Addiction Archives - Kingdom Revolution

Understanding Steps 6 and 7: Drop The Rock

by Andre | Sep 10, 2024 | 12 Steps, Counselling, Finding Help, Therapeuo

“Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”

Step 6, Alcoholics Anonymous

“Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases…”

Psalm 103:2-3, NIV

All the steps thus far have been leading up to this moment.

We have, by now, explored the concept of a Power Greater than ourselves – both the group, and above all, God – and we have made an honest evaluation of ourselves. We come to realise that we are not just powerless over our drinking, drug-use or compulsive behaviour – but that we are powerless over all of our negative feelings, thoughts and behaviour.

Our drug use, compulsive behaviour and drinking are often just symptoms, rather than the problem itself.

Up until now we have been treating symptoms, but now it is time to start working on the root causes of our drinking and drugging.

This could include bitterness, rejection, fear, insecurity and unforgiveness – to name just a few.

We realize now, just as the insanity of addiction is starting to lift, that there are other areas, often larger areas in our lives that need some very real change.

And God is the only one who can help us do that.

Step 6 is about realizing that life change is necessary – and more importantly, that it is possible. In the sixth step we become willing to hand over our baggage to God, the only One strong enough to shoulder the burden for us.

This realization drives us towards step 7: “We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.”

Step 7 is about surrendering all of our hurt, all of our pain, wounds and scars to God – a cry for divine intervention.

Where step 6 is the motivation – the preparation of the heart – step 7 is the beginning of tangible action.

In surrendering our flaws, faults and failures to God, we also ask Him to give us the strength and wisdom to do better.

In making a daily practice out of Step 6 and 7, in combination with step 10 (a daily inventory – which we will cover later), we see a recipe for permanent and lasting change.

In a lot of recovery groups this is called ‘drop the rock’ – because that’s what we are doing. Taking the heaviness of our fears, resentments, unforgiveness, etc – and dropping it at the feet of the Cross.

More often than not, however, we will find that we pick up new rocks, or sometimes even the old ones we dropped before – and this is why it is necessary for these steps to become a daily practice.

The hope is to get to a point where we ‘drop the rock’ almost as soon as we pick it up – and in time to leave it on the ground altogether.

These steps are about progress – not perfection.

And God will help us. But only if we let Him.

Prayer: Lord, help me today to take a step of faith as I surrender all of my hurt, my pain, my torment to You! Have all of me, Lord, the good and the bad – as I surrender all I am to You. Start a work of restoration in me. Guide me Lord along new paths towards a brighter, better future – a future planned by You. Remove from me all my defects of character, my fear, resentment and tendency towards unforgiveness. Take my burdens. Replace it with strength and wisdom so I may grow in my relationship with You and those around me. In Jesus Name. Amen.

If you have chosen to take this leap of faith or have any questions regarding this post, please reach out to me: andre@adlabuschagne.co.za / 0653703806. We would love to journey with you!

Revivo: Come Out Of Your Graves!

by Andre | Sep 4, 2024 | Articles, Called, Revivo, The Pattern

Exodus 27:20-21: 20 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come.

In the book of Exodus God commands the people to bring, as an offering, the purest, highest grade of olive oil for the lampstand and for the anointing oil.

These lamps were kept burning, continually, for generations and generations – even up until the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. The rabbi’s of old offer this insight: that the menorah was kept burning, day and night, night and day. Even though the lamp had to be refilled and the wicks trimmed and replaced, there was always at least one light kept burning.

The oil that was used, called pressed oil here, is in referred to in the King James as ‘beaten oil’.

The Hebrew word here is ‘Katith’ which translates as ‘torn apart’.

The Israelites used the first fruits of the olive – the first oil, the most precious oil – as fuel for the lamp. Only the highest quality would do. According to the Encyclopedia Judaica the olives were beaten down from the trees with sticks, and after the best of the crop had been selected, they were crushed, by hand with mortar and pestle. ‘Broken or torn apart’ – the mush from this process would be placed in wicker baskets – sort of like a strainer or a sieve – from which the precious drops of oil would run out and be collected for use in the temple.

The rest of the olive would then be mushed even more, heated, and more oil extracted for use in cooking and as fuel.

But only the first fruit of the olive would be used for the lamps in the tabernacle.

This was a time consuming and labour intensive process – and they had to continually make this effort to make sure that the lamps would be kept burning.

Just like that olive, we have been squeezed, broken – even torn apart by life – by situations and circumstances – and it is from this place, this morning, that I bring this message.

I would like to share, with you today, some of the oil produced by my own pressing, the oil produced by my own brokenness. A friend of mine likes to say that there is oil in preaching from experience.

I want to share this oil with you this morning in the hopes that it will fan into flames the thing that God wants to do in your life this morning.

I started out my ministry journey in this church. Many of you remember me as a teenager, and later as a Bible College student. And it took me years to come to a point where I can finally admit that when I was here before, all the times that I was here before, I was too young for the call of God on my life. Immature and impressionable.

After I entered the secular workforce, getting my first real job in sales, I fell in with some negative influences. I was, at the time no longer with this congregation, but had moved on to a different church where I was the worship leader, and involved in many different kinds of part-time ministry – but I was leading a double life.

I had, through some very bad decisions on my part and very poor judgement, become addicted to drugs and alcohol. I was still a Christian, I was still faithful in my church attendance and even in ministry – but behind closed doors I was a desperate, miserable wretch of a man who could not go one day without a hit, fix or a drink.

It came to a point, in August 2015, where I was arrested and ended up sleeping in the cells at the Sophiatown Police Station.

I had my day in court, and by some miracle, where I was supposed to go to Sun City Prison for 6 months, through the intercession of my mother, and the guidance of our pastor, Leon – I was let go on the condition that I would go and see a counsellor, get help and get my life together.

Shame drove me to take a break from church altogether. For the first time in years, I stopped going to church and attended 12 Step Meetings instead.

It was when I was almost 1 year clean and sober that I was arrested for the second time – this time, not by the police, but by the love and grace of God.

I met a pastor at one of these meetings. I had mentioned that I had been involved in ministry before – that I had completed my studies years earlier, that I had done work with the homeless, with the youth and that I was a worship leader. He invited me to his church, and I went the next Sunday. And just like that I was at home, once more in my Father’s house.

I soon became their worship and youth pastor. And from there I have not looked back – even in trials and tribulation – in good times and in bad times – I’ve held fast to the God of my Salvation and I have walked with Him, and He has walked with me – for more or less 8 years now – at least 5 of which I have been in full time ministry.

A while ago I started writing a series called ‘Walking With Jesus’ – and I publish it weekly on my website. In it we look at who Jesus is and what He came to do.

And the one thing that is absolutely clear in the book of Mark is that Jesus was a man of Action – Jesus was the right hand of God stretched out – God taking action.

God wants to liberate His people. He wants to set us free from the chains, He wants to call out the captives, and He wants to breathe new life into dry, dead bones.

He wants to turn our graves into gardens, He wants to turn bones into armies – so that we may take back this land for His Kingdom, that we might go into this world and show them that the Mighty One Who Saves is in our midst.

At one point in my life I was getting so many calls and messages from still-suffering drug addicts, that the Lord took me out of a corporate environment and pulled me into full-time ministry. If I had to share even some of the testimonies from the last 5 and a half years, we would be here all day – I have seen people healed, set free and transformed by the Gospel.

I have seen chains broken, prison doors opened – I have seen blind eyes and deaf ears see and hear again! I have seen ligaments and bone grow back!

Let’s take a moment and dive into scripture. Mark 16:1-8:

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The Bible tells us that these three women went to the tomb of Jesus, expecting to find a body.

The Bible tells us in the Gospels, that when the disciples heard that the tomb was empty, they were surprised.

Why were they surprised? Did Jesus not tell them that this was going to happen? That there was going to be a resurrection?

The tomb is empty!

The Biblical account of the resurrection shows us that Jesus had to appear to His disciples before they truly understood what was happening – even the disciples had to see it to believe it.

Why? Is it perhaps because the idea of resurrection, of revival – the idea of coming back to life seems so impossible?

And perhaps today, this is where we find ourselves. Waiting to see so that we may believe.

I am here this morning to show you the resurrection power of our God in Jesus Christ. I was dead, but I am now alive through the grace and mercy of Jesus!

I should have been in a hole in the ground, but I stand before you alive, healed, restored and redeemed!

And I have seen many others called out of their graves as well.

The empty tomb is full – full of hope, full of grace and mercy, full of redeeming love!

The psalmist says, ‘let God arise, His enemies be scattered!’

The empty tomb is a wake up call! God has risen – He has scattered the enemies of sin, shame, fear and even death! The stone has been rolled away and God is on the loose in our midst, the Mighty One who Saves, our saviour, our redeemer, the lover of our souls!

Paul writes to the church in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 15:56-58:

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

He writes to the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:14:

“Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

The empty tomb is an invitation – it invites us to get up out of the mirey clay of our unbelief, our circumstances, our situations – the empty tomb is an invitation, calling DEAD MEN COME OUT OF YOUR GRAVES! LAZARUS COME OUT!

Rise from the dead! Let Christ shine upon you!

The empty tomb is an invitation to step out of our graves and into the resurrection power of Jesus Christ.

Some of us this morning are barren ground full of dry bones – we want to believe, we want to be set free, but we just don’t seem to get there – God is saying, today is your day! Step out! Come out of your grave! Step into Me!

Over the years I have spoken to many pastors, apostles, prophets – mighty men of God, who still struggle with the bondage of sin and shame. Some of them renowned and well known – addicted to drugs, gambling, alcohol, sex…

Some of us this morning, believe in Jesus – we come to church, like I once did, but we have one foot in the grave. God is saying step out – let go of your chains! Come alive!

Some of us are alive – we live a good life, we are devout Christians – but it feels like something is missing. Why? Because we are alive, but we are sitting in that empty tomb, not having realized that the stone has been rolled away! Step out! Out of that grave, and into the resurrection power of Jesus! Into the victory of Jesus!

Victory over sin, shame and despair! Victory over poverty, sickness and addiction! Victory is ours today!

Jesus took death itself in His hand and tore it apart. It is under His feet. What then of our situations, our storms, our circumstances? If Jesus defeated death, surely everything else seems small in comparison.

Victory is here today.

Pastor Deon shared a powerful revelation last week when he shared these words from 1 John 4:17: AS HE IS SO AM I!

Jesus got out of that grave. He defeated death!

Jesus took me out of my grave – and not just a spiritual one, He kept me from a very real, very serious and early death. Through His Holy Spirit active and working in my life, through His resurrection power!

I am here to plead with you this morning – step out of your grave! Step out of your grave!

Even Peter went to the empty tomb, and the Bible says he wondered about what might have happened. The resurrection might seem impossible – but with God all things are possible!

You just need to take your mustard seed of faith, hold it tightly in your hand! And step out today!

Turn to Jesus! Let Him do His work within you! Let Him pull you out of darkness and into life! What he has done for others He can do for you!

Step out today!

Understanding Step 5: Confession

by Andre | Sep 4, 2024 | 12 Steps, Articles, Counselling, Finding Help, Therapeuo

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

Step 5, Alcoholics Anonymous

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

James 5:16, NIV

For many of us, if step 4 was hard, this step seemed inconceivable – and although it was a painful process, there is power in confession.

In sharing and confessing what we have been through, and what we have done, we roll the burden we have been carrying off our shoulders. We were never meant to carry our burdens alone.

This step urges us to make this confession towards three distinct parties. The order is not set in stone, so I will share my experience.

First we confess to ourselves.

This is often the hardest part of this process – but it is made all the easier through completion of step 4: our moral inventory.

It is the opinion of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous that the only people who do not recover are those who are constitutionally unable to be honest with themselves.

This program is a program of honesty – and in this step we are once more called to be honest with ourselves – confessing the exact nature of our wrongs. It is to admit that we were wrong, to acknowledge that there is, within us and in our past, things that we feel guilty, embarrassed or ashamed about.

The truth sets us free.

We have all heard of naming and shaming – I want to propose ‘naming the shame’ – because by bringing it into the light it can no longer pull you into the dark.

We further strip the shame of its power by finding a confidant in which to confide. A fellow worker of the program, perhaps a pastor or a member of the clergy – someone you trust. Traditionally you would share this with your sponsor – a person who has some clean time and who has worked all twelve steps, someone you have chosen to help you work through the process. I have found that I have been most comfortable sharing with a close friend or two that I have had in the program and in the church.

In sharing this admission – in confessing our guilt, in sharing the exact nature of our wrongs – with another we often find, especially in confiding with a fellow recovering addict, that they have lived through much of the same horrors we have, done many of the same wrongs, lived a similar life – and somehow they have found a way forward.

Sometimes the thing you judge yourself the most for is just the tip of the iceberg for someone else.

I want to stress how important it is that you find the right person to share it with. Many people in recovery wear their hearts on their sleeves and just share with anyone who will listen – but I would recommend finding a sponsor who has more than 2 years of clean time, used a similar substance or engaged in a similar behaviour and who has worked through the twelve steps and understands them well.

It helps if your sponsor is a Christian who can pray with you and help you grow spiritually as well. The program might get us clean – but God keeps us clean.

Finally, we confess to God – and this is where the burden really rolls off our shoulders. If we can muster up just a mustard seed of faith…

1 John 1:9-10 says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (KJV)

We have all sinned – we have all missed the mark – and while it is true that some of us have missed it more than others, God is faithful. No matter how big your sin, no matter how vast your trespasses, the love of God is bigger, His mercy is wider, His grace runs deeper!

If we confess our sins God is faithful to forgive and cleanse us of our sin. He makes all things new.

If you need someone to talk to in this regard, or would like to discuss this step or anything around the twelve steps, finding Jesus, and moving forward in freedom – please reach out by sending me an email: andre@adlabuschagne.co.za

Prayer: Lord, give me the courage to complete this step. Show me the things I have done, let Your Spirit come and convict me, not towards condemnation, but towards righteousness so that I might get rid of this weight I have been carrying with me. Let Your love guide me, strengthen me and embolden me. Let Your grace comfort me in the road ahead – as I surrender to Your perfect will. Direct me towards the right people with which to share my story, safe people who will hear my confession and love rather than judge. Give me wisdom and discernment. And help me shoulder the weight of my burden of wrongs. I confess today that You are faithful, and if I will confess my sins, You will forgive and make me new again. Give me the strength and wisdom to do just that. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Understanding Step 4: Moral Inventory

by Andre | Aug 27, 2024 | 12 Steps, Counselling, Finding Help, Therapeuo

“Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.”

Step 4, Alcoholics Anonymous

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.”

Lamentations 3:40

The spiritual principle behind the 4th Step is COURAGE.

To look at oneself in the mirror of introspection can be challenging, and even painful. It is to peel back the layers of the onion, one at a time, to get to the roots of our ‘stinking thinking’ and behaviour.

While many have overcomplicated this step, it is actually quite simply the process of making a list – looking at our weaknesses and defects of character. This list of weaknesses will become a source of strength in the future.

It gives us a birds eye view of what we need to work on in the future – the facets of our life that need to be surrendered to God. The list itself does not change anything, this step does not change anything – but it gives us a better idea of what our healing process should look like in the future.

It is best to be honest with oneself in doing this step – the more brutally honest you can be with yourself, the better.

It is also important not to delay the process. Some of us, in attempting this step the first time, struggled because we wanted to justify our behaviour, or – on the flip side – wanted the list to be as comprehensive as possible. There is no need to strive for perfection here – just progress.

Whether your list is a few lines or a few pages – it doesn’t matter – just get it out on paper!

Step 4 is all about taking responsibility, owning your weakness – and identifying your negative thoughts, actions and feelings.

In doing this step we also look at our strengths – our character assets.

What are you doing right? What Spiritual Principles are you applying? And how can I do more of these things in the future?

The end result, if we are honest with ourselves, will be a list that allows us to examine our tendencies towards fear, resentment, pride, guilt, shame, selfpity, secrets, sex and relationships.

It will give us a better idea of who we are coming into recovery and give us a goal to work towards – as we strive to let go of past hurt and resentments, as we work on practising spiritual principles, and lean in towards becoming a better version of ourselves.

God is faithful to forgive – He teaches us about forgiveness throughout His Word.

One of the things we need to learn from Him is the concept of forgiveness. We need to learn to forgive ourselves, as He forgives, and also those who might’ve hurt us.

This inventory lays the foundation for the process of recovery going forward.

It might feel like a daunting task, and many of us don’t know where to begin.

In saying this I have included a few links to resources that might help you get started:

This 4th Step Guide is a questionnaire designed specifically to help with doing your inventory – exploring certain facets of your childhood, adolescence and adulthood – it is a helpful tool for getting through step 4.

Chapter 5 of the Big Book also gives us more information on personal inventory and the importance thereof.

In my own recovery I found the NA Step Working Guide to be a valuable resource – the Step 4 guide starts on page 27.

I would urge you to be kind to yourself in this process – be honest and open minded – and above all, don’t be afraid.

You can do this!

Prayer: Lord, as I go into Step 4 please help me set aside any judgement and any need to justify my behaviour. Let me be open and honest with myself. Help me go about this task fearlessly as I look at my life and help me see which parts of myself I have yet to give to You. In Jesus Name. Amen.

If you need any help or have any questions, you are welcome to reach out to me: andre@adlabuschagne.co.za / 0653703806 – we want to journey with you!

Understanding Step 3: God

by Andre | Aug 20, 2024 | 12 Steps, Counselling, Finding Help, Therapeuo

“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.”

Step 3, Alcoholics Anonymous

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”

2 Peter 2:18, NIV

Step 1 is very much about realizing and admitting that there is a problem. Honesty.

Step 2 is about realizing and coming to believe that there is a solution – a power (the group) and a Power (God) greater than ourselves. Hope.

Step 3 is about surrender – or on a much deeper level, FAITH.

In our secularized society we shy away from talking about God – but the fact is, as I pointed out in a previous post, that although we can start our recovery journey without God, we cannot sustain it without Him.

But here is the problem: while some of us may have a foundation to build on – perhaps from Sunday School or growing up in a Christian home, many of us have no foundation at all.

Our concept of God is that of a foreign and far-removed, almost alien being who is indifferent to our struggles and difficulties here on earth – some of us even choose to believe that there is no God at all.

If at this point of your journey you are still at odds with the idea of God, struggling with the concept of faith in Jesus, I would urge you to focus, for now, on the support structure you have in place. In twelve step fellowships some of our more agnostic brothers and sisters have often used the word ‘God’ to refer to ‘Good Orderly Direction’.

My prayer is that you will see God at work in the group you have joined and that this will ultimately lead you – direct you – to Him. Surely, if the program was rooted in Christian belief, inspired by His Spirit, then the principles at work in the program will be a reflection of His heart for you.

I therefore urge you to devote yourself to this program as the means through which you will get to know Him – as the God of our Salvation, the Mighty One who Saves.

At this point in the journey each person will have their own understanding of who God is – some more than others – but our lack of a concept of God should not become an excuse to avoid working the program.

Faith, according to the Bible, is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1).

You might not see the full picture of God at the moment – you might be relying heavily on secondhand information and the testimonies of others – relying on Good Orderly Direction on your way to a better understanding of who He is and His will for your life – but that is where faith comes in.

Faith, in this case, means putting just a little bit of trust in God – however you might understand Him at this point. Even if the only thing you understand about God right now is the fact that He has been the solution for someone else – that is a good start. “What You have done for others, Lord, please do for me!”

Step 3 urges us to surrender our will and our lives to God as we understand Him – and this is a daily step we take. Every morning when we wake up we need to make the decision again – the decision to trust that there is a God who has a better plan for my life than I have for myself.

It means letting go of ego and pride – keeping an open mind and giving Him a chance. In giving God a chance we give ourselves a chance for change.

Peter urges us (2 Peter 3:18) to grow in our understanding and knowledge of God – to grow in our relationship with Him and to start experiencing Him firsthand. To surrender your will and life is to pursue God and His will for your life. And as we grow in knowledge and understanding we will also grow in grace.

It is my prayer for you that you will give God a chance, making the decision today to turn your will and life over to Him – give Him your mess so that He might turn it into a message, let Him turn your test into a testimony.

If you have reached this point, much like I did, you will see that you really don’t have that much to lose, but actually have a lot to gain.

And in practice it is actually quite simple. There are many good Christian devotionals available, especially for those of us who are in recovery. I would recommend you find one that works for you and start a daily practice of reading, prayer and meditation. Just 15 minutes a day would be enough for anyone to start.

Your prayers don’t have to be complicated – in fact, the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book has a prayer for every step – and you can find them for free on the internet, along with many other resources for prayer.

Finally, Bible Study is a great way to learn about God and grow in your relationship with Him. Once again, there are many great resources available for free but I would recommend purchasing the Life Recovery Bible by Tyndale or downloading the free YouVersion app if you can’t afford a Bible at the moment (we’ve all been there!).

It is my conviction that God is real, that He has revealed Himself in Jesus and that He loves us! He really loves us! And this is a thought that is often difficult to reconcile with the realities of life in a broken world – but He does. His will for your life is freedom and life in abundance. Give Him a chance. You have nothing to lose.

Prayer: Lord, help me grow in my understanding of You, Your Will and Word. Help me turn my eyes away from my past and towards the future You have in store for me. Let Your Spirit convince me of Your love for me – and let Your love drive me towards a greater destiny than I could ever have in mind for myself. Help me to surrender – to give over – to the love You showed in Jesus. Help me pour out all I am for more of You. In Jesus name. Amen.