Calvary Chapel Staten Island

Guest (Male): Andy Chrisman of 4Him has spent 40 plus years in Christian music and chances are, he knows your favorite artist personally. Now he's bringing you their stories. "I'm Andy Chrisman" in his new podcast, 1 Degree of Andy. He sits down with the voices behind the song for real, honest, and faith-filled conversations you won't hear anywhere else. "That's a great question." If you love Christian music, this is your backstage pass: The 1 Degree of Andy podcast. Listen now to 1 Degree of Andy wherever you get your podcasts.

Guest (Male): Hello and welcome to God In Our City, the daily edition. Your host and Bible teacher is Pastor Dave Watson. Pastor Dave has been the pastor of Calvary Chapel on Staten Island for 35 years. In addition, he is the co-founder and president of the New York Institute for Biblical Studies.

To receive a special downloadable gift from Pastor Dave, please go to calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. That's calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. Now here's Pastor Dave and our show.

Pastor Dave Watson: Welcome everybody, again, to the midweek edition of the daily edition of God In Our City. I hope you're well. I hope you've had a great week so far. It's hump day. I hope you've made it through today to this time and you're looking forward to the rest of the week.

In American culture, we live so much for the weekends. We forget you can live during the week. You do not have to sit at your house, watch television every night and do nothing. You can do something else with your life. Every day can be an adventure. You don't have to just have an adventure on the weekend. I know you're tired, you're worn out, you're fatigued, but you can overcome that and you don't want to waste your life not taking advantage of every single moment.

I'm Pastor Dave Watson, the guy lecturing you, but we're talking about living iSmart in an eStupid world. We have incredible resources for you here on God In Our City. If you've not gotten them, we encourage you to take advantage of them. For instance, we have study guides. These study guides will take you through our study. We usually do one study guide a week.

We're on week 11 in our series, Living iSmart in an eStupid World. We've been talking about all kinds of important topics and today, this week, we land on iRecovery: Dealing with addiction in a smart way. This might be something you want to share with someone else. It's so vital and there are so many folks struggling with addiction.

But we have a study guide for this and that's free of charge to you. Beyond the incredible study guides, we have the Book of Proverbs, that is the Bible book of Proverbs with our scripture memory verses. It's free for the asking. We pay postage and handling, we pay shipping and handling, we pay everything. It's free to you. Also, a 31-day study of the Book of Proverbs using major topics.

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As I have been thinking about addiction, as I have been thinking about what we're sharing regarding addiction, I've come across some, I think, important verses. In just a moment, I'm going to read those and we're going to talk about those. But I just wanted to rehash again our memory verse, Proverbs 20, verse one: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise."

And as well as that, our scripture for the whole week has been Proverbs 23:29-35. I'm going to read again and pray and we'll get into what we're going to talk about today. "Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who tarry long over wine, those who go to try mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it's red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things and your heart utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink."

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, during our time together today, please be the teacher, the guide that we need. Please, Lord, minister to each of our hearts and change us, Lord, from the inside out. Please, Lord, make us more like Jesus. Please, Lord, help us to hear what you want to say to us. Help us to be so attentive to what you want to say. Help us then to take, Lord, what we learn and apply it.

Lord, this is a terrible, terrible thing that happens to so many people in our culture. Lord, they find themselves addicted. Lord, and their lives are destroyed. They find themselves so, so held by the addiction that they find themselves hopeless, helpless, hurting, like sheep having no shepherd, Lord. Please, Lord, minister to us regarding this. Help us to figure out who we can help and how we can help them. Help us also, Lord, to determine that we will be very careful with our own walk and life so this can never be said of us, that we are addicted and trapped in it. In Jesus' name, amen.

In my Bible reading, you come across verses that make a tremendous amount of sense to you at different times in your life, more but in terms of this series, in the Book of 1 Corinthians, the sixth chapter, the 12th verse, the Apostle Paul says, "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything."

The apostle here is really just warning about the danger of something dominating us, something holding on to us, something messing us up. He's talking about the fact that he doesn't want anything, anything to have a hold of him. And that's the essence of addiction, isn't it? It's not that you're having a glass of wine, the glass of wine has you. It's not that you're having a joint, the joint has you. It's not that you and your friends are messing with a little bit of cocaine or a smidgeon of heroin or whatever; it's that those things have you and you're stuck in addiction.

When I was in college, I attempted to put myself through college through selling burial insurance. And let me just tell you, folks don't want to talk about burial insurance. If you were thinking about getting involved in selling burial insurance, I might counsel you not to do so. But that was what I was attempting to make money at. And so I didn't just knock on any door. I found some of the tougher neighborhoods in Lynchburg, Virginia, where I was going to college at Liberty University at the time, and visited some of the tougher neighborhoods.

And the saddest part of my visit were the number of adult men and women whose eyes were yellow from jaundice because they'd been drinking and drinking and drinking and drinking in their lifetime. Booze had them. And if you saw the places they lived in, if you saw what they had or did not have, you saw that for the most part, alcohol had ruined their lives. It had ruined their lives.

I wish I could say that that was only true in Virginia in the areas I was in, but we see it all the time. People being addicted to various and sundry drugs, alcohol, hard liquor, cigarettes and the nicotine, having to vape, etc. "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I'm not going to be dominated or controlled by anything." Just a word to us to be so very careful not to become addicted. And if you never take that drink, if you never hit that joint, if you never, then you never will be. You never will be.

In our recovery, the truths that we're discovering in iRecovery is that in order to experience recovery, it requires choosing truth over deception. The world will lie to us about our addictions. The world will act like it's okay. The world will act like there is not an absolute solution to it, but there is. There is. The forces of deception will work, but the source of truth is God's word and we rest in that.

But in addition to recovery requiring choosing truth over deception, recovery also requires choosing exhorters over enablers. Finding people who will encourage us without enabling us. Finding people who tell us the truth. Finding people who kick our rear end when we mess up. If we do not have people like that in our life, if we only have enablers, we'll never be free. We'll never be free from our addiction.

iRecovery requires choosing truth over deception, requires choosing exhorters over enablers, and then it requires choosing reality over fantasy. We talked yesterday about the trials from addiction, how it causes us wounds, redness of eyes, it messes us up. Woe is us. Woe is us. Woe speaks of the general condition of someone who's in an addictive situation. "Who has woe?" A place of great hardship and distress. What follows is a description of the woe or the woes.

The heart condition, who has sorrow? A feeling of a sense of sadness. The social condition, who has strife? Verbal spats and fights. The spiritual condition, who has complaining? Lamenting over one's discontent and displeasure. The physical condition, who has wounds without cause? Bruises, having physical injuries without a reason for them. And an awkward condition, who has redness of eyes? Bloodshot eyes or bleary sight due to excessive drinking. Most those who tarry long at the drink, the ones who say, "You know what? I'm going to try mixed drink. I'm going to put this down. That's going to be good." That person is the person who has all the issues I just mentioned.

That moves us, we go from the trials from addiction to the temptations of addiction. He tells us here very poignantly: Do not look at wine when it's red, and when it sparkles in the cup and it goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Don't focus on the delightfulness of the good feeling the product that addicts you will give you. Do not begin to view or find delight in wine or any addictive situation. When it's red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down easy, a favorable circumstance to drinking. Don't be thinking about that. Thinking about, "Oh, you know, I just can't wait to get to the bar. Everybody knows my name. I'll sit down, I'll have a cold one. It'll be a great night." I can't wait to do that.

And then do focus on its destructiveness. Don't focus on its delightfulness, but do focus on its destructiveness. It bites like a serpent. I've got to choose reality over fantasy. It's not like the alcohol commercial on TV. You're not cool. You're not getting the cool girl. You're not getting the raise. You're not drinking with your boss. It doesn't work that way. It is a trial, and the person who gets involved has woe and it's going to bite you like a serpent. It's going to sting you like an adder. It has poison in it. It's a Palestinian viper here in mine. It's going to sting you. So get out of your mind the fantasy of, "This is going to be so cool, so neat, so awesome. Look, I sit at the cool people table." It's not what you are. You're drinking poison. It's going to sting you.

And then look at the transformation in addiction. It says, "Your eyes will see strange things and your heart utter perverse things. You will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast." You see things that aren't healthy. The Hebrew word here is zara. You're going to see unauthorized things, strange things.

And not only is that going to happen with what you see, your eyes, but you're going to say things that aren't healthy. Perverse things, morally crooked things, things you know you shouldn't say, things that when you hear that you said them, you said, "I can't believe I said that. I can't believe I was that rude. I can't believe it." And you're going to do some things that are unhealthy. "You will be like one who lies down in the midst of a sea. You're going to be like one who's on a mast, on top of a mast." It's the picture of ocean-bound, ocean-sailing, drunken sailors. Think how stupid it is. You're up on the mast, drunk. What if you fall? You're going to die. You're going to do things that aren't healthy. You're going to say things that aren't healthy. You're going to see things that aren't healthy.

The picture is on the deck of a ship, staggering as the boat moves. Your glasses are staggering, your alcohol containers are staggering. And the picture is on a mast of a ship. You're going to lie on top of the mast. It's a slender vertical post on a ship to hold the main sail, the top of which is the crow's nest, would move in an exaggerated back and forth motion by the action of the waves. And that's where you are. Drunk as a skunk, five sheets to the wind. You are a mess.

How stupid is that? So you don't focus on the fantasy: "Oh, this is going to be wonderful, it's going to be awesome. Look, I'm amazing." It's not what you are. You're drinking poison. It's going to sting you. And your life is in the balance.

And then we find here the trouble with addiction. "They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I didn't feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink." You aren't worried about your condition. They struck you. I didn't feel it. You are worried about your next drink. How sick is that? You're getting beat up. You're being beat up. And what's your concern? Where's my next alcohol drink comes from?

John MacArthur in his Study Bible says, "The drunkard's lack of sense is so severe that his first waking thought is to repeat his debauchery and dangerous sin." So what happened? You got drunk. You saw unhealthy things. You said unhealthy things. You did unhealthy things. Then you got beat up. And now you're awaking. Your eyes are swollen, your stomach hurts, you feel like you're going to throw up, your face hurts, your teeth hurt, your body hurts, and your first thought is, "Hey, where can I get another drink so I can do this again?"

iRecovery requires choosing reality over fantasy. Are you doing that? Is the person that you're trying to help with their addiction doing that? That's really the first step in things. I've got to face reality. There are trials coming from my addiction that are messing me up and my family up. And I am focusing on what I think will be the pleasures in the midst of this temptation when the temptation itself has the potential for complete ruining of my life.

It transforms me, this alcohol, this addiction, these substances into a person I don't want to be. My heart is a mess. I'm a mess. I'm staggering. I'm like a sailor on top of the boat in the crow's nest. And I'm so messed up, I think to myself, "Oh, can I do this again? When can I do this again?"

For recovery to happen, it requires choosing truth over deception, choosing exhorters over enablers, and it requires choosing reality over fantasy. And then recovery requires choosing responsibility over blame. I am responsible. Nobody made me do this. I am responsible. It's not my family heritage that is responsible. I chose this. I might get an explanation for why I am the way I am, but I don't get an excuse. It's my problem. It's my issue. I'm taking responsibility for it.

Let's pray. Lord, as I talk to our audience today, I pray, Lord, that there are those who are listening will make an incredibly important choice today. Lord, I'm speaking to some people who are not facing reality, who are, Lord, in denial that this is a problem and they need to come to you right now and give their heart to you. I'm speaking to some, Lord, who have family members whom they have enabled for years and they recognize today or through this teaching that that's not smart.

Help them, Lord, in this moment to come to you, confess, Lord, their enabling and determine by your grace that they're going to exercise tough love and help this person that they so desperately love with their struggle. Lord, we all need your help to walk as we're supposed to. Help us, Lord, each of us, to choose truth over deception, to choose exhorters over enablers, to choose reality over fantasy, and Lord, to choose responsibility over blame. Help us we pray in Jesus's name, amen.

So I hope you're enjoying this. Please go to calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. Please go there and find our study guides, download them, they're free. Find the Proverbs, Book of Proverbs and the memory verse, ask for it, we'll give it to you free. The 31-day study is there, it's free for you to download. We just want to be a blessing to you.

Please, while you're there, consider making a gift to God In Our City. It would be a huge, huge blessing to us. I know that you're enjoying this series. It's a tough series, it's a tough topic, but it's a topic we must deal with: the topic of recovery from addiction. Please join us again tomorrow for another edition of the daily edition of God In Our City.

Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to God In Our City with your host, Pastor Dave Watson. We hope the show was a blessing to you. Again, to receive a downloadable gift from Pastor Dave, go to calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. That's calvarychapelsi.org/gioc. Please check out Pastor Dave's blog at nycshepherd.com. That's nycshepherd.com. Please invite a friend and join us every weekday for another edition of God In Our City.

Guest (Male): Andy Chrisman of 4Him has spent 40 plus years in Christian music and chances are, he knows your favorite artist personally. Now he's bringing you their stories. "I'm Andy Chrisman" in his new podcast, 1 Degree of Andy. He sits down with the voices behind the song for real, honest, and faith-filled conversations you won't hear anywhere else. "That's a great question." If you love Christian music, this is your backstage pass: The 1 Degree of Andy podcast. Listen now to 1 Degree of Andy wherever you get your podcasts.