Month: July 2017

Romans 6:16 You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness. The addict, in his misery, ironically, knows only one way to feel better.  He finds respite in the pursuit of that which made him miserable in the first place.  The…
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Romans 6:12-14 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions… For sin will have no dominion over you… At the coffee shop counter the other day, I asked if there was sugar in a certain drink.  The question quickly deescalated into a discussion on the evils of sugar. …
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Romans 6:4-6 We were buried therefore with him… into death… just as Christ was raised from the dead…. we too might walk in newness of life. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be…
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Romans 5:20-6:1 Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more…  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! Most addicts are familiar with this lie, I can get away with it.  I can have what I want and not suffer the consequences. I can have…
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Romans 5:3 We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance… I spent yesterday driving the boat, teaching newbies how to wakeboard.  I am no expert, yet there I was, giving instruction and watching the inevitable process of fall after fall with gradual improvement.  I did my best to provide helpful hints (trying not…
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Romans 4:2-5:1 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about… We have been justified by faith. It was in medical school, that I first learned of the various Personality Disorders.  Like any good medical student, I thought I had every disease.  The narcissistic personality disorder, characterized by exaggerated feelings of…
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Romans 3:22 …The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. It is not essential that a person fail radically to understand his or her need for God, but I think it helps.  The one who has not made many obvious mistakes in life, or the one who thinks they have…
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Romans 2:21-24  You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?  …The name of God is blasphemed… because of you. I have been to recovery meetings where one of the attendees was clearly drunk.  The intoxicated is often the one most loudly proclaiming the benefits of recovery and sobriety.  In his…
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Romans 2:4 God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance. At a recent discussion at our gym on nutrition, the dialogue turned to the question of whether poor nutrition was a knowledge problem or a behavioral problem.  Some said it was a knowledge issue.  We do not eat well because we do not know…
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Romans 2:1 In passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. I was broken when I hit the doors of chemical dependency treatment.  My public fall humbled me and I thought my pride was dead.  I chose (actually I had little choice at the time) an urban…
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