCRIPTURE ABOVE, the one in Mark 1:1, because it was through that Scripture that my new life began.
I took Mr. H.’s advice and went to Negril, got some weed and went out to the beach one night to do just what the Bible said: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Well, what I was doing that night was not the best and most accurate interpre- tation/application of the Bible; but it was, in my own heart, what I thought I was to do. This is what I thought God want- ed me to do. The only way I could be still was to get myself calmed down with some good Jamaican Ganja.
As I sat on the beach that night, the moon was out, the sky was clear, and the ocean was lapping its waves up on the shore, one after the other. In my heart, I was contemplating all of this beautiful creation in front of me. I started think- ing and asking myself about how it all came to pass. “How did all this beauty come about?” I wondered.

At that moment, God spoke to my heart and told me that He was the one who created it. Not only did He speak to my heart about what He had done, but I had two other distinct impressions from Him: one, that He loved me; and two, that I could know Him. Actually there was a third, also, and that was that He wanted me to know Him. I remember being so impacted by this moment that the next morning I told one of my friends that he should come out with me that night, and we’d go and talk to God on the beach. You see, God’s Word is true; and He honored His Word in my life that night, even though I was far from truly understanding it. Like the hymn says, “I once was blind, but now I see.” Well, my eyes and heart were being opened. 

Coming Soon, Chapter 4 Part 2
 

A Common Miracle - Be Still and Know That I Am God Part 5

Below is an excerpt of Chapter 3 from "A Common Miracle" by Pastor Bob Grenier.

One day, I rented a car from a Mr. Oliver H., who had a car rental agency in Montego Bay. I allowed one of my Jamaican friends to use it, and he banged it up a bit. I turned the car in without any acknowledgement that it had been damaged. Well, Mr. H. had me summoned to his office; and there I sat in front of this man who was about to be used by God to change the course of my life for eternity. I don’t even remember him talking to me about the car and the damage done to it. I only remember him talking to me about the damage I was doing to myself. “If you keep this up, you will kill yourself,” he said to me. “Using this Ganja will destroy your life. Living the way you are will ruin your life,” he said. And then he pulled out the little pocket Bible that I mentioned earlier. He opened it to Psalm 46:10, read it to me and then gave the little Bible to me.

As I sat there in front of Mr. H., I started crying and sobbing. From deep inside me came this feeling of being naked emotionally and not knowing what was happening to me, except that Mr. H.’s words were piercing my soul ... hitting me life a knife ... stunning me inside. Nothing like this had ever happened to me in my life. I don’t think I had cried since I was a child. The only other time was sitting by my dad’s coffin. But now, here in this car rental office, my life was about to change. Mr. H. went on, and every word cut like an arrow into my life. There was no response from me to him, that I can remember. I wonder what he thought as he was speaking to me and after I left his office ... “no hope for this one.”
Can I tell you something I’ve found out over these years of knowing Christ? It’s about the Bible. The Bible is God’s Word to man, and He uses it to change lives, just as He did with me. I didn’t know then, when that little pocket Bible was given to me, that it would become my most treasured possession. I’ve long since lost that very Bible; but the Bible is my everyday companion, for in it I have found a relationship with my Father in heaven through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God. If you are in a turmoil and tailspin at this time in your life, like I was, may I direct you to that very same Scripture, Psalm 46:10 — “Be still, and know that I am God.” May God bless it to your soul, as He did to mine. 

Coming Soon, Chapter 4 Part 1

A Common Miracle - Be Still and Know That I Am God Part 4

Below is an excerpt of Chapter 3 from "A Common Miracle" by Pastor Bob Grenier.

 Imagine a bunch of long-haired hippies, sitting around cross legged on the floor, listening to the Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, etc., and there is this young man on his lunch hour, wearing his three-piece suit, toking on the joint as it’s being passed around. That was me. All the while, I was thinking, “This is so cool, that I have this job; and I also have this other secret life.” The grip of sin and the devil were at work and pulling me right out of my job into what I thought was a whole new and exciting life. I started letting my hair and beard grow, met new friends and smoked more and more dope. Now it was not only on the weekends, but it was nearly every night and would soon be every day ... in fact, all day long.

Not too long after I quit my job and due to the cost of weed, I would buy a little more than I needed and sell that extra bit to help offset the cost of what I used myself. It seemed harmless ... and cool. And it worked.
Pretty soon, I met more and more people who were into this life of drugs, music and rock and roll. “Wow!” I thought, “Now this was really the very best thing that had ever happened to me.” Oh, I forgot to tell you that back in NY I had tried LSD once or twice. I remember my friends, Tony and Ted and Ben, offering it to me. “This won’t turn me into one of those hippies, will it?” I asked. “No way,” they said; “It’s cool; you will enjoy it.” And I did. We used to “drop the acid,” as it’s called, when we would drive into NYC to go to clubs. Just the acid and the joint. Nice combination ... or so I thought.
Hair grown out now to shoulder length ... big old scraggly beard ... selling ounces and pounds of weed in plain sight of the state capitol building I used to work in, I started using cocaine and then selling grams of coke — using hashish, opium and any and all other hallucinogenic drugs I could get my hands on. Not uncommon for many in that generation. A flight to Jamaica was cheap, and the pot was everywhere. So, back and forth, Tallahassee to Montego Bay, I went. Many, many times. 

Coming Tomorrow, Chapter 3 Part 5

A Common Miracle - Be Still and Know That I Am God Part 3

Below is an excerpt of Chapter 3 from "A Common Miracle" by Pastor Bob Grenier.

Wearing a three-piece suit, flying around the state, meeting all the bigwigs (and I mean “Bigwigs”), staying at fancy hotels, being picked up at airports by the Florida State Troopers, being given personal escorts, and so on, did not erase what I was doing. Here I was, rubbing shoulders with the top Republican political people in Florida (By the way, many of them who were young at that time are now well known and seen on TV all the time.), carrying a little bit of weed in my suitcase and smoking it in my hotel room. I used to get a big kick out of seeing the state trooper pick up my bags from the plane, put them in his trunk and then drive me and my bags to where I needed to go. All the while, he never knew what was in my bag. “What a blast!” I thought. Was I ever in the dark about what is truly cool and important in life.
Do you remember the tragedy at Kent State back in May of 1970? The ideological revolution that took place among the youth of our nation in the late sixties? Stemmed flowers being placed in the rifle muzzles of national guardsmen on college campuses? Yep, I wound up doing that very thing on the campus of Florida State University. I had “turned on, tuned in, and dropped out” as we used to say. Literally, I quit my job and joined in with what was happening around our nation.

That grip of sin was. and had been, tightening its grip on me without my knowing it. You see, as the campaign for that Senate seat wore on and I did my job, I had to find connections for buying weed. Little did I know that it was weed that, for me, was becoming the real connection into the counter culture. 

Coming Tomorrow, Chapter 3 Part 4