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	<title>Reformers Unanimous Blog &#187; Reformers Unanimous School of Discipleship</title>
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	<description>Christian Addiction Treatment &#38; Recovery</description>
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	<copyright>Copyright &#xA9; Reformers Unanimous Blog 2011 </copyright>
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		<title>RU Update</title>
		<link>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/codependency/ru-update.html</link>
		<comments>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/codependency/ru-update.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:45:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Reformers Unanimous</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Addiction Recovery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bible Study]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bridging Addicts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Codependency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Directors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Discipleship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Growing Your RU]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Outreach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pastors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[codependent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[complaining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[evangelism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gloria Crutchfield]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[God]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grace]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[preparation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[prison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reformers Unanimous School of Discipleship]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[This past week I asked our International Director, Bro. Burks, to put together a list to help struggling chapters retain visitors in tough times. The list he provided is based on phone calls that he and his staff have fielded; discussions with successful directors; and several years of his own personal experience as an RU [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>This past week I asked our  International  Director, Bro. Burks, to put together a list to help struggling chapters   retain visitors in tough times. The list he provided is based on phone  calls that he and his staff have fielded; discussions with successful  directors; and several years of his own personal experience as an RU  Director in Virginia.  <strong>The main focus  of this week’s report is how to turn visitors into students</strong>. I  trust that you will consider implementing these proven strategies in  developing your God-given, extremely sensitive and important visitors  into active, participating students.  It is the first step to achieving  any hope of turning the addicted to the God’s support group—the  local church!</p>
<p><strong>Issue 1: The Friday Night  Atmosphere!</strong></p>
<p>The official itinerary is integral  to creating an atmosphere that portrays a consistent message to every  visitor. That message MUST contain the following key ingredients:</p>
<ol type="1">
<li>“No matter your struggles, we are an addiction program that can help you or your loved one.”  This message usually takes place twice.  Once in a profound statement of sorts in the tri-talk introduction and more importantly, and with    definition, in the weekly <em>New Beginnings class</em>.</li>
<li>The New Beginnings group leader (who should be a type A, sold-out, RU promoter) should explain the success rate of local chapters of Reformers Unanimous all across    America. Some chapters may be very small in attendance compared to others. Credibility will be established if you give them a glimpse of the success rate. Jay Griffin, a Director in Milford, Ohio tells me, <em>“of the    students that completed the Stronghold book in their chapter, they had a 93% success rate.”</em> You can safely say there are over 20,000 people any given week attending an addiction program that use the RU materials.  Our RU program graduates simply succeed and that needs to be “hammered home.”  If not, doubt sets in to the validity of a church and Bible-based program in the minds of new students.</li>
<li>They should also reiterate this again when they make their mandatory visit on their visitors that     week.  Yes! Mandatory visits are expected.  If you sense your    New Beginnings class teacher is ineffective, you should replace him quickly. But until you can, the Director should make those visits instead to ensure the student can speak up about any mis-perceptions.</li>
</ol>
<ol type="1">
<li>An environment of transparency is needed during the first and second talks for this program to be effective. If a student comes to a chapter and the church members are perceived as perfect people without problems, it will be an immediate turn-off to potential students. I cannot stress the importance of everyone on our leadership teams viewing ourselves as student’s first, servants second, and teachers third. By our own participation in all aspects of the program and curriculum, it will create an example for students    to follow.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Issue 2: We must remember that Reformers Unanimous is a milk ministry, and avoid serving strong meat.</strong></p>
<ol type="1">
<li>It is necessary to remember that Reformers Unanimous deals with heart issues and not issues of outward conformity. We should avoid discussing hot-topic issues that would be considered strong meat and stick to the modus operandi that we are here to <strong>turn their hearts toward the Lord.</strong> Standards, for the most part are for the leadership staff to know and follow but not  teach    as part of RU training.  Of course, some exceptions may apply;  but if so, we encourage individual coaching over entire class teaching.  When faced with a student who is newer and inquisitive of such things as listed in number one above, a leader should use phrases such as,    &#8220;That&#8217;s a good question, see me after class and we&#8217;ll talk about    that, but right now let&#8217;s stay focused on issues we faced this week    in our recovery.&#8221; Or perhaps even the phrase, &#8220;That&#8217;s a great question, let me give you some verses after class to look into that,&#8221; in order to turn the conversation in a right direction.</li>
<li>Directors should avoid attacking Christian or political figures or denominations and their leaders on Friday night. This will only tear down any influence that you may have in their life, especially those who are new.  Warning the flock is the responsibility of the Pastor, not the RU leaders.</li>
<li>It is good for the Director to occasionally remind the students that as their attendance increases,  so does the chance that they will hear truths which may take as  offensive.  Encourage them to allow God to use inside persuasion of His Spirit and the outside pressure of the Word and authority to guide them in right truth.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Issue 3: Reactivate the 2-3-4 Plan  and ensure that it is happening every single week.</strong></p>
<ol type="1">
<li>Again, I repeat that every first-time visitor should get a visit by the director or the New  Beginnings class leader before the next Friday night. I can remember those early days inviting students, from Friday night, on Saturday afternoon to come on Sunday morning to the second class and taking them to lunch with me on my dime to encourage them to return the next Friday. I had more students join our church as a result of this than any other.</li>
<li>One big mistake is the transition    between the Beginner’s class and the challenge groups. It should be understood that every person that walks through the door is in the New Beginnings, or Beginners, class and are an active part of the 2-3-4    Plan. I have heard of 2 options to make sure this happens. The first is that the burden is on the Beginner’s Class leadership and Director    to make sure the 2-3-4 Plan is implemented on every visitor until they get in a group. The second option is to assign every first time  visitor on their second wee, to a group, whether they return or not. The  leader    will actively pursue them for their class. It is often true that a student doesn&#8217;t care what we know until they know that we care.  A visit shows you care.</li>
<li>Use the RU official FastTrack software to track the 2-3-4 Plan properly and hold each leader accountable to the calls, postcards, and visits every single week. If a student    misses several weeks in a row, and receives no contact from the leadership, the enemy will plant seeds of doubt that we don’t care and are not concerned about their recovery. Please be sure to communicate quarterly to inactive students.</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Issue 4: Encourage curriculum  participation  for every student.</strong></p>
<ol>
<li>
<ol type="1">
<li>The best way to encourage students to do challenges is for the leadership to have completed  challenges.</li>
<li>If a student seems to be resistant in doing challenges, it is time for that leader to meet with them privately and find out the root cause. If they have memory  problems or get stuck on particular challenges, then creatively find a way to shorten or go around those challenges to keep a student motivated  and participating.</li>
<li>Have a dynamic award ceremony. If the award ceremony is not exciting it may come across as  something childish for a brand new student. This is a time we praise our students for doing what is right. It can be extremely profitable and a motivational technique in keeping visitors who never get good news.  Have all students come up front to get their awards and have them stay until awards are completed and a final applause is given.  Encourage participation to those still seated who may not be progressing but sensing conviction as a result.  Be careful not to condemn.</li>
<li>If you cannot have an exciting awards ceremony every week, postpone it some weeks or have it  faithfully every two weeks.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Issue 5: During the third talk,  the director&#8217;s message from the Nevertheless I Live Textbook should  be relevant to the struggles people face while in their addiction.</strong></p>
<p>A recent phone call into my office  by a student who attended an RU broke my heart.   I began to feel  his pain for help but having not received it at a local chapter in which   he had placed his initial hope by attendance. At this particular  chapter,  the director has chosen to preach sermons lasting sixty minutes while  pupils fall asleep (these were his words). When I suggested he purchase  our <em>Nevertheless I Live</em> syllabus for his own learning, his words  were, &#8220;If the director of my chapter would have used this text  book and taught it from his heart I know I would have gotten the help  I need.&#8221; Directors, I would rather you have a 25 minute message  from the RU Textbook and share 5 minutes of your heart to help the  addicted  every week than have you present profound truths that challenge your  most matured students but lose your beginners. With the RU Friday night  class being live streamed in Rockford and available for download later,  there should be no excuse for each of you men to fine-tune your teaching   and preaching skills by listening to the Founder and President every  week in Rockford.  Brother Curington has now taught through the  textbook 9 times in 14 years.  He is currently on a pace that will  take him two years to go through it once.  It’s getting more  relevant each year, not less.  That’s God…not the outline or  the teacher.</p>
<p>Other Suggestions:</p>
<p>1.) Read something from the Founder  of RU every day.  Have you experienced the blessing of <em>Today  I Lay</em>, <em>Umbrella Fella</em> or his newest book on <em>Peace</em>?   They are relevant for YOU to be relevant to them.</p>
<p>2.) Read or listen on MP3 to the whole  chapter that you&#8217;re teaching every Friday night that you are teaching  it.  If a chapter takes three weeks, read that chapter three times  (once weekly).  Then prepare days before you preach that chapter  portion.   Use second talk in order to distribute and collect 2-3-4  plans and to encourage students.  A five minute refresher before  you preach would be helpful at that time too.</p>
<p>3.) Ask God to give you wisdom on how  to effectively present the Hidden Life message to your people.</p>
<p>4.) Always give an invitation for  salvation  and spiritual development.</p>
<p>Many chapters are successfully getting  visitors weekly through the “Battle is ON” outreach, along  with other techniques they have found successful. If you struggle to  get visitors, please, call our office today! (815-986-0460) If your  struggle is to keep them, then heed these listed checkpoints.</p>
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		<title>Will you See Jesus?</title>
		<link>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/codependency/will-you-see-jesus.html</link>
		<comments>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/codependency/will-you-see-jesus.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:45:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Reformers Unanimous</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bridging Addicts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Change]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[complaining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[God]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[management]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Reformers Unanimous School of Discipleship]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.reformu.com/?p=743</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mark 3:1-6, “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.  (2)  And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.  (3)  And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.  (4)  And [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>Mark 3:1-6<em>,  “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there  which had a withered hand.  (2)  And they watched him, whether  he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.   (3)  And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand  forth.  (4)  And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good  on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they  held their peace.  (5)  And when he had looked round about  on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts,  he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it  out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.  (6)   And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the  Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.”</em></p>
<p>How sad it is when people, who have an  opportunity to <em>see</em> Jesus, entirely miss the opportunity!  I  believe  the reason that they miss it is not because they do not want to see  it.  The truth is (just as the Pharisees in the verses above) they  have distanced themselves from God.  Because of that distance,  they are now experience great bondage. This bondage creates “blinders”  which inhibits them from being able to see Christ and His marvelous  works.  Recently someone said to me, regarding their time in the  morning with God, “Devotions don’t work.”  <em>Devotion</em> defined is <em>“The state of being dedicated, consecrated, or solemnly  set apart for a particular purpose.”</em> That particular purpose  is what drives misery or victory.</p>
<p>The Pharisees of all people should have  been rejoicing in the fact that Jesus had come. They were teaching about   the coming Kingdom.  They saw people responding and experiencing  healing both physically and spiritually.  Yet, they would watch,  murmur, and plot to kill Him.  Why, because their devotion was on  something  else besides Him.  Their hearts had become hard and prideful.   They  were more dedicated to the rules and laws, than the law Giver.    They were blinded.  Jesus was doing things that they had never  seen before and instead of getting to know Him, they rejected Him and  tried to find fault with everything He did.</p>
<p>It’s sad! The Pharisees were the  religious  leaders of their day, they knew everything about Him, but never knew  Him!  They were in church every Sunday, their prayers were long and they   probably used big words.  They even had a public ministry because  of the status that it would bring to them; but they missed Jesus.  They  were more focused on their appearance than the condition of their  heart.   They got busy doing the work of God, and forgot about being with God.   Don’t be like the Pharisees and miss Jesus.  <strong>Jesus desires truth  and focuses on the heart, while Satan desires deception and focuses  on appearance</strong>. Don’t go through the motions and miss the personal  relationship!  Jesus tells us to love the Lord with all thy heart.   That my friend is <em>devotion</em> to a Person and that Person is Jesus.</p>
<p>Today, will you know about Jesus or will  you know Jesus?  Will you see Him when He is working, or will you be  blinded?  Will you desire His presence or will you desire your  preferences?</p>
<p>I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice,<br />
And it told Thy love to me;<br />
But I long to rise in the arms of faith<br />
And be closer drawn to Thee.</p>
<p>Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,<br />
By the power of grace divine;<br />
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,<br />
And my will be lost in Thine.</p>
<p>O the pure delight of a single hour<br />
That before Thy throne I spend,<br />
When I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God<br />
I commune as friend with friend!</p>
<p>There are depths of love that I cannot know<br />
Till I cross the narrow sea;<br />
There are heights of joy that I may not reach<br />
Till I rest in peace with Thee.</p>
<p>Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,<br />
To the cross where Thou hast died.<br />
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,<br />
To Thy precious, bleeding side.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: small;">Have a wonderful day IN the Lord!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Benjamin R.  Burks</span></span></p>
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		<title>I can’t get no satisfaction…but “i” can now</title>
		<link>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/addiction/i-can%e2%80%99t-get-no-satisfaction%e2%80%a6but-%e2%80%9ci%e2%80%9d-can-now.html</link>
		<comments>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/addiction/i-can%e2%80%99t-get-no-satisfaction%e2%80%a6but-%e2%80%9ci%e2%80%9d-can-now.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Mar 2010 09:45:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Reformers Unanimous</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Addiction]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[How does the Hid-N-Life relate to my affections? If I appropriate my identity in Christ by faith, I need to also cooperate with God&#8217;s Spirit as He &#8220;restores my soul.&#8221; This process of renewal in the mind, will, and emotions (Romans 12:1-2) depends on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. An aspect of this renewal [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">How does the Hid-N-Life relate to my  affections? If I appropriate my identity in Christ by faith, I need  to also cooperate with God&#8217;s Spirit as He &#8220;restores my soul.&#8221;  This process of renewal in the mind, will, and emotions (Romans 12:1-2)  depends on a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">An aspect of this renewal that has been  impressed upon me lately is that of renewing the affections. If Christ  is my life, <span style="text-decoration: underline;">I will delight in that which HE delights.</span> My <span style="text-decoration: underline;">affections</span> will be directed to what is valuable to Him.<span id="more-732"></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">How prone the flesh is to delight in  the sensual and carnal desires of this fallen world. I recently heard  a great definition to help identify present day idols in the lives of  20<sup>th</sup> century Christians. One simple question will reveal  unhealthy delights. <strong>How would you respond if it is taken from you?</strong> Idols are a very real addiction in our society today. This should be  no surprise to us as it is in the list Paul gave us for the  manifestations  of the flesh. James rebuked the early Christians for following after  their own lust or pleasures (James 4:1-3). Why else would John need  to caution us in his first epistle? 1John 2:15-16, “Love not the world,  neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world,  the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,  the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,  is not of the Father, but is of the world.” This delight to have,  be and do can be changed by the inside persuasion of a new spirit as  well as the Spirit of God.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">The true believer has the blessing of  a regenerated human spirit – &#8220;the new man&#8221; (Colossians 3:10).  We have been made partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Yet  the soul is still vulnerable to the forces of the world, the flesh,  and the devil. “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims,   abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;” 1 Peter 2:11.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">When the Lord Jesus is functioning as  my LORD and LIFE, He will redirect my AFFECTIONS. What should we delight   in?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">“Delight thyself also in the LORD;  and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">(Psalm 37:4)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Delight in God&#8217;s perfect will –  “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”  (Psalm 40:8)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Delight in the Word of God – “I rejoice  at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">(Psalm 119:162)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Delight in God&#8217;s moral principles –  “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">(Romams 7:22)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Delight in God&#8217;s comfort – “In  the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"> (Psalm 94:19)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Delight in the Second Coming –  “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the  end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of  Jesus Christ;” </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">(1Peter 1:13)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Delight in the blessing of eternal  fellowship  with God – “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence  is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">(Psalm 16:11)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Evan Hopkins wrote, &#8220;We shall seek  what we love and delight in. It is where our treasure is that our heart  will be also. &#8216;Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is nothing  upon earth I desire beside Thee.&#8217; What are the things we are seeking?  It is those things that are filling our thoughts and attracting our  affections. It is upon these we set our wills and concentrate our  energies.  It is not difficult to seek what we love.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">Will we ask God to search our heart and  redirect our affections to where they belong?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><em>Our Father, we confess that our  affections  tend to get misdirected as we live by sight instead of by faith.  Illumine  us so that we will set our hearts on things above, where Christ, Who  is our life, is seated with You. Continually restore our soul by  redirecting  our affections to what is eternally worthy. Amen.</em></span></p>
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		<title>Showing others the power of God living within you!</title>
		<link>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/addiction/showing-others-the-power-of-god-living-within-you.html</link>
		<comments>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/addiction/showing-others-the-power-of-god-living-within-you.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:15:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Reformers Unanimous</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Addiction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Codependency]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Discipleship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Holy Spirit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pastors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alcohol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Changed Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[God]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[growth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reformers Unanimous School of Discipleship]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Christianity without Christ is Boring! II Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” The other day my wife and I were discussing the alarming rate at which we have noticed people dropping [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><strong>Christianity without  Christ is Boring!</strong></p>
<p>II Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear,  lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,  so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”</p>
<p>The other day my wife and I were discussing the alarming rate at which we have noticed people dropping out of ministry and even out of local churches altogether. There are many excuses that people give for the dropout rate; however, I believe that much of it boils down to the fact that people are sick of “going through the motions” of a dead religion. How frustrating it is to try and start a car when the tank is on empty or trying to use a flashlight with the wrong type of battery. We need more people around to show them that Jesus Christ is alive! They need to realize the power of God living within them!<span id="more-722"></span></p>
<p>I would rather be a Christian than anything I know. Being able to live the very life of Jesus Christ on earth, right here and right now, and tap into the limitless resources of his Deity to accomplish only those purposes designed by almighty God is the most exciting life anyone can live.</p>
<p>It is exciting to work in a ministry that exposes the hidden life to so many different kinds of people, especially those that participate in one of our conferences, or listen to a tape or a book that explains this hidden life in Christ. At first, the hearer  is often bewildered by what they hear, and many times it seems to go right over their head. Then slowly, they come to a moment of truth where  it becomes so obviously clear. You can watch their faces as if the proverbial light bulb came on. They begin to see the truths of the crucified Christian life and realize how profound they are; yet simple, thus making them simply profound.</p>
<p>Paul expressed a grave concern to the church at Corinthians regarding this process of understanding the crucified Christian life. He even called it a fear that he had. The context of 2 Corinthians 11, Paul had just compared the church to a virgin, soon to be presented as a bride to her Redeemer, yet he was reminded of how the first woman, Eve, was deceived by a tempter, and led astray from walking with God to knowing about God.</p>
<p>II Corinthians 11:3, “But I fear (alarmed that it would happen again), lest by any means (no limit to gain a result), as the serpent beguiled Eve (to adapt temptation to a person’s character or circumstances) through his subtilty (trickery), so your mind should be corrupted (your thoughts should be perverted) from the simplicity that is in Christ (a single hearted devotedness to Him).</p>
<p>Paul was anxiously concerned that nothing in their lives should detract from the simplicity that was <strong>in Christ</strong>.  That simplicity is found in Galatians 2:20, particularly in the phrase, “yet not I” I am also inclined that many Christians today believe they can have a relationship with the Lord by what they do for Him in the local church. Their mind has been “perverted”, that is to have an intended meaning altered, misrepresented, and corrupted. When the mind is corrupt, it is manifested by the affections being alienated from the proper object and the soul is filled with its own purposes and desires. The end result is our heart is alienated from not only the Source but the power gained from that Source. <strong>We’ll never have a relationship with Him because of what we do; we’ll only have a relationship with Him because of what He did. </strong>I also witness those who minister to people with the idea that they’re a good Christian if they do “these things” and the Christian life/discipleship is based on an outward appearance instead of an inward relationship. The utmost need in every ministry and in every outreach and in every denomination is to rediscover the Lord Jesus Christ and the Person of His indwelling Presence within the believer.</p>
<p>Today we can encounter the living, risen Lord who shares His life with us on our way to Heaven … so that He may accomplish through us what He began to do in His own physical body 2,000 years ago. What a fantastic privilege! Today allow that phrase ring in your heart, “yet not I” and experience the abundant life instead of a redundant life.</p>
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		<title>Tom Montena&#8217;s Testimony</title>
		<link>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/recovery/testimonies/tom-montenas-testimony.html</link>
		<comments>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/recovery/testimonies/tom-montenas-testimony.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:35:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Reformers Unanimous</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Testimonies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Changed Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Changed Lives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reformers Unanimous School of Discipleship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Testimony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Victory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.reformu.com/?p=305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As a child, I went to several schools including Catholic, Lutheran, and Baptist. The final school I attended was North Love Baptist School with Steve Curington during my ninth and part of tenth grade years. Then, I dropped out. I began using drugs and eventually began to see Steve Curington once again…only this time it [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><div style="width: 100%;">
<div id="attachment_591" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 362px">
	<img class="size-full wp-image-591 " title="Tom with Nephew" src="http://blog.reformu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/tom.jpg" alt="Tom with Nephew" width="362" height="272" />
	<p class="wp-caption-text">Tom with Nephew</p>
</div>
</div>
<p>As a child, I went to several schools including Catholic, Lutheran, and Baptist.  The final school I attended was North Love Baptist School with Steve Curington during my ninth and part of tenth grade years.  Then, I dropped out.  I began using drugs and eventually began to see Steve Curington once again…only this time it was at parties, not the Baptist School.  We saw each other at these parties for about a year before the time came when I began to use drugs with him. However, this did not last long as the United States government indicted me as part of the largest drug ring in the state of Illinois (and quite possibly the western half of the United States).  Just to show you the magnitude of the devil’s control over my life, the government seized 1.2 billion dollars in drugs, cash, and real estate including: car lots, night clubs, hotels, gas stations, restaurants, cars, boats, homes, and jets from the group I was associated with.  I, along with others I sold with, went off to prison for several years.  <span id="more-305"></span></p>
<p>Little did I know that in the meantime, God got a hold of Steve Curington’s life, and he had gone back to church.  When I got out of prison, God brought Reformers Unanimous to me, and I learned about the lives that were being changed as a result of it.  I began to actively take part in the program.  I struggled with my faith and with alcohol.  All of the other activities and drugs I had been involved with previously were no longer tempting to me.  However, my relationship with God and the abstinence from alcohol were the two things that would cause me to see how weak I really am and how desperately I needed God.  I have attended RU locally for four years and have been working to assist in the ministry for three years.  I am a helper in this ministry and am privileged to be a small part in the overall picture.  If you ever want to meet me or find out more about me, you can visit me at the Men’s Discipleship Home.  I am not far from the kitchen working.  I am responsible for all of the food procurement of both our men and women’s homes.</p>
<p>At times, I struggle with wanting to take back the control of my life for a day or so, but it never lasts long.  God will not allow it.  God is blessing me, and He will bless you if you seek Him too.  God is using Reformers.  Just look around your Friday night meeting, and you will see Him at work; if you don’t have Reformers, you will have to get one and see God begin to work.  If you once had a chapter, yet you gave up too soon on the addicts who suffer, please remember that God doesn’t give up.  The devil tricked you and robbed you of not seeing this ministry serve the addicted.  It is interesting to note that six of the men I sold drugs to earlier in life are now faithfully serving the Lord.</p>
<p>I dedicate this testimony to my mother, Diane Montena, for never doubting God nor giving up on me and the staff of the RU homes.  I pray this testimony reaches just one.</p>
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		<title>Shannon&#8217;s Testimony: Cocaine Recovery</title>
		<link>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/recovery/testimonies/shannons-testimony-cocaine-recovery.html</link>
		<comments>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/recovery/testimonies/shannons-testimony-cocaine-recovery.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:30:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Reformers Unanimous</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Testimonies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Changed Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Changed Lives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cocaine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reformers Unanimous School of Discipleship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shannon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Testimony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Victory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.reformu.com/?p=301</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I grew up in a very strong, solid Christian home. My childhood memories are extremely happy and filled with love from my parents. My life revolved around church and school, so I knew only Christians. Accepting Jesus as my Savior at the age of five, I enjoyed many church activities as well as attending Christian [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><div id="attachment_595" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 362px">
	<img class="size-full wp-image-595 " title="shannonfam" src="http://blog.reformu.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/shannonfam.jpg" alt="Shannon and Family" width="362" height="290" />
	<p class="wp-caption-text">Shannon and Family</p>
</div>
<p>I grew up in a very strong, solid Christian home.  My childhood memories are extremely happy and filled with love from my parents.  My life revolved around church and school, so I knew only Christians.  Accepting Jesus as my Savior at the age of five, I enjoyed many church activities as well as attending Christian school throughout my elementary years. <span id="more-301"></span></p>
<p>Although I was aware of a “world” out there somewhere, I had no clue what it<br />
was all about.  My parents were careful to shelter us from outside influences.  When I was in 8th grade, my mother quit teaching to home school my brother and me.  As I grew, I felt overly controlled.  Although taught to obey and honor my parents, sometimes I didn’t understand all their rules.  During my home-schooled high school years, it became very important to act right, speak right, and look right at all times.  That’s when the games began.</p>
<p>I began “playing” Christianity because it seemed like the easiest solution.  I went to Bob Jones University where my way of life was reinforced.  By then, apathy had turned to rebellion—I was tired of playing church and just wanted out.  Dropping out of Bob Jones my senior year, I went to bars; but I hated all the superficiality I felt there.  I needed substance, and there was a big emptiness inside of me.  I started searching, reading different philosophies, drawn to free thinkers like Timothy Leary, William F. Burroughs, and Hunter S. Thompson.  I sought other people engaged in the same way of thinking.  They were, of course, “drug people.”  I started experimenting with hallucinogens that made me even more confused and the big empty hole even more hollow.</p>
<p>Then, one day, I was given my first line of coke.  I remember thinking, “I finally found what I was looking for; I’m finally home.”  Selling myself out, stealing, lying, and manipulating everyone I knew, produced guilt and the need for more drugs.  Losing job after job, trying to quit, out of control, hiding my habit, more guilt, more drugs, losing all self-respect, my morals going down the drain, doing whatever I had to do just to get high.  How glamorous did coke look now?</p>
<p>One night, God gave me a wake up call as I was flat on my back in a hospital bed.  With my life out of control, I went to a secular outpatient program.  It helped me understand how addiction works, but that big gaping hole that was back inside my heart.  Then, I went to RU and learned that, in spite of everything I knew about the Bible and Christianity, if I did not have a growing, personal relationship with Jesus to allow the Holy Spirit to guide me, I could not know true peace and contentment.</p>
<p>My RU leader came to my house every week to disciple me.  She taught me to love the Lord in a way I had never known in all my years in church and Christian college.  I continued to go to RU and church as much as possible.  Unfortunately, as a single mom and a waitress, I had to work most Fridays and Sundays.  Nevertheless, I stayed in the Bible, praying and trying desperately to be a good Christian woman and mother.  Now I know that I was trying to do it in my own strength.  I thought that was what I was supposed to do—try really hard all by myself.  I started to get down, really tired, overwhelmed, and eventually depressed.  I believed Satan’s lie that I couldn’t do it anymore.  “Once a coke-head, always a coke-head,” people had said about my attempts to get clean.  I fell back into my addiction after almost two years clean and trying to live for God.  That’s when God worked in a miraculous way to bring me to Rockford.  I couldn&#8217;t do it in my own power.</p>
<p>I felt very blessed to be able to come to the Ladies’ Discipleship Home.  God used it to show me so many things that could never be expressed in writing.  The teaching and preaching that I got to sit under definitely helped me grow spiritually and develop a much closer walk with the Lord.  One of the most important things that I learned is that under the Holy Spirit&#8217;s guidance, the rest of my life on earth will be constant change and growth towards being more Christ-like.  I will never and should never be comfortable and content to stop growth and learning.  The other important concept I needed to learn was concerning my self-righteousness.  I learned to die daily and dedicate myself everyday to knowing and doing God’s will.  God taught me and changed my heart towards others.  I now realize that I had lived my life selfishly, and that it’s not about me, but others.  God has blessed me with a godly husband, and the restoration of the relationships with my family, especially my mother; but most of all, the relationship with my Lord Jesus Christ.  I no longer am living with all the anxiety and depression that I once felt.  That big gaping hole in my heart is now being filled.</p>
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		<title>Gloria Crutchfield&#8217;s Testimony</title>
		<link>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/recovery/testimonies/gloria-crutchfields-testimony.html</link>
		<comments>http://blog.reformu.com/blog/recovery/testimonies/gloria-crutchfields-testimony.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:00:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Reformers Unanimous</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Testimonies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Changed Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Changed Lives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gloria Crutchfield]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reformers Unanimous School of Discipleship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Testimony]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Victory]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.reformu.com/?p=325</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[My name is Gloria Crutchfield. Born in 1952, I was the middle child of seventeen siblings. We grew up with a father and mother. My father died when I was nineteen. Although my childhood seemed “normal” to me, I just did not know what I was missing. Growing up in such a large family, we [...]


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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>My name is Gloria Crutchfield. Born in 1952, I was the middle child of seventeen siblings. We grew up with a father and mother.  My father died when I was nineteen.<span id="more-325"></span></p>
<p>Although my childhood seemed “normal” to me, I just did not know what I was missing.   Growing up in such a large family, we were not hugged, kissed, or loved on.  After seeing television programs showing loving all-American families, my understanding was that, “only white people get treated like that.”  It is often amazing the way people come to think, solely because of the way they are raised; not to mention that, back then, we hardly ever saw black people on television.</p>
<p>I grew up just wanting to be loved.  I learned to do good things in order to gain favor from my parents as well as other people in my life.  With the way of thinking I had learned, I started believing that I had to make up and substitute somehow for not being pretty, for being poor, and whatever else I thought I lacked, in order to be loved.  In my world, love seemed to be something earned or exchanged.</p>
<p>Yes, I needed to feel love, and I was deceived by a young man with his promise that I was loved.  At the age of nineteen, I had a baby as a direct result of believing that somebody loved me.</p>
<p>It was upon my Dad’s passing that I started my drug use.  I could not stand to be me because I was ashamed to show “me” out in the world.</p>
<p>After thirty-five years of abusing drugs, one form after another, I suffered a stroke at the age of fifty-one.  It was then that I was introduced to my mentor’s best friend, Jesus.  I was saved and I started attending Reformers Unanimous.  I didn’t think I would ever be able to stop using drugs, until I met my Savior, Jesus.  He showed me the way, the truth, and the life.</p>
<p>It was re-enforced in my spirit about the One called Jesus.  I have been free these past three years, more than I’ve ever been.  After so long in the world, it has been a process of sanctification; but believe it or not, I enjoy this process.  For, to what else in my life can I compare it?  There is nothing.  Thank you, Jesus!!</p>
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