The One Step Program
What is the surest way to overcome addictions?
Many churches want to help people overcome their addictions to alcohol and the like. The most common means is some sort of Twelve Step program. The Twelve Step program was originally developed by Alcoholics Anonymous.
How effective is the Twelve Step program used by Alcoholics Anonymous in helping people overcome their addiction to alcohol?
Alcoholics Anonymous has made claims of a 75% success rate. On the other hand, their detractors have made claims as low as 5%. It all really depends upon what is being measured to determine success rate.
The low end by detractors was measured by including people who showed up to one meeting and never went back. No program works if the program is not worked.
The high end by Alcoholics Anonymous only included people who completed the program within the last month and have not relapsed in that month. This really does not indicate if they were really successful in recovering from alcoholism for life.
The best study I found was on a pool of six thousand people, who had finished all twelve steps. The people conducting the study broke the pool into tiers of five year marks since participants had completed the program. The top tier was twenty years. This was based on the premise that if someone has not returned to drinking alcohol in twenty years, it is likely that they never will. So, the success rate of this top tier best indicates the success rate of recovering from alcoholism for life.
The success rate of recovering from alcoholism for life for Alcoholics Anonymous was found to be 20% using the twenty-year method.
There are numerous spin-offs of this Twelve Step program tailored for other addictions, like narcotics.
One of the most popular is Celebrate Recovery. It is a meant to be a more Christian version of the Twelve Step program that can be applied to numerous addictions. It has become the most common Twelve Step program used by American churches today.
How effective is the Twelve Step program used by Celebrate Recovery in helping people overcome their addiction to alcohol and other things?
Celebrate Recovery has claimed an 85% success rate, but that is on the same basis as the 75% success rate claimed by Alcoholics Anonymous. On the other hand, their detractors have made claims as low as 5%, but that is on the same basis as the 5% success rate claimed by the detractors of Alcoholics Anonymous.
I could find no comprehensive study of the success rate of Celebrate Recover like I found for Alcoholics Anonymous. There is no study by a disinterested third party to verify any of these claims.
However, based on the people that I have personally known to involved in Celebrate Recovery, I cannot see that it has anything but a marginal improvement over Alcoholics Anonymous using the twenty year standard. People I have asked in other parts of the country have told me the same thing.
So, until I see a concrete study like the one done on Alcoholics Anonymous, I am going to have to go with something close to a 20% success rate using the twenty year standard. It only makes sense that two groups using similar methodologies would get the similar results.
However, there is a better way to overcome addictions. I call it the One Step program.
The One Step program has a 100% success rate using the twenty year standard based on the dozens of people I have known, who have chosen to implement it. A comprehensive study of the One Step program would be difficult, since most of the people who have implemented the One Step program, do not have a name for what they have done. They just know that it worked.
The One Step program is not new. In fact, it has been around for about two thousand years. It has been shown to work generation after generation in every place it was implemented.
The One Step program used to be common in American churches, but that was before there was a change in the American Spirit. Today, those who have completed the One Step program in America, often feel like they are drowning in a lukewarm sea.
This is because American religious professionals see no commercial value in the One Step program.
No one is going to become the richest pastor in America by selling One Step program materials. No one is going be hosting sold out One Step program conferences. No one is is going to run an organization that is everyone else depends upon to implement the One Step program.
There are no books to buy for the One Step program. There are no meetings in the One Step program. A congregation does not have to find someone to run the One Step program.
However, most congregations have to change the way they think, to implement the One Step program.
The One Step program will not cause tremendous growth in church membership, but it will cause tremendous growth in church members.
So, most Americans today have never been exposed to the One Step program. In fact, I had gone to church for my entire life when I almost twenty years old, and never been exposed to the One Step program.
This all changed, after I saw a dramatic change in the life of my cousin. I wanted to know why. I needed that kind of change in my own life.
While there are Twelve Step programs for garden variety sins like getting drunk and taking drugs, there are no Twelve Step programs for more uncommon sins. For example, there is no "Serial Killers Anonymous" for those who are either serial killers, or on the road to becoming serial killers. If there was, then it would probably be packed with those serial killers who perform abortions.
I had my own set of sinful addictions - and no Twelve Step program was available for any of them. I was quite simply sick and twisted. I hated who I had become (Romans 7:15-17). Still, I could not stop myself from doing the things that I was doing, no matter had much I did not want to do those things (Romans 7:18-20). I continued to do these things, even though I could see, that these sinful addictions could only result in death (James 1:15).
I could see no exit from the road that was speeding me ever faster to the Chamber of Horrors, and I was terrified! I knew that I had to change.
So, I tried all that psychology had to offer. At best, I could displace some of the damage to other people by projecting my acts on something besides another person.
Still, chopping wood in the place of burying an ax in the heads of my enemies was no way to deal with a bully. None of the other sinful things that I did, were really solving the problem. The problem was that no matter where I went, my wicked heart went with me. There was no escaping the monster within. Sooner or later, it was going to wear me down and take me over completely.
Then a miracle happened!
I had known my cousin for my whole life. He had been overcame by a large number of garden variety sins, like psychedelic drugs. Then one day, I was told that it was all gone, and he was in his right mind.
I did not believe it when I was first told, but then I talked to him, and it was all true. I asked him how this happened.
There was no story about a Twelve Step program, or a rehab center, or detoxing at a hospital. In fact, he told me that all of it was gone in ten minutes time.
I had known a number of people who had recovered from psychedelic drugs, and it was always brutal. It took weeks of detoxing. They called the period of withdraws "a living Hell". No one just got up one morning, said I am done with psychedelic drugs, and that was that.
Yet, I could not deny that he was done with psychedelic drugs - without the detoxing and withdraws. I had to know how this impossible thing could have happened. I wanted it to happen to me.
He had been addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, pornography, marijuana, heroine, and who knows what else, before someone told him about the One Step program. He finally put the One Step program into action, threw up once, and that was it. He was completely free from all of those sinful addictions.
Finally, he gave me the only step to the One Step program. Here it is:
I had never heard that the Father of Truth would make me able to obey Him, if I surrendered control of my life to the Man of Truth. This was the first time I had ever heard that the Man of Truth would set me free from sin, if I would put him in charge of everything in my life.
I had always heard that I was sinner, that could not help but sin. When I had went down to the altar when I was eight, I was told that I was now a forgiven sinner, that could not help but sin.
Besides that, I had read the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament) twice. I had gotten just three things out of it.
First, I was a greater sinner than I thought I was, because the Man of Truth said that I was not just guilty of the things I had done, but also of the evil things that I had wanted to do. Second, the Man of Truth demanded that I completely turn away from doing those things. Third, that the Man of Truth wanted all of me or none of me.
So, I had felt helpless. I knew that I was not strong enough to stop sinning, yet I knew that the Man of Truth demanded that we repent from sinning.
Now I felt hope. So I asked him, if that was in the Book of Truth (The Bible). He proceeded to show me that it was.
He showed me, that if I would commit to obeying the Man of Truth in all things, that is to be his disciple, then I would know the truth, and the truth would set me free (John 8:30-32). He showed me, that I would no longer be a slave to these sinful addictions, because the Man of Truth would set me free from them (John 8:34-36).
He showed me, that if I surrendered everything to the Man of Truth, then I would be a new creation, those sinful addictions would die out completely, and be replaced with new righteous addictions (2 Corinthians 5:17). He showed me, that the Man of Truth would teach me how to put off my sinful lifestyle, and put on his righteous lifestyle (Ephesians 4:20-24). He showed me, that I would be able to put off my sinful lifestyle, and put on the righteous lifestyle of the Man of Truth (Colossians 3:8-10).
He showed me, that I would no longer be an addict to sin, if I surrendered control of my life to the Man of Truth (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). He showed me, that the Man of Truth would give me the strength to do what the Father of Truth desires (Philippians 4:13). He showed me, that I would have the power to put those sinful addictions to death (Colossians 3:5-7).
He showed me, that I would be free from these sinful addictions, if I became enslaved to righteous addictions (Romans 6:16-18). He showed me, that I would become as addicted to righteousness as I was to sin (Romans 6:19).
He showed me, that I would never be strong enough to be free from these sinful addictions - without the Spirit of Truth (Romans 8:3-4). He showed me, that there was no way for me to think in the way that the Father of Truth desired - without the Spirit of Truth (Romans 8:5-7).
He showed me, that I would be free from these sinful addictions, if I became enslaved to the Father of Truth (Romans 6:20-22). He showed me, that the Father of Truth would give me both the desire and the ability to do His will (Philippians 2:13). He showed me, that the Father of Truth would give me the strength to overcome the Father of Lies (1 Peter 5:8-10).
He showed me, that the Father of Truth would replace my heart of stone, which caused me to do what I detested, with a new heart of flesh that would obey Him (Ezekiel 11:18-20). He showed me, that the Father of Truth would do this by putting the Spirit of Truth within me (Ezekiel 36:25-27). He showed me, that the Spirit of Truth would be put within me, so that I would be free from my sinful addictions, and become addicted to righteousness - if I would surrender control of my life to the Man of Truth (Romans 8:8-10).
He showed me, that I would be able do what the Father of Truth desired, because the Spirit of Truth would make me free from those sinful addictions (Romans 8:1-2). He showed me, that the Spirit of Truth would write His laws upon my heart, instead of them just being written upon tablets of stone (2 Corinthians 3:3-6). He showed me, that if I would follow the leading of the Spirit of Truth, then these sinful desires of my flesh would be put to death (Galatians 5:22-25). He showed me, that I would no longer live in darkness, but the Spirit of Truth would cause me to live in the light (Ephesians 5:8-10).
After showing me this in the Book of Truth, I asked him what he meant by surrendering total control of my life to the Man of Truth. He made it very plain, that when he said surrender total control of my life to the Man of Truth, he meant exactly that. I had to agree to let the Man of Truth have the final say in every aspect of my life.
This was not a matter of inviting the Man of Truth into my life, but a matter of letting him take over my life completely. It was total surrender.
The Man of Truth would be able to tell me who I could have for friends, where I could go, what I could watch, what I could eat, where I was to live, what kind of work I would do, where I would work, who I would marry, what to do with my money, and so on.
This would be costly to me in this life.
I had to put the Man of Truth in front of my own parents and children (Matthew 10:37). I had to put the Man of Truth in front every human relationship, including my wife (Luke 14:26).
This would cause me to be treated like an enemy by my own family (Matthew 10:34-36). I would be subject to betrayal by my own family and friends (Luke 21:16).
The world had to become my enemy if I was going to be the friend of the Father of Truth (James 4:4).
I would be hated by all kinds of people (Luke 21:17). The world would hate me because I no longer would belong to the world (John 15:18-19). The world would hate me because I would belong to the Man of Truth (John 17:14-16). The world would hate me for righteous deeds that are contrary to the evil deeds of the world (1 John 3:12-13).
I would be persecuted for the sake of the name of the Man of Truth (John 15:20-21). I was guaranteed persecution - if I followed the Man of Truth in living a life that was pleasing to the Father of Truth (2 Timothy 3:12).
The Man of Truth was calling me to lose the life I had, so I could find the life he wanted to give me (Matthew 10:39). He was calling me to die, so that I would not lose my soul (Matthew 16:24-26). He was calling me to die for the sake of the Gospel in this life, so my life would be saved (Mark 8:34-35). He was calling me to die for his sake in this life, so my life would be saved (Luke 9:23-24). He was calling me to lose my life in this age, so my life could be preserved in the next age (Luke 17:30-33). He was calling me to give up control of my life in this world, so I could keep my life with him in eternity (John 12:25-26).
I considered all of this, while watching for my cousin to relapse. I wanted to be sure that he had not just lost his mind, or was conning his parents. It soon became apparent that this change was permanent and real.
So, around midnight on November 13, 1982, as I was driving a friend back to his house to resume his party, I pulled my car over to side of the road and took the deal.
I cried long and loud over all of the ways that I had sinned against the Father of Truth. I told the Man of Truth that I was sorry for all of the evil I had done, and that I no longer wanted to be in control of my own life. That night, I completed the One Step program.
The Good News is - that everything my cousin had told me was true! Those sinful addictions no longer had a hold on me. I had no more desire to do those things than a normal person would have to pick up dog poop and eat it.
Instead, I had an overwhelming addiction to reading the Book of Truth, and putting what I read into action. I had developed an ever growing addiction to righteousness, that had completely replaced every sinful addiction that I ever had.
I had been living in the darkness of the Father of Lies, but now I was living in the light of the Father of Truth (Ephesians 5:8). The Father of Truth had moved me out of the kingdom of darkness - and into the kingdom of His son (Colossians 1:12-13). He had called me out of darkness, and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
That was thirty six years ago, and neither my cousin or I, have ever went back to our sinful addictions - for even a moment. It is not just true about us, but it is true about everyone else that I have met, who has completed the One Step program. The One Step program is repentance not to be repented of (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Do not think this means that I never sinned again, just that I never habitually sinned due to a sinful addiction. Mostly, I sinned out of ignorance, but whoever sins out of ignorance, still sins (Leviticus 4:27). However, as soon as I realized that I was sinning, I repented immediately, because the Father of Truth overlooks ignorance, but demands repentance when a person is no longer ignorant (Acts 17:30).
For example, I desecrated the Sabbath for years, because I did not know, who changed the Sabbath. I was doing what I knew to do, by giving the Father of Truth one day a week. As soon as I was convinced that the Sabbath had not change to Sunday, as I had misunderstood from the Renewed Covenant (Tanakh aka The Old Testament), I immediately began resting on the Sabbath. I learned how to make sure I was keeping His Sabbath, and not my own. I learned that He had so many things for the Children of Truth to do on the Sabbath, that there was never any reason to be bored on the Sabbath.
The Good News is - that the One Step program will work for anyone who completes the it, because the Father of Truth has no favorites (Acts 10:34-35).
Still, this a radical step to take. It requires that people give up everything, and it seems to be too much for the Man of Truth to ask. However, the Man of Truth gave up everything, to make the One Step program possible for people (Philippians 2:6-8).
This is why, the way to destruction is wide, and the way to life is narrow, so that few find the way to the life that he offers (Matthew 7:13-14). This is why, even though many are called to be free from their sinful addictions, only the few who respond to his call, are chosen (Matthew 22:2-14).
So, rather you take advantage of the One Step program, or you put yourself through some long process of Twelve Steps until you have suffered enough, you must come into the House of Truth to be saved.
You must be committed to carrying out the will of the Father of Truth to be saved - even if you call the Man of Truth your lord (Matthew 7:21-23). It is absolutely foolish to think that you can be saved without a sincere commitment to obey the Man of Truth (Matthew 7:24-27). It is absolutely foolish to think that you can be saved by calling the Man of Truth your lord, without doing the things that he commands (Luke 6:46-49).
You must come into the House of Truth by making a commitment to obey the Man of Truth in everything, because you believe that His Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).
Come into the House of Truth!
Many churches want to help people overcome their addictions to alcohol and the like. The most common means is some sort of Twelve Step program. The Twelve Step program was originally developed by Alcoholics Anonymous.
How effective is the Twelve Step program used by Alcoholics Anonymous in helping people overcome their addiction to alcohol?
Alcoholics Anonymous has made claims of a 75% success rate. On the other hand, their detractors have made claims as low as 5%. It all really depends upon what is being measured to determine success rate.
The low end by detractors was measured by including people who showed up to one meeting and never went back. No program works if the program is not worked.
The high end by Alcoholics Anonymous only included people who completed the program within the last month and have not relapsed in that month. This really does not indicate if they were really successful in recovering from alcoholism for life.
The best study I found was on a pool of six thousand people, who had finished all twelve steps. The people conducting the study broke the pool into tiers of five year marks since participants had completed the program. The top tier was twenty years. This was based on the premise that if someone has not returned to drinking alcohol in twenty years, it is likely that they never will. So, the success rate of this top tier best indicates the success rate of recovering from alcoholism for life.
The success rate of recovering from alcoholism for life for Alcoholics Anonymous was found to be 20% using the twenty-year method.
There are numerous spin-offs of this Twelve Step program tailored for other addictions, like narcotics.
One of the most popular is Celebrate Recovery. It is a meant to be a more Christian version of the Twelve Step program that can be applied to numerous addictions. It has become the most common Twelve Step program used by American churches today.
How effective is the Twelve Step program used by Celebrate Recovery in helping people overcome their addiction to alcohol and other things?
Celebrate Recovery has claimed an 85% success rate, but that is on the same basis as the 75% success rate claimed by Alcoholics Anonymous. On the other hand, their detractors have made claims as low as 5%, but that is on the same basis as the 5% success rate claimed by the detractors of Alcoholics Anonymous.
I could find no comprehensive study of the success rate of Celebrate Recover like I found for Alcoholics Anonymous. There is no study by a disinterested third party to verify any of these claims.
However, based on the people that I have personally known to involved in Celebrate Recovery, I cannot see that it has anything but a marginal improvement over Alcoholics Anonymous using the twenty year standard. People I have asked in other parts of the country have told me the same thing.
So, until I see a concrete study like the one done on Alcoholics Anonymous, I am going to have to go with something close to a 20% success rate using the twenty year standard. It only makes sense that two groups using similar methodologies would get the similar results.
However, there is a better way to overcome addictions. I call it the One Step program.
The One Step program has a 100% success rate using the twenty year standard based on the dozens of people I have known, who have chosen to implement it. A comprehensive study of the One Step program would be difficult, since most of the people who have implemented the One Step program, do not have a name for what they have done. They just know that it worked.
The One Step program is not new. In fact, it has been around for about two thousand years. It has been shown to work generation after generation in every place it was implemented.
The One Step program used to be common in American churches, but that was before there was a change in the American Spirit. Today, those who have completed the One Step program in America, often feel like they are drowning in a lukewarm sea.
This is because American religious professionals see no commercial value in the One Step program.
No one is going to become the richest pastor in America by selling One Step program materials. No one is going be hosting sold out One Step program conferences. No one is is going to run an organization that is everyone else depends upon to implement the One Step program.
There are no books to buy for the One Step program. There are no meetings in the One Step program. A congregation does not have to find someone to run the One Step program.
However, most congregations have to change the way they think, to implement the One Step program.
The One Step program will not cause tremendous growth in church membership, but it will cause tremendous growth in church members.
So, most Americans today have never been exposed to the One Step program. In fact, I had gone to church for my entire life when I almost twenty years old, and never been exposed to the One Step program.
This all changed, after I saw a dramatic change in the life of my cousin. I wanted to know why. I needed that kind of change in my own life.
While there are Twelve Step programs for garden variety sins like getting drunk and taking drugs, there are no Twelve Step programs for more uncommon sins. For example, there is no "Serial Killers Anonymous" for those who are either serial killers, or on the road to becoming serial killers. If there was, then it would probably be packed with those serial killers who perform abortions.
I had my own set of sinful addictions - and no Twelve Step program was available for any of them. I was quite simply sick and twisted. I hated who I had become (Romans 7:15-17). Still, I could not stop myself from doing the things that I was doing, no matter had much I did not want to do those things (Romans 7:18-20). I continued to do these things, even though I could see, that these sinful addictions could only result in death (James 1:15).
I could see no exit from the road that was speeding me ever faster to the Chamber of Horrors, and I was terrified! I knew that I had to change.
So, I tried all that psychology had to offer. At best, I could displace some of the damage to other people by projecting my acts on something besides another person.
Still, chopping wood in the place of burying an ax in the heads of my enemies was no way to deal with a bully. None of the other sinful things that I did, were really solving the problem. The problem was that no matter where I went, my wicked heart went with me. There was no escaping the monster within. Sooner or later, it was going to wear me down and take me over completely.
Then a miracle happened!
I had known my cousin for my whole life. He had been overcame by a large number of garden variety sins, like psychedelic drugs. Then one day, I was told that it was all gone, and he was in his right mind.
I did not believe it when I was first told, but then I talked to him, and it was all true. I asked him how this happened.
There was no story about a Twelve Step program, or a rehab center, or detoxing at a hospital. In fact, he told me that all of it was gone in ten minutes time.
I had known a number of people who had recovered from psychedelic drugs, and it was always brutal. It took weeks of detoxing. They called the period of withdraws "a living Hell". No one just got up one morning, said I am done with psychedelic drugs, and that was that.
Yet, I could not deny that he was done with psychedelic drugs - without the detoxing and withdraws. I had to know how this impossible thing could have happened. I wanted it to happen to me.
He had been addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, pornography, marijuana, heroine, and who knows what else, before someone told him about the One Step program. He finally put the One Step program into action, threw up once, and that was it. He was completely free from all of those sinful addictions.
Finally, he gave me the only step to the One Step program. Here it is:
- Surrender total control of your life to the Man of Truth, then he will change your desires on the inside, and you will not be enslaved by those sinful addictions any more.
I had never heard that the Father of Truth would make me able to obey Him, if I surrendered control of my life to the Man of Truth. This was the first time I had ever heard that the Man of Truth would set me free from sin, if I would put him in charge of everything in my life.
I had always heard that I was sinner, that could not help but sin. When I had went down to the altar when I was eight, I was told that I was now a forgiven sinner, that could not help but sin.
Besides that, I had read the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament) twice. I had gotten just three things out of it.
First, I was a greater sinner than I thought I was, because the Man of Truth said that I was not just guilty of the things I had done, but also of the evil things that I had wanted to do. Second, the Man of Truth demanded that I completely turn away from doing those things. Third, that the Man of Truth wanted all of me or none of me.
So, I had felt helpless. I knew that I was not strong enough to stop sinning, yet I knew that the Man of Truth demanded that we repent from sinning.
Now I felt hope. So I asked him, if that was in the Book of Truth (The Bible). He proceeded to show me that it was.
He showed me, that if I would commit to obeying the Man of Truth in all things, that is to be his disciple, then I would know the truth, and the truth would set me free (John 8:30-32). He showed me, that I would no longer be a slave to these sinful addictions, because the Man of Truth would set me free from them (John 8:34-36).
He showed me, that if I surrendered everything to the Man of Truth, then I would be a new creation, those sinful addictions would die out completely, and be replaced with new righteous addictions (2 Corinthians 5:17). He showed me, that the Man of Truth would teach me how to put off my sinful lifestyle, and put on his righteous lifestyle (Ephesians 4:20-24). He showed me, that I would be able to put off my sinful lifestyle, and put on the righteous lifestyle of the Man of Truth (Colossians 3:8-10).
He showed me, that I would no longer be an addict to sin, if I surrendered control of my life to the Man of Truth (1 Corinthians 6:9-11). He showed me, that the Man of Truth would give me the strength to do what the Father of Truth desires (Philippians 4:13). He showed me, that I would have the power to put those sinful addictions to death (Colossians 3:5-7).
He showed me, that I would be free from these sinful addictions, if I became enslaved to righteous addictions (Romans 6:16-18). He showed me, that I would become as addicted to righteousness as I was to sin (Romans 6:19).
He showed me, that I would never be strong enough to be free from these sinful addictions - without the Spirit of Truth (Romans 8:3-4). He showed me, that there was no way for me to think in the way that the Father of Truth desired - without the Spirit of Truth (Romans 8:5-7).
He showed me, that I would be free from these sinful addictions, if I became enslaved to the Father of Truth (Romans 6:20-22). He showed me, that the Father of Truth would give me both the desire and the ability to do His will (Philippians 2:13). He showed me, that the Father of Truth would give me the strength to overcome the Father of Lies (1 Peter 5:8-10).
He showed me, that the Father of Truth would replace my heart of stone, which caused me to do what I detested, with a new heart of flesh that would obey Him (Ezekiel 11:18-20). He showed me, that the Father of Truth would do this by putting the Spirit of Truth within me (Ezekiel 36:25-27). He showed me, that the Spirit of Truth would be put within me, so that I would be free from my sinful addictions, and become addicted to righteousness - if I would surrender control of my life to the Man of Truth (Romans 8:8-10).
He showed me, that I would be able do what the Father of Truth desired, because the Spirit of Truth would make me free from those sinful addictions (Romans 8:1-2). He showed me, that the Spirit of Truth would write His laws upon my heart, instead of them just being written upon tablets of stone (2 Corinthians 3:3-6). He showed me, that if I would follow the leading of the Spirit of Truth, then these sinful desires of my flesh would be put to death (Galatians 5:22-25). He showed me, that I would no longer live in darkness, but the Spirit of Truth would cause me to live in the light (Ephesians 5:8-10).
After showing me this in the Book of Truth, I asked him what he meant by surrendering total control of my life to the Man of Truth. He made it very plain, that when he said surrender total control of my life to the Man of Truth, he meant exactly that. I had to agree to let the Man of Truth have the final say in every aspect of my life.
This was not a matter of inviting the Man of Truth into my life, but a matter of letting him take over my life completely. It was total surrender.
The Man of Truth would be able to tell me who I could have for friends, where I could go, what I could watch, what I could eat, where I was to live, what kind of work I would do, where I would work, who I would marry, what to do with my money, and so on.
This would be costly to me in this life.
I had to put the Man of Truth in front of my own parents and children (Matthew 10:37). I had to put the Man of Truth in front every human relationship, including my wife (Luke 14:26).
This would cause me to be treated like an enemy by my own family (Matthew 10:34-36). I would be subject to betrayal by my own family and friends (Luke 21:16).
The world had to become my enemy if I was going to be the friend of the Father of Truth (James 4:4).
I would be hated by all kinds of people (Luke 21:17). The world would hate me because I no longer would belong to the world (John 15:18-19). The world would hate me because I would belong to the Man of Truth (John 17:14-16). The world would hate me for righteous deeds that are contrary to the evil deeds of the world (1 John 3:12-13).
I would be persecuted for the sake of the name of the Man of Truth (John 15:20-21). I was guaranteed persecution - if I followed the Man of Truth in living a life that was pleasing to the Father of Truth (2 Timothy 3:12).
The Man of Truth was calling me to lose the life I had, so I could find the life he wanted to give me (Matthew 10:39). He was calling me to die, so that I would not lose my soul (Matthew 16:24-26). He was calling me to die for the sake of the Gospel in this life, so my life would be saved (Mark 8:34-35). He was calling me to die for his sake in this life, so my life would be saved (Luke 9:23-24). He was calling me to lose my life in this age, so my life could be preserved in the next age (Luke 17:30-33). He was calling me to give up control of my life in this world, so I could keep my life with him in eternity (John 12:25-26).
I considered all of this, while watching for my cousin to relapse. I wanted to be sure that he had not just lost his mind, or was conning his parents. It soon became apparent that this change was permanent and real.
So, around midnight on November 13, 1982, as I was driving a friend back to his house to resume his party, I pulled my car over to side of the road and took the deal.
I cried long and loud over all of the ways that I had sinned against the Father of Truth. I told the Man of Truth that I was sorry for all of the evil I had done, and that I no longer wanted to be in control of my own life. That night, I completed the One Step program.
The Good News is - that everything my cousin had told me was true! Those sinful addictions no longer had a hold on me. I had no more desire to do those things than a normal person would have to pick up dog poop and eat it.
Instead, I had an overwhelming addiction to reading the Book of Truth, and putting what I read into action. I had developed an ever growing addiction to righteousness, that had completely replaced every sinful addiction that I ever had.
I had been living in the darkness of the Father of Lies, but now I was living in the light of the Father of Truth (Ephesians 5:8). The Father of Truth had moved me out of the kingdom of darkness - and into the kingdom of His son (Colossians 1:12-13). He had called me out of darkness, and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
That was thirty six years ago, and neither my cousin or I, have ever went back to our sinful addictions - for even a moment. It is not just true about us, but it is true about everyone else that I have met, who has completed the One Step program. The One Step program is repentance not to be repented of (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Do not think this means that I never sinned again, just that I never habitually sinned due to a sinful addiction. Mostly, I sinned out of ignorance, but whoever sins out of ignorance, still sins (Leviticus 4:27). However, as soon as I realized that I was sinning, I repented immediately, because the Father of Truth overlooks ignorance, but demands repentance when a person is no longer ignorant (Acts 17:30).
For example, I desecrated the Sabbath for years, because I did not know, who changed the Sabbath. I was doing what I knew to do, by giving the Father of Truth one day a week. As soon as I was convinced that the Sabbath had not change to Sunday, as I had misunderstood from the Renewed Covenant (Tanakh aka The Old Testament), I immediately began resting on the Sabbath. I learned how to make sure I was keeping His Sabbath, and not my own. I learned that He had so many things for the Children of Truth to do on the Sabbath, that there was never any reason to be bored on the Sabbath.
The Good News is - that the One Step program will work for anyone who completes the it, because the Father of Truth has no favorites (Acts 10:34-35).
Still, this a radical step to take. It requires that people give up everything, and it seems to be too much for the Man of Truth to ask. However, the Man of Truth gave up everything, to make the One Step program possible for people (Philippians 2:6-8).
This is why, the way to destruction is wide, and the way to life is narrow, so that few find the way to the life that he offers (Matthew 7:13-14). This is why, even though many are called to be free from their sinful addictions, only the few who respond to his call, are chosen (Matthew 22:2-14).
So, rather you take advantage of the One Step program, or you put yourself through some long process of Twelve Steps until you have suffered enough, you must come into the House of Truth to be saved.
You must be committed to carrying out the will of the Father of Truth to be saved - even if you call the Man of Truth your lord (Matthew 7:21-23). It is absolutely foolish to think that you can be saved without a sincere commitment to obey the Man of Truth (Matthew 7:24-27). It is absolutely foolish to think that you can be saved by calling the Man of Truth your lord, without doing the things that he commands (Luke 6:46-49).
You must come into the House of Truth by making a commitment to obey the Man of Truth in everything, because you believe that His Father raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).
Come into the House of Truth!
Labels: Addictions, Deliverance
posted by The House Of Truth @ June 05, 2018
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