This past Sunday representatives from Teen Challenge came to Chain of Lakes to share their message of rehabilitation with our congregation. This was the second time that folks from Teen Challenge have been with us in worship. This past Sunday we were blessed to have 30 guys from Teen Challenge be present in worship with us.
According to their web site at mntc.org the purpose of Teen Challenge is to assist teens and adults in gaining freedom from chemical addictions and other life-controlling problems by addressing their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
One person with whom I talked shared that came to the program because he had six DWI’s. I would have never guessed that.
Another person shared with me that meth/amphetamines destroyed his life.
One person who I talked with after worship shared how he had destroyed his family through his own use of drugs.
As I listened to the stories this past Sunday I thought how every problem is at its core spiritual. The men from Teen Challenge were able to identify their ongoing problems as spiritual problems. The faith (along with a very disciplined program of rehabilitation) that was being developed at Teen Challenge was helping them on the road to recovery.
Their presentation also illustrates the importance of telling stories in worship. The stories we heard in worship were not that different from the ones we could read in the Scriptures. They are stories of people who have experienced terrible problems—and through their faith have and through other resources have become and are becoming the people God desires for them to be.
I highly recommend Teen Challenge to churches interested in having them in worship.
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