Encounter Recovery Ministries

The church is the living body of Christ, and you dear Christian are an essential member, gifted by the Spirit to minister to one another. The divinely appointed outcome of such ministry to one another is maturity in Christ likeness. Is this what is happening in you and around with your crrent church experience?

We need not wonder, as if some strange thing has happened, as to why the churches in the West are in the present woeful state. The New Testament is crystal clear that the ministry of the Spirit belongs to each one of the members of the body of Christ. But that ministry has been usurped by a false system of clerics who substitute themselves for the ministry of the Spirit. Here is more on what you must do in your lifetime to recover the New Tesament model for the church.

It is time to hear and obey the voice of the Spirit regarding the nature, character and function of the body of Christ, the church. It is not as if the Spirit inspired text is not clear on this issue, and the implications for disobedience are grave. For 1700 years, human tradition has quenched the Spirit and it is time we repent, for judgment truly begins in the house of God.

This is a follow up to the recent talk entitled, "The Worst Condition of All." In this lesson we learn how authentic, Spirit-birthed union with Christ is the BEST condition of all. We learn that condition is evidenced by our desire to grow in his likeness and thus purifying ourselves from anything that is opposed to his life in our character and conduct.

What is the very worst condition any human being can be in? It is to think you are something you are not. The absolute worse condition one can be in is to be missing something that is essential for life in the now and in the hereafter, and yet, think you possess it. In this brief exhortation we discover the nature of this condition and the horrific state it brings, and what must be done to remedy it.

The tragic fact of the spirituality prescribed within Twelve Step programs and treatment centers today is it is powerless. It can bring about genuine recovery let alone regenration and union with Christ. Equally true, is the lack of gospel in the churches today as well. These are perious times. You must be prepared to to pray and pursue others like yourself who want to call upon the Lord and recover and support each other in becoming like Jesus. Meet in your homes, meet anywhere you can, but find fellowship with those who are not ashamed of the gospel.

As if addiction recovery does not have enough pitfalls along the path, trying to find genuine fellowship is yet another. Still, we need each other. In this talk, we learn about what a healthy fellowship looks like and what a sick, powerless fellowship also looks like so we can avoid it.

The path out of the dark forest of addiction begins with two crtiical truths: 1) A genuine acceptance of the precise nature of the problem, and 2) the precise nature of the solution. In this talk we are reminded of both. And we are also reminded, that any deviance from one or the other or both only perpretuate the self-delusion of addiction and the human condition. So where do we turn? Not man-made, man-centered religiosity. Not churchianity. Instead, we turn to the power of God as revealed in the Person and finished work of Jesus and the continuing ministry of the Spirit within the fellowship of likeminded believers.

This is an introduction to a new series of talks intended to bring real answers to real alcoholic and addicts. In this first talk, we learn that life is hellish in active addiction and even worse when we are not using--something radical is necessary or only jail, insanity or death awaits.

Tradition is a yoke that is hard to break. It takes courage to open your Bible, read it in context, employ the cross references, and then follow the text where it leads you, even if that means you realize your church tradition is in error. In this brief exhortation, you will find affirmation and support for such courage. Afterall, it is the Lord Jesus Christ whom we serve, not our church tradition.