“I can’t stop drinking”

“Your liver's just so damaged. You drink anymore, you're going to die. And those who could not drink alcohol or couldn't stop now all of a sudden can stop. Now, to be honest with you, some can't even stop then. But but a lot can uh cigarettes smoking. I can't stop. Go to the doctor, you got lung cancer, you smoke again, you're going to die. And many are able to stop. Some again aren't able to, but many are able to stop. Now, let me tell”

“just prove again and again the truth of God in your life it happens every day to people who abuse alcohol it happens every day to people who have substance abuse to people who begin to gamble for the fun of it in just a little use of my money and then they become a compulsive or are ultimately an addicted Gambler it's true of people with envy and jealousy it's true of people who are greedy for money any of these things in our lives we don't become the exception we become the rule in fact first we rule it and then it rules us”

“reality is many times it's nothing more than love being lived out as a parent I there's no way I could watch a child that I love or a grandchild in my life begin to abuse alcohol and drugs and become an addict and that not provoke me to do everything that I could to try to deliver them and to get them out of that because they're living a lie it's going to destroy everything in their lives”

“enjoyed and participated in. I think of an analogy of this is for an alcoholic. There might be an alcoholic who is, you know, they're just addicted to to drinking to the bottle and at the end of the day they they maybe they're even a believer and they have remorse and they they hate it, but they keep going back over and over again. In that case, they're confessing their sin maybe because they hate it and they loathe it, but they're not forsaking it. And God is saying, "I desire the extra step in your life, in our lives, you wouldn't just”

“regardless of whether they've been in there a week or month or a year uh they would say I'm so and so and they'd say and I am addicted to alcohol or I am an alcoholic like their identity who they were the first thing they said was I have a problem and I need accountability and I need help in my life so that that this doesn't progress and this doesn't destroy my life and you may ask like why did”

“lives. It can disrupt our peace and loneliness can come. But loneliness in and of itself is not a sin. However, loneliness very quickly gives way to sinful behaviors. When we are lonely, when we are isolated, in those moments, if we are not careful, feelings of loneliness can prompt us to indulge behaviors. Alcohol, drug abuse, obsession with pornography, all sorts of social and antisocial disorders.”

“the indulgence of sinful behaviors in our lives. Many people abuse alcohol and drugs and indulge pornography and other forms of antisocial and destructive behaviors because loneliness opens the door to allow us to begin to enter into sin. Something else that we understand is that loneliness is a consequence of living in a”

“People indulge in the abuse of alcohol, the use of drugs, the distraction, and ultimately the enslavement of pornography. They become antisocial in their behavior, using the veil of social media as a means of just critiquing and criticizing, when in reality, what's really wrong is there's a loneliness in them. And so while loneliness is not a sin, loneliness can quickly invite sinful behaviors.”

“to the Gentiles or to the Pharisees. He gave that to his disciples. So, if you have not volunteered, would you please do that? You can do it at the kids desk out there, or you could tap one of those little circles on front. That leader training is Wednesday, the 20th. And then lastly, we launched a Freedom Recovery Substance Abuse Support Group in January. They're having a guest speaker on the 18th, our very own Bill Sack. Uh come and be a part of that, even if you're not a part of the group. You can come hear his story and see how the group is run. You guys”

“flapjack Fridays. And so, we would um make flapjacks for anybody like when the bars would close, people would come to our house. And our only rule was like, "No alcohol, no drugs, anybody's welcome." And so, we would get all these people a flooding from the bars after the bars would close at 2:00 a.m. and stuff coming into our house. And we would just make people pancakes. And God used these conversations to really reach some people for the Lord. But Sarah came that Friday and we'd already she'd already journeyed and done the flight and then landed and then the 3 and 1/2”

“Because it is a part of God's work to shape humility and to forge dependency in our lives towards him. Peter tells us this in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 6 and following. He says, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded. Be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls like a”

“Some people need Christ because maybe they are good business, good in finances and the physical, you know, they look strong but but during the night they have to go to alcohol, drugs and they cannot sleep.”

“heart look like? A place of fresh faith to a place of utter brokenness or addiction to a place of the recovery of the heart. Would you guys pray with me? Lord, I pray this morning that you would use our time together to speak to the hearts of people here. And God, I know that there is a lot of pain and sorrow. There's a lot of”

“idolatry in the Bible. Uh 1 John 5:21 says, "Little children, keep yourself from idols." God hates it when we give our hearts to something or someone else. What happens is it never quote calms the storm within and then I quote get caught up in the throws of an addiction where I become dependent on something that I believe is the only thing that calms or soothes the cry of my soul.”

“and globally. and I'm thankful for that. He's the author of over 30 books. He can be heard on radio and television. He has a broadcast, a television broadcast that he's a part of uh every week in his life. He is a professor ameritus of Liberty University of the Global Center of Mental Health Addiction Recovery and uh this man's name is synonymous with being a counselor, a mental health”

“three. I want to talk to you this morning briefly about how people can go from a place of fresh faith, kind of that zippity dooah faith, you know, where they just fell in love with the Lord and then for whatever reason, whatever the circumstances were or what have you, to go to a place of utter brokenness, maybe even addiction. And then what does the recovery of the”

“confess sin that you wouldn't just be bothered by sin. You'd forsake it. You would take active steps to cut it off, to get rid of it." So, so there are addicts or or alcoholics that go to aa they know they need help. They kn know that they need community and people in their life to help them cut that off because they're miserable in their sin. That's what David uh was when he was in the sin as well. Psalm 32, he says, "Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, in whose spirit”

“which what a beautiful thing that your grace has even offered a plan to freedom from habits, patterns, lifestyles, addictions. s to wrong and evil and sin and offensiveness in your sight.”

“to break and the Holy Spirit will begin to work renewing your heart and mind in accordance to God's will. But we have to practice these habits help shift our dependence from gifts to the giver of gifts. I was reading a Bible story like I often do with my girls Friday night, right”

“facing, I'll bring my heartfelt heartfelt it is well. Hallelujah. And so I question like why does this song relate to all of us? And why are people grabbing on to this and grabbing on to Jelly Roll in particular? I think it's because of his authenticity, his realness, his rawness. his life that has been difficult, you know, littered with addiction and counseling and recovery and everything that he's walked through.”