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June 18 - Freedom that Connects · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:04
  Hey guys, this is the Daily Ripples, and we got Pastor Mike and our friend Memphis
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  on here, which is pretty cool.
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  And today is June 18th, Freedom That Connects, the stone.
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  True freedom does not isolate, it draws people together. When I'm no longer
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  controlled by what once bound me, I become free to connect, serve, and grow with others.
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  Ripple 1 Practical Today I will use my freedom wisely.
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  I will choose connection over isolation and contribution over self-focus.
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  Freedom is not just the absence of control. It is the presence of purpose.
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  Ripple 2 Spiritual Christ sets us free so we can live and love fully.
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  As I follow Him, the Holy Spirit guides me into a life that is both free and connected.
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  The Father's design is not independence from others, but unity rooted in love and shared growth.
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  And when I was reading this, man, you know, when I think about freedom and I
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  think about the literature and all that, I think the best example of freedom is on page 26.
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  And it says, in the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, it says, but this man still
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  lives and he is a free man. He does not need a bodyguard, nor he is confined.
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  He can go anywhere on this earth where other free men may go without disaster,
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  provided he remains willing to maintain a certain simple attitude.
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  And I think about that attitude and,
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  I think about my stance on that attitude, and there was a time I thought that
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  stance was, you know, man, as long as I don't just drink, that attitude's good.
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  Or, you know, whatever that is.
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  But, you know, if you look at Galatians 5.13, it says, You, my brothers, were called to be free,
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  but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve one another in love.
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  And where it says, serve one another in love, and I think about the real purpose,
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  which is on page 77, is to be of service to God and the people about us.
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  You know, I think with that part in the book, big book, and the part of the
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  Bible, it's pretty much saying, like, if I have this certain simple attitude
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  of being helpful to others and being of service and being of love,
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  then yes, I'm a free person.
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  But if I start indulging in self-centeredness and this and this,
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  you know, I'm just doing that for the flesh. And that's what Galatians 5.13
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  says in the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous. So I'm kind of weaving them in.
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  But what do you guys think?
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  Well, I think that we're going to have to hear from Memphis first.
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  And the reason for that is because you totally, I mean, we're starting to meld
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  together, Corey, here as a co-host of this thing, because you totally stole
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  my grounding verse that I was going to lead with.
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  I mean, no lie. The exact same verse, Galatians 5.13.
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  I had it pulled up on my screen over here. I've got it written on my notes.
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  And, man, you just took that one and ran with it because it's true.
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  You know, it's about are we free from something or are we free to something?
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  You know, we are free from, you know, our alcoholism and addiction.
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  But what are we free to do, in other words? You know, so Memphis,
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  what's your initial thoughts on this?
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  We're going to kick it over to you, let you ground us here. Well,
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  thank you. Glad to be back.
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  I guess what I was thinking about early on in my recovery.
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  And just the process that you go through, you know, realizing that you weren't
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  free, you know, and realize how isolated, you know, I had become in addiction,
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  and, you know, how it did just separate me from everyone.
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  And what I didn't realize, and that is how much I miss that.
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  And I remember an instance being sober for some time, and a friend of mine had
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  called and his significant other had run out of gas, and he was not in a place where he could help.
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  And I remember the feeling of joy of, one, being free to just get up and go.
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  Didn't have to worry about, had I had too much strength, or any of those things.
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  And just being able to go help her, I didn't realize how much I missed that.
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  And so when I think about how, you know, those things have led to more connections
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  with other people, you know, the wanting to be of service.
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  Because, you know, not just, you know, what it does for that person that you're
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  helping, but what it did for me and how it built upon relationships and allowed
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  me to learn and get better.
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  And I don't know. That's what I think about when I think the freedom that connects.
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  I think about those moments where I didn't realize I had taken those choices from myself.
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  But I had to learn how to be free and have the choice whether or not to use or drink.
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  And that's where it all started from.
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  I had to get to a point where I was able to make that choice.
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  And that was a humongous hurdle.
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  And that's where the program, you know, really, really helped me.
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  I like what you pointed out there, Memphis, too, about, you know,
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  having that freedom to be able to just kind of get up, you know,
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  when someone needs something and just immediately respond and not have to have a,
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  sobering up period, as it were, you know, before we're able to help people.
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  Because, I mean, at the time that I was active in my alcoholism,
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  you know, I would have said, as most of us would, you know, that I was a free
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  man, you know, free to do whatever I wanted to do and things of that nature.
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  But the truth of the matter is exactly what you just alluded to.
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  You know, I was, I think, and Corey can point me wrong or point out my error
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  if I misquote this, but I believe that somewhere in our materials,
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  it talks about being captives of king alcohol or being subjects of king alcohol.
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  And I mean, how true that was, you know, whenever I was drinking,
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  you know, after a certain point in the evening, I wasn't good to anybody for
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  anything, you know, because I was already messed up for the night,
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  if not already passed out of sleep somewhere.
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  Now, I might be asleep early today, but that's just because I'm getting old.
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  But anyway, that makes me think of that as well.
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  Yeah, and you're right, Mike. It is on page 151. It says, the less people tolerate
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  us, the more with we withdrew from society, from life itself,
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  as we became subjects of King Alcohol.
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  Oh, but you know, and I think about that and I think about, man.
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  So I was dropping my son off the other day and he forgot his phone inside and
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  while he ran inside and, you know, Pastor Mike, you know, I've been having some
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  trouble with him a little bit and just being like I was.
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  Yeah, growing pains. Exactly. So he went in and I looked in his backpack and he had a vape.
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  Anyways, he's 12, right? Right.
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  So, you know, but I was taught, you know, man, I started talking to him and,
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  man, you know, I was watching the lives flow so quickly out of his mouth and, um,
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  You know, but I was thinking about that and I was thinking about,
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  you know, because there was a time I was 12, 13, 14. And that's probably around
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  like 11, 10, 11, 12, 13, somewhere in there. That's when the mischievous things, the lie started coming.
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  And I was thinking about, you know, over time, over time, over time,
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  this lie here, this lie here, this person lied, hurt, whatever.
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  And these things started building over time. And I couldn't see that in person
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  though, right? I couldn't see that.
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  And when it started getting serious and I kept on drinking and drinking and
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  it went with the, so you got the selfish, self-centered person,
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  right? There's some spiritual maladies.
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  And then you got this person with the phenomenon of craving at the same time, right?
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  That can't see, you know, right and wrong. Cause you know, at the time they're
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  just, you know, with King alcohol. all.
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  So over time, these things block us and block us and block us and block us.
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  Now I was thinking about him and, you know, it starts from an early age or did
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  for me, at least I don't know about y'all, but you know, those little pieces, right?
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  These little pieces over time, you know, over years and years and years lies
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  here, lie here, hurt this person, this person, this person, this person.
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  And all it is is, you know, without the malady, without the spirit,
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  not the spiritual, but without the physical part, you know, it's selfish, self-centered, right?
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  And that, so our trouble, you know, it says selfish, self-centered,
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  that we think is the root of our troubles. So that's my trouble.
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  And if it's growing and growing and growing, then what's free?
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  So for me to be free, I've got to get free of that stuff I did through the years.
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  I've got to go clean that up so that conscious contact, right, is more clear with God.
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  And I just think about, you know, my son and, you know, he's going to have a
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  lot of, he's going to have a lot of cleaning up to do just like his dad, you know, but.
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  Yeah, that's what I was thinking about. One of the things that stood out to
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  me in the spiritual portion of Ripple Two was, you know, that Christ sets us
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  free so we can live and love fully.
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  You know, I didn't realize that me being unavailable and me being free to use
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  and drink and all that, that freedom,
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  it cost me the ability to love fully.
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  And I don't think, like Corey was saying, I don't think that I understood how
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  to have a healthy relationship.
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  And until, like he said, until I was willing to start developing spiritually,
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  which would be cleaning up the wreckage of my past and getting honest about
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  who I was, that was obtainable for me.
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  I needed to do the work so that, you know, so that I could develop and have
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  honest relationships and learn how to love my fellow man, my fellow woman,
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  not just in intimate relationships, but in working relationships and friend,
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  you know, friend relationships.
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  So I know that stood out to me to love fully and you know we're designed to
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  be together and to grow together and to grow towards God together and I don't know that's just.
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  And that part stood out to me. Yeah, I like how you brought it.
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  I like how you brought it back to that about being free to live and love fully,
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  because I think about some of the things that that I do. And I know that both
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  of you, I'm sure, could could say the same about things that you do in recovery,
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  either in recovery or in your life of faith.
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  There are times when I get quite busy that my,
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  schedule is full with either my routines of staying connected to God or my routines of helping other
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  men in the program, my routines of writing these daily ripples,
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  of recording the podcast, of editing it, of publishing and scheduling it out.
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  I can have my days filled with all of this activity.
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  And I think about that now, and I think about back to how I used to have a busy
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  schedule in my active alcoholism and my other addictions of,
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  spending all the time of my days focused solely on myself, focused only inward.
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  And now a lot of what I do is focused outward. But even though my schedule is
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  full, I feel more free than I ever have in my life.
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  And it's exactly because of what you just pointed out, Memphis, which is that,
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  when I'm doing things for others, when I'm serving God or when I'm serving other
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  people, the love that I experience, the love that fills my soul and that I share
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  with other men, other women, you know, what have you, my own family, is,
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  it gives me that sense of, you know, freedom.
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  And it's because of, you know, not free just for, you know, any random reason,
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  but I'm free for a purpose
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  that, you know, God has allowed me to make my own choices, make my own mistakes
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  in life so that I can use my experiences to become
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  the strength that I have in my faith today to enable me through my sharing,
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  through my work, serving others
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  to be that source of hope, you know, for others.
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  And, you know, that's really what this deal is all about for me.
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  I liked what, you know, I liked what Memphis was talking about,
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  but the honesty part and how crucial, because, you know, if you think about amends.
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  I think about the things that I've done in my past, either lying,
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  cheating, stealing, whatever, you know, whatever you can pick off of that too.
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  But, you know, when I'm making things right, all I'm doing is getting honest, right?
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  Because if I stole your money, if I stole something from you and I have money
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  in my pocket, then it's not even my money, right? Cause when I like,
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  so I'm just getting honest with everything. And I think, you know,
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  I was talking to a dude a couple of months ago and.
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  Man, he's probably, you know, he's still having some trouble with all this.
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  But one night I said, man, like, you're lying to this person and lying to this
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  person and lying to this person. Like, just go get honest with some people.
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  Just go tell them. Be like, man. And, you know, it was really cool.
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  You know, I guess, you know, God pushed him in a way that night, and he did.
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  And, man, he called me the next day, and he goes, man, like,
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  you know, I understand this God thing. And, you know, it wasn't enough for him
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  to, you know, I mean, but it was just that little one moment that,
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  you know, those wires had, you know, come together a little bit,
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  straightened out a little bit.
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  And, but, you know, I think about that a lot of my life, you know,
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  and if I am walking around here with, you know, cause I do, I got some unfinished
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  amends I still got to make and, you know, but how am I walking around?
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  Am I walking around like I'm some saint now?
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  Absolutely not. Because that's not who I am. And if I was, I'd be living a lie.
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  And if I'm living a lie, man, I'll tell you, you know, for me and,
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  you know, there's a time that, you know, I was probably three and a half,
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  four years sober and I was living in a lie. I was sleeping around,
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  doing all these things I shouldn't do.
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  And I felt it too, right? Like it was, you know, and, you know,
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  eventually over some years, you know, man, that, you know, probably pieces of
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  that and the pieces of this and pieces of this all pushed me back out the door.
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  But I think living amongst those things, like these spiritual principles,
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  is a very important thing for me.
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  Well, since you already covered the Galatians 5 of it, here's another one.
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  John 8, verse 36 says that if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
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  And that's really what this is all about.
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  It's my higher power. It's God who has set me free and granted me the relief
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  from this addiction to alcohol.
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  And that has indeed proven the verse in my life that I am free indeed.
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  Prayer: Father teach me to live in true freedom. Through Your spirit guide me
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  to use that free that freedom to love serve and grow alongside others in the way of Your son amen. amen.