Dr. Mark E. Shaw introduces Steve Barnett, who gives his testimony of what the Lord Jesus did in his life. A powerful picture of how Jesus Christ offers the eternal "Hope of the Gospel for the Heart of Addiction." Steve currently serves as an elder at Grace Fellowship Church in Florence, Kentucky (GFC), a church he actually helped to start.
If you'd like to hear more sessions from GFC's Counseling and Discipleship Training conference archives, visit this site – you don't want to miss this testimony (around 35 minutes) of the transformational power of God in the heart of the addicted, which was given to the attendees at the 2019 Counseling and Discipleship Training at GFC. Find out more about 2020 Counseling and Discipleship Training. The audience who heard this testimony live consists of people who are eager to learn about "how to help real people with real problems by using their Bible." (quote from Pastor Brad Bigney (GFC's passion for biblical counseling here).
Life in high school in the 1960s for Steve consisted of his use of amphetamines, weed, drinking alcohol, LSD, barbiturates, cocaine, Percocet, Demerol, opioids, selling drugs, and selling to those who would sell drugs to others. He covers some of the very vivid visual memories of the first four months of his time in the Kentucky State Penitentiary as an 18-year-old, his subsequent time when he was transferred to a minimum-security institution, and his subsequent meeting of a guidance counselor there, who asked him, "Do you have a Bible?" and then, "Read the red," as God began to soften his heart. A preacher visited the prison one day and Steve received God's forgiveness in Christ. He then began aggressively pursuing Jesus through the devouring of God's Word daily while still in prison.
Four points Mr. Barnett makes to this audience of biblical counselors:
1. If you have a choice in who you will be assigned to counsel, be sure to think, pray, and be sensitive to God's Spirit in how He is leading your desires on whom to counsel. AND, if someone is in charge of assigning you the people whom you will counsel, then TRUST that God is IN that process.
2. Listen carefully. Ask questions of those whom you counsel and listen intently and ask more questions... to try to discern what's been going on in that person's life.
3. Steer those whom you counsel toward God's Word. Use God's Word.
4. Pray, pray, pray like crazy. Pray as your life depends upon it – because it does.
Listen to the entire testimony on the TAC Podcast here.
To find Commissioned Addictions Biblical Counselors all over the country visit The Addiction Connection.
