CIR KBs

Christians in Recovery Knowledge Base article

The Pagan Roots of Christmas

By Eric Rauch

In The Fabulous First Centuries of Christianity, Vance Ferrell writes this:
Cumont, Olcott, and others clearly show that December 25 was the yearly date of the annual birth of Mithra, the Sun god—the leading heathen deity of the Empire. On this date, his followers celebrated the fact that the visible orb of the sun was again rising higher in the sky, following the winter solstice. (On December 21, the sun is actually at its lowest; but its rise is not visibly perceptible until four days later.) Emperor Aurelian made Mithra’s December 25 birthday an official holiday throughout the Empire about A.D. 273…This midwinter pagan holiday was eventually declared to be the solemn anniversary of the birth of Christ—and called “the mass of Christ.” [1]

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How is Your Relationship with God?

Why are some people afraid to get close to God or have a meaningful relationship with him? I think it is because when we sin, or when we commit habitual sin in our lives, we feel guilty over it. God has equipped every one of us with a conscience for this very reason. A guilty conscience is a warning signal that goes off in the mind, letting us know that we have done wrong. The problem is people try to eradicate those guilty feelings without eradicating the cause of it. But this is like taking painkillers instead of treating the disease.

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I Confess My Sins. Why Don’t They Go Away?

It seems like I am always confessing my sins and yet they never go away. What am I doing wrong?

This is a really loaded question, especially since we are not perfect individuals and we are all sinners. We will always have sin in our life and we will sin. But this certainly doesn’t mean that some of us are not good people. It means that we don’t understand the logistics of sin and how it all works in our life.

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Pornography Addiction: Playing With Fire

Pornography addiction is playing with fire. If your marriage means anything to you at all then you are playing with fire every time you think about or view porn. Even if you are single it will transform your personality into something that was not meant for you to be. It is not beneficial for the mental and emotional aspect of who you are to look lustfully at another woman or man, other than the person God has blessed you with.

Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. NIV Proverbs 6:25-26

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Overcoming Porn Addiction and Impotency

Ask Angie: How do I handle impotency? We have been married for 23 years. We have not had sex for the past 2 1/2 to 3 years. Nor is there any intimacy. We fell in love and got married. But he was subscribing to pornographic sites, which used to send emails (about 20 – 25 per day) I confronted him with it and he was furious. (This was something I found out about 3 years ago) How do I handle this situation? He won’t go to a Counselor or a Dr. either. We have 2 grown up kids. I don’t think that there is another woman involved. I spoke to him about this but nothing is forthcoming. What should I do?

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We Fight the Wrong Way

Ephesians 6:12, 18 (NRSV)
For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. . . . Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.

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A.A. Bible Refresher: Steps 8 and 9

The making of amends and restoring for things wrongfully taken are rooted in the Bible. And there are particular verses from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, from the Gospel of Luke, and from the Book of Numbers that provided what Dr. Bob was later to state were the basic ideas studied by A.A. co-founders long before the Steps were written and the Big Book was published.1

Making Amends and Restitution Is a Vital Part of Recovery Fellowships

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Our Daily Conduct

In Ephesians 4:25-32, the apostle Paul begins to clarify our Christian responsibilities regarding works. He appeals to us in verse 1 to make every effort to live a manner of life that measures up to the magnificence of our high calling. He then makes sure we understand that we must carry out our responsibilities in humility, (the quality of being modest or respectful), kindness, and forbearance, (patience, tolerance, or self-control, especially in not responding to provocation), as we strive to maintain a state of purity, (the absence, or degree of absence, of anything harmful, inferior, unwanted, or of a different type).

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