Video Transcript: Creating a Community of Recovery

The Bible is very clear on peace. Very clear my peace. I give unto you. Jesus says in John 14, peace, well, we look at Jeremiah 29 and to the prophet Jeremiah, God says, I want to give you a future and give you a hope, and therefore you'll prosper. You find that word prosper all throughout the Old Testament and prosper means that will have peace, not that will have material wealth, necessarily, but will have peace, peace that passes all understanding, Book of Proverbs, all throughout Scripture, of course, with Jesus Christ, who bridged us to God the Father to become part his family once again. So in this final video, we want to give you a model, a model that I, along with the help of Celebrate Recovery from Saddleback and help of Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous and other groups, because coming together to bring you a different model, a model to consider. And we touched on that in the last video, about church and recovery and addiction. But today I want to bring you into the whole possibility, or something that's like it, or however you want to take this and run with it. It's up to you, as God is leading you, the vision he has for you, your church for you and your group, or your Christian nonprofit agency, or NGO, a community of recovery. And I start with principals, and I'm going to briefly go over the same slides I did last video, because the question I raised is, I trained pastors in Kenya as I trained pastors in India, pastors here in the United States, vision. 

Why recovery ministry? Why restorative ministry? You may say to yourself, we do that already. We are the church, true, but where are the outcomes?We have Bible studies, wonderful, but people are more than just studying the Bible. It's about taking what we study in the Bible and applying it to our lives, which involves addressing the life issue of that divorce or of that family problem that's been creeping up lately. Why the least of these? That's why Jesus said to the least of these, my brother, if you've done the least of these, you've done it to me. And Jesus says, Matthew 25 as well. He says, As you visited me in prison, you clothed me, you helped me in all those areas. And so we look at that side door as I talked about last video, that so that those who feel the stigma, they feel the stigma. They feel that that they're left out. They feel they're outcast. To say, oh, there, there's that opening, that empty chair that I can go into. I can sit in it. It's okay. It's going to be okay. I can go into that, that building where  these Christians meet, and I want to know more about, why I heard about God or what I read in the Bible. Apparently, I need to check this out. So having that side door point of contact to meet people where their needs are, not where we expect them to be, bridging the gospel over to them. And when I talk about the vision God's given to us and take it. And if that vision fits you, great: if you want to reword it and use it wonderful, no problem. To bridge recovery people to God and into the Community of Christ and, of course, we can insert in there God into self. Self, because we are made in God's image. Genesis, 1:26, and God has fearfully and wonderfully made you. He's made all of us fearfully and wonderfully and therefore we have dignity. So we need to bridge people, from here to there, from desperation to restoration. And as we bridge people, of course, we look at bridge illustration, Jesus bridging us to God and recovering all people, although  you're probably living in an urban setting, or maybe you're living in a rural setting, and you have different groups of people to consider. Community is the churc. Community is the church. The church is people, not buildings, not the great cathedral buildings. It's the people who meet in them, and the mission that we felt God gave to us, of course, is to receive, to capture. In other words, I've used that word for word capture as well as receive with pastors that I've trained recovering people where they are, and restore recovering people to God and  to self, and return recovering people into the community. Reintegration. Because even though I've never been to prison or jail, which I have not, thank God, and I have been and I brought up in a secure home, a blessed family, I still have my days where I am depressed, I'm angry, I'm frustrated, and then God takes ahold of me, captures me and redirects me, helping me to reframe what's going on around me and to reenter my circles of people who I work with, or my family at home. So they say, oh, man, the past three days, you have not been yourself. Ever been there? Recently, I just have, and I'm able to reenter reintegrate with my wife and my my kids, and say, yeah, it's been kind of tough lately.

The church has got people, they are recovery. We all need Christ. We all need his restorative touch, and he uses us to reach out and help to recover others. We need to be that spiritual hospital, that place, and I can't emphasize that enough: where there's no mess, there's no ministry. We have to be willing to walk right into the mess, just as Jesus did, as we read in the gospels, it was baptism. Remember, in the Jordan, John the Baptizer, and it's a dirty river, it's a it's a rushing river, and  John the Baptizer is standing there welcoming, inviting everyone around at the river's edge to come in to be baptized, plunged under death to life. Jesus says, I will walk into your chaos as he walked in the Jordan River, and I will then die and rise again. More and more object lessons Jesus used at that time to point to what he was about to do the third year was ministry. So we need to be at a spiritual hospital, our mission, pastors, staff, volunteers. I've said before, you are all in where we expect imperfection, we need help, and we apply recovery principles, 12 steps of recovery and their biblical comparisons, so that we look at how with the 12 steps we can, and that's you can, get reference to them again in other videos for this class. How would we surrender we had never power over--our compulsive behaviors and our addictions? And we acknowledge God exists. Step two, and of course, step three, we place everything to God's care, which is a prayer, Lord, I give everything to thee. And then step four, where we sit down, we write down all of our wrongs, all of our hurts, our issues, all of our resentments, they have to take 50 pages, 100 whatever it takes, to purge what's in there, what the damage was. And you can flow that on a document. From there you go to Step five, where you go to God and to someone you trust, where you can tell, read it to that person. It goes nowhere else but right there. So that person who's sitting there is saying okay and all, and their job in that step five is just to listen and that step six and step seven, Lord, remove my character defects. Remove my my shortcomings. Oh, oh, remove them. And Step eight, making those amends, getting ready to make those amends. You  kind of go back to step four, as far as the people who are involved, who are targets of your resentments and they go back. They go on the list of people you want to make it right with, the step eight and Step nine, where you actually do the amends making. Step 10, were you they're doing that. Step four in a faster cycle, and you're saying, Okay, God, how am I doing today? Prayer, devotions, Spot check throughout your day. Surrender. So 10, Step 11, a spiritual awakening. The step says to have had a spiritual awakening, like more conscious contact with God. And Step 12, where we then give back to practice these principles we learned in all of our affairs. And really what we've done is we've taken what those steps embody as a scripture, James chapter one, James chapter four, and also Romans seven, Romans eight, and many other scriptures as they're all in in the steps, it provides a roadmap. It gives that direction of how we to work in ourselves again. How am I the problem? Work in ourselves and support others? Non judgmentally, because the church is about people to be transformed. Non judgmental, empowering, resourcing and Jesus driven, purpose driven. Getting rid of pretense, getting riding barriers, getting rid of the caste system, or the class system, whichever culture that your you hail from, and also where we then have dialog and listening and coaching, calling. If you're watching this video, you're called to bring God's love to people, and we need to be servant leaders, the towels over the arm, to wash the feet, as Jesus did, if you will. But that can be translated into other things, as we serve. Come alongside, journey with, have a cup of coffee with that person and say, I hear you. I've been there, or, I haven't been there. But I'm trying to understand; help me understand, bridge them. Give hope. Hope, of course, healthy to get healthy. The others focused, Christ centered. Others focused passion, encouragement, attracting unbelievers to our hope in Jesus Christ and beginning with the felt needs. Don't assume what they need, or project what you expect. Approach them where they are and let them come to you as well as you initiating to them. The hand up at the hand out, the hand up, and saying, okay, we can go forward together. Also strategy, the plan and decision and DNA, I call it decide desire for the gospel. The other people come to know Christ and and Jesus comes into that person's life. What's the DNA? What's the direction of your ministry? We looked at our ministry, and of course, we've always said people not policy. Policy is to serve the people, not dictate the people or put them underneath the thumb, but adaptability. So we can point them to Jesus. That's discipleship in a nutshell. Point them to Jesus and where we just we go back to Scripture. What does scripture say and apply it culturally in an accurate, healthy manner as best as we can, and where people begin to be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

And last video, I talked about Genesis, Jeremiah, Romans, Ephesians, first, Corinthians, these chapters. Review them. Take a look at them. Talks about people being made in God's image. God writes his law in our hearts. We do fall short, but God saves us, and they were saved by grace. Ephesians 2, we are God's workmanship and becoming all things to all people. Yes, God uses you to help others. And finally, as a look at strategy, what do people need? Acceptance, accountability, action, affirmation, meaning access to us. Be open, be surprised. No one ever talked to me, or listened to me before. You ever had that? You're the first person who's ever understood, thank God. And yes, thank God. Finally, we're the new link to helping that person hHave someone who understands, was willing to understand, even though they never, maybe have never been there with what that other person has gone through. But we're there to be open, honest, caring, listening, first, speaking next, so we prepare the heart, place things in God's hands, project confidence.

Church is the healing center. What's your vision? What's your methodology? And we have methodology, or look at recovery as evangelism.

We tell them the good news, and then the 12 Steps help complement the Gospel itself, gives that roadmap  for renewal, restore, restoration, reunion. Recovery is outreach, Great Commission, opportunity to reach out and offer something that maybe has not been offered within your circle. Recovery is community building. All inclusive. Community people broaden the scope. Get diverse, diversity in unity. The pastor doesn't do it all. Empower others to do it. And also church growth, God will then add, God will multiply as all the add, but multiply through others, the church. And then you have some good problems, like: how do we fit all these people in here, praise the Lord, and they can then reach other people and and so on and so on and so on. It's exciting when you see it. And recovery is church. We're all broken. We only employ meaningful traditions that matter, and if a tradition isn't working anymore, we need to be willing to look at what works and how. We need to change God's way, of course, but forget like Like Dr Black to be in experiencing God. Maybe you've read that book, and if you haven't, I highly recommend it. But in that book, he talks about the seven realities of experiencing God. In those seven realities, he looks at, oh, where's God working around me. This is why I can tell it's not about you, it's about him. It's about God. It's about him, showing you where he's working and why we may be calling you to that new step, that new thing, of course, God has already figured out we need to trust him. Take his hand and go forward. Be adaptive, as I shared this slide, last video, as a review to those meaningful, meaningful traditions can be then established a celebrate recovery model. This is my mModel, look it up online. That's a model that we have taken as a foundation. Rick Warren also, but more importantly, John Baker. I want to cite how John Baker and now his son, Johnny Baker bothmen, have helped to well John Baker helped he was the author of the model of Celebrate Recovery. And his son, Johnny Baker, has now  taken the reins of the ministry now, after 27 years since 1991, and there in the Mission Viejo California. And of course, this model has spread all over the United States at other parts of the world, and we have taken this model and we have then integrated it into a new model, a different model, a model that opens and employs other community development work, other wraparound work that we can do with other agencies. Because, as I said earlier, Grand Rapids is is fortified, rich with resources for agencies and as well as churches and also those who are there to help, but more importantly, with Celebrate Recovery, it provides that model for you and me to put into place so we can then introduce groups. We took it steps further. So what do we do? What did we do? What did we do? And so here's the model, here's where we're going as far as becoming a community of recovery, and how we were able to take that celebrate recovery model, which is now trademarked. So if you're considering to do a celebrate recovery model. That's great. It's wonderful.

But be aware that if you do you call the Celebrate Recovery, there's a specific criteria for you to follow, and a criteria is very well specific. And so go to celebrate recovery and their web page. Look it up on Google. I don't have the URL right here, but check it out, and then they'll show you what the criteria is. And many and many churches do this. Celebrate Recovery model and trademark as printed. We decided to take the model elements of the model that is and then mix it up with other things. So we developed our community recovery model, where, in 1999 we introduced Celebrate Recovery at new Community Church in Grand Rapids, north side of Grand Rapids, and then we said, well, let's do it the Celebrate Recovery model, plus, plus adding on Alcoholics Anonymous, adding on narcotics, anonymous, adding on emotions anonymous, or adding on a depression support group, or adding on an Al Anon support group. So we borrowed from Celebrate Recovery. We borrowed from the anonymous world, the anonymous groups. There's always an A or an anonymous group for most everything today, gamblers, anonymous. We tried that for a while too, and so we we brought Bible based groups, in other words, Bible based support groups along with Anonymous support groups. Only found was as we experimented, we found that there were many believers who are in Alcoholics Anonymous, many believers who are in Narcotics Anonymous, and so on. So he said, Hey, let's join forces here and create a whole new model so that I'm on So, for example, on Friday nights, which we still do today, 19 years later, we will have two busses go out about five o'clock, do a bus route, and then bring in two bus loads of people. That's our core group from various rehabs, and also the homeless mission downtown Melton mission, in our case, in Grand Rapids and other places like it, and then others will come on their own, either from other places where we don't pick up and they bus in their own people, or others come in their own cars or special busses that they need because they're handicapped, handicap needs. And what we found was that many want they, what they what they understood was, was that they understood Alcoholics Anonymous. They didn't understand doing a recovery in a with a chemical dependency group, for example, or a depression support group. But as we start to experiment with this calling it community recovery, we're all in the community, we began to see people who would come to the eight o'clock meeting because they knew what Alcoholics Anonymous was, for example, which was, it still goes strong on our Friday nights. But then they saw the seven o'clock worship service. So the next week, they then would come to the seven o'clock worship service say, Oh yeah, this is great. I can. Worship God and then go to AA. It works. It works, at least in our context. So maybe you're in a context where that may not work, we understand it's okay. But again, going back to the model. So we have two busses that pick up, two busloads that get there by six o'clock, and then we have dinner at 6:15 and then we also have their worship at seven o'clock after the dinner, and a great time of fellowship and breaking bread. Worship higher energy, worship testimonials, and also a talk that I'll do, or another speaker will do, or something else that's special. So for example, we as a nonprofit organization, community, recovery International. And we, as I've said here in this video, and also in other videos, how we've been to India and Kenya, we have our international side, where we reach out there, and, of course, establish recovery ministry there, but locally in Grand Rapids, what we've done is we then have, been. We then brought together where we do special things with new Community Church, where things were birthed out of and we still meet at new Community Church, yet we have the nonprofi

So the nonprofit and the church work together and, in hand, also layered, because I'm so employed. I'm employed by the church as one of the pastors, also I am the Executive Director of Community Recovery, and so we find people well attuned to what we do as a church as well as what we do with recovery. And it's great when we have the Easter production each year being done or the Christmas production each year being done during that worship service at seven o'clock on a Friday night. So dinner, worship, then our groups meet at eight o'clock or so because of transition time, and that's where they can go to the group down the hall, AA in one room, then down the hall, they go to the Bible based support group about depression support or grief support, and then take them. Take a little turn down another hall, and there's the Narcotics Anonymous group. And some groups are same gender. Some groups are co-ed. By contrast, Celebrate Recovery as a practice, they have said, No, all the groups are same gender. Period, we have taken the position to say, well, our groups,some will be men only, and some women only, and others will be co-ed. There's been benefits for both and drawbacks to both too. So God bless you, as good as you consider that. 

After the groups, we then go to where the dinner was offered and where we broke bread and have dessert and coffee. And for many who rode the bus, they kind of grab the dessert and then get back on right away, or go outside to get that cigarette. So we've got that model in play. We have that now going Friday nights, and also Monday nights at our building on on the south side of Grand Rapids. I've referenced that before. And Pastor Greg, who you saw in a previous video,when we talked about temperament, he works with meat that site, as well as at the North Side site, at the Friday night site, that is, and also then the Monday night site. So practically speaking, we have established an environment for people in recovery, not just about drugs and alcohol, please hear me. It's about life issues that may have brought them to a drug, or to alcohol, or to a dangerous choice and behavior, in prison, coming out of prison, then reentering society, and we're there to have them come on in, or you create an environment that's open, inviting and also empowering. So the open door, Jesus is for all.

And of course, we build community;  there's unity and diversity, there's seeker orientation. We are all about the seeker all the time. I used to work in Chicago, and the whole thing in Chicago is this is that there's the elevated train, and maybe this will help you to further picture in your mind how you can create a recovery model where there's a community recovery that can happen at your place, and how that would then play out. And some people have played around the model we've created and done something different, whatever it takes. Whatever it takes, as long as it is biblical and legal. And of course, you know about Christ and people, so let's look at this illustration, and we look at this illustration in the context of discipleship. Discipleship is pointing people to Jesus all the time. But how do we point people to Jesus? What's involved? Well, as we just cited, there are many methodologies, many different models. Yet let's look at the process. And I go back to how Billy Graham and and Dawson Trotman and many of the evangelism greats throughout the years and the navigators and Campus Crusade for Christ, and also use for Christ. Historically, they've taught the whole evangelism, establish and equip. So we want to evangelize. Be open, have the good news there,  relational. Evangelize, establish and equip.

Evangelize, establish and equip. So how does that work? As I studied this for me asd, as God called me into servant leadership in ministry. This is how I viewed it in Chicago. If you ever been to Chicago, if you haven't look us up online, YouTube, their videos on this, you'll see. But in Chicago, there's an elevated train,  a commuter train in the city, and there's a blue line. There's a red line, north, south, east, west and and other other parts of the city where it kind of goes here and there and zigzags and then goes back around. And then you have the loop in the middle of the city of Chicago, where all the trains that go in the north the south east, near the East and the West. And then they come back to the middle, the core of the city, so that people didn't get on the trains from there too. So they go out to the north side, south side, and so on. Well, just imagine now, back 26 years ago, I was a case manager, and I made reference to that another video with my client, Bill. Remember Bill? And every day I would take the train, the commuter train, in from the suburbs, because that's where my wife worked, and it just was better that way. And so we lived out there in the suburbs, and I took the train going into the city, and I would go from that train, then hop on the elevated train from the suburbs into the city to take me to where I needed to go on the north side of Chicago. Well, every station for you experienced train riders, you've been in Chicago many times. You know what I'm talking about. For those where this is new, hang on. Here we go. Literally Hang on. So what used to be. And now much of the ticketing is automated. But what used to be was that you had a booth. So just capture the idea. In this booth, there was a window, and you have a person who is in the window, and this is the evangelizing, and you have a person who says, I need to get on the train to go somewhere in my life. I need direction. I need hope. I mean help. I need support. And they're not sure what that means and and they don't know that it's about God and about salvation and the church, but they're going to this, that station where they they're looking for a train to get on, to get on a track. So in this metaphor of life with the train and the track the person is coming to the train, you have a person who is in the booth, and they're telling this person as they're coming in and see if the person comes in and they and of course, with the the booth, you would then pay for your token and or pay for the ticket, whichever, or you have a monthly pass, whatever that is. Course, person in the booth says, Hey, come on in. It's free. Salvation is free. No payment necessary. Come on in. It's okay. And the person, of course, is surprised, bewildered, what do you mean? How is this free? Isn't there a payment? And of course, the person in the booth says, Jesus Christ paid the price. And so the person then enters, and there are steps to go up to where the train is. So the person comes in. Jesus, course, pays it all, saves the person, and they say, Oh, I'm a believer. Okay? And the person says, I need now to learn what it means to follow Jesus. How do I do that? What's it about? Some of you maybe be familiar with the Alpha course, or the Alpha project, however it's termed, depending on where you are. But alpha in general, the big question mark can ask the questions and come to the answers that Jesus gives us. And of course, the person here is yes, I believe. And then they go up the process going True North. their gate becoming  established through Bible studies, fellowship, church attendance. You know where they're coming together with the body of believers, and they become step by step. You're learning how to follow Jesus, yes, yes, yes, all right, wow. And they also become established where, then they come to that place where there is that platform, then that platform, then, as they're coming up the steps to those final steps, then there's also that place where they become equipped.

How do I give back they're equipped? How do I then share my faith? How do I live for Jesus and disciple other people pointed, pointing people to Jesus and my family and so on. So they get on the and they're on that platform now, the Bible in hand, and, of course, other their ministry toolbox, and they're getting ready for that train to come to pick them up: God's train. You may remember that song, People Get Ready. Trains coming. No need, no need for luggage. Just get on board. People get ready. Train is on the way. So a train comes, and a train then arrives, and you got God's people in here is raring to go. I mean, new people come from other stations, other places, and they're they're believers, and this person then gets on as the doors open, and they go from there to the next station. And the idea is, is that then they come to the next station to where they then go back here to be in the booth to tell someone else that Jesus paid it all and we're ready to have you get on the train, as the church, to point people to Christ and have direction through him.

So that's how this illustration of the train of evangelizing, establishing and equipping works where we're in recovering ministry. We are opening the door, we are there at the booth to say, Yes, come on in. It's okay. Coffee is good, and then we walk, we talk with them, and journey together. And they come to know Christ, and of course, they come to know recovery, and they come to be restored through that group. There's a worship and the group process and and the relationships, and the networking that happens and there's a synergy going on those recovery nights, like Friday night, and I'm recording today on a Friday ,so tonight, Friday night, we're at it again. And so we have that open, so we reproduce what we do. So from there, every Monday, every Friday and Sunday, with our model. Now we again feed the body, feed the soul, feed the mind and feed into healthy relationships. We have love feasts, as they used to call the church gatherings back in the ancient day. And of course, there's Celebrate Recovery checking them out. It should be Celebrate recovery.com but I could be wrong on that, so please check that out, as well as other recovery ministries. Alcoholics for Christ is another good model out there, and maybe you want to just can bring together your own model, however, that is longevity, also consistency, building, trust, credibility, perseverance and contextualization. You know how I had this in India, and I looked at I said, How's it look at India? How's it looking in Kenya, how's looking Grand Rapids, how's looking in your city. And of course, I had people who were training. I had them share things about their city. Get to know your city, get to know your people, get to know your community. So as people re enter from any situation, any life issue, not only prison and jail, but also coming out of that bad day, that life issue, where healing can happen. God's called us as agents of tranquility to bring his love right where they are. Thank you. God bless you, and may God use you to bless others.