A Missionary Looks At 12 Steps To Overcome Addiction And Sin

A Christian based 12-step process helps us to overcome addiction by attaching to the faithful love of the Savior, enabling healthy relationships with other people. And so a missionary, Richard Lehman, looks at the 12-step process, and prayerfully applies the wisdom of the scriptures to it. And in doing so he has also found this process helpful in providing insights into how to work with different individuals to bring them to Christ. Richard spends much time training hundreds of other ministers. And in addition to helping those addicted, this 12 step process has become a key resource for training gospel workers who help those that are addicted. Experience has proved that everyone "wrestles" with deep hurts of some kind. There is a deep empty hole in the heart of the soul - and it must be filled somehow. How we fill that hole, or comfort ourselves within that empty space, will determine what sin we become addicted to. It is sin (someone else's, or ours) that ultimately first creates a void in the heart of the individual. Unfaithfulness is the sin of betrayal. Someone trusted another with their heart, and then that same person broke their heart. It happens to children in their relationship with their parents, or relatives, or trusted others. It happens often within many marriage relationships. And it happens within everyone's life at some point, by how their own sin betrays the faithful love of the Savior. And so people go through life hiding the pain of betrayal. Instead of seeking for healing through a loving Savior, they resort to other things. And in doing so they become addicted to some substance, some sin, or both. And they often don't know where to start to find a way out. This book seeks to help them not only start down the right path, but to also find complete healing through the love of our Lord Jesus Christ. So throughout this 12 step process, you will see that the book is addressed to two audiences at the same time. Those who need help over addictions, and those that are trying to help them. And there is an important reason for this. Because people who need help to overcome addictions, need to completely trust those that are working with them. And so if you are using this process to help them, these people also want transparency and understanding as to what they are being asked to do, and why. There can be no hidden agendas in helping people! Jesus came so that relationships can be healed. He also sent the comforter of the Holy Spirit, so that every pain that sinful mankind could bring against us, could still be comforted and healed in this life. "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." (John 14:15-18)

Understanding the Biblical principles that enable people to overcome habitual sin and addiction. Keywords: Victory, Freedom, Holiness, Addiction, Overcoming Addiction, 12-Steps, Sin, Bondage, Suicide

Winner of a 2018 Catholic Press Association Award: Sacraments. (Second Place). In the first book to directly integrate the Twelve Steps with the practice of Catholicism, Scott Weeman, founder and director of Catholic in Recovery, pairs his personal story with compassionate straight talk to show Catholics how to bridge the commonly felt gap between the Higher Power of twelve-step programs and the merciful God that he rediscovered in the heart of the sacraments. Weeman entered sobriety from alcohol and drugs on October 10, 2011, and he's made it his full-time ministry to help others who struggle with various types of addiction to find spiritual wholeness through Catholic in Recovery, an organization he founded and directs. In The Twelve Steps and the Sacraments, Weeman candidly tackles the struggle he and other addicts have with getting to know intimately the unnamed Higher Power of recovery. He shares stories of his compulsion to find a personal relationship with God and how his tentative steps back to the Catholic Church opened new doors of healing and brought him surprising joy as he came to know Christ in the sacraments. Catholics in recovery and those moving toward it, as well as the people who love them will recognize Weeman's story and his spiritual struggle to personally encounter God. He tells us how: Baptism helps you admit powerlessness over an unmanageable problem, face your desperate need for God, and choose to believe in and submit to God’s mercy. Reconciliation affirms and strengthens the hard work of examining your life, admitting wrongs, and making amends. The Eucharist provides ongoing sustenance and draws you to the healing power of Christ. The graces of Confirmation strengthen each person to keep moving forward and to share the good news of recovery and new life in Christ. Weeman's words are boldly challenging and brimming with compassion and through them you will discover inspiration, hope, sage advice, and refreshingly practical help.

Spiritual Rehab is a holistic approach to address the problem of sin. It may be unpopular to use the word, yet humanity has struggled with sin since the beginning of time. Repeated sins become patterns which become habits. The best process for breaking habits over the past century has been the Twelve Steps of A.A. Spiritual Rehab takes the reader through the Twelve Steps focusing on breaking the habit of sin common to all of humanity. Brian Hotrum worked with men in a rehab facility that was part of the county jail and uses the Twelve Steps to break that most dangerous of habits in order to enjoy a live of wholeness and holiness. American culture used to be a basically Christian culture. Salvation occurred by calling people back to the faith. It was very similar to the Old Testament prophets calling the Israelites back to the God of their fathers. However, we now live in a culture like Paul faced in Athens. Christianity is no longer the basic operating system of the society and calling people back to faith will not work. The process of conversion is a much more drastic work than it has been in the past. We can no longer ask people to raise their hand in a service and then expect them to somehow move from a life controlled by sin to a life controlled by the Spirit without major changes in their life. The problem with society is sin, and this has been the problem since the Garden of Eden. Sin is what separates us from God and others and even from having a right relationship with ourselves. Sin is as addictive as any drug or habit. Paul talks in Romans 7 about his addiction to sin and his experience of hitting rock bottom. The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous have been used by millions to break their addiction to alcohol. The Twelve Steps have been applied to other addictive behaviors such as drug use, gambling, overeating, and countless other applications. The Twelve Steps of AA can be used to help us break the addiction to sin which is common to all of humanity. This is a holistic process, it is a Wesleyan process, and it is a continuous process. Breaking the addiction to sin common to all humanity requires a support group. The church is not a gathering of perfect people; it is a support group of recovering sinners. Breaking the addiction to sin is a process, there are no shortcuts, but it is possible to find a life of freedom and wholeness.

An exploration of the Twelve Steps and their unique benefits for Christians.

Does Christianity have an answer for addiction? As longtime pastor Mike Quarles’s alcoholism worsened over eight years, churches and Christians referred him to treatment, 12-Step programs, therapy...nothing worked. Steve McVey, also a pastor, repeatedly dished out the same advice Mike received, with similarly poor results... ...Until, in their frustration, God led them back to basic, addiction-breaking truths of His Word. The authors explain these for readers who want to help someone or who struggle themselves, because freedom from addiction is found only when Christians fully believe what God says about their identity move beyond the 12-Step concept of inescapable “addict identity” stop harboring unforgiveness, get radically right with God, and dwell in who they are in Christ, which excludes engaging in addictive behaviors as a lifestyle Material on codependency is included, as is information on implementing recovery/support groups for those leaving addiction and starting to live in God’s glorious freedom.

The Hook and I describes a 12-Step Recovery Program using traditional Catholic spirituality in an integrated approach that restores the entire 12-step recovery concept to its original Catholic roots in order to attack addictions by addressing the weaknesses of the soul, especially against "The Hook". More than a method to simply conquer an addiction, this technique of struggling against a "Hook" is used, first of all, to overcome the addiction, second, to grow in sanctity by striving for perfection and holiness, and thirdly, to give God glory for the graces He lovingly bestows on souls struggling against addictions. "The Hook", which can be any sinful addiction, is that primary means by which Satan uses to pull souls from the waters of sanctifying grace. The Hook is as much a permanent part of the soul as the temperament so that it can never really be removed; we can only cut the "fishing line of temptation" and to trim it as close to the hook as possible so that we are rarely, if ever, "reeled in" to the state of sin again. Written in conversational style yet true to Catholic teaching, "The Hook and I" covers the fight against a hook every step of the way, from "running aground" through each of the steps necessary to strengthen the soul to gain mastery over the Hook to the subsequent stages of using the success against the Hook as the springboard to holiness and the pursuit of perfection. "The Hook and I" was written as an apostolate of the Blessed Margaret Family Help Center, Inc, a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation to help families, both in and out of crisis, using traditional Catholic teachings. All royalties from the sale of The Hook and I go to finance the Center's activities.

This book is a biblical approach to the recovery from obsessions. The obsessions can be as minor as fishing too often or as major as full blown addictions to drugs. The point is that Jesus Christ gave us guidelines on how to moderate and on how to be healed when necessary from these obsessions. The outline from Matthew in the New Testament is where Jesus teaches us the format for recovery. It is why he starts with being "poor in spirit" and ends in being persecuted for your beliefs. This simple outline from Matthew 5:1-12 is where basically all recovery programs have their origin, and I have included in the back of the book a chapter titled "The beatitudes and their correlation to the twelve steps." It is the premise of this work to bring clarity to the truth that has always been in God's Word. It is a work that reads well and was a pleasant task to write. I hope you will enjoy as well as benefit from its pages. Thank you for your consideration and for taking the time to read this brief edit. Dennis Wright