Straight paths through crooked roads

Amy's story: redemption from crystal meth

Can a person have realistic hope of being saved from addiction to crystal meth?  Yes, this is a true story about redemption from what is known as "ice".  Amy is today in a different place.  She is now rebuilding her life.  And, she is not the only one affected.  Amy is pregnant.  She is also saving the life of her unborn child. 

Amy decided to leave home several years ago to go to San Francisco.  She aspired to become a make up artist and found a job with a prestigeous spa in the downtown area.  However, due to some unfortunate decisions, she moved from job to job and from apartment to apartment.  Each move seemed to be going downward to some degree.  She was struggling to find her way.  Amy found crystal meth to make her actually feel "normal".  It seemed at first to enable her to cope with her everyday circumstances.  She knew that it would somehow eventually destroy her.  Nevertheless, she continued to take it.

I'm her dad.  Amy was not confiding to me exactly what was going on.  I got some information in an unusual way.  At about 3 AM in early June 2008, I was awakened by a sudden and very strong impression.  It was the Holy Spirit communicating to me a definite message:  "Amy is in deep trouble."

Stefanie, my wife and Amy's mom and I had heard a TBN ministry from Jentzen Franklin about the spiritual power of prayer and fasting.  So, I simply decided to give up a simple thing that would cause no harm to health.  I gave up drinking my precious coffee for 21 days and devoted extra time to prayer for Amy.  I did not tell Amy about this.

In a few days Amy decided to visit home saying that she needed to get away from San Francisco to do some thinking.  We welcomed her visit.  She seemed to be going back and forth about a decision to return home.  She had created a life there where she enjoyed the community of her friends.  She still had aspirations to become part of show business as a makeup artist. 

The greater weight upon Amy's mind, however, was the suprise she gave us when she told us that she was pregnant.  Amy wanted to save her unborn baby's life by getting off of meth but was not sure how to do it.  She had other issues as well.  She needed a safe haven to recover. 

Stefanie had strong concerns about Amy's return home.  I did too.  But, neither one of us could deny Amy's crisis.  We could not deny her the haven of our home because to do that would have been a death sentence to both Amy and her unborn child.

So, in early August, my friend Tom and I went to San Francisco and helped Amy move.  I later told Amy that I wish I could have had a picture of our truck taking her back home.  It was so precious to me.

Now, Amy has been off of crystal meth since her return home.  She has turned her life over to Christ.  She is actively helping our church by working with children in the nursery during Sunday services.  Amy has been welcomed by the people in the church.  She tells me that she feels comfortable and encouraged there. 

No, Amy is not about to be married to the father of her child.  However, he is supportive of her pregnancy and has decided to contribute financially to her and to the new child. 

Amy has also changed her career goal.  She will be attending Fresno City College and eventually go to Cal. State University, Fresno to their business school for a bachelor's degree.

Amy also tells me that she still feels tempted by her old life and yet she remains determined to continue in her change toward new thinking and wholesome living.  One thing for sure.  She has more than supportive parents.  She has the unfailing help of the Holy Spirit.  It is the life of Christ in her and in Steffie and in myself that has been the key to Amy's redemption from crystal meth.

The stigma of being a Christian: reason # 9 to rebel against the faith.

There are several forms of stigma against being a Christian.  More and more people in society are looking at Christians as being unreasonable in their morality, judgemental against things society accepts now.  Christians are assumed to be prejudicial against people who practice such things as homosexuallity.  Christians are seen as narrowminded against people of other faiths.

Actually, people are confused.  A genuine Christian sees the cross of Jesus Christ as the payment for their own personal sins and the sins of all people of all times including those of today's society.  Christians accept God's definition of what sin is because they humble themselves before God as their Lord as well as their Savior.  Therefore, the Christian way of thinking is the Bible as God's Word breathed into our spirits by the Holy Spirit.  It is the Bible, not the Christian, that defines sin.  The cross defines the sacrifice necessary to pay for all that sin committed by the Christian as well as everyone else, Christian or not.  It is the work of Christ on the cross and His resurrection afterward that enable the Christian to become in character what the Word of God calls for.

The authentic Christians commit to live unto the Lord as His Word directs.  Others choose to not live by the Word of God. The lives of these become contrasted with the new life choices of the Christian.  Thus, the sinful nature of the activity of the world becomes more evident in comparison to the wholesome nature of the activity of the Christian.  Light has been shed upon their behavior. 

The response of the world society is denial.  It says, "I'm not so bad."  In contrast, the genuine Christian says, "I'm not that good."  And yet, in reality it is the other way around.  Society defends itself from the light of the Gospel with pride.  Christians open their heart to God's Word in humility.

For that, the Christian is attacked.  But, the Christian is not truly being attacked for who he or she is.  The attack is actually against the revealed work of the cross of Jesus Christ.  It is Him against whom the world truly aims its barbs.  Because the Christian is Christ's messenger, it is the Christian that bears the brunt of the world's scorn. 

Rejoice, Christian, rejoice!  The King of Kings and Lord of Lords Himself calls you wise because you have built your house on the rock of His Word.  Rejoice, Christian, rejoice.  Your Savior and the Lover of your soul has told you to rejoice because your reward in heaven is great.  Why?  Because the prophets and disciples who came before you were persecuted in the very same way.

If you turn away from your relationship with Christ because of the stigma of the cross, you lose.  If you embrace the cross all the more when you are being persecuted because of righteousness, you are an overcomer.  The crown of the overcomer will be yours.  How about them apples?

Christianity just gets in the way of making money, being popular, and having fun: reason to rebel #8

It was a prisoner at the California Youth Authority who told me that he would like to be a Christian but it would get in the way of his "fun with the ladies".  Actually, other choices he had made were getting in the way of having "fun".  What he did not understand is that you should enjoy the blessings of making money, being popular, and having fun but without adding sorrow to them. 

This goes to the central idea that if I give my life to Christ, I lose control.  But, what is that worth?  If I gain everything I want but lose my own soul, what is that worth?  If I pursue happiness in my own strength I am on my own with nothing greater than I am to help me, to guide me.  There are so many things in life which are beyond my control that even if I gain anything I can also count on some kind of sorrow coming with it.  

However, the life that is in Christ is a source of motivation that leads to blessings with no direct sorrow added as a part of it.  When we become one with Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us.  He is not about taking away the opportunity to make money but rather He is about making our dollars honest ones.  That way, we do not fear punishment for how we got them.  The Holy Spirit is all about relationship with God and with others who are important to us.  He is not about deception to gain temporary popularity.  He is about truthful relationships that build lasting trust among dear friends.  The Holy Spirit is not about fun that is self destructive, fun that degrades everyone involved in an activity, that evades responsibility.  Rather, the Holy Spirit is about fun that relaxes and refreshes and rewards good achievement and celebrates healthy relationships. 

There will be plenty of sorrow in this life.  Some of it will be hard to explain.  However, our God is not about setting up a list of rules to ruin our lives.  He is about creating a healthy life with blessings for now and eternity.

Reason # 6 to rebel: Christianity is a psychological crutch for weak people.

People may fear trusting anything but physical evidence to justify what they believe.  They will choose to trust psychology to give them their view of life.  Thus, they think that Christians are guilty of using faith in Christ as a false hope which can be explained by psychology.

When people who use psychology as their explanation of life and have no reference to faith in Jesus Christ accuse Christians of using faith in Christ as a crutch, they do not understand the truth.

Christians need to understand that faith in Christ does give strength unavailable through psychology.  Psychology can be used as a paradigm to explain some aspects of the behavior of Christians.  However, these psychological explanations have no basis in the reality of the Holy Spirit, no basis in the reality of the redemption from sin provided by the risen Savior, no basis in the reality of the creation of the universe by Jehovah. 

Psychology can have useful applications in problem solving emotional issues and can contribute to mental health.  However, it is only a subset of understanding.  Psychology properly applied can be a healthy part of the wisdom useful in life.  However, whatever psychology may have to suggest must be qualified by comparison to the principles found in God's Word.  That is because eternity is a lot bigger than mental health in this mortal life. 

Eternal life includes our mortal life in this body but goes beyond it.  Eternal life as defined by Jesus Christ Himself is to know God, person to person.  (See the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John.) Our person includes our mind, our will, and our emotions and an eternal spirit.  Our spirit is that part of us that knows God Who is also Spirit.  We know Him as Spirit by our spirit:  Spirit to spirit.  Psychology is only based upon human thinking based upon the scientific method and has no connection to spiritual knowledge of God in and by itself. 

To conclude:  psychology is a tool for understanding human behavior.  Christianity is a faith that includes principles by which to choose our behaviors.  But, Christianity is more.  It is eternal life because it is our relationship with God our Father, with our Savior, and with our Companion, the Holy Spirit.  To use psychology to dismiss the need for faith in Christ does not make sense. 

Christianity is not a crutch, it is that Spirit to spirit relationship to God.  We would not say that a healthy family relationship is a crutch.  We would say that good family relationship is healthy.  Likewise, relationship to our Father in heaven, to our Savior, to the Lover of our soul is healthy for now and for all eternity.