Adult & Teen Challenge is an arm of the Church. We are a mission of the Church & our mission field is THE (Spiritual) BATTLE FIELD OF ADDICTION.
Describe Addiction. Core is sin. Deep yearning. Sinful nature. When we give over to it, we become slaves to it (Jeus words).
THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME.
It doesn’t have to be chasing intoxication through drugs & alcohol, it can be: chasing money, business, anger, lust…. The core word of intoxication, is TOXIC, because it is destructive to our souls, we are never fully satisfies, and we are left wanting more. That is the sinful nature.
John 4:5-18, 28-29
Jesus invites us to come to Him, and drink and be fully satisfied in Him. In fact, so much so, that it Wells up to Eternity. And later in John 7:37-39, Jesus also says that whoever believes in Him, Rivers of Living Water will flow from within them (and He is talking about the Holy Spirit).
**JESUS, THANK YOU FOR FULLY SATISFYING
(So Jesus stayed in that town for 2 days then continued to travel, healing along the way and was making his way to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.
—John 5:2-9
“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” (9) AND AT ONCE THE MAN WAS HEALD, and he took up his bed and walked.
(VICTIM. // The man remained there because he had HOPE. Adult & Teen Challenge is like that pool, and a place of healing.)
I thank GOD for the work of His Church, and a for a mission like Adult & Teen Challenge; where Jesus Shows up, heals men (like myself), and so many others. Offers us a drink from His eternal well. And that He heals us! No longer a victim, and blind, lame and paralyzed in bondage. We become truly alive in Christ.
Those who the Son set’s free, are free indeed!
He’s done it for me, and Now I get to be on mission as a husband, a father, delight in Jesus, and serve some incredible men at ATC for His Kingdom Sake.
But He is also warns us to “sin no more, than nothing worse may happen to you.”
I have decided, to follow Jesus;I have decided, to follow Jesus (draw near),
The Cross before Me, the world behind me,No turning back, no turning back
** TESTIMONY: Corey & David
He calls us out and re-forms us to be like Him. We were de-formed by all the wrong things, but now He makes us new.
We used to be (Sinners) addicts, but now we are child of God who experiences the promised (John 10:10) abundant life that Christ came to give us (He rescued us).
Justification / Sanctification – learn to Sacrifice, and Suffering for Him and His Kingdom (we need His grace to walk this out!) / Glorification
Adult & Teen Challenge exists: To share the Good News of Jesus -- who heals, delivers, transforms, empowers and makes all things new. To shepherd students away from the kingdom of darkness, and toward the Kingdom of the Son of the God.
We work really hard to provide a strong program, and a beautiful campus that is conducive to this new way of living, following after Christ. (Sin / archery) – IT’S A CHALLENGE
Through our COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH model (Brokenness/Sin/Bondage – Healing, Transformation)
Turning Point helps us do that. Thank you for your partnership, and investing in the work.
Why do people sin (use drugs/alcohol)? Because it offers something, but it’s counterfeit. Jesus came that we may have life and life abundantly.

Unoffendable

"I think a mature Christian is someone who is very difficult to offend." Dallas Willard
PART ONE: THE CLAIM WE MAKE FOR OURSELVES

"My Anger Is Different"

Ephesians 4:26 NIV
“In your anger do not sin”
Ephesians 4:26–27 NIV
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 4:31 NIV
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
James 1:19–20 NIV
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.
PART TWO: WHAT ANGER ACTUALLY DOES TO YOU

The Carrion We Won't Put Down

Paul's instruction in Romans 12 is one of the most counterintuitive things in the New Testament:
Romans 12:19 NIV
Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
PART THREE: THE FREEDOM ON THE OTHER SIDE

What Unofficial People Look Like

Ephesians 4:32 NASB 2020
Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

What the World Sees When Christians Stay Offended

John 13:35 NIV
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
What offense are you carrying right now that you have labeled righteous? What anger are you maintaining because you believe you are owed something?

We are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history. Greater than the First and Second Great Awakenings—and every revival combined—but in the opposite direction.

The Great Dechurching

Dechurching simply means stopping church attendance.

Deconstruction

Deconstruction is something more internal. It is the process of pulling apart the architecture of your faith: questioning doctrines you were handed, examining foundations you were never allowed to examine, asking whether what you were taught is actually true.

For some people, "faith deconstruction" means that they have come to see the historic teachings and doctrines of the church as crafted to make us pawns and suppress our personhood. They are walking away from both the church and traditional Christian faith altogether.

For them, deconstruction—a dismantling—is the end-point of the process.

— Tim Keller, "Reconstructing Faith," Gospel in Life (2022)

The Cave (1 Kings 19)

1 Kings 19:1–3 NIV

1 Kings 19:4 NIV

1 Kings 19:5–7 NIV

1 Kings 19:9–10 NIV

1 Kings 19:11–12 NIV

Part Four: Why It Happens (And What the Church Must Own)

1. Suffering and injustice
2. Disillusionment with Christian leaders
3. Conflating primary and secondary beliefs
4. Faith that was never truly owned

What We Are Called to Do - Go Into Caves

Hebrews 10:24–25 NIV

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Teach People to Doubt Their Doubts

Christians in our cultural moment will have to rethink their faith, but at the same time they must learn to "doubt their doubts." They must deconstruct not only their tacit, mistaken beliefs, but also just as importantly, the cultural narratives that are offered as the alternatives to Christian faith.

— Tim Keller, "Reconstructing Faith," Gospel in Life (2022)

The Prophetic Word

There is a generation right now, in Spokane, in our city that is deconstructing quietly, drifting painfully, sitting in caves. They need to encounter a community that will come in after them. Not to lecture them back into church. To bring them bread. To sit with them. To ask: what are you doing here? And to stay long enough to hear the answer.

Jeremiah 17:7–8 NIV