#88 - 10 Myths of Addiction: Myth 8 and 10 (Pastor Andy Bittle and Dr. Shaw)

Pastor Andy Bittle from Iowa is today's guest. He's the counseling pastor at Living Waters Fellowship in DesMoines. Find him at LWFDesmoines.com Mark introduces Andy and then they discuss the 8th and 10th myths of addiction as noted in Dr. Lance M. Dodes' book The Heart of Addiction: A New Approach to Understanding and Managing Alcoholism and Other Addictive Behaviors (Harper Collins, 2002) Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Myth #8 says, "People with addictions have an addictive personality." We agree and we add the following to make it biblical. We are sinners at our core: our mind, our will, our flesh -- all areas of our lives -- have all been affected by sin. It's not something outside us exerting its influence on us. - Pastor Andy Bittle Not "self-nurture" as the world's counsel says, but turn ourselves toward Jesus. Myth #10 says, "Denial is a failure to recognize reality." We agree, and we add the Christian rationale and wisdom to view it through a biblical framework. God works in the lives of individuals ALL THE TIME. So the idea that denial is part of the "disease" of addiction is not true.  "Physically speaking, dependency is a true concept. But the idea that I don't have any power to choose anything else is not true." - Mark Shaw Ezekiel 36:26 "a new heart and a new spirit" is what God promises to us. The Bible offers hope! The Addiction Connection created a course entitled The Bible vs Self-Help Philosophies (audio course) available online at www.theaddictionconnection.org  https://theaddictionconnection.thinkific.com/courses/the-bible-vs-self-help-philosophies