Addiction Sucks.
As you may have heard, the rest of the Healer story is alive and well on the internet. There are a lot of reasons why people fall, but addiction is one of the reasons. Addictions can become obsessions in our lives. I think that the devil uses addictions to create strongholds in peoples lives and keep them in bondage so they can not be used the way God has always intended.
I have been addicted before. Addiction starts as a small thing that you believe will only hurt you, but usually ends up hurting a lot of people, and usually the people you care about the most. Addiction causes you to change course, change directions, sacrifice, and ends up destroying the purpose and destiny of your life. I am SO glad that God chooses to use broken, bad, un-perfect people to do his works. If He did not, He may as well hit the delete button on humanity and start over.
Pray for all those involved with addiction. In the case that surounds the worship community right now, it is obviously more than just addiction. The song Healer was a cry for help. It was desperation begging for forgiveness, hope, freedom, sanity, and oxygen. If you have ever recovered from addiction, you know the feeling to finally be free. I hear a lot people talking about how this situation could effect the church. If we really wanted to help the world start healing, lets start with dealing with addiction. EVERY DAY in our lives, our churches, our jobs, our schools, people are struggling to overcome addictions. Pornography, over eating, telling lies, gossiping, stealing, alcohol, drugs, all addictions that your friends, family, pastor, co-worker, father, son, sister, mom, aunt, grandmother deal with, daily. GRACE WINS and it is time for us to stop condemning the people we love and start to help them. Help people be authentic, be real, be honest, be willing to dig in and overcome addiction. Remove the fear of rejection, hate, disappointment, and replace it with love, forgiveness and a healthy relationship. It is going to suck, it is going to hurt, there will be damage and pain, but in the end, freedom will win, and God will get the glory. When we get free God can use us to even a greater level than he has to this point. I am committed to helping people feel what I get to finally feel on a daily bases. I am committed to helping people overcome their addictions without condemnation or judgement. Are you willing to help?
11 comments
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August 23, 2008 at 6:50 pm
cliffordthedawg
Grace. It is awesome. Man, if we can ever grasp the grace granted us, it’d be so much easier for us to back off and extend grace to those around us.
August 23, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Read Scott
Powerful article, Stephen. Not sure what you mean by the addiction related to the Healer song, but the rest is right on target.
Whoa….I just wrote a really long comment here and then deleted it once I realized how many confessions I was making. Yikes.
August 23, 2008 at 7:21 pm
kingcincinnati
Word up! Thanks for this…
August 23, 2008 at 7:51 pm
klampert
Brewster…dead on man…
this story gets more sad every day
But it also brings to light that we need to be more focused on being pure and thank God for his grace
August 23, 2008 at 8:07 pm
jackiebrewster
We must extend our arms in love to those that are crying out for help. Grace is what is needed for all involved. Hurts are deep as the healing process is performed but in the end we can overcome it all by the power and the love that we receive freely through Christ
August 23, 2008 at 8:57 pm
bryan a
suffered thru addiction as well, and am so thankful for God’s grace and the freedom He gives. I’m with you in helping other people get there too.
August 24, 2008 at 1:51 pm
jenn
After reading your blog, I read James 2:14 in the NMB. Kind mercy wins over harsh judgement every time.
August 24, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Rachel Rowell
Absolutely!!!! I have learned so much about addiction of the last four years and we have had to deal with that right here in our home as I discovered and we dealt with my husbands pornography addiction.
We are both now commited to ministering to people who are bound by the merciless chains of addiction and we realize that telling our story frees others to let go of the shame long enough to find help.
It has compelled my husband to talk freely about his own experience and has opened numerous doors for us both to minister to hurting people who are going through the same kinds of struggles. And it has also compelled him to go to school to be able to work and help people with all kinds of addictions because he knows first hand how strong the grip is that it has on people.
And you’re right, grace wins everytime. If I had not been able to see past my hurt and realize the deperation of his heart, my condemnation could have in turn destroyed our marriage forever, and he would probably would have never gotten free from it.
August 25, 2008 at 4:25 am
Nic
Thankyou for this post, it really blessed me. Unfortunately though, addiction is an unpopular topic in the church. No one really wants to deal with sin and address it because it offends and drives away people. But what can you do? Sin is sin, and truth is truth. I pray and hope that more churches worldwide will wake up to the reality and address sin, and the cross (which brings us apart from God- Isa 59:2) in a more confrontational manner which I believe is pivotal for revival. Again, thankyou for this post! A friend of mine recommended it to me for reading.
Sincerely,
Nic from the Philippines
September 5, 2008 at 1:06 am
story behind Healer song was a fraud, sort of « Lead Me to My Knees
[...] blog on the issue also brings up good points. that blog can be found here. the article is called “Addiction Sucks.” [...]
March 9, 2009 at 1:07 am
bless
one thing i know…we don’t really experienced the life unless you will surrender your life to Jesus….(not religious rites or traditional )it is or daily walk to Jesus……..