Thursday, October 31, 2013

BOOKSTORE



BOOKSTORE



A must read book for Christian pastors, counselors, or any Christians still struggling with addictions. https://www.createspace.com/4180069?ref=1147694&utm_id=6026


SAVED and SOBER
One Step Addiction Recovery,...John 3:3
Authored by
 Don Johnson
Edition: first

Saved and Sober is a must read book for anyone, or a loved one, or a friend of someone who struggles with the curse of addictions. Saved and Sober is a book that illustrates God's Truth as it applies to addiction recovery. It exposes the lies and faults of man's many failed attempts at conquering this world-wide plague that claims millions of lives, and destroys millions of families each year in this country. A must read for anyone caught in this epidemic, or anyone interested in helping others who are. Everyone is affected by addictions either directly or indirectly. From the subtle trickle-down consequences of addictions such as higher taxes, higher health care costs and insurance rates, the moral decline of an entire society, to the more obvious results such as homelessness, crime, DUI highway fatalities, broken families, etc., everyone is impacted in some way. The war on drugs and the efforts of secular recovery programs have been a complete failure. The problem has grown exponentially into an out of control epidemic, even in the Church. It would appear to be, and actually is, a hopeless situation for those who don't know the one true and living God, The Creator. This book, through His Truth, will reveal His purpose for us regarding our battles with addictions. If you believe God's Word is the Truth, and you're ready to start living your life according to it, this book will show you how to apply His Word and be SAVED and SOBER! 
https://www.createspace.com/4180069?ref=1147694&utm_id=6026

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

INSECURITY

INSECURITY

Job 11:18
And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety. 
Psalm 112:8 
Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
                         
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ost of us who have spent years of our lives imprisoned in the bondage of addictions, and the dysfunctional consequences that accompany such behavior, do so because we struggle with insecurity. In most cases it’s what led us into our addictions to begin with, and it’s what keeps us in our addictions! We are so insecure that we feel hopeless, and in most 12-step addiction recovery programs we’re told that we are powerless, hopeless, i.e.; “once a drunk or addict, always a drunk or addict,” and have an incurable disease, which only reinforces our insecurity. It’s our insecurity that keeps us paralyzed into believing that we can trust no one, not man or God! We’re told we should remain anonymous, which prevents us from facing or admitting our true identity. That we should hide behind a mask of false identity, rather than face the ugly reality of who we really are. Living in anonymity is like living in a closet and prevents us from facing the truth of who we really are and until we know who we are, we can never be set free. It’s like looking in a mirror and asking “who are you”? The only way to recovery is to know exactly who we are. We must remove the many masks of anonymity that we've acquired throughout our addictions, face the hard truth of who we really are, and step out of denial before we can begin recovery.
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hen we can begin to work on our insecurity which can be a long painful process of discovering who we really are. Most of us have used our drugs and alcohol to bury and hide the painful past of our lives, and to unveil those memories without our usual “painkillers” can be excruciating. This is where many fall victim to relapse because they just can’t handle the truth! It is too painful. This is where the strong survive, and the weak fail. This is where we need God the most, and for those who refuse to seek His help at this juncture in recovery, the future is bleak. None of us can win this battle on our own. This is where many alcoholics and addicts fail, and relapse over and over again because they refuse to surrender their lives and wills to Almighty God. Perhaps because most addiction recovery programs fail to clearly exemplify exactly who the one true living Almighty God is! We cannot pray and ask help from a false idol or some undefined “higher power,” or “god as we understand him,” and expect The True Almighty God, our Creator, to hear our prayer or answer it! Our recovery and our security can only be found in a close personal relationship with God the Father, and His Son Jesus!        
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any of us started our addictive behavior at an early age, as children, and as the result of growing up in a dysfunctional home, where drug and alcohol use and abuse was prevalent, resulting in the absence of love, affection, attention, encouragement, and guidance in our lives from our parents. Some of us were fortunate enough to have an older sibling or other family member, a neighbor or school teacher to take us under their wing, and provide us with those necessary fundamental life skills that are essential in our childhood development. For the rest of us however, without them, we fell victim to a vicious cycle of following in our parents footsteps.     
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arents who attempt to raise children while under the influence of drugs and alcohol are usually too involved in their own dysfunctions too adequately attend to their children’s needs. They are incapable of providing a child’s most basic needs. In simple reality, this leads to a form of abandonment and neglect, which is a form of child abuse! This is the beginning of our insecurity. Love, affection, attention, encouragement, and guidance are critical in building self-esteem in children, which is needed to overcome insecurity and build confidence. Without those characteristics instilled in a child’s life, they are likely to be influenced by others of similar backgrounds and characteristics, and will end up getting involved in drugs, alcohol, crime, and other dangerous behaviors, to fill the void created by their insecurity, to give them a sense of false security and self-esteem or self-worth and purpose.
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s God fearing, born again children of god, all of the above information should be of insignificant value. While it explains some of the basic behavioral characteristics of children and alcoholics and addicts who don’t know Christ, as Christians we are commanded to turn from, and repent of our “drunkenness.” Acts 26:20, “But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.” We should be raising our children according to His Word, Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” and our security should rest solely on His purpose and will for our lives. Proverbs 14:26, “Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge.” 
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hy are so many Christians struggling with addictions in the Church today, when His Word tells us that He will set us free? There are many reasons to choose from, but the primary central one that feeds all the others can be traced to satan and his deception. To the fact that we’re in spiritual warfare, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) If we don’t focus on God’s Word, and become like the Bereans in Acts 17:11, and examine and study His Word daily to compare it with what we’re being told by others, and in many of our churches today, we will continue to be lost as we head down the “wide road to destruction.” Matthew 7:13-15, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:14, Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15, Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." As long as we choose to trust our addiction recovery with any mortal man or program created by one, our future, welfare, security, as well as our sobriety is at risk!
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s Christians, none of this should be news to you if you’re reading and studying God’s Word. As God-fearing, born again and saved Christians, and parents, we should recognize according to His Word, that drunkenness is forbidden and we must repent and turn from it. As Christians in addiction recovery we should understand that there is a difference between getting “drunk,” or “high,” and “drunkenness.” Getting drunk is a singular act, or a single sin, where “drunkenness” is a plural action or a form of behavior, or sinful behavior. This is where things get out of control. We’ve turned our backs on God and are living a worldly lifestyle, under satan’s control. 2 Peter 3:17, Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. God is perfectly clear that we cannot serve two masters! Matthew 6:24, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.   
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e lose all sense of security when living in sin. As Christians, our security is in our Salvation, which is in Christ, and Christ Crucified, not in the world or anything it has to offer. Hebrews 6:19, We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. To gain a strong sense of security we must learn who we are in Christ. What His purpose in life is for us. Many Christians miss out on God’s blessings because they become “pew potatoes,” they fail to pick up their cross and follow and serve God. He has a special plan for each and every one of us, and until we discover and act upon it out of Faith, we will never know who we are in Him. Once we begin to discover who we are in him, we’ll start to feel secure in our Faith and believe His words in Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Our confidence will grow, our blessings will multiply, our trials will diminish, and those trials that do appear will be easier to bear. Our addictions, and the pain and suffering that they inflicted, should become a distant memory. We should be able to look in the mirror and smile as we see a reflection of Jesus, and tell Him, “thank you Lord, for saving me and allowing me to be “SAVED and SOBER”!   

Sunday, October 20, 2013

THE NARROW ROAD


Are you on the lonely narrow road to Heaven,
 or the crowded wide road to destruction?

Proverbs 3:5-6
 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6, In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Romans 12:2
  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.


Christians in addiction recovery must repent and change the road they’re on to experience victory over their addictions! We must get off the wide road to destruction, and pick up our cross and follow Christ on the narrow road to Eternal Life and freedom from addictions! 

The narrow road is only lonely because there are only a few others on it! There are no crowds as one might expect. The crowds are all on the wide road “that leadeth to destruction,” and headed over a cliff into eternal damnation! If we’re genuine, God fearing, Spirit-filled and guided, obedient, and born-again Christians, according to Jesus own words in Matthew 7:13-15, we’re supposed to be on a very lonely, deserted, and narrow road. (Matthew 7:13-15 KJV, 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.)  If we’re being obedient to God’s Word along our journey, it can get very dark, discouraging, and lonely along this road we call life as we navigate around satan’s many roadblocks and obstacles that he sets in our path to distract and discourage us from continuing. We must learn early along our journey not to forget who set us on this narrow road and why. We must remember God’s words to us in  Deuteronomy 8:11, Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: and take heed not to follow those wolves in sheep’s clothing, that are around every corner of our journey, that would lead us astray, into a ditch, or off the narrow road, and onto the wide one. Exodus 34:12, Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: We really shouldn’t expect to see a lot of traffic on this road as Jesus explains to us above in Matthew 7:14, “and few there be that find it.”  If you’re feeling uncomfortable Sunday in your overcrowded mega-church, as you sit in a traffic-jam in the parking lot filled with Mercedes Benz type luxury cars trying to get home to watch the football game on TV, it might be The Holy Spirit telling you that you’re on the wrong road!  “IF” you’re a spirit filled Christian, that will be Him, (The Holy Spirit), tugging on your conscience when you drift off the narrow road and onto the “broad” one that satan dresses up as a “shortcut” to someplace where God had no intension for you to be in the first place! It’s crucial that we learn very early in our Christian walk to recognize God’s voice and trust His every Word. The minute we question any of it, we’re allowing satan to deceive us with a lie. Living in a world where the Church has become overcome with false teachers, we must learn to be as the Bereans in Acts 17:11, and search the scripture daily to stay abreast of all that we are being told and taught about God’s Truth.  John 4:23, But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. We are not to worship false idols! 1John 5:21,  Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
       There are millions of professing Christians today who have been mislead into believing that they can travel the wide road to destruction by disobeying God, living a fast and reckless, sinful life, and that God will forgive them simply because of one verse that declares that we’re “all sinners,” taken out of context. They have no idea that forgiveness and Salvation are conditional promises that require repentance, Faith, surrender, and obedience. This leads us to the circumstances we find today in a world overcome with unimpeded immorality and an epidemic of unrestrained drug and alcohol use and abuse even within the walls of The New World Christian Church where sin is overlooked and tolerated for the sake of growing the attendance numbers and the bank accounts.
       In the past 10 years of ministry in numerous Christian addiction recovery groups, after writing volumes of material including a book regarding the false teachings, heresy, and blasphemy that transpire in groups within thousands of churches around the country, I think I can sum up the entire contents of my book as well as the ministry with this; it’s less about being sober, and more about being the above described Christian, or not!  If we’re performing the role of Christian as we’re expected too according to the Word of God, if we’re walking the road above as directed and obeying the rules set before us, (this having nothing to do with being “legalistic” or not, but living according to His Word),  if  we’ve picked up our cross, and are denying ourselves, (Matthew 16:24, “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”), and are following Christ instead of satan and his worldly ways, we can be assured we will no longer be burdened with addictions! We will have no desire to spend another minute in such willful, sinful behavior. Why not, you ask? “Aren’t we all sinners”? Yes we are; each and every one of us will stumble from time to time, and will be forgiven when we admit that we’ve sinned, ask for forgiveness, and repent. That however is a far cry from being an alcoholic or an addict, or someone lost in their sins. As born again believers, we become ambassadors for Christ. It becomes our duty to represent Him and share His Good News with the rest of the World. We can’t serve God if we’re addicted to drugs and alcohol and other sin. Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” If we claim to be born again Christians and still struggle with addictions, we need to get on our knees, truly repent, and ask God to change our Hearts, and set us on the “narrow road that leads to eternal life with Him” Then we can be SAVED and SOBER!
       Many of us today in addiction recovery have succumbed to the misunderstanding of the passage in, 1 John 1:8-10, 8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”  means that the fact that “we’re all sinners” is an excuse to sin! Nothing could be further from the Truth! There is no excuse to sin! The above passage simply explains that none of us are perfect and will all fall short of God’s Glory because of Adam and Eve’s failure in the Garden, and that Christians who confess their sin and repent can be forgiven. We must never use scripture like this to condone our sinful behavior.         
       While many of us, (myself included), focus on Christ Crucified, and His Work on the Cross, I all too often forget that "HE IS RISEN"! And sometimes I forget to invite Him to "come join me" in whatever daily function I may be involved in. As born again believers He is not only risen, but He dwells within us in the form of the Holy Spirit! (1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV , Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?) Learning to accept His presence in us is part of the total and complete surrender process, part of the sanctification process that we are involved in if we are born again. We fall short of God’s Glory and often fail, when we fail to invite Him into the moment at hand! We fail, when we fail to recognize that HE empowers us to overcome sin. (Romans 12:21, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.) We fail and fall into sin when we take our eyes off of HIM even for a minute! It's our choice whether we fail or succeed. 
      We need to focus not only on HIS work on The Cross, but also on the fact that HE IS RISEN! That if you have accepted His invitation, and asked him into your heart, repented and turned from your sinful ways by being obedient according to His Word, and in Faith accepted him as your Lord and Savior; He will take up residence in your body, and be no further away from you than a gentle whisper. When we learn to seek His presence in every minute of our lives, our journey along this narrow road will become “a walk in the park”! And we won’t be lonely because we’ll be walking hand in hand with Jesus! We will learn to embrace the challenges that we’ll undoubtedly be faced with, with great optimism, knowing that we need them to grow and mature our Faith and wisdom, and knowing that not only will He provide us with the means to overcome and have victory over those challenges, but also that,… 1 Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”