"Jesus answered them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.'" --John 8:34-36
Legal and illegal drug epidemics are turning the U.S. into a nation of addicts, observes David Kupelian in a February 2014 Whistleblower article entitled "The Real Zombie Apocalypse." It's an outstanding article and a very frightening wake-up call that, unfortunately, will be heeded mainly by all the wrong people.
Except for exposing how dire the situation really is, there aren't too many surprises in the piece. We all hear daily about celebrities going in for treatment, and many of us have friends or relatives who are even now trying to clean themselves up or dry themselves out with the help of various professionals.
There's just one problem with all these efforts -- a problem described by Jesus in Matthew 12, when He talks about the unclean spirit leaving his "house" and then, thinking better of it, returning with seven friends even more evil than he is.
"The last state of that man is worse than the first," Jesus concluded, adding, "So shall it also be with this wicked generation."
And isn't that just what happens with most drug and alcohol treatment programs? They attempt to sweep the addict's house of "unclean spirits" (although of course they'd never accept this interpretation of the cause). And they replace those demons not with the only guaranteed remedy -- the Holy Spirit -- but with vague talk about getting healthy and respecting yourself.
No wonder these programs so often fail so miserably.
The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, has a 100% cure rate among those who give Him free rein to work in their hearts. Allow me to share my own experience:
In John 8:36, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
It was in early 2002 that I had my first real experience of that freedom.
I still smoked as much as humanly possible – three packs a day, more often than not. I still drank a lot, too; it was not unheard of for me to put away a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine in a single evening. But I didn’t see this as a problem: Early on I had overheard a pastor telling another new Christian who smoked, “We expect you to be in prayer about it.” No problem – I could handle that. And in fact, I often mentioned to the Lord that anytime He wanted me to quit these little habits of mine, He should just say the word.
I guess I never expected Him to take me up on it.
Not that I actually heard Him say anything about it to me. But in mid-February of that year, in the midst of a prayer, I suddenly knew with dead certainty that it was time to lose both cigarettes and liquor.
Even more amazing, I complied. Cold turkey. After 30-plus years of chain smoking and beer-guzzling, I became a teetotaling nonsmoker overnight.
What’s nearly as remarkable, to me at least, is that my taste for alcohol vanished instantly. I still enjoy non-alcoholic beer (apparently verboten among secular alcohol-abuse programs, for some strange reason), and upon occasion someone has given me the real thing by mistake. Deep in conversation, I have taken a sip, and have had to literally spit it out – the taste is foul to me now.
This is real freedom, in my book – the God-powered freedom to turn one’s back on even deep-seated behaviors in order to glorify Him instead of oneself. In my case, that meant being sober, as the apostles Paul and Peter repeatedly advised, and taking seriously Paul’s admonition that the Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
There are those who would deny that giving up a pleasure could be called “freedom.” But the “do what thou willst” freedom they prefer leads to enslavement. Just ask someone who’s addicted to alcohol or drugs or gambling or exercise or gluttony or sex or self-importance or any of a thousand other out-of-control pleasures; if they’re being honest, they will not describe their ability to pursue their poisons of choice as freedom.
“Freedom is slavery,” George Orwell said in his book 1984. Perhaps he was merely commenting on the propaganda he imagined would drive the totalitarian societies of the future. But it seems to me there’s a lot of truth to this slogan for a “free” society, even if Orwell didn’t realize it.
--Heaven Without Her, pages 191-2
This story has a happen ending: I’m still free, 15 years later – free from both alcohol and, even more impressive, my long-standing tobacco addiction, which many experts agree is more difficult to break than crack cocaine.
But I’m just one example of thousands upon thousands who’ve been set free by the Lord. After all, for the Christian, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Happily, there are some addiction specialists who use these truths to set hard-core addicts forever free from their bondage.
Updated from a 3/8/14 post
Legal and illegal drug epidemics are turning the U.S. into a nation of addicts, observes David Kupelian in a February 2014 Whistleblower article entitled "The Real Zombie Apocalypse." It's an outstanding article and a very frightening wake-up call that, unfortunately, will be heeded mainly by all the wrong people.
Except for exposing how dire the situation really is, there aren't too many surprises in the piece. We all hear daily about celebrities going in for treatment, and many of us have friends or relatives who are even now trying to clean themselves up or dry themselves out with the help of various professionals.
There's just one problem with all these efforts -- a problem described by Jesus in Matthew 12, when He talks about the unclean spirit leaving his "house" and then, thinking better of it, returning with seven friends even more evil than he is.
"The last state of that man is worse than the first," Jesus concluded, adding, "So shall it also be with this wicked generation."
And isn't that just what happens with most drug and alcohol treatment programs? They attempt to sweep the addict's house of "unclean spirits" (although of course they'd never accept this interpretation of the cause). And they replace those demons not with the only guaranteed remedy -- the Holy Spirit -- but with vague talk about getting healthy and respecting yourself.
No wonder these programs so often fail so miserably.
The Holy Spirit, on the other hand, has a 100% cure rate among those who give Him free rein to work in their hearts. Allow me to share my own experience:
In John 8:36, Jesus is quoted as saying, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
It was in early 2002 that I had my first real experience of that freedom.
I still smoked as much as humanly possible – three packs a day, more often than not. I still drank a lot, too; it was not unheard of for me to put away a six-pack of beer or a bottle of wine in a single evening. But I didn’t see this as a problem: Early on I had overheard a pastor telling another new Christian who smoked, “We expect you to be in prayer about it.” No problem – I could handle that. And in fact, I often mentioned to the Lord that anytime He wanted me to quit these little habits of mine, He should just say the word.
I guess I never expected Him to take me up on it.
Not that I actually heard Him say anything about it to me. But in mid-February of that year, in the midst of a prayer, I suddenly knew with dead certainty that it was time to lose both cigarettes and liquor.
Even more amazing, I complied. Cold turkey. After 30-plus years of chain smoking and beer-guzzling, I became a teetotaling nonsmoker overnight.
What’s nearly as remarkable, to me at least, is that my taste for alcohol vanished instantly. I still enjoy non-alcoholic beer (apparently verboten among secular alcohol-abuse programs, for some strange reason), and upon occasion someone has given me the real thing by mistake. Deep in conversation, I have taken a sip, and have had to literally spit it out – the taste is foul to me now.
This is real freedom, in my book – the God-powered freedom to turn one’s back on even deep-seated behaviors in order to glorify Him instead of oneself. In my case, that meant being sober, as the apostles Paul and Peter repeatedly advised, and taking seriously Paul’s admonition that the Christian’s body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
There are those who would deny that giving up a pleasure could be called “freedom.” But the “do what thou willst” freedom they prefer leads to enslavement. Just ask someone who’s addicted to alcohol or drugs or gambling or exercise or gluttony or sex or self-importance or any of a thousand other out-of-control pleasures; if they’re being honest, they will not describe their ability to pursue their poisons of choice as freedom.
“Freedom is slavery,” George Orwell said in his book 1984. Perhaps he was merely commenting on the propaganda he imagined would drive the totalitarian societies of the future. But it seems to me there’s a lot of truth to this slogan for a “free” society, even if Orwell didn’t realize it.
--Heaven Without Her, pages 191-2
This story has a happen ending: I’m still free, 15 years later – free from both alcohol and, even more impressive, my long-standing tobacco addiction, which many experts agree is more difficult to break than crack cocaine.
But I’m just one example of thousands upon thousands who’ve been set free by the Lord. After all, for the Christian, "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Happily, there are some addiction specialists who use these truths to set hard-core addicts forever free from their bondage.
Updated from a 3/8/14 post
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