Christians in Recovery Knowledge Base article
Alcohol withdrawal refers to a group of symptoms that may occur from suddenly stopping the use of alcohol after chronic or prolonged ingestion.
Not everyone who stops drinking experiences withdrawal symptoms, but most people who have been drinking for a long period of time, or drinking frequently, or drink heavily when they do drink, will experience some form of withdrawal symptoms if they stop drinking suddenly.
Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal Read More »
I recently caught a documentary on sex symbol Bettie Page. In it, the withdrawn, elderly phenomenon 
recounted her entire life, including her racy photographs and films which catered to bondage, nudity and fetish culture.
According to Ms. Page’s commentary, she initially tried the conventional methods first. However, the well- known Ford modeling agency rejected her. Founder Eileen Ford, herself, flat out told Bette she was too short and “too hippy.”
So, Bettie turned to the more controversial avenue, which subsequently launched her into being the pop culture icon she is today.
And, due to her influence, there are numerous photos flooding the internet, with captions including, “Today, we’d call her fat.”
It’s makes for a strong body image message. Indeed, looking at her image, what is our response? Do we think she’s fat?
Likewise, there’s the legendary sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe. She was reportedly a size 12 or 14. Some even speculate she was a size 16!
Again, when we see her, when we are faced with her numbers, what’s our first reaction?
She’s beautiful?
“Fat” or “Beautiful” ? Read More »
Distortion. It’s a major factor which drives disorder, compulsion and addiction.
And, for those of us recovering from disordered eating and negative body image issues, a crucial centerpiece of our distortion is the scale.
We are ruled by it. We step on it daily, sometimes even several times a day. I know I did, at my worst. We feel defeat or victory, depends upon what the numbers say.
And likewise, in response to this scale obsession, we’ve also heard many a platitude about how “Your weight is not your worth” and “You’re more than a number.”
It is easier heard than believed or lived.
Nevertheless, our thoughts determine the quality of our lives.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he… Proverbs 23:7
Put simply, it’s how you and I see things. And for most of us who struggle, the scale has loomed too large in our lives. We have completely lost perspective. We determine everything solely by what it says.
Recently, I acquired a dollhouse miniature scale; it’s about an inch big. And looking at it, I see how insignificant it truly is. I can hold it on my index finger. But it has no power to decide my worth, my success or destiny. I could flick it into oblivion with my finger if I so choose.
Distortion: What is the Size of the Scale? Read More »
Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 declares that God’s will for us is that we
[p]ray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks.
To pray unceasingly does not mean spending twenty-four hours daily in prayer. >b>Rather, it means being open continually to God, sharing our thoughts and hopes with Him in mental prayer, and so on. It means, as we face a problem, praying, in a sentence, “Lord, help me 
with this problem”; or, “Give me patience as I talk with this trying person”; or, “Thank you for seeing me through that mess,” and similar prayers.
O. Hallesby years ago wrote, “We cannot breathe in the early morning in such a way that it will be sufficient until noon. Likewise, we cannot pray in the morning so as to suffice until noon.”
Continual sentence prayers are simply Christian breathing. They keep us alive and strong.
What does “Pray Without Ceasing” Mean? Read More »
“I hate Valentine’s Day. I’m divorced, and I don’t have a boyfriend.” Jenny had stopped me in the parking lot of the gym to lament her situation.
“At one time, I also dreaded Valentine’s Day but not anymore.”
Jenny raised her brows and said, “What changed?”
“Let me share with you what my mentors taught me. If I want flowers and candy, I buy them.”
She raised her brows again but said nothing.
“I don’t want to be in a restaurant at dinnertime on Valentine’s Day, but I can go out to breakfast and lunch or order dinner to go.
That made Jenny smile. I told her about the times I scheduled a massage or bought a new outfit on sale. She nodded.
When Valentine’s Day Is Difficult Read More »
But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:31-33
Here was the land of milk and honey right before them yet the few men who went with Caleb were intimidated by it. They looked for excuses: “The inhabitants are stronger than us.” “We are too weak.” “The land eats people up!” “They are giants, we are insects!”
How many of us have seen recovery as a land promise, of milk and honey yet been so intimidated that we would not venture into it. “My addiction (dysfunction or illness) is too strong.” “I am too weak.” “Recovery will destroy who I am!” “I am too insignificant to even think about recovery!”
We see people around us who are not drinking/drugging, over eating, gambling, indulging in sex and porn and they are HAPPY! Others have overcome mental and physical illness. They are living fulfilled and renewed lives. We want it yet … something makes us afraid–we see giants before us. Great obstacles between us and recovery.
Afraid of Recovery? Read More »
There has been much discussion in the past decades about people needing to love themselves. It is an unnecessary discussion. We do love ourselves. It is part of the flesh nature. We may not love the situation we’re in, but the fact is that we wouldn’t even have the conversation if we didn’t, by our very nature, love ourselves.
To get wisdom is to love oneself;
to keep understanding is to prosper. Proverbs 19:8 NRSV
Satan, who is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), tries to convince us that we need to spend more time focusing on loving ourselves. We need to focus on ourselves, to spend our time and resources getting for ourselves. We need to defend ourselves and get all that we deserve… for ourselves.
Rubbish!
Proverbs tells us that, if we truly love ourselves, we will first look to getting wisdom. That having wisdom is how we will prosper. And what is wisdom? Wisdom is God Himself.
In other words, if we truly love ourselves, we will do exactly the opposite of what feels comfortable. We will sacrifice, turn our backs on our own needs, and throw ourselves on the love and protection of our Heavenly Father Who is infinitely better suited to take care of us than we ourselves.
Do You Truly Love Yourself? Read More »
We are deluged with pictures of parties, frivolity, and laughter… in commercials and advertisements. Everyone seems so happy! And all because they bought ___________ (fill in the blank). In other words, they had money. And because of the money, they had friends.
Wealth brings many friends,
but the poor are left friendless. Proverbs19:4 NRSV
Proverbs confirms it. Money brings friends. But what kind of friends? More importantly, what will happen to those friends when the money disappears?
Some friends play at friendship but a true friend sticks closer than one’s nearest kin. Proverbs 18:24 NRSV
A person who is my friend because I have the money to entertain them or to give them isn’t really my friend.
A friend loves at all times. Proverbs 17:17 NRSV
If someone is truly my friend, she will be there even during the hard times.
But this proverb is more than just about friends. It’s about money and how we desire it in order to change and control our lives. We think that with money life will be easier; things will be better. We might even be more popular. The Lord Jesus talked about money:
Using Money to Gain “Friends” & Control Your Life Read More »
Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2
There’s an old saying: “The ship in the sea is alright. The sea in the ship is all wrong. The Church in the world is alright. The world in the church is all wrong.”
Everything you and I believe as Christians flies in the face of our post-modern culture. We believe in a God who has made His existence known to everyone (Romans 1:18-22) despite the strong denials of man. We believe in a God who has communicated to us in clear terms in a book called the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). We believe in absolutes, for we believe in a God who is Truth Himself, and who tells us what is right and what is wrong. We believe in the one true Gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16, 17) who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me.” John 14:6. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the way to God and the only way to God, and we deny that He is merely a way, a truth and a life, and one of the ways to God. Understand that we do not say this because we believe our opinion is greater than someone else’s, but because Christ Himself said this about Himself, and we believe His claims are valid, trustworthy and true… We believe too that if Christ is not THE way to God, then He is a liar, and not even one of the ways to God. Jesus Christ is either who He claimed to be, or else He is a fraud, or perhaps a lunatic. But what He could never be is merely one of the ways to God. If we take His words with any seriousness at all, then we have to admit that His own claims deny this very possibility.
The Sea in the Ship is All Wrong Read More »
How do you get vegetables out of your garden? By planting vegetables, of course. This is a fact almost too obvious to mention, except for the fact that most people seem to have forgotten that you reap what you sow and you harvest what you plant,
for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7)
Now if a man simply kept weeding a garden patch without ever planting it to vegetables, we would certainly have a right to call him at least a fool if he expected weeding to give him vegetables. We should, in fact, question his sanity.
But this foolishness is exactly what millions of “good Americans” are dedicated to: they do nothing but pull up weeds, and they expect to harvest vegetables. How? They are always fighting the weeds which crop up in the life of America, in the churches, schools, and organizations, and this is all that millions of them do-pull weeds.
Meanwhile, the country and everything in it goes downhill.
Make no mistake about it, the weeds of communism, atheism, and permissiveness must be uprooted, but what good will all this weeding do if no sound seeds are sown? The net result is simply a better patch for new weeds to sprout in. Jesus said of the man who rid himself of an unclean spirit without submitting himself to God and bearing fruit to God that such a man becomes then a dwelling place for eight unclean spirits, “and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
“Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:45) When people are simply interested in getting rid of their weeds, their problems, and have no desire for planting seeds, for moral and spiritual regeneration, then they are only the worse off for their efforts.
Are You Cultivating Seeds or Weeds? Read More »
