Chapter seven - Unblending for spiritual progress

In this episode I am reading from my new, soon to be published book "I'm a Christian, so why am I still..." This is a section from the final Chapter, chapter 12. In this chapter we are looking at how to personalise this approach, as well as some tips for making progress, and some important methods going forward. I then speak about the ideas in the chapter and in the book generally. I do hope you have got a lot from listening to these readings. There will be an ebook as well as a hard copy from all good booksellers shortly. If you want to support the channel further, I will be producing an audio book, available to my patreon subscribers at https://www.patreon.com/BuildingRecovery

One of the more common mistakes I see in Christians of all levels of experience is not making a clear enough distinction between salvation as an event and transformation as a process. In my work I have a saying "God does the healing and we do the recovery". In this episode you will hear how these things are different and how not making that clear distinction can lead to major difficulties in your progress. Than you for taking the time to listen to this. Please subscribe for notification of new episodes.

What is your expectation of life? When so many modern messages are telling you that you should be having a care free, exciting life without any problems, it's understandable that you may be disappointed with your life and what you can achieve. In this episode we take a look at what the Bible says about this life and what to expect. having lined ourselves up with the truth, it will become a lot easier to manage our lives and to make progress. There are three steps to this idea and once you have digested them all, you will be better equipped to face the issues in your life, even managing to turn these things into learning experiences. if you have any questions or need further help, please email [email protected]

In this Chapter I share some experiences from my own journey of recovery and development, particularly about the effect of this approach on both my personal experience, as well as my expereince as a therapist. It amazes me every time I work with someone in this way. To see the transformation of experience every time someone is brave enough to begin the work of recovery. I hope that listening to some of my experience as I developed my skill and understanding as a therapist over the past 25 years, you will be encouraged to begin your own journey of learning and development along Biblical lines.

In this next episode in the series "My New Book" we have an excerpt from Chapter Ten, which is the first time the idea of connecting what Jesus actually did (discipling) with your recovery process (inner discipling).  In this exerpt you will begin to see how to translate what you read in the Gospels to actual practice in your spiritual progress and addiction recovery. If you want more instruction here is a link to my youtube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAsb75VHrRCMWT0tK9u0tGQ

Reading from the ninth Chapter of the book I find myself talking more about the important aspects of this idea. What is it like to try to put this stuff into practice? This offered me the opportunity to talk some more about the sort of difficulties I see people facing all the time. Ths like "if I don't fight this thing, it will overwhelm me!" And "How can I fkeep forgiving myself so easily?" Please bear with some of these difficulties as all will become clear as part of the practice. As you learn more and more about the Biblical wisdom of who you are and how you have been designed, you will benefit tremendously from this approach. Leave any comments you have and I will respond. Here is my you tube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAsb75VHrRCMWT0tK9u0tGQ  

In this episode I am reading from Chapter Eight of my new book. This chapter is all about putting the ideas into practice. Turning the theory into a method. This is the first step of that process and it includes a very important Biblical idea, the upper room. You have your own upper room, and you can internalise this room in the same way you are learning to internalise the other ideas covered in previous chapters.  Remember, this is not an audio book, I am not reading the whole chapters. Just enough to help you understand and consider the ideas in the book.

In this chapter I am reading about the first steps in learning about 'inner disciling' as an effective method of personal spiritul growth. You may be shocked to hear how much our culture has taught us to 'blend' everything about us into one thing. But the Bible dosesn't say that! The Bible says you are complicated and multifaceted (just like God). Don't take my word for it, study Romans Chapter five through eight and see if you can find any mention of Satan. Paul is helping us nderstand OUR sinful nature, and Jesus showed us a way to work with it. This has become known in my book as 'inner discipling'. It is Jesus own way forwards and he left it for us to learn from and practice.

One of the main questions I get when teaching this Biblical approach is "how do I know when I am in my authentic state"? In this episode we take a look at what Jesus teaches about this, how to understand it, and how to relate it to the Kingdom of God. This episode is a supplement to the episode on 'Everything starts with your state'. So maybe check that out first. Once you understand the primacy of your state in the context of your progress, then this episode will make more sense to you. Blessings and I hope you get a lot from this. Leave me a message if you want your church or charity to get involved with this approach. We can set up training days for you, online or meeting together. www.buildingrecovery.org

Here is an interview with a client I have been working with over the last two years. It includes a section on what the issue was and what this clint had tried. It also includes what was challenging and different about this approach. Finally, we talk about what is happening now and some of the exciting things in the future. This would be useful for anyone considering trying this approach. Especially if you think you have tried all the alternatives! This is not a medical approach, so it's not based on psychology or psychiatry. It is based on neuroscience and the advances that have been made recently in our understanding of the human condition. I hope you get a lot from this but if you want to discuss any of these ideas further, send me an email to [email protected]. I offer a free assessment session.