addiction

Hitting bottom is an inside job _ it's something that happens within our consciousness.

We're all princes and princesses, at 5, 50, or 100! It's never too late, we're never too old to rock the world and contribute! Reaching for intimacy in all relationships? Delicious.

The face of "evil" is always the face of total need. A dope fiend is a man in total need of dope. Beyond a certain frequency need knows absolutely no limit or control. In the words of total need: "Wouldn't you?" Yes you would. You would lie, cheat, inform on your friends, steal, do anything to satisfy total need. Because you would be in a state of total sickness, total possession, and not in a position to act in any other way. Dope fiends are sick people who cannot act other than they do. A rabid dog cannot choose but bite.

. . . is it better to throw yourself head first and laughing into the holy rage calling your name?

This self-confident generation has produced more alcoholics, more drug addicts, more criminals, more wars, more broken homes, more assaults, more embezzlements, more murders, and more suicides . . .it is time all of us . . . begin to take stock of our failures, blunders, and costly mistakes. It is about time that we place less confidence in ourselves and more trust and faith in God.

Among young people . . . drinking is for getting drunk. And many go on to become alcoholics.

Drinking and other forms of body-wrecking pleasures are signs of weakness rather than manliness. It takes a better man to live a clean life__ree from the stimulants, depressants, and drugs__han to be artificially [stimulated].

Some [young people] are taking pills called __eaven or hell_ drugs, because you__e liable to experience either one.

What began as an apparently harmless pastime has ended up as a frightening, overpowering addiction or obsession.

Each generation becomes more addicted to the sedatives of life, to dull the pain of living.

In Christ alone there is deliverance from man__ tortured thoughts and freedom from the sordid habits which are destroying so many people. Why does the Bible so clearly denounce drunkenness? Because it is an enemy of human life. Anything that is against a person__ welfare, God is against.

One of the characteristics of some drugs (such as cocaine) is that they make a person feel strong and alert__hen in fact the opposite is the case. Don__ allow yourself to be deceived.

The Bible condemns the use of any substance which alters or distorts our thinking (including alcohol, which was the most common drug in ancient times).

Liquor is not necessary either for health or for so-called gracious living . . .It is the cause of untold sorrow, suffering, and material loss, not to mention the spiritual implications of drinking.

In Houston, Texas, a man was born again in one of our meetings. He owned a liquor store. The next morning he had a sign on the front of his door saying, __ut of business.

Volumes could be written on the problem of [drug] addiction. Millions of barbiturates are swallowed every night to help the nation sleep. Millions of tranquilizers keep us calm during the day. Millions of pep pills wake us up in the morning. The Bible warns that these flights from reality bring no lasting satisfaction.

Drunkenness. This Greek word means overindulgence in alcohol. Alcohol may be used for medicine, but it can also become a terrible drug. The way it is used in our world is probably one of the great evils of our day. It is a self-inflicted impediment that springs from __ man taking a drink, a drink taking a drink, and drink taking the man.__istilled liquors as we have them today were unknown in Bible times.12

Drinking has become one of the most serious social problems. It is basically the result of an attempt to escape from the responsibilities and realities of life.