Video Transcript: Lesson 5

It was 29 years ago. My wife and me had just been married. We moved into this  rental house the south side of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was a nice house,  quaint, older neighborhood, not bad from what we could tell in the late summer  of 1990 we did know that there were some risks, perhaps, of crime, misbehavior, of the deviant behavior going on a block or two down, but we paid it no mind.  We were doing married, figuring stuff out. You know how it goes. Then the  month of December came upon us. It started out pretty well. Christmas is  coming. We were getting ready. I was working, and also still finishing up college, my wife, she was working. And one Sunday, just before Christmas, fact, I from  what I remember, it's been a long time, but I believe it was that week, my wife  decided I was working a second shift. She was attending church down the  street. She came home and the door was open. Everything was black, no lights  were on, and she walked in and said, my name and realized it was a break in,  and she kind of walked here and walked there, stumbled over a few things and  and finally found a place where she thought she could be safe, but then called  me immediately to say, Mark, we've been broken into. Now this cell house that  we were living in was adjacent to an alley, and that Alley was just off the street,  and when I got home, we could see footprints in the snow. We called the police,  and we said, we don't know what to do, how, what? Where do we go to next?  And it was Wednesday, after that Sunday, I was sitting in the living room, and as I was sitting there, minding my own business, think wrapping up something for  my college classes and so on, all of a sudden, suddenly heard a banging sound  of crashing sound, and it was the basement window being kicked in by another  perpetrator. And I, I ran fast. I ran down the stairs, and I screamed atop my  lungs to scare away the guy, and we found a set of keys that dropped right  where the window was smashed his, of course, and we called the police again,  said, Look, we can't deal with this anymore. What are we going to do? Well, a  policeman came over and brought a device where you can then put a string, a  trip wire, if you will, from one part of a doorway to another part of a doorway, and if they came back again. They would trip the wire, and the police would be  alerted right away. we were done, and my wife and I approached the landlord,  and they allowed us to get out of the lease, and we moved. The neighbors came around us too, who we got to know and said, sorry to see you go. Yeah, there's  been a lot of drug activity going on around here all the time. We can only  assume that the reason for the break in was to see what they could steal, to sell, to get money and get the drug scary time for. My wife and me, we we moved to  a better pocket of town, closer to the college, and helped us to move forward. A  bit traumatic, as I think back, I am still reconciling things and so saying, Well,  God, I put in your hands addiction. Addiction to whatever drug you could think of produces a negative consequence. We've been talking about that, haven't we, in this whole video series, breaking the addiction cycle. The last video was about  the addiction cycle a little more close up, looking at the madman, looking at 

insanity, looking at how it doesn't matter if God is real or not, if God is dead, so  be it I'm going after that drug, and the cycle continues. The emotional pain never seems to go away if I'm going to attach myself to that drug of choice. And as we  go deeper with this study on the addiction cycle and and breaking it, we all seem to understand that there, as far as making a case for addressing all people,  addressing all addiction issues you and I have, as I mentioned in the last video,  we all have something. And as I said before, it could be food, it could be the  crack cocaine, it could be shopping, pleasing people, the Israelites, well they  thought saw fit to seek out the Baals. They love the asherahs. They love  Chemosh. He must have been in he was an attractive God for them to get into  the it was in style in that ancient day, there was another god of the other people  groups. Well, we can see that God, the God that we serve. We can't see him. So it must be true that God is real, that ah, and what does it require? Sexual  activity, doing this, doing sacrificing your firstborn, we're on it. Whatever it took.  They did was right in their own eyes, and that's exactly where addiction brings  us to. And after that happens individually, collectively, there's an effect on the  society, just like of my story 30, almost 30 years ago, well, 29 years ago, excuse me right now. And seems like 30 years ago, at that time, at that place, that those two break ins in one week, and all drug related, you felt violated, and the  neighbors came around us. It was a community concern, a community issue,  and a social Affect and effect. The affect was fear as well as concern, as well as  well indifference at times, because, well, it always happens this neighborhood.  Expect it. Have you locked your doors, but still, there's trauma and also other  negative consequences, as we discussed with the addiction cycle, boundaries  have to be put up. Yes, but sometimes it's hard to do. What are those  boundaries? And there have been case studies, one in particular in North  Dakota. They've done a lot of study in the state of North Dakota, here in the  United States, for those of you watching internationally and in the state, they  took the time to look at what was really going on around the communities in  North Dakota so they can get a good case study in place to understand probably what's happening nationwide, either more so or less so, or at the same levels,  how addiction affects society, the social affects, effects of addiction. Let's take a  look. This was done by at this time, by in manden, North Dakota, by Dr Clark,  Director of the Center of substance substance abuse treatment. And, of course,  deal with the US Department of Health and Human Services. And as we take a  look, of course, George Bush was president at the time, back in 03, and this  went into 07 and 08. So looking at the Defects, not facts still relevant today. Yes, it's 2019 I know, but we look back at what has been done, and here in the United States, we have a census that's also done, that also tells us a lot of information,  a lot of data, telling us about our society every 10 years. So we're about due  we're about to do another census, going to 2020 But President Bush here at this time, says alcohol addiction and drug addiction continue to challenge our nation,

and I'm sure it's challenging for those of other nations, addiction and of all kinds, it's challenging you too, addiction to alcohol or drugs in general, whatever drug  that may be destroys family ties, friendship, ambition and moral conviction and  reduces the richness of life to a Single destructive desire. President Bush was  right on. He couldn't have said it any better, because we all in every society,  whether in the east or the west, and when it comes to addiction, addiction  makes us into liars, thieves and cheats, and yet we wonder why the good that I  want to do. I don't do Romans 7, remember, and I think I hate I do, and I need to understand what's going on with me. It's all spiritual, and the spiritual translates  into the physical, the societal, the emotional, everything. Let's take a look. What  did the North Dakota folks and the US Department of Mental Health discover?  Well, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration or CSAT,  also look looking at SAMHSA, which is also the Substance Abuse and Mental  Health Service Administration for short. SAMHSA's mission is to build resilience  and facilitate recovery for people with or at risk for substance abuse and mental  illness, because they do hang together, often with mental illness, there is  addiction, of course, with addiction, we all have it in some way, shape or form.  Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, CSAT, that is that their mission is to  improve the health of the nation by bringing effective alcohol drug treatment to  every community. Hence, the United States as our case study. Well, the impact  of addiction, it impacts individual behavior, health, thinking process, quality life,  overall functioning. Alcohol or the drugs are powerful, reinforcing psychoactive  substances that take on a life of their own. And just to give you another story to  illustrate, not only was it that first house for my wife and me and those  perpetrators that wanted to get our stuff, sell it and get the drug, it also related to my first job in Chicago. In Chicago, I had the job as a case manager. I had 12  people in my caseload. They all have mental illnesses of one kind or another,  and they all needed Community Services. In fact, the name of the organization I  worked for was community counseling centers of Chicago, formerly Edgewater  Uptown mental health center. They're all still called community counseling  centers of Chicago. They serve the community at large in that city, and one of  my clients called Timothy. Timothy was from a wealthy family. He lived in one of  the most prestigious suburbs of Chicago, North Shore, that is the North Shore, if you look in the map of Lake Michigan. And as he grew up in his well to do family. Could have anything he wanted? Unfortunately, due to whatever family of origin, issues he was dealing with, fell prey to an addiction to LSD as one of his drugs,  and from there, alcohol and other things, and it finally took his mind. He  damaged his mind so badly at age 16, 17, going to 18, 19, he began to form  mental illness of emotional problems, and he would act out and cause trouble.  Well, he went. Them from the secure home to the street, and found himself on  the north side of the city of Chicago, walking the streets. Finally came to  community counseling centers of Chicago and found services. I came on the 

scene right there in the fall of 1992 actually summer of 1992 and as a case  manager, I was learning these cases, learning Timothy's situation, and he was  quite volatile, erratic. One morning that October of that year, he woke up at  about 7:30 in the morning, all he had in his apartment was a mattress, a  kitchenette, and that was about it. He reached over for his lighter and his  cigarettes. He lit his lighter, and then kaboom, the whole apartment exploded,  40% of his body was burned, and he faced his mortality, and fortunately, by  God's grace, came out of it alive. In fact, he thought it was God was mad at him, that God was punishing him. God wasn't it it was just a bad accident, a gas leak  in the apartment. Who was at fault, the apartment management. But as he came through that traumatic experience, his family, who had he had burned the bridge, he had disconnected himself from because of his addiction, his mental illness  and behavior, they finally came to his aid, finding out that he almost died. He  was still family. His older brother decided to put him up in a an apartment where  things were better, and it just happened to be in a very nice part of the city. Well, that lasted for just so long. I eventually left that job as a case manager a good  year and a month or so, and went back to school, the seminary and at Trinity  Divinity School. And as I was driving down one of the main streets near Trinity, in fact, in the same suburb that Timothy grew up in, there, Timothy was sitting at a  bus stop, rocking back and forth with a Bible in his arms, and he was saying,  Mark, I just, I want to do. I want to do God's will. Mark, I just want to do that.  Kept on repeating, kept on repeating, and I'll never forget it. I thought, Wow. I  thought that the help of his brother. He had that solace. He had the support.  Finally, he had the services too to help him through the issues. He had the case  management. He had the medical attention. What happened if, for some reason, he got into his head, and then things happened this way with mental illness, that he had to leave the city. He had to go and do his calling, and left everything, his  choice, addiction having its effects that can. They're baffling, as I said before, it  will. It will change life as we know it, in a heartbeat, and also change the  trajectory of people's lives without warning. Coming back to North Dakota and  that case study, and also looking at the whole US situation, looking at the you  know, SAMHSA again, the Substance Abuse organization here in the United  States, they work to ensure that science or the ideology or anecdote forms the  foundation for nation's addiction treatment system, and they also serve health  professionals and the public by disseminating scientifically sound clinic relevant  Information and best practices in the treatment of addictive disorders, and by  working to enhance public acceptance of that treatment. In other words,  SAMHSA is there to help communities help Timothys, people like Timothy, who  are unpredictable, that need that extra support that we hopefully with the  information we glean, we can help the society at large. Because we look at  population, we look at comprehensive solutions, holistic solutions, interventions,  treatment, recovery, support, health promotion is everywhere. And recovery 

support and ministry for over 20 years now, it gets to be tough. The question  always is the same, where is the church? How can the church get dirty, get their  hands in the mud and get involved? There are many ways to do it. The question  really is, do we want to and I prayed by God's grace and power and conviction  that we want to, God will show us how and more and more of the church will rise up, like Timothy's family, to rise up hopefully do the best practices to the  evidence. There are challenges to reach those in need of services, like with  Timothy, he went off on his own, and choices are made. It gets really, really  tough providing adequate resources. Do we have what it takes to help those  with dealing with addiction, developing culturally appropriate, evidence based  interventions and building sustaining a qualified workforce that can as similar to  myself at the time, a case manager, and also now with ministry specifically  focused on addiction support, recovery support that we can help in the name of  Jesus, Christ, where we could see restoration. Jesus went to the addicted. He  went to the those who had leprosy. He went to those who needed to be restored  to the demon possessed and put them back in the right minds. Only God can do it. It is spiritual. But that translates into these community based systems let's  look at the public sector the private sector. They found again, from 1986 to now  2003 look at the change in terms of public versus private support. Back in 1986  33 years ago, is about even. So it's $4.6 billion 2003 at that time, $16 billion  public, for $4.7 billion private. So its projections indicate that the burden on the  public sector will continue to increase now, in 2019 it has increased even more.  Why do I bring up the question about the church? Because the church seems to  be a bit disconnected from the services that are needed that it can give. The  public sector government agencies and the like are overwhelmed. There is a  need to intervene. Greater burden, tighter budgets. Just to highlight, according  to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 29 states in the United States face budget shortfalls in 2009 10 years ago, ranging from 59 million to $22.2 billion in addressing the problem of addiction, it seems overwhelming. The challenge  remains. Despite tightening budgets, changing populations. Challenges of  alcohol and substance abuse remain, according to 2007 national survey and  drug use and health in 07, an estimated 19.9 million Americans age 12 or older,  current past month, illicit drug users. It is a family affair. Is a community affair. It  is everywhere, slightly more than half of Americans 12 and older reported being  current drinkers of alcohol. More than a fifth of them participated in binge  drinking at least once in the 30 days prior to the 07 survey, which was done by  SAMHSA. So looking at drug abuse, we look at the trends, illicit drugs, pain  relievers, marijuana, cocaine, psychotherapeutics, methamphetamines. On the  side, percent of using in the past month. And of course, the years on the bottom, from 02-2007 and just how it looking at the specific the past month of use of  specific illicit drugs among persons age 12 or older, the problems continue past  month, Non medical use of prescription drugs, psychotherapeutics among 

persons 12 and over, and how this again, we look at pain relievers, stimulants,  sedatives and tranquilizers. What? Can see is that from 02 which is the red, to  07 which is the dark yellow, it continues to stay steady. Also increase over here  

with simulates, it decreased a little bit, but still it's at an all time high and more  statistics, source for pain relievers were obtained for most recent non medical  use among past year drug users, we see that there is a difference with how they get the drugs from doctors, dealers and the source for the friend or relative  obtained as we look here, looking at more than one doctor from friends and  relatives, bought or took from a friend and relative, the one doctor from one  study to another study. It is 81% where the one doctor was the main issue,  2019, today we have had it in the news where the opioid issue is tantamount it is increasing, and there are more deaths related to the same here and the map of  the United States illicit drug use in past month among persons age 12 or older,  by state, percentages, annual averages based on 05-06 during those years we  look at North Dakota, not that high in Other states. It would vary. Past month,  alcohol use in 2007 any use, 51% 127 million binge use, 23% 58 million people,  heavy use, 17 million. The study continues because there are social effects.  Social effects. It reminds me of the story of the prophet Elijah and the II Kings,  actually I Kings 18. As you look at that scripture, the people, again, like the book of Judges, as we looked at at last video, the people looked at Elijah and said,  we follow the bail because we, of course, can see Baal. Elijah, the only prophet  at the time left true. Prophet said, Let's go to Mount Carmel. And as you may  remember the story, you have the altar built to the Lord rebuilt. There's the altar  to the Baal. The contest was on the God of the Bible, or Baal. So Elijah said, go  ahead. Prophets, call on Baal. Baal never came. Elijah called on God. Fire fell  down. The community of Israel were shocked. It was the God Yahweh, and yet,  after that initial flash of God's fire coming down, consuming the altar, they were  indifferent, due to the indifference. There is, in fact, that tendency within us as  human beings, individually and collectively, to turn that other god. We see the  numbers. We can look at the stats, and we have many things to point to where,  like the Israelites, we become indifferent, we turn back to a different god of our  understanding. Joseph Stalin also turned to his god of his understanding. At  first, he studied to be in the ministry. Then something changed. He found himself going to politics, communism, killing his own people in Russia upon his  deathbed. The story goes, he was still angry, and still acknowledged the God of  the Bible, even though he claimed to be atheist, he shook his fist at God again  and again on his deathbed, and upon that last act of defiance, breathed his last.  His addiction was power. His denial was God. And in the wake of his denial, the  wake of his addiction to power, so it went that millions of people lost their lives.  Addiction has an impact on society, and I know that you have probably  experienced it in a personal way, too, family member, maybe someone broke  into your house. We, I You, we all need to choose the God of the Bible, because 

we all know that with God's help, we can restore society. Continue your readings that are posted about the social effects. The quiz will reflect those readings on  the substance use disorder issues. It affects not only the family, it affects the  environment. It affects, of course, society, the morality, the loss thereof, and the  effects continue on and on and on, because the question comes back to who or  which God you choose. And the next videos will look at the psychological effects as well as the effects that specifically target the family. See you then.