Celebrate Recovery

Is Celebrate Recovery Biblical?

There are about 35,000 churches that use Celebrate Recovery to help people overcome their addictions.  However, not every church is convinced that Celebrate Recovery is from the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD).  There are some very serious accusations made against Celebrate Recovery by these churches.

I understand both sides because I am very familiar with Celebrate Recovery.

I attended the first church in Tulsa to start a Celebrate Recovery (CR) program in Oklahoma.  Eventually, I went with a friend to see what it was.

This church went all out in sponsoring a Celebrate Recovery program.  CR had its own paid pastor to run just it.  Also many members of the congregation volunteered to help out in many ways.

Celebrate Recovery had its own place to meet.  Inside this place were interesting things, like child care for those attending CR.

My favorite was the He Brews coffee bar.  Coffee was the closest thing I had to an addiction, and there was an excellent volunteer barrister serving up some great brews.  He told me the secret was all in the wrist.

Soon the meeting started.  The CR pastor explained how everyone had hurts, habits, and hangups.  He further explained that CR was not just for helping people over come addictions to alcohol or drugs, but just about any kind of addiction there was.  Then we were broken into smaller groups that sat in a circle.  Generally, men were in some groups while women were in other groups.

In our circle, there was a trained CR leader, who conducted this part of the meeting.  The CR leader told each person to say the following when it was their turn:  "Hi, my name is "your name" and I am a grateful believer in Jesus Christ.  I am struggling with ....".  The person was then to spend three to five minutes explaining what they were struggling with, the challenges they faced that week, and confess to any time when what they were struggling with, had overcame them.

As we went around the circle, some men were quite dramatic and detailed in their talks, especially about their failings.  These people got a lot of attention from the regulars.  Other people, basically said that they had no failings to report, and lacked the drama of those who had failed.  These people got very little attention.  It was obvious, if you wanted to get attention from the group, then you had better have had a failure in the last week - the bigger the better.

While I was waiting for my turn, I noticed that those who reported failings seemed to be almost bragging about their failings.  The first would be like, "I got drunk once this week".  Then next would be like, "I got drunk, and took a hit of marijuana". The next would be like, "I drank, took drugs, and possibly got my girlfriend pregnant".  The next would be like, "I went to a party one night, was so wasted on drugs and alcohol, that I am not sure how many women I slept with".  The next would be like, "I went to two of those parties last week, and did worse".

I thought about all of their garden variety sins, that they almost seemed proud to have committed to show how bad they had been, then compared them to the sick and twisted things that I had done before the One Step program changed my life.  Then I thought, "Amateurs!".

Finally, it was my turn to speak.  I introduced myself, said that I was a grateful believer in Jesus Christ, and that I was not struggling with any addictions.  Then I proceeded to tell them about the One Step program, and how I had completely overcome all of my addictions instantly and permanently.

The regulars sat there stunned.  Finally, the awkward silence was broken with one of the sin braggers saying, "Get real".  There was soon a chorus of similar expressions from most in the circle.  Basically, they were saying, "liar".  They could not believe what they had just heard.

There was a big difference between my talk and their talks.  My talk barely mentioned my past addictions, but made a big deal about what the Father of Truth had done in my life through the One Step program.  Their talks barely mentioned what the Father of Truth was doing in their lives, but made a big deal about their addictions.

Later, I told my wife what had happened.  She had went to one of the women circles. She said that she had a similar experience.

I went to several more Celebrate Recovery meetings, ended up in new circles with different men, and each time I had the same reaction to the One Step program.

It seemed that the One Step program was in complete conflict with Celebrate Recover.  While both agreed on some important things, like the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) being the only hope for not being controlled by addictions, they were polar opposites about exactly what people had to do for the Man of Truth to accomplish this.  So, I stopped going to their meetings.

However, this did not get me away from Celebrate Recovery.  Our church had tremendous growth.  A large part of that growth was from people who had not been attending church, until they came to CR.

Some the CR users began to resent our members that did not attend CR, even though those people were the ones paying the bills to keep Celebrate Recovery going.  Soon, many of the CR users were separating themselves from the CR enablers, with CR users sitting in one area of the church and CR enablers sitting in another area.  There was a noticeable rift between the CR users and the CR enablers forming.  It got to the point of having almost two congregations meeting together in the same building at the same time.

The CR users enjoyed the comradery that they had at their meetings.  In fact, their meetings had some great music supplied by their own band, great coffee, and fun events.  There was no doubt that they were celebrating.

A few years after CR had started, most of the original CR users were still CR users, instead of becoming part of the CR enablers.  In fact, most of them were still struggling with the exact same issues that they had when they started.  At best, some of them had made great improvement, but had not completely recovered from their additions and became CR enablers.  Some of them were actually worse off than when they started.  It seemed to the CR enablers that the CR users were celebrating, but not recovering.

Many of the CR users had become addicted to Celebrate Recovery.  They did not want to completely recover and become CR enablers.  Their incomplete recovery was their means of remaining in Celebrate Recovery.

Eventually, the CR enablers got tired of paying for the celebrating, without seeing much recovery.  It was not that the CR enablers had lost a desire to help people recover from addictions, but that they needed to see people recover from their addictions, and then join them in helping other people recover from their addictions.

Eventually, the number of CR users began outpacing the ability of the CR enablers to keep paying the bills for Celebrate Recovery.  The constant growth of CR users outpacing the growth of CR enablers was causing financial hardship for the church.  This was simply unsustainable.

The situation was worsened by many of the CR enablers leaving the church eventually.  This constant paying to help people recover from their addictions, without seeing people actually recover from their addictions, had burned them out on Celebrate Recovery. They were burned out by this apparently futile effort to help people recover from addictions.  They left to find a place where they could see results.

Finally, the church could no longer bear the financial burden of sponsoring Celebrate Recovery.  Many of the pillars of the congregation were gone because they were burned out from being CR enablers.  The rift between the CR users and the remaining CR enablers was getting worse.  This church was effectively shut down completely, and had to merge with another congregation to survive.  So, it was forced to stop sponsoring Celebrate Recovery.

Even though it quit sponsoring Celebrate Recovery, it will still be a while before that church is celebrating its own recovery, from sponsoring Celebrate Recovery.

In order to understand how this could have happened, requires understanding Celebrate Recovery.

Celebrate Recovery was started as a Christian alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous, that covered other addictions as well.

Celebrate Recovery was created by John Baker.  He had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and going through the Twelve Step program, but it just did not feel right to him.  This is probably because Alcoholics Anonymous was started by Bill Wilson, a man who consulted with Spirits of Lies (devils aka demons aka unclean spirits aka gods) and the dead (Spirits of Lies impersonating the spirits of dead people) to create the Twelve Step program.

So Baker wanted a Christian alternative that would cover all kinds of addictions besides just alcoholism.  So with the support of Rick Warren, he started Celebrate Recovery at Saddleback Church in California.

Baker began by modifying the Twelve Step program created by Alcoholics Anonymous to create a Twelve Step program for Celebrate Recovery that was unmistakably Christian in its wording, if you include the supporting scriptures.   The twelve steps of the program (with scriptures) are: 


1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable.
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:18 NIV

2. We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:13 NIV

3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your  spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1 NIV

4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40 NIV

5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16a NIV

6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10 NIV

7. We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 NIV

8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31 NIV

9. We made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24 NIV

10. We continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12

11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry that out.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16a NIV

12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and practice these principles in all our affairs.
Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore them gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Galatians 6:1 NIV

The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous are almost word for word the same as the twelve steps of Celebrate Recovery (without the supporting scriptures).  There are these differences:  1) The word "alcohol" has been replaced with "addictions and compulsive behaviors" in step one.  2) The implied "We" for steps two through eleven is explicitly included.  3) The phrase "as we understood Him" has been removed from steps three and eleven.  4) The word "alcoholics" is replaced with "others" in step twelve.

So these twelve steps of Celebrate Recovery are essentially the same twelve steps that Wilson got from consulting with Spirit of Lies. 

However, the supporting scriptures make it very plain that the higher power involved is the Father of Truth.

Yet, no matter how sincere Baker was in his efforts to "Christianize" the twelve step of Alcoholics Anonymous, it is still the product of consulting with the dead.  We are explicitly told to not have anything to do with consulting with Spirits of Lies or the dead (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

The Twelve Steps of Celebrate Recovery also mention sin in an inconsistent way.  The scriptures for steps one, five, seven, and twelve, connect sin to addictions, compulsive behavior, wrongs, shortcomings, and restoration.  Yet the scriptures for steps four, six, and ten, do not connect sin to a moral inventory, defects of character, a personal inventory, or being wrong.

The biggest problem is, that the mapping of between these steps and their accompanying scriptures do not clearly define sin, nor distinguish between sin and just being human.  They elevate addictions (like say to Celebrate Recovery), compulsive behavior (like tapping on something while thinking), and short comings (like being math challenged) to the level of sins by the mention of sin.

In like manner, they do not specify what to take a moral or personal inventory against, so it can be anything.  In like manner, "defects of character" is subjective, and not necessarily sin.  For example, some people believe that my insistence on sticking to the truth in all circumstances, is a defect in character.  Finally, without a connection to sin, being wrong could include giving a wrong answer to any question.

So, if they mean sin, then they should just modify the twelve steps to say sin, instead of retaining the vague language that a man got from consulting the dead in his basement.  Also, they should be including the definition of sin given in the Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka The New Testament) - transgression of the Law of Truth (Torah aka The Law) (1 John 3:4).

Also, this not distinguishing between sin and being human, makes it plain that Celebrate Recovery is treating alcoholism and other sinful addictions as a physical allergy and a mental obsession, like Doctor Silkworth.  They are following his lead in ignoring that these things are fundamentally spiritual problems.

The Book of Truth never speaks about addictions and compulsive behaviors.  It speaks about sin (1 John 5:17).

Those who have compulsive behaviors like pornography, sex outside of marriage, transgender behavior, homosexuality, obsession with money, and getting drunk, will be kept out of the kingdom of the Father of Truth by their sin (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).  Those who are addicted to sex outside of marriage, pornography, drugs, hatred, violence, alcohol, and going to parties to do these things, will have no part in the kingdom of the Father of Truth (Galatians 5:19-21).  Those who remain addicted to these things will not enter His kingdom, even if they call themselves followers of the Man of Truth (Ephesians 5:5).

The Children of Truth (those who obey The Father of Truth because they love Him) are to have nothing to do with violence, getting drunk, or sexual immorality, and are to give no place in their lives for falling back into these things (Romans 13:12-14).  They are not to even so much as eat with someone who calls themselves a follower of the Man of Truth, but continues to be addicted to sexual sin, money, or alcohol (1 Corinthians 5:11).

The Children of Truth should be ashamed that they ever sinned against the Father of Truth (Romans 6:20-21).  They should be ashamed to even speak about these sinful acts (Ephesians 5:11-12).

All of this is quite contrary to a group of people meeting each week to tell each other about how they are followers of the Man of Truth, and then bragging about how much they sinned!  They should not be celebrating recovery.  They should be mourning that they sinned!

What if instead of being addicted to alcohol, one of them was addicted to killing children?  Would they be celebrating that the addict killed only one child this week instead of four?  Yet, this is no different than celebrating that someone got drunk only once instead of four times.

They should be mourning, that those who have continued in sin might be taken out of their midst (1 Corinthians 5:1-2).  They should be mourning over their failure in sinning against the Father of Truth at all, instead of celebrating that they sinned against Him less than before (James 4:8-10).

They should be willing to hand over the one who continues in sin, including getting drunk, to the Father of Lies to suffer physical harm, that they might stop committing the sin, so they can enter the kingdom of the Father of Truth (1 Corinthians 5:3-5).

Anyone who tells people that they can remain in some addiction that the Book of Truth calls sin, without suffering the wrath of the Father of Truth is a deceiver (Ephesians 5:6-7).

The Man of Truth was born into this world to save people from their sins, not just the penalty of their sins (Matthew 1:21).  The Man of Truth died, was buried, and was resurrected, so people could be free from their sins, not just the penalty of their sins (Romans 6:4-7).  The Father of Truth gave the Man of Truth, so people could be free from their sins, not just the penalty of their sins (Romans 6:21-23).

The Man of Truth commands that people sin no more after being healed by him (John 5:14).  He commands that those he has delivered from the penalty of sin to sin no more (John 8:9-11).

The Man of Truth says that people must repent to enter his kingdom (Matthew 4:17).  He came to call sinners to repentance (Matthew 9:13).

The Children of Truth therefore are to preach repentance, not recovery (Luke 24:47).  The Father of Truth has granted repentance unto life, not recovery that takes a lifetime (Acts 11:18).  There is no recovery without repentance (2 Timothy 2:25-26).

In Heaven, it is Celebrate Repentance, not Celebrate Recovery (Luke 15:7).  The Angels of Truth are part of Celebrate Repentance (Luke 15:10).

So, it is completely against the message of the Book of Truth (The Bible) to teach that people are to slowly recover from sin, step by step, celebrating each step along the way.  Celebrate Recovery is contrary to one of the foundational teachings of the Man of Truth - immediate and permanent repentance from sin, which leads to death, through faith in the Father of Truth (Hebrews 6:1).

Those who come into the House of Truth are to abandon sin completely, not to be in continual recovery from sin (Romans 6:1-2).  They are not to repent of their repentance from sin (2 Corinthians 7:10).
 
The Father of Truth does not want you to perish, so He has been holding off judgment to give you time to repent, and come into the House of Truth (2 Peter 3:9).

The Father of Truth says that now is the time for repentance (Acts 17:30).  Today is the day, to come into the House of Truth and be saved (2 Corinthians 6:2).

So come into the House of Truth, by surrendering control of your life to the Man of Truth, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9).

Come into the House of Truth!

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:

1. 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 sat there stunned.  I had gone to church most of my life, and I had never heard this.

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!