If you have heard Episode one of Tales of the Revolution then you have heard my brother James. Growing up we always called him "JR." I think that had to do with him being junior to my dad who is also named James. Perhaps our family saw the "Jr." at the end of his name and said the letters J - R.
No matter. I grew up calling him JR and I still do. In my phone he is listed as simply JR.
Today is his birthday. He is a couple years older than me. But what I thought about yesterday and find fascinating is that he is both my older and younger brother. In fact, he's my Double Brother.
Am I crazy? Perhaps...but that's irrelevant to this post.
JR and I are both brothers in the flesh and brothers in Christ. We are Double Brothers. I had the privilege of being instrumental in his journey toward Jesus. While he was incarcerated I sent him a Bible and some other Christian titles; much to his chagrin at the time. For a more complete version of the story check out Episode 1 - Turnaround. To make a long story short he became a Christian and was born again a couple of years after me. So in a sense he is my older and younger brother.
I have really enjoyed seeing how the Lord has changed and used his life. Somebody looking from the outside in may fail to see the correlation between his prior life and his current.
From the inside we see what is present in all our lives with Christ...Psalm 40:2
"He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."
Happy birthday to my Double Brother, my older and younger brother James JR Vreeke!
Until Next time,
Live the Revolution
-Jason Vreeke