Blog

And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. Acts 8:6 While in Family Practice residency, I saw my own patients long before I had children. Looking back, I gave out a lot of ignorant advice to young…
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Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. Acts 8:4-5 Early in recovery, when life was still quite a disaster, someone trying – I think – to ease my guilt, told me that my addiction was God’s plan for…
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But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Romans 8:3 After years of struggling with addiction and after multiple treatments and relapses, most of those close to me simply expected me to continue failing. I couldn’t blame them. If my past…
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And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:60 In medicine, when patients say their pain tolerance is quite high, this almost invariably means the exact opposite. Those patients usually have a very…
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Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. Acts 7:58 As a middle child, I’m a peacemaker. I dislike conflict and so, I avoid it when possible. This is a natural tendency that can be both…
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You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.  Acts 7:51 I write from my life experiences. I write about my own struggles and failures and I write about what God is teaching me through them. I don’t think I’m the only one…
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Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt . . . Acts 7:39 Addiction – to anything – occurs when we repeat an impulsive, rewarding behavior, thereby changing the patterns of our brain until that behavior is compulsive. In being compulsive, the behavior simply becomes…
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This Moses, whom they rejected . . . God sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. Acts 7:35 There are multiple barriers that prevent the addict from getting help. For one, he often simply doesn’t want to change. The stigma of addiction though,…
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I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt. Acts 7:34 Daily, I pray for those whom I know to still be struggling with addiction. I ask that God…
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At this retort Moses fled and became an exile in the land of Midian . . . Acts 7:29 Most of us have a strong sense of justice – when it applies to the wrongs of others. When we witness people attempting to evade consequences for something we know them to be guilty of, we’re…
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