Addiction | Grace for the Journey

Everyone of us is homesick. We’re all longing for our true Home in heaven with all the redeemed and the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we suffer with this homesickness, we try to fill the void with fleet-ing pleasures that become habitual and turn into addictions. The way out of addiction is to wait pa-tiently for the joys that are to come, and to live in the hope of the promises of God: Jesus has gone on before us as a forerunner guaranteeing our safe arrival and complete satisfaction and joy. 

During 25 years of ministry, we have seen many struggle with addiction. We have made many mistakes, we have seen people abandon the faith, but we have also seen God rescue souls. This session will focus on pastoral lessons learned and will also feature the testimonies of some who repented and were restored.

This workshop studies the Biblical concept of the Fear of the LORD. We will define the term, explore its centrality to discipleship counseling both for the counselor and counselee and discuss how to teach this as the core foundation of counseling.

While some people turn to drugs and alcohol to get high or to relieve stress, many turn to food which can be just as dangerous an idol as substance abuse. Other people are addicted to fitness to the extent that it becomes harmful to their lives and relationships. How can we overcome temptation to make an idol out of our food and our bodies?

In this session author Chris Moles will discuss the important factors involved in counseling controlling husbands.

This session provides a critique of Alcoholics Anonymous (& other self-help groups) and Celebrate Recovery. It seeks to identify how messages in these programs undermine the Word of God and op-pose the Gospel. 

To say that we are addicted to our screens is axiomatic. As I wrote and researched this talk, I was in front of a screen. In this presentation, I will discuss a brief history of technologies, how they were received historically, how they changed the world for good and ill, and how pervasive this one is in our lives. I will talk about reasons to unplug (and levels of “unplugged-ness”) and ways to accom-plish that, all in the light of the gospel. 

This workshop explores the dangers of mechanical counseling that oversimplifies by employing a one-size-fits-all approach to counseling. We will examine the necessity of applying the Word of God to the needs of the individual and his particular circumstances. 

Addressing temptation and practicing biblical repentance are two keys for counseling success in ministry to addicts. This workshop will aid counselors in creating specific biblical action plans for counselees to utilize when temptation arises or repentance is needed.

What does the Bible have to say about the use of medication to treat depression? What does the current medical literature say about the medical treatment of depression? This workshop will attempt to answer those questions from a medical and biblical counseling viewpoint.

Substance abuse is often a factor in situations of domestic violence. In this session author Chris Moles will help counselors learn to deal with situations like these.

Families of addicts often need help as much as the addicts themselves. This session gives biblical passages and practical help for counseling the families of addicts. It also discusses how idolatry im-pacts the family, how enabling hurts rather than helps, and what can be seen when an addict truly repents. 

Instant gratification junkies are hooked on immediate satisfaction at any cost. This trap can make you susceptible to addictions, anger, jealousy, and negative impulsive behaviors. The pursuit of instant gratification has detrimental effects on your Christian walk. When there is a problem, you want God to fix things quickly. When He does not, you take matters into your own hands making the situation ultimately worse. This seminar will expose the heart issues of instant gratification and will show how the gospel can help you escape the instant gratification trap.

Biblical Counseling has been shaped by the doctrine of sufficiency. We will examine how that doc-trine and the science of medicine interact when we encounter those with worry, depression, OCD, and other emotional struggles. Can the Bible help when we counsel those with medical emotional labels?  

All counselors struggle at times with discouragement in counseling, particularly in harder cases like addictions.  This workshop will offer biblical hope and encouragement to the discouraged counselor in need of spiritual refreshment.

Learn how to offer hope in your biblical counsel of self-injurers by treating it as sinful heart issue rather than mental illness.

A neglected biblical theme for addiction is the movement from lies to truth, and from the Liar to the Truth. Our job is to do whatever we can to invite strugglers to be open and honest.

Some women live with husbands who routinely express anger in its many forms. The Bible gives direction on this subject. Counselors will be taught how to help these women before the anger of their husbands becomes abuse. 

This workshop explores the attributes of Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor and the Holy Spirit, the Other Counselor. We will examine what makes them the competent counselors that they are. Also, we will examine how these attributes must be and can be in your counsel. Finally, we will learn how you can develop these attributes. 

Addiction cases can be some of the most complicated cases in counseling ministry.  This workshop will present a toolbox of biblical principles applied to various aspects of counseling those struggling with addictions.

The Bible teaches that words can be as destructive (or abusive) as fists. Every time we open our mouths we are either promoting God's kingdom by building others up or we are extending the realm of the Evil One by tearing others down. How can our sinful tongues be tamed?

When an “addict” repents, you will know it. Learn how to identify the fruit of repentance found only in an abiding relationship with Christ. 

Our help comes in two parts: knowing a person's story and knowing Scripture's retelling of their story. Both are essential. In this session you will learn to really listen to your counselees and then help them reshape their stories from a biblical perspective.

All addicts are seeking a satisfaction in something that will never truly satisfy them. In this session Dr. Jim Newheiser will discuss the need to lead addicts to the God who satisfies.

Counseling those who struggle with substance abuse is a challenging problem in our society. We will discuss how addictive drugs affect the brain and how that may complicate counseling from a Biblical perspective. 

In this session we will identify three idolatrous heart issues in all people and find out how these desires connect our flesh with the temptations of the world’s system and the devil. This topic helps counselors work with any counselee, especially the addicted

Gain insight into the heart of an addict to learn how to competently counsel someone struggling with addiction through an exposition of Proverbs 23:29-35.

Self-control is not a popular teaching, and we can offer it in ways that are not inviting. Our task is to learn it in such a way that we find it attractive and can make it attractive and compelling to others.

Listen to addicts and you will hear shame, shame that preceded the addiction and shame that resulted from the addiction. And here, in their shame, they can hear some of the most beautiful words they could possibly hear.