It is vital that people in recovery see the success of others who have been in the same , hopeless situation as they are. One of the best ways to relay this is through a live testimony from someone who has been there and is now experiencing success.
Over the years of attending both secular and Christian based recovery meetings I have noticed that there is a strong network of people in secular meeting sharing their "AA lead" (testimony ) at meetings outside of their normal local group meeting / town. In fact in California there is a speakers circuit that a person in recovery can belong to. Once they are part of that group they will typically speak, once a month at a meeting designated as a "speakers meeting". These meeting are normally well attended and draw people from outside that meetings geographical area. People will drive great distances, on a regular basis, just to hear popular speakers.
While at the same time I have found that the Christian based meetings do not have such a network -as far as I know. Only with Celebrate Recovery (C.R.) at their annual and regional meeting do I see speakers from another area give their testimony.
Most C.R. meetings in the Pittsburgh area struggle to get their own people to give their testimony and thus they revert to taped testimonies or having the leaders give their testimony frequently.
We in the Christian community need to do a better job. Recovery is a mission field that is in every neighborhood and family. People struggle, not only with substance abuse, but with a wide variety of hurts, habits and hangup. Areas of recovery include: eating disorders, co-dependency, abusive relationships, death of a loved love, divorce, gambling, and shopping addiction... just to name a few.
The James 5:16 Project was founded to promote the healing that confession brings. Although it is not natural and certainly not the norm in our culture to confess when we are wrong, The Bible tells us that we should. In fact, James 5:16 tells us it is vital that we confess if we want to be healed. However pride get in our way, and the bible tells us that "Pride Comes Before the Fall" (Proverbs 16:18). So we need to set our pride aside and confess. The best way that I found to get people to do this, is to confess my own sins to to them. Once they see that I am a broken person and see the healing I have in my life, they open up and soon experience the Healing Grace that James 5:16 promises.
If you would like for me to speak at your church or recovery group, please contact me. I can present my Testimony or provide an informative lecture entitled Addiction and the Brain. This informative lecture with Q & A explains why it is hard for to break the addiction cycle and equips the addict, as well friends and family members, with bible principles and tools to help them overcome. I look forward to sharing my experience with you
Jeff
"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
Jeff is a member of the Men's Executive Leadership team at the Bible Chapel in the Pittsburgh Pa Area.The team plans and implements all of the event for the men's ministry for the churches four campuses.
Jeff's responsibilities include: being the special liaison to the local missions & homeless shelters, as well as being the director of the men's nightly study groups "Men of the Bible"
He led the Recovery program for the church for four years which included overseeing Celebrate Recovery Meetings at two of the Church campuses. He has also volunteered at both the Washington City Mission and the Light of Life Mission in the Pittsburgh area taking bible studies to the men at each facility.
Jeff is also active with fund raising for the Light of Life Mission. Over the past five years he has been a member of the planning committee for their annual fundraiser "Walk for the Homeless",
He is also a frequent speaker at both Christian and secular recovery meetings.