Alcohol-Be Careful It Could Be Killing You

Hi everybody….hope you are well. A guy I knew for almost 13 years developed some physical problems as a result of his drinking. Apparently, he had gone to his doctor for his yearly physical. The doctor did some routine blood work, and his liver enzymes came back way elevated. The doctor asked him is he was a drinker. I’m sure you could figure out the rest. The doc said if he keeps it up, his liver will be trash in a couple years.

Be careful with some of the “toxins” that you put in your body. Yes, our bodies see alcohol as a toxin. Alcohol addictions can be brutal, as they can really tear up some of our organs and stomach linings. If you are struggling with alcohol, and might be feeling some side effects…take it as a “wake-up” call, to remove that toxin from your body.

The best definition I heard of for “addictions” was at a meeting, the individual said…”an addiction is the voluntary altering of ones brain chemistry (neurotransmitters)…by introducing drugs or alcohol in an attemp to regulate one’s mood” That was so cool…and so true…the majority of us aren’t happy with our “Moods” and we attempt to regulate them by introducing toxins!!! We need to find some healthy ways to regulate our moods.

If your doctor says it’s ok to exercise then give that a try. Perhaps yoga or meditation. Perhaps reading an easy version of the Bible and learn about Christ…and hs outlook on life. Let’s try to “Naturally” work on our moods this week……stay well..Vic

Marijuana Addiction-Is It Really Addicting?

There has been a lot of talk lately about Marijuana, and if it really is addicting.  There are a lot of battles going on about physical addiction etc, but let’s talk about “Psychological addiction”.

here’s a good question. Why do I use Marijuana?  Perhaps to “relax” me, maybe to let down my defenses and make me feel more social.  Maybe it’s a “coping” tool, that I self medicate with so I can deal with the stresses in life.

How about if I quit cold turkey?  Would I be able to quit cold turkey tomorrow and never “need” it again. I think the trigger word there is “need”.  If we find ourselves actually “needing” something to function and or escape, it is a dependency.  Thus, the “psychological addiction” of Marijuana.

Ask yourself if you really need the grass, and if you could stop it tomorrow?  stay well and God Bless…

Addiction Support-Turn Toward The Source

A friend of mine was telling  me his struggles with cocaine over the phone the other nigh, and although I wasn’t physically there, I could truly feel his pain at the other end of the phone.  I try to tell individuals who are struggling with an addiction, that “support” is a good thing.  True, be careful who you are getting advice from, but for the most part, if you have a friend who has a “compassionate ear” and really doesn’t mind listening, then by all means use him or her as a resource.

Christian help for addiction goes one step further. It uses Christ as the biggest resource.  But where can we find the help of Christ. In the new testament of the bible.  Get yourself an easy to read bible, and read all of Christ’s teachngs in it.

You will see nothing but forgiveness, love, understanding and guidance. How can you go wrong with that.

Here at christian help for addiction online we hope and pray that you are getting positive support from “healthy” individuals in your life, who are making a positive impact in your life.

We Become a Product of Our Environment-Christian Addiction Help

That seems to be a popular phrase…”we become a product of our environment”…and it still holds water today.  For those of us that are struggling with an addiction or in recovery and battling an addiction….it is very important who we keep company with.

Start running with the winners a friend of mine had told me…how true that was….having healthy and sober friends that are navigating this life in a meaningful way is probably one of the best means of staying sober and drug free there is.  Jump on their ships and enjoy the ride.

When I talk with some of the most successful people in the world and question them as to what helped them become a success..the most dominant factor was the associates they had, and if lucky enough, a winning mentor that showed them the ropes….

Start running with the winners…find some healthy successful friends that you can feed off of and it will turn your life around!!!

 

Here at christian help for addiction online we offer information for those that are struggling with an addiction be it an alcohol addiction, painkiller addiction, sex addiction or whatever.  An addiction is an addiction, it manipulates our lives away from God and into despair.   Stay well and God Bless

Why Receive Christian Premarital Counseling?

“Love is long suffering, and is kind; love has no envy, love is not boastful, love does not behave itself inappropriately, seeks not its own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not in injustice, but rejoices in the truth; love bears all things, believes everything, endures everything” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

 

 

 

These beautiful words hold us to a high standard. That is why it has been said that before marriage one ought to open our eyes wide, but afterwards keep them half closed. In order to hold up this standard, so necessary for a marriage to work, we need to choose wisely. To decide if you are ready for marriage, you need to choose someone you can trust, because distrust erodes a relationship, and so does undeserved trust. You also need to know what your responsibilities to the marriage partner are so that you can evaluate yourself realistically. These two things can be done with the help of pre-marital therapy.

 

 

 

Why do you need Christian pre-marital therapy? The quote above is from the Bible. The greatest book of love is the Bible. The book of Luke is considered by many to be the most beautiful book ever written. The book of Luke, as well as the gospels of Mathew, Mark, and John, tells how Jesus died to save us – the believers and now the church- from our sins. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, giving himself up for it” (Ephesians 5:25). God is the expert, par excellence, on love.

 

 

 

There is nothing wrong with going to a psychologist, a social worker, a professional counselor, or a psychiatrist for pre-marital and marital therapy. In fact I would encourage you because churches sometimes give only six sessions of pre-marital couple therapy, or group pre-marital therapy with non professional married couples as group leaders and this is barely just enough. Many couples who have received pre-marital therapy say that it helped them but that they wish they had received more therapy. There is so much need in the church for marital, family, addiction, and other kinds of counseling, that there is not enough pre-marital therapy. I would recommend supplementing the church’s pre-marital therapy with other pre-marital counseling.

 

 

 

However, Christian pre-marital counseling adds a dimension that secular therapies do not usually have. For example, the Christian counselor advises couples not to have sex before marriage. In his book on dating, Boy Meets Girl, Pastor Joshua Harris explains how a manager of a hotel for honeymooners would run out of activities for the newly married to do. This was because the now bored couples had pre-marital sex. Whereas, Joshua and his wife, who did not have sex prior to marriage, hardly left their room!

 

 

 

In the city where I live there is a saying among the non-believers. They say that marriage kills sex. But it is not marriage that kills sex, but pre-marital sex that kills marriage. I knew of one couple that lived together and had sex everyday before to marriage. After marriage, the wife confided, they had sex once a month. It is not worth it to ruin twenty five or more years of marital sex for one year or even less of pre-marital sex.

 

 

 

If you are contemplating marriage and you are living together, you must move apart and stop having sex for a time until you get married under the guidance of the pastor or Christian counselor. Physical intimacy is like a battery. It becomes charged with non sexual activities and gives off energy with sex. Do not skip that pre-marriage charging time.

 

 

 

When thinking about what pre-marital therapy is, people have different points of view. One woman tells how she was looking forward to marital therapy thirty years ago. “I thought that we would receive counseling courses about marital responsibility, but the entire time, the courses, which were called ‘marital counseling’, were about catechism.” She was disappointed as were many people in the course.

 

 

 

Decades later, now divorced, she expects that marital counseling should be about what marriage is, what people expect it to be, and what it will really be like. Dr. Wayne Mack makes a point that partners differ in expectations and should not wait until marriage to discuss these differences.

 

 

 

Dr. Nancy Alvarez, secular psychologist and sexologist says that some men want marriage with weekends off. That means they spend weekends drinking with their male friends as if they were single, instead of being with their wife. Obviously, that does not work out. Couples should also discuss why they are in love with one another. It has been observed that some people become happy when they hear why their betrothed wants to marry them, others become angry.

 

 

 

It is certainly natural for a marital counselor to talk about spiritual intimacy. In the book, “The Five Love Needs of Men and Women”, Christian marital experts Dr. Gary and Barbara Rosberg explain how there are two kinds of intimacy in marriage, physical and spiritual. Differences in religion could lead to a lack of understanding and different values. But not everything is religion.

 

 

 

Counselor Grisel López of El Sendero de la Cruz Christian Church in Puerto Rico explains that even in the case that the couple is of the same religion, some couples do not have compatibility of ministries. For example, if both are church leaders, and one sings in the altar and the other preaches, they are compatible. But if one is training to be a foreign missionary and the other is a pastor of a local church, then one of the two will have to give up his or her dreams for the success of the other, because they can not make both dreams come true and live together happily at the same time.

 

 

 

She adds that even church leaders, who know the Bible in general, still need pre-marital counseling. Some churches do not require pre-marital counseling for church leaders because the leaders know Christianity well, yet the divorce rate for Christians is about the same as for non-Christian marriages.

 

 

 

According to Dr. Wayne A. Mack, some of the things covered in pre-marital counseling are relations with in-laws, making a budget together, comparing differences in the way each one expresses love, good communication (a factor in most marital problems), and conflict resolution. It is important to plan ahead how you will approach problem solving, not waiting for the problems to begin and then start by seeking marital therapy. This is because there will be problems anyway so reducing their volatility will prevent bad memories that are hard to forget later.

 

 

 

Dr. Mack’s workbook, “Preparing for Marriage God’s Way”, can be used both in addition to marital therapy, (or independently, for those persons who live in areas where there is little availability of Christian pre-marital therapy). Two copies of the workbook are used. Each member of the couple reads and fills out the answers individually. Then the couple meet and discus their answers together. Mack suggests they can make note of significant differences and seek therapy for those issues as well.

 

 

 

Pre-marital counseling can be fun also. You get to take personality tests with your betrothed, learning more about each other in the process. Or it could lead to more deeper and interesting conversations to talk with your loved one. Some people think they already know each other well. But even people who have been married twenty years face surprises.

 

 

 

You should also find out some of your betrothed’s faults in the process. There may be faults that you understand about, this is called unconditional love. But there could also be faults that you do not tolerate. Some things are not negotiable like giving little importance to fidelity. Others might not matter to one husband, for example, that his future wife likes a relaxed style of housekeeping, as long as she is a business woman, but it could matter a lot to another man.

 

 

 

Counselor Grisel López teaches that the best way to find your ideal love is to tell the truth about how you are so you can find someone who will be happy with you instead of turned off. If you do not reveal your faults you will not know if it is safe to relax your guard with your betrothed and find the joy of being loved as you are.

 

 

Christian drug treatment

When considering Christian drug treatment, a person may not know quite what to expect. Essentially, there is little difference between Christian and non-Christian drug treatment, in terms of basic program structure. Both will offer counseling, treatment, therapy, life skills education, aftercare, and possibly even detoxification to rid the body of residual toxins accumulated during the course of the addiction.

There will be some differences, however, in philosophy and treatment approaches. Christian drug treatment will integrate traditional Christian values like forgiveness, humility, and dedication. Self-reliance will be minimized and reliance on God will be emphasized. Traditional Christianity emphasizes Jesus as the path to salvation and forgiveness, and that theme will continue throughout Christian drug treatment.

For the person who values Christian principles and the Christian faith, Christian drug treatment is a terrific option because it surrounds the recovering addict with like-minded people. This can be tremendously supportive in keeping a person focused on their goals and making the right choices during and after treatment. Dependence on God also relieves a lot of the self-imposed pressure and self-reliance that recovering addicts are prone to.

Christian drug treatment is not for everyone, but can provide a lot of advantages for those who wish to pursue it. It can help a person discover Christianity for the first time, or renew their commitment to the faith. Ultimately, commitment to that faith can help a person stay on track longer and experience a more successful recovery and a healthier, happier life.

Additionally, the intensive Self-Discovery and Inventory part of our Christian Drug Treatment helps the client uncover, and discover, which has become an obstacle in the path of their spiritual walk.  When the program is successful, these obstacles have been discarded while their faith has been strengthened.  Therefore the client has a means to remain clean and sober after recovery has been completed.

Alcoholic? God Has the Answer. Work the Christian 12 Steps, and Get Better

Problems of the flesh have worldly causes but spiritual solutions. Although we get ourselves into trouble with our drinking or drug taking behaviors, we too often cannot get ourselves out of these difficulties. Only through an understanding and admission of our spiritual conceit, and by turning our will and our hearts to the Lord for guidance, can we relearn what has always been needed for a good, honest and righteous life.

Jesus forgives us

 

Through thinking we are above the laws of God we spend too much time away from our families, and in places and with people where Jesus Christ, who walks with us always, should never be forced to endure. Yet even after we have subjected our Savior to our misdeeds our willfulness and our abandonment of His Message, He will always take us back in, show us the way forward, and give us the strength of a better life of sobriety; all we have to do is ask.

 

Although addiction comes from a worldly conceit, we can only better our abuses through turning our eyes upwards and seeking the guidance of Jesus Christ, and we do this best through prayer, through a study of the scriptures and through an honest, meditative and soul searching admission of our faults.

 

We cannot do it without His help, this much we have proven all too well, and we must open our hearts to his message and seek His will to direct our lives away from harmful drinking or drug taking, and back towards the bosom of the church, to family love and to a life of service for God, and by extension for self.

Ask for His guidance

 

You need no other person, no place, and even no Church to hear God’s message and feel his love, but because we value the fellowship of other Christians, appreciate the insights they can bring to our understanding of the Lord and the path we must walk for Him; we benefit greatly through a shared process of recovery within the fellowship of a Christian recovery organization.

 

Working the Christian 12 steps in group meetings or in a residential Christian rehab, we pray as individuals but also collectively, and feel God’s power as a group, asking His help in recovery from addiction and abuse. We study the bible together, learning the messages of the scripture as they pertain to the problems of the flesh, and we understand that Jesus Christ understands our weaknesses, forgives us for them, and has already given us a powerful book of recovery advice in the bible.

 

Because we are weak and we are flawed; we must admit to our shortcomings and plead with our God to remove these shortcomings so we can better serve Him in His purpose for us. But because we are imperfect, it can be very difficult to know how we can best live our lives for God. Working together with a Christian therapist, we dissect those feelings that lead us away from the teachings of the Lord, and talk about better ways to live our lives as God wishes. Although we pray for strength we also suffer temptation, and so we also discuss together how best to walk away from harmful behaviors, and into righteous acts.

 

Christians need a spiritual solution to problems of the flesh, and although we create the problems in our lives, only God can show us how to fix them. Listen to His word; He has the answers for your pain. If you need help with addiction, find a place offering the Christian 12 steps to recovery, and open your heart and mind to God’s will; and start getting better.

Addicted to Pills? Jesus Can Help…

It’s easy to get addicted to potent and seductive prescription narcotic pain pills. They work very well for pain relief, and yet they also induce long and sustained pleasure, a pleasure we soon crave above all else in life, including sadly, Jesus Christ.

 

Yet Jesus, although we abandon Him in our selfish pursuits of artificial pleasures, never forsakes us, and when we are ready, when we see the folly of our ways and when we can take no more spiritual despair; He will take us in and show us again what’s needed for a better and Christian life.

 

We create our own problems, and we do so as we stray from God’s message, and as we walk a different path than He wishes for us. Jesus Christ does not wish us the pain of addiction, and if we listen to the message of His word in the bible, we would never need suffer the tragedy of pill abuse. Even when we ignore His will, He forgives us and when we are ready, and when we ask him to show us a better way again, Jesus Christ can guide us out of despair and once again into happy and righteous Christian Living.

 

We do not need anyone or anyplace to feel God’s love, and the bible has all we need to know about His wishes for our lives, but there is something powerful in a shared and honest prayer, and as such there is something very powerful about a Christian rehab, and working the Christian 12 steps to recovery in the fellowship of the faithful.

Christian Rehab

 

In a Christian rehab, what has proven effective in a conventional rehab is combined with what only prayer and faith can bring to our lives. God gave us medicines and doctors for a reason, and we would exhibit yet more spiritual conceit if we did not use those things in our power towards our recovery.

 

But even the best of secular rehabs, employing the finest treatments and professionals and offering the most luxurious of facilities, cannot offer much hope for long term sobriety; and relapse statistics show us this is so, and show us that the path out of addiction and despair must include Christian teachings, and prayer for a better life.

The Power of Prayer

 

In addition to secular therapies and medicines, a Christian rehab combines the power of prayer, a communal study of the bible, self reflection on God’s will for us and private religious and addictions therapy.

 

Through opening our hearts and our minds to God’s love and His will, we gain strength from temptation; and through the messages inherent in the bible, we take solace that our struggles are as old as mankind, and that God has always had the answer to our despairs.

 

We get ourselves into trouble, and Jesus pulls us out. Jesus forgives us, and He will help us, and all we need to do is ask.

 

Consider a Christian Rehab if you struggle with an addiction to prescription pills. The answers are waiting for you; God has the power to cure you. Don’t wait another day before starting down the road to a better Christian life, free from the pains of abuse.

Christian Recovery; Live for Jesus, and Never Take Another Drink

Jesus never wishes for us the pains of addiction and of spiritual despair, and He gave us a great reference book for life in the bible. If we follow God’s word, and act as He wishes, we never need suffer through the pains of alcoholism or drug addiction.

 

Yet even after we do terrible things in midst of an addiction, even after we abandon His love and His message, He forgives us, and when we can take no more of the pain of a life far from Jesus, He is ready for us, and He will show us how to get better.

 

An addiction is a disease of both the spirit and of the body. A disease of the spirit that occurs as we show spiritual conceit, thinking we know better for our lives than Christ. Yet it is also a disease of the body, and it must also receive physical tending. When recovering from addiction, we cannot ignore either parts of our whole, and if we do, we cannot hope for lasting recovery.

Conventional rehab doesn’t offer enough

 

A lot of very smart people work diligently on the science of recovery, and even those well off people who recover in the finest of treatment centers, receiving the finest of medical and clinical care, don’t often get better. It is important to treat the physical side of addiction, but conventional rehab relapse rates show us quite clearly that we ignore God at our peril.

 

We get ourselves into trouble thinking we can live our lives far from Jesus, but He forgives us, and we cannot solve our spiritual despair without His help.

Why Christian recovery

 

In Christian recovery, we get better holistically; we take what’s great and proven effective from secular rehabs and incorporate them into a program that also tends to our spiritual needs. We do need medications and therapy, but we also need prayer and bible study, and not one without the other.

 

We share our stories with other Christians also in recovery, and we study and pray together for a better understanding of God’s will, and for the strength to overcome our worldly conceits, and live a life as Jesus wishes.

 

Working together with Christian counselors, we dig deep into the self deceptions that take us farther from Christ and learn how we can use the power of prayer, the message of the bible, and God’s love and strength to keep us from temptation always.

A small price to pay

 

Recovery from addiction is never easy, but with the help of Jesus you never need to take another drink, and you never again need to feel the lows of a separation from Christ.

 

Jesus wants you to be happy, and all He asks is that you live a Christian life. A small price to pay for a rewarding life…and a heavenly reward!

Addiction; When We Think That God Won’t Love Us We Presume Too Much

When we lose our way and when we substitute the real pleasures of good living for the false and transient ecstasy of intoxication, we do a lot of things we’re not proud of, and we do a lot of things that Jesus would never wish us to do.

 

Only through Christian living can we find peace and happiness, and only through Christian service to others and for God can we fall asleep easy every night, knowing we do all we can for ourselves and for our Lord. Yet even when we lose our way, and even when we commit terrible sins, Jesus forgives us, His help and His power is only a prayer away.

 

It’s easy to start to feel that we are not worthy of God’s eternal compassion, and when we sink ever lower into the despair of addiction we too often start to feel worthless, worthless to ourselves, to our families, and even worthless to our God.

 

Spiritual conceit gets us into wrong behaviors, and even wrong thoughts; spiritual conceit takes us into pain and addiction, and it also fools us into thinking we are no longer worthy of God’s help and compassion.

 

But who are we to question God’s word. Jesus says he will forgive us, He will help us, and He does love us; always. Spiritual conceit gets us into trouble, and only through better living by the words of the bible can we get past our internal deception and turmoil, and again realize that Jesus has always been there for us, and that He has a plan for our lives; if we will only accept His Love and His strength into our hearts.

 

Christian Drug rehab

 

We do not need a church or minister to feel God’s love and live for him, and all that needs to be said was written in the only book of real worth; but there is something incredibly therapeutic and soul salving about the communal power of prayer. As Christians in despair we look to other Christians for assistance, and through the help of other Christians we again come to understand God’s plan and wish for our lives, and once again emerge from spiritual conceit and into a better living for God.

 

If you have a drug or alcohol abuse problem or addiction, you cannot get better on your own, and to think that you can is simply more of the same spiritual conceit that got you into trouble in the first place.

 

You need to pray, you need to pray to the Lord to help you overcome your weaknesses. You need to ask for the strength to overcome those bad habits that pull at you, and plead for a better understanding of his message towards a better Christian life.

 

If you have a drug problem, consider a Christian Rehab. All you need to know about recovery is contained within the bible, and through group study, group prayer, and even private Christian counseling, you can come to a better understanding of what led you into pain, and the steps you need to take to ensure you never again walk that path back to despair.

 

You can get better, Jesus forgives you, you are worthy of help. Work the Christian 12 steps to sobriety today, and start enjoying a better Christian life tomorrow.

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