Recovery…it’s a Spiritual Journey
FREE BEER TOMORROW
Recovery from addiction is a spiritual journey!
How does the church “disciple” people?
The word disciple means “student” so maybe better asked, “How do the people of God develop students of God?”
I’ve been a full time vocational ministry leader, pastor for over 25 years and have seen creative, systematic, academic, missional activities and study groups go after this assignment with zeal.
It’s wonderful when we connect in these ways!
My heart is towards inviting those we walk with to discover the mercy, grace and love of God and to become formed by such mercy, grace and love.
Recovery from addiction is a spiritual journey!
Did you know in A.A.’s 12 steps, alcohol is only mentioned in 1 of 12 steps?
The balance of those steps address getting to know God, honestly examining yourself in light of God, and trusting God to bring about transformation as the recovery candidate engages this new life of sobriety, this journey of faith!
They are steps to discover NEW LIFE, NEW PURPOSE, with REAL FAITH.
What do you do when discipling others?
I was at Pure Bean in Manhattan Beach the other day. I sat adjacent to a small group of men.(5)
One guy, close to my age, the rest between 22-30 years old.
I knew they were Christians. Yes, I was eavesdropping.
They were actually talking about life stuff, surf, state of the union, loss of a dear friend, then there it was… the opening of the scriptures. Ecclesiastes… meaningless meaningless…
The discussion continued, but instead of becoming overwhelmed or stuck in the meaninglessness of the state of the Union, the sadness of the loss of a friend or the thrills of surfing some fun waves, one younger man turned the conversation to the book of Revelation.
“Jesus is coming back!” He said, “How then shall we live” seemed to be the unasked question but the prompt for deep discussions.
One young man asked, “Should I date an unbeliever?” another asked, “How do I date as a christian?” The conversation seemed to beg the question, “How do I trust God in this?” One young man stated, “We are built for relationships!”
There was talk about how the culture responds to these questions, life situations. There was the sharing of personal experiences and how God shows up in these life situations. The older fella spoke of marriage and raising kids. There was some, “I don’t know, but God does.”
Real life and real faith were being shared in this small group.
HRR UPDATE: Recovery Bible Studies are happening!
Over the 40+ years in A.A. I’ve been known as Young Dan, Disco Dan, surfer Dan but in the last couple of decades as Pastor Dan. It’s humbling and exciting when people come up to me and ask to know more about my faith, to talk about their faith, to talk about Jesus.
I have loved these one-on-one conversations but more recently I started asking if they would be interested in meeting weekly to connect the steps to scripture. The response has been great!
I currently lead 2 groups.
We meet weekly.
It’s real, it can be messy, and it is so so good.
God is meeting people in their brokenness and transforming lives!
It is an honor to walk with them, to share the hope we have in Jesus!
There is room for more!
If you are looking for a small group to go deep in your recovery and faith journey, talk with your pastor, gather some friends, go for it. If you want some help, planning and thinking about how to do this, reach out. We’ll discover together what might work well for you and those you’ll be doing life with.
Bridging the Church
I love the Church and believe faith based connections accelerate growth.
One of my favorite things to do is to help people connect to a church where they can find that connection.
Harbor Rock Recovery is very grateful for our list of partner churches* in the South Bay!
And I’d love to meet more local church leaders. Maybe you’d help make an introduction?
To set an appointment, email Dan@harborrockrecovery.org
Looking forward with confidence, because of amazing grace.
PD
* for a list of our partner churches contact us.
