Episode 32 - Andy Garlington

Andy shares how he struggled with alcohol during 3 specific times in his life. He shares how that cycle was finally broken allowing him to experience peace.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Hello, I'm Becky Dowd, and this is The Journey to Salvation. Join me as we walk alongside real people and hear the unique journeys that led them to faith in Jesus. Today my guest is Andy Garlington. Hey Andy.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Good. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 0:26

Good. Very good.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Thank you for coming in. We're kind of recording this a little bit later in the day, and you've had a full day of work. Yes. Probably tired and very tired.

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Yeah. Yeah. But I have time for this.

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Okay, good. Yeah, yeah. So, Andy, just I don't really know you that well. We've kind of gotten to know each other the last year just a little bit, but can you just give me a little background information on growing up and that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Yeah. So I grew up not far from here, Cersei, Arkansas. And I had the privilege of growing up in a in a godly home. You know, I want to brag on my my dad. He's a he's a godly man. Um my grandparents, um, they're all godly people. And you know, it's funny. I'm trying not to chase rabbits here, but um, you know, I went back and looked at the uh ancestry, you know, of our family, which has never really been very interesting to me until now as you get older and you kind of want to know, hey, where did I come from? And it's just been a it's been a line of uh people that God has just been really faithful in generations of my family, and it's like, holy cow. Um, you know, um what's um special about our family? Nothing, nothing at all. It's just by the grace of God. They chose to follow the Lord. Yeah, yeah. And um, and so he's been super faithful to the to the family. But anyway, um I grew up in Circe, um, like I said, I grew up in church. Um when I was eight years old, um, I I had my first what I thought was salvation experience, right? And so you you grow up, and it's not the always the case for everybody, but I hear this story often that uh, you know, as eight friends, everybody maybe you had vacation Bible school, right? Or maybe uh you just had friends that were baptized, and you see that and you're like, I want to do that, you know. And it may not uh be an actual salvation experience. And that was my case, that was my story. Um, so um I I thought that I was saved at a young age, and and of course I grew up and I was exposed to more, and um, you know, I I started going down a um pretty pretty rough path. And I I would say about age 13, I started um I was really a shy kid. Um and I was probably what you would call a mama's boy. You know, I was real soft, um I had a big heart. And growing up in preteen years, teenage years, you know, you get probably made fun of a lot for that. And so I started trying to find ways to fit in. And so I started drinking probably probably at age 13, 13 or 14, at an early age. And um, you know, it felt good at first. I could socialize, I could feel comfortable around people. I felt like I was becoming more popular, people liked me. And um, I never knew that um that it would become an issue later on in my life. I didn't know that it was something that um I would hold on to. Um, and so uh really from that point on, 13, 14 years old, um, anytime I could get alcohol, I would, I would, I would drink. And um and so uh that's something that stuck with me.

SPEAKER_00 4:05

Were your parents aware of that that you were drinking?

SPEAKER_03 4:08

Not at that early of an age.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

Noted it.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

Well, I hid it well for a while. I really did. And then I started doing some really bone-headed things that got me caught. I'd get caught, you know. And I and then I I was never really good at hiding stuff. And then it became a point in my life where I didn't really care. Like my parents could catch me, and it was that defiance of like, I don't care if you catch me. You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna do what I want to do. Um, but I I remember one time my my brother got blamed. I had a bottle of vodka in the drawer, and it was like a handle, like half a gallon, and and my parents, he was in college, he was older than me. And so they're blaming him. Why are you bringing this in our house? You know, and he wouldn't do it. He's 14 years old, you know, and and so that was the first time that was the first time I got caught. Um and all through my teen years, that was a vice. That was something I that I leaned on um to control my anxiety, uh, to feel like I f I fit in. And um, yeah, it was just something that I did very, very heavily. Uh, I remember um when I was 18 years old, I got out of high school, um, I started working for my uncle, who had a glass shop there in Circe, and he had an apartment building, and I was like, hey, I'm 18, I want to get out and do my own. And so I I had that apartment, and we had, you know, lots of parties, and I just did what I wanted to do. And I remember um I had a really big party um one night at that apartment, and I was driving home, and the Spirit of God just fell on me in the car. Oh, wow. And and um just convicted, just started bawling. I I didn't know what was going on at first, but I did. I knew the presence of God was there, and so I called my uncle and I said, I have to go to my parents' house. And he didn't ask any questions. He said, Okay. So I I I turned around from going to work and went to my parents' house. And I remember my mom, she she met me at the door and she just said, What is wrong? And I was like, I got to pray to God right now. I have to, I have to confess my sin and make him Lord. And she she knelt right beside me at the bed, and I was placed at 18 at that time, 18 or 19, and uh uh gave it to the Lord. And um I I did well after that that point, I was like, I'm I'm gonna give up my apartment, I'm gonna move back in my parents, and I think it would be you know better for me not to just kind of get out of that scene, right? Just not be indulged in it. Um, and so there was a there was a stretch of time um where God was really uh gracious to me and um uh took the desires away from me. And um, but at the same time, a lot of that was on my own, where I was thinking, okay, I can't do this, I can't do this, you know, uh safeguarding. Um probably two years later, there's probably a two-year period where I was sober. Um and then two years later I started drinking again. And this time, and this is probably a very common story, um this time it was much worse than the previous uh drinking episode.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Did anything happen that turned you to start drinking again?

SPEAKER_03 8:01

I think at I think at that point, there is later on in my life story, and I'll get to that. I think at that point, I was young, and uh I think it was really just the the pressure um uh of of my friends and just just I f well yes, there was. I felt isolated a little bit at that time, in that age. I guess that would be what you would what would cause that.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Because you didn't really need to run around with the same friends if you were not gonna do that.

SPEAKER_03 8:36

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 8:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:37

Sure. And so um at that point in my life, I haven't really learned how to rely on God alone. Um and so in my heart, I felt isolated. Wasn't true, but I did. And so that's the first time I've ever thought of that. I'm glad you asked that. Um and so I started drinking uh more heav heavily and um then got married at age 22 to my my wife, Juliana, and she she could see when when we got married that um my drinking was an issue. Um she could really see it, and we would get in horrible fights about it. Horrible fights. And uh, even on our honeymoon, um she got mad at me and we had a humongous fight. And and uh even to to the point where security came down and it was like, Are you beating on your wife? And I'm like, No, what are you talking about? Like we're just having an argument because we're you know, and so it was um it was always a problem um uh that I faced and uh that I ran into. Um and so um as our marriage went on, I I kept drinking uh more and more. And um my wife um at one point she was uh pretty fed up with what I was doing. And I remember we were going to a wedding um in Oklahoma, it was her friend's wedding, and and and it was like open bar, right? And before we went, I told my wife, I said, I'm done. I'm done, I'm done drinking. And she was like, Yeah, right, whatever. And so um we go to this wedding, and I remember um I'm out uh in this car, they're all in there, it's an open bar, and I get in the car and I just I just cried out to God. I said, God, I I can't do this. I can't, I can't face this alone. You got you gotta help me. And so that whole night I went without and I prayed, and that started a new chapter in my life, um, a new chapter of sobriety, right? And so we um got involved in a church, um, heavily involved in the church. It was actually the first time that I ever played music or led helped lead worship in a church. And God was just gracious and put us around people to encourage us, and it was a wonderful, wonderful uh church.

SPEAKER_00 11:27

Were you still in Circe at this time?

SPEAKER_03 11:29

No, we were in Cabot. Okay. We were we we uh we got married, lived in Circe for a little bit, and then we moved to Cabot. Okay. Um so um what happened in in this situation, and I'm sorry, my testimony is really up and down, and really it it took me till my current chapter in life to realize what God was doing. So it seems all over the place, and it is. And uh a lot of times uh when I first moved here, I even questioned like when was I really saved? Was I really well, you know.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Um but uh sometimes it takes a while looking back to figure that out.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

Yeah, yeah. It's it's just the story that God's writing. Um but uh yeah, we were going to the to the church and it it was a um probably the first time in my life that uh my testimony, right, of what God did for me uh when I stopped drinking the second time that I could share. And people are like, oh wow, that's that's a great story, you know. And so really to be honest with you, um, and this is probably a different way of looking at it, I kind of took pride in that. Like, you know, all my life I've I've as a teenager and whatnot, I felt like a disappointment, right? And then I'm finally on the other side, right? And I'm doing well. And look at me like I'm sober, I'm doing good, God's blessing me, God's blessing my family. And it was just like on a different level uh of what I thought of my faith. And um, and so we were in that church for probably three years. Um and um at one point in that church, I became more involved, right? And if anybody's been involved in church for any amount of time, especially in the um operations of the church and and and organization of the church, people are still broken. Like just because you're uh a follower of Jesus Christ and he saved you doesn't mean that you're not broken. Um and so, you know, I was in meetings that got heated and arguments and all these things, and I'm going, what in the world? Like we're supposed to be like people of Jesus Christ, like we're supposed to model, and and so it really started pulling me back from like, what is going on here? This is not what it's supposed to be like. And so I started pulling back a little bit from church, and then our music minister left, and they asked me to uh lead music. And I was like, uh I mean I've never really done that. I don't I don't know. And so I led for you know two Sundays or or whatever, and the pastor um said, Hey, you know, I was talking with some people, and we would still like you to lead, like speak, but maybe let somebody else lead the music. So the way that I took that wasn't an attack, and and so um I let that hurt my pride, is is really what happened. And so um I was done at that point. And I'm like, Lord, what is going on? Like all this was supposed to be like everything was on the up and and and everything was going good, and now it seems like everything around me is that I knew and loved that this church is going away. So I left that church, and when I left the church, I started drinking again. And it wasn't heavy at first. I was like, man, I just need to the anxiety and all that. I need to um have something to help control it. And at this point, I had twin girls, so now I have kids in the picture, right? And so just like the time before, when I started drinking again, it was ten times worse this time. It was way worse. And what Satan did to me um to lie to me was to say you you your testimony's no good anymore. You know. And so I had pride in that testimony, right? Like I took this, it's like that's my testimony, yeah. A success story, huh? Yeah, yeah. I'm a success story of what it looks like to be sober. And and so Satan just beat me over the head with that. Um, look at you, look at you. You took pride in this, and look, you you you can't even hold it together. And so the the more that he told me that, the more that I drank. Did not want to go to church anymore, I was done with it. And I actually got to the point where I said, God's turned his back on me. And so I I would tell my wife, I'm not going to church. I I'm not. I I mean, God turned his back on me and I'm done. And so there were several years uh of of me just in just full-blown just rebellion again, again. And um it got so bad uh that my wife, uh my brother-in-law's Matt Dunavan that preaches at Wynne Baptist. And so my wife, since I wasn't going to church, she would, when Matt and Stacy moved here, she would come to church here and and she would leave me in cabot to get away from me, you know, to to have a break. And she told me this a probably a year ago. I didn't I didn't even know this. Like I didn't even know her side of the story, and it made me feel really guilty because I I tend to tell the story of my life, and well, we're we're we're one, we're together. And and she sat and and told me her side of the story. And she came here to win, I think it was it wasn't for an Easter egg hunt. Anyway, she was it was Father's Day. I believe it was Father's Day. That's you know, to show you the state I was in. I was I was still in Cabot and they were here. And um she told Matt and Stacy he's out of control. He's out of control. His drinking is I just can't control it. I like he's just I don't I don't know where he's at. He he runs off.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Um were your girls at that time?

SPEAKER_03 18:51

They were you know, probably two. Two. And they saw some one of the one of the things that we really prayed about is that they wouldn't remember the things that they had to to go through. Yeah. Um they had to come to jail to get me out of jail. Um they witnessed um a horrible car wreck that I had. Um I hit a hit a uh a car in in front of me and went off the road and car caught on fire. And and uh, but the Lord uh protected me um through that. Um so they witnessed a lot of things. They were young, um, but I remember that you know that's something that Matt and Stacy and my wife, even when I was in my uh in my stupor, that they that they prayed against for my girls, is that Lord um helped them not to remember this. Yeah, help them not. So that yeah, they were young. But um anyway, she she told them he's out of control. Y'all y'all have to do something. She said, I'm leaving him, is what I'm doing. I I didn't know this until two years ago. She said, I'm leaving, you know, I'm gonna leave him. I can't raise my girls in this environment. And so Matt said, Don't do that. Matt and Stacy both. They said, We're gonna pray right now. Uh we're gonna pray about this. And so uh they spent two days before I even had a conversation with Matt, spent two days praying that the Lord would um soften my heart, that he would um you know lead the conversation that Matt um was going to conduct with me. And and Matt uh he he did not want to speak to me because it's awkward. I'm his brother-in-law, and but at at the same time, he's a godly man and he knew that this is what the Lord was calling him to do. So I was actually driving here two days later after they she told them that and they're praying for me. I was driving here to pick them up. And Juliana, my wife Juliana, she said, uh, Matt wants to talk to you. And I said, No. I'm not talking to Matt. And she said, Well, he's he's he's waiting. Like he's and I said, I don't care. I have nothing to say to him.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

You knew what he was gonna say.

SPEAKER_03 21:23

I knew what he was fixing to say.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:25

And so I remember I went to the Mexican restaurant over there by Walmart and uh sat there, got a burrito, and was just mad, just doing, just just mad that she would betray me like that, go behind my back and uh tell on me like a little kid, you know. And so I was just sitting there angry, and I get a phone call, and I look at my phone, and it says Matt Dunimant. And I'm like Goodness. And so I answered it. And Matt very sternly said, Hey, I need to talk to you. And I just said, Okay. So I go to his house and uh I meet him on the on the he had a covered back porch with chairs out there. He would do his Bible studies and stuff out there. His abide time. And um before we even start, said Matt, I don't really have anything to say. God's hardened my heart. He's turned his back on me. So you can say what you need to say, you know, just out of the respect of for him. And something that pierced my heart, my hardened heart, that he said was um, because he knew me before I fell back into my drunkenness, you know. He said, um, he said, you're a child of God. And he just kind of let that settle. And that really um God used that to wipe the mud from my eyes to realize who I was still, you know. And he didn't have to say much more. Um, he he read some scripture, and I I'll be honest with you, I don't even remember what he was reading. And he told me, you know, you're tormenting your family. And um the Holy Spirit fell on us there. Um I I began to start weeping, and um I said, Can I start praying? And he said, Yeah. And so I began to ask for forgiveness again and turn back to Christ. And he did something with me that was well, the Holy Spirit did it, but he used Matt as a tool to do it and bring it and and and bring it to light. And something that we do, or something that they would call gospel care. I didn't know what it was at the time. But it's it's basically taking the things that Satan uses to blind us, the lies, and laying them at the feet of Jesus and just looking at Jesus, right? The author and perfecter of our faith. And so I I closed my eyes and I could literally see um, I could literally see Jesus on the cross. I could see Jesus on the cross, and the blood running down the cross, and um I was holding on to so much guilt, shame. Um, I felt a word that kept coming, I felt dirty, I felt unworthy. And um, we did an exercise where it was um really a supernatural experience of where I just took everything that I was carrying and I laid it at the foot of the cross, and the blood of Jesus Christ covered it. And I haven't been the same since. Um I called my wife. We went on a walk right after uh uh left Matt's. Oh, let me go back here. I had a really good job in Little Rock at that time. And Matt said, Do you think you need to move here to win? This is how I ended up in win. And I said, I think I do. He said, Pray about it. If God, if God's calling you, he said, I know you don't have a job here. I know you don't know what's next. He said, but if God's telling you to come here, uh just do it out of faith. Take a step of faith. And so, so I said, Yeah, I will I will pray about that. And so I left, called my wife, and said, Hey, I need to talk to you. So we we walked around uh the park, and I just began confessing to her everything that I had been doing, um, and just really begging for forgiveness um with her. She's a very gracious woman. Um she is such an example of Christ's patience and love and endurance. Like I'm so thankful for her. Yeah, she she's uh she's a wonderful wife. Um God knew what he was doing. But um anyway, I told her, I said, well, let's think about moving to Wynn after I talked to her about that. And so the next week we go back to Cabot. I go into work and I tell them, hey, I'm leaving. I'm gonna put I'm gonna put my two weeks' notice in. And they said, Well, what are you doing? I said, I don't know. I'm moving to win. Well, you don't have a job? I said, No. I I don't know. I'm just moving to win. And they're like, they were sitting me down. You're not thinking right. And I was thinking more clearly than I had ever thought. Like it was completely against the world, right? And I was like, I'm no, I'm doing right. Like this is what this is what God's called me to do. I'm leaving. I'm leaving in two weeks. And so during that two weeks, you know, I was like, oh, I gotta find a job. But at that point in my life, I was like, I don't care where I work. It doesn't matter to me. I'll go work at Hibbett's, I'll go work at Sonic, I'll go work. I don't care. Like God's called me here. This is where I'm going. And so we come to um win on a visit, and I meet Dwayne Hobbs. And uh we go out to eat, and actually I'm sitting separate from him, and I talk to him during supper, and he's like, hey, come talk to me about a job. And I said, Okay. And so I go into Hobbs Farm Equipment and they they're asking about me, and they're like, Do you uh have experience with farming? I'm like, Nope. They said, Um, well, have you have you are you like a mechanic? Are you good with your hands? I'm like, no, not really. No. And uh I think it was uh Randall. He said, Well, do you own work boots? And I said, Yes, I do own work boots. And then they're like, well, give them a shot. Let's see what happens. Which was a God thing. Like God just worked that out. And so I got a job there at Hobbes Farm Equipment. Uh my wife got a job as a teacher here at Wynn Schools, and just everything um uh fell in place. Uh God was very, very, I think in that moment he knew how fragile I was. He really knew how fragile I was. And so he was very, very gracious and forgiving and was just was just kind of uh being very gentle with me. Um and so yeah, I've that was five years ago, four or five years ago when we moved here or moved to win. And um I've been um sober since, um, but that's not the ultimate goal. Um that's just an effect of following Jesus Christ. Um and really that's what he's taught me. Um I I've obviously had some experience uh with relapse and difficulty and test in life. And um yeah, the the sobriety part um is not the ultimate goal. That's what he's taught me really in the past year. Um and he led me um to scripture in John chapter five, and it's it's the healing at the pool, right? And that there's a invalid that's been there, and Jesus goes up to him and he asks, Do you want to be healed? You know? And you would assume that the answer would be yes, but he doesn't do that. The invalid says, he gives excuses. He says, Well, when the water gets stirred up, nobody's here to help me get to it. And I was reading that passage and um it just kind of clicked with me. But that that was the that pool is a lot of our uh what we would what I would call made it theology. Like, if I can just do this, I've made it. You know, if I can if I can just get sober, I've made it. Or if I can just get that new job, I've made it, or if I can just stop sinning, I've made it. And a lot of time that's the pull that we're looking at. And so the pull for me was uh my sobriety. And I took faith, just I held on to that like it was my foundation, like it was mine. Um in that story, he says that, and Jesus says, you know, walk, stand up. So the source was standing right beside him, right? And so um in that story, I feel like that's um that's my what he's taught me um um through all this is that hey, you've been looking at the wrong thing this whole time. It's not about you, it's about me. And the previous years um when I was sober, um I took pride in that. And I pointed to that, and I pointed to my story, and it made me feel good to see people's face light up um when I told them the story that I'm like you said earlier, I'm a success story. Like, look at me, you know. And God took that situation and humbled me, is what he did. And um, he humbled me and saying, It's not about you. Don't look at the effect of my grace and my salvation. Look to me.

SPEAKER_00 33:26

Right. Because you could be sober and not be walking with the Lord. Anyone can do that.

SPEAKER_03 33:33

Well, you can be sober and go to hell.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

Uh and I actually told somebody this the other night. I said, if if I'm if I'm going to hell, I'd much rather be drunk. That's just my personal, you know. And so it's not about that. Yeah. Uh it's not about that. And um I just want to encourage, yeah, he's given me a new um way to encourage people today.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

You know, uh, the first time I heard just like two sentences of your testimony was one night you were doing music at CR, and I didn't know your story. And you got up to do just a couple of songs, and in that you talked about you were this might have been a year ago, five or six years in sobriety. And I'm like, well, I didn't I didn't know that, you know. But I think those guys that were there, I think that meant a lot to them. Yeah. To know that you shared that with them. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:38

You know, yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure. And and we should always, obviously, nothing good comes out of drunkenness. Exactly. And and uh we should celebrate uh that, but we shouldn't celebrate it more than Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Right. Um because that's not the end of end of it.

SPEAKER_03 35:00

That's not the end, that's not the end goal. Yes. Yeah. And so I celebrate with those guys. And and I am thankful to the Lord because he just took it away from me, and that's not the case for everyone.

SPEAKER_01 35:14

Right.

SPEAKER_03 35:14

Um, and and I don't know why he just he did that for me. A lot of people um they turn to the Lord and they still struggle heavily, yeah, heavily. And I know the burden of um turning to the Lord and then finding yourself in the fight again, and maybe losing what what seems to be losing, yeah, because you're looking at the wrong thing. And so I just want to encourage my brothers and sisters um that are believers in Christ, that are in the middle of the fight, the struggle of uh maybe addiction. I'm gonna say that because that's what I dealt with. And say, don't let Satan lie to you and who you are and who Jesus is. Um your identity is not found in yourself, it's Jesus Christ now.

unknown 36:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:17

Because that lie that you believe was not something God was telling you. It was something that you believed about yourself to be that was untrue. That's right. And that's what led you down that second path.

SPEAKER_03 36:29

Yeah, second and third. Yeah. Um it was a lie. Um, I put um my walk with the Lord was based on my success, not the work of Jesus Christ. Um so yeah, I mean, it's um he has really uh changed the way I look at the sufficiency of his work and what that has done for me in the recent years, because since I've been here, I've had struggles. I mean, I struggled last week hard, hard. Um, but what it allows me to do is when Satan, when he murmurs that to me, and he will, he always does. He's a jerk like that. Um it's it's when he says something that I did wrong and accuses me. Um what I go to now is the Ephesians about putting on the armor, and I can say back to him, um, because the armor that we put on, like the the righteousness and the salvation and faith, it's all Jesus. Like he's our righteousness. And so I'll say that back to him. I'll say, that's fine, because Jesus is my righteousness. There ain't nothing you can do about it. Like, you know, you're right about me in my flesh. I'm I'm junk. But the one thing you can't take from me is the righteousness that Jesus gave to me through his life, death, burial, and resurrection. There's nothing, and that's where the freedom's at.

SPEAKER_01 38:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:18

Um that's that's that's how you stay um, well, that's how you stay and walk and step with the Lord as you look to him. It's it's also like the Hebrews one passage, or not one, I'm sorry, twelve, um, where it talks about um running the race that's placed before you.

unknown 38:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 38:40

And it's saying, lay down all the sin that clings to you. And then, but the source of that and how we do that is looking to Jesus, the starter and perfecter of your faith. Um, so even in that, a lot of people will take that passage and goes, Well, I gotta stop this and I gotta do this, I gotta take all this stuff off. Well, what it's saying is don't cling on to it, sit it down at the feet of Jesus, look to him, the author and perfecter of your faith. When you do that, that allows you, hey, look, this isn't this is who God tells me I am.

SPEAKER_01 39:16

Right.

SPEAKER_03 39:16

This this isn't me. What does God say? What does Jesus say about me?

unknown 39:22

Right.

SPEAKER_03 39:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:22

What would you say to someone that maybe is not a follower, follower of Jesus that might be listening, that does have maybe an addiction problem either with alcohol or drugs or whatever?

SPEAKER_03 39:34

Yeah, yeah. So it it's the same, it's the same thing. It's the same story. I mean, um, if if you if you're not a follower of Jesus Christ and you and you get sober. Okay. Okay. Um that's not the that's not what I look to. Uh a lot of those people will see Christianity as a checklist of things you have to do.

unknown 40:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:02

Um, what I would say to them is that you don't have to walk alone. Um Jesus, it's not about you in your works and what you're doing, the good and the bad that you did. It's about Jesus living the life that you couldn't. And he died for you and your sins. And he offers, through his resurrection, uh, he offers righteousness. Not that you've earned, but that he bestows on us. Um, and you don't have to do it on your own. Um it's not about that. Christianity is not about that. And somehow somewhere along the way, um in the in the church, um we've really pushed, not all of us, but there's really been a push about moral moral obligation, right? Instead of the effect that we get, like fruits of the spirit, that we get when we uh submit to Jesus and his lordship, and all these things will flow from us.

SPEAKER_01 41:20

Right.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

It's not a checklist.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:23

You know, you you've you're part of programs, right? That that um helps people go into this struggle. And us as brothers and sisters in Christ, we're called to walk beside them.

unknown 41:35

Right.

SPEAKER_03 41:35

Not to bash them over the head. We're called to walk beside them, to point them to Jesus. Uh, and and there was another passage in Mark, I don't know exactly, it's right in the beginning of Mark. It might even be Mark one. But when Jesus comes into Peter's home and his mother-in-law is sick, and he heals her, and she gets up and she starts serving. Later on in that passage, um it says that they went in into the village and they brought everybody to Jesus who needed to be healed, and he healed them. And so that's what our work is. Um just an encouragement for the workers in this too, because it can be it can be hard working with addiction. And just encourage them that all we can do for people that are struggling with this is bring them to Jesus. That's it. Yeah, and you get it, you have a lot of these um uh programs that's like if you just do this, if you just do that, and and and and like we were just talking about, it's the end goal. Like you made it, yeah, you know. And for us as as believers in Christ, it's like, no, that's just an effect of what it is when we follow Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:54

You know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

You know, a long time ago, I guess probably my first child was I don't know if she was a baby or what. I don't even know why I was thinking about this. Maybe because I had a baby, or I don't know. But she, but I was thinking about addiction for some reason. I had no reason to think about addiction. Uh, maybe because I was afraid for her because she's gonna grow up in a world that, you know, I didn't want her to drink or do drugs or anything. But I just remembered, you know, just coming to the res the release the resolution in my mind that, you know, even if someone comes to become sober, there's they still might die and spend eternity separated from the Lord.

SPEAKER_01 43:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

You know, it's horrible. Yeah. And I don't and it's weird that it was that long ago, because that's probably been 30, 32 years ago, that I thought about that. And I don't know, it's just kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_03 43:51

It's it's it is horrible. Uh it's in our human nature, um, because we see the Effects of what addiction does. Like there's no denying that it breaks families apart, it kills people, it's you know, there's definitely hardships that come with it. And um, but kind of on the same lines of what we were talking about is we went r recently to a place across the world that has a very moral, like um it's Islamic, you know, Muslim country. And and so you see these people, and they're they don't drink, they don't do this stuff, they don't, and so and they're they're family people. And so you're you're you're watching them, and the guy that was with me, he said, you know, all these people are going to hell. All of them. And I can I can say that of course they have hidden sin, they're people, right? Yeah. But I would say if you go on the like a chart with the Christians uh in America versus the Muslims in this country, uh, morally, they would be much better than we are. Yeah. Um But it's the fact that um they don't know Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 45:21

That that's the ultimate end of the day. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:24

That's it.

SPEAKER_01 45:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:26

That's it. And then see the path that he puts you on when you do those things. Um kind of like we were talking about uh when I was doing music there at um the church in Cabot that I left and I went on a uh tailspin, is is I said that I will never sing again because I was hurt from it. Yeah, I was like, I'm not good enough. And um I came here and um Matt asked me if I wanted to lead worship, and I'm like, oh gosh. I said I would never do this again.

unknown 46:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:06

And man, the Lord just puts you like He's He's faithful to restore. He is so faithful to restore. And it's like when he restores Peter, like Peter was avoiding it, right? And he asks him, you know, three times, do you love me? And restores Peter. And um he's faithful to do that. When you put your faith and trust in Jesus and just look to him, just hold on for the ride. Yeah. Like we were talking before this show, you're like, I never thought I would have a podcast. I don't know. And it's like, just submit to what the Lord has because he's gonna take you on a ride, you don't know where you're gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

And everything in all of that's all about him. That's right. It's not about that's right. Just like you were saying, you you you were love your success story, your sobriety. And because of that, that was prideful to you, and and somewhat probably caused some of your downfall, but it's always all about him.

SPEAKER_03 47:13

That's right. Yeah, that's right. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 47:16

Do you have a favorite Bible verse you'd like to share with us?

SPEAKER_03 47:20

Um I do. I do. You mind if I read it that way? I don't uh I'm bad about um, I'm bad about going, uh, this this verse, like in just kind of paraphrasing, you know. But uh yeah, this is um what I was talking about. The restoration Peter is one of my favorites. Uh but that's a whole passage. But uh that's that's oh man, I love that passage so much. But um Psalm 41, 40 verse 1 is um it's something that really uh speaks to me. Um and it's it's the story of it's all of our story, right? And we we do this in at Wynne Baptist right now, we're doing a tell the story uh uh deal, and there's a bunch of little stories in the Bible that that's puts together a complete overarching story of God's uh salvation plan for his people. And so this is all of our story, you know. Um some of them might have had a few more um um highlights, I guess you'd say, or there's differences in our story, but all of our stories um are about him and um what he did for us. But Psalm 40, I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction out of the miry bog and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. And I actually um preached one time on this passage because in the in the uh South, we're especially in this farmland, you know, you get into some buckshot mud, you know how you get in that miry bog, you know how hard it is to move. Or if you've been duck hunting, you stick your foot in the mud and you you can't get your foot up out of the mud, it's suctioned in. And so I think about that, and it's exhausting. Like if you walk in mud very far like that, or try to get out, most of the time you need help getting out. You're not usually going to get out on your own, and you just wear yourself out. The more you move, the more you try, the more tired you get. So this passage, and it kind of goes along with what we're talking about: trying by yourself with sobriety. That's the Myri bog. And when you try by yourself, you're moving and you're digging and you're trying, and it just sucks you deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper, and you get more tired and more tired. And a lot of times um, you just want to give up. And you've probably heard that a lot where people are are are probably close to suicide because they're just so exhausted from life and trying to do things on their own. Um, but this passage, I want to remind you that he says, he drew me up. He did nothing but call out, and God picked him up and set his feet on solid ground.

unknown 50:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:51

I want you to think about that. When you're wore out and somebody picks you up and establishes your feet, what does that feel like?

unknown 51:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:04

Relief. Like, oh, this feels amazing. Yeah. Like I can um, so yeah, that's um that that's that passage is really dear to my heart because that's it's all of our testimony.

SPEAKER_00 51:21

Thank you for joining us today. New episodes release every Wednesday, so be sure to subscribe and get notified when a new episode is available. You can listen on the Journey to Salvation website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. So, where are you on your journey to salvation?