One Successful Evening
March 31, 2010
The SFT Awareness Fundraising Dinner was a great success! We would like to thank Steven Guy for coming out and speaking at our dinner. We also want to thank everyone who volunteered their time to prepare food, set-up and clean-up the dinner. We raised over $2,000 and are grateful to everyone who participated. This helped us get closer to our goal of $11,000 for this quarter. In order to meed our goal, we still need $9,000. If you would like to help us reach our budget, look to the right side of our home page and click “Donate”. Also, you can send a check made out to SFT Awareness to P.O. Box 366/LaVergne, TN 37086. Thank you for your continued support of this ministry!
Addressing the Reason for the Behavior
March 25, 2010
The western culture in which we live has a problem of having more choices available than ever before. This rings true for people who desire to address their own escape behaviors. There are currently so many options of escape, from drugs to surgical procedures, that it is very important to make sure the method used is not just a band aid. In other words, it is not enough to simply address symptoms; a person must address the reason for the behavior.
One SFT participant who had a problem with food addiction received gastric bypass surgery. Gastric bypass surgery is a procedure that prevents the stomach from allowing as much food intake as before. The problem the participant ran into was that she still wanted to overeat regardless of what size her stomach was. She had applied a band aid without addressing why she was overeating in the first place. She addressed a symptom rather than the problem.
On old country song by Webb Pierce provides a lyrical representation of this problem.
“There stands the glass… That will ease all my pain… That will settle my brain… It’s my first one today… There stands the glass… That will hide all my tears… That will drown all my fears… Brother, I’m on my way…
Chorus
“I’m wondering where you are tonight… I’m wondering if you are alright… I wonder if you think of me… In my misery… There stands the glass… Fill it up to the brim… ‘Til my troubles grow dim… It’s my first one to day.”
The song correctly illustrates the reason for his behavior, namely to escape what hurts him and forget about what is causing pain.
It is interesting to note that many programs available go straight into addressing the behavior without addressing the reason for the behavior. This is the reason people who have had gastic bypass surgery still overeat. It is why containment of a behavior alone will not be enough. Luke 6:43-45 says:
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasures of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
In other words, if someone comes to SFT training and claims to stuggle with alcohol, we could say “do not drink anymore.” However, that would be like expecting an apple tree to produce oranges. Apple trees only produce apples and orange trees only produce oranges. Therefore, rather than address the fruit a person is producing, it makes more sense to address the tree (person).
A person who stops a behavior without changing himself is still the same person as before. This means that a relapse, a switch in behaviors, or “white knuckle” living is inevitable. Only when a person works to completely change himself can he fully shut down an unwanted behavior.
Lessons on Compassion Part 1 of 2 Understanding the Past
March 19, 2010
Everybody has a past. A person’s past can be full of joy and excitement, generating positive emotions, or it can be a time of constant discontentment and ultimate devastation, producing a wish to forget it entirely. Everyone’s past is different and a large part of what makes us who we are in the present. The past shapes and molds us through joy and suffering. It can be the source of many answers if we are willing to take the time to discover the lessons to be learned. Read more
Gary Washer in Nashville
March 15, 2010
Gary Washer is now working with Crieve Hall Church of Christ in Nashville, TN on Trousdale Drive off of Harding Place. He will be available on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1:00pm until 5:00pm by appointment only. If you would like to set up an appointment or learn more about SFT Awareness please contact us. SFT Awareness training classes are also offered on Wednesday evenings from 7:00pm until 8:00pm in the main auditorium at the Crieve Hall Church of Christ from now through the month of May.
Is Addiction a Disease or Sin PART 3
March 1, 2010
What about responsibility for individual behaviors and actions? There is no point at which an individual is not responsible for his or her own actions. However, when behaviors go past the point of being altered by choice, and they not only can but often do, not only is the person that uses the destructive behavior responsible for what he or she does, but those that are spiritual, according to Paul, have a responsibility to help restore the one who is overtaken by sin. Read more
