How to Write Your Christian Testimony
October 14, 2009
By Mary Fairchild, About.com
Skeptics may debate the validity of Scripture or argue the existence of God, but no one can deny your personal experiences with him. When you tell your story of how God has worked a miracle in your life, or how he has blessed you, transformed you, lifted and encouraged you, perhaps even broken and healed you, no one can argue or debate it. You go beyond the realm of knowledge into the realm of relationship with God.
These steps are designed to help you write your Christian testimony. They apply for both long and short, written and spoken testimonies. Whether you are planning to write down your full, detailed testimony or preparing a quick 2-minute version of your testimony to share on a short-term mission trip, these tips and steps will help you tell others with sincerity, impact and clarity what God has done in your life. Read more
Family – A Good Place to Start
September 23, 2009
Daily Devotional, September 18th
Posted to Genesis 37:4 on Sep 14, 2009 at 02:43 PM
Genesis 37:4
His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers; and so they hated him and could not speak to him on friendly terms.
“Family ties”
Thwack! The sound signaled trouble. With our parents gone, my sister and I had started a mashed potato fight instead of doing the dishes. Chasing her down the stairs with tinfoil box in hand, I was determined she wouldn’t win even though I was younger. The strains of victory died, however, when an unseen door met with her glasses. We were going to get it for sure.
Designed by God to give us a sense of our identity, family is one of the first places we discover what we like, what we’re good at, and how to relate to others. It’s also where we first experience conflict. Even in the strongest of families, we go through hurts that cause us to believe wrong things about ourselves.
In reading the story of Joseph, we often focus on what Joseph suffered because of his brothers’ jealousy. While this story is an important lesson in forgiveness (Genesis 50:20-21), it also demonstrates how family issues strike deep at the heart.
The firstborn of Jacob’s favorite wife (30:22-24), Joseph was the honored son, and his brothers knew it (v.4). It’s one thing to face a parent’s disapproval because you didn’t do your homework. Imagine feeling as if you’re a disappointment just because you were born to the wrong woman (v.2). Believing Jacob had rejected them in preferring Joseph, his brothers retaliated by stripping him of his coat and his dignity (vv.20-24).
From the beginning of creation, family relationships have been difficult (Genesis 4:8). Relational issues are inevitable. Working through the sin nature of man, the enemy pits family members against each other (Micah 7:6). Responding to the hurt by hurting others only continues the cycle. Putting our hearts in alignment with God’s, however, allows healing and restoration to begin (Luke 1:17). —Regina Franklin, Our Daily Journey
CLICK HERE to visit OurDailyJourney.org
Celebrate Recovery in Christ
September 20, 2009
Celebrate Recovery, differs from most World-Service Organization sponsored 12-step programs in that it is unabashedly faith-based and Christ-centered, naming ‘Jesus’ as the ‘higher power’ responsible for healing any ailment in one’s life.
Groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon, Narcotics Anonymous and others, encourage members to name their own higher power. Some believe this helps attract newcomer addicts to meetings where they otherwise would not join because of the stigma involved in naming ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ as a higher power.
Countless 12-step groups exist: Adult Children of Alcoholics, Overeaters Anonymous, Crystal Meth Anonymous, Debtors Anonymous, to name a few, and even some less expected, such as Clutterer’s Anonymous, Workaholic’s Anonymous, and Emotions Anonymous.
There are online meetings. There are people meetings. There are phone meetings. There is no shortage of meetings.
So why another 12-step meeting? What makes Celebrate Recovery different?
Besides being explicitly Christ-centered, all Celebrate Recovery meetings are broadly open to and intended to serve individuals suffering from any “hurt, habit, or hangup.”
Advocates and program participants say the process has a healing effect, in that, by naming Jesus Christ as the higher power, healing for any life ailment follows when individuals place their faith in God, as opposed to trying to ‘control’ their addictions or hang-ups themselves.
Lisa Romeo, a member of Parkview Baptist Church in Lexington, leads a women-only Celebrate Recovery group that meets each Tuesday night from 7:30-9 p.m.
According to Paul Pack, one of Parkview’s pastors who works largely with youth, believes that one of Parkview’s strengths is that it strives to help members find their gifts, when considering how they want to serve their fellow community members.
He describes Lisa as a go-to person, someone who works incredibly well behind-the-scenes, who is passionate and dependable. Lisa has taken advantage of trainings and workshops offered through Parkview such as the Vantage Point 3 program which focuses identifying gifts and developing group leadership skills. She now uses this in the Celebrate Recovery meeting leader capacity. Read more
We all struggle with habitual cravings
August 28, 2009
Daily Devotional, August 27th
Posted to Exodus 16:4 on Aug 21, 2009 at 11:12 AM
“Walk forward”
His father described him as down-to-earth, generous, kindhearted, life-loving, and unselfish. Maybe that’s why so many people were shocked when Australian-born actor Heath Ledger died of a prescription drug overdose. Before his death, Ledger was reportedly fighting an addiction to heroin.
We all struggle with habitual cravings—food, gambling, and porn are just a few of the things that can enslave us. Fortunately, God can free us, as surely as He released the Israelites from slave status in Egypt. But once He sets us free, He wants us to move forward.
A short time after the Israelites left Egypt, they developed an attitude. “Back in Egypt . . . we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted” (Exodus 16:3), they whined. Shaky circumstances led them to idealize the “good ol’ days.” But that kind of backward thinking sabotages our efforts to move forward, following “the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives” (Galatians 5:25).
God wants us to keep taking steps of faith—believing that He will provide what we need each day. When the Israelites realized that their new zip code didn’t include any grocery stores, God said, No biggie. I’ll send some manna their way—“as much food as they need for that day” (Exodus 16:4). Similarly, we should live one day at a time, trusting God to provide an escape route from our selfish desires. God “will not allow the temptation to be more than [we] can stand” (1 Corinthians 10:13). When we’re tempted, He will show us a way out.
If God has shown you the escape hatch, don’t look back. Don’t “let sin control the way you live” (Romans 6:12). Instead, walk forward each day, trusting that “you will see the glory of the Lord” on your journey through the wilderness (Exodus 16:7). —Jennifer Benson Schuldt, Our Daily Journey
CLICK HERE to visit OurDailyJourney.org
Renewing the Mind
August 25, 2009
Deeply ingrained patterns of thinking and responding have formed strongholds in our minds. Addiction is a stronghold!
Do we have to remain victims of the these mental strongholds for the rest of our lives? Absolutely not!
If we have been trained wrong, can we be retrained? If we have learned to believe a lie, can we now choose to believe the truth? If we have programmed our computers wrong, can they be reprogrammed? Absolutely!
But we have to want to renew our minds. How?
Our lives are transformed as we renew our minds through the hearing of God’s Word, Bible studies, personal discipleship and Christ-centered counseling.
Reprogramming the Mind
August 11, 2009
by Neil Anderson
1 Peter 1:13
Gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ
Since we came into this world physically alive but spiritually dead, we had neither the presence of God in our lives nor the knowledge of His will. Our minds were programmed to live independently of Him. We were mentally conformed to this world.
When we became Christians, nobody pushed the CLEAR button in our preprogrammed minds. Even as Christians we can still allow our minds to be programmed by the world. So what must we do?
First, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1). How do you renew your mind? By filling it with God’s Word.
Second, Peter directs us to prepare our minds for action (1 Peter 1:13). Do away with fruitless fantasy. To imagine yourself doing things without ever doing anything is dangerous. But if you can mentally prepare yourself in advance to obey the truth, you can motivate yourself toward productive living–as long as you follow through by doing what you imagine.
Third, take every thought captive in obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Practice threshold thinking. Evaluate every thought by the truth, and don’t let your mind entertain thoughts contrary to the will of God.
Fourth, turn to God. When your commitment to do the will of God is being challenged by thoughts from the world, the flesh, or the devil, bring it to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6). By doing so you are acknowledging God and exposing your thoughts to His truth. Your double-mindedness will dissolve “and the peace of God . . . shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Fifth, assume your responsibility to think. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
Prayer:
Lord, I commit myself to practice these steps daily in order to bring my mind under Your control.
World of Addictions
July 28, 2009
For many who suddenly wake one morning with the realization they are trapped in a bondage greater than themselves, the “world of addictions” has become very personal. It’s about their pain, their confusion, their hopelessness, their fear…their vulnerability to the enemy of their soul. Jesus describes this enemy – Satan – in John 10:10:
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Francis Frangipane, author of The Three Battlegrounds, has made these statements regarding the enemy’s activity in our lives:
1. “God has given Satan legal right to access the realm of darkness.”
2. “Satan dines on whatever we withhold from God.”
Darkness in a human heart can be expressed in many forms: pride, lust, unforgiveness, hatred, jealousy, greed. There are few who would not identify in some manner with one or more of these expressions.
Making Choices – Are We Really Free?
July 12, 2009
When God created us he gave us the freedom of choice. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, we are in bondage to the consequences of that choice. Some people define freedom as the right to exercise their own choices, to be free moral agents. No restrictions! “I can do whatever I want to do,” say the libertarians, defending the right to make their own choices. “If I want to have a drink, I’m going to have a drink.” They don’t seem to have a clue as to how deep their bondage is… freedom doesn’t lie only in the exercise of choice; it is also always related to the consequences of that choice.
I suppose I am “free” to tell a lie, but wouldn’t I be in bondage to that choice? I would have to remember to whom I told the lie and what I told them. I suppose I am “free” to rob a bank, but wouldn’t I be in bondage to that act the rest of my life? I would always be looking over my shoulder, wondering if I would be caught. We can choose to drink shots all night, sleep with a prostitute, or inject heroin into our body… but we would have to live with the consequences of each choice.
So, I ask you, are we really free? The bible says in Deu 30:19
“I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live.”
Testimony of God’s Overcoming Addiction Power
July 6, 2009
Hello my name is Richard, and this is my testimony of God’s overcoming addiction power:
My mother loved myself and my siblings, and as a single parent did the best she could to provide for all of our needs. Sometimes providing for us included moving; different neighborhoods, different towns, and even different states. I had changed schools at least eight times before I was thirteen. I always felt like an outsider and that I did not fit in. Having quality friendships was difficult. I had finished elementary school with exceptional grades. That changed as I entered middle school. I made friends with the wrong people, I skipped school, and ultimately began smoking marijuana and drinking. My mother moved me to my Grandparents home and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior for the first time. My life changed.
I missed my family and returned to Portland. I believed things would be different, but they were not. By the time I was sixteen I had experimented with hard drugs and dropped out of school. I began working full time, which afforded me to continue in the same lifestyle and at that age it was very appealing, my life was out of control. At nineteen I went through my first treatment program, passed the ASVAB test, and went into the Army. I was finally on the right track. I left all of my former life behind thinking a change of environment would solve the problem. However, I began to drink, and eventually was using cocaine again. I returned home to Oregon. In Portland the same people were still doing the same activities, nothing I wanted to be a part of, I requested a transfer to Washington to be near my family. I knew that if I just had the support of my family and church everything would turn out all right.
The problem was not the environment, or the circumstances, or the friends, it was me. Read more
The Addiction is the Symptom
July 1, 2009
Addiction simply isn’t the point. Most people have the “horsepower” to get “clean and sober.” Many have the ability to stay clean and sober for awhile. But then, it happens: life serves up that trigger; that one thing that gives me my reason – my entitlement – to return to my “drug of choice.” Or, worse yet, I have convinced myself over time that “I can handle it, now. I’m OK. All I need is a good job and a nice place to live and the rest of my life will be fine.”
But it never is fine. It never will be fine, because you are not fine at the “core level” of your life: where who you really are lives.
What do you mean by “core level?”
Heart…soul: It’s the space inside you that defines the your person-hood. It’s the place you love and hate, experience joy and disappointment. It’s the place we invite the Living God to live by His Spirit. To love at this level of our lives is to fulfill the two greatest commandments:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. this is the first and greatest commandment. And, the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22).
For many our “core level” – our heart – is cluttered with shame and guilt, unforgiveness and bitterness. So significant are these “core issues” that they often determine what we believe about God, our self and others. We often have sabotaged our best relationships and convinced ourselves thar we are inadequate, deficient and unlovable…all because of our “core.”
Obviously, our “core” cannot be “fixed,” it must be healed. There are simply not enough “Steps” to work that will resolve our core. Only God can heal the core. He created it…he can heal it.