FREEdom from MEdom Project

Do you often feel like your world is caving in on you? Do you ever wonder, “Is this all there is?” or “What’s the point?” Do you want to experience peace, rest, and joy in your life? Do you want to experience a fuller, more satisfying life in your circumstances and relationships? Do you want to finally break free from the chains of obsessive thinking and addictive behavior? Do you want to be better? Would you rather thrive than merely survive? Do you want to effectively manage conflicts and solve problems? Do you want to learn a sensible strategy for recovery that works? 

Recently posted: “Heaven, Hell, 3-Foot Forks, and my Problem with Hank”, and “The Original CBT Manual”, which draws clear parallels between cognitive-behavioral therapy principles & Scripture.

Confront the scientific reality of your daily experience empowered by proven faith-driven principles for a “this changes everything” New Life Experience! 

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” … They said, “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave (addict) of sin.” John 8:31-34 (NLT)

Sin is the Bible’s three-letter word for the selfish ambition, envy, lust, pride, resentment, jealousy, and my preoccupation with failure and fear, which altogether shape my values (beliefs) and drive my behavior. My addiction to sin is my addiction to me: MEdom. It’s all about me. MEdom ranges from the obsession and behavioral fight to merely survive, to being willing to risk it all to gain it all. Whether I am the victim or the villain, the injured or the injurer, I am self-absorbed into something I cannot in the end manage.

“The fool tries to adjust the truth so he does not have to adjust to it.” —Henry Cloud

It is Christ-centered recovery and its faith-driven principles confronting the scientific reality of human experience that drives authentic recovery from addiction to self into the reality of a new life experience. The evidence of the effectiveness of Christ-centered recovery from paralyzing fear, pain, and struggle lies in the testimony of thousands upon thousands of people living freely in the peace and joy of their personal experience of a transformed life. I suppose the first question we should address is: Why did God give us into this flawed human experience in the first place? Why are we here? Why didn’t God simply create us to live in the perfection of heaven from the beginning? If I was asked that question by one of my children, it would go something like this:

So God created us to live this human experience on planet earth. Our problem here is that we are not God and are therefore flawed and vulnerable to harm. Have you ever stopped to wonder how much has to go right just for your body to work? Why does breathing work? What makes your heart beat and your blood flow? And what is up with your brain? Who or what turned it on? How do you know it won’t just turn off? Where is God in all that? Is He just playing or is there a point? God has a purpose for our lives that when left to figure it out on our own is a mystery to us. What does it all mean as you search for meaning, struggling through the obstacles laid out before you each day? What does it all mean considering the historical events of your life; hoping to rise up to each occasion, meeting the expectations hoisted upon you? What does it all mean in the face of the lies that you have come to believe about yourself and about your place in the world? How has painfully struggling to live up to a standard that you cannot possibly live up to worked out for you so far? 

“I was so obsessed with me and the reasons that I might be dissatisfied that I couldn’t focus on other people… What I trace this to is a certain selfishness on my part.”
—Barack Obama

FREEdom from MEdom Project (FFMP) was developed to help individuals and families experience real recovery from the things in life that leave us feeling dissatisfied to one degree or another. Our objective is to help you access the One who can and will light the way to freedom through recovery God’s way. He is the light in our darkness. He is the truth staring into the face of the lies we’ve come to believe about ourselves and the world we live in.

Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.” Genesis 1:26

FREEdom = Freedom IN God, MEdom = Freedom FROM God

How and why does a loving God allow bad and evil—even hell—to happen to “good” people?

Of course, there is evil and tragedy in the world, and there are always people in the wrong place at the wrong time; so many who couldn’t choose their parents and where and when they were born in the world. There are victims and there are villains. When then do my choices affect the outcomes of my existence in the world? What in my life and in the world am I responsible for? Am I a victim? Am I a villain? Addicted to me and my wants and needs, am I both victim and villain to one degree or another? What do people see in me that I don’t see (or choose not to see)? What do I see in myself that they don’t see? What does God see in me that I don’t see (or choose not to see)?

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.” —C.S. Lewis

What gets messed up is when in my selfish pursuit of freedom my way, I run from God. C.S. Lewis contends that the outcome of willingly parting from relationship with God—hell—is “the greatest monument of human freedom”. To part with God is to align with evil (sin). Freedom from God is hell, now and then in all of its forms. Timothy Keller (The Reason for God) writes that hell is my choice to be separated from God. Chosen isolation from God is the ultimate dissatisfaction. Where is the sense in that? True freedom is experienced in the choice to be in relationship with God.

Why all this talk about hell and (until now) not even a mention of heaven? Question: are you motivated by pleasure or pain, reward or the impact of loss? The sad truth is that the impact of loss and pain tends to far outweigh that of reward and pleasure. If this were not true we would be motivated enough by peace, joy, and love in their purest forms that we would not need to seek remedies for instant (however temporary) gratification. Isn’t it too bad that “heaven” is not reward enough? If you are reading this seeking answers, then whatever peace, joy, and love you may have had and want in your life is missing or insufficient. Discontentment is its own hell. Addiction to the pursuit of remedy is its own hell. We’re all addicts (Jesus said as much). Addiction is hell. Loss is hell. Hell hurts! Ask yourself these questions: Am I motivated enough by the pain to seek help, today… to pursue freedom IN God? Or have I been deceived into seeking freedom FROM God?

Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses (negative outcomes). Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life. Deuteronomy 30:19 (NLT)

You and I live with two choices, really. There is my way and there is God’s way. My way leads me into darkness. My way is the pathway to hell and the hell I experience along the way. God’s way lights the way. It is the way of new life into joy. It is a choice. I can choose to submit to the lies told by the darkness in my tomb of discontent, or I can choose to step into the light of something new, submitting to the One with the authority to transform my life. One way or the other you and I submit every single day.

If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed. Proverbs 29:18 (The Message)

Central to “Recovery that Works!” are three pivotal steps that drive this entire thing. They are the first three of the Twelve Steps that make up what is referred to here as ABC Recovery: ADMIT my life is out of control, BELIEVE that God is in control, and COMMIT to God since He is in control. If I believe that God is in control, it would seem to make sense to turn over to God what I don’t have control over anyway. I cannot on my own break free from the chains of my addiction to me. I cannot simply change from the inside on my own. It is my nature to be bound to a core belief of entitlement that drives my selfish ambition, feeding into jealousy and coveting what is not in my best interest. Only in a surrendered, committed relationship with Jesus Christ will the chains of addiction linked together by selfish entitlement be broken. Only then will I experience resurrection from the dead in my life and set free.

About FFMP, Edward said: “Without the guidance this program gave me, who knows where I would be today. Today, I am happily living out my life… and recommend this program to anyone who is addicted… This program laid a foundation that I neglected to build growing up. It gave me real direction and the resources to make clean decisions. My life is in no way perfect. Life still has its problems, but I now can rationally work my way through them.” 

Jesus said, “Lose him and set him free.” John 11:44

Step 1—ADMIT my life is out of control

• What Exactly is MEdom?
• Mind Games

Step 2—BELIEVE that God is in control

• ABC Recovery Steps
• Sympathetic Savior… Role Model for Recovery

Step 3—COMMIT to God since He is in control

• Revolutionary Transformation… Evidence of Faith
• Step Out of the Boat and Into the Light
• More Religion?

“Recovery that Works!” concludes with a sensible assessment (complete with Scripture references) of How the 12 Steps Work.

FFMP is an interactive online support to guide you along a pathway to receiving God’s best for your life—experiencing freedom from the symptoms of dissatisfaction and addiction through transformative Christ-centered recovery. You will identify in reading the articles that there is a clear cognitive-behavioral approach to discovering Biblical truth concerning transformative recovery. Through interactive participation in the FREEdom from MEdom Community, you will have the opportunity to participate in online support through recovery lessons and application challenges to assist your recovery.

You will learn how to gain access to the power of God in your life. You will better understand never to minimize or under estimate the power of prayer. You will learn how praying with consistency is essential to your investment and participation in effective and productive recovery. This is not intended to be merely a religious exercise. We are hopeful that your perceptions of God will be restored to something much more optimistic and enthusiastic as you come to believe in who He really is and what He’s all about. You can realize the experience of faith in your life in an active relationship with Jesus Christ who loves you and desires to participate in your life. You can in fact possess the tools to live out recovery and enjoy freedom from addiction rooted in a core belief of entitlement—to surrender your self-centered will in a beautiful relationship with Christ who loves you.

A skeleton walked into a bar and said to the bartender, “I’ll have a beer and a mop.”

Addictive behavior breaks individuals and families down to the bone and leaves a mess in its wake. The feature Addiction ED is an informative resource to help you to be better educated about addictive thinking and behavior. Clinical experts describe the symptoms as well as the physiological and psychological affects associated with various addictions. It includes some narrative debate on addiction as a disease versus addiction as a matter of choice and personal responsibility from both clinical and Biblical perspectives.

The right-hand column appearing on each page of this site features recovery articles from the FREEdom from MEDom Series, as well as the ABC Recovery categories: Admit, Believe, and Commit. Each of the ABC categories features content with the purpose to inform and encourage you concerning God’s plan for your recovery His way. Ffm Radio is a collection of YouTube presentations from musical artists in support of a better life in relationship with God. Please take your time getting to know your way around this website. Also, your opinions and concerns are valid and appreciated if you would like to comment toward the bottom of this or any page. May God restore and bless your life according to His gracious plan and purpose for you.

Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction. Proverbs 29:18 (NIV)

Leonard Walubengo, Pastor and friend in Kenya, said: “I have gone through the Freedom from ‘Me’dom Project then concluded that it is divine; my heart is deeply touched. I have been touched by your vision for delivering addicted people. May this vision that is still in the womb be quickened to maturity. May God expand your vision mightily all over the world. I’m moved to pray for this ministry because it is a unique one. I have shared this with my church members and they said let this movement begin with Kenya, Africa. I know that this wave shall cause a great revival in our land.”  

Continue Reading: What Exactly is MEdom?

Recommended reading is the 4-part Sympathetic Savior Series: Part 1: Christ’s Humanity, Part 2: Christ’s Temptation, Part 3: Christ’s Relationships, & Part 4: Christ’s Sacrifice

References made on this website to individuals are done so with permission. Their names have been changed.