100 Sermon Illustrations on Addiction

Alcohol destroyed Pat Summerall's liver, and it almost destroyed his life.

One of the most recognized sports broadcasters in the country, Summerall had a liver transplant just over a month ago. Years of heavy drinking had rendered his liver practically useless.

Fortunately for Summerall, a compatible donor provided for his physical salvation, and Summerall's recovery from the procedure is progressing well.

“I feel a tremendous sense of obligation to whoever it was, to live two lives, not just one,” Summerall said recently in a New York Times story. “It's a terrible thing to say I'm indebted to someone you don't know or where they're from.”

As important as the liver transplant was for Summerall, however, it wasn't as vital as another transformation that took place in his life a few years ago.

“I had been getting sick a lot, throwing up blood -- and I got sick again at 4 a.m.,” Summerall recalled in a Sports Spectrum story.” I looked in the mirror, and the lights started to glow brighter until I saw what a terrible sight I was. I said to myself, 'This is not the way I want to live.'“

After bottoming out from his alcohol addiction, Summerall spent 33 days in the Betty Ford Center in California. Shortly after leaving the center, Summerall realized that alcohol wasn't the biggest problem in his life. Some close friends -- including former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry and Cowboys chaplain John Weber -- helped Summerall understand the importance of his spiritual well-being.

Summerall became a Christian at age 69 and was baptized at First Baptist Church of Euless, Texas.

“I went down in the water, and when I came up it was like a 40-pound weight had been lifted from me,” Summerall said. “I have a happier life, a healthy life and a more positive feeling about life than ever before.”

Summerall's story provides another sad example of the evils of alcohol abuse. It's a problem that's far too common, and one that costs the lives of thousands of people each year.

As much effort as we put into educating kids about those dangers, the return on the investment is minimal. Alcohol abuse is rampant among teenagers, and the problem seems only to be getting worse.

But in addition to a warning about the destructive potential of alcohol, Summerall's story also provides a compelling picture of redemption, and a reminder that nobody is beyond the reach of God's grace.

No matter how messed up a life may be, and no matter how wasted it may seem, God can work wonders with those who appear to be hopeless. Summerall is proof of that, and he's likely still alive today because of it.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate in KeruxID 25837-26027]

Ex-heavy-metal guitarist Brian “Head” Welch was baptized in the Jordan river, just weeks after quitting his band, drug habits and rock-and-roll lifestyle for religion.

Welch, a founding member of the multi-platinum metal band Korn, joined some 20 other white-robed Christian pilgrims from a Bakersfield, California, church who were immersed by their pastor, Ron Vietti, in the cool, gray waters near the shore.

Despite saying he was there to be “dunked in the water,” Welch said the ritual baptism had washed away his anger. “You know when you get angry and it builds up? I felt like hurting someone before, now I feel like hugging people,” he said.

Wearing a silver cross necklace and earring, Welch, with “Matthew 11:28,” tattooed prominently across his neck in reference to a Bible verse stood out from his fellow pilgrims.

Pastor Vietti said Welch, who also has “Jesus” tattooed across his knuckles, is already attracting a new group of young people to the message of Christianity.

“Because music is such a big thing in the world, Brian has natural avenue for sending a message. In recent weeks people have committed their lives to God because they're so inspired by his story... They think there's fire in him,” Vietti said.

Welch is one of thousands of pilgrims baptized annually in the revered river. According to Biblical tradition, John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. Baptism is a Christian sacrament marked by ritual use of water to admit and purify a new Christian.

After 13 years with the band - and the rock-and-roll lifestyle - Welch said he has become increasingly depressed and drug-addicted in recent years. “Everything that people think a rock band sees and goes through, multiply that by 10,” Welch said. “The drugs and everything you can imagine, I've got to get rid of it, man. It wasn't me.”

Welch said he has finally ended a dependency on methamphetamines and other drugs. He said he had been ready to give up on life after several addiction treatment programs did not help him, until turning his life to God allowed him to quit.

Welch said he has been angry for more than two years and that it has negatively affected everyone close to him. “My managers at Korn, I've been tormenting them for the last couple of months,” he explained. “They thought I was mad at them but I'm not. It's something inside me spiritually that needs to be fixed.”

Welch said he plans to release music and help kids. “My songs are God saying things to me, him talking to people. He's going to use me to heal people and people are going to be drawn to it, just watch, they will be.”

Korn's self-titled 1994 debut was heralded for its haunting, edgy songs. Music critics and fans attributed much of Korn's unique sound to Welch and fellow guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer. During the 1990's, the group climbed to the top ten of almost every alternative/rock station in the U.S. and Europe.

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Version used in sermon:

Most of you are not familiar with Brian “Head” Welch. He played guitar in a band called Korn. They sold literally millions of records and were considered among the top ten bands in Europe and the U.S. in the 90's.

Both fans and critics adored this band - I guess you have to be into heavy metal music to appreciate them. But I can appreciate what happened to Brian.

Brian Welch lived the storybook life of a rock star. “Everything that people think a rock band sees and goes through, multiply that by 10,” Welch said. Lots of women. Lots of drugs, especially methamphetamine. Brian became drug-addicted. He tried treatment programs but they all failed. He became more and more depressed and wanted to die.

He had a lot of anger too. Brian said, “You know when you get angry and it builds up? I felt like hurting someone.”

Earlier this year, Brian Welch figured out what his problem was. He realized there was something wrong inside him spiritually. He started going to church and studying the Bible. His favorite Bible verse was Matthew 11:28 - “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Brian liked that verse so much he tattooed the reference on his neck.

And he gave his life to Jesus Christ.

This month [March 2005], Brian and 20 others from his California church put on white robes and stepped into the Jordan River. The one in Israel. He confessed his faith in Jesus and was baptized by immersion.

It is a great thing to leave the darkness and enter the morning light. Have you?

#29213

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Early in the new film WALK THE LINE a twelve-year-old Johnny Cash is talking with his adored older brother Jack. Johnny asks how Jack is able to remember all the stories in the Bible. Jack, who wants to be a preacher, responds, “You can't help people unless you can tell 'em the right stories.”

It's a truth that the filmmakers clearly bore in mind as they made the movie. WALK THE LINE, a beautifully made film about Cash's early years, is many stories in one: a story of sin, self-absorption, recklessness, grace, and redemption.

It's not a pretty story, by any means. Johnny Cash once told ROLLING STONE that he was “the biggest sinner of them all.” He was looking back on years of drug addiction, infidelity, a failed first marriage, and more -- sins that are depicted frankly in the movie. As we see him grow more and more successful as a singer and songwriter, we also see his life and marriage begin to fall apart.

Though Johnny Cash kept singing about the Gospel message he had learned as a child, he was no longer living out that message. As he put it in the ROLLING STONE interview, “I was separated from God, and I wasn't even trying to call on Him. I knew that there was no line of communication.... I had drifted so far away from God and every stabilizing force in my life that I felt there was no hope.”

Just as he did in real life, Johnny in the movie has to hit bottom before his life begins to turn around, with the help of his future wife June Carter, her family, and their solid Christian faith.

But June had her own demons to battle. A musician and performer since the age of ten, as a young woman June had maturity well beyond her years. She went through two divorces and for years struggled against her attraction to Johnny, who for much of that time was a married man.

As I said, it's a messy, often painful story.

Johnny and June Carter Cash, however, in their later years were widely known and respected as devout Christians, people of great strength, compassion, and integrity.

I got to know Johnny when he accompanied me to what was then one of the most brutal prisons in America, the Angola penitentiary in Louisiana -- an amazing day of singing and preaching. Johnny Cash was the real thing. I can testify it, as could the hundreds of inmates who met Christ that day.

Unfortunately, this film ends before the full story of Cash's conversion to Christ and the good things he did thereafter could be told. That story would have been a great movie, but maybe that's too much to expect of Hollywood. Even so, as it is, in spite of portraying drug use and domestic violence, the film is appealing to nonbelievers, because it's the story of two seekers who, after a great deal of pain, start down the path to true healing. It does allude to God's plan, but stops there.

We need to be ready to fill in the details about how Cash found his redemption in Christ, the One who truly transforms lives.

WALK THE LINE, reviewers are saying, has Oscar written all over it, so the crowds will be huge. It's the kind of story -- the right story, as Johnny's brother, Jack, would say -- that will encourage people to examine the direction and meaning of their lives. Just be sure your friends and neighbors who see the movie know the whole story -- especially the real-life ending.

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Copyright (c) 2005 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

In Jesus’ parable of the Two Debtors, a man owes the king ten thousand talents - a huge amount of money. Jesus is obviously using exaggeration to heighten the impact of the story. But in Las Vegas one episode comes near to attaining it. Terrance Watanabe made a fortune with Oriental Trading, the mail order catalog of trinkets and novelties that just about every Vacation Bible School uses. What did Terrance do with his money? Some he gave to charity in his hometown. But a bunch of it he gambled. He likes to gamble. As a matter of fact, he has gambled almost one BILLION dollars. He is only 52 years old.

Sometimes Terrance won but often enough he lost. In a single year he lost $127 million at two Las Vegas casinos owned by Harrah’s Entertainment. He claims they suckered him with free private jet rides, free luxury rooms, cases of alcohol and even pain pills without a prescription. He would get so drunk he would walk into walls and pass out at the tables, but the casino staff would wake him up and keep him gambling. Those who tried to stop him were fired, he says.

Harrah’s says he still owes them more than $14 million. In Jesus’ parable, the gracious king erases the debt and lets the man go. Not Las Vegas. Harrah’s turned the case over to a prosecutor and is asking for restitution and jail time. (In Nevada, the state gets to keep a tithe of the money they collect in such cases.)

Watanabe admits his addictions and says he is willing to fulfill his responsibilities. He just wants a little slack. But shouldn’t the casinos bear some responsibility too?

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Adapted from the article "Gambler Wants Huge Debt Forgiven" by Richard C. Paddock, AOL News; ; December 9, 2009.

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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #26997]

Charles Colson is concerned about a trend in Christian radio that is jettisoning teaching and talk-oriented programs and replacing them with programming that is more oriented toward entertainment.

Voicing his concerns in a recent issue of Christianity Today, the founder of Prison Fellowship wrote, “One station canceled my four-minute BreakPoint commentary saying that four minutes is the equivalent of one song.... Besides, the station manager allowed, BreakPoint is too serious and not contemporary enough.”

It is not only his radio commentaries that Colson is concerned about. “Several stations recently -– many acting on the advice of a leading consulting firm –- have dropped serious programming in favor of all-music formats,” he reported. “For example, a major station in Baltimore has dropped four talk shows in order to add music.”

American society and even Christians, it seems, are surrendering to the insatiable desire to be entertained. Our quest for amusement has become not only a national past-time, it has become an addiction.

There is little about life in the United States that is not tarnished by entertainment. GameBoys, Walkmans and iPods provide fun and diversion that is portable. Cell phones and PDAs now come with games as standard equipment.

Americans pursue electronic pastimes via television and computer. The Internet, which helped usher in the information age, now is used primarily for amusement -- much of which is unseemly. And movies are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year via cable.

Professional sport even has been affected by America's entertainment addiction. The contest itself was once amusement enough. Not any more. I was treated to an NBA game recently. There I encountered non-stop entertainment. During breaks in the action there were contests, souvenir give-a-ways, dancing girls, and video replays. It was dizzying.

Even politics is dominated by entertainment. A candidate's image has become more important than a substantive platform. Televised debates are nothing more than rehearsed sound bites and staged spin. A political pundit recently declared that a particular individual would make a good candidate because he makes the public feel good.

Even the church is succumbing to the quest to be entertained. A local fellowship was once evaluated by its commitment to biblical truth. No more. Many who file in and out of houses of worship now expect a service to flow with flawless musical presentations and engaging messages peppered with humor. Conviction must now contend with amusement.

There is little in American society that has not been tainted by entertainment addiction. Perhaps we should consider the song “Let Me Entertain You” as our new national anthem.

All addiction has consequences. America's obsession with entertainment has produced a society that has become increasingly more passive toward life. It seems we would rather watch reality on television than experience it first-hand.

Entertainment is designed to appeal to an audience's emotions. Those addicted to amusement lose their desire to think critically. The entertainment addict reacts to information, and even life, based on how it makes him or her feel. Emotion, rather than fact, is the supreme barometer for those enslaved to entertainment.

Addiction is also, by its very nature, an escalating condition. That is, an addict's appetite never plateaus. Hence those obsessed with entertainment desire more and more amusement that is increasingly more spectacular. The end result is that the sensational trumps the substantive.

The attention span is the casualty of all addiction. The entertainment addict is not only easily bored and distracted, but also has difficulty retaining relevant information for a very long period of time. Those obsessed with amusement are unable to juxtapose contemporary happenings with history. Thus, current events become nothing more than passing bits of trivia.

A society addicted to entertainment is comprised of individuals whose obsession is their own pleasure. Once a people lose the desire to pursue life and to think critically, once a society fails to recognize the substantive and cultivate a historical perspective, once these realities become the rule rather than the exception, a society is in real danger.

There are many things in life that taken in moderation are not necessarily negative. Entertainment is one of them. However, America has crossed the line of moderation and is plunging headlong into addiction. It seems we are, in the words of New York University's Neil Postman, “Amusing ourselves to death.”

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Boggs is editor of the Baptist Message newspaper in Louisiana.

Americans have a generally positive view of themselves, according to a recent study by The Barna Group which found that most people perceive themselves as good people who are spiritually stable and living a good and honorable life.

“Yet, despite the spiritual focus people claim, the study found that people’s lifestyles, attitudes and self-perceptions are more likely to be affected by their life-stage and ethnic culture than by their faith commitments,” a news release from Barna said.

At least nine out of 10 people surveyed said they are “a good citizen,” “friendly” and “generous,” the study found. At least eight out of 10 said they “feel at peace,” “are clear about the meaning and purpose” of their lives, and are “making a positive difference in the world.” Among those with children, 69 percent said they are “an effective parent,” Barna reported.

Only 13 percent of respondents admitted to being “in serious debt,” and only 21 percent said they were “feeling unfulfilled.” One out of three people surveyed said they feel stressed out, Barna found, and four out of 10 admitted to being overweight.

More than eight out of 10 Americans, according to the study, believe they “live a simple life,” though 58 percent claim to be “into new technology” and 53 percent are “active in the community.” Four out of 10 adults, Barna reported, said they are still “trying to find a few good friends.” One out of eight admitted to “dealing with an addiction” that personally haunts them.

An overwhelming majority of Americans, 88 percent, “feel accepted by God,” the study found, while 62 percent consider themselves “deeply spiritual” and 59 percent would describe themselves as “a full-time servant of God.”

Eighty-four percent of Americans who responded to the survey view themselves as Christian, and 60 percent as “a committed Christian,” Barna said.

George Barna, the survey’s director, “pointed out that while most people claim that their faith is one of the fundamental self-defining elements of their life, the data indicate that people’s perspectives are more likely to be influenced by their age and ethnicity than anything else,” the news release noted.

The study was based on nine national telephone surveys conducted by The Barna Group, with each survey involving between 1,002 and 1,015 random individuals.

Illustration: I love chocolate . if I have one piece, it’s not enough. If there’ s any laying around, I’ll eat more . in fact I will often eat the addictive stuff until it’s all gone. That’s why we don’t have chocolate around our house. We don’t allow anything into our home which tempts any member with something they can’t handle. That’s one reason my family looks forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas . that’s when we bend the rules for them (they hide it . but I always find it).

Commentary: I was commenting on this to our adult Sunday School class when it suddenly occurred to me just how fond I am of chocolate. Wow! What a revelation! I really love the stuff!

The beauty of this revelation wasn’t so much the conviction I should be under (which I am) but rather the realization of just how much I truly love my Father in heaven.

For some reason (which I cannot explain) I had not, in twenty years, had a decent measure by which to judge my love of God (or my wife or kids, for that matter). This was it! An abrupt intellectual and emotional comprehension of the depth of my affection for a created thing caused me to compare one passion with another, which I also knew was very deep . my love of the Creator (yes, wife and kids, too)!

You’ll be glad to know (I certainly was), God beats chocolate by an enormous amount. Every believer should have such an epiphany . perhaps it will be for others.

{Editor’s note: don’t write me about this, I’m still growing in my love of God, chocolate reached its peak long ago}

A large billboard outside Tulsa, Oklahoma, has a large billboard which says “JesusDoesNotCare.com”. The website is sponsored by a church which emphasizes that Jesus does not care about appearances or social status, but he does care about us. A forum on the website has entries by anonymous visitors. One of them, a 27-year-old female, wrote this:

Jesus cares about my happiness!! and I am not happy right now.

Jesus doesn’t care about: How long I have been an addict.

I was driving home last night after being on a week binge, and saw this sign. I have been an addict for as long as I can remember. I am struggling at staying clean. I have been up for going on 8 days and I have finally got the nerve to go home to face my husband. He is so wonderful and I don’t want him to know my secret. I am sure his arms will be open as they always are.

I saw this sign, then I came on this web site. I have lost everything due to my addictions -- my kids, job, house -- more importantly my relationship with Jesus Christ. I am a member of [this church] but have not attended in a while.

This Sunday is Easter and I don’t have my kids but I am going to take a much needed step and go to church, come clean with my family and get the help I have been needing for years. Thank you.

Christ-honoring churches attract this kind of sinner. She is needy and even desperate and her only change so far is knowing that she needs to change and that Jesus can help her in this. These people are in our community. Are they in our church? Why not?

Anthony Hopkins is one of the most famous actors of our generation and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his work in the performing arts. He has won two Oscars and been in numerous blockbusters. Just think Hannibal Lector in his mask dreaming of fava beans...

Hopkins was a poor student but had one amazing ability - he could memorize anything. He not only memorizes his own script but everyone else’s too. As he became more famous, he turned to alcohol. Lots of it. He described himself as “hell-bent on destruction. It was like being possessed by a demon, an addiction, and I couldn’t stop.”

Hopkins realized he need help and turned to Alcoholics Anonymous. Up until then, he had been an atheist. But during an A.A. meeting, a woman asked him a simple question. “Why don’t you just trust in God?”

It was not something that Hopkins had ever tried. But he was desperate so they thought, “Well, why not?” Deciding to believe and trust in God was the moment everything changed for the actor.

Anthony says that the craving to drink was taken away from him in a miraculous way, “never to return again.” He has been sober for 49 years now.

In a CNN interview Piers Morgan asked Hopkins if he believed in God. He replied wholeheartedly, “Yes, I do. I do.”

Hopkins now says being an atheist is like “living in a closed cell with no windows.” He then added, “I’d hate to have to live like that, wouldn’t you?”

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Adapted from "Actor Sir Anthony Hopkins Turns from Alcoholism & Atheism, Becomes A Christian," by Mel Johnson, GodUpdates Contributor, January 14, 2023, .

It is estimated that Americans lost $161 billion to all forms of gambling in 2018, with $306 million of that going to online gambling. While this amount is for all types of gambling, the fastest growing kind of gambling is online. Online gambling has been increasing each year, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated that gain. As brick-and-mortar gambling sites saw a decrease in activity, online gambling venues took up the slack. Often, people turned to online gambling during the pandemic for entertainment during long days and nights of being stuck indoors. This created the perfect storm for gambling on the 2022 Super Bowl. It is estimated that 31 million people bet more than $7.6 billion on Super Bowl LVI, an increase of 35% over 2021.

With 71% of Americans believing that gambling is morally acceptable, and only 36% of Christians believing that sports betting is morally wrong, it is clear that America has a gambling problem. It isn’t only sports betting online that is exploding. The internet offers practically any kind of gambling that someone could desire.

The internet has certain built-in features that make gambling more dangerous for people, too. Gambling is available 24/7 to anyone with a computer and an internet connection in their homes, which is more than 77% of Americans, or more than 250 million people. In addition, anyone who wants to gamble can easily circumvent age requirements by lying about their age. The fact that people can gamble in the privacy of their homes increases the likelihood that they will gamble more often and for longer periods of time. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to restrict access to online gambling for people who know they have a gambling problem.

Regrettably, most governments have succumbed to the constant barrage of gambling lobbying and voter initiatives. The vast majority of Americans can buy lottery tickets, play the standard forms of brick-and-mortar gambling like poker, roulette, and even slots, and bet on multiple sporting events all from the privacy and anonymity of their home computer screens.

While we can’t prevent people from accessing these myriad gambling opportunities, we can help them understand that God has a better way. This should be especially true for Christians. We who have professed Jesus Christ as Lord have committed to live faithful lives before him and the world. We must look to God’s Word for guidance in all things, including whether or not to gamble, and why.

Getting to the heart of gambling

To know what the Bible has to say about gambling, it can be helpful to know why people gamble and then look at what Scripture has to say about that. People gamble for a variety of reasons, but regardless of the reason, the Bible points to a better way. Below are the principal reasons that people gamble and the Bible’s better answer to the need they are trying to meet with their gambling.

Some people gamble to get money. This is the primary reason most people gamble. It is a demonstrable fact that more people gamble as the jackpot increases or they place a high value on the prize. The Christian who gambles in order to win money has failed to understand or accept that God desires to be their provider. Scripture says God will supply all the needs of the person who puts his trust in God (Matt. 10:31; Phil. 4:19). The person who gambles out of greed or for worldly wealth is valuing the wrong thing (Luke 12:15). The person who gambles out of financial desperation is trusting in the wrong source for his need. Even if he wins enough to escape his destitution, which is highly unlikely, he has chosen to reject God’s way to meet his needs (Matt. 6:33).

Some people gamble for entertainment. This is another primary reason people gamble. People will often gamble online because they are bored or they are looking for a distraction. And some people argue that gambling is just a form of entertainment, like going to a movie or a restaurant, but that is not true. No one will lose all of his retirement savings by visiting a restaurant or going to a movie, but some people will lose that and more from gambling. Christians need to consider what they are supporting and empowering when they spend their God-provided money. God calls Christians to be good stewards of their possessions, that includes their money (Luke 6:10-13). When we empower gambling venues with our money, we help keep them in business to prey on people with gambling addictions. Empowering institutions that ruin people’s lives for a few moments of entertainment is not something that Christians should take part in (Eph. 5:11).

Some people gamble to feel important or special. Casinos, whether brick-and-mortar or online, specialize in selling an illusion to people. They make them feel important in exchange for their money. Some people crave this attention and return over and over because it feeds their sense of importance and value. Any anything we rely upon apart from the Lord for our value is an idol (Psalm 135:18). The Bible tells us that God is best able to tell us of our worth and importance. Jesus can give a person a permanent realization of her worth. We are so loved by God that he sent Jesus to die a gruesome death on a cross in order to redeem us for himself (John 3:16). Through Jesus, the Christian is a child of God. That is a permanent status that should see any Christian through feelings of inadequacy or self-doubt (2 Tim. 2:13).

Some people gamble to compete against others. There is nothing wrong with healthy competition. However, when that competition threatens to destroy another person, it is no longer healthy. The Bible reminds us that we are our brother’s keeper and that we should love others as ourselves (Matt. 22:39). We have a responsibility to look out for each other. Gambling encourages the exact opposite. The only money available through gambling is the money that someone else has lost. Neighbor love calls on Christians to think of others more highly than we think of ourselves (Mark 12:31; Phil. 2:3). Gambling makes us predators rather than protectors.

Some people gamble for the thrill. Again, there is nothing in the Bible that tells us to live boring, uneventful lives. In fact, Jesus told his disciples that they would have joyful, meaningful lives through faith in him (John 10:10). The question that a thrill-seeking gambler needs to ask is whether or not the thrill of gambling is the best source of joy, happiness, excitement, or meaning. Gambling’s thrill often comes at someone else’s expense. Your involvement can perpetuate the predatory nature of the gambling industry. And while the thrill of gambling might last for a few seconds, in the end it is replaced by disappointment. If a person wins, it will not satisfy the longings of her soul (Eccl. 5:10). If a person loses, which he almost always does, he is left with emptiness and a potentially significant loss of resources. When the thrill is placed in the prospect of winning and the result is the opposite, that is a sucker’s bet. Jesus offers true and lasting joy (John 15:11).

Some people gamble to escape their problems. Gambling offers escape for a short while. In the end, however, it adds to people’s problems. Once gambling’s distraction is gone, the person’s problems remain and are compounded by the loss of money, which may very well be a principal reason the person was seeking a distraction in the first place. Jesus called on people to admit their problems and place them on him, not run from them (Matt. 11:28-30). The Apostle Peter wrote that Christians can place all their cares on the Lord because he cares for them (1 Pet. 5:7). Christianity encourages people to acknowledge their problems and sins and turn to God for help with them. He is ready and able to help those who admit their need and seek him. Anything else we run to for help will fall short.

Some people gamble to feel hopeful. It is hard to carry on when hope is lost. Gambling offers a temporary hope that seldom rewards the person who leans on it. Until the ball falls in the slot on the roulette wheel or the last card is turned over, the gambler feels all the hope in the world. Anything is possible in that moment, but then all that hope is dashed and even greater fear and hopelessness rushes in. God, on the other hand, is the God of second chances. He has demonstrated in the Bible and in countless lives all around us that those who put their trust in him will never be disappointed or hopeless (Rom. 15:4). God is greater than any problem someone might have and greater than any obstacle that stands in their way (Phil. 4:19).

Whether someone is gambling online or at a casino, the Bible makes it clear that any activity that replaces trust in God with luck dethrones God in that person’s life. God ordained work as our means of support. From the beginning, when God put our original parents in the Garden, he revealed that he designed us to work (Gen. 2:15) as a means of his provision for us. Gambling perverts that design and promises something for nothing. That promise is as empty as the serpent’s first deception. Luck is the sand that will not support a life. God is the rock that will (Matt. 7:24-27).

There is more to be said about gambling, yet regardless of why someone gambles, God is the better choice. Gambling is a false idol. It destroys, perverts, and lies to people who look to it for anything. The true source of happiness and meaning in life is found in God. He alone can deliver what he promises. He alone is dependable and trustworthy. We must all learn to trust him and place our hope and futures in him. When we do that, we will never be disappointed. May Jesus be Lord in our lives.

Nine-year-old Sierra still gets a little nervous if her mom isn’t home on time. But these days mom is never more than a cell phone call away.

“I always pick up when she calls,” Amanda Ortiz says. “I reassure her that we don’t live the way we used to anymore and she doesn’t have to worry.”

Ortiz is in the process of allowing God to rebuild her life -- a life that went terribly wrong when left under her control.

In her early 20s, Ortiz had pulled herself together. Drug addiction, abuse and dysfunction dominated her teen years and she did not want that for her children.

“I felt I had my life in control. I was a dedicated wife and mother and even considered myself a Christian,” she says. “Yet inwardly, I found myself on a trip downward, heading back for a breakdown of my self-control.”

Ortiz desperately wanted to be there for Sierra and her son Jordan. She vowed never to be like her own mom -- a drug addict -- who lost her children to Child Protective Services when Ortiz was only 3.

Yet in mid-2007 Ortiz relapsed into addiction; her husband left with Sierra and Jordan; and she was in jail -- again -- for stealing money to support her habit. “I completely lost myself,” she says. “I hit rock bottom and lost everything that had meaning in my life.”

She was all alone -- or so she thought -- until the jail’s routine health evaluation revealed she was carrying a little life inside her.

“I was so scared,” Ortiz recounts. “I was afraid of what I had done to my baby by using drugs while I was pregnant. I was afraid of giving birth to her in jail and of not being able to provide for her when I got out.”

Ortiz needed a change. Not just a change in behavior or circumstances, but a heart change. She found that change through a Bible study called “Road to Freedom.”

“I finally learned the meaning of true repentance and surrender,” she says. “Now I choose to keep Christ before anything and in every choice and decision I make in my life. I know without Him I’m lost.”

God is rebuilding Ortiz’s life. “I cannot count the blessings God has given since I truly gave my heart to Him,” she says.

Her sentence was reduced so that she was out of jail when baby Eliana was born on Dec. 11, 2008. God provided a loving Christian family to take her in when she had no home of her own.

And then Ortiz met Lorna Fike, a Mission Service Corps missionary working with the Austin (Texas) Pregnancy Resource Center. “I had no clothes and no medical care when I got out of jail,” Ortiz says. “The center helped with material goods, Medicaid problems and spiritual encouragement. They became family to me.”

Most important, God has restored Ortiz’s relationship with her children.

“I’m able to show them the love and attention I couldn’t before,” she says. “And I’m very careful what I teach them. It’s all about loving them and planting a solid foundation in their hearts.”

Things are still going well for Ortiz and her children. Little Eliana has celebrated her first birthday and is beginning to walk and talk. Sierra is an honor student at her elementary school and Ortiz was elated when she was recently awarded joint custody of Jordan.

“God has been so good to us,” she says. “Sometimes I worry about the future, but when I look back over all God has brought us through, I know he will carry us the rest of the way.”

The Austin Pregnancy Resource Center played a vital role in helping Ortiz.

The North American Mission Board partners with 270 pregnancy resource centers throughout the United States. Last year those centers received 156,292 visits from women in a crisis pregnancy. Whether it’s helping a woman choose life over abortion, helping a teen learn mothering skills or helping a troubled young mom make the transition from life in jail to new life in Christ, pregnancy care centers are there to provide hope and healing in the name of Jesus.

Because of the NAMB pregnancy centers, nearly 7,000 babies were saved from abortion in 2009. Additionally, more than 3,900 women accepted Christ as pregnancy center staff members shared the Gospel with them.

Some 6.3 million women face a crisis pregnancy in the United States each year, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. More than 1.3 million of those pregnancies end in abortion. Pregnancy resource centers exist nationwide to tell these women there is hope and a future for them and their babies in Jesus Christ.

________

Jami Becher is a writer for the North American Mission Board. This article is reprinted from the board’s On Mission magazine.

In an old Charlie Chaplin film there is a scene in which he is captured in battle and attached to his leg is a ball and chain. The heavy ball keeps him from escaping and it is too securely fastened to be pried off. So he clandestinely digs a hole and buries the ball, covering it up so that it is no longer visible. With the ball completely covered, he turns to leave, only to fall flat on his face.

It’s an epidemic of shocking proportions. And Christians aren’t immune. I’m talking about the scourge of heroin.

Last week the Centers for Disease Control issued a sobering, and at times, frightening report about the rise of heroin use in the United States.

For most people, heroin is something foreign, something that impacts “other people” in “those” neighborhoods, so the suffering and tragedy caused by the drug is someone else’s problem.

They couldn’t be more wrong. The epidemic of heroin use is everyone’s problem, and by “everyone” I also mean Christians.

According to the CDC, heroin use in the United States increased by more than 60 percent between 2004 and 2013. That’s bad enough, but if you look at the numbers more closely, they get even scarier.

Heroin use doubled among women; rose 114 percent among whites; and rose 109 percent among people between the ages of 18 and 25. And during the same period, the rate of deaths by overdose nearly quadrupled.

Almost as striking as the numbers is the geography of the heroin scourge. As Sam Quiñones documents in his devastating new book, “Dreamland,” the areas hardest hit by the heroin epidemic aren’t places like New York or L.A., but places like Charlotte, Nashville, and especially West Virginia and Ohio.

As Quiñones tells readers, the rise in heroin use was made possible by the widespread abuse of synthetic opiates, most famously Oxycontin and Vicodin. This abuse, in turn, was facilitated by two bad ideas.

The first was that these drugs were, somehow, not addictive. This required, as one doctor told Quiñones, throwing out “ten thousand years of reality” about the addictive nature of opiates.

People were willing to ignore reality because, in the 1980s and 1990s, living pain-free literally came to be seen as a kind of human right: in fact the World Health Organization claims “freedom from pain as a universal human right.”

And no country took this “right” more to heart than the United States. With only 5 percent of the world’s population, we consume 80 percent of the world’s synthetic opiates.

These bad ideas, coupled with the over prescribing of these pills produced hundreds of thousands of opiate addicts. Eventually, when governments cracked down and made the pills harder to obtain, addicts turned to the cheap and more potent heroin imported from Mexico.

The result was the epidemic of heroin overdoses the CDC reported on.

The extent of the epidemic isn’t the only surprising aspect of this story. Another surprise is the kind of people being caught up in the epidemic. Heroin use has spread from inner cities and unemployed factory workers in the “Rust Belt” to kids and the suburbs.

And that brings me back to Christians. Quiñones begins the story of the epidemic by telling the story of a Christian family in Columbus, Ohio. Both of their sons went to a Christian high school. While one graduated from a Christian college and went on to grad school at Yale, the younger son became addicted to synthetic opiates and eventually died from a heroin overdose.

Just as sad is the story of the Russian Pentecostal immigrants in Portland, Oregon. Their ancestors kept the faith despite Soviet persecution. And yet, as Quiñones, writes “Remaining Christian in America, where everything was permitted, was harder than maintaining the faith in the Soviet Union where nothing was allowed.”

Within a few decades, hundreds of their kids became heroin addicts.

My goal isn’t to alarm you but, instead, open your eyes to the fact that our kids face threats we couldn’t have imagined when we were growing up. If you think “it can’t happen here,” you’re wrong.

________

Copyright (c) 2015 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we see references to witchcraft -- Galatians 5:20 and Revelation 21:8 are a couple of examples.

The shock for most folks is to learn that the word witchcraft (or sorcery in some translations) is actually the Greek word pharmakeia. Sound a little familiar? That’s because it’s the same word from which we get our word pharmacy.

Why bring this up? Because nowadays, there seems to be a pill for everything and plenty of encouragement to try them all. And because of this attitude of “a pill will fix it,” senior adults, including well-intended Christians, are being overmedicated with painkillers, antidepressants and other mind- and behavior-altering drugs at an increasing rate. We think of drug addiction as a problem among young people. While most senior adults aren’t out on the street trying to get a hit from their local dealer, what they are doing is getting a slew of prescription drugs from their doctors.

Here are just a few eye-opening statistics:

• DrugAbuse.gov says that while people age 65 and older make up only 13 percent of the population, they account for more than one-third of the money spent on outpatient prescriptions in the U.S. Meanwhile, AgingCare.com notes that 40 percent of all the prescription medications sold in the U.S. is for senior adults.

• According to the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information, up to 17 percent of senior adults abuse prescription drugs.

• A USAToday.com article quotes Betty Van Amburgh, a 68-year-old who had become drug-addicted, as saying, “The doctors just kept prescribing them. ... I was a zombie.” Betty went through several back surgeries 20 years earlier and, all these years later, doctors were still keeping her stocked with painkillers.

The same article went on to warn that older patients are being loaded with opioid painkillers and benzodiazepine anxiety drugs, with a 20 percent increase in opioid prescriptions in the last five years -- more than double the growth rate of the senior adult population.

So what are we to make of all this?

If you need a pill to go to sleep, a pill to wake up and a pill to keep you going in between, you may be overmedicating, or if you’re experiencing fuzzy thinking and difficulty keeping your balance. I realize that certain conditions require medication on a regular basis, so please don’t think I’m being critical of those who truly need these drugs. My concern is for those who have been prescribed so much for so long that they’re simply not sure what they need or what they can do without.

Many seniors experience falls and dementia-like symptoms simply from being overmedicated. It’s so important to keep all your doctors aware of all your medications. Regardless of how many doctors you may have, make sure each of them is provided with a full list of your medications. One doctor unaware of the medication being prescribed by another doctor could easily put you on a drug that’s dangerous or even life-threatening when combined with certain other medications.

If you’re a caregiver, relative or close friend of a senior adult you believe is being overmedicated, encourage or even assist him in writing down all his medications -- including over-the-counter meds and nutritional supplements his doctor may not be aware of -- and scheduling an appointment to have his medications reevaluated and, hopefully, some dosages reduced or eliminated.

And, certainly, let’s pray for those who are dealing with this terrible problem -- for those who are overmedicated and have become drug-addicted and for those who love them and are trying to help, remembering the instruction of Scripture: “Therefore be clear-minded and sober, so you can pray” (1 Peter 4:7b, Berean Study Bible).

Gary Haran was so committed to playing a video game called World of Warcraft (WOW) that he decided he had to quit in order to reclaim his life. So he started a website devoted to World of Warcraft addicts who needed a place to talk about their compulsive game playing. When his website went live, the first day there were about 20 posts. By the time he sold the website there were 20,000 daily posts from players who wanted to talk about their obsessive dedication to the video game. (1)

Video game addiction can have deadly consequences:

• In 2009, a three-month-old South Korean child died from malnutrition when her parents spent their free time in an internet café raising a virtual child in an online game.

• An American father’s 10-month-old twin sons drowned in a bathtub while he went into another room to continue playing a video game.

Let me be clear: This is not an article about the dangers of any video game. It is an article about passion -- what we choose to commit ourselves to.

That truth cuts two ways. If we commit our hearts to something negative, the outcome can be hurtful, even deadly. But if we allow the passion of the heart to be directed toward God, then the outcome can be life-giving and life-saving.

Power of passion

Solomon summarized the power of the human heart in two lines: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Let me cite a couple truths:

• The what

The Hebrew verb for keep is an imperative form -- it is a command. Commands in Scripture are not optional.

Diligence translates a Hebrew word that describes a guard in a jail. It suggests that a guard does whatever is necessary to keep his prisoners from escaping. Reverse the image with regard to the heart: Instead of keeping something from escaping, do whatever is necessary to keep anything harmful from coming in.

Summary: We must take all precautions to protect and keep our hearts safe.

• The why

We are to guard our heart ruthlessly, “for out of it spring the issues of life.” Or, more literally, “for from [the heart] flow the springs of life” (NASB).

The passion of the human heart is so powerful that it impacts the kinds of lives we live -- the heart is where life starts. And, as we have seen, sometimes it is where life ends. It all depends on where our passion is directed.

It is the heart, Jesus says, that determines how we express ourselves in this life. The object of our passions will determine the display of our passions. The heart is that powerful.

Process of passion

Before we talk about protecting your heart -- the seat of your passion -- notice how you make deposits in the treasury of your heart over time. In Luke 6:45, Jesus says that “a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good.” Treasure refers to a storehouse -- a place where one builds up a treasure over time. That’s why consistent meditation on the Word of God and fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit are so important.

We must take Jesus’ words seriously. Our lives ultimately will reveal the nature of what has been stored up in our hearts. All of us have had momentary, impulsive failures. But we must believe that from the heart spring forth the issues of life. If we are to avoid the sadness and shame of failure in our lives, we must learn to safeguard the source of our spiritual and emotional lives.

Protecting your passion

The media is full of “healthy heart” tips today that we should follow, but even more important are efforts we can make to safeguard the wellspring of our spiritual life, including:

1. Don’t leave your first love, Jesus Christ. Meet with Christ daily, intimately and devotedly. And be in touch with Him moment by moment throughout every day.

2. Be on the alert. Recognize that Satan wants to steal your affection for God (1 Peter 5:8).

3. Love God with all your heart. Jesus said giving God our whole hearts is part of our highest priority (Matthew 22:37). A daily choice to give God all your heart will not allow room for diversions.

4. Do not lose heart. In times of trouble or distress, Satan will be there to see if you will lose heart. If you do, he will encourage you to pursue an ungodly path. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).

Remember: Your heart is the seat of your emotional and spiritual passion in life. Do not allow it to be devoted to anything less than its true object -- God.

________

(1) http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun (accessed 2-10-14)

A mortal affliction affects much of America’s heartland. Known as “deaths of despair,” both the Rust Belt and Appalachia have seen incredible spikes in rates of addiction, overdoses, violence, and suicide. In addition to the thousands who die each year by various forms of self-harm, thousands more live Gollum-like, trapped by their chemical chains and in loneliness.

It is a complex situation. While we must not diminish anyone’s moral agency, the downward paths we are on are paved, lined, and greased by a number of contributing factors. For example, Beth Macy, the author of the book Dope Sick, has documented the lethal partnership of doctors and drug companies, not to mention the co-option of government oversight agencies, which inflicted a plague of highly addictive opioids on some of America’s poorest areas of the country.

A new recent study, however, points to an additional complexity, an oft-ignored element of this cultural disease: the decline of religion. According to the study’s authors, there is some correlation between the end of so-called “Blue Laws” and the opioid epidemic. In certain parts of the country, Blue Laws have long limited the range of activities allowed on Sundays. Certain businesses were not allowed to be open, and certain things (especially alcohol) could not be sold. Though these laws continue in certain areas, particularly in Europe, they began to disappear in parts of the United States as the 20th century wore on, to the point that now they are few and far between.

Of course, a significant, culture-wide phenomenon like the opioid crisis cannot be reduced to something as simplistic as whether or not people can shop on Sunday. To do that would be to mistake correlation for causation, kind of like saying murders go up with ice cream sales. And this is something the study’s authors readily admit.

Rather than claiming that the end of Blue Laws created the opioid crisis, they use the end of Blue Laws as a marker to track the decline in American religiosity. The diminishing connections to faith in communities across the country, especially in those areas where they were once so strong, are among the factors that contributed to our nation’s chemical plague. In other words, Blue Laws are a kind of canary in the coal mine, marking when we’ve crossed a dangerous line.

In light of these diminishing religious commitments, reinstating Blue Laws likely will not lead to a reversal in rates of addictions or other deaths of despair. Even if they were an important part of our cultural life of faith at one time, too much has changed for such an easy fix. However, what these laws represented and what has been lost as they disappear points to the underlying causes, not only of the opioid crisis of but many of our parallel pains as well.

What we need to ask is, in a mix of Friedrich Nietzsche and REM, what is the cost of losing our religion?

As much as we prize our individualism, particularly here in America, human beings aren’t just dust motes of consciousness, floating on the air currents of life. We’re connected, not just to one another, but to a host of other elements through relationships that give us meaning, identity, direction, and hope. To be healthy, as individuals and as communities, these relationships (upward, inward, outward, and downward) must be strong.

Human beings need a connection to something beyond ourselves, something higher and transcendent in order to find ourselves, to know who and what we are, to be sure of our identity. We need connections with one another, especially the links of family and friendship, in order to be accountable, supported, and complete. And, we need proper connection to the physical world around us, so to be tethered to reality through things like meaningful labor, a place to call home, and some part of the world to call “mine.”

Marx got it wrong. Religion isn’t the opiate of the masses, but instead a part of life most needed, irreplaceable by technological convenience or scientific mastery. The loss of religion has been a bad idea wherever it has been tried, and those suffering across Appalachia and the Rust Belt are some of its most obvious victims. By abandoning religion, specifically the Christianity which once provided meaning to these now missing relationships, the essential connection between individuals and communities and a higher purpose has been lost.

As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said all the way back in 1983, “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.” Blue Laws didn’t hold off the effects of substance abuse, but the religious impulse that such laws represented were part of a way of seeing life and the world, one in which we weren’t just reduced to being cogs or animals or sexual expressions. The Christianity that the world has rejected offers the hope that the world so desperately needs.

________

Copyright (c) 2022 Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission. "BreakPoint" is a radio ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries.

When Manuel Pumisacho accepted Christ as Savior, he was so drunk he could barely walk.

Pumisacho, a Quichua Indian from Zambiza, Ecuador, had just left his favorite bar. His shirt was torn and bloody from a fistfight.

As he staggered down the street toward home, Pumisacho began to sense God's presence. "Why am I like this?" he thought, remembering times his Christian brother-in-law had shared his faith with him. "If there's a God who loves me, I'd like to know him."

Pumisacho started crying and fell on his knees. "Lord, forgive me of my sins," he prayed. "Change my life. I want to be a good man."

Immediately, Pumisacho no longer felt drunk. "In that moment, a miracle took place," he says. "I sensed that alcohol no longer had control of me."

His wife noticed the change as soon as she saw him. Often when he came home drunk, she'd run to hide so he wouldn't abuse her. But tonight it was different. "I told her Christ had changed my life," Pumisacho recalls. "I said, 'Please forgive me. I'm not going to hit you anymore. I love you.'"

As Pumisacho tells this story more than 20 years later, his voice shakes with emotion, and he wipes away tears. Missionary Mark Robbins, translating for him, pauses as Pumisacho regains his composure.

"It's amazing what God does when he touches a life," interjects Robbins, Pumisacho's prayer partner and a Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionary from Pensacola, Fla.

Before his conversion, Pumisacho was following in the footsteps of his father, who died of alcoholism when Pumisacho was 13. His mother died the same year. But when he met Christ at age 24, Pumisacho's life took a dramatic turn.

Soon he got a job as a janitor at a Christian school in Quito, Ecuador's capital. Later school officials trained him as a mechanic. While in that job, Pumisacho felt God's call to preach.

Since he had only an elementary school education, he went back to school at night. He couldn't afford school supplies, so he got paper from used notebooks other students had thrown away. Later he became the first indigenous student to attend the Baptist seminary in Quito.

He even earned a law degree so he could stand up for the rights of Ecuador's indigenous evangelicals, who often experience religious persecution by followers of a religion that mixes Roman Catholicism and indigenous beliefs. Pumisacho himself has suffered persecution while sharing the gospel among indigenous people, who comprise about 40 percent of Ecuador's population.

The first time it happened was during a service at Belen de Cocotog Baptist Church near Quito, where Pumisacho now is pastor. A mob of townspeople burst into the sanctuary and began hitting the congregation with sticks. The attackers -- who included some of Pumisacho's relatives -- brought with them the community band, which played during the beatings. Later four police trucks arrived to dispel the violence.

Another episode occurred about a decade ago in the town of Chachas while Pumisacho was leading a home Bible study. A drunken crowd stormed the house and began beating the worshipers, including Pumisacho's pregnant wife.

"The children were screaming," he recalls. "We were crying and praying for God's protection."

Meanwhile, their opponents doused the house with gasoline to set it on fire. But when they began striking matches, none of them would light. "We believe nothing happened because we were praying so hard," Pumisacho says.

During the confrontation, Pumisacho dodged a blow that accidentally hit another attacker. Soon the mob began fighting each other. In the chaos, the believers fled. Pumisacho and his family spent the night hiding in a field. Later police escorted them out of town.

Pumisacho stayed away from Chachas until earlier this year, when local officials allowed a team of Florida Baptist volunteers to lead evangelistic medical clinics there. Through the team's work, 15 people accepted Christ. A week later Pumisacho, Robbins and International Service Corps worker Mike Biggio, a former Roman Catholic from Montgomery, Ala., returned to Chachas to lead a Bible study. Forty-five people showed up.

Today Pumisacho teaches a weekly Bible study -- without opposition -- in a home within view of the place where he was attacked years before. "After some suffering, I feel real joy knowing the Lord opened this door," he says.

"I thank God for the persecution," the pastor adds. "Now I fear no one. I don't worry about anything. I have complete trust in the Lord."

#4473

*

Alcohol destroyed Pat Summerall's liver, and it almost destroyed his life.

One of the most recognized sports broadcasters in the country, Summerall had a liver transplant just over a month ago. Years of heavy drinking had rendered his liver practically useless.

Fortunately for Summerall, a compatible donor provided for his physical salvation, and Summerall's recovery from the procedure is progressing well.

“I feel a tremendous sense of obligation to whoever it was, to live two lives, not just one,” Summerall said recently in a New York Times story. “It's a terrible thing to say I'm indebted to someone you don't know or where they're from.”

As important as the liver transplant was for Summerall, however, it wasn't as vital as another transformation that took place in his life a few years ago.

“I had been getting sick a lot, throwing up blood -- and I got sick again at 4 a.m.,” Summerall recalled in a Sports Spectrum story.” I looked in the mirror, and the lights started to glow brighter until I saw what a terrible sight I was. I said to myself, 'This is not the way I want to live.'“

After bottoming out from his alcohol addiction, Summerall spent 33 days in the Betty Ford Center in California. Shortly after leaving the center, Summerall realized that alcohol wasn't the biggest problem in his life. Some close friends -- including former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry and Cowboys chaplain John Weber -- helped Summerall understand the importance of his spiritual well-being.

Summerall became a Christian at age 69 and was baptized at First Baptist Church of Euless, Texas.

“I went down in the water, and when I came up it was like a 40-pound weight had been lifted from me,” Summerall said. “I have a happier life, a healthy life and a more positive feeling about life than ever before.”

Summerall's story provides another sad example of the evils of alcohol abuse. It's a problem that's far too common, and one that costs the lives of thousands of people each year.

As much effort as we put into educating kids about those dangers, the return on the investment is minimal. Alcohol abuse is rampant among teenagers, and the problem seems only to be getting worse.

But in addition to a warning about the destructive potential of alcohol, Summerall's story also provides a compelling picture of redemption, and a reminder that nobody is beyond the reach of God's grace.

No matter how messed up a life may be, and no matter how wasted it may seem, God can work wonders with those who appear to be hopeless. Summerall is proof of that, and he's likely still alive today because of it.

*

[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate in KeruxID 25837-26027]

At times, Ellis Brasher still wonders why God kept him alive decades ago when he was hopping from bar to bar, town to town, and jail cell to jail cell, wanting nothing more than another beer, another buzz.

Brasher, 83, testifies today to the saving power of the Gospel from his life as a drifter.

By his count, he was arrested nearly 50 times across four states, spending time in nine jails. His life was the stuff of outlaw movies: alcohol, hanging with the wrong crowd and talking to the wrong girls, with a fight or two here and there. He had trouble holding a job, and it wasn’t rare for his boss or co-worker to bail him out of jail.

“I firmly believe God kept me alive so that I could be a testimony to other people,” Brasher says, after 51 years of marriage to his wife Irene and nearly 55 years being dry.

For a long time, however, Brasher appeared headed for an early death.

Raised in church and the son of a deacon, his weakness for alcohol was obvious from the moment he took his first sip. By the time of his 25th arrest at age 25, he was facing a 60-day sentence at a Mississippi jail when the sheriff -- a friend of the family -- urged him to attend a free six-week alcoholism treatment center, paid for by the state. Facing health problems and nightly 104-degree fevers, Brasher agreed, and for a while, things looked up. He got off the bottle, got on a doctor-prescribed drug and went back to work.

Less than three months later, though, he was drinking again, living in his car and, eventually, he was back in jail.

This time, his widowed mother intervened, and the two of them moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, a transition that Brasher favored because, he figured, there were no jobs left for him back in Mississippi. And it worked, for about 60 days.

When Brasher began drinking again, this time he nearly died. One day, jail officials took him to the local hospital for an IV injection because he was in such pain they feared he wouldn’t live another night. On another occasion, Brasher contemplated suicide and might have followed through if not for the fact his mother and sister needed him.

Brasher had given up trying to quit drinking. “I think I may have been hoping for death,” he says.

When Brasher was working, he always visited the bar soon after he clocked out. One of his favorite beer joints was the Hi-Hat, which was run by a 6-foot-6, 250-pound man named Jack -- a man who Brasher accidentally ticked off once when the two were sitting together.

“Without any warning he backhanded me in the face with that club of a hand, knocked me off the bar stool, across the floor and under a pool table,” Brasher recounts. “...Jack is towering over me like a huge gorilla saying, ‘Come on out. I’m gonna kill you.’”

At 5-foot-10 and 140 pounds, Brasher didn’t stand much of a chance, but he rushed the large man, knocked him over, and somehow got him in a tight headlock. Jack, desperately struggling to breathe, promised not to bother Brasher if he let him go, and so Brasher loosened his grip and then sprinted out the door.

But on a different night, Brasher nearly didn’t survive. While living with his mother, he came home drunk and unknowingly set the bed on fire while passed out with a lit cigarette. Smoked filled his room, but his mom woke up, dragged him out of bed and then dowsed the fire. The next morning, Brasher asked what happened.

“When I finally looked in my bedroom, the mattress springs were all burned out and laying on the floor,” Brasher says.

Brasher took his last drink of alcohol in January 1962, crediting the power of God and an Alcoholics Anonymous group for helping end his addiction.

But it was a co-worker, in 1968, who planted the seeds of the Gospel, telling Brasher about “salvation, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and many other aspects of true belief.”

“He witnessed to me very strongly,” Brasher says. “He made the remark, ‘I think the Holy Spirit is speaking to you right now.’ That’s the very first time I had ever experienced that, and I was confused.

“I began to realize that sooner or later I was going to have to do something about it,” he says.

Yet he delayed his personal decision more than 25 years, rarely attending church. Finally, one day in the early 1990s, he asked his wife if she wanted to start going to church with him. “Yes, I thought you would never ask,” she replied.

“It had been in the back of my mind all the time. A lot of times when I was traveling, I would be in a hotel and pick up a Gideon Bible and read those. I kept thinking, ‘I have to do more.’ I read a little of the Bible every time I was in a hotel,” Brasher says.

It took him a few more weeks, but Brasher finally committed his life to Christ, walking down the aisle at a church service, having been prompted by the testimony of a man the previous Sunday who had lived a similar life. Shortly thereafter, he was baptized.

Today, Brasher and his wife attend Calvary Baptist Church in Rusk, Texas.

Brasher wants his testimony to serve as an example of the power of the Gospel -- that anyone, even an alcoholic who has been arrested dozens of times, can be saved. But he also wants to encourage Christians to share their testimony with others, not giving up if they don’t see results. To this day, the co-worker who witnessed to Brasher and planted the seeds of the Gospel, does not know how the story ended.

“Miracles,” Brasher says, “happen every day.”

________

Michael Foust is a writer and editor based in Illinois. This article first appeared at the Southern Baptist TEXAN (www.texanonline.net), newsjournal of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

When Manuel Pumisacho accepted Christ as Savior, he was so drunk he could barely walk.

Pumisacho, a Quichua Indian from Zambiza, Ecuador, had just left his favorite bar. His shirt was torn and bloody from a fistfight.

As he staggered down the street toward home, Pumisacho began to sense God's presence. "Why am I like this?" he thought, remembering times his Christian brother-in-law had shared his faith with him. "If there's a God who loves me, I'd like to know him."

Pumisacho started crying and fell on his knees. "Lord, forgive me of my sins," he prayed. "Change my life. I want to be a good man."

Immediately, Pumisacho no longer felt drunk. "In that moment, a miracle took place," he says. "I sensed that alcohol no longer had control of me."

His wife noticed the change as soon as she saw him. Often when he came home drunk, she'd run to hide so he wouldn't abuse her. But tonight it was different. "I told her Christ had changed my life," Pumisacho recalls. "I said, 'Please forgive me. I'm not going to hit you anymore. I love you.'"

As Pumisacho tells this story more than 20 years later, his voice shakes with emotion, and he wipes away tears. Missionary Mark Robbins, translating for him, pauses as Pumisacho regains his composure.

"It's amazing what God does when he touches a life," interjects Robbins, Pumisacho's prayer partner and a Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionary from Pensacola, Fla.

Before his conversion, Pumisacho was following in the footsteps of his father, who died of alcoholism when Pumisacho was 13. His mother died the same year. But when he met Christ at age 24, Pumisacho's life took a dramatic turn.

Soon he got a job as a janitor at a Christian school in Quito, Ecuador's capital. Later school officials trained him as a mechanic. While in that job, Pumisacho felt God's call to preach.

Since he had only an elementary school education, he went back to school at night. He couldn't afford school supplies, so he got paper from used notebooks other students had thrown away. Later he became the first indigenous student to attend the Baptist seminary in Quito.

He even earned a law degree so he could stand up for the rights of Ecuador's indigenous evangelicals, who often experience religious persecution by followers of a religion that mixes Roman Catholicism and indigenous beliefs. Pumisacho himself has suffered persecution while sharing the gospel among indigenous people, who comprise about 40 percent of Ecuador's population.

The first time it happened was during a service at Belen de Cocotog Baptist Church near Quito, where Pumisacho now is pastor. A mob of townspeople burst into the sanctuary and began hitting the congregation with sticks. The attackers -- who included some of Pumisacho's relatives -- brought with them the community band, which played during the beatings. Later four police trucks arrived to dispel the violence.

Another episode occurred about a decade ago in the town of Chachas while Pumisacho was leading a home Bible study. A drunken crowd stormed the house and began beating the worshipers, including Pumisacho's pregnant wife.

"The children were screaming," he recalls. "We were crying and praying for God's protection."

Meanwhile, their opponents doused the house with gasoline to set it on fire. But when they began striking matches, none of them would light. "We believe nothing happened because we were praying so hard," Pumisacho says.

During the confrontation, Pumisacho dodged a blow that accidentally hit another attacker. Soon the mob began fighting each other. In the chaos, the believers fled. Pumisacho and his family spent the night hiding in a field. Later police escorted them out of town.

Pumisacho stayed away from Chachas until earlier this year, when local officials allowed a team of Florida Baptist volunteers to lead evangelistic medical clinics there. Through the team's work, 15 people accepted Christ. A week later Pumisacho, Robbins and International Service Corps worker Mike Biggio, a former Roman Catholic from Montgomery, Ala., returned to Chachas to lead a Bible study. Forty-five people showed up.

Today Pumisacho teaches a weekly Bible study -- without opposition -- in a home within view of the place where he was attacked years before. "After some suffering, I feel real joy knowing the Lord opened this door," he says.

"I thank God for the persecution," the pastor adds. "Now I fear no one. I don't worry about anything. I have complete trust in the Lord."

#4473

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Charles Colson is concerned about a trend in Christian radio that is jettisoning teaching and talk-oriented programs and replacing them with programming that is more oriented toward entertainment.

Voicing his concerns in a recent issue of Christianity Today, the founder of Prison Fellowship wrote, “One station canceled my four-minute BreakPoint commentary saying that four minutes is the equivalent of one song.... Besides, the station manager allowed, BreakPoint is too serious and not contemporary enough.”

It is not only his radio commentaries that Colson is concerned about. “Several stations recently -– many acting on the advice of a leading consulting firm –- have dropped serious programming in favor of all-music formats,” he reported. “For example, a major station in Baltimore has dropped four talk shows in order to add music.”

American society and even Christians, it seems, are surrendering to the insatiable desire to be entertained. Our quest for amusement has become not only a national past-time, it has become an addiction.

There is little about life in the United States that is not tarnished by entertainment. GameBoys, Walkmans and iPods provide fun and diversion that is portable. Cell phones and PDAs now come with games as standard equipment.

Americans pursue electronic pastimes via television and computer. The Internet, which helped usher in the information age, now is used primarily for amusement -- much of which is unseemly. And movies are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year via cable.

Professional sport even has been affected by America's entertainment addiction. The contest itself was once amusement enough. Not any more. I was treated to an NBA game recently. There I encountered non-stop entertainment. During breaks in the action there were contests, souvenir give-a-ways, dancing girls, and video replays. It was dizzying.

Even politics is dominated by entertainment. A candidate's image has become more important than a substantive platform. Televised debates are nothing more than rehearsed sound bites and staged spin. A political pundit recently declared that a particular individual would make a good candidate because he makes the public feel good.

Even the church is succumbing to the quest to be entertained. A local fellowship was once evaluated by its commitment to biblical truth. No more. Many who file in and out of houses of worship now expect a service to flow with flawless musical presentations and engaging messages peppered with humor. Conviction must now contend with amusement.

There is little in American society that has not been tainted by entertainment addiction. Perhaps we should consider the song “Let Me Entertain You” as our new national anthem.

All addiction has consequences. America's obsession with entertainment has produced a society that has become increasingly more passive toward life. It seems we would rather watch reality on television than experience it first-hand.

Entertainment is designed to appeal to an audience's emotions. Those addicted to amusement lose their desire to think critically. The entertainment addict reacts to information, and even life, based on how it makes him or her feel. Emotion, rather than fact, is the supreme barometer for those enslaved to entertainment.

Addiction is also, by its very nature, an escalating condition. That is, an addict's appetite never plateaus. Hence those obsessed with entertainment desire more and more amusement that is increasingly more spectacular. The end result is that the sensational trumps the substantive.

The attention span is the casualty of all addiction. The entertainment addict is not only easily bored and distracted, but also has difficulty retaining relevant information for a very long period of time. Those obsessed with amusement are unable to juxtapose contemporary happenings with history. Thus, current events become nothing more than passing bits of trivia.

A society addicted to entertainment is comprised of individuals whose obsession is their own pleasure. Once a people lose the desire to pursue life and to think critically, once a society fails to recognize the substantive and cultivate a historical perspective, once these realities become the rule rather than the exception, a society is in real danger.

There are many things in life that taken in moderation are not necessarily negative. Entertainment is one of them. However, America has crossed the line of moderation and is plunging headlong into addiction. It seems we are, in the words of New York University's Neil Postman, “Amusing ourselves to death.”

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Boggs is editor of the Baptist Message newspaper in Louisiana.

When nonbelieving friends learn that I go to church every Sunday to worship the living God, their faces usually register surprise. Why, they ask, does someone like me, a person who functions relatively well in the “real” world, go to church at all?

In response to the litany of criticisms aimed at organized religion - like, “Isn’t the church full of hypocrites?” or “Isn’t the church corrupt?” - I nod my head in agreement and try to be clear about what I think the church is and isn’t.

The dialogue is especially intriguing when people involved in 12-step recovery programs - many only recently aware of a Higher Power in their lives learn I am recovering from similar addictions by relying on my Higher Power, Jesus Christ, without ever setting foot in a 12-step meeting.

Step 2 of the “12 steps” states, “We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” The remaining steps emphasize that the quintessential basis of recovery is spiritual, acknowledging God (“as we understood Him”), prayer, confession, making of amends, and similar actions as elements of “spiritual awakening.” Yet, while millions of 12-step meetings have taken place in churches and much spiritual growth has occurred, participants have quietly, and almost universally, steered clear of Christ and his church.

Don’t I, they ask kiddingly, have rocks in my head for believing the Rock of Ages is real and relevant? Might I be in the throes of denial (a commonly used term)? I shake my head and cite the past 11 years free of drugs and other addictive behaviors.

TOTAL ACCEPTANCE

Like many of my contemporaries during the sixties, I was a hippie. I marched in protests, defied the establishment, and professed peace and flower power. But unlike many of them, I did not fall away from the church - because I was never “in” it to begin with. The church, any church, had never been the place for me.

For the first 33 years of my life I never willingly set foot in a house of worship, nor did I think that my personal problems were solvable by religious or spiritual means. As a boy growing up in a white, middle-class family, I never even heard God acknowledged (except in profane terms). Our family never attended church. We were agnostic by benign neglect.

In 1977 I was on the verge of suicide. I suffered depression and constant frustration, and believed that life was a hopeless, cruel riddle. When a neighbor told me my problem was my disconnectedness from God, I rolled my eyes and sighed. He explained that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, had come to save me from bondage to sin and had provided the free gift of eternal life with him and the Father forever in their heavenly kingdom. I shook my head and walked away, insulted at hearing such nonsense. Three weeks later I was lying in a wheat field, pleading for Jesus to save me. To my total surprise, he did. Immediately I experienced peace. As I began to pray and apply Scripture to my life, my marriage (once at the point of divorce) started to heal, and my battles against infidelity, drugs, and pornography turned from defeat to victory.

To my surprise, I found total acceptance at church even though I was sinful and imperfect. Fellow Christians listened, advised, and encouraged me and my wife (who accepted the Lord three months after my wheat-field experience) to grow into the people God wanted us to be. No finger-wagging. No shocked expressions. There was only the demonstration that the church is his body, commissioned to do his work, “to have love for one another” (John 13:35).

Like many of my 12-step friends today, I once thought of the church as fallible and just as “fallen” as the rest of the world. It seemed to me to be a cracked flower pot, with no real value; being clay, it was always in a state of crumbling. While Paul acknowledges that “we have this treasure in jars of clay” (2 Cor. 4:7), at the time I was blinded to the “flowers” (treasure) the pot contained, My eyes only saw the container, not the beautiful flowers “in” it.

Today I attend a local congregation of Presbyterians in suburban Minneapolis. While the cracks and crumbling are still visible to anyone - as much here as in any congregation-in this fellowship of believers I am nourished spiritually, socially, and intellectually (like the ad for the Episcopal Church said a few years ago, “Jesus came to save our souls, not to steal our minds”). My church is now the first place I turn to for help, it is where I laugh more than anywhere else, and where the meaning of a life in Christ becomes clear.

I no longer fault the church for its earthly imperfections, but I am there to celebrate and experience the invisible, eternal Creator and Maker of the universe, Jesus Christ. Knowing the name of my Higher Power makes God personal; it gives him an identity; and it reveals his character. Unlike an impersonal, fuzzy divine “Force,” I am on a first-name basis with the Maker of the universe. What’s in a name? I’d say it makes the Invisible much more tangible; it implies a relationship.

WHERE EVERYONE KNOWS YOUR NAME

Like the characters who crowd into TV’s “Cheers” bar, I join the crowd at my local church to experience togetherness. I am a Presbyterian today mainly because the first church where we were nurtured 11 years ago happened to be of that denomination and the people were - like those in “Cheers “ - friendly. I have found, to my surprise, that I could bare my soul there. I have received comfort there like I had never encountered before. I have been especially amazed to find that whole-hearted singing, applause, and laughter were part of the celebration and brought no lightning bolts from above. Gradually, I realized that the institution itself, while unworthy of his presence, is something that be nevertheless inhabits, like the beautiful flowers in the cracked flower pot.

My own participation in a local church starts with worship, but it goes beyond that. It leads me to action - loving action. Despite shortcomings of myself or other members (of any congregation), an objective, even skeptical observer will discover evidence of practical service to the local community: day care for children and the elderly; programs for the mentally handicapped;

help for refugees; as well as free clothing and food; a counseling center; and a summer camp. Hundreds of churches in the U.S. and in other countries reach out in similar ways.

These programs - financed by church members and staffed by volunteers - exist for only one purpose: to bring God’s loving Spirit to as many hurting people as possible. Just as I experienced. Just as Jesus did when he walked this earth.

For the past 11 years Jesus has proved himself real to me again and again, and he has demonstrated his presence by giving me the power to say no to many habits, addictions, and attitudes (mainly selfish) that once enslaved me. Although I’ve never entered a formal 12-step recovery program, my Higher Power has helped me recover from chemicals and other addictions, and I am grateful to serve in his name as part of his body - the church.

So, to answer the question why some one like me goes to church, I can say my church provides me with relief after a long week of struggles, refreshment in seeing how God is working in others’ lives, a community where mutual feelings of love for God and one another can be shared, and a haven where I can be completely myself.

It is estimated that Americans lost $161 billion to all forms of gambling in 2018, with $306 million of that going to online gambling. While this amount is for all types of gambling, the fastest growing kind of gambling is online. Online gambling has been increasing each year, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated that gain. As brick-and-mortar gambling sites saw a decrease in activity, online gambling venues took up the slack. Often, people turned to online gambling during the pandemic for entertainment during long days and nights of being stuck indoors. This created the perfect storm for gambling on the 2022 Super Bowl. It is estimated that 31 million people bet more than $7.6 billion on Super Bowl LVI, an increase of 35% over 2021.

With 71% of Americans believing that gambling is morally acceptable, and only 36% of Christians believing that sports betting is morally wrong, it is clear that America has a gambling problem. It isn’t only sports betting online that is exploding. The internet offers practically any kind of gambling that someone could desire.

The internet has certain built-in features that make gambling more dangerous for people, too. Gambling is available 24/7 to anyone with a computer and an internet connection in their homes, which is more than 77% of Americans, or more than 250 million people. In addition, anyone who wants to gamble can easily circumvent age requirements by lying about their age. The fact that people can gamble in the privacy of their homes increases the likelihood that they will gamble more often and for longer periods of time. Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to restrict access to online gambling for people who know they have a gambling problem.

Regrettably, most governments have succumbed to the constant barrage of gambling lobbying and voter initiatives. The vast majority of Americans can buy lottery tickets, play the standard forms of brick-and-mortar gambling like poker, roulette, and even slots, and bet on multiple sporting events all from the privacy and anonymity of their home computer screens.

While we can’t prevent people from accessing these myriad gambling opportunities, we can help them understand that God has a better way. This should be especially true for Christians. We who have professed Jesus Christ as Lord have committed to live faithful lives before him and the world. We must look to God’s Word for guidance in all things, including whether or not to gamble, and why.

Getting to the heart of gambling

To know what the Bible has to say about gambling, it can be helpful to know why people gamble and then look at what Scripture has to say about that. People gamble for a variety of reasons, but regardless of the reason, the Bible points to a better way. Below are the principal reasons that people gamble and the Bible’s better answer to the need they are trying to meet with their gambling.

Some people gamble to get money. This is the primary reason most people gamble. It is a demonstrable fact that more people gamble as the jackpot increases or they place a high value on the prize. The Christian who gambles in order to win money has failed to understand or accept that God desires to be their provider. Scripture says God will supply all the needs of the person who puts his trust in God (Matt. 10:31; Phil. 4:19). The person who gambles out of greed or for worldly wealth is valuing the wrong thing (Luke 12:15). The person who gambles out of financial desperation is trusting in the wrong source for his need. Even if he wins enough to escape his destitution, which is highly unlikely, he has chosen to reject God’s way to meet his needs (Matt. 6:33).

Some people gamble for entertainment. This is another primary reason people gamble. People will often gamble online because they are bored or they are looking for a distraction. And some people argue that gambling is just a form of entertainment, like going to a movie or a restaurant, but that is not true. No one will lose all of his retirement savings by visiting a restaurant or going to a movie, but some people will lose that and more from gambling. Christians need to consider what they are supporting and empowering when they spend their God-provided money. God calls Christians to be good stewards of their possessions, that includes their money (Luke 6:10-13). When we empower gambling venues with our money, we help keep them in business to prey on people with gambling addictions. Empowering institutions that ruin people’s lives for a few moments of entertainment is not something that Christians should take part in (Eph. 5:11).

Some people gamble to feel important or special. Casinos, whether brick-and-mortar or online, specialize in selling an illusion to people. They make them feel important in exchange for their money. Some people crave this attention and return over and over because it feeds their sense of importance and value. Any anything we rely upon apart from the Lord for our value is an idol (Psalm 135:18). The Bible tells us that God is best able to tell us of our worth and importance. Jesus can give a person a permanent realization of her worth. We are so loved by God that he sent Jesus to die a gruesome death on a cross in order to redeem us for himself (John 3:16). Through Jesus, the Christian is a child of God. That is a permanent status that should see any Christian through feelings of inadequacy or self-doubt (2 Tim. 2:13).

Some people gamble to compete against others. There is nothing wrong with healthy competition. However, when that competition threatens to destroy another person, it is no longer healthy. The Bible reminds us that we are our brother’s keeper and that we should love others as ourselves (Matt. 22:39). We have a responsibility to look out for each other. Gambling encourages the exact opposite. The only money available through gambling is the money that someone else has lost. Neighbor love calls on Christians to think of others more highly than we think of ourselves (Mark 12:31; Phil. 2:3). Gambling makes us predators rather than protectors.

Some people gamble for the thrill. Again, there is nothing in the Bible that tells us to live boring, uneventful lives. In fact, Jesus told his disciples that they would have joyful, meaningful lives through faith in him (John 10:10). The question that a thrill-seeking gambler needs to ask is whether or not the thrill of gambling is the best source of joy, happiness, excitement, or meaning. Gambling’s thrill often comes at someone else’s expense. Your involvement can perpetuate the predatory nature of the gambling industry. And while the thrill of gambling might last for a few seconds, in the end it is replaced by disappointment. If a person wins, it will not satisfy the longings of her soul (Eccl. 5:10). If a person loses, which he almost always does, he is left with emptiness and a potentially significant loss of resources. When the thrill is placed in the prospect of winning and the result is the opposite, that is a sucker’s bet. Jesus offers true and lasting joy (John 15:11).

Some people gamble to escape their problems. Gambling offers escape for a short while. In the end, however, it adds to people’s problems. Once gambling’s distraction is gone, the person’s problems remain and are compounded by the loss of money, which may very well be a principal reason the person was seeking a distraction in the first place. Jesus called on people to admit their problems and place them on him, not run from them (Matt. 11:28-30). The Apostle Peter wrote that Christians can place all their cares on the Lord because he cares for them (1 Pet. 5:7). Christianity encourages people to acknowledge their problems and sins and turn to God for help with them. He is ready and able to help those who admit their need and seek him. Anything else we run to for help will fall short.

Some people gamble to feel hopeful. It is hard to carry on when hope is lost. Gambling offers a temporary hope that seldom rewards the person who leans on it. Until the ball falls in the slot on the roulette wheel or the last card is turned over, the gambler feels all the hope in the world. Anything is possible in that moment, but then all that hope is dashed and even greater fear and hopelessness rushes in. God, on the other hand, is the God of second chances. He has demonstrated in the Bible and in countless lives all around us that those who put their trust in him will never be disappointed or hopeless (Rom. 15:4). God is greater than any problem someone might have and greater than any obstacle that stands in their way (Phil. 4:19).

Whether someone is gambling online or at a casino, the Bible makes it clear that any activity that replaces trust in God with luck dethrones God in that person’s life. God ordained work as our means of support. From the beginning, when God put our original parents in the Garden, he revealed that he designed us to work (Gen. 2:15) as a means of his provision for us. Gambling perverts that design and promises something for nothing. That promise is as empty as the serpent’s first deception. Luck is the sand that will not support a life. God is the rock that will (Matt. 7:24-27).

There is more to be said about gambling, yet regardless of why someone gambles, God is the better choice. Gambling is a false idol. It destroys, perverts, and lies to people who look to it for anything. The true source of happiness and meaning in life is found in God. He alone can deliver what he promises. He alone is dependable and trustworthy. We must all learn to trust him and place our hope and futures in him. When we do that, we will never be disappointed. May Jesus be Lord in our lives.

[Message on alcoholism by a Unitarian and A.A. member; edited by Holwick]

Hi I’m Shari and I’m an alcoholic. I’m sure that most of you are aware that’s the way people introduce themselves in Alcoholics Anonymous. I am introducing myself that way because in most cases one can’t tell who is an alcoholic until they start drinking. You would know I’m an alcoholic if I was drinking with you. I had my first drink when I was 12 with the intention of getting drunk. Since then, whenever I’d drink I had the same results whether I intended to get drunk or not. I wasn’t picky about what I had to drink. I preferred wine or gin, but when I decided I was drinking too much and switched to beer because I didn’t like the taste and the alcohol content was less, I quickly developed a taste for beer and would just drink twice as much. I guess you could say that my drink of choice is "more".

I am now a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and have not had anything to drink since January of 1999.

After briefly going over the definition of alcoholism and the theories pertaining to its cause, I want to talk about the devastating affects this disease has on the alcoholic, the alcoholic’s family and society. I then want to talk primarily about the spiritual aspects of the twelve steps of AA.

I found many definitions of alcoholism on the Internet, each one seeming to refute the other. The one I thought most descriptive was the one stated by the National Council On Alcoholism And Drug Abuse in February 1999. It states and I quote, "Alcoholism is a primary chronic disease with genetic, psychological, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestation. It is usually progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or periodic impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with alcohol, use of alcohol dispute adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking. Most notably denial. Researchers have yet to determine its cause."

As to the cause of alcoholism, researchers have come up with many theories. The web sites are full of them. I think I could have done a boring two-day talk on that subject alone. The medical model includes theories such as genetics, enzyme imbalance, allergy, and metabolic imbalances. Other theories point to psychological problems, learned behavior, or to a combination of unknown causes.

I don’t think it really matters what the cause is because the results are the same. I think what is much more important is to find out why an alcoholic wants to - or does drink again even when all the evidence points to disastrous consequences.

According to the National Council On Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Alcoholism is America’s number one drug problem. Over ten million people are estimated to be alcoholics.

Alcoholism effects not only every aspect of the alcoholic’s life, often ending in psychosis or death due to alcohol-related diseases, but it effects every aspect of society.

Alcoholism is not only an individual’s disease, but is also a family disease in that every family member is effected in some way and as the alcohol’s drinking progresses so do the symptoms. The alcoholic will lie about their drinking or hide it, promise to stop or limit their drinking, drink in inappropriate places and at inappropriate times, stop going to work, show up at work drunk, and lose jobs. These are just an example of some of the symptoms. and they all effect family members in many ways. For instance, devastating disappointments, embarrassment, shame, isolation, guilt and economic insecurity.

I found a story on the Internet that compared alcoholism to a frog in boiling water. If you put a frog in a pan of boiling water it will jump out, but if you put a frog in a pan of water that is body temperature and gradually turn up the heat the frog will stay in the pan until it is boiled alive because it doesn’t notice the gradual increase in temperature.

The progressive nature of alcoholism is like that. It can start out with the alcoholic having just a little too much to drink once in awhile, then slowly escalate to uncontrolled drinking where the alcoholic’s behavior has become more and more intolerable. Yet it is still being accepted and has become the norm. Family members have learned to cover for the alcoholic, to lie, hide the truth and keep secrets no matter how bad the insanity and chaos is around them.

The heat increased so gradually over such an extended period of time that no one realized the water was starting to boil.

Besides effecting families, alcoholism effects literally every aspect of our society. In April of 98 the U.S. Justice Dept. reported that alcohol abuse was a factor in 40% of violent crime in the U.S. Almost 50% of rapists had been drinking when they committed their assault, nearly 40% of the prison population have a tendency to alcohol abuse, almost 50% of murders are linked to excessive alcohol consumption. It’s also estimated that alcohol is implicated in 25 to 50% of mistreatment of women, and in 20% of cases of mistreatment of children.

A study done in a young offenders institution showed 79% alcohol abusers against 23% in a control population of adolescents in mainstream schools.

According to the highway traffic administration over 20% of all traffic fatalities in the US each year are caused by drunk drivers.

The National Institute on Alcohol and Drug Abuse estimated that the economic cost to society each year due to alcohol abuse and its related problems 89.5 billion dollars. Most were the effects on health. A special cost considered separately is the cost of fetal alcohol syndrome. These costs were estimated at 1.6 billion.

47 out of 100 alcoholics die from the damaging effects of alcohol on their health, 18 by homicide, 17 by accidents, 11 by suicide, and only 7 by natural causes.

What can’t be measured is the tremendous amount of emotional and spiritual suffering caused by this disease.

I didn’t find any statistics as to how many alcoholics find their way to treatment but I think there are more than in the past because as more people learn about alcoholism and recognize it as a disease less people try to push it under the rug hoping it will just go away.

There are many types of treatment available today and most are covered by insurance. The one’s I know about use and recommend the self help - 12 step program of Alcoholics Anonymous. There are treatment’s that don’t use AA and I know of people who have stayed sober with out the help of AA, but since AA is what worked for me that is what I will talk about.

First I’d like to say that whatever I say about AA is only my opinion, and not as an authority on the program.

The beginning of AA was in Akron, Ohio in June of 1935 during a discussion between an alcoholic stockbroker - Bill Wilson and an alcoholic physician Bob Smith who believed that in order to stay sober they must pursue a spiritual remedy and also help other alcoholics. In 1939 the first basic text for the program was written and became known as the Big Book, and they started calling themselves Alcoholics Anonymous, which is the actual title of the Big Book. By March of 41 the membership shot up to 2,000 largely due to a dinner held by John D Rockefeller, Jr. An article in the Satuday Evening Post by Jack Alexander helped make AA a national institution by the close of 1941. As the twelve steps were the principles by which the individual alcoholic could live, principles evolved by which the AA groups and AA as a whole could survive and function effectual. These principles became known as the twelve traditions of AA. The substance of which is that no alcoholic could be excluded, that the leaders might serve but never govern, that each group was to be autonomous, no professional class of therapy, no dues or fees - only voluntary contributions, all members must be anonymous at the level of radio, press, TV and films, and under no circumstances give endorsements, make alliances or enter public controversy. AA is not a religious organization nor does it take any particular medical point of view - but does to a great extent, cooperate with the medical profession. Alcoholism, being no respect of persons, AA is a cross section of all ethnic groups across the US and is now in most other countries.

In fact, in 1982 I went to an AA meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel. It was held in a bomb shelter - a bit different. The people were very welcoming and friendly. The meeting format was pretty much the same as were the feelings shared. A really nice aspect of AA is that no matter where one travels there is a supportive and welcoming group.

Membership in AA continues to grow each year. According to the "Big Book" about 50% who come to AA stay sober, and 25% get sober after some relapse. I have heard several different variations of these statistics in meetings. The one I like best is that the program works 100% of the time for those who work it.

The first time I attended a meeting of AA was in the summer of 1980 in LA. I liked AA, but went only to large speaker meetings where I didn’t have to share anything about myself. I ignored the steps primarily because they mentioned God so much and I didn’t and still don’t believe in God as a separate Supreme Being. I pretty much used AA as a social club. I stayed sober for almost a year. Actually I should say dry because nothing else besides not drinking changed in my life. I ended up drinking again because I was still relying on old attitudes and behavior and had not learned any new coping mechanisms. Instead I did what many alcoholics do, I told myself it would be different this time, that I could handle it. There’s a saying in AA which states that the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior and expecting different results. Well, according to that definition I was definitely insane. By January of 99 I realized that I had to make some changes in my life and that I wasn’t going to be able to do it by will power alone. I went back to AA and started taking a more serious look at the steps. I realized that I didn’t have to accept God as an external Supreme Being, but could view God as simply an inner power or strength that I call my higher self. I agree with both Carl Jung and Bill Wilson who said, "The obsession to drink comes from a misguided effort to satisfy what is in essence a spiritual thirst, a thirst only satisfied by establishing and maintaining a contact with the healing power and creative energy within the inner psyche." I’m learning that the Twelve Steps were about growing up and accepting life on life’s terms which enables me to be in greater harmony with the world around me.

I believe the Twelve Steps are designed to promote spiritual and emotional growth which requires honest self-appraisal and commitment for changing ways of thinking and acting that helps me avoid reliance on beliefs that keep me from accepting responsibility for my life.

Step 1

Admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.

I had to admit that my drinking had become an essential part of my life and that the capacity to control it was lost. I had to accept on an emotional and spiritual level, not just on an intellectual level that continued drinking would only cause disastrous effects for me and those around me.

I had to accept on an emotional and spiritual lever, not just on an intellectual level that I can’t rely on chemicals for quick fixes and that my life is unmanageable because I had come to act in opposition to the realities of life, not tolerating life’s normal frustrations and discomforts.

Step 2

Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

For me this means that a transforming relationship with my higher self, a power within me that is greater and more inclusive than my restricted self identity allows me to become integrated and at peace with the universe around me.

At first I thought being restored to sanity referred to drinking, but I’ve learned that alcoholism is only superficially a matter of excess drinking, that the drinking is only a symptom of one’s distorted perception and experience of reality contributing to emotional distress and unhappiness.

Gregory Benson wrote in "Cybernetics of Self" that alcoholics hold deep unconscious attitudes and beliefs that prevent them from entering that place of spiritual peace. Alcohol brings about a shift in consciousness, a distorted experience of the underlying unity of all things.

I believe that the twelve steps are suggested as a path to alter those attitudes and beliefs. Alcoholic insanity.

Step 3

Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to God as we understood Him.

When read literally it appears that step three is asking a person to give up all responsibility for one’s actions and life to a supernatural source, but I believe it requires a decision to change the basis on which we live our lives. It’s not an invitation to passivity and irresponsibility but calls for us to take personal responsibility for our own life choices. For me this means shifting my exclusive identification exclusively with a restricted self image to include my higher self.

Metanoia; a Greek word meaning turning, refers to a complete transformation of one’s way of being including the motivations on which one acts in the world. I think the spiritual awakening promised in the Big Book is an experience of metanoia, a process of psyche death and rebirth into a new way of living.

So, while the AA literature seems to express the religious belief of white Protestant men writing in the thirties and forties I think it’s possible to pursue deeper more universal truths below the surface.

Step 4

Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

This step requires acting on the decision made in step three I learned that writing a moral inventory is not to fight or defeat something bad in myself but to help me accept and integrate those elements of my psyche that I’d misdirected. This approach allows me to develop ways of understanding and working with these aspects of my life without falling back into the black and white thinking that contributed to my problems in the first place.

I believe that spiritual growth results from engaging in practices through which my character defects are transformed and integrated and recognizing that we are all a mixture of positives and negatives.

Carl Jung stated that psycho-spiritual growth can only take place through reconciliation rather than inner conflict.

I believe my spiritual path is one of reconciliation in my encounters with the world around me and within myself. Rather than fighting to rid myself of what seems unacceptable or bad, my goal is to free the energy bound by fear so that the creative forces behind these fears can be channeled into more healing pursuits.

For me the healing work of the twelve step program is a process for becoming whole and that integrating character defects begins with acceptance, not judgment.

Step 5

Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

For me this is important because isolation has been a major component in my life, as I think it tends to be in the life of many alcoholics. By allowing another person into this venture of soul searching I am allowing another person to know my inner nature.

Isolation doesn’t just mean avoiding social engagements, it also means building and maintaining a false self which hinders socialization and causes feelings of unworthiness.

As Carl Jung said, "confession and catharsis are more than release of dammed up emotions, they involve the surrender of one’s entire isolationist and defensive stance against humanity."

Step 6

Were entirely ready to Have God remove these defects of character

This step in conjunction with step 7 which says; "We humbly asked him to remove our shortcomings" require me to let go of old protective devices erected over many years to protect myself from emotional harm and allows me to grow free of what the poet Robert Bly calls "The long bag we drag behind us." Steps six and seven helps me become less driven to act in automatic and obsolete ways to other people and events.

I see these two steps as a further commitment to putting my faith and trust in the inner power of my higher self and growing in the capacity to choose and become more accepting of the person I am at the present.

Step 8

Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

Step 8, along with step 9 which says, "Made direct amends to such people wherever possible except when to do so would injure them or others" helps me move beyond blaming which perpetuates the illusion that the past is the problem and cuts me off from the freedom of forgiveness of others. It doesn’t mean I condone harmful acts against me, but that I no longer wish to let resentment and guilt rule my life.

Forgiveness means resolution. To make amends is to forgive, to forgive is to complete the work of the past so we can experience the present.

Preparing to face those harmed means surrendering guilt, suspicion and resentments and increases the capacity for compassion.

In step eight we list the names of people with whom we were unreliable, dishonest, and abusive. In step nine we take whatever action is appropriate to repair the damage we’ve done. This allows me to live more lightly and gently in the world and allows me to bring more love and compassion to myself and others.

Step 10

We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

For me this step involves a daily attempt to relate in unharmful ways to others. It makes recovery a daily practice providing a basis for making reasonable decisions and carrying them out in all areas of our lives. We recover our integrity, our ability to decide and act in a manner consistent with our values.

Step 11

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for the knowledge of his will and the power to carry it out.

This step tells me that as long as I work at keeping a conscious contact with my higher self I see the world differently and am able to be more understanding of other people and more intimate with my own thoughts and feelings.

The essence of step eleven is captured by T. S. Elliot in a poem from "Four Quarters" -

I said to my soul be still, and wait without hope,

for hope would be hope for the wrong thing;

Wait without love, for love would be love for the wrong thing;

There is yet faith,

but the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.

Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought.

So the darkness shall be the light and the stillness the dancing."

Step 12

Having had a spiritual awaking as a result of these steps we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and practice these principles in all our affairs.

This step tells me that having established and maintaining a contact with the healing power within, I am able to care about and help someone who is suffering, while at the same time letting go of the need to have them be other than who they are.

In addition to suggesting that we carry the message to other alcoholics, step twelve encourages us to continue practicing the principles of all the steps on a daily basis for the rest of my life. In so doing, step twelve becomes not the end, but proves to be a new beginning.

T. S. Elliot in "Burnt Norton" from "Four Quarters" sums it up nicely: "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

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Gary Haran was so committed to playing a video game called World of Warcraft (WOW) that he decided he had to quit in order to reclaim his life. So he started a website devoted to World of Warcraft addicts who needed a place to talk about their compulsive game playing. When his website went live, the first day there were about 20 posts. By the time he sold the website there were 20,000 daily posts from players who wanted to talk about their obsessive dedication to the video game. (1)

Video game addiction can have deadly consequences:

• In 2009, a three-month-old South Korean child died from malnutrition when her parents spent their free time in an internet café raising a virtual child in an online game.

• An American father’s 10-month-old twin sons drowned in a bathtub while he went into another room to continue playing a video game.

Let me be clear: This is not an article about the dangers of any video game. It is an article about passion -- what we choose to commit ourselves to.

That truth cuts two ways. If we commit our hearts to something negative, the outcome can be hurtful, even deadly. But if we allow the passion of the heart to be directed toward God, then the outcome can be life-giving and life-saving.

Power of passion

Solomon summarized the power of the human heart in two lines: “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). Let me cite a couple truths:

• The what

The Hebrew verb for keep is an imperative form -- it is a command. Commands in Scripture are not optional.

Diligence translates a Hebrew word that describes a guard in a jail. It suggests that a guard does whatever is necessary to keep his prisoners from escaping. Reverse the image with regard to the heart: Instead of keeping something from escaping, do whatever is necessary to keep anything harmful from coming in.

Summary: We must take all precautions to protect and keep our hearts safe.

• The why

We are to guard our heart ruthlessly, “for out of it spring the issues of life.” Or, more literally, “for from [the heart] flow the springs of life” (NASB).

The passion of the human heart is so powerful that it impacts the kinds of lives we live -- the heart is where life starts. And, as we have seen, sometimes it is where life ends. It all depends on where our passion is directed.

It is the heart, Jesus says, that determines how we express ourselves in this life. The object of our passions will determine the display of our passions. The heart is that powerful.

Process of passion

Before we talk about protecting your heart -- the seat of your passion -- notice how you make deposits in the treasury of your heart over time. In Luke 6:45, Jesus says that “a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good.” Treasure refers to a storehouse -- a place where one builds up a treasure over time. That’s why consistent meditation on the Word of God and fellowship with God through the Holy Spirit are so important.

We must take Jesus’ words seriously. Our lives ultimately will reveal the nature of what has been stored up in our hearts. All of us have had momentary, impulsive failures. But we must believe that from the heart spring forth the issues of life. If we are to avoid the sadness and shame of failure in our lives, we must learn to safeguard the source of our spiritual and emotional lives.

Protecting your passion

The media is full of “healthy heart” tips today that we should follow, but even more important are efforts we can make to safeguard the wellspring of our spiritual life, including:

1. Don’t leave your first love, Jesus Christ. Meet with Christ daily, intimately and devotedly. And be in touch with Him moment by moment throughout every day.

2. Be on the alert. Recognize that Satan wants to steal your affection for God (1 Peter 5:8).

3. Love God with all your heart. Jesus said giving God our whole hearts is part of our highest priority (Matthew 22:37). A daily choice to give God all your heart will not allow room for diversions.

4. Do not lose heart. In times of trouble or distress, Satan will be there to see if you will lose heart. If you do, he will encourage you to pursue an ungodly path. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart” (Galatians 6:9).

Remember: Your heart is the seat of your emotional and spiritual passion in life. Do not allow it to be devoted to anything less than its true object -- God.

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(1) http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/video-game-addiction-no-fun (accessed 2-10-14)