#90 - 10 Myths of Addiction: Myths 9 and 10 (Funkhouser and Dr. Shaw)

Ben Funkhouser, Executive Director of The Refuge in Winterset, Iowa, and he is a Commissioned Addictions Biblical Counselor with The Addiction Connection. Ben and Mark finish the series discussing the myths of addiction as noted in Dr. Lance Dodes book The Heart of Addiction: A New Approach to Understanding and Managing Alcoholism and Other Addictive Behaviors (Harper Collins, 2002) How do we agree with Dr. Dodes' myths?  Are people with addictions impulsive? Romans 14:11-12 "for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” 12 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." How do habits really help us? Responsibility before God is the truth that transforms someone from feeling helpless as if there's nothing I can do to change this, so I just have to deal with it. That's hopeless. What seems compulsive is really God's creative power in how He created us to develop habits.  6:45 - The world's lack of hope in their description of the problem of addiction Jay Adams (Godliness Through Discipline) taught on the ways habits affect and help our lives as a gift from God. Replacement is a key concept. And he also described the four characteristics of habits as automatic, unconscious, skillful, and comfortable. 11:35 - Ephesians 4:20-24 13:00 - Episodes of addictive choices have a lot of planning and effort involved even if the actions seem to happen quickly and easily. It's a planned lifestyle and the path becomes so "well-worn" that it's easy to go there. 14:50 - Matthew 5 calls us to be radical -- to cut off the paths of sin so we can replace these addictive habits. 16:12 -  A biblical Proverb says, "The way of a transgressor is hard." It does lead to destruction in our lives here, and then eternal destruction without Christ. (Proverbs 13:15) 18:30 - Ben describes the rationale for the seven-month men's program for addiction at The Refuge. The length of their program allows the residents there ample time to learn new biblical habits of living in a way that it becomes the new pattern of life. Find hope and help for addiction at www.theaddictionconnection.org https://www.theaddictionconnection.org/addiction-help/ Find resources for help from a genuinely biblical perspective at https://www.theaddictionconnection.org/published-resources/ Find Ben Funkhouser at refugewinterset.com