Thanksgifting

While visiting my folks in Minnesota over the holiday, I stopped by Starbucks to get a “frou frou” coffee and to check my e-mails. After ordering, the woman making my drink chatted with a co-worker about her Christmas plans. She explained that her family had drawn names this year, and she was lamenting having gotten stuck with finding something for her dad.

“What do you get a guy who has everything?”

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe...” -Hebrews 12:28

What gift can we bring our Father who owns “the cattle on a thousand hills?”

In Celebrate Recovery we learn the importance of expressing our gratitude to God. We are encouraged to offer prayers of thanks to our Creator. Is He not worthy?

From the CR Lesson 22 prayer:

“Thank you for Your love, your grace, Your perfect forgiveness. Thank you for all those You have placed in my life, for my program, my recovery, and my church family.”

As Greg Ogden explains, “Thanksgiving is the cultivation of a memory.”

Thanksgiving is over, but I want to encourage you to continually cultivate the memories of what God has done in your life.

Dear Lord, while we adoring pay
Our humble thanks to Thee,
May every heart with rapture say,
"The Savior died for me!"

john e

The Process of Recovery

Well, I have been painting again!  Three months ago, I bought several gallons of paint and began putting new color on every wall of our home, beginning at the front door.  It had been several years since the last coat of paint and it was time for some updating. I put down the paintbrush for short periods of time while we attended Celebrate Recovery One Day Conferences and arrived back home to resume my endeavors. As the weeks, yes even months, have passed by, our house is taking on a very different look!

When you walk into a room that has been redone, the intense time and labor is not evident to the eye. It is not apparent to the viewer that I have had a growth experience because of the processes that created the changes they see. (I always learn new things and am challenged physically when I tackle a big project like painting.) You just KNOW that things look different!

The process of applying new paint to a wall is many faceted, much like our recoveries.  There is the stripping away of everything that is on the surface, the pictures, the shelves, the cover plates for the light switches, etc.  The surface must be laid bare.  Baring the surface can reveal problems. 

We had a mirror in our bedroom vanity area that stretched from wall to wall. When we took it down, it held several surprises.  The floating tape was dry and brittle and parts of the plaster were crumbling. There were several shades of paint visible where the mirror had been. This told us that some of the painters in the past had not covered the surface completely behind the mirror, using the mirror to hide their shortcuts. The mirror had been in  place and covering a deterioration in the wall.  We had to make repairs before applying the paint and replacing the mirror on the wall.

Our recovery is much like the painting process.  All that needs to be revealed is uncovered for the healing process.  To cover it again without addressing the issues is to allow further erosion beneath the surface. When the issues have been repaired by the great Painter himself, then the new can be laid out over the healed areas of our lives! 

Sometimes sanding is required to help the surface hold the paint and improve the final appearance.  Sometimes spackling is applied to fill in the holes.  All of the preparation and process serves to provide a better looking finished project. Are we letting God do ALL of the work in us that is required for that final product????

As we approach Thanksgiving, can we thank our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, for the process of healing that He has us in?  It is so humbling that He cares enough to fill in the gaps, sand us where needed, and do a new thing in our lives!

After these many weeks of painting, I am physically tired, but encouraged by the results that I see!  I still have several doors that need a fresh coat of paint to match my new color.  The process will continue until it is completed!  Did you know that they now have a new roller for doors that makes the work much easier? 

Many of you would say that you are tired from your process! Look at your results, see what God has done and is doing! Are you using all of your Celebrate Recovery tools in your process? It makes the process easier, doesn't it?

Have an awesome Thanksgiving and be blessed in your process!

Paula

 

Escape for thy Life

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:11)

This was a verse of emphasis in a wonderful and challenging worship service yesterday morning.

Adam Clarke underscores the above passage with this short, urgent admonition; “Escape for thy life.”

One of my TEAM members who is in recovery for pornography addiction recently attended a conference where he had to stay in a hotel alone for the weekend. Before he left, I asked him how he was going to address the temptations of being in this very precarious position. His matter-of-fact response was, “well, to start, I called ahead and asked the hotel to have the television removed from my room before I get there.”

In Celebrate Recovery we must give and receive continual encouragement to “be self-controlled and alert.”

Why?

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

I am compelled this morning to encourage you, as Paul writes in Thessalonians, “avoid every kind of evil.” Whatever your particular area of struggle, be above reproach, give no foothold to Satan in your life, or in your program.

Today, if you know that you have been flirting with old habits, entertaining past
patterns that lead to destruction... escape for thy life!

“Hold on to the good”, and “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:21-24)

john e

Thank You Celebrate Recovery State Reps

We all have times that we need that "extra" help from those around us!  Putting on a Celebrate Recovery One Day Conference is no small task!  It takes a team effort!  With the help of the local CR ministries and the assistance of some of our CR State Reps, we have had some very exciting One Days this Fall.  Some of our State Reps, and their spouses,  have been so helpful that I want to thank them publicly. You know who you are! Thank you for seeing the need and being available!

Our Celebrate Recovery State Reps attend the One Day Conferences to network with the Ministries in their areas. They are part of the National team,  in place to help new ministries get started. You will often find their friendly faces at the One Day Conferences, behind the Registration Table or the Resource Table, bringing their wealth of experience, to answer questions. I so appreciate these men and women who volunteer their time to help grow the Celebrate Recovery Ministry!

We have one more Conference, November 15  in Dallas! If you have not registered, no problem.   There is still room for you join us! It will be a great time to find out about Celebrate Recovery, to meet your area State Rep, as well as to network with other ministries in your area!

Encourager Coaches, these One Day Conferences are an excellent means of networking with other E Coaches. I would love to shake your hand and meet you! Would you look me up?  See you at the next One Day!

Blessings to each of you!

Paula

 

C.E.B.P.I.

“I can't believe you said that to me- after all I have done for you!”

“Nothing I say or do matters... after talking and praying with her for 2 hours last night, she still went out and used.”

“If you can't appreciate what I have sacrificed to help you, then...”

“I failed. If I would have only done more to help him, maybe he wouldn't have ______.”

I think I may have just had a bit of a revelation this weekend, and I would really like to take a quick poll. Those of you Encourager Coaches who currently struggle with codependency, please raise your hand.

I thought so!

Due to the highly scientific results of this survey, I think it's time all of us Encouragers had a C. E.B.P.I (Codependent Encourager Burnout Prevention Intervention). Let's start with a question I find Jesus Christ Himself intensely interested in throughout His ministry when dealing with those who claim to do his work: What is your motivation?

Paul writes,

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal... (Love) is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” -1 Corinthians 13:1, 5-8

Do you find yourself discouraged with the results of your investments into people? What are your expectations on returns of those investments? Do you feel responsible for the sobriety of those in your ministry? Are you exhausted after meetings because of the great heights you go to keep everyone happy? Are you growing bitter with those who don't seem to appreciate what you are doing for them?

Striving to make others happy to fulfill our own need to be needed is not encouragement.

Oswald Chambers writes, “The great wonder of Jesus Christ's salvation is that He changes our heredity. He does not change human nature- He changes its source, and thereby its motives as well.”

The decision to encourage by God's standard is a decision about motives. We must not be motivated by the fear of man, but by the LOVE of God born in us overflowing to those around us.

When we are born again, when we are made alive in His Kingdom, we are no longer slaves to the expectations of humanity. We become obedient children of God; and as such, we achieve the heights of joy, fulfillment, and “good pleasure” by satisfying our roles as His workmanship... and as C.S. Lewis writes,

“If God is satisfied with the work, than the work can be satisfied with itself.”

-john e

The Celebrate Recovery Model

What an awesome weekend we had at the Celebrate Recovery One Day Conference in Raytown, Missouri. The trees were colorful and the weather was gorgeous on Saturday. (On Friday afternoon, we had the BEST chili at Clinton's Soda Shop in downtown Independence!) Those attending had such a heart for the hurting and a passion to work the Celebrate Recovery model! These folks were serious about recovery! I believe that many new CR Ministries will start because of this past weekend!

You will often find me at the Resource table during the One Day events.  It is exciting to share with new ministries about the tools that are available to assist them as they begin the CR Ministry in their own churches. When we kicked off our Celebrate Recovery thirteen plus years ago, Jim and I did not have all of the helpful products that are available today! 

In addition to the available resource products, we have trained associates, our State Representatives and Regional Directors, available to assist as you start and grow your CR Ministry. These individuals have successfully developed their own CR Ministries, using the CR model. They are more than qualified to assist you in kicking off your new ministry. If an individual has approached you and promised to help you get your program started for a fee, please call your state representative. Celebrate Recovery does not charge a fee for assisting you and answering questions.

Saddleback Church in California has already tested and tried the model and found it to be successful for any size church or ministry. There have been ministry leaders who have attended the Seven Keys One Day Conference or the Advanced Leadership Tract, only to find out that they are not following the Saddleback CR model. This has been an opportune time to adjust and realign their ministries with the model that Celebrate Recovery has provided.  

If you have never attended the Summit in August at the Saddleback campus, or a One Day Celebrate Recovery conference, you need to attend the Seven Key Seminar presented by our founder, John Baker. It will explain the program to you in bite size pieces.  After you have attended the Seven Keys Seminar, feel free to sign up for the Advanced Leadership Training at the next event that you attend.  Are you taking a team of leaders? Those who have never been to a One Day Conference or the Summit should attend the Seven Key Seminar FIRST.  

Keeping to the basics of the model is important! The Leader's Guide explains the entire program. The ALT was designed to keep your ministry on track, keep it healthy, and train your leaders to excellence. Use the materials and resources available, but call your State Rep for assistance! Call your State Rep and ask those burning questions today!  

It is not too late to find a spot in that next CR conference.  That next wave is approaching and we all need to have strong foundations in our ministries.  The CR model will provide that strength for your success!

Blessings to all!

Paula

Identifying Fragrance

Last night, three of my girls and I went to a Fall Fellowship held at our church. Surrounded by a medley of autumn colors, we had an amazing outdoor harvest dinner; we played games, and we sang songs topping off the perfect night with a bonfire devotional from our own Pastor Don. Needless to say we all came home with the sweetest perfume ever created soaked into every article of our clothing- “eau de campfire smoke.”

My wife stayed home with the baby, and when we came home she commented that there could be no mistaking our presence near, and proximity to the smoky blaze . There was an identifying fragrance about us...

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:14, 15)

What lingering aroma labels you? Does your daily life emit the sweet redolence of Jesus Christ?

The 24^th lesson of the CR Participant Guide reminds us that “Example is what is important” and asks, “Does your lifestyle... reflect the love, humility and service of Jesus Christ?”

I want to encourage all who labor in Celebrate Recovery to prioritize above all things, as Brother Lawrence put it, the practice of the Presence of God. As we draw closer to God, His Life becomes more evident in us, His Presence announced and pronounced in and through ours.

Let us spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Him in our churches, in our homes, and in our workplaces this week by immersing ourselves in the Life and Light of Jesus Christ.